MyConciergePlus

thank goodness today is over

noreply@blogger.com (myconciergeplus) — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 04:12:00 +0000

Yes it bears repeating - thank goodness today is over. The day started optimistically enough. I returned to the gym after a few week break for the holidays. I felt rejuvenated and ready to tackle the day. Then I came home. What a mess. Day 14 and more deconstruction and toxic cleansers and mess. I just wonder how many more times I will need to completely clean each item in my kitchen? So I just gave up and gave in. I wallowed and felt lousy. Luckily, I seem to have snapped out of it because that feeling is awful. I realize how lucky I am: noone got hurt, my house is still standing. But sometimes the mess, the inconvenience and the not having any power to make decisions about fixing anything drives me mad! I do think everyone is entitled to a good wallow but I also realize my wallow impacts my whole family. My kids came home happy and sensed my mood - theirs immediately changed. That is not to say they can't see that I have had a bad day but we do need to filter them from some of our "stuff". I am not always great at filtering but I am trying to learn. Growing up is hard even at 40 and some lessons are easier to learn. In light of lessons, I sent out a survey trying to learn what about My Concierge Plus works and where we can improve. The feedback has been very interesting. I really appreciate all the sugestions and will do my best to fulfill all the requests. It is not always easy to read the negative feedback but like any lesson I have to learn from it and use it to better myself and our services. So all in all it was a tough day. I am glad it is over and tomorrow will start fresh with more cleaning and more optimism!

Sunday night...

noreply@blogger.com (myconciergeplus) — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 02:04:00 +0000

Sunday night and the weekend is almost done. I am sad because I do love to sleep in. However part of me is relieved because I feel like I have fallen behind in my work and once the kids are back at school I can start playing catchup. Sigh, isn't that sad. I love my kids and I love spending time with them. I just hate feeling torn between the time spent with them and the overwhelming pile of paper that needs to be attended to. Every once in a while I get overwhelmed and then I flip out a little and then spend a Saturday night playing catch up. (I know, I know I really have a life!!!)The sad part is it actually does make me feel better. I can look around my desk and breathe again. The piles are gone and so is the frustration. The last 2 weeks have really been quite insane. I kind of feel like I need this Monday to come so we can all try to get back into a routine. I wonder where my kids get their need for a routine, regular pace! All that being said I still wish the alarm could wait until 8:00 to go off not 6:30. happy Sunday night everyone.

is your living room a gym?

noreply@blogger.com (myconciergeplus) — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 14:45:00 +0000

Is your living room a gym too?

I often ponder whether my children are the only ones who use the living room as a gym? Apparently our couches are the perfect design for climbing, jumping and cartwheeling onto & off of. Now I am an advocate of physical fitness like anyone but really my living room? I have asked, begged and threatened hundreds of times. Now I am serious. I finally put my foot down. In the midst of the ongoing chaos our living/dining room has become a kitchen, homework zone, tv room, storage room and it is still the one room that feelslike a grown up space (pre-chaos). Is it wrong to want one room for adult conversation? So i finally used the ultimate tool. I warned both monkey monsters (or children) that the next time the room is used for gymanastics they lose computer/ds/wii/tv time. Well I think that might have scared them. We shall see but in the meantime maybe my all purpose room will be used for one less purpose. And if all else fails you may hear my shrieking across town!

What you may ask does this have to do with My Concierge Plus? Nothing except it is yet another aspect of being a mom, worker bee and homemaker. While trying to juggle it all, their use of the living room as a gym tips the balance of the scale so that the balls come tumbling down and I just want to tear my hair out.

So if your monkeys are driving you crazy and your scale is being tipped - fear not you are not alone!

However one thing you can do is give My Concierge Plus your to-do list and we can take care of some of that stress.
Labels: Delegation

Blogging

noreply@blogger.com (myconciergeplus) — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 02:44:00 +0000

I never quite imagined myself as a blogger. But I must confess I am enjoying it. I have found it very cathartic to write about the ongoing chaos in our home. I am sure many people, unfortunately, can relate to the stress imposed by unforeseen home renovations. Our kitchen smells like a bonfire pit and has now been moved to our living room, our clothes and linens are at a dry cleaners and the house is kind of upside down. Yet I have still managed to sort of cook meals and have family dinners (except for tonight when we did pizza at a friend's house). Our goal is to try to normalize our lives as much as possible for the kid's sake. I don't know about your kids but ours thrive on routine. They are not suited to alot of upheaval. They like being home and living a fairly quiet life. By the end of our weekend at a hotel they were begging to go home.

