The end…

“When you come to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on.” ~ Franklin D. Roosevelt

(Thanks to On the Homefront for bringing this quote to my attention. It’s fitting this week.)

Last week of school. Field trips, appreciation lunches, end-of-year meetings for school council and planning meetings for church, end-of-year barbecues for all the stuff my kids are involved in, finally nice enough weather to get outside and garden, go to the splash pad, the pool, visit with friends, enjoy the parks. Plus deadlines at work (full-time) and extra meetings at the part-time job. It has been a crazy couple of weeks. I miss sleep.

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Five Minute Friday – Imagine

Linking up with Lisa-Jo over on her site today.

It’s Five Minute Friday. The word is imagine. Here’s how to play:

1. Write for 5 minutes flat – no editing, no over thinking, no backtracking.
2. Link back to Lisa-Jo’s post and invite others to join in.
3. And then, absolutely no ifs, ands or buts about it, you need to visit the person who linked up before you & encourage them in their comments. Seriously. That is, like, the rule. And the fun. And the heart of this community...

GO

Permission to let go

Tonight marked the first of six weeks of soccer for my kids.

It starts early in the evening, which was a requirement of mine when I went looking for soccer for them. (Currently, my daughter is enrolled in Beavers, and Beaver night is always a late bedtime night. Not good for kid in question. Not good for kid’s parents.)

So the deal for me to get them there on time and keep them nourished and hydrated throughout their playing time is to get a healthy on-the-go dinner packed up along with some interesting (read: junk food) snacks and plenty of water. Then I have to pick my son up at daycare, pick my daughter up at school (she normally takes the school bus home) and then scoot to the south part of the city and deliver them to the soccer field.

Determined Kid in the Kitchen

My daughter has always been independent (for the most part). Recently, she has unleashed that independence in the kitchen timed with a new-found desire to bake.

Normally, I might not encourage this desire of hers to bake and do it all herself, but I’ve been busy at work lately and it turns out that setting up some ingredients and letting her have at it can keep her busy for a couple of hours while I get some work done.

I’m blogging about our recent baking adventure over at This Mom Loves today. Pop on over and read all about it.

Slow cooker stew

I continue to be amazed and delighted by the dishes that come out of my slow cooker.

I must admit, I owe most of them to what I consider to be the best slow cooker cookbook ever!

I recently made a stew from the pages of this great book. I prepped it and started the cooking in so little time that I didn’t have an opportunity to take pictures (sorry!)

Banana Muffins – a morning well-spent

I needed a quick activity the other morning to keep my daughter engaged while I got some work done.

I had exhausted the usual distractions like TV, movies, computer games, toys that she hadn’t seen in a while, etc., but I had some things that I had to do for work and there was no putting them off.

Then I remembered her request for banana bread not too long ago, and I remembered this recipe that I had that was super easy because it required very little in the way of preparation (Disclaimer: everything requires prep. I hate it when I read a recipe that boasts that it doesn’t take any effort to prepare and then I spend 45 minutes preparing said recipe. It really irks me. So, what I’m saying is that, although there are limited steps involved in this recipe, it is not without its own level of preparation.)

Here’s the recipe:

eShakti – What do women want?

You might have guessed from the lack of pictures of me on this site that I am not a) photogenic and b) stylish.

It’s not that I can’t put an outfit together. It’s that, with two young kids, a full time job, a husband who works long hours and a bunch of volunteer projects on the go, style is usually the last thing I think about in the morning…it mostly occurs to me as I rush through the front door of my office and see other (child-less) women nicely dressed and seemingly ready for a day in the working world. My go-to office attire provides me with two options:

1. Jeans, long-sleeved T-shirt and running shoes
2. Black or dark brown dress pants, sweater and black loafers

But I’m convinced that I can be stylish and that I can wear girly clothes and feel comfortable and beautiful. It may take an army of personal stylists to get me to that point, but I’m willing to try.

And eShakti has offered me a dress to set me on the path to stylish. I’ve placed the order and I’m waiting patiently for it.

In the meantime, eShakti has a little contest going on called What do women want? Basically, in about 45 words, tell eShakti what women really want.

Go here to do that and for full contest details.