I decided to come back at the right time. My kitchen is one big horrid mess. The last few months have been crazy busy. I will definitely be working for points today! I have good news, and one of the reasons I haven't been around: Wipf & Stock is going to publish my e-book: What You Didn't Learn in Sunday School: Women Who Didn't Shut Up & Sit Down! So it's going to be a paperback and professional done e-book from a traditional publisher. I'm very, very happy. I also printed out everything to make up a housecleaning schedule because I need to get back to taking care of my poor home. Getting back to minimum maintenance is an absolute must! I hope everyone is doing well!

It's also a personal thing for me this year. My cousin died earlier this year of breast cancer. Take good care of your jugs ladies.

This comment is not related at all to today's small thing. October is Breast Cancer Awareness month, and I was wondering if you would repost my all time favorite Small Thing this week: Taking care of your jugs? I'm sure some of the newer Company Girls would love it. :)

This is the perfect small thing for today. Chicago is one grey, dreary, and rainy downer of day. A few candles would definitely brighten the day up.

I woke up this morning with my sinuses in an uproar. The sinus medicine is slowly chipping away at it, but I think a nice cup of tea will help it along. It's also cloudy, grey and very England-like around here, so I think today's Small Thing is perfect. I'm thinking of a nice Chamomile. Although normally I'm a big black tea drinker with Earl Grey and Assams being my favorites. I'm very happy with myself because I've gotten back in the habit of Minimum Maintenance. It is absolutely amazing what 10-15 minutes of picking up & cleaning up in the evening does for my home.

Whoo-hoo! I've already done the small thing. I cleaned the bathroom today and vacuumed it. It was horrendous--the bathroom. The thing I need to do is get back to minimum maintenance and a housekeeping schedule. I'm also planning on vacuuming the rest of the condo as there is cat hair, kitty litter, and food particles all over the place. I think there's wooden floors somewhere under all of that....

May be it's time to get rid of the big, billowing flannel nightgown The Hubby is always teasing me about. I also have a really old nightgown that I never wear because it never smells right--even after I wash it. May be I don't need to be that frugal....

Rachel everything looks so beautiful! I love what you did with the mirror! You're making me think how I can repurpose things I have. Congratulations on being almost done and good luck with the hutch! When you get a chance let us know how your father-in-law is doing.

I will be praying for Bob. I'm so glad everything worked out. We had that kind of scare with The Hubby earlier this year. He had chest pains, and we went to the ER where everything turned out fine. His pain was caused by a pinched nerve under his left shoulder. You can't be too careful with chest pain. I'm glad you were able to tell your in-laws to get to the hospital now.

That' works for me. We're in Nebraska this week visiting the in-laws, and the 3rd week of August we'll be in Las Vegas for magic conference, so I won't be home half the month anyway. Can't wait to see your projects: especially the door-sized one.

Your daughter and I married around the same time. My Hubby and I celebrated our fifth anniversary on May 26. We're late bloomer married people, and I think that's a good way to go too. :) I want to see how the art piece goes; along with Katharine, I'm intrigued. Have a great weekend!

I've actually been trying to do this. I'm horrible about leaving my shoes all over the place. First thing I do when I get in is kick them off. I'll make sure I do a sweep through to day to see if any of them have been loafing under my radar.

This is something you could put up once a week. I'm sure I have offenders that need to be chucked. My poor house needs a little sanctuary. Hoping to get back in the swing and part of the community again.

I can't even see the top of my coffee table. Plus I need to pull some fall stuff out anyway....

OK I want to know how to get rid of the rings under my eyes!

Thank for the reminder to get back to the basics. I needed both the reminder of minimum maintenance and the housekeeping schedule from last week. I always forget what a HUGE difference minimum maintenance makes then get back to doing and am amazed at how good my home looks. Here's to getting back on track.

I'm glad your July was full of fabulousness. And my poor sanctuary needs the daily tips. I was thinking yesterday that my inbox was getting a little out of hand, so I will be going through emails later today. But first I want to go through the 2nd edit of the first chapter of Career Women of the Bible. Yes! I finally finished writing the 1st chapter. It's not near as bad as I thought it would be. Well once I got rid of all the passive voice, stopped flipping between present and past tense verbs, and deleted as many "just's" and "in fact's" that I could (I like those two words way too much). But the proposal is now more than half way done! 2 chapters written and one to finish! Yahoo!

Wow what beautiful mosaics and painting. Thank you for sharing them with us.

Hi Margaret. You were right above me when I posted my reply at SITS Girls. Some of the most creative people I know are quilters. I can see why you look to them for inspiration in your own art.

So I get points for My Hubby doing the dishes? (Our deal is I cook and he does dishes.)

I will be savoring all weekend: in 30 minutes I'm heading out for our church's women's retreat. I'm so ready to get away. The last couple of weeks have been hell-acious for me. I'm totally stuck with writing and business which causes all kinds of stuck and shutting down from overwhelm and anxiety, plus I had migraine problems this weekend. I'm saying good-bye to it all and getting away with a wonderful group of women. We intentionally create a safe space for everyone, and we love to have fun. Plus there will be smores and wine! And lots of food! I hope all the Company Girls have a good weekend. I'll say pray for all of you this weekend.

I started noticing last night that the eau de kitty litter was wafting further and further down the hall. I'll clean it out and take out the trash. It's not smelling but the tub needs to be scrubbed down too.

Things are going really good here. A prayer of thanksgiving for both of us being healthy, my depression is under control, and the sun finally coming out and warming Chicago up. My one prayer request is that I have a bajillion ideas for my business, and I need to pick a few and focus. I pray God will help me discern which ones to focus and which to leave on the backburner. Dear Company Girls, I have prayed for all of you on this list, and will hold you up in my prayers before bed.

I am determined to get back on The Small Things bandwagon. I really fell off last month. I did both First Things First yesterday and cleared away my three things today: I folded up a pile of laundry on the bed, cleaned off the coffee table, and straightened up the magazines. Now I need to get back to Minimum Maintenance.