Protect Your Investments with a Household Inventory

We learned the hard way the benefits of having a household inventory. Years ago my husband and I returned home from work and found our home had been broken into. Anger, feelings of violation, disappointment in our fellow man and anxiety followed–the usual gamut of emotions. Our bedroom was such a mess with clothing and personal possessions strewn about that it took us quite a while to determine what was missing: an antique handgun that had been in my husband’s family, and two pieces of jewelry.

A household inventory can save you big money--and headaches--should tragedy strike, such as theft, fire, or other disasters. An inventory will help you keep track of everything you own, documenting your losses, and assist you in determining the cash value of your possessions. Also, a household inventory is valuable when establishing the value of your personal property for insurance purposes.

The aftermath of a disaster is confusing and frustrating enough without trying to recall the particulars of your possessions. For items destroyed in fire or flood, a household inventory will help you remember what you had. Insurance adjustments are expedited more efficiently when information can be gathered from current documentation.

Creating a complete and accurate inventory is easier than ever with tools most of us already have. Here are some pointers:
– Create a spreadsheet or table that lists every room in the house. Don’t forget the garage and items in your cars.
– Calculate the value of each item, date acquired and the cost. When appropriate, list serial numbers, particularly for electronic equipment, household appliances, etc.
– Calculate the total for each room and the grand total of your home’s contents. This is valuable information for establishing an insurance claim.
– Take video with commentary or digital images of items of worth–jewelry, appliances, electronics, etc. Pictures help to determine the full magnitude of your loss. Take pictures of entire rooms in addition to individual items. When possible, take close-ups of the model number/serial number label.
– Print out a copy and keep it, together with the pictures, in a safe place, but keep the original file on your computer so that it can easily be updated. It’s a good idea to keep a copy of the inventory someplace other than your home–perhaps at work or at a family member’s home.

When possible, engrave your driver’s license number and your state’s abbreviation on as many items as you can–especially electronics and appliances--to ensure a greater chance of recovery of stolen items. This is especially true with today’s law enforcement computer networks. Engraved items are more difficult to sell; therefore, marked items lose their appeal to thieves.

Your inventory will also help you establish how much insurance coverage is right for you, and identify any items not covered by basic insurance that may need a special endorsement or rider to your policy.

Over the years, you have invested in your home and possessions. When you add up all the personal items, furniture, and appliances you own, you will probably be amazed to find how much money is involved. Should you suffer a loss, time spent today in making a household inventory can be crucial in safeguarding a speedy recovery.

For more information, visit http://www.knowyourstuff.org./

Review: Walking Nature Home By Susan J. Tweit

In Walking Nature Home, A Life’s Journey (University of Texas Press), Susan J. Tweit takes us on the remarkable sojourn of her life. Through her eyes we see the night sky’s constellations and learn how they link life to the universe. We learn the value of not only human love, but the love of nature and the connection to all living things.

Tweit takes us back to her childhood, privileged with loving parents who took the time to teach the author and her brother the lessons of nature, lessons that she drew on and enhanced as she matured.

Diagnosed with a life-threatening autoimmune disease, Tweit learns to harmonize her life with the universe, to draw on strengths found in nature’s cycles. She dares to leave the conventional–of both medical treatment and lifestyle–to pursue a life filled with spirituality, knowledge and love. As a naturalist, she shares her inspiring perception of the constellations, of birds, of affinity with her beloved Colorado with its wild and raw landscape, and of working with the land to coax sustenance from it, one small patch at a time.

Walking Nature Home is a moving story of courage and determination. At times fighting even to breathe, Tweit slogs on, working toward a life of harmony. She finds enduring love and learns the give and take of unconditional commitment between man and wife and of family. The book is a remarkable memoir of intuitive wisdom and personal triumph of this woman’s journey toward healing power.

For more information about this inspiring writer, please visit her blog:
susanjtweit.typepad.com/walkingnaturehome
website: susanjtweit.com

Honor Our American Flag: Fly It Properly

The sight of the American flag billowing in the breeze stirs feelings of freedom and of pride. Our flag represents continuity, something that we, as American citizens, can depend on. It represents what we stand for and who we are. To give the American flag the honor and respect it deserves, it should be displayed according to the current Federal flag code.

