Are you kidding me??

So this "reader" who wrote in, is either completely stupid, or just a spoiled brat!! I am an only child and these thoughts would never cross my mind pre-kids... However, I had kids before most of my friends! I had my oldest at 23, which in the suburb I grew up in, is very young.

What I think the writer who was answering this letter left out (to be kind) is, that play dates are our way of connecting with friends. It gives us the much needed "adult" interaction that we all must have to stay sane!! When you have friends who don't have kids, you have less in common. Life changes so much that really I wonder "what the heck did we do before kids?". My husband and I were married for three and a half years before our oldest was born, we both worked full time and seemed to be busy... but really we just did what ever we wanted.  She (the Mommy friend) probably doesn't have anything in common with a self centered brat, who compares her life to her mommy friends and writes in to newspapers bashing her!! That's just my thought on it... I could be wrong, but I doubt it LOL!
 
The thing that the writer forgot as well is, a lot of men work long hours and/or weekends (or are gone longer...) We have many days or weeks etc... that we are single moms, trying to get everything done for multiple children. Keeping them from killing each other and trashing the house is a full time job in itself, let alone feeding, playdates, library trips etc....

On another note....

I think that's the biggest change between being childless and Mom (or Dad)... Not doing what I want! I find myself feeling guilty for getting lost in something I love to do. To be honest though, I am so tired by the time we get the crazy munchkins to bed, that all I want to do is read or watch something! If I can get the kids to watch TV for a while so I can do something I want, I think I deserve it (but still feel guilty about it).

Days that we have play dates seems to go very quickly and are usually very pleasant, I don't get a lot done besides that though and spend the next day cleaning and dealing with whiny, bored kids (those are the LOOOOOOOOOOOONG days!)

Don't get me wrong. I love my kids. I would do anything for them, except lose myself. I still have my own interests and won't sacrifice me, because that wouldn't be good for anyone! A happy mommy means a happy family!! If you don't have children you don't understand how mind numbing it is to keep on your kids to clean their room, do their chores... Don't get me started on potty training, breast feeding and keeping up with the house!! We love our kids and our friends, but sometimes your single or childless friends can't understand and won't until they have kids of their own. Then they will feel more than a little stupid for ever accusing the rest of us of "relaxing and enjoying".

My two last thoughts....

Easiest part of being mom... Childbirth!
They are all adorable and sweet... when they are sleeping!

These are just my personal views. Take them or leave them, just don't judge until you've lived it yourself! We all have problems and stresses, they may not seem equal on paper but that doesn't mean they aren't equally intense!!

Have a beautiful creative and inspired day!!  Thanks for reading!

Up and Away

Up and Away Kit... Click here to purchase

New Kit by Dyabel Designs. See what I've done with it!! Post coming soon!

How Gratitude has changed me... again!

It has been four years since I watched "The Secret" for the first time.   Over the years I have read many books related to gratitude and the power of positive thought and energy.  I know to some it sounds ridiculous, a little to "New Age".  There is nothing new about it!

Native Americans, Buddhists, Ancient Europeans and many more have been practicing gratitude and giving back for thousands of years.  They have/had a connection with the Earth and life that seems to have been almost lost in these modern times.

My life has changed so much since I started doing daily gratitude, positive thoughts, goals, meditating (which I'm not fabulous at yet, but I'm trying!!).  I am not going to tell you I am magically calm because of these things, I'm not!  I am happier and more centered.  I'm even more of an optimist.  My anxiety has almost completely disappeared.   I need to interject I had anxiety so bad after my second child I would lose sleep imaging all the horrible things that could happen to my children.  It was awful!!!

I fell out of the gratitude every day habit.  I have restarted and it's been 17 days.  I am feeling better, I'm happier, I'm more motivated and more inspired.  It sounds so simple, how could that change me so much?  It's easy, your mind and thoughts are very powerful.  Once you train your brain to really be grateful and appreciate all the gifts, goodness and love in your life,  your outlook changes, which attract more gifts, goodness and love!!

I am not saying anxiety doesn't sneak in once in a while it does, but I know how to distract myself and focus on the good!

