Can you tell that I have lost weight? Although I can’t be sure, I think it had to be about two-hundred pounds or so. See I just placed another big load of clothes, coats, shoes, household items, unwanted (although appreciated) Christmas gifts, and other miscellaneous stuff on my front porch. The charity pickup truck from the Lupus Foundation, www.lupuspickup.org, then came and carried it all away. I feel great about it for two main reasons: The donated items will ultimately go towards helping those battling the disease. Also, I have less clutter in my rooms, cupboards, and closets, helping to create a greater sense of order and peace in our home. So together let’s wage a war on clutter, set ourselves free, and lose some much-needed weight!

A few weekends ago, I had the pleasure of joining in with a group of women to participate in a 5K walk/run. On a beautiful, sunny Saturday morning, we gathered at Lake Calhoun for the First Annual Let’s Move Women and BF (best friends) 5K Run/Walk Race. Organizer Mary Hamilton shared with me that she and fellow organizer, Serena Wright, were inspired by First Lady Michelle Obama’s efforts to fight childhood obesity. They decided to reach out to their network of friends and invite us all participate. We had a wonderful time of fitness, friend-making, and fun. Yet, like the first lady, Mary and Serena feel strongly about the serious matter of our declining health, and organizing this race was their way of being part of the solution, while inspiring others to do the same.

- Urges everyone to take a stand for emotional emancipation -

In an open letter released last week, Dr. Maya Angelou, world-renowned poet, author and educator, has called on people everywhere to wear something sky blue on the third weekend of October to take a stand for “healing,” “psychological liberation” and “emotional freedom.” “We are asking everyone to Wear Sky Blue,” Angelou said, “to show our collective determination to turn the pain of the blues into the sky blue of unlimited possibilities.”

Last month, CNN released the results of a doll study showing that many children, Black and white alike, are still biased in favor of white skin. Angelou pointed to the study as “yet another sign of the continuing power of the myths of white superiority and Black inferiority.” She urged people to “take a stand for emotional emancipation” and “come together in one simple, but powerful, act of solidarity.” “

I don’t know what’s happening at your house right now, but it feels like our family of five is moving 100 mph, and we are only a few weeks into the new school year! This year, two of our three children changed schools and statuses: Our oldest daughter started high school as a ninth grader, and our youngest daughter began middle school as a sixth grader. Our second grade son happily returned to the school he attended last year. Thankfully, everyone seems to be adjusting well.

That is, almost everyone. Every time I think about the fact that I have three kids in three different schools-that are not particularly close to one another-I feel a slight twinge of anxiety. (This is definitely one of the downsides to having your children spaced too far apart in age!) I have recurring nightmares about the kiddos forgetting their major school projects at home (all on the same day) and needing them delivered (all at precisely the same time) to avoid a failing grade. To keep that type of drama to a minimum, I decided it was a good time to review the family chore schedule and tighten it up. I realize that training children, of all ages, to value an orderly living space is an important component in having success at school, work, and in every area of life. In addition, fewer piles of clutter mean fewer places for homework assignments to get lost (or be left), right?

I just finished tucking my Sally Beauty 20% Discount Coupon in my official coupon pouch. I usually go to Sally’s for hair products, so I joined their frequent shopper club. Although they “sell” you the membership for $5, it’s essentially free because they give you a $5 certificate to use the following month. In addition, you receive monthly discount coupons and other perks.

I am feeling so proud of myself these days. See, I used to be one of those folks who clipped coupons every Sunday, but never had them on hand when I got to the checkout register. Those days are over! Now I am always ready to save money, even on impromptu shopping trips because I carry my handy coupon pouch in my purse at all times (bonus: it’s a repurposed clear, zippered pouch, so I can easily see inside to be certain I have all my coupons). It has become as important as my wallet.

While my husband and I are not into casino gambling --it goes against our laws of penny-pinching-- we do, however, really like to snag a deal wherever it may be found. This time we happened to find one we could not pass up in Vegas. We just returned from our first official family vacation and had a wonderful time. To be honest, it was not our intention to head west, but it turns out that this was the best online deal out there (and not that much more expensive than heading up to Brainerd and other popular Minnesota vacation destinations). So if you are looking for a family-friendly getaway that is relatively easy on the wallet, then Viva Las Vegas!

This was supposed to be a big summer for us. Our original plan was to go to Europe, but when our plans fell through we were scrambling to come up with a vacation-plan B, to console our disappointed kids (and their even more disappointed parents). Not wanting to spend oodles of cash-still planning to do Europe next year-we began looking online at cool places in Minnesota that we could reach by car. We were quite surprised at the cost of many of these Minnesota hot spots, and even more surprised to find a lot of them booked solid! That’s when we made the crucial decision to expand our search.