When flying the flag, it should never touch the ground or the floor. The flag should never be drawn back, but always allowed to fall free.

The flag can be flown every day from sunrise to sunset and at night if illuminated properly. The flag should never be flown in inclement weather except when it is made of all-weather material.
When the flag is displayed in a public place from a pole, it is always hoisted briskly and lowered ceremoniously. The flag of the United States of America should be at the center and at the highest point when a number of flags are grouped and displayed from staffs.

If the Stars and Stripes is displayed with another flag against a wall with crossed staffs, the American flag should be on the flag’s right (the viewers’ left).

When the flag is hung over a sidewalk on a rope extending from a building to a pole, the union stars are always away from the building. When vertically hung over the center of the street, the flag always has the union stars to the north in an east/west street, and to the east in a north/south street.

When the flag is used to cover a casket for display, the union stars are placed over the head and left shoulder. It is never lowered into the grave or allowed to touch the ground.

The flag should not be flown upside down except as a signal of distress in instances of extreme danger to life or property.

On Memorial Day, the flag should be displayed at half-staff until noon then raised to the top of the staff. When a person or group of distinction dies, it is also common practice to fly the flag at half-staff. The flag is first hoisted to the peak for an instant, then lowered.

When a flag becomes tattered and is no longer a fitting emblem for display, it should be disposed of in a dignified manner, preferably by burning.

Let’s show pride in our country and respect by displaying the American flag properly.

Live Your Dream: Make It Happen

Photo by Bruce Trimble: The road ahead.

You can live your dream. Let's look at some ways you can make it happen.

First of all, look at your dream realistically. Is it something you really want to do, or is it just a fantasy? Are you willing to make sacrifices to make it happen? Will it be in your best interest to have this dream fulfilled?

Pretend it has already happened. Although we can't always visualize just how a fulfilled dream would be, we can come close. Be realistic--drop the romance, the rosy glow that usually accompanies dreams. Acknowledge the challenges that are bound to happen. Does it fit? Can you see yourself there? Is your dream worth the tough times? If so, see yourself overcoming the obstacles.

For us, our dreams, among others, were going to Africa and cruising the South Pacific. Although we’ve had to make sacrifices to make them happen, we’ve never regretted our decisions to act on those dreams and turn them into reality.

I still dream of going places and doing exciting things. One way I've found to fulfil that dream is by volunteering with the American Red Cross locally and nationally. So far I've responded to 38 major disasters and have been able to help victims of fires, hurricanes, mud slides, floods, tornados and terrorism. It hasn’t always been easy. At times I’ve found myself in situations way past my comfort zone, with more adventure than I bargained for. But at the end of an assignment, I’ve felt great satisfaction that I’ve met another challenge and at the same time have helped others in distress.

Traveling with our camper also fulfils our sense of adventure. Our destinations are often out-of-the-way places, such as the Yukon or camping on Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land with no amenities, sharing the land with wild habitat.

After our cruise to the South Pacific (See Live Your Dream: Sailing the South Pacific, below), I dreamed of becoming a professional writer. I’d taken a few creative writing classes in the past and then began attending writing workshops and conferences. My first submissions were to boating magazines, destination articles and specifics about off-shore sailing. Later, as we became interested in overland travel, I submitted to RV magazines. Several months passed and although I'd submitted articles to many magazines, I had no luck in getting published, only in collecting a discouraging pile of rejection slips.

I wondered, "Is writing what I'm supposed to be doing?" I seemed to be taking the necessary steps. I spent all my spare time at my computer. Though I did meet family commitments, I usually turned down most activities that didn't point toward fulfilling a writer's dream of being published. Still, no success.

I prayed for a sign that I was on the right track. "Please," I prayed, "give me some sort of sign that I'm pointed in the right direction." Then, in the month of March of that year, three different magazines published my work, articles that had been submitted over a period of several months. I took that as a positive sign, one that I accepted as a go-ahead. Since then, I've had more than 400 articles published in magazines and newspapers, plus two books published with another to be released this year.

How do you know if your dream is worthy of the work it takes to turn it into reality? One sign is that if it's all up-hill, if things eventually don't fall into place, take a second look. Maybe you're dreaming someone else's dream. Or, maybe this dream needs to happen at another time in your life. If your dream becomes a struggle and that struggle makes you unhappy, regroup and pray for guidance.