I love our home. It suits us and our lifestyle. Upheaval and all there is no place I prefer to spend time (except maybe the occasional beach in the winter) than here at home. I love hibernating here in the winter. My parents will babysit on a weekend during the winter and then ask us why we did not go out. The main reason is we are homebodies.

I have to confess it was not always this way. We always loved our house but before we had Tina reorganize us it wasn't always relaxing to be here. I would want to be out because the clutter overwhelmed me. I remember her telling me that once we got organized our house would be more peaceful and you know what she was right. Christmas holiday 2008-09 was the very first time I remember spending lots of time at home without loking around and thinking about how much there was to do, to clean, and to organize. It was truly a relaxing staycation because everything had a home and all the piles were purged.

So even though chaos is reigning supreme right now, I know calm and peace will return. Sigh, I can't wait.

Day 3 of chaos & My Nesting Solution

noreply@blogger.com (myconciergeplus) — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 14:00:00 +0000

Day 3 of settling back into a house thrown into chaos:

Late in the day yesterday & still no call from the insurance company (6 days post fire), the disaster crew came and installed plastic zip up doors to get in and out of my kitchen. They did this to keep the bonfire smell restricted to the kitchen. My kitchen is now a bubble. When I am in it I cannot hear anything outside (the fact that I am partially deaf does not help). However it is an excellent escape hatch when everyone is driving me crazy. I was going to start cooking dinner after carpool when I realized that the smell was so overpowering in the kitchen that I could not breathe. So I began moving my major cooking appliances : microwave and brand spanking new ginormous toaster oven into the dining room. Dinner had been marinating and I was going to make it NO MATTER WHAT! So I plug in the toaster and microwave and start moving between the biohazardous bubble of a kitchen and the dining room. Zip, unzip, zip, unzip, crouch, crouch, crouch. I come to the realization that my back is too old for this nonsense. I cannot cook on the floor and keep darting in & out. Thankfully my devoted and handy husband showed up as I was about to explode. We ate dinner (which was yummy considering the obstacles) and then he brought up a table for me.

My husband likes to tease me about how I like to nest. Whenever we travel and we get to a hotel I need to unpack, organize our stuff and get settled. He has coined the term "nesting" for this need of mine to turn each place into my home. After dinner I nested - BIG TIME. He set up the table and we put my major appliances including my coffeemaker (which I don't know about you but is key to me!)on the table. Then I sorted my dishes nearby, cutlery, glassware, and some pencils and erasers for homework. My house is still a mess but at least I feel nested. Now if only I could stop losing patience when my kids do cartwheels in the living room and use the sofa as a trampoline. But that is a topic for another day!

So however you need to cope, whether it is nesting or asking for help, find your solution that works for you. After all everyone should focus on what they do best and let others take care of the rest.

Is your living room a gym too?

noreply@blogger.com (myconciergeplus) — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 02:10:00 +0000

I often ponder whther my children are the only ones who use the living room as a gym? Apparently our couches are the perfect design for climbing, jumping and cartwheeling onto & off of. Now I am an advocate of physical fitness like anyone but really my living room? I have asked, begged and threatened hundreds of times. Now I am serious. I finally put my foot down. In the midst of the ongoing chaos our living/dining room has become a kitchen, homework zone, tv room, storage room and it is still the one room that feelslike a grown up space (pre-chaos). Is it wrong to want one room for adult conversation? So i finally used the ultimate tool. I warned both monkey monsters (or children) that the next time the room is used for gymanastics they lose computer/ds/wii/tv time. Well i think that might have scared them. We shal see but in the meantime maybe my all purpose room will be used for one less puepose. And if all esle fails you may hear my shrieking across town!

