Recreation

A wise relative recently reminded me that I needed to take time for myself, even for 5 minutes.  "The point of recreation (i.e., 'play' and playtime) is to literally "re-create" yourself--that is, re-energize and rebuild and reconstruct." (Thanks UP) And if you go to the link, you will see that Webster's agrees with him, naturally.  I have been ruminating about this since I read it.  I know that I need time for myself.  Like, I know it in my head.  I even give this advice to others.  I need to do this for myself.  But I usually think that I need a large chunk of time for myself, which frankly, is impossible.  So I started thinking about the things I do that help me re-energize.  How can I make more time for myself for the things I like to do?  

Walking has always beens my "me" time.  I need to and will make more time to do this, as my feet feel better.  That is not a quick 5 minutes but I have been making it more of a priority.  I would love to take a yoga class somewhere, but since that is not a feasible option right now, I can do a dvd.  Again, not a quick 5 minutes, but I don't have to leave the house.  I try to check in once a day on my Lose It forums so that I can keep myself motivated and accountable.  But what else can I do that would be considered recreation?  

I am slightly completely obsessed with Pinterest. I love cooking and baking and I totally love being crafty.  Homemade Pumpkin Creamer?  Yes please!  Pumpkin Crunch cake? Delicious! Cupcakes that look like witch hats?  I am so on that!  Do you detect the autumnal theme here?  My time on Pinterest is often spent looking at things that are knit, crocheted or quilted.  I have been practicing my knitting some.  My MIL taught me the basics but I have not graduated to a pattern yet.  I have a feeling I will turn back to crocheting.  Add the 2nd needle and I start getting so confused.   I have lots of wonderful Christmas gift ideas for my nieces and nephews now and I am itching to start sewing again.

What is my point?  I realized that sometimes I am doing activities that re-energize and re-charge me.   Maybe I just need to recognize them as such.  Spending time on Pinterest with my evening cup of tea could sometimes feel like a waste of time.  Perhaps  in labeling my Pinterest-ing and resultant baking as "me" time will help me actually do it without feeling guilty and not put it off for something that is NOT re-energizing.  Like scrubbing the bathroom.  Unless of course I have made homemade bathroom cleanser. (It works, by the way.)  Maybe I need to look at things I do in a different light.  After all, if I looked at walking the dog as a chore it certainly would be one.  But I look at it as more me-time, and so I enjoy it.

For this upcoming week I hope that we can all do this:  put at least 5 minutes aside each day, just for you.  Unplug.  Unwind.  Re-energize.  Re-create yourself.

lessons learned

ahhh....The first day of summer break.  Yesterday was the last day of the 2011-2012 school year.  This past year I have learned so much about myself as a coach, a mother, a wife, a peson.

• I am stronger than I thought I was.
• I will fight for my family when needed.
• I have an amazing network of colleagues who are talented, funny and supportive.
• I don't always know what is going on behind the scenes when I am speaking to a teacher.  I need to find out before making judgements.
• If I listen, they will talk.  In one week 3 different women shared very personal stories with me.  
• I am a good mother.
• I like working.
• They are not exclusive of each other.  You CAN be a good working mother.  

Finally, I learned that I cannot blog as often as I like!  The past 6 weeks I have not written one blog post.  I started writing a post about sleep.  Was that a hint?  I think so.  Maybe I will finish that one, because it is a perpetual theme in my life.  I don't get enough sleep.  I want more.  I need more.  

I am working at an amazing summer day camp starting next Monday.  I spent the past weekend (Thursday-Sunday) at orientation and training.  It was a blast!  I was invigorated by the high-energy of the owners/directors and other camp staff.  I am thrilled that Lilly gets to have this experience because I am working there.  The program I am running is called Passport because it is in essence  "cooking around the world."  I may just be updating my other blog Girls Can Grill with some of the recipes.  Of course I won't be grilling anything really, so there may need to be a name change.  

I plan on returning to the world of blogging here on the Mommy Chronicles, as well.  I miss writing!

Happy Summer!!  

cooking again

I really like to cook.  I really LOVE to bake.  If you have read the last few posts then you may have realized that I am going through a tough time right now; one of the valleys in the hills and valleys of life.  One of the things I had lost as I was driving down that hill was my ability to cook.  Mentally, I just did not have it in me.  Yes, I could through some quick meals together, but I was not cooking.

