Marilyn Bohn | Creative Organizer

Picnic What did you think when you read that word? Did happy pictures come to mind of eating around a picnic table, someone playing a guitar, building a fire to roast smores, and family fun? As a child I remember family reunions and picnics. When I was in high school we would drive 10 minutes up the canyon where it was cooler than in the valley and we would unload the car.
Whatever you remember about picnics someone had to do work to make it happen and to be successful. Here are some tried and true tips to organize a picnic:

•Write a list of everything you need to take. Divide the list into categories; food, utensils, fire, tablecloth and chairs, and games. Save this list on the computer. When you go picnicking next time print it off and check off each item as you pack it; then nothing will be forgotten.
•Assign family members responsibility for different tasks so it isn’t just you getting everything together.
•Pack the food in coolers and boxes. Boxes can be broken down for storing until needed the next time. Those cute wicker picnic baskets are great for the utensils and paper products. You can keep the basket stocked and ready to go. They are the right size for children to carry.
•Make sure you have the fire wood or briquettes, matches or fire starter (I call it a clicker) and newspaper to start the fire. In other words however you make a fire, have all of the necessary tools.
•Pack some games your family likes (Frisbee anyone?) blankets to spread on the grass and leave your cares at home.

What have you done to make your picnics memorable?

Click here to find great picnic bakets at a great price, many are on sale Picnic World

I came back from Washington last week with a head full of memories, my trip journal and a camera full of photos of my family including the parents of the cute grandkids and photos of the beautiful tulips at the tulip festival in Skagit County.

Now what to do with them? I want to remember the trip, the fun and the beauty so I immediately set to work on sending my photos to Costco to have them developed. I like to crop my photos and take out the red eye and sometimes change the color to black and white or sepia. All of this takes time but I keep my eye on my goal and forge ahead. I believe in keeping photos in photo books so they can be looked at and keep the memories alive. By doing one trip at a time it doesn’t become overwhelming.

When I get my photos back in only one hour I slip them in a photo album behind plastic sleeves. I keep the book near my computer to remind me to journal them. I don’t like my hand writing so I type a page of what all the photos are about—where we went and what we did and the dates. Then I type up short blurbs that I insert by the photos. This is very easy and fast. Well fast is a relative word, but it is faster than scrapbooking.

I have to confess this part sometimes doesn’t get done for a few months. Life is just so busy. I have three albums I need to journal. Now I have confessed. Ahhh I will report back to you on my progress—this will give me a goal to work on and soon.

Speaking of scrapbooking I have a friend whose website is Organize 101 and she is passionate about scrapbooking. She has written a book with beautiful pictures and tons of information about scrapbooking. She has given me one of her books to give away free to one lucky reader of my blog. You know how writers foreshadow things that are going to happen in their books, this is what I am doing. Next week I will announce and open up a contest you can enter to win this book.

How do you store your photos and what tips and tricks do you use to keep your photos organized?

My son-in-law needed to get gasoline for his truck. He took a container to the station and told the attendant he needed to get gas. The attendant stared at him and said “it is called fuel”. (We have laughed about this). Whatever you choose to call it, I know I am feeling the pinch every time I go to the gas station to fill up.

Here are some tips I have read a few times on how to get the most out of the fuel we use for the best gas mileage:

•Fill up your car in the early morning when the ground temperature is still cold. All service stations have their tanks buried below ground so the colder the ground the more dense the gasoline. As it gets warmer gasoline expands, so buying in the afternoon or evening your gallon is not exactly a gallon.

I was given this advise years ago and am still hearing the same thing so I can only assume it is true.

•When you are filling up DO NOT squeeze the trigger of the nozzle to fast mode. When you pump the gasoline slower it minimizes the vapors that are created. All hoses have a vapor return, if you are pumping in fast mode; some of the liquid that goes to your tank becomes vapor. Those vapors are being sucked up and back into the underground storage tank so you are getting less worth for your money.

