Hard Work Never Killed Anyone...

... but it sure makes me sneeze! I'm on a mini cleaning/ organizing kick today. I guess I felt that Spring Cleaning was just too far off in the future! Ever since returning from my trip to India, I've been meaning to do a few things around the house, which I'm now finally getting around to. Things like putting the last several months' worth of magazines in piles to give to the library for whoever wants to take them home; storing away my summer dresses to make more room in the closet and pulling out my winter sweaters; reorganizing my desk/ craft table. I don't mind this kind of work; actually it's very satisfying to get these things done. I do, however, think I must be allergic to it. Whenever I spend prolonged hours toiling away, I get a runny nose and itchy skin, and have to take an antihistamine. Blah!

On a related note, today I was reading my new January issue of Real Simple magazine, and I found two excellent lists I wanted to share. The first is the Ultimate To-Do List, a great place to organize your plans, big and small. With the New Year quickly approaching, many people seem to be up for this sort of thing. The only New Year's Resolution I've made for the past several years is to get regular haircuts... which I've finally succeeded in doing. Check. However, I have just rescheduled my next haircut for the second time. It was originally in November. Now it's in January. I'm growing out my bangs though, so I have a valid excuse.

The second list worth printing is the Weekly Meal Plan and Shopping List, which is organized in a very handy grid layout. Down the first vertical column you write down what you'll be making on any given day of the week, and in the horizontal boxes to the right of it, what grocery items are needed for said dish, along with any sundries.

Enjoy!