President Elect Barack Obama - 11-4-08

Friends:

I traveled on Election Day so I early voted more than a week before the general election day. I had to be at the airport by 5am to travel to Boston, Massachusetts. I flew from New Orleans to Memphis, where I caught my connecting flight to Boston. In Memphis, I was able to catch some election coverage before my next flight, seeing how long some of lines at the polls were. It was a long travel day. I arrived in Boston around 1pm.

I am presenting a professional development workshop for librarians in the Southeastern Massachusetts Public Library System. My client, Vickie, picked me up from the airport. We then headed to the library’s administration building in Middleboro, Massachusetts. Vickie and I got along great, excited about the upcoming election results. She still had to vote so she whisked me to a pizza place where i ordered a monster calzone to bring to my hotel room.

Once at the room, I turned on the TV, watched for a bit, and then decided to take a little nap. I was exhausted - I had not slept the night before! When I woke up, I Skyped with my family. I watched election results on several networks but mostly CNN. It was looking good for Barack. Then, we all learned that he took Ohio, Pennsylvania and Florida! Once the California polls closed, it was time…

Around 11pm, the news broke. Barack Hussein Obama became the President-Elect. He will be the 44th President of the United States. The news was moving. I truly relate to Barack. I am the daughter of an immigrant. My mother is from the Philippines. I lived abroad as a child. I also lived in Hawaii (at the same time as Barack too). I come from a middle class family. I am of mixed race.

I was moved to tears. I knew that I had witnessed a truly great piece of American history. Not only did America vote for change, but we saw the face of America change right before our eyes. We now have an African American man who will be the next great leader of the free world. Barack Obama united people of all races and creeds. He motivated a nation into action, a nation once lulled into political apathy.

Barack Obama’s speech was equally moving. He reiterated his “Yes we can!” message and reminded us that the victory was not his, but ours.

Here is a portion of his speech:

“This is our moment. This is our time - to put our people back to work and open doors of opportunity for our kids; to restore prosperity and promote the cause of peace; to reclaim the American Dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth that out of many, we are one; that while we breathe, we hope, and where we are met with cynicism, and doubt, and those who tell us that we can’t, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people: Yes, we can.”

I even received a thank you email from President-Elect Obama, a message he emailed and texted to all of his supporters.

I am proud to have been a part of this moment in American history. I don’t normally espouse my political views but I believe it’s time for all of the people of the United States of America to come together, united under one flag as one people. It’s time for change, a change that will ripple around the world. It’s time for change that will unite our country and change that reaches out to other countries. It’s time… I believe definitely that, “Yes we can.”

Until next time…

Warmly, Dianne

ORGANIZED AND ENERGIZED! - PART 7 THE MASTER BEDROOM
By Dianne de Las Casas

The Master Bedroom
The bedroom is the first and last place you see every day. It should be your space, a space you can relax in – watch the news before you snooze, listen to a favorite song, or read your favorite magazine. It is the place you begin your day – the bedroom’s condition can affect your daily mood! You deserve a place that welcomes you, a bed that wraps itself around you.

• The Bed – The bed is the focal point of a bedroom. Treat yourself to hotel-quality sheets and pillows. Buy a beautiful comforter or duvet. Make your bed every day. Accent the bed with decorative pillows. You should feel like you are retreating to a luxury hotel room every night.

Notice the bench at the end of the bed. It serves as a place to put on socks and shoes, and has the bonus of added storage for extra blankets and linens. Candles and flowers add to the romance of the bedroom.

• The Night Stand – Find a nightstand that has ample storage. On top you will need space for a lamp (unless you have wall-mounted lighting), tissues, a carafe of water, an alarm clock and reading material. If you like to read before going to bed, consider a basket to organize your reading materials.

I designed this Southwest bedroom for a family in Texas. This room was once blue. It is now a rich red clay and gold umbre. I designed the room around the poncho hanging behind the bed and a sandstone tile the couple brought back from Arizona. The result is striking. Notice the bedside tables on each side, clear of clutter.

• Put your clothes away – It may seem kindergarten rules but it’s important. Dirties are placed in the hamper. Jackets and pants you can wear again are hung up. Laundry is put away promptly.

• Closet Organizer – Consider hiring a professional to organize your closet. Or if you are a DIY (do-it-yourself) type of person, there are great closet systems available at your local home center. Here’s a great tip for getting ready in the morning. Set out everything you need the night before. It eliminates several minutes of indecision. Think head to toe - what will you wear? I do it as do my children. It makes the morning routine a snap.

• De-clutter - Clear surfaces of clutter. A man can use a valet to organize his wallet, watch, etc. Consider purchasing a charging station that charges several electronic devices at once – cell phone, PDA, portable music player, digital camera, etc. This is my husband’s valet. It’s good for keys, coins, and a general catchall.

• Jewelry organizer – If you have a lot of jewelry pieces, consider a jewelry chest or armoire to organize your jewelry. Another way I like to organize my jewelry is to store sets in small zippered bags (I found mine in the craft section of Wal-Mart). Then I slip the bags into a zippered CD storage case (with four CDs to a page). When I want jewelry, I just flip through the pages and pick the set I need. When I travel, I transfer a smaller amount into a small zippered CD case with single CD pages.

• Romance - Beautify your room with florals, candles and soft lighting. Turn on the music and meditate or make love.

There is a Shaker saying that a friend of mine taught me, “If it can be put down, it can be put up.” Put up the clutter; don’t put up with the clutter! This is your year to get organized and energized. Here’s to beautiful spaces. Here’s to beautiful you!

