Mary Jo Rulnick - The Frantic Womans Guide to Life: A Years Worth of Hints, Tips, and Tricks

Copyright 2004 by Mary Jo Rulnick and Judith Burnett Schneider

All rights reserved.

Warner Books

Hachette Book Group,

237 Park Avenue,

New York, NY 10017

Visit our Web site at www.HachetteBookGroup.com.

First eBook Edition: January 2004

ISBN: 978-0-446-55508-1

The Warner Books name and logo are trademarks of Hachette Book Group, Inc.

Book design and text composition by H. Roberts Design

Cover design by Jackie Merri Meyer & Brigid Pearson

Cover illustration by Meredith Hamilton

DON'T MISS THESE TIME-,
MONEY-, AND SANITY-SAVERS

The fifteen-minute pick-upthe house stays neat and the family works together

The best way to handle crammed storage space and decide what stays and what goes

Using dryer sheets to freshen up more than the laundry

Professional organizing tips for a kitchen that works and the best veggie drawer liner ever

Spring cleaning? One-room-at-a-time shortcuts to ease the drudgery

Summer child-care options you may have overlooked or just never thought of

Valentine shmalentine. Eight ways to put the fun hack into your love life. The passion will follow

Ways to chill out: learn what, when, and how to freeze everything from potato chips to fine chocolates

Eight files to simplify your record-keeping so you'll never have to hunt down documents again

The sports mom survival kit and why you should always carry garbage hags in your car trunk

Recipe for the Frantic Woman's Cocktail a relaxing libation to celebrate a job well done

The
Frantic
woman's
Guide to Life

Remember Life can't be predicted but it can be planned

To our moms, Carol Pick and Dee Burnett: A wholehearted thank-you for shaping us into the women we are today. You made us believe we can do it all. Your continual encouragement enabled us to pursue our creativity and reach our goals. You have showed us how to handle the frantic life by living it first. So many of your tips have been integrated into this book, simply because you are such an essential part of us. This book is dedicated to the two of you.

T here are many people who had a hand in taking our Frantic vision and making it a reality and we'd like to say you are forever in our hearts. To Stacey Glick of Dystel & Goderich Literary Management for believing in the project. You are the bridge that connected us to the right publisher. To our editor, Sandra Bark, for your insight, ambition, and vivaciousness, which helped create a book all of us can be proud of. To Amy Einhorn, our first reader. Your initial zeal for the project propelled the enthusiasm among the Warner staffkeep plugging in that slow cooker. To Emi Battaglia and Keri Friedman for your innovative ideas and exuberant promotional pursuit. To Harvey-Jane Kowal, Penina Sacks, and Susan Higgins for your inspired presentation and precise attention to detail. To Bryan Cronk, Theresa Dionisio, Veronica Gonzalez, Joanna Hudacko, Rebecca Oliver, and the rest of the Warner team for your Invaluable input and commitment that proved to be just what we needed. To our publisher, Jamie Raab, for our excitement. You have made an impact on the frantic world.

To our Web designer Cindy Closkey for creating and maintaining the franticwoman.com site, and for your technical support and guidance. May all your wishes come true. To the woman who brought us together, Sandra M. Louden. To all of our writing workshop and retreat attendees and leaders. We thank you for your loyalty to us and devotion to the craft. To the staff at Donut Connection and Eat'nPark for allowing us to hold lengthy office meetings there without ever shooing us out the door.

We'd like to express a heartfelt thank-you to all the frantic women who have touched our lives over the years. We extend a special thanks to every one of you who shared a part of yourself in our book.

And we appreciate whoever created overnight mail. Being the frantic women we are, we needed this service time and time again.

Acknowledgments by Mary Jo Rulnick

A writer is only as good as the people around him or her. Through relationships, a writer can experience different perspectives and long-lasting emotions or learn a new skill. Each relationship adds a dimension to the writer's craft. There are many people along the way, from other volunteers within my community to the CEO of an advertising company, who have provided that opportunity. What I write today is due to the relationships I've enjoyed in the past. Thank you for sharing your thoughts, wisdom, and friendship.

Judy, we've hurdled a range of roadblocks, triumphed over tremendous obstacles, and conquered the distance. We've achieved a book that evokes our heart and soul to share with others living the frantic life.

To Jan and Fred Capasso and Sue and Larry Ault, thank you for your loyal understanding and unfaltering flexibility in giving me the time away from the office when I needed it (and boy did I need it). Sandy Barnett, your constant delivery of messages and other things (which we'll keep between us) were deeply appreciated. To the staff and villagers at UPMC's Beatty Pointe Village, a huge thanks for your never-ending excitement for my writing career. To everyone at Meritage Group, thanks for your faithful support along the writing path from my first article published to the acceptance of this book. To the members of Builder's Association of Metropolitan Pittsburgh's Women's Council, PA Mothers of Invention, and Women Business Network's Monroeville Chapter for your endless interest in the frantic quest.

Many thanks to Pittsburgh Parent's editor Pat Poshard for your foresight in giving me that very first assignment (we used it in the book, too) and your editorial advice. To Sandy Louden, your greetings opened the doors that enabled me to be in this position today. To Loriann Hoff Oberlin for always answering the questions I tossed your way. Mia Cronan and Linda Tomsho, your ideas inspired me, your feedback motivated meyou've accepted, never judged. To Rita Berkstein, Adrienne Fabrizi, Anica Jones, Sue Kolton, Tawnya Senchur (yes, Ton, you can have a life again), and Deanne Thomas for providing a sounding board during the past year. To the friends that I owe numerous rain checks for lunch dates, girls-only nights, and shopping expeditions, thanks for understanding.

To Beverly Breton Carroll, the miles haven't stopped our creativity from thriving, our friendship from growing, and the words from flowing. Thank goodness for e-mail. : >) To Leah Merola who stood beside me at the beginning of the frantic journey and I know stands beside me in spirit as the journey comes full circle.

To my dad and brothers, who always let me be me. You've overlooked my quirks and whimseven if I do drive all of you crazy.

To my husband, Stu. You've smiled as I danced to my own tune, you've applauded my achievements, and encouraged my dreams. Your unwavering love and support gave me the strength to reach my goals. To our children, Deanna and Josh. You've shared me with a six-hundred-page manuscript, a computer that was always booted up, and a telephone that never stopped ringing, yet you've taken it in stride. The two of you make me look good as a mother.

Stu, Deanna, and Josh, you are my foundation, the sunshine in my life, and the reason I'm always frantic. I love you.

Acknowledgments by Judith Burnett Schneider

I'm indebted to all those who have provided their generosity of spirit, knowledge, and support during the writing of this book, including:

My coauthor, Mary Jo. We've weathered many frantic showers and storms together, and now here we are sitting atop the rainbow. Rejoice!