Charlie The Cavalier : 2020

Notes from the book “On Writing Well- The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction” by William Zinsser.

Notes from the book “On Writing Well- The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction” by William Zinsser.
Notes from Lisa Rusczyk Ed. D. for CZYK Publishing writers

·         Write Simply- Do not use flowery language to get your point across or sound smart. Think about what you are trying to say.
·         Be Yourself- Find your own style. You can write in first person.
·         Don’t use redundant propositions- Example Why face up to a challenge when you can simply face a challenge?
·         Don’t use redundant adjectives – Example: Why describe a personal acquaintance when, by definition, acquaintances are personal?
·         Take out Long Words- Say now instead of currently, at the present time, or even at this juncture.
·         Choose The Right Verb
·         Don’t Use Too Many Adverbs or Adjectives- You don’t need to say she whispered quietly for example. You don’t need to say brown dirt. If you say red dirt, that is fine.
·         The final sentence of a paragraph should be the springboard to the next.
·         Remember You Writing Comes from Living- Tell us your interest and passions. Find the part that resonates with you. We will see your enjoyment in your work.
·         Enjoy the Writing Process: Don’t fuss over each section.

On Writing Well- The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction” by William Zinsser

About Lisa Rusczyk

Author Dr. Lisa Rusczyk is the founder of CZYK Publishing which includes the Greater Than a Tourist travel books, 50 Things to Know books, and Charlie the Cavalier Children's Books. Lisa has a Doctorate in Educational Leadership who happened to start writing her first book 50 Things to Know Before Having a Baby after her little girl was born. Her book sold over 1,000 copies in the first year on Amazon. Today, she has more than 50 books. Lisa and her husband have two daughters, a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel named Charlie, and love to travel. Further, she shares this information with the public via this blog, Facebook, YouTube, Pinterest, Twitter, and recently on a local television station. She loves to teach others in a concise way in digital format. Lisa is known for her simple and effective tips.

8 Online Grocery Shopping For Store Pickup Tips

For the past 5 months, I have been only grocery shopping online. The places I have done this have mostly been Sams Club, Walmart, and Weis. But I think these tips can be helpful at other locations. My local locations will shop for you and put it in your trunk for free. This is a touchless service. Each week I go, I think they worked out a few kinks of the process on their side which makes the process very smooth from my side. Last week I even ordered from Sams Club and Walmart for the same pickup time. I wanted in both locations for about 5 minutes each and then I was off. I bought the items I needed in both places and did not go in any stores. Many of these services are free to use. Check with each store first.

1. Order with the Technology That Works Best For You

You can sometimes you an app on your phone or an online interface on your tablet, laptop, or computer. You can do to the app store and download the apps to your phone or use the store website with your computer. Choose the one that works best for you. You don't need a smartphone. When you get to the location you press a button in the app to tell them you are there if you have a smartphone. They ask for your spot number, and sometimes the color of your car. But if you don't have phone with the internet, you can call the number on the sign with the number.

2. Park in the Designated location

Each store has a place for you to park for grocery pick up. When you get there tell them that you are there.

3. Think Ahead

The first time you try online grocery shopping, you may want to think about how you usually walk through the store. Write down each section with a heading, and then the things you need in each section. Then write the items you pick up in each area. This was helpful for my first online shopping order.

4. Reorder Most Used Items

After you completed one trip, you can reorder items you normally order. This is very helpful because each item is only one click away.

5. Keep it Contactless

You can stay in the car the entire time. If you don't have a trunk that pops open from the inside, you can open your trunk before they deliver your groceries to your trunk. Don't get out to help them put the stuff if your car. They will come to your window to verify your names and if you made any changes. You can keep the window open and talk to them that way. One time I did want to make a change. I wrote my name on a piece of paper, and the change I wanted to make. They understood right away.

6. Keep you Trunk Clean

Try to keep your trunk empty so they have room to add your items. One time I went to the store and I still had most of the sandy beach stuff in the car. They put the groceries on top. After that, I cleaned and vacuumed out my trunk for the next order.

7. Order at Many Stores at Once

You can order at many stores if you leave enough room to pick the same pick up hour.

8. Be Thankful

I still smile, wave, and thank the person from the inside of the car with my windows up. I enjoy seeing people as they are helping me through this time of social distancing.