•Fill up when your tank is half full or half empty. The more gas you have in your tank the less air is occupying its empty space. Gasoline evaporates at an extremely fast rate. The gasoline storage tank has an eternal floating roof that serves as zero clearance between the gas and the atmosphere, so it minimizes the evaporation.

•Drive at a consistent speed, even in traffic. Too much braking wastes as much fuel as rapid acceleration. Applying the brakes kills momentum and then you have to speed up again which wastes gas.

•Accelerate slowly. A pretty simple tip that will leave you with more gas in your tank and less visits to the pump.

And of course I am sure we all stock pile our errands and do them at the same time to save on gas. This is an organization tip I have used for years.

What fuel saving tips do you use? We need all the ideas we can get.

It has been great being on ‘grandma duty’ for the past two weeks, but now it is time to pack up to go home. Grandma duty is holding the new baby, probably spoiling her rotten and playing cars, trucks and trains with her two year old brother.

I don’t know about you but packing to go on vacation is a whole lot more fun than packing to leave. Part of me wants to stay and part of me wants to go home to my family and three cats. Here are some tips on making it less painful:

•Start packing one to two days before flying. You will have less chance of forgetting something you need to take home with you.
•Pack everything in the jumbo size zip lock bags. This is wonderful when you get home and unpack as like things are together and it makes unpacking faster. Dirty clothes can be tossed in the washer, clothes are all together and can be hung up, and cosmetics are all together and can go back to where they belong without having to search for them throughout the suitcases.
•Weigh the bags on a scale to make sure you are under the 50 pounds airlines allow.
•In your carry on make sure you don’t pack any liquid or gel over 3 ozs.

With just a little forethought packing can be less stressful, you’ll take everything home with you that you want and it can be done quickly both coming and going.
What experience have you had packing that has make it easy and pain free?

This past week I was out of town and my daughter noticed one tire on my car had gone completely flat. As we chatted on the phone I confidently told her to use the ‘fix a flat can’ in the trunk of my car to get the tire pumped up to get my car to the shop to have the tire fixed. (The irksome thing is I had it in the tire store the week before when it was half flat and he didn’t fix it then). Oh well

The ‘fix a flat can’ is an inflator and sealer for tires. It is a foam, very easy to use and will allow you to drive on the tire for several miles until you can get the tire fixed. I had to use this product several years ago and I know it works. In fact I drove 24 miles worrying all the way, but it worked its magic and I got home just fine. So now I keep a can in my car and I have given one to each of my girls to keep in their cars.

What peace of mind such a simple thing gives to me when I am driving in my car. I don’t have to have a jack or tools and it seals and inflates in minutes. I do keep a jack in the trunk—it came with the car, but I would be at the mercy of someone else to use it as I have never gone through the drill of having a flat tire. Actually once I was getting on the freeway when I realized I had a flat tire. I walked back to the nearest phone (this was before cell phones) for help as I looked at the jack and had no idea what to do.

As a professional home organizer when I organize garages I always recommend having this simple tool in the trunk of the car. (That is when I think about it). Does it ruin the tire you ask? It didn’t ruin mine either time and it gave us enough time to drive to the shop to get the tire fixed.

My daughter and grandchild flew in yesterday because I was having withdrawals from not seeing him for 2 months.
I am always looking for ways to organize better and more efficiently because I am a professional organizer and I was very impressed with the way she packed for her short trip.

She packed a suitcase for each of them:
• Inside each she used the jumbo (not super size) zip lock bags.
• In one was diapers
• In another, outfits paired together
• Socks in another
• Toys were together with a list of what she brought so none will be lost.
• Everything she packed was nice and neat and organized

In her suitcase she did the same:
• Pants in one
• Blouses in another
• Socks together in another bag
• Underwear all together

Talk about easy street. It is so nice to find what to dress him in each day and it saves time looking for what we need for him and she saves time for herself. When traveling with children it can be stressful and this is just one way of reducing stress and having more time and fun when on vacation or away from home.