I told her about the holiday dinner I had made with the change I could find in the house and the car — less than $20. She told me about her first Christmas as a single mom. There were not many presents under the tree. She felt that it was pretty slim pickings, so she went into the basement to find some more things to wrap. She found a box of balloons and decided to blow up as many balloons as she could to create a party atmosphere. Balloons were everywhere. The room was filled! Then they let the cat inside. He proceeded to attack each balloon. Her grown children do not remember other Christmas mornings but they still talk about the Christmas the cat attacked the balloons.

We have been programmed. We have to turn those negative attitudes into "I think I can," "I think I can," "I think I can!" Do you remember, "The Little Engine That Could?" You can change your attitude if you think you can! That is most of the battle! Once you get past the attitude all things are possible.

The idea here is to train the little child in us! We can do this and it starts when we let go of our anger, fear and perfectionism! We are going to reprogram our brains; one message at a time! Have you ever used Post-it Notes to remind you of something? They work for retraining our brains, too! I did it by listening to motivational tapes. Some of us have used bracelets or rubber bands. We are so smart and when we know what the plan is we embrace it! This is why FLYing works so well for us! We use our timers, Control Journals and e-mails to remove those negative attitudes and replace them with that "can do" loving spirit that brings peace to our lives.

This holiday season and every day of the year, it is up to you! You set the tone for your home! Are you going to be a Scrooge or a Tiny Tim? It is your actions that reflect that inner spirit! Embrace that "I Think I Can" spirit and find yourself FLYing with your own personal cheerleader! I know you can do this; my job is convincing you!

FlyLady coming to town

I have been asked by the Utah Chapter of American Mothers Inc. to speak at their state conference, March 11, 2006 in Salt Lake City at the Little America Hotel.

Here is a link to the American Mothers Inc. website: www.amiutah.org/ and a link to the hotel. www.littleamerica.com/slc/

I thought I would tell you about this as you were making out your want list for Christmas. The cost to attend is $25 for members, $35 for non-members and includes lunch.

The event will start at 10 a.m. They have graciously opened up their conference to all FlyBabies.

If you think you might be interested please send an e-mail to FlyLady@Flylady.net with Utah in the subject line. As soon as registration opens, I will let you know.

FlyLady

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Marla Cilley, a k a FlyLady, is the author of Sink Reflections (Bantam Books Trade Paperback). For more help, please go to her Web site: www.FlyLady.net. © 2005