Organization Rules® December 2010 Newsletter

Home Instead Newsletter-Vickie is featured in Home Instead’s national newsletter

Vickie has received the Level II Specialist Certification in ADD and Level II Hoarding Specialist Certification from the National Study Group on Chronic Disorganization (NSGCD). Vickie is the only professional organizer in Pittsburgh to earn the Hoarding Specialist Level II certification.

Read Vickie's article on Seniors and Hoarding on Geralin Thomas' blog. Geralin is a featured professional organizer on A&E's TV show Hoarders.

Vickie was featured in the article Helping Aging Parents Downsize, Remove Clutter Can Be Difficult on Arkansas' Time Record.

Vickie was featured in the article From Clutter to Calamity: Psychological Disorder of Hoarding Getting More Attention in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

1/12/2011 - 1/16/2011 Attending the National Association of Senior Move Managers (NASMM) national conference in Tampa, FL

1/18/2011 Chronic Disorganization and Hoarding presentation for Social Workers in Aging Practice group, Pittsburgh

1/22/2011 Downsizing presentation for Liberty Hills Community, Freedom, PA. To register, please call (724) 242-0492

Stay tuned for upcoming events…

Check out the article "What can you get for mom's stuff?" in Liz Pulliam Weston's column on MSN.COM, featuring Vickie's book Don't Toss My Memories in the Trash. Liz is the web's number one personal finance columnist.

NARFE Magazine May 2010, Article-Downsizing A Lifetime of Memories by Vickie Dellaquila

Happy Holidays!

Announcing the end of the Organization Rules newsletter! As all businesses grow and change, I have decided to end my newsletter-this will be the last newsletter. However, I will be switching over to a blog starting in January. I can update the blog more often than my newsletter and provide you with organizing tips and suggestions. Thank you for following my newsletter for the past eight years (I can’t believe it has been eight years already!) Please continue to follow me on my blog, facebook, and twitter for organizing tips and suggestions.

I love the holiday season, but the older I get, the less I want to do at the holidays. As my daughters have grown and left the nest, I have given them many seasonal decorations and lightened my load. I love having less stuff to take care of and put out at the holidays. I am able to see my holiday decorations better because there are fewer of them. I have also limited my gift list to less people. I like to focus on consumable gifts for my family. I enjoy giving gift cards, tickets to events or shows, supporting someone’s hobby (scrapbooking supplies, skating, skiing) or favorite charity. If it is really hard to buy for someone, consumable gifts can be a good choice.

I have heard from some of my clients that their families do not like gift cards, because they feel that they are not personal. I think gift cards have become much more personal through the years. You can usually find a store, restaurant, or an event that suits just about any person. Usually people who do not like giving gift cards end up buying something for the person taking a guess on size or interest. It may end up sitting on closet shelf or floor because the receiver doesn’t really like it, but doesn’t know what to do with it. It probably eventually makes it way to a charity or may be re-gifted to someone else.

So this holiday season, think about what you want and what you want to give. Do you want to receive gifts that you really don’t want, cannot use, or need to return? Or try to eliminate that and get your families and friends to focus on less stuff and more experiences and spending time with each other.