Organize your Stuff: Week 26 (round 3): New Items and Keeping it Neat part 1 &OLW March Blog Hop!

Try and say that one 10 times fast! This is yet another jam packed (and probably a little too long) blog entry, so let’s get started! Post a comment for a chance at blog candy (and if you are posting as anonymous, please leave an e-mail address so that we can find you if you win- the witness protection program will never know that you shared).

First up, One Little Word! The first of every month, we will share our homework and thoughts from last month's class (and hop arpound with all our classmates who have done the same!)This is our first year with Ali Edwards’ OLW project, and so far, it has been amazing! My word for 2011 is Embrace, and it has truly become our mantra. There are many things that we cannot change, that we cannot control, and against which we cannot rage (sad but true!). In the (to quote Disney) Circle of Life kind of things, there are the glass is half empty people…and the glass is half full. For the most part, we have avoided the latter, considering them too perky and lacking the reality check and grounding that the rest of us had (and they were probably the ones who spiked the cool-aide too!).

However, now we begin to realize that one can Embrace life without going into Technicolor, and spiked cool-aide isn’t half bad! Look at Jessica Rabbit! She’s not bad, she’s just drawn that way. In any event, we have begun to Embrace our world, and revel in it, and realize that the unexpected is possibly a chance for celebration and adventure. And if nothing else, it will make a great story to be retold with dry wit and a cold beverage later!

Above is one of my Embrace photos, as February's homework for the OLW class was all about the photos of your word. This is our front yard rose bushes. We are SEVERELY allergic to them, and the POW has the worst black thumb that OCD Me has ever seen. No matter. These roses positively thrive in our front yard. Two years ago, rather than uproot them altogether (since benign…or not so benign neglect did not do them in), the POW decided to take another track and Embrace them. When the flowers bloomed, we called our local church and the Church Lady Mafia came in when no one was looking and cut them down for use in the floral arrangements.

Every year these roses are hardier and more prolific, and every year they are whisked away when nobody is looking to serve a higher purpose than making us a stuffy nosed Benadryl addict. Last week it snowed on them as they were beginning to grow. It almost seemed like they Embraced the snow and cradled it, knowing how fleeting it would be here in the Pacific Northwest (unlike the East Coast with its feet and feet and feet!). None of the leaves have withered. It just Embraced a circumstance that it could not change!

OK! Now for the not so sappy and introspective Guy Smiley and Gosh Darn It People Like Me section. This is the Design Team card that Creative Me made for Tuesday Trio’s Sketch #56. The POW is totally in love with the baby chick in the boot! We thought that this would be appropriate as the challenge was dots and…now that it is warming up…rain is in the forecast until July 4th! Again, something that we must Embrace. We chose to live in the Pacific Northwest and there are four seasons…Cold, dark, and wet; warmer, lighter, and wet; so dry nobody can keep a lawn alive even with in-ground sprinklers; and wet again. We must Embrace it, and forget that we ever had good hair days.

Finally, for the new stuff and keeping it neat…you know that whole organizing thing and whole reason for this blog! LOL! What do you do with your new stuff? Do you file it away so that nobody notices that there is any new stuff…Inner Hoarder favors that, as does OCD Me…but for different reasons. Do you put it on your desk for a certain period of time so that it imprints into your memory that you own it…Creative Me’s personal favorite (side note from the POW: all brains can only hold so much information. Trying to memorize your clear acrylics and patterned papers will drop other information like you great-aunt’s birthday and your phone number at that house you lived in during the first part of third grade). Do you leave it in its bag until you come home with something in another bag… the PA Me method.

Here are the other blog hoppers for today! You are currently at lucky #21! Please stop by and say to the rest of the list as well! These all go live at 8AM PST on March 1st!

1. Margie http://xnomads.typepad.com/
2. Monica B http://scraplifters.blogspot.com/
3. Jill http://jillconyers.typepad.com/
4. Miranda http://mirandasscrapsite.blogspot.com/
5. Donna http://www.donnabryantdurand.blogspot.com/
6. Lynn http://www.crafty-creativity.blogspot.com/
7. Stacey http://www.TheAcornGarden.com/blog
8. Lisa http://backtoallen.com/writers_blog
9. Cassie http://craftycassiescorner.blogspot.com/
10. Abbey http://athomewiththerichardsfamily.blogspot.com/
11. Nicky http://seejanebake.blogspot.com/
12. Holly http://lovingrobots.blogspot.com/
13. Karen http://breathenowsmile.blogspot.com/
14. Claudia http://creative-moms.com/
15. Rebekah http://istampscrapcraft.blogspot.com/
16. Kimberly http://foreverdaisies.blogspot.com/
17. Kat http://www.katswonderings.blogspot.com/
18. Kristina http://ciqis.blogspot.com/
19. Jan http://mysimplelittlelife.typepad.com/
20. Nikki http://www.inkyart.com.au/
21. Amanda http://www.scrappnbee.blogspot.com/
22. Lisa http://luluoz.typepad.com/
23. Sam http://learncreatedo.wordpress.com/
24. Maureen http://cookingmylife.blogspot.com/
25. Kristi http://theprojectofme.wordpress.com/
26. Tere http://terecontodomicorazon.blogspot.com/
27. Karen http://womenontractors.blogspot.com/
28. Katrina http://k84mansramblings.blogspot.com/
29. Monica Bergler http://questtoperfectimperfection.blogspot.com/
30. Mandy http://captureandcreate.wordpress.com/
31. Lisa http://makeyourownescape.blogspot.com/
32. Chrissy http://getcraftywithchrissy.blogspot.com/
33. Lee http://thelinarstudio.typepad.com/embracelife
34. Jen http://www.byjen.com/
35. Sylvia http://baxtersmom1.blogspot.com/
36. Christianne http://christiannemarra.blogspot.com/
37. Cheri http://cheriandrews.blogspot.com/
38. Joy http://www.undiscoveredjoy.blogspot.com/
39. Beth http://justbebeth.wordpress.com/
40. Jennifer L http://www.studiojenn.blogspot.com/
41. Kathryn http://www.katlodesigns.com/
42. Heather http://www.scrappyhare.blogspot.com/
43. Cindy http://seriousplay.typepad.com/
44. Cynthiau http://paperpapereverywhere.blogspot.com/