I know that you won't fully understand this until you try it for yourself.  So I am asking you do the following:

21 days of gratitude written down (or typed) 

2-5 minutes of positive thoughts in the morning.  I do this in the shower.  I repeat "Today will be a great day" eighteen times.  Then I pick one thing that I really need or want to get done that day and repeat " I will finish...." or "I will do...." or " Today... will happen!"

These are free, relatively easy and will start to make you feel better almost instantly!!  

Good luck and let me know how it goes!!  You have nothing to lose and everything to gain!!

Have a beautiful, creative and inspired day!
Amy

Staying on Task

I am adding this because I need it!! LOL.  I am sure you could use a new idea or two!! :)

I forget to do things all the time.  I have good intentions but well, I forget!

So I am going back to my note card system.  It's very simple!! (we are still using the mind map but this is more in your face)

Take 3x5 note cards and write your goals and "to dos" on them.  I tape them to my kitchen cabinet where I do all my cooking etc...

I find I forget less and it reminds me of what I still want to achieve.   HOWEVER!!! You must mix them up once a week or they just become part of the background and you forget they are there!!


So that's an easy one right?!  YOU CAN USE POST ITS TOO!!! THEY WORK GREAT!!

It's all about me baby!!

Good morning!!  Happy Wednesday.  

We have done nice things for our hubbies the last few days and I hope they appreciated it LOL!! :)  Today however it is all about US!!  

Here are your two assignments.  

#1. You need to take at least 15 min today to do something YOU love, read, write, scrapbook, rest, watch TV.... ANYTHING YOU LOVE for AT LEAST 15 minutes

#2.  I want you to take a few hours either this week or this weekend to get away from your kids.  I am going to get a pedicure this weekend! It is flip flop season and I haven't had one in YEARS!!!!  Before kids, it used to be one of my favorite treats every three weeks!! 

So that's it, as long as you have done your gratitude!  

You deserve this! You need this! You must do this!

P.S. If you are feeling up to it, please pick one more of your Goals and try to work on that today.  If not we will get back to that tomorrow!! :)

Making life a little less angry!!

Today started out a little rocky for me.  I'm super busy today and the house was a mess.  Someone is coming over tonight that I don't know that well.  That means I have to clean my butt off!! If I know you, it's different, you know I clean on a regular basis and it doesn't have to be spotless.  If I don't know you, well first impressions last!!

Needless to say when I have a lot of cleaning to do, I'm not the sweetest person.  Hubby and I got into an argument and it ended with both of us being mad.  Stupid fight over cleaning!  I need help and I didn't go about it the right way.

I know this is a common fight and that I'm not alone.  I just don't want to fight anymore, I want help and I don't want to have to scream like a Ban Sidhe to get it!

This has led me to wonder what can we work on today?  What are we doing in our own lives that is destructive to our own marriages or families and how can we turn them into a positive?

Please think of three of your biggest fights with your spouse or kids,

Write them down,

Next lets write things we think we can do to improve the situation (no forcing the other person to do as we want them to is not a solution).  How can we change or tweek what we say or do, so that it causes us, and the ones we love less stress?


I am going to do a mind map on this one too.  I find it is easier to brainstorm in a circular pattern rather than vertical! :)

That and gratitude is all I ask of you today!  Little steps to a happier you!!!

Pictures to follow later if I can get to it!! :) 

Great Deal for Mother's Day!!

This is a fabulous deal!! I use winkflash for my holiday cards.  They are nice and very quick!!   Click www.winkflash.com to go to their website!

Lets get this day rolling!

Assignment #1

GOALS FOR TODAY!

Lets start there.  Pick one that you really think you CAN complete!!  It can be on of the smaller off a major ray.  (see mindmap post if you are confused)

For example, I have added another one to my mind map!

Be financially sound:
Today I am switching to a cheaper package on my Direct TV and paying the extra money I save from that on my car payment to have it paid off by fall!!


Simple but will make a big impact later!!  We will save $342.00 a month once it's paid off.  That can go to the credit card bills to get them paid off even faster.

Assignment #2

Treating our spouses better!  

I know you are thinking "I'm nice to my spouse".  Well than this is going to be easy for you!! :)  

I want you to write a quick text, email or note to your spouse telling him/her three things that you love about them.  This needs to be about them, not really what they do for you!!

