F is for Fudge, Flylady and Friends - A to Z Meme

Fudge, Flylady and Friends

Mom is taking over the column this week. I do not like fudge, don’t know who Flylady is and my only friends are the ones that haven’t invaded my territory, like Toby the monkey, Sissy and Jakearoo, who are dogs; Spook and Janelle, who are cats, along with my Minnesota cousins, the Galoot, Tasha and Harley (in his pink non-motorized power basket). I think she came up with this column to get back at me for trying to exfoliate her forehead at four in the morning with my tongue. You try to give your people love and that's the
thanks you get!

All right, Mom, your turn!

Now that Lily has handily high-jacked my introduction, you may ask what fudge, FlyLady and friends have to do with each other?

My answer: The holidays!

Fudge:

One of my favorite and easiest recipes for a treat during the holidays—Thanksgiving through St. Valentine’s Day, is fudge made with sweetened condensed milk, chocolate chips, and vanilla. The original recipe is delicious on its own, but variations are only limited by your imagination! You can add chopped nuts, candied cherries, mint flavoring and crushed peppermint, the list goes on . . . While we sometimes think that easy recipes are cheating, there are times when we need to make a tasty treat quickly. This recipe fills that need.

You can find the recipe here.

While it would be hard to make low carb fudge, there is a healthier homemade Paleo dark chocolate made with raw cacao, honey and coconut oil at Delighted Momma's web site. Paleo chocolate has to be refrigerated, but it has a deliciously different taste.

FlyLady:

Marla Cilley, aka the FlyLady, has been an inspiration to me. While I don’t always follow all of her methods, she has helped set me back on the right track several times.

Flylady.net provides emails you can sign up for, which help you develop habits to clean and organize your home, one step at a time. You start by cleaning your kitchen sink! If you’re feeling the stress of upcoming holidays encroaching upon your life, check out some of FlyLady’s strategies for almost painlessly setting goals, getting back on track and preparing for the holidays ahead of time. She not only has a shop, with helpful books and products offered, but some free online resources too, such
as a downloadable holiday planning guide.

Friends:

Thanksgiving was instituted, so that we would take a day to remember how God has provided for us. Christmas is a day when we remember the gift of God’s Son, Jesus Christ, sent to save us from our sins. These are days in which we rejoice and what better way to enjoy these times than with family and friends?

I find it so easy to run and do all the things I think are important at the moment, without purposely planning quality time with friends and family. They often get the exhausted, crabby Kathy, who has pasted a smile on her face after staying up way too late, fueled by caffeine and sugar. I’m praying that I can do things differently this year and plan more time of reflection on what God has done for me. it would also be nice to have time to truly relax with family and friends. How about you? Since we’ll have our homes ready for visitors due to Flylady’s help, and some easy fudge made, perhaps we’ll find time to invite our friends over to enjoy this precious time!

Ideas for fun things to do with friends over the holidays:

Have a Christmas cookie exchange with a few other families.

Have a Thanksgiving/Christmas book exchange. Share some of your old favorites and gain new ones.

Have another family over for coffee and dessert (even store bought dessert).

Even easier—meet friends for pumpkin spice lattes or peppermint mochas at your local mom and pop café.

Babysit each other’s children during Christmas shopping. End the day with cookies and hot chocolate together.

These are just a few ideas. What about you—what do you like to do with family and friends during the holidays? Do you have any ideas for holiday organization? Or easy recipes to recommend? 

We love your comments!

Monday Motivation - Let's Chat About Time Management

Let’s Chat About Time Management

We’re going to continue to focus on time management and productivity as writers. As I’ve been reading about how to get and stay in the writing habit, I have come across some advice that urges the writer to keep track of everything they’re doing in prescribed blocks of time throughout the day. Then they can find the lost time, which can be used for writing. This is a time management technique that goes way back, but let’s be honest, most of us know where we are wasting our time or not using it as effectively.

Having goals and blocking off that writing time is important. Unfortunately, life around us can bleed through the lines around our blocks of time. Elderly parents have emergencies, children need help with their homework, and spouses need to discuss important issues or can’t find clean underwear! Well, you get the picture. However, the time we use to do chores or organize the pile of junk we don’t really need is more controllable. One of the most practical websites I keep going back to is Flylady. Even if you’re totally unorganized, she teaches you to break down household organization and time management into bite size chunks of 15 minutes.

Managing our time used on other chores and the environment around us can only contribute to having more time consistently set aside for writing and that is our ultimate goal. Like anything else, Flylady’s methods are a tool and you can adapt them to your style and household. Don’t get bogged down by perfectionism. Now, start flapping those wings!

This week’s writing prompt: Everyone in the town had cabin fever . . .

Write a paragraph about this . . . or a whole story! Have some fun with it!

Please leave a comment and share if you have a favorite book or website that helps with time management. I love to hear from my readers!