What you may ask does this have to do with My Concierge Plus? Nothing except it is yet another aspect of being a mom, worker bee and homemkaer. While trying to juggle it all their use of the living room as a gym tips the balance of the scale so that the balls come tumbling down and I just want to tear my hair out.

So if your monkeys are driving you carzy and your scale is being tipped - fear not you are not alone!

However one thing you can do is give My Concierge Plus your to-do list and we can take care of some of that stress.

A New Year!

noreply@blogger.com (myconciergeplus) — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 01:41:00 +0000

Happy belated new year. I am a few days late because my life has been upside down. I ended off 2009 with a bang, or rather a burn. We had a fire in our kitchen on the 30th of December. I was preparing a delicious dinner for my family. I had spent all morning cooking and pretending to be Martha Stewart while my children vegged out around the house. Later that day, to my horror, not only was the chicken cooking but so was my kitchen. The firefighters came and thankfully saved the day. They rescued the house - which apparently was a mere 5 minutes away from total destruction.

So the new year is off to a crazy start. However, we decided to make the best out of a bad situation. We had to move out for 4 days, for the cleaners to come in and begin the "disaster restoration". So we packed up the kids and stayed at a hotel. We tried to relax and deal with the situation. Yesterday we returned home to a giant mess. Thankfully, I had the help of my family, friends and my housekeeper and things looked much better by the end of the day. We still have tons left to do but I figure I need to take it one step at a time and one day at a time.

I have decided to make use of this fire as a time to reorganize my house. A fantastic cleaning company came and took EVERYTHING away for cleaning - clothes, linens, shoes. My new year's resolution is to go through everything and decide if it is really useful before putting it away again. Tina, our organizer, will be so proud of me. I am looking at this as an excellent opportunity to really get the house in shape again, because even though Tina organized us from top to bottom last year - I let certain things slide as I ran short on time. So all in all I am trying to cope with the upheaval the best way I know how and that is bit by bit. I am always telling people that it is okay to ask for help, well this is my time to ask for help. I am just so lucky that I have so many people I can count on and that I can turn to for that help.

Delegation

noreply@blogger.com (myconciergeplus) — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 15:45:00 +0000

I recently hired a new housekeeper whose job is to basically maintain my sanity. That sounds like a tall order but DELEGATING my housework is one of the key ways I do maintain some semblance of sanity. I work full time, raise 2 kid, volunteer in their school and I HATE housework. My life is not vastly different from most other working moms - busy days, second shift starts at 4 pm, tired by 10 pm. How I am different is that I am happy to announce that I am not SUPERWOMAN. I find it very hard to get it all done and done well in a day. I would much prefer to focus on my kids, my clients and my to do list than clean my house. In fact, when my new housekeeper said she can cook (and since cooking is one of the things (though I love to do it) I find hard to find time for) I decided to try it out. I DELEGATED dinner to her the other night. We finallly arrived home about 5:45 pm after school, ot, math tutoring and picking up my best babysitter (my mom) we came home and dinner was ready. It was also fresh, healthy and delicous. What a huge relief. I felt glorious. I was able to sit down with my kids while they ate, talk about their day, prepare their lunches and off I went to Gourmet knowing I had delegated wisely. So even though we all strive to be SUPERWOMAN I think it is okay to give ourselves permission not to HAVE to be one. Delegation, as someone who is VERY successful once told me is the key to success. So remember folks focus on what you do best & let My Concierge Plus take care of the rest.

The Joys of Travelling

noreply@blogger.com (myconciergeplus) — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 15:04:00 +0000

Recently my aunt & uncle left for a one month vacation. They notified everyone of their plans, packed their bags, and off they went to to enjoy some much needed r&r. The day after they left the alarm went off in one of their houses,the next day the batteries in their fire detector expired and the clock on their old oven decided to start buzzing non stop. They sent emails can you please change the batteries, follow up with the alarm compnay and call the service company to dismantle the clock. All of this takes time, emails back and forth and organization. It made me even more aware of how helpful it is to have someone as your back up while you are gone. Normally when you travel we focus on the adventure to come: the fun, the excitement (for me some shopping) and especially the food. However, when you are a homeowner and pet owner, travel also entails the responsibility of manitaining your home and caring for your pet during your absence. Havng someone you know you can trust and is there to look after your interests is key to a pleasant vacation. It means you can leave safe & secure in the knowledge that someone is there as your point person. Aren't they so luck then that their designated person is a professional! In essence they hired My Concierge Plus to look after ther interests while they are away which allows them the luxury of not just a vacation but a worry free vacation.

