Method Mix Bag: March

Welcome to this month’s Mix Bag, a collection of mini posts on random topics that are relevant to me right now. The March Mix Bag includes Disney highlights, using your travel time wisely, why you should digitize your memories now, a reunion in Napa and a prelude to Spring Cleaning. Enjoy!

Disney 

It felt a little weird to be leaving for Disneyland while the most significant European War in 80 years had officially begun but it made the few days together feel all the more precious. We had a wonderful weekend at the parks, jam-packed with rides and over 250K steps between the five of us. As per usual protocol I did my research ahead of time and we were up at 0’Dark Hundred to be at the front of the line for the Rope Drop/Mad Dash to Radiator Spring Racers on Friday and Rise of the Resistance on Saturday.  As per my family’s requirement I gave them plenty of advance warning on the early start, allowed for down/nap time for those who needed it and did due reconnaissance on the new Genie+ so we could maximize our 2 days.  I might do a blog post with recs at some point but for now I’m sharing links to some resources that were helpful to me in my Planning. Mouse Dining to help with the hard-to-get dinner reservations and Trips with Tykes Blog for Genie+ tips & tricks.

Use Travel Time to Declutter 

You may already have rituals in place for what you do on planes, I definitely do. One ritual I’ve added recently is decluttering the photo & file mess on my phone.  Are your photos populated with screen shots of things you want to remember once but not forever?  Are you scrolling  through endless clutter looking for photos?  You can use the time on a flight to get rid of that clutter, and if you travel even just a few times a year you can keep your phone pics clutter-free.  I go through and delete the pics I don’t need.  I also go through all of my screen shots which (Pro Tip alert) I now save to ‘Files’ instead of photos and declutter those as well.  Sometimes the need for a new folder emerges and I have time to create it and get the appropriate files saved to it.  I can do all of this while I’m listening to music, an audio book or a podcast – it’s busy-work that doesn’t require any mental heavy lifting or a wi-fi connection.  Because I do it every time I travel it doesn’t take too long and it feels so good to know I’m photo-clutter-free when I land – highly recommend!

Cautionary Tale 

Why should you preserve your photo memories now? Can’t it wait? The short answer is yes of course it can, but you never know what’s going to happen.  I’m sharing the sad story of a friend and client who was excited to get started on a project documenting her father’s career in the Air Force.  He had photos, certificates, plaques and other memorabilia that we were going to organize, photograph and digitize. The goal was to be able to preserve the memories while letting go of many of the items themselves and creating a book that her father (who suffers from Alzheimer’s) could enjoy. We planned to get started in March and then last week I got a text from her; the storage unit where her father’s memories were housed was robbed and the perpetrators took many of the boxes that contained the memories.  The police are involved of course but there is a good chance that nothing will be recovered. The family is devastated. It’s a cold reminder that you never know what is going to happen and it’s a good idea to invest the time or money to preserve the history of your family now so you are covered if disaster strikes! 

Heading to Wine Country with The Girls 

My best friend’s birthday is in March and we are celebrating in Napa with two of our other friends from High School.  This is a reunion of sorts because while 3 of the 4 of us have stayed close and seen each other with some frequency, the fourth slowly drifted out of the picture until recently when we roped her back into the fold.  We all haven’t been together since the mid-90’s so I’m really excited.  So excited in fact, that beautiful Napa Valley and accompanying activities are a secondary enticement.  For me this trip is mostly about the people- I can’t wait! 

March Focus: Spring Cleaning 

 Spring is almost here and this month I’ll start buying flowers every week when I grocery shop. In March ‘A Method for the Madness’ will be going deep on Spring Cleaning, not so much the actual cleaning but more about taking stock of all areas in your home; getting rid of what needs to go, making improvements to organization systems where needed and general freshening up.  Look for posts focused on specific rooms in your home, keeping kids stuff under control and the most effective systems to put in place that will help you stay organized.

help for ukraine

Five days in to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine hundreds of people are dead, families continue to to flee from their homes in Kyiv, Kharkiv and surrounding villages, and thousands of Ukrainians have instantly become refugees as they try to escape to bordering countries. Protests in Russia and all over Europe have mobilized hundreds of thousands of people calling on Putin to end this invasion attempt. There are multiple ways to help those Ukranians directly impacted by the violence and displacement. If you are unsure about a good way to donate I’m sharing the link to Together Rising, a fund started by the author Glennon Doyle which is where I chose to direct funds. Together Rising has a very strong track record for getting money on the ground quickly and to the places and categories that need it most, which is why I chose them as my avenue to help. Thinking of the brave people and government in Ukraine this week, it helped me to put thoughts into action!