-So I did this,  I texted my DH what I loved about him... I didn't tell him why or warn him I just did it!   I just got three things he loves about me back.  They were really great things!  That make me feel good!  I hope that my three made him feel good too!!  It was a nice surprise to read three great things my DH loves about me!!  

I hope you did this one!  It's just a baby step to happiness.  Being kinder to our spouses and being grateful for who they are and why we married them is more important than what they didn't do right or what little annoying habits they have.   Being a child of divorce, (while I don't think divorced parents are doing a bad job at all) I think that if we can work on our marriages, make them stronger and even better,  we give our children a truly priceless gift! 

You can do this!! Now GOOOOOO!! 

Have a beautiful, creative and inspired day! 

Mind Mapping

For those of you who haven't seen my post on mind mapping, I'm reposting it here.

What do I want out of life?

You can do a list or....
Create a "thinking space" or "mind map". I am attaching a picture. I am doing it on the computer, you can do it on paper with colored markers or pens! Here is a link to free software (you can do three for free). www.mindmeister.com ( I do get credit on my account if I invite you and you sign up, so please send me your email and I can add you!) amy@mistifaerydesigns.com.
Also Android phones have a free app called "thinking space" I love it!! I have it on my phone.

Start with a circle
What do I want out of life?
And make what I call "rays"... picture below.

after you do that, start adding more "rays" on each of you original "wants"

Please list or post a pic of your "map"! :) I would love to read it.

The point of this exercise to get your brain moving and to set goals. We all need goals or we lose hope and become stagnant.

Gratitude!!!!

 I have learned a few things over the last three decades plus of my existence.
1. Life is good
2. Sometimes bad things happen
3. No one is perfect, striving to be that way is insanity! (it will drive you insane!)
4. Being jealous is a waste of time (although I do suffer from house envy once in a while LOL)
5. If you are negative, negative things will happen.  If you are positive, positive things will happen
6. Having said that, it is IMPOSSIBLE to be happy all the time.  I am talking about a general attitude.  Optimist or Pessimist
7. You can do anything, if you believe in your self. (I will post some helpful exercises to help you as well as myself, achieve our goals and dreams!)
8. Gratitude is KEY!  If you are ungrateful you can't really be happy!! 

Lets start there, list as many things as you can think of that you are grateful for!! ANYTHING that you think of is correct.  There is no judgment, no right answer, no wrong answer, just your answer. 

I will be posting more exercises, gratitude and musings.  As well as fun things I come across.  I am like a box of chocolates, you never know what your gonna get!! :)

Here is my Gratitude...

It's Monday morning and while I'm not totally on my game yet, I'm awake, healthy and alive! That's a great start to any day!!!




I'm so grateful for
My Health,
My family and they are healthy,
My friends,
My dogs,
Karmi for inspiring me again,
The sun and great weather,
Food,
Clean water,
A safe, comfortable and pleasant home,
Giving my kids the childhood I never had,
Being able to say I'm sorry,
Living life and learning every day,
Waking up every morning with all three of my children and my husband healthy and happy!!
My computer,
My phone,
Photoshop,
Blogger,
Facebook,
Joy,
Silliness,
smiles,
warm fuzzies,
inspiration,
learning,
internet,
email,
LOVE!!!


Have a beautiful, creative and inspired day!
Amy

Being an Expert...

My husband recently told me, if I want to be good at something I need to be "an expert" have a blog, write a news letter, share what I know.

I am the type of person, when I love something I want to share my excitement with everyone I know. I have a blog for digital scrapbooking, a website for my jewelry designs, and this blog.

One of my heroes is Leonardo Di Vinci. He was a true Renaissance man! He was great at so many things, art (the Mona Lisa is the most famous painting in the world), his inventions (flying machine before man ever came close to flying), medical man (he loved to study the human body). I could go on and on. He was a true genius!

While I will not pretend to be even remotely as diverse or as genius as the great Di Vinci, I will admit, I enjoy multiple things, designing jewelry, digital scrapbooking, writing, cooking, learning, blogging, photography, reading, knitting. There are more to come I'm sure. I am not an expert in all of these areas, I am striving to be great in a few and really good in the others!

