​September 11, 2017

We are in the midst of weather chaos; Hurricanes and Wildfires causing massive destruction. Our thoughts and prayers go out to everyone affected by these tragedies. Disasters make us think about what is really important in life. If you lived in Houston would you have been prepared? I can definitely say that I am not fully prepared. Here is the short list: Do you have the proper insurance, do you have photos and other memorabilia saved in digital format, do you have vital records scanned and saved in a digital format, do you have a list of all of your insurance policies, credit cards, bank accounts, investment accounts and other important items saved digitally, is your hard drive backed up to the cloud, and do you have an inventory of your possessions; if you need to file an insurance claim? I can answer yes to some but not all of these questions. It's not just having them saved digitally but saving them in the cloud. If you have them saved on a Jump Drive and that is destroyed then it defeats the purpose.

I highly recommend  saving photos and scanned copies of vital records to a cloud based account such as:

• Dropbox account.
• Google Drive ( If you use a gmail account for your email then you already have Google Drive)
• iCloud Drive  (if you use a Mac or iphone you have access to icloud Drive)
• OneDrive by Microsoft (if you use a PC you probably already have this)

There are so many choices! How do you choose? Here is an article, The Best Cloud Storage and file-sharing services of 2017, by PC Digital Magazine that can help you decide. If you worry about your files being secure... well, there are no guarantees in life. Equifax was just hacked into; everything is a risk, doing nothing is a risk. Don't forget to back up your computer hard drive too. I use Carbonite and it backs up everything automatically.Here is an article about the best backup software to use. I may want to switch because Carbonite is not listed.

If you want to learn more about protecting your treasurers, Organize for Disaster, is available at Amazon. Disasters strike in many different forms. Don't keep telling yourself, "it won't happen to me," because it might. 

Adele Gross
Chief Executive Organizer
Simple Solution Organizing

Have you ever heard someone say, "My Supper Club group is meeting this weekend" and thought...that sounds like so much fun. I wish I were in a Supper Club. I hear this a lot from friends and acquaintances.  

Supper Club is an important part of my family’s life. I have participated in various Supper Clubs for 19 years. The people, location, and “rules” have evolved but the sole purpose has never changed: spending quality time with friends on a regular basis. It all started when a good friend, Sharla, in Gulf Breeze, Florida suggested we start a girl’s and kids Thursday night get together at her home. Sharla had the nicest house of the bunch; it was very conducive to FUN!  She had a beautiful swimming pool connected to her living room via a wall of sliding glass doors. We socialized, with cocktails in hand, while our young kids burned off energy swimming and playing.  It was a welcome release for all of us. My friend’s and I talked about our week: the good, bad, and the ugly. Each week we rotated bringing an entrée and on occasion our husband’s would join us and other friends. We looked forward to it week after week. Lives change through the years and eventually our Supper Club fizzled out. We continued to get together sporadically; however, it was never quite as special. 

My family moved from Florida to Georgia in the summer of 2003. Some of our neighbors invited us into their Neighborhood Supper Club in Athens, Georgia.  Again, lives changed, people moved and eventually that Supper Club dissolved.  A few of the original families are still getting together, month after month. These families are so special to us. Our kids have grown up together through our Supper Club gatherings. Our kids attend different schools and live in different neighborhoods but they are very good friends.  Our kids look forward to Supper Club and often ask their parents, “When is Supper Club?” That really warms our hearts.  Our last Supper Club, to date, was October 2014 and my family hosted.  I had hurt my back in a Kick Box class the day before.  I was in a lot of pain and considered cancelling but my son, Connor (11 years old), begged me not to. I am so glad that we did not cancel it. It was one of the best parties ever and we started a new tradition: sharing old photos of yourself from High School or younger. Many of us laughed so hard we were crying and I think someone in the group may have experienced incontinence.   

Our Supper Club is unpretentious. We meet at people’s homes, parks, restaurants, bowling alleys, pumpkin patches, and any other venue that sounds inviting. The goal of our Supper Club is to meet and spend time together, the place and the food is really secondary. Two new families have recently joined our group. The decision to add new families was not decided lightly; it was given a lot of thought and discussion. Our group is pleased with our decision. Sure, there is more food to purchase and more kids running around but we are enjoying the companionship greatly.

Let’s talk about how to get started with a Supper Club:

• Someone has to Coordinate it
  
• Talk to potential members to see if they have an interest 
  
• Decide how many members or families you want in the group
  
• Decide how often your group will meet 
  
• Decide where your group will meet
  
• Decide what type of Supper Club your group wants
  

1. Gourmet
   
2. Themed
   
3. Informal
   
4. Kids or Adult Only (you may want kids at a different members home than the host with a sitter while your Supper Club meets)
   
5. Separate meals for adults and kids or do they have they share the same meal
   
6. Host makes all the food or just the entrée and other members bring side dishes
   

A Coordinator is vital to the success. Look for one that is ready, willing,and able, to jump in and handle the details.  One person has to be the planner and the communicator for the group. I send out a schedule for the year and families sign up for the month they want to host. This initial schedule may change but having a schedule helps our club stay committed. Here is a link to additional information about Supper Clubs The Daily Meal, Cooking Light Magazine, and they have an App for that. 

The fun times continue in our group; we look forward to many more gatherings for decades to come…I hope.

 

Adele Tusson-Gross

Supper Club Coordinator

Chief Executive Organizer

Simple Solution Organizing

www.simplesolutionorganizing.com