How do you make dreams happen?

Stay out of debt. Buy on credit only the absolute necessities. Debts can control your life. To be in control, make the sacrifices necessary to keep out of dept. You'll find a wonderful freedom and increased options.

Let go. Let go of the trappings often associated with success. Acquiring possessions is all right if that's all you want out of life. But if you want to fulfill a dream, let go of the extras.

Get rid of clutter. Eliminating the clutter in your life paves the way to move on to other goals.

Simplify! Learn to savor simple foods. Reduce your wardrobe. Learn to enjoy long walks. My husband and I have found that most of our dreams have been planned on our daily three-mile walks. Keep activities to only those you enjoy. Eliminate parties you really don't want to attend or being with people you would just as soon not see.

Make yourself available for opportunity. In order to fulfill a dream, you must be ready. You never know how a dream's realization will manifest itself and open doors to opportunity.
Take action. Go beyond the planning stage. Take steps to make your dream happen. Take classes, attend lectures, research on-line and communicate with people who share your interests. Ask lots of questions. Set the stage for your dream to take shape. Taking action can steer you in the direction of your dream, and you will find the pieces falling into place.

Take care of yourself. A simple lifestyle is a healthier way to live. Many of the issues I've mentioned here help to keep us centered and free from unhealthful mental clutter and anxiety.

Pray for guidance. Is this the right goal at this time in your life? Ask for help in recognizing opportunities and overcoming obstacles.

Remember to live for today. Having dreams and working toward them is good, but living is a present state--not the future and not the past. Find ways to enjoy life now while working toward the future.

Go for it. In my father's basement work shop a small plaque hung on the wall quoting Dr. Samual Johnson, 1708-1784. It says, "Nothing will ever be attempted if all possible objections must be first overcome." The plaque now hangs in my home office, and reminds me not to wait until everything is perfect before I act. Some obstacles can be ironed out as they occur and many of the problems we anticipate never happen. So, when most circumstances point toward success, make your move. Go for it.

Live Your Dream: Sailing the South Pacific

Photo by Bruce Trimble. My t-shirt reads "Escaped Mom: Don’t tell anyone where you saw me"

Eight years after we fulfilled my dream of going to Africa, the adventure bug bit again. This time, my husband's dream was calling. He had always wanted to own a sailboat, a real, ocean going vessel, and cruise around the world.

This dream would be expensive. We wouldn’t have incomes and, as anyone who’s owned a boat knows, a boat is a hole in the water into which you throw money. We formed a five-year plan and worked toward that goal. Surprisingly, in two years we could see our way clear to set sail.

Again, we sacrificed in order to make our dream come true. We found a suitable used sail boat, a forty-foot Bristol, and began the work and expense of outfitting it for ocean cruising. We altered the dream by agreeing on a more realistic South Pacific trip, rather than circumnavigating the world. By limiting our journey to the South Pacific, we could sail at a more leisurely pace and stay longer at each port-of-call.

To prepare, we rarely bought anything not directly related to the cruise--no unnecessary clothes, no expensive trips, no major home improvements.

We dried fruit and vegetables from our own garden as we stocked a two-year food supply. Close to the time of departure, we held a garage sale to eliminate all the extra stuff we'd accumulated over the past few years. Since we didn't want the complications associated with renting our home, we sold it. This was traumatic for me, more so than for my husband, but our focus was this trip and that's what it took to get it done.

We lived on our boat for six months before departure, taking short, local sailing trips, then cast off for the South Pacific, traveling 13,000 miles in 14 months.

Although sailing for 14 months might sound leisurely, it is far from it. When at sea, someone must always be on watch, to make sure the boat is traveling on course, to ensure that a freighter isn’t bearing down on us, to watch for weather changes that might entail changing sails. At sea, our watches were four-hour shifts: four hours on and four hours off, around the clock. Therefore, when making passages, we never got more than four hours sleep at one time. With just the two of us on board, we never could sleep together while at sea.

Cooking at sea is challenging. While the boat is rocking and rolling with the motion of the sea, the cook tries to hang on with one hand and put together a meal with the other. I was the primary cook and managed pretty well, but it wasn’t easy.