This blog is for the other Moms like me who want to have fun, explore their creative side, try new things, get better at the things they already love and just have fun!!

I know now why it takes a village to raise a child, if I don't have anyone to talk to or relate to, I will lose my mind!!!

I hope you'll stick around and see what's coming next!!

I am thinking about adding my "guru" series on here as well! My friend Karmi asked me to be her guru. I don't know yet if I deserve the title but I am more than willing to try!!! :)

Have a beautiful, creative and inspired day!

Really, I am a minivan Mom? How did that happen?

Okay so for those of you who didn't know me in High School I wasn't sweet and innocent. I wasn't quite as wild as this song, but it's close enough!!

I think more of us are like this than we'd like to admit LOL!! Enjoy!

Click Here

Marriage, Heaven or Hell?

Today is the anniversary of the first time my husband and I... well hooked up. LOL We were together for a month before we actually went on a date. The first date was Camelot the cartoon. Still one of my favorite cartoon movies! LOL.

So after eleven and a half (we got married four months after our first "hook up") years of marriage and twelve years of being together... minus the two times my wonderful man broke up with me because it was getting "to serious". I have to digress for a minute on this one. I was 19 when we met. I had just broken up with a guy who I believed was the love of my life and whom I had been "with" for two and a half years. Said guy and I had lived together right out of high school and the break was a painful and drawn out one! I told my future husband that I wasn't interested in a "serious relationship" and I really didn't think I was. I had dated a few guys before my future DH and after my ex love. I tried party lines (that was the way to do it before the internet dating took off, it was 1998) I wanted a boyfriend, I wanted to have sex, I wanted to enjoy being young with someone. I had a best friend who at the time I might as well have been dating. She was so fun and we'd go out every Friday night to a movie and dinner, we spent most of the weekend shopping, talking or just hanging out, she loved my cats, she got my jokes, we liked the same tv shows, we could drink not have to worry about anyone taking advantage, I cooked, she cleaned (we were roommates). It was a beautiful relationship... unfortunately I LOVE men and only men! Sometimes I wish I was gay, but then again women are too jealous and I like being the Queen of my home LOL!!

Okay back to my decade plus long marriage ..
We started dating after a night out with my perfect mate (roommate) and my future DH. I was trying to hook the two of them up because I had dated my Dh's best friend (who I had known ALL my life, I wasn't "that" kind of girl who gets passed around).
ANYWAY... Sorry, FDH (Future dear husband for future reference) and I started talking and didn't stop. We talked for hours and basically ignored my friend. I felt bad but we hit it off.

FDH and I left my poor friend outside for a half an hour smoking. We said we'd be right out and we just kept talking. We lost track of time. I was smitten. He was everything I wanted, employed, not a drug addict, very interesting to talk to (a HUGE thing for me), he was attractive, had a nice truck, he understood where I was coming from with all my crazy family stuff, he was funny, he had a fantastic smile and he seemed to be into me!

So I will skip ahead a little it was a crazy four months. Either we were inseparable or he wouldn't call. We would spend two days locked in the bedroom or he wouldn't call for a week. It was weird. He broke up with me twice as I said, once on the phone and once on my answering machine while I was at work... that one pissed me off. After the answering machine incident, I was ready to walk for good this time. I did obsess about why he didn't like me, what had I done, etc.... but I didn't call or show up at his house. My boss at the time and my grandma both told me "If he really loves you he'll be back, if not on to the next one" So I took their advise and didn't pull any crazy exgirlfriend BS. I just let him go...

He came back a week later.
Fast forward to early July, we were looking at condos for fun and we thought we might want to buy one. Yes were were young, but we both made good money and why the hell not? The lender said it looked better if we were married... (okay here I must stress one month before this was my 20th birthday, FDH gave me an emerald ring I wore on my left hand. I went to a family function with it on and he stressed that everyone though we were engaged. That made him very uncomfortable.) So after we got home to our apartment, FDH looked at me and said "let's do it". I was shocked and excited, mostly shocked. LOL. I accepted
We waited a week. We ran off to Vegas in the middle of the night. I need to insert here, we had already bought all new furniture and a new computer together. We were in it deep. Lol. So after the furniture was delivered we stopped at the mall, bought two silver rings (we were broke after all that spending LOL) and off we went.

