The Frantic Woman's Guide to Life: A Year's Worth of Hints, Tips, and Tricks
The Frantic Woman's Guide to Life: A Year's Worth of Hints, Tips, and Tricks
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Overview
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9780446555081 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Grand Central Publishing |
| Publication date: | 12/21/2008 |
| Sold by: | Hachette Digital, Inc. |
| Format: | eBook |
| File size: | 435 KB |
Read an Excerpt
The Frantic Woman's Guide To Life
A Years Worth of Hints, Tips and Tricks
By Mary Jo Rulnick and Judith Burnett Schneider
Warner Books
Copyright © 2004
Mary Jo Rulnick and Judith Burnett Schneider
All right reserved.
ISBN: 0-446-69059-7
Chapter One
Introduction
Franticness has invaded all of our lives at one time or another. For some,
living the hectic life is a day-to-day occurrence. For others, the
scatterbrained lifestyle might come in spurts like during the back-to-school
crunch and at the holidays. Sure, we've all mumbled, "If I can get through this
week, life will be easier." And we want to believe it.
Sometimes it even holds true for a few blissful days. Then, pow, another shift
occurs in our well-planned agenda. That curve might involve a minor incident
like a car pool mom who's stuck in traffic, leaving you to take the kids to
practice-although you're already running late for a meeting. Or it might be
something as unsettling and uncontrollable as a sudden illness or being laid off
from work. The level of franticness and the cause are different for everyone.
And yet the very existence of it remains constant for most of us.
Since we've had our share of minor and major incidents (though overall we
consider ourselves to be trulyblessed), we can identify with you. In writing
this book, one snafu after another cropped up, adding to our frantic pace. And
yes, we found ourselves repeating, "When this xiv.book is completed, life will
return to normal." But did it? Definitely not. Why? Because we choose to pack as
much into our days as we can-harvesting from life as much bounty as it has to
offer. Though there are times when we would readily welcome five minutes of
peace, on the whole, we wouldn't want life any other way.
Between us, we have five kids ranging from kindergarten to college age, two
husbands with long, nontraditional working hours, two writing careers, one job
outside the home, an hour's driving distance between our homes (and that's
without construction traffic) so we can say, "Feeling frantic? Us too!"
From our experiences, then, we've collected the tips and ideas that have helped
us get by (along with those of others who were so willing to share) and created
The Frantic Woman's Guide to Life. Take your time, browse through the book, and
pick and choose which suggestions you'd like to put to the test.
How This Book Works
In The Frantic Woman's Guide to Life, we've developed a system that will enable
you to refer back to timely tips month after month, making a less hectic
lifestyle more possible. Before you start, we suggest you obtain a notebook or a
spiral-bound journal that we'll refer to as your Frantic Journal. Throughout the
book, we'll suggest you jot ideas and answer quizzes in your journal-a book
that's for your eyes only. It will contain your dreams and wishes, along with
your long- and short-term goals.
Part one of this book, "Year Round," addresses the primary responsibilities of a
woman's daily life-all those duties that must be accomplished every day, week,
or month of the year from the swishing of the washing machine to the sizzling of
the frying pan. Though many frantic women have the chance to surface-clean, the
nitty-gritty, deep-down (from the closets to the garage) throwaway type of
cleaning seems to escape us at every turn. Therefore, in addition to our
time-tested traditional tips, we've included suggestions for adding a new twist
to the old standbys that will help you zip through those mundane chores.
Part two, "Month-by-Month," focuses on every month of the year.
In chapters covering "January" through "December," you'll discover steps to help
you organize life's crazy schedule and the course you find yourself taking
whether you want to or not. You'll find memory joggers for everyday jobs,
seasonal tidbits, and holiday reminders you might need to execute. Each month is
divided into three sections starting with "Whip It into Shape." This segment
deals with the organizational, hands-on process of maintaining your household.
Next, you'll move into our section called "Darling Little Angels (And the Whole
Blissful Bunch)," where you'll come across techniques to involve the gang in the
cleaning process, to keep the peace surrounding your immediate and extended
members, and to plan family fun, too. And last, but not least, is our "All About
You" installment highlighting suggestions for tweaking your family, home, and
work life into balance, while carving out the time you need to rejuvenate. At
the end of every month, the "One-Step-at-a-Time Checklist" offers a detailed
summary of what you should have accomplished throughout the month. For
simplicity in tracking where you've been and what you've completed, all you have
to do is mark for each task performed.
In part three of the Guide to Life, "A Wee Bit More," you'll read lists
detailing everything from what to stock in your pantry, to what to pack when
sending the kids off to camp, to the must-have necessities for a college-bound
student. These lists can be photocopied and laminated for your convenience.
The final "Resources" segment provides a quick reference for the books, Web
sites, software, and organizations recommended and referred to throughout the
book, eliminating the need for you to search through the entire text for a
specific telephone number or Internet addy (address).
We realize life will still bamboozle you-throwing zingers, obstacles, and
roadblocks your way-but our goal is to provide you with the tips we've
accumulated along our own frantic paths, leveling the bumps and smoothing the
course just for you.
And we're off!
Frantically,
Mary Jo and Judith
(Continues...)
Excerpted from The Frantic Woman's Guide To Life
by Mary Jo Rulnick and Judith Burnett Schneider
Copyright © 2004 by Mary Jo Rulnick and Judith Burnett Schneider.
Excerpted by permission.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.
Table of Contents
| Introduction | xiii | |
| Part 1 | Year Round | 1 |
| Getting Started | 3 | |
| Part 2 | Month-by-Month | 69 |
| January / Organizing | 71 | |
| February / Connecting | 97 | |
| March / Spring-Cleaning | 121 | |
| April / Meeting Deadlines | 137 | |
| May / Healthy Life | 157 | |
| June / Summer Kickoff | 175 | |
| July / Cruising | 197 | |
| August / Back to Reality | 219 | |
| September / Adjusting | 237 | |
| October / Balance | 265 | |
| November / Giving Thanks | 287 | |
| December / Entertaining | 307 | |
| Part 3 | A Wee Bit More | 335 |
| P.S. | 337 | |
| Resources | 377 | |
| Index | 383 |