:still:

When I look outside, at the falling snow, and the stillness of the white blanket that covers our landscape and the branches of the trees drooping lower and lower with the weight of ice and thick snow, I can't help but feel so small on this big, giant planet. This big snow event is but a tiny blip in the existence of earth and yet it has paralyzed our region. It is a hindrance, a danger. We complain about it, we worry about it. But, the weather is nothing, in a long line, of things we cannot control.

I feel small because I think about it snowing back before the hustle and bustle of the city, the people rushing to work. Back to when, maybe, this type of weather wasn't such a horrible thing, but rather a sign of the season. This is, after all, what happens in the dead of winter; it snows.

Instead of wanting to go, go, go and wanting the snow to pass, I am trying to be still myself. To look outside and realize Mother Nature is in charge of this, and follow in the peacefulness of drifting snow and buried garden beds. For, I know this is going pass and I want to know that I appreciated these moments of stillness.

pantry challenge

So, part of being a homemaker is to also make and live by a budget. This is hard to do when you a) love buying food and b)have 4 males to cook for. I thoroughly enjoy going to Trader Joe's and just buying anything that looks different and yummy. I mean, I sometimes will do this 2 or 3 days a week, for fun. After a while it really catches up with you and your budget. Like many people, at the beginning of a fresh new year, I am trying to stick to a budget and not be so free with the money I spend on things, especially food.
When I attach the word challenge to something, I instantly feel compelled to do and accomplish. Our family has had challenges for many a variety of things. TV watching challenge? check. No eating out challenge? check. No spending money challenge? check. You get the point. We are suckers for a challenge, a little competitve? uh, maybe.
Right now we are doing a pantry challenge, this is not a new concept, I know. But, it is needed in this house. I am amazed at the things I am finding in my pantry, and extra feezer. Here is a snippet: jarred roasted peppers, sundried tomatoes, peanuty satay sauce, frozen squash from last summer's garden, frozen bbq pork from a while back. It's nice knowing that my pantry does have shelves and isn't one solid space of food, stacked and shoved together like a Jenga tower. Wow!

Some meals and desserts I am making (without having to buy a thing):
chicken pot pie with puff pastry top
caramel apple pie
chicken skewers with peanut satay dipping sauce
muligatawny over cous, cous
creamy potato/vegetable soup
tamale bake

I wonder how long I can do this for, with only buying eggs and milk to supplement?

It's Funny

It's funny, to me anyway, looking at myself (well, how I imagine I look) sitting in the hallway, homemade chai latte in hand; just enough out of the way of the boys who are watching tv after school; browsing book after book on organizing, crafting, and making this home better than ever. Back in the old days, and I mean 8 years ago, I didn't need books like this and inspiration, they really are telling me things I already know. Yet, I check out about 40 books from the library on how to do this: making a home. It's funny because the time I've spent getting inspired could be spent organzing/cleaning the other half of the kitchen that I started two days ago. And, the time I've spent making lists could definitely be used folding the two loads of laundry sitting on my bed in a nice heap of wrinklyness.
Why do I feel I need these books? This is rhetorical.
I do need these books, and this is why:
They get me to sit down and relax for 30 minutes; a little down time. I get up from my 30 minute break and I do feel inspired and the work I am doing, like wiping down cabinets and sorting books, really is something that will make my life easier and happier.
My life easier and happier= ME easy going and happier.
So bring on the organizing, cleaning, homemaking books and CARRY ON.

relax time: nappy time

Holy Cow!
I'm stitting in the office, trying not to type too loud, so as to not wake the three year old boy sleeping on the couch. Who would have known this child can nap? When he stopped napping before the age of 2, I thought the deal was done. But, you know? With some bribery and quiet, miracles can happen. W, is his name, like Warrior and Wonder. The third boy. He's one of those who goes and goes until his head spins off around 9:30 p.m. and he crashes on his mama or daddy's chest. He fights sleep until it is on his terms, and then he hits the dust. Wakes up in the a.m. to do it all over again.
But, WOW!, we've hit something new here. We set that timer for 30 minutes, call it relaxing time, have a reward for the ending and...he's out.

Being the third time I've done all this (bribing kids in exchange for sleep), there are no expectations. Nope. Tomorrow he may not fall asleep during "relax" time. Oh, but on those days he does this mama can take a deep breath and "relax" herself.