It's Saturday Morning...

noreply@blogger.com (myconciergeplus) — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 14:19:00 +0000

In our house Saturday morning means many things
1) sleeping in - thank goodness for the small pleasures
2) coffee, whole wheat challah (YUM!) and the morning paper
3) then homework...AARGH!

Do you find yourself the homework police? Sometimes I dread weekends just because I know it is full of homework. The kids do some each night but the weekends are reserved for the projects, book reports, review for tests, etc. Most weekends it goes almost smoothly but sometimes I just feel lke a tyrant. Sit down, focus, get it done. I know it's not fun but it's your job so suck it up. Those are the conversations in our house.

Well talk about delegating - this is one of those tasks I would not mind delegating. I hate to be such a meanie. I wish I could be mellow about it but the work has got to get done and I prefer to get it out of the way immediately so it doesn't hang over heads for the rest of the weekend. I also hate to leave things to the last minute. I find it stressful. I prefer to get the work done as it comes in because you never know what else pops up.

Life always seems to throw extra things our way and we can't always get it done in the way we want or on time. So when life throws one too many things at you or you would just rather be doing something more fun (like supervising homework?) Remember to give us your list and we'll take care of the rest.

www.myconciergeplus.com

My Favorite Night of the Month

noreply@blogger.com (myconciergeplus) — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 03:23:00 +0000

My favorite night of the month is my "Gourmet" night. Every month for the last 10 1/2 years a group of some of my closest friends and I have gotten together. We cook on a theme and get together to talk, eat, drink and laugh. I cherish these nights more than almost anything.

We are all so busy in our day to day lives with our families, work both in and out of our homes, after school activities, and general life that it is quite amazing that each month we still come together. Tonight a reporter from the Suburban joined us. It was interesting to hear everyone's perspective on the longevity of the group and our commitment to it. It all boiled down to one thing - Frienship- in the truest sense of the word. We are all there for one another no matter what. We have stood by each other through - lack of sleep with newborns, the terrible two's, choosing elemntary schools, the onset of the preteen years, now high schools. We have supported each other through pregnancies, miscarriages, some family deaths, and soon we begin planning bar/bat mitzot. It is amazing to me how this group has grown into my second family. We help each other out and care for and support one another.

It has reminded me once again how truly blessed I am.

Help I am stressed by blogging

noreply@blogger.com (myconciergeplus) — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 13:44:00 +0000

OMG I just sat down to RELAX and write a very long overdue entry on my blog. Innocently sitting on my couch in my pjs on a lazy rainy October morning only to discover that according to the site I have never posted a blog. But I have I said to myself. I can see it on my site and link to it. Hmm.. I wonder why it doesn't exist when it does. I go to help (because we know contacting a human to ask a question is impossible) and I finally find a link to help. However it asks me to log in which is the root of the problem because I have forgotten my password. In my frustration I forget that it is written down somewhere. I am too busy trying to hurl my laptop through the window. Okay Andrea, deep breaths, you can do this. You run a business, manage a household and most days keep somewhat sane. Yet this is driving me CRAZY. Help! I am overrun with passwords and logins. I need a password, log in Techno Smart Person to keep me in working order. As I shriek and groan in frustration, my husband (always the rational and calm one) says ok calm down and make a list of all the accounts and passwords and key it into your blackberry. So there it is easy as pie my blackberry once again is my saviour. Who knew that this one small hand held device could save me and my sanity in so many ways. I love my blackberry.

So my next item on my to do list is to add this list to my blackberry. It sounds simple and easy yet my to do list is HUGE. It took a month to sit and write this. However, I do know that if I carve out 10 minutes today to make that list next time I go to blog, log in and online shop it will go faster.

