It's Only Temporary

This break I'm taking? It's only temporary. I promise. Really.

When I created this blog last year I had that nagging voice in the back of my head saying "Sure you'll blog... for a couple of weeks and then it'll be over and you'll be on to something new." "NO!" I said back. "This time I'll stick with it, promise. Really." Then I started getting feedback from people who stop by my blog from time to time and do a little light reading. The more people told me I should write more and keep at it, the more determined I became to stick to the blogging thing. But...

You see, I'm a "hopper". I hop from this to that without much long-term commitment to much of anything (aside from my marriage and parenthood, of course). However, recently I've decided to do less "hopping" and more "sitting". Not sitting in the literal term, but in more of a pick a few things to do well and stick with them kind of way. I'm not going to over commit to too many things. I'll do a few things I feel are really important and that's it.

So here's what's been important for the last few months that have held my attention far more than this whole blogging for blogging's sake thing:

1. Workouts. I started this whole "fitness thing" two years ago and I love my daily self-imposed butt kicking. I kind of enjoy looking and feeling better, so that's a thing for me.

2. Volunteering. I got asked to do a few volunteer activities and I felt they were worthy of my time. So I did them. They'll be coming to an end soon.

3. A side job. Someone thought I'd be good for her business so I helped her out. Now I'm helping out more often, by choice, and really enjoy it! Check out Omaha Culinary Tours if you want to see me in action sometime.

4. Sleep. It has been the main hindrance in my ability to write productively. I'm a night-owl. It's in my gene-pool. But lately I've been pursuing more zzzzzzz's in an effort to get myself on a really tight and toned fitness track. Sleep helps. It really and truly does. So I've been doing more of it. Instead of writing until 2 am, I go to bed around the time the hubs hits the hay... sometimes as early as *gasp* 9:30!!! Unheard of! Ella isn't even asleep that early most nights!

Anyway... my point of this long-winded note to all of you who will take a few seconds to read this is that I promise to be back. Soon. I'm stashing away topic ideas and thoughts... most of which come to me when  I lay down during those magical hours shimmering with creativity. But I push them aside and snuggle myself down into the comforter and dream instead of write.

So keep me in your feed, like my page on Facebook, and follow me on Twitter - then you'll know for sure when I'm back. Really and truly back.

Time for those zzzzzz's!
Goodnight all!

Screen Door Discussions

Almost daily I have a quick, 30 second to two minute "screen door discussion" with my friend A.B. Great advice, concerns and major insights happen once in a while. Most often though we just have a good laugh over something trivial, but you know what? That quick little chat gets my day off to a great start. Yes, the smooch from my hubs gets me going in the morning too... but I'm barely awake for that. By 8 AM pickup I'm awake enough to have an "outfit" on for the day and maybe even a bowl of steel cut oats in my belly. This morning's topic? Rogue sippy cups.

I know! Every mom just groaned and thought about that long-lost sippy found molding under the backseat in the van last summer on the 13th day of hotter-than-hot hotness. We've had a few of those roll around our vehicles, but the worst? The absolute most disgusting, get out the rubber gloves and a clothespin for your nose kind of gross came last summer. My daughter's room had a stench I just couldn't quite identify. Vomit? Not quite. Urine? No. Molding crackers? No. Spoiled rotten milk? Absolutely!... but WHERE????

For over a week I cleaned, sanitized, vacuumed, reorganized, sanitized again and tore apart her room. Nothing. Until...

"Mom!!! Look what I found!! I found the bag I packed to have a sleepover with Ella in her room?"

"Mmmhhhmmm. That's nice."

"No! Look! I found it! And my pajamas are in there and my sippy cup!!!"

"Mmmmhhhmmm... ok.... wait, WHAT??? What sippy cup? Let me.... OMG, nevermind... I can smell it from here..."

Whoop! There it is!

And the smell in her room dissipated almost immediately. However the Skip-Hop backpack, brand-new pajamas and undies that actually fit and the sippy cup were a total loss. Permanently. I tried washing the clothes, but after three rounds in the ol' Whirlpool Duet I gave in and tossed them in the trash... in the garage. Uck. Blech. and Eeesh.

So that morning as A.B. commented that she spied a rogue sippy cup in her back seat, she wasn't worried about it. Weeks of sub-zero temps have kept that milk nice and fresh. Drinkable likely. Isn't winter wonderful?

And once again that "screen" door conversation gave me a new perspective on winter. It's singular redeeming quality found rolling around in the back seat of the morning carpool.

Keeping After Your Goals

Quick shout-out to Gretchen Hughes for requesting this blog post! I needed some prompting and she provided the perfect suggestion!

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Hot off the presses this morning is a way to keep after your goals. Seeing as how we've ventured into the second month of the year and my hubs is noticing a decline in the competition for parking spots at the gym at 5:45am, some of you have lost sight of the motivation behind your goals. Is that it? A lack of motivation? Or is it poor planning and preparation. Nothing to keep you going besides the knowledge that you have a 20 year reunion in a few months and you don't want to be flabby for that?