Organized and Energized! - Part 5 The Kids Room
By Dianne de Las Casas

The Kid’s Room
Because we are a society of consumerism, our children tend to have more “stuff” than we did as children. Not only do our children have toys, they also have TVs, DVD players, video games, handheld games, computers, stereos, books, DVDs, CDs, arts and craft materials, AND clothes all in ONE room! That’s a lot of “stuff!” Don’t worry – my children fall in that category too. Where do we put it all?

• ACT! – Yes, the kid’s room is one of the places you need to ACT - Assess, Clear, and Take control. Assess by looking at your child’s room as “zones.” Each zone has a different purpose.

• The Rest/Lounge Zone - I believe that children, like adults, need a restful place to retreat to. Their bed and bed area is just as important as ours. Young growing bodies need plenty of rest so a quality bed is essential. I also believe that the bed is a child’s safe haven, a place for sweet dreams. Dress up the bed and make it a focal point of the room. This is Eliana’s bed (my 7 year old). It is a bunk bed with a full-size mattress on the bottom and a single-size mattress on top. It’s perfect for sleepovers and company. It’s also the lounge area, TV watching area, and with the addition of a couple of blankets tucked under the top mattress, it becomes a fort, a castle, a cave, a ship, or a house. The possibilities are endless. Eliana loves her bed!

• Entertainment Zone - The TV, DVD player, stereo, video games, handheld games, DVDs, and CDs go in this area.

• Study and creative Zone – The desk, computer, and arts & crafts supplies go in this area. This is Eliana’s, my 7 year old’s, study and creative zone. The large princess hat box stores her “memories,” special cards, certificates, awards, artwork and photos from this school year. A corkboard allows her to display favorite items. Dolls she wants to keep but does not frequently play with are stored at the top. A re-purposed and hand-decorated canister holds pens, pencils and stickers. Drawers hold markers, crayons, art supplies, and paper. The upper cabinets house DVDS, games, and “make-up” (lip glosses, lotions, and body sprays).

• Library Zone – A bookshelf and reading materials belong in this area. Eliana has A LOT of books. Like her mother, she is a readaholic. We installed other shelves to house stuffed animals, paper dolls, and other collectibles.

I designed a room for my brother’s girls (Ages 5, 6 & 8). The problem was a small, roughly 10X12′ room that needed to fit three girls (four when Eliana spends the night). To solve this problem, we used bunk beds and a color coded storage system. The room, previously an office, was painted blue. I liked the color but added electric green stripes around the room to give the room a vibrant look. We didn’t want “pinky” walls but the room is still decidedly girly because of the whole color palette. Our theme was “Garden Fairies.” The curtain is an inexpensive, no-sew project, made of four twin bed sheets! Notice the clear storage bins under the bed - yes, we used all available storage.

• Play Zone – Toys and dress-up costumes should be contained in this area. For young children, think “kindergarten.” Use colorful bins to divide the toys. Remember the “Like with Like” rule – action figures in one bin, blocks in another, Legos in another, race cars in another, etc. Look for a toy chest with multiple uses. My oldest daughter had a toy chest that had a built-in bookshelf. My youngest daughter has a toy chest that doubles as a bench.

My nieces love to play dress up. So I added a small vanity donated by my mother in a corner by, appropriately, the closet. The vanity houses a lamp, tiaras, lip glosses, and jewelry. Above the vanity hangs a painting created by my 17 year old daughter. It’s an area fit for garden princesses!

In my nieces’ room, there was no room for a toy box. I conquered this problem with color-coded storage bins stored on two book shelves. Camrynn is pink, Ashlynn is green, and Jasmynn is yellow. Jasmynn’s bin is on the lowest shelf because she is the youngest and the shortest. Each girl has their own set of shelves. The remaining shelves are community shelves for items like books and toys they all play with. The bulky closet door was replaced with a colorful curtain (a $20 shower curtain).

• Dress Zone – Clothes should be divided between the closet (use a system that has bars low enough for your child to reach) and a dresser.

• Clear out outgrown clothes – Do it seasonally. If your child has a birthday or gift-receiving holiday coming up, purge your child’s room (with his/her help, of course). Get rid of the old to make room for the new.

• Folding Laundry - Teach your children how to fold laundry and put it away. Play music or a favorite DVD while they do it – “whistle while you work.” My 7 year old daughter has been folding laundry since she was four. She knows exactly where everything goes. Not only does she take pride in the job, it relieves my husband and me of that weekly burden.

• Teach your children, no matter what age, to make their bed every day. Younger children can “help” while children five and older can shoulder the responsibility themselves. Making the bed should be a required morning chore, before breakfast. Always in a rush? Wake up five minutes earlier so everyone can make their bed.

• Teen Rooms – Teens’ rooms work much the way younger children’s rooms work. Toys are replaced by guitars, laptops, and more sophisticated video games (DDR, the Wii, and Guitar Hero). The same rules apply – divide the room into zones. Consider a daybed or a futon sofa so that your teen’s friends can hang out in the room. Use a small laundry basket so that they will be forced to do a weekly load (yes, they should do it themselves – they are leaving the house soon, you hope…). Require that they make the bed every day. This is the bed of my teen daughter, Soleil (17).

My teen daughter, Soleil (17), collects unusual purses. She receives them as gifts as well as from travels. We display her purses, which she also uses on a regular basis, in the same area to give the collection impact. Not all of her purses are on display - some are on display and she changes them out or purges them as new ones arrive.

Most of all, praise your children when for a job well done. Tell them how proud you are of them and the work they did in their space (yes, your teen too!).

There is a Shaker saying that a friend of mine taught me, “If it can be put down, it can be put up.” Put up the clutter; don’t put up with the clutter! This is your year to get organized and energized. Here’s to beautiful spaces. Here’s to beautiful you!