Many stores offer delivery too. You normally need to pay for this. For this option, I would tip when they get to your door. My driver suggested putting it in an envelope and taping it to do the door. We did this for Mother's Day. We had lobster and ice cream cake delivered with a few other treats (chocolate). My husband and I were both happy with an extra treat.

Breastfeeding Journey Reflection

**For breastfeeding week I thought I would share my story.

For those of you who don't know me well I have two girls age 5 and 8. Before I had kids I did not spend any time with babies. I did not even change a diaper before my first child. I also did not spend any time with breastfeeding Moms.

When I had my first child I tried very hard to breastfeed. I read about it and had them teach me at the hospital. When I got home I "gave up" and pumped for about a month and fed her with the bottles that I pumped. I hid in the bedroom when I pumped. The time that it took to pump and clean everything was so much on top of a newborn child. I then switched to bottles which again took some time to clean. This time was exhausting with a new baby figuring out what my new world looked like.

Some women pump, clean, and go to work while having a newborn baby which is amazing.

After having my first child I spend much more time around other Moms. One of my friends even breastfed without a cover around her brother. At the time this felt foreign to me. I saw how there was breastfeeding at church, my favorite coffee shop, and anywhere really.

Then when my second child came along I tried again. I went to a breastfeeding group at our local library (Ross Library, Lock Haven). I had the lactation consultant come in when she was little. I exclusively breastfeed her for one year.

I got through thrush, a tongue-tied child, and blocked milk ducts. I have anxiety in places that have lots of clutter. I was able to breastfeed there. I went to the breastfeeding rooms at Sesame Place, Knoebles, and the Clinton County fair. Some times on road trips to my parent's house I would stop at every other exit on Route 80 and the turnpike to feed her in the car when she was crying. She never wanted a pacifier either. I did not even try a bottle one time. A very special time period between a Mom and Child. I am proud of myself for making it through this time.

I am writing this to tell the future you that breastfeeding is a journey. In each step, you will learn and grow. I have loved reading your stories and hopefully, in sharing mine we can make breastfeeding a comfortable relaxing natural process.

** If you would like to read more about my pregnancy, you can read some of my posts from 8 years ago on my blog. I am sure some of it is still relevant. http://charlie-the-cavalier.blogspot.com/20…/…/37-weeks.html

Charlie the Cavalier Puppet

Click here to Download your free Charlie the Cavalier puppet which does with the 5 book Charlie the Cavalier series.

#charliethecavalier #cavalierkingcharesspaniel #youareloved

Free Printable Travel Games |Greater Than a Tourist- 50 Travel Tips from a Local|

Free Printable Travel Games from Greater Than a Tourist- 50 Travel Tips from a Local. You may have some downtime while traveling. You can use these free travel printable games while on a plane, train, or sitting in a quiet cabin in the woods. Click on the links to find the pdfs. You may also be interested in reading a Greater Than a Tourist book. Enjoy!

Find the Missing Vowel - Greater Than a Tourist

Greater Than a Tourist Word Search

Maze- Greater Than a Tourist

Word Scramble Greater Than a Tourist

Before you Leave

You may want to make a to-do list before you leave. Here is a list to keep track of your tasks. If one of those tasks is shopping, here is a shopping list where you might add things such as suntan lotion or a reusable water bottle. Keep all your flight information in one place with this Flight information tracker.

You may want to plan each day with a different outfit. Here is our outfit tracker.

Remember to give your housesitter this guide, and your petsitter this one.

During your Vacation

After you tasted some wine on your vacation, keep track of it with the Wine Journal. If scuba diving is something you will do, here is a free scuba journal to remember your experience. If you fish on your trip, you may want to track that on this fishing log.

You may want to exercise during your trip. Keep a log with this jogging journal.

Kindness is something you can practice every day. Fill in a heart on this kindness tracker and with each act of kindness, you complete to keep your kindness flowing.

You also make like Jolly Jokes for Kids Audiobook.

Key Planners

Every year in January I work on a creative project. This year, I have been working on Key Planners. My maiden name was the sound "Key" in it. So I thought it would go well with planners. I have created 8 planners that may be helpful to print out to keep you on track in your life.

