Yearly Archives: 2011

10 Minutes a Day to Appreciate Poetry

I’ve always wanted to be someone who understood poetry. I wanted to appreciate the beauty of the words, and the mood the poem evoked, not to mention it would represent that I was insightful, evolved, creative and generally bright. Instead, … Continue reading

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Mrs. D’s 5-minute Chocolate Cake — perfect holiday treat!

My mother’s friend, Patt, sent me this recipe for a yummy, easy, virtually cleanup-free cake. Christmas came early this year! This is one the kids can make in a flash. But you may want to stretch it out when you’re … Continue reading

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Saving Time with an Artificial Christmas Tree — Scrooge-like or sensible?

After having a fresh Christmas tree for my whole adult life, we finally went fake. I thought I would handle it with much emotion and go through the 7 steps of grieving — having had a fake tree as a … Continue reading

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The 12 Days of (a calm, cool, collected) Christmas

It’s that time of year where we swear we’ll keep our cool, year after year. But whether our holidays are filled with challenges or cheer, the stress can get to us before the ball is even close to dropping on … Continue reading

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Finding Your Morning “Waggle” — the ideal morning routine for you

I’ve finally hit on a morning routine that really sets me up for a good day. It means I have to get up before the rest of the house, but it pays off immediately. Instead of that panicked, “Holy cow, … Continue reading

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Making Time for 10 Minutes of Solitude

Meditation. Quiet. Prayer. No matter how much we want to make time in our days for any of these, it always seems like the last thing to be checked off the to-do list. Everything else is so much more pressing! … Continue reading

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Facing Fear and Getting On With It, with Tips from Martha Beck

Fear is a powerful thing. We have fears of everything — public speaking (more than death!), spiders, heights, success — that’s one I’ve never understood. Success to me sounds like prestige, cash and good living. What’s to fear? But it’s … Continue reading

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10-Minute Ways to Make a Vacation Happen

If you’re like me, you end up in an endless loop of “I should have booked earlier”, “Vacation is a month away and I haven’t booked anything,” etc. And so you either go to the same place (again) or stay … Continue reading

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10-Minute Steps to Spark a Breakthrough

I just read this article in the October issue* of O Magazine about jump-starting a “breakthrough”. So many of our dreams go by the wayside because we get stuck, but life keeps on moving. We barely remember we put something … Continue reading

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Apps to Save Time on Holiday Shopping

When I saw this article on shopping apps in the Los Angeles Times, I thought it was too early to be writing about the holidays. But then I realized the sun has long set on Halloween and Thanksgiving is next … Continue reading

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