Sunday, December 30, 2007

Making do at year's end

Tomorrow is the last time we'll write 2007 on checks, school work, letters, "to do" lists, and the calendar. It's been a pretty good year Chez Making Do. A had just one surgery, AG finally got a major wish fulfilled (learning to play the sax), T is having lots of good work and church stuff, and I'm knitting like a fool. Not bad, not bad at all.

I just finished dismantling the Christmas effect. It's all so much easier now. Two years ago, I purchased plastic bins and labelled them with their Christmas contents. One bin at a time makes the work pretty smooth. And I use the bins to store the various accessories temporarily displaced by all the fa-la-la. All is calm and clean. We're ready for the New Year!

My Preschool Phonics business is in its sixth year and I fully expect to be scheduling classes next fall. Juggling the Nature Center, Preschool Phonics, freelance writing, and a burgeoning design business seems to be working so far. Scheduling and organization are critical. Just as I tell my kids, you can't put off the minor stuff because it'll get in the way of the unexpected major stuff that's always waiting around the corner. Which means I have to finish the laundry and ironing in the AM. My niece is arriving for two days (she and AG are just two months apart in age) and I want to be able to focus on two very busy and quite social ten year old girls!

Speaking of Preschool Phonics, I'm doing some preliminary work for the Level 2 classes that begin the second week of January. My little respite is nearly over and I'm raring to get back to the preschool world.

Making Do Pointer #5: Treasure other people's cast-offs.
I hit the Goodwill in Sandy Springs and came home with two ginormous bags of toys for the Preschool Phonics treasure box. Most are brand new - stuffed animals, birthday party goodies, fast food toys, and more, all with tags or in the original packages. I aced nearly 70 prizes for less than ten bucks. That sure beats even the reasonable costs of prizes from Oriental Trading Company!

Making Do Pointer #6: Sometimes it's just as important to save time.
For years, I stood at two copiers at the local Kinko's, copying and colating 36 to 48 workbooks (depending on how many classes I scheduled that year). It took several hours, then I had to assemble them once I got home. After a spontaneous discussion with the services guru at Office Max, I discovered that they would do the copying, colating, and hole-punching as well as laminating the covers - for about the same amount of money. All I'd have to do is the plastic combi-binding with my machine at home. Blinding glimpse of the obvious here - let someone else do the heavy stuff! I'd just assumed that do-it-yourself was cheaper. Not so in this case!

1 comment:

  1. We just bought 12 storage boxes at Lowe's (BOGO to be under $3.50 per) on New Year's Eve, looking to do exactly as you have done. Where to put all the displaced stuff when the Xmas stuff comes out has always been an issue. Happy New Year to y'all!

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