Sometimes poeple ask me when I get own list done. It is the same for me as everyone else balancing work and life. Some days it flows easily and then there are moments like I just had. These AAARGH moments reinforce my belief and the My Concierge Plus motto that we all need to focus on what we do best and let others do the rest. I need to focus on my family and work and let the techies handle all the rest and then I can enjoy a relaxing Saturday!

School has started... Help!!!!

noreply@blogger.com (myconciergeplus) — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 19:16:00 +0000

Well school has started. The kids are back in class, the suitcases are put away for the summer and lunches have to be made. If your life is anything like mine it is HECTIC. Each day is a juggle of work, homework, housework, cooking and driving. No wonder I fall into bed each night exhausted. Luckily, I have help. I have the excellent team members of My Concierge Plus who help me and all our satisfied clients. I have a supportive family and friends.

So many people I meet say they are so overwhelmed and would love to use our services but are reluctant. Some feel bad about delegating what they see is their family responsibility, some feel they SHOULD be able to do it all and feel guilty because they can't.

Well I truly belive that we should all FOCUS ON WHAT WE DO BEST and let others handle the rest. I am a horroible bookkeeper and now delegate it all to my bookkeper. Since I relinquished control my books are up to date, billing is up to date and I get paid.

So how about we start the new school year off not with a sigh of how am I going to get it all done but with a new resolve and permission to delegate the tasks we hate to do, don't have time for or that take us away from our leisure and family time. Just remember we all need help! So with that being said ....
Give us your list and we'll take care of the rest...

www.myconciergeplus.com

July 1st - Montreal's moving day

noreply@blogger.com (myconciergeplus) — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 02:32:00 +0000

I am just sitting here and thinking about how quickly time flies. We are almost half way through June and closing in on July 1st. July 1st is THE moving day here in Montreal, Quebec. There is so much to thing of and organize. You might ask where do I even start? Well first thing is to contact a reputable moving company for an estimate. But buyers beware: the closer to July 1st the more expensive the move. After the movers come the other details like: do I need to paint, are there any handyman jobs I need help with, are my closets well designed or do they need additional shelving/hanging units, should I move everything or purge? The next step is packing and unpacking, very tiring jobs. Where do i get hold of boxes and tissue? The SAQs will sometimes give out boxes. The best bet is going out on recycling day to the stores in your neighborhood there are boxes to spare keft by the curb. A word of advice packing in newspaper is MESSY! Pack more smaller boxes: they are easier to load & unload and you feel a sense of accomplishment with each box you unpack. Next I want to come into a clean house/apartment.

Now what if you work full time or have a family to care for. How will I get it all done in time? Well hiring a company like My Concierge Plus (www.myconciergeplus.com) is extremely beneficial. We can organize your move from movers to unpacking and turning your new house/apartment into a home.

Recently we organized a move for a client. We took care of:
1) booking the movers
2) unpacking, organizing and putting everything away
3) hiring the painters and overseeing their work
4) planning and installing built ins for the closet
5) cleaning the apartment before the move

This is just one of the many ways we can help you reduce your stress. Remember to give us your list and will take care of the rest!

www.myconciergeplus.com

My Concierge Plus Blogs!

noreply@blogger.com (myconciergeplus) — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 01:05:00 +0000

Hi everyone,
The other Saturday morning my bberry buzzed and someone called asking if Tina, our home organizer, was free to work that weekend. Well within half an hour they had set an appointment for the next dday to begin decluttering! She called on Monday to rave about 1) My Concierge Plus' quick response time 2) Tina's efficiency and willingness to go the extra mile. Well, that to me was a winning combination. The client then remarked how life altering the experience was. She said why don't people give this as a gift. How many scented candles, picture frames, or coffee mugs does a person need? I of course agree. I gave myself and my family the gift of organization last fall. It has so drastically changed our house and our lives for the better. We can find things. We enjoy spending time in our home because it is not chaos. So the next time you need a gift for someone who has everything, someone whose life is busy with work and/or family give them something useful give them the gift of home organization with Tina from My Concierge Plus. www.myconciergeplus.com