We got married just after midnight, at a tiny little chapel that had a Scottish name that I loved being part Scottish (I found out later my Grandma was married there too. So cool since my Grandma and I are very very close!). We couldn't afford to stay in Vegas, so we stayed at a border town between Vegas and Los Angeles and had a four hour honeymoon. Our wedding dinner a prime rib at 2:00 a.m. in the hotel buffet/restaurant LOL.

We went to work the following day like nothing happened. We didn't tell our families (except my grandma) for a month and that went over like a load of bricks LOL. FDH or rather now DH was only two years older than I was. We were babies. I know.
The first year was tough, for so many reasons. We barely knew each other and then a bunch of things happened. DH had a back injury, family came to stay with us, two of our grandparents died, we had cats die (that was horrible for me, they were my babies), my best friend and I got into a huge fight and she moved out, that broke my heart. You get the idea... broke, young, and figuring out the whole life, marriage thing!

Fast forward twelve years... three kids, three dogs, a mortgage, two car payments, debt (thanks to the fabulous economy) and not a lot of work for the last month... Needless to say we have a lot of stress.

However I am a perpetual optimist. I do get bitchy and I do have bad days. Most of the time though I am VERY grateful for this crazy life.

So I ask myself on this anniversary, would I have been happier waiting to get married, if I had not taken my DH back? My life would have ended up very different had I walked away. I may have found a ridiculously rich man and married him, I may have dated for years before settling down, I may have gone back to my ex, I may have not gotten married, I may have died like my best friend did the next year...

No I don't regret getting married at 20 and having my first child at 23. I don't regret the craziness that my life has become with three kids. I don't always love that my DH is as stubborn as I am and we fight over stupid crap I don't always love the noise and yelling that comes with three kids. I don't love the stress of trying to juggle the bills and still have money to eat.

However... Before this crazy economy crash, we weren't rich but we were doing well. We had fun, did things, and didn't stress about money nearly as much.

My kids are seriously cool people when they are not trying to kill each other and drive me crazy LOL. They are smart, funny, loving and have pretty good manors. They are great at school and when the are at their friends homes (that is a HUGE one for me). My biggest fear before kids was not being able to have kids and now I have three, I've been pregnant five times and had to have my tubes tied because we are ridiculously fertile!

My DH is funny, smart, handsome, hardworking, intelligent, aging well, always evolving and my best friend.

So the bottom line. I will take the bad with the good every time. He may annoy the crap out of me at times, but I wouldn't trade him (or them, as my oldest SCREAMS at her brother) for anything in the world. I've found my own version of Heaven as fractured as it may be!!

Blessed Be.

Thanks for reading!

Learning when to quit

I'm pretty sick and I'm starting down a five hour energy. I have a mountain (still) of laundry to do and I'm starving. I need to shake whatever I have and get moving.

What I should do is say "f*#@k it" and rest so tomorrow I WILL feel better and get more done. If I don't I might be in the same boat tomorrow.

My question is simple, why do we work ourselves so hard when we feel so bad?!

Have a great day. Be safe and be healthy.

Winter blues

I don't do idle very well... that is until it turns to winter!!! I can't be the only one who suffers (self diagnosed lol) from SAD, Seasonal Affective Disorder. I never suffered from this in my home state (California) where, they don't lie, the Sun shines almost every day! I have found that during winter, I'm not very motivated, or creative. I'm tired, I'm not as optimistic and sunshiney as usual (I'm a cheerleader at heart, but loving and kind not snotty LOL).

By nature I am very creative, in the winter it is a struggle for me. I thought I was losing my mind! I lived in California for over two decades and never had a day of depression. I move to the north west and EVERY January I suffer from a mild form of it. I had a British friend point out that SAD might be the cause (thanks Jade).

So I'm writing all of this in hopes that I can help one of my fellow SAD Moms!! We are so hard on ourselves, then you add this seasonal thing, for lack of a better word. It messes with a normally happy woman's moods and it makes it that much harder to be a mom, a wife and a happy woman!!!