Bruce’s expertise with rigging sales, his self-taught celestial navigation skills and his intimate knowledge of all the working parts of our boat, kept us safe and on course.

But, oh, the exhilaration of being at sea! The stunning sunsets with absolutely no obstructions, the closeness of the stars at night, the delightful porpoises as they accompanied us into ports. Once we acquired the correct heavy-duty equipment, fishing for our dinner was commonplace. There’s nothing to compare with fresh albacore tuna, straight from the sea.

Cruising, while it certainly holds its glorious moments, can also be demanding, dangerous, and exhausting. But the landfalls make it all worth while--to actually feel and smell the warm tropical air of the French Marquesas, to hike to the pointed tip of Mount Pahia in Bora Bora, to experience the blue pristine water in Tahiti, to ride the funky buses in Samoa to sparkling white beaches, to dive among the underwater coral gardens in the Kingdom of Tonga. Going to market brought much joy and offered ways to taste paradise. We made delightful friends among the warm, friendly people of the South Pacific as well as with other boaters like ourselves.

At sea we found new and different strengths. We learned we could depend on each other in good and in hard times. When at sea, you can go for days, weeks even, without seeing another living soul. On one leg of our journey, 21 days passed before we spotted another boat on the horizon. It isn’t uncommon for shipmates to part company at the first land-fall after such close togetherness, but we didn’t experience that sort of strain. We found joy in sharing books, in dreaming about what we’d do next with our lives, and thrilled together as we approached landfalls.

Yes, we’d taken a chance on this venture. It was tough and it was expensive. But we’d fulfilled another dream and have lasting life-time memories. We returned with a solid sense of accomplishment and a strengthened attitude about life. We could create our own destinies.

Live Your Dream: Fulfilling a Dream of Africa

Bruce and I met while SCUBA diving. We love adventure. After we'd been married a year, we yearned to do something different. What about the Peace Corps? We checked into Peace Corps opportunities.

I can't remember a time when I hadn't dreamed of going to Africa. We learned that as Peace Corps volunteers we could fulfill this dream and at the same time help meet desperate needs in a tiny West African country, The Gambia.

In order to make our dream of going to Africa come true, we had to sacrifice. We both gave up good jobs. We had no debts except our mortgage. We rented out our home for the two-year term of service and the rental income paid our mortgage with a little to spare. (Peace Corps volunteers receive no salary but receive a modest living-expense allowance.)

Living in an African Mandinka village 250 miles from the capital city and 120 miles from the nearest paved road was fascinating, but it wasn't easy. Our home was a mud-brick hut with a grass-thatched roof. Temperatures soared to 115 degrees. We had no running water but drew our water from a United Nations well, thankful it was pure. Our latrine, which we shared with another African family, was a hole in the ground, surrounded by a flimsy woven fence in a corner of the compound.

We had no car and walked wherever we went locally. For more distant travel, we took a bush taxi, a small pickup with wooden benches in the back and a canvas roof, reminiscent of a covered wagon.

Bruce worked with a United Nations well-digging unit, providing reliable wells for villages where traditional wells were drying up during a long drought.

As a "health volunteer," I reported to work at a bush hospital, a 32-bed facility that also held well-baby and ante-natal clinics. I'm not a medical professional, but my record keeping skills were welcomed in organizing a system to account for patients seen and medications used. I was the only non-African working at the hospital.

At first I cringed at this medical center which appeared to be so unsanitary. Due to shortages in fuel to operate the generator, we were often without electricity or running water. Flies were everywhere. Food for patients was prepared in large kettles cooked over open fires on the ground. Laundry was done by hand. But eventually I could see that we were accomplishing something--lives were being saved and, through inoculations, diseases at least partially controlled.

I had only heard of many of the Illnesses commonly seen in The Gambia, such as polio, tuberculosis and leprosy. I witnessed several deaths caused by tetanus, snake bite, and countless cases of horrible skin diseases and infections. Still, the majority of deaths were the result of water-born illnesses, especially among the very young and the old.

For two tough years we served in The Gambia, and gained a profound awareness of life at a basic level. To trim away all the extras and live a plain, simple life was to learn new truths about ourselves. We were tougher than we thought--than we ever imagined we could be. Living simply brought great satisfaction.