Cooking is emotional.  It has to be, because food and eating food is emotional.  I think back to when I was a kid and conjure up an image of a chef.  He was quick-tempered and moody.  And he was a he.  Unless she was Julia Child.  Of course this was all before the food network.  But that was what I thought a chef was like.

Yesterday when the reality of the crazy Nor'easter was hitting me I decided to get some ingredients to cook, just in case I felt like I could.  I was not able to do so yesterday.  I wasn't ready.

But today I was.  Today I made meatballs and homemade tomato sauce.  Watching Lilly eat all her meatballs made my heart happy.  I also made butternut squash and apple soup.  Lilly won't eat that but my mom will.  It has a touch too much salt but otherwise it is divine.  It is just such a fall-ish dish and it was a cold day.  With snow on the ground.  In October!

I'm not baking yet, but I am cooking.  I'll take it!

recipes to follow...

Clean hands in the kitchen!

Okay, I have a thing about washing my hands while I am cooking. I totally skeeve (sp?) pressing the little pump on my hand soap with chickeny or beefy hands. I have been saying that there needs to be an automatic one like the ones in the bathrooms. Now of course I am sure that one can be purchased if you are re-doing your kitchen. But we rent, so I need a stand-alone model. Enter the Lysol no-touch hand soap system. I just LOVE this thing. I have had it for a couple weeks now but tonight I made meatballs. When I make meatballs I wash my hands a lot. Like, 6 times before they are in the sauce. It just made me so happy to not have to touch the soap dispenser with my hands full of ground beef.

It's okay, you can call me a dork now!

the mom dilemma

Before I was a mom I had visions of grandeur involving what my life would be like as a Mom. Life was a rude awakening my friends. I am not a working-for-pay mom yet but I am assuming that these problems that I am having as a Mom would plague every kind of Mom. Here is my dilemma, in a nut shell: How does a person get everything done that is supposed to get done? Here is what I would like to get done on a daily basis: cook, daily cleaning and tidying, work out, a few minutes of alone time OR short nap if necessary, spend time with my husband. On a regular basis: big cleaning like mopping, bathrooms, etc, laundry, school work, job applications. Maybe I would even like to have a phone conversation or two. All this needs to occur with a toddler underfoot. Who takes everything out of her dresser when I am putting clothes away in the next room. Who pulls out her favorite books and walks over to me while I am cleaning and says, "BO-ok" and opens my hand and places the book in said hand.

I feel like I can have a clean house but never exercise again, ever and perhaps never let my daughter be a kid. (read: messy, independent, feeding herself, coloring and painting, etc.) Or I can be resigned to a messier house. Here is the kicker...we only have one child right now. Can you imagine what will happen if/when #2 comes along? Hopefully we will be in a bigger house where there will be a play room and toys will not be as invasive on my daily life. For instance, I could walk across my floor without twisting my anle and stubbing my toe and then setting off toys that make noise that have NO OFF switch. Seriously, who makes a noisy toy without an off switch?

It is at times like this that I remember my original blog title...overwhelmed and loving it. Motherhood is not as overwhelming as it was in those first days, and certainly not in the same ways. But life can still be hectic. It is in the handling of that chaos that our true colors show.

Oh, and I have yet to receive a phone call. Positive feelings are dwindling. :(

Onion Goggles...why didn't I think of these?

So for anyone who cries over chopping onions, here is the product for you! Onion goggles are used by such famous chefs as Paula Deen. I can imagine it would take the literal sting out of chopping onions. Now if only they made baby-sized ones for when Lilly is playing at my feet in the kitchen. Then I would not have to banish her to play in her play yard in the other room during onion chopping time!  

Speaking of cooking, I have been on a bit of a roll with cooking lately.  I think that I am going to post some of my recipes in the coming weeks.  The fact that I don't measure may cause a little difficulty, though.  

Okay, back to writing that darn paper.  I am also waiting for shoes to be delivered by UPS.  Anyone who knows me well knows about my difficulty in finding shoes that fit.  Thank goodness for Zappos free shipping and return policy!