So my advise...

• First pick good book!!! Seriously sometimes a little escapism isn't a bad thing!!! I have quite a few good suggestions, not all vampire related LOL!!
• Next drink milk or take Vitamin D!
• If the sun peaks out from behind those clouds RUN to the closest window with direct light or outside and soak it in for at least 10 minutes.
• Exercise (need to take my own advise and I would if my kids would stop the sick merry go round!).
  
• Let the things that can wait, wait. Really, just sit and enjoy reading a book with your kids, watch a silly show (our current faves are Sabrina the teenage witch reruns and American Idol).
  
• Go out and do anything as a family. We go look at model homes, it's free, gets us out, motivated and inspired to move or decorate! A museum, a movie something together!!
• My last and most important tip, be grateful. Write out 50 things you are grateful for. Really it's not hard!! I always have family, friend, home, health etc... but high on my list are hot clean running water, food, heat, a/c, a dependable car etc.... Never underestimate the power of gratitude!!!
  

I hope this didn't come off as self indulgent and long winded. I just want to help and share what I learn. I know I over think at times and when I'm feeling off, it's even worse!! SAD is real! If you know what to look for, you can make it better!!!

Remember, spring is around the corner and you are never alone. We are all going through the good and the bad together (whether or not we admit to it LOL!)

Have a beautiful, creative and inspired day!
Amy

My Famous Tacos!!

I got the original recipe from my wonderful amazing Grandmom! :) She is known for her tacos!! Ours are slightly different... they are both fantastic but slightly different. For example she uses ground beef, I use ground turkey, she adds olives, I don't because my hubby hates them LOL!! I use white corn tortillas... I can't remember if she uses white or yellow corn...

Enough talk. I am sharing my spectacular yummy tacos!!

1 package of Ground Turkey ( you can use ground beef but it really is better with Turkey!)

1 package of Chicken Taco seasoning (VERY IMPORTANT McCormick is the best!! Either Reg Taco or Chicken but MUST BE McCormick.. Red envelope package)

1 can diced green mild chilies (ortega is my favorite, but genaric is good too)

1 tomato (any kind if you like them)

1 head ice berg lettuce (the reason for ice berg on tacos is it gives it a nice cool crunch. I am not a big fan of ice berg salads... but for tacos it's a must!)

1 bag shredded Cheese (or shred your own. I like the Mexican mix or Colby Jack mix)

1 onion ( I like Yellow)

1 bunch Cilantro (makes them oh so yummy)

1 package white corn tortillas (I prefer white to yellow they taste better!!)

Canola oil or Vegetable oil

Tongs

TONGS ARE VERY IMPORTANT!



( You can also add)

La Victoria Green Taco sauce (my FAVORITE!)
Sour Cream (in our house is a must)
Salsa
Ketchup ( I so don't get this at all, but my husband loves it! Weird!! I almost consider it sacrilege, but he loves it so I will include it)


Start by browning the meat with the chilies and Taco Seasoning.

While that is cooking
slice and dice all the veggies!

Once the Taco meat is browned, put on back burner on very low to keep it hot.

Then take a small frying pan and line the bottom with cooking oil. Heat oil and walk away for a few minutes.

Next line a plate with paper towels. Place next to stove (but not to close LOL)

When the oil is very hot (hopefully not smoking) then you put your first tortilla in the oil. Use your tongs to coat both sides of the tortilla with oil, then QUICKLY fold the tortilla in half so it is shaped like a taco shell. Now hold one side up while it cooks (when it is lightly brown flip to the other side) When both sides are golden brown remove and let oil drip off. Place on plate and on to the next shell!!

The longest process is the tortilla shells.


I would like to note here:

THE TACO SHELLS THIS WAY ARE ESSENTIAL or it won't be as good!!

THEY ARE SO SO SO SO YUMMY!!

Bon Apetite!!

Amy

a crack in the facade...

So I am only slightly embarrassed to say, as of this moment my water is shut off. Ooops. I really thought I paid it. I guess I forgot with all the craziness that is my life. I can make excuses until the cows come home, I flucked (my own private cuss word LOL) up and in the spirit of yