Too Many Junk Mail Catalogs?

Use http://www.catalogchoice.org to end unwanted junk mail catalogs

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Last month, I recommended that many of you check out Carolyn Anderson-Fermann's Simply Organized Life newsletter (you can register for free at:
http://www.simplyorganizedlife.com/.) A couple of months ago, Carolyn shared the http://www.catalogchoice.org web site as an option to end unwanted junk mail catalogs, and then not two weeks later, I had an attendee in one of my seminars share the same web site as an option for reducing unwanted junk mail and clutter. After coming back from vacation and having two full weeks of catalogs and other junk mail to go through, I was certainly in need of this great and timely tip. You can go in and select many of the individual catalogs that you are currently receiving and stop them from coming in the future. You can save yourself the time of having to review them and discard or recycle them, while also saving the environment by reducing unnecessary printing and paper usage.

If catalogs have become a nuisance for you, go out to CatalogChoice.org and start your new account.

Three Great Florida Vacation Tips with the Small Kids
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As I mentioned above, we just got back from a much needed family vacation in Florida. Taking a vacation with two small children in tow (4 years and 1 year old) can obviously be challenging to say the least. Here are three suggestions to make your next trip to Florida with the small ones more enjoyable for all of you:

1. Sea World Orlando (http://www.seaworld.com/orlando/default.aspx) -- for just a few dollars more than a regular one-day pass, you can purchase a pass that gives you full in-and-out priviliges at Sea World for up to seven days. We found that, while the kids love the park, they only have a 4-5 hour attention span. By getting the multi-day passes, we were able to make several shorter visits over 3-4 days, and that made the park more enjoyable not only for the kids, but also for mom & dad. They also have a playground climbing area and splash park, not to mention all of the other Sea World exhibits, shows, and animals that they are famous for.

2. St. Augustine & St. Augustine Beach (http://www.oldcity.com) -- What a great town! St. Augustine is truly one of my favorite vacation destinations. It has a great pedestrian historical district on St. George's Street with wonderful (and not too expensive!) restaurants. At the far northern end of St. George's Street, you are a short walk from Castillo de San Marcos, the old Spanish fortress/castle that protected the St. Augustine inlet to the ocean. With old sea stone walls, large grassy areas, and lots and lots of steps and sidewalks, my two girls literally spent hours here exploring and playing. A nice little bonus: we had about an 80% chance of seeing wild dolphins frolicking in the water right in front of the castle. And you are only a short drive from St. Augustine Beach, which has beautiful sandy beaches, a great fishing pier, and another free little splash park right next to the beach (wonderful for washing off the sand and salt from the beach!)

3. The Jacksonville Zoo -- This zoo (http://www.jaxzoo.org) was obviously built with family and kids in mind. It has a wonderful mix of animals, a great layout, and places for kids and families to rest, eat, wander, and play. There is even access to a walkway out over the river that the zoo sits on, where you might be lucky enough to witness wild manatees.

Of course, there is a ton more to offer, but these three locations helped make the most of our precious time in a very low-stress way.

Randy is ALL OVER THE PLACE! (Or Planet, that is!)
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My travel craziness continues. Look for me in coming weeks at the University of Michigan's HRD and Michigan State University's HRD (later this week), U. Pitt's Exec MBA Sessions in Prague (no kidding!), the MMPI Annual Conference, the MSBO Annual Conference, at MAPT here in Lansing, Wayne County CCD's Staff Development Day, in Toronto at the NALP Annual Conference, at the MSU Kaleidoscope Program for Women, at the MASSP and Michigan PTSA Conferences, and, later this summer, at HSMAI's Affordable Meetings conferences in both Los Angeles and Washington, DC. Look for me in these locations (and drop a note if you'd like to catch up in any of these locations!), and until next month, Stay Timely!

Randy Dean