For Brenda Small, 55, who is in charge of her Ottawa church's annual rummage sale, a system is critical. She contacts people well in advance of the dates she needs help, and lines up community advertising with letters that are quickly revised each year with a new date. "I have it all on the computer," she says.
Small, an artist and former English as a Second Language (ESL) teacher, is equally organized at home. She keeps paper and a pencil at her bedside in case a good idea awakens her at night. Instead of always cooking two portions for herself and husband Doug, she cooks extra portions and freezes them for later meals. When she cooks potatoes, for instance, she boils enough to have them mashed one night or in potato salad another. Small also sticks to an exercise routine, working out three mornings a week, and often walks in the afternoon. She keeps an old wastebasket filled with labelled envelopes to file receipts for income tax.
Small is equally diligent with her personal commitments. She and Doug make regular dates to care for their two young granddaughters. "If we say we're going to do that with the kids so many days a week, we get out and do it," she says.
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