Right now I am selling printable planners on Etsy. If you would like a planner that I don't have let me know. Also, let me know if you would like to know how I set this up. When I create something new I like to share my process with others.

Lisa

Staying Healthy - Year Around

I thought I would create a post about how I am staying healthy in 2020. This August I started with a calendar. My goal was to walk 3 miles a day for 6 days a week. I went to a nutritionist at Geisinger Grays Woods. She gave me a calorie goal based on what we talked about. I then stayed at that calorie goal most days as well as walked 3 miles a day.

Five months into walking three miles a day I celebrated with a Christmas present Stitch Fix purchase. A personal stylist uses a computer algorithm to pick out clothes that will fit my body that is in style. I did this last year at Christmas too and kept the entire box.

Back to the plan. Though the journey I have been trying to keep snacks down to 100 calories. I also tried to eat more fruits and vegetables. Trying new things helped me with this. I love English cucumbers but don't love things like already peeled pomegranates. I also love cotton candy grapes and blueberries. These are things I don't normally buy year-round due to the expense but they are worth it.

I did not want to walk every day. So sometimes I would chart my mood with a smiley face. Then I could see that I made it through a bad couple days with sad faces and back to happy ones. I marked major events on each page to figure out how I would get the three miles a day in. Thanksgiving, Weddings, Christmas, and Birthdays were figureoutable.

Five months into walking three times a day, I started walking more. I tried the Peleton free app and loved it. I realize that I do have some space in my life. I have two daughters age 4 and 7. Sometimes the 4-year-old would pull on my shirt so I could not walk on the treadmill. I had to sometimes plan my walking around that. I included walking while shopping. If I went for a swim with my kids I included that too. What I am saying was I was a little flexible and not very rigid with my miles. I then started tracking the amount that I walked after a mile. Those little bits added up over the weeks too.

I ran into obstacles along the way as things increased. Some days I traveled and I had to figure that out. My socks started rubbing my skin to where it was bleeding, so I bought new socks. I could not drink from my water bottle when jogging so I needed to get one where I could. My pants started to fall down so I needed to get tighter ones. As I put in the miles I needed a new pair of shoes. Then when I achieved some of my weight goals I felt guilty that not everyone around me had done the same. But I continue forward for my health. I tried to put myself first so I could be a better person to help others and maybe motivate others too.

I also started following a few people on social media that I would like to share with you. Lori Hoy - Full Fit Life was a friendly face every morning. She wakes up before I do and always shares encouragement to keep trying to be a better person inside and out. Lindsay Tarentella is a Mom of three girls and gets up before she teaches a whole classroom of kids to take care of herself first.
I also have a few podcasts I listen to including the Lifecoach School Podcast that keeps my mind aware of what it is thinking. Over the holidays I walked instead of drinking or taking more naps to relax. I am really glad I did because I saw changes in my body in a positive way.

List of Tips

Rip off a calendar page and write your goal at the top. Give yourself at least one rest day and stick with your goal.
Weigh yourself once a week and add it for that day of the week on the calendar.
Start thinking about events that may make some days difficult to complete your goal.
Think about how many calories you may actually consume a day compared to how much you are burning.
Do it!

Make changes as you go and complete your health goals. Tracking your calories may also be helpful until you get into a healthier pattern of eating. Reward yourself with non-food things like new workout clothes, shoes, or apps to keep you motivated. I hope this post motivates you to try something new or different in your health journey. Many of you share on facebook, Instagram, and posts, so I wanted to share back with the community.

Post Update: Summer 2020 - I have been having pain on my right side above my hip. After many tests at the doctors I am now working though the steps of a Low Fodmap diet. So far the pain has went away and I am working on what I can and can't eat in the future to keep me feeling better. Please talk to your Dr. before going on the diet as it is not for everyone, but it is the next step in my journey. I am also using the Peleton App with my treadmill, bike, and walking outside.

Discount Codes from Lisa

Pages

Notes from the book “On Writing Well- The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction” by William Zinsser.

Notes from the book “On Writing Well- The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction” by William Zinsser.
Notes from Lisa Rusczyk Ed. D. for CZYK Publishing writers

On Writing Well- The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction” by William Zinsser

8 Online Grocery Shopping For Store Pickup Tips