“The foundation of beauty is cleanliness, order, harmony and symmetry.” –Beverly Pogue, The Homemaker’s Coach™ Go look at your linen closet. No, really. Go look at it. Is it beautiful? Never mind being “organized,” is it beautiful? When you look at it, do you feel pleased? For a quick moment could you almost imagine you were in a nice […]
Are You Letting Your Mail Pile Up?
Sometimes it’s hard to make decisions quickly and when we have so many other things to hurry up and get done, taking longer than 2 seconds to figure out what to do with the mail we just pulled out of the mailbox and carried into the house is one second too long. So where does […]
Safety in the Kitchen (Part 1) – New Guidelines
As a Homemaker, keeping your people safe from food poisoning is one of your most important responsibilities. Did you know that…? According to the FDA, “there are about 48 million cases of foodborne illness annually—the equivalent of sickening 1 in 6 Americans each year…” At greatest risk to the bacteria or pathogens that can contaminate […]
A Good, Frugal Resource: “The Complete Tightwad Gazette”
I still remember my first introduction to Amy Dacyczyn’s* “The Tightwad Gazette.” It was waaay back in the early 90’s before there was a computer in every home…back when we scrounged home management and home improvement ideas from the newspapers or magazines or from chats with each other face-to-face or via the phone (certainly not […]
Why Can’t I Just Let Go?
Hi, Beverly, “I have [a] problem in finding a place to take the things I’ve finally decided to let go of. It feels like they are little pets that I have to find a good home for, rather than just dumping them off at the Goodwill. And for some items, I think they might be worth some […]
“First We Think…For Five Minutes”
“No, no, NO,” our professor scolded in his Czech-accented English. “Why are you raising your hands? I told you, first we think…for five minutes. Do you understand the problem? After five minutes then you answer the question!” Looking back on my (later-in-life) university career, I realize I learned more in that Analytical Thinking class about […]
Keep Your Mind in the Muscle
Clarity of vision produces more purposeful action. I want to be more effective and produce concrete outcomes. To do this I need to deliberately choose and then keep constantly in my mind’s eye the specific life environment and outcomes I want to create. Everything I do, then, should further those objectives. A vision gains clarity when we know […]
Scrubbing Floors (Or Not)
One morning I was perusing an old text and came upon the following instructions for “Scrubbing Floors” (which is, of course, to be done after the “white-washing, paint-cleaning, and window-washing” of each room is complete) and I can’t tell you how glad it made me feel for the floor surfaces and cleaning equipment of today. Can […]
Raising Someone Else’s Spouse
One day, toward the beginning of my career as a mother and full-time home maker, I suddenly realized that I wasn’t just raising my own children, but I was also raising someone else’s future spouse (and someone else’s future parent) and that I had the responsibility to pass on the best “product” possible. This awareness […]
Practical, Useful or Beautiful?
In 1930, an unknown writer stated: “The use of any possession presupposes a plan or philosophy of use.” ————————————- ————————————- The term “philosophy of use” means “In what capacity are you going to use X ?” In other words—as it relates to having an organized home or to organizing your belongings—before you decide to keep an item, […]