I know the drill. You set out on Jan 1 with a goal to lose 30 lbs and tone up by June 1. Then the Girl Scouts start knocking on your door at the make-it-or-break-it point in your transformation.
One cookie won't hurt... I can work that off this afternoon during my walk around the block.
One box wont' hurt... I still have four months to fix this little snag.
One extra rest day this week won't hurt... I will make it up by doing two workouts tomorrow.

The next thing you know you are skipping the reunion and watching reruns of Friends surrounded by boxes of Thin Mints and Tagalongs.

That's NOT going to be me. I have not only a goal, but a plan to get there. Do you???

I'm sure my scenario above is cliche, so I'm going to focus on something I know a good many of my friends struggle with daily. It's really more of an addiction issue than anything. I avoid it like the plague because I know my tendency towards wasting immense amounts of time surfing. A time-sucker is a mild description.

Pinterest has created a revolution in the ways the creative (and not-so-creative) get inspired, share ideas and store everything from recipes to outfit ideas and party-planning tips all in one spot. All those fabulous ideas!!! Logging in to your accout you imagine yourself whipping out the pinking shears and inspiring awe at your next bunco night with hand-made banners and mini cakes in the shapes of dice...

http://livesmilecelebrate.blogspot.com/2011/07/bunco-party.html

http://catchmyparty.com/photos/1106593

Beautiful, isn't it?

Three hours and no project progress later all you've done is pin another 13,000 ideas to your boards with no time to complete any today.
"Tomorrow is a new day!" you say.
"I'm going to make that tomorrow!" you say.
"I have a great Pinterest project" you tell your friends.
"Oooooh! I can't wait to see it!" They say...

...and you got NOTHIN'. Nada. Nil.

So here's my suggestion, and I'm by no means an expert on accomplishing goals, but I can share what I've done in the past that worked for me!

1. PLAN!!!
Plan your project ON PAPER. Not on the computer. Stay AWAY from the computer... let's make that ALL ELECTRONICS since I know you have the Pinterest App on your phone too. Make your goals accomplishable in increments. Goal A might be to collect the instructions and materials for the project. Goal B could be to complete the first 5 steps of the project. Goal C may be to complete the entire project without being distracted.

2. FOCUS!!!
When it is time to approach your computer, avoid ogling the new pins your friends have sent you. You are on a mission. You have a project to complete! Do NOT open four tabs in your browser. Stick to the board you are working from. If you think you'll wander, set an alarm on your phone to go off every 2-5 minutes and put it with your PLAN! Peeling your eyes away from the computer screen to turn that alarm off will remind you of your plan... just in case you strayed. (Not that you would ever!)

3. TIME LIMIT!!!
Impose a time limit on yourself and give yourself a 10 minute warning. If you have two hours to work, set a timer for 1 hour and 50 minutes so you know your time is coming to an end. Then set another timer for the full two hours. When time is up, time is UP!  (See... in a twist of irony my timer just went off telling me I have to put this post on hold while I go get my son from school! It keeps me accountable for those major life committments...)

4. REWARD YOURSELF!!!
Create a rewards system for yourself when you reach a goal or accomplish a project. It could be treating yourself to a coffee from your favorite coffee shop or getting to spend 30 minutes wandering Pinterest.
Make sure you've earned your reward though... don't just go handing them out willy-nilly or you'll fall back into your old rut! 

Now that you have a plan, get after that project... and share a picture on my Country Girl at Heart page on Facebook when it is complete!

More than Just a Batch of Cookies

C-Dub has a few favorites in life. Batman, Star Wars, Pizza, Root Beer and Root Beer Cookies. Cookies don't make the list simply by themselves. Only in the form of Root Beer Cookies. And today I decided C-Dub and I would have some mother-son time and bake his favorite cookies.

But this is about more than just the cookies. This is about spending time with a 4 year old boy, doing something with just him, for just him. 

It's about paying attention to him
and encouraging him,
praising him,
challenging him
and really and truly being with him.

Because when I take the time to do something he loves and to really and truly be with him while we do it, there's nothing quite like it in the world. Really absorbing the scope of his independence that I knew was there, but hadn't recently observed fully.

The conversations about teamwork as I scooped the dough and he squeezed the handles to drop the dough onto the cookie sheet.

The intensity with which he works.

The attention to detail he values.

The smirks and smiles and giggles and eyebrow raises that make this kid so... him. 

It's about observing him and seeing him in that way that I miss even though I spend every day with him.

It's about pushing aside the cell phone and the computer, the dirty dishes and the laundry and reconnecting with this kid on a deeper level.

It's about seeing how he's growing and changing and becoming a big kid and not just a preschooler who has temper tantrums and crying fits and fights with his sister and only wants to eat pizza.

It's about recognizing his creativity and oneness. How unique he is and what a blessing he is to my life.

It's about the perspective he adds to my days.

These are the days and times I hope he remembers. The memories he'll carry with him in his young life and into adulthood. The things he'll recall with fondness. These are the memories that I hope overtake and block out the times I yelled at him to get his shoes on because I didn't want to be late. To block out the nights I said "no, I'm not reading to you tonight because you stayed up too late playing". To block out all the times I'm not his favorite person in the whole entire world.

So our activity today was more than just a batch of cookies... a whole lot more.