Tools, Toys and Favorite Things

     Wow!  I've been gone longer than I anticipated.  Did you forget that the 4th of July weekend was coming up when I said I would tell you my secret?  I forgot.  I fully expected to be back after a day or two.  The good news is that I have been having the greatest fun with my new toy.  The bad news is that I made you all wait far too long to play with me.  I'm sorry.

     Now that you're here, though, there's nuthin' to stop us from havin' loads of fun.  So, come on; gather 'round and I'll show you what I got.  I hafta' tell a story on my good hubby-buddy, though.  He's such a stinker, at times.  When the package came in from CSN, he carried it upstairs for me.  Then he casually said, "I'm not putting it together."    

     Humph!  Does your hubby-buddy balk at putting things together?  Well, for just an instant, I had a sinking feeling that I had been abandoned.  It didn't take me long to decide that I could do it myself, though.  Jus' wantcha' ta' know, this was waaaaaaay outta' character for him.

     So, timing myself and determining to do whatever it took, I set to work.  Patience, I decided, was my best friend, especially when I opened the box and discovered all those little pieces.  Interestingly, by stopping and starting and always checking the clock, I found that it only took me one hour and 59 minutes (yeah, I know I coulda' said two hours, but its more fun, this way).

     When I went to share my handiwork with my good hubby-buddy, I started out by saying that I had messed up.  Imagine my shock when he, with a gesture of exhilaration(?), exclaimed, "Yes!  I knew you wouldn't be able to do it.  Women can't put things together."

     Naturally, his reaction made me very happy that I had not asked for help.  Of course, when he saw my new toy, he changed his tone and was quite proud of what I had done.  Then, he asked how I thought it was messed up.  I told him that actually, that had been part of a joke to get him to come and see what I had done.  We had a good chuckle before I went on to share with him.

     I thought about using my 4D Concepts Storage Tower for my sewing supplies or crafting tools; it would be great for either.  In fact, there are so many good uses for this handy tool.  In the end, I decided that I would be best served in using my tower  as an interim filing system.

     By putting my papers in the different drawers, then transferring those to the large filing system at the end of the week, I've saved a lot of stress and time. Filing is not my favorite thing. Soon, I'll have my review up on CSN and you'll be able to see even more about it.

     There are many small pieces and the task was slightly annoying at times, but the end result, for me, was well worth the effort.  I would gladly put another one or even ten together for the joy of having these useful units available.

     Although I was given the 4D Concepts Storage Tower in exchange for a review, I have been honest in telling you about it.  I was not compensated in any other way.  My life has been greatly improved by this, my new favorite toy.  And I won't benefit from it, but my next question is how will you use yours?

     Until the next time, keep a hug on.

 ~ Yaya

Paper Should Not Be Work

I promised I would share a trick I learned about how to stay on top of paperwork.  I only recently learned about this, but I was so impressed by the way it was explained that I had to try it out for myself.  And you know what?  It works.  I am not always so lucky.

Here's how it goes: first, make a file for whatever you are doing. No, not a whole filing cabinet full of folders. Just one simple folder for, say, your blog. In that folder, you will put anything relating to your blog, but it doesn't stop there. Let's say you post one comment per week and while you are thinking about what you want to post next, you have several thoughts on the subject. There's a way to stay on top of that, but it will come in a future post.

Okay, so your file is simply labeled Blog. Now, lets suppose your blog is about writing. So far, you have posted an average of once a week on your blog, for an average of four times per month for three years. Cool.

If you had made paper copies of each of your posts, you would now have a file full of papers containing copies of all of your posts.  That's awesome. Would you be able to go to your file and pull out a post that you wanted to refer back to? Possibly. But what happens if you are still posting on your blog fifteen years from now? Would you still be able to access the paper you want without spending a lot of time, shuffling?  Maybe not.

Here's what I've found helps: inside the hanging file marked Blog, slip another, smaller file marked 2006. In that file, place the copies of all of your posts from 2006.

Did you have several topics you discussed on your blog? Okay. Then all you have to do is put still another file in the hanging file and mark this new file Writing, if that is something you have posted about several times and if you plan to write more about it. Make copies of those posts which discuss writing and put those copies into the file marked Writing. Don't worry if you have several folders within your hanging folder. There's a way to take care of that and we'll be discussing that at a later date. I hope this helps you as much as it has helped me in gaining some degree of control over my many and varied types of paperwork.