We both believe we made a contribution in our host African country, but it didn't compare with what we brought home--lasting memories, feelings of accomplishment and dreams fulfilled.

Live Your Dreams:Get Rid of the Clutter in Your Life

Eleanor Roosevelt once said, "The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams."

You can live your dream. One powerful way to make your dream a reality is to get rid of the clutter in your life. At first, this seems a daunting task, but once you get into the swing of it, you’ll find that eliminating the clutter around you frees your mind, your space and your energy. It can even save you money.

Sometimes it seems as though we spend all our time and energy getting ready to live, but we forget...living is a present state, not the future and not the past. We tend to overlook the moment of now. We're constantly rearranging our belongings to fit our current situation, dragging along things from previous lifestyles. We spend precious time and space on "things" that no longer have meaning to us. Basements, garages, drawers, closets and mini storages are filled with clutter, stuff we'll probably never need or use again. Is that accumulation of stuff valuable enough to put up with the clutter, and even expense, of hanging on to it?

Several years ago my husband and I purchased a 40-foot sailboat and realized our dream of sailing throughout the South Pacific. When we returned from our fourteen-month cruise, we sold the boat. Some of our friends were aghast. "How can you bear to sell that boat?" Because we no longer needed it.

Marinas are full of boats that never go anywhere, year after year. Because the boats at one time were important, people can't bear to part with them and as a result they use precious time and pay expensive marina fees and upkeep on something that's become a burden. We did what we set out to do and it was time to go on to other pursuits.

With some of the money from the sale of the boat, we bought a camper and for the last several years have thoroughly enjoyed overland travel. Over time we’ve upgraded our camper, getting a larger one to accommodate our needs. As long as we're using the camper, we'll maintain it, pay the license fee, and enjoy it.

It has been our experience that after the fervor of thoroughly enjoying an interest, such as scuba diving, which we did for several years, we move on to other activities and rarely return to that particular hobby.

The idea that we'll get back to that scuba gear or that old ham radio equipment encourages us to hang on to this stuff. But the reality is that if we should want to return to that particular hobby, we're going to find our equipment archaic. With technology as it is today, yesterday's state-of-the-art is almost antique now. When I see scuba divers enter the water today, I marvel at the difference between the equipment they carry and what we used a few years ago.

Here are a few tips on freeing your life of clutter:

-- Learn to let go. Give magazines you’ve already read to schools or convalescence centers. Give all but your really special books to book drives that collect them for a cause. Give clothes to thrift shops or to shelters. Dig deep–you’ll be surprised when you discover you don’t even miss those things.

-- Start with one room and clear out all the stuff you don’t need. Make five piles:
1) Throw away
2) Give away
3) Sell
4) May need to keep
5) Need to keep

Ask yourself these questions as you sort through these items: Do I still need this? How long as it been since I used it last? As you toughen up, you’ll find more and more items fit in the first three piles. Go from room to room–you’ll be amazed at the wonderful sense of freedom this will give you.

-- Selling items can be rewarding in more ways than building your income. Don’t use the money to buy more "stuff" unless it’s something that will add significantly to your life. Tuck the money away to help make your dreams come true. Sell items through:
1) Garage sales – either your own or jointly with neighbors or community groups
2) Place ads in the local paper or a classified ads paper
3) On-line through a website such as Craig’s List

-- Curtail your spending. Sooner than you think, the items you feel you must have today are tomorrow’s clutter. Before you buy, give yourself at least a one day "cooling off period." More often than not, you’ll reconsider making that purchase.

Clutter, the accumulation of old stuff, holds us back. It dictates where we live, what we do with our time. It gobbles up our money in storage fees, or even in housing requirements--we could live in smaller, compact homes if we didn't have so much stuff. Or, we could enjoy the luxury of larger more spacious feeling without a lot of clutter. Just imagine--without all that clutter, you could park your car in the garage! What a concept.

Cut through the clutter of your life. It takes a little determination, but the rewards are great. You'll find it tremendously freeing. With a critical eye, check your home, look around your storage areas, and see what can be eliminated. The newly created space, the freedom from clutter, will be its own treasure.

Now that you have less clutter in your lives, can’t you see your way more clearly to realizing your dream?