Coffeecake

Get your home office organized--Step one: recycle old diskettes

(Stock Photo)

I am trying desperately to get my home office organized.  Since we moved recently, my desk is now out in the open in the kitchen/breakfast room area and it is a MESS. My desk has to handle everything, from my consulting work, to household papers and craft projects.  As of right now, the top of my desk is covered with papers because I am way behind on filing.  To combat my feelings or being overwhelmed, I am going to try to take things one step at a time.  Hopefully you will find some useful tips. 

One of the goals I would like to achieve while cleaning out my office is to recycle where possible, while keeping my personal information private. To that end, I am going to start by finding out how I can recycle my "technotrash."  Technotrash consists of electronic waste including diskettes, rechargeable batteries, cell phones,computers and peripherals as well as other items.  It is imporant to dispose of this in a safe manner because some of the materials contained in these products are hazardous to the enviroment.  Further, many of these items can be recycled into usable products, reducing overall waste.

I have already recycled many of my larger outdated or broken peripherals such as printers, by bringing them to my local Staples.  Check the Staples website for detailed information and note that Staples does charge to recycle larger items (they also provide a credit for recycling ink cartridges).

My current goal is to get rid of the many 5 1/4 diskettes I have lying around collecting dust.  I have decided to use GreenDisk as my recycling service and will detail my efforts in the days to follow.

My precious girl

Here's a picture of my precious girl, Cupcake, a Pekingese/Shih Tzu mix.  Everyone thinks she has some Cavalier King Charles in her...we think so, too.  Cupcake hails from Buenos Aires, Argentina (I got her when I was living there), and yes, she can understand Spanish!

How to reduce your junk mail

These sites are great for reducing a mailbox full of junk mail and giving your shredder a day off:

www.catalogchoice.org

Create an account and enter the catalogs you no longer wish to receive. There is no cost to sign up.

www.optoutprescreen.com

Opt of  pre-approved credit card offers.

I logged on to both of these sites (they are unrelated) a couple of months ago after reading about them in Consumer Reports.  I am still getting credit card offers, although they seem to have slowed down, and still getting catalogs.  On the Catalog Choice website, you can view the status of your request, and most of mine are still being processed.  Will keep you posted on the progress of my never-ending quest to reduce junk mail!

Great Baby and Children's Bedding--Javis Davis

Today I want to tell you about one of my favorite finds ever. I do lots of my shopping on the Internet, so I was intrigued by the ad in Cookie magazine for a site that claimed to sell custom bedding in a short timeframe.  We adopted our son, and had very little notice between the time we were matched and his birthdate. We had to get a nursery together--fast, but we didn't wanted to buy a bunch of stuff, then have be stuck with it if things fell through.  Enter Javis Davis.  The site has an incredible selection of styles and fabrics for crib bedding, children's bedding, or even adult bedrooms, as they make bedding up to a queen size bed.  The prices are very reasonable, and comparable with store-bought bedding. 

The fabrics they offer include traditional girl/boy styles, as well as contemporary styles.  They have fabrics collections already put together, or you can design your own.  I designed my own transportation-themed crib set.  You can also add throw pillows, quilts, tablecloths and other accessories, also custom-designed.  To guide you in making your decisions you can order fabric swatches, at $3 for a fabric grouping. A plus--the swatches are generously sized.

When I initially called, I got an answering machine, and was a bit nervous about that. The staff promptly called me back.  They are super-friendly and extremely helpful in suggesting ideas, what colors work well together, fabrics that work better for certain products, etc.  The company is a small family-run business out of Alabama, and the products are made in their workshops by a small staff. 

When my crib bedding arrrived, I was amazed at the quality of the workmanship. I sew myself, and I am amazed they can provide the bedding for the cost that they do.
I was so pleased to be able to purchase a product that is actually made in the USA by a local family-owned company.  I was very pleased with the quality of the fabrics, and they have been wearing extremely well.  Family and friends also were amazed at the quality.  I cannot say enough great things about this product!! I was so happy with it that I already ordered twin bedding for my son.  I only wish they made king-size bedding, because I would order it for my own bedroom.

Javis Davis also makes fabric yardage available, if you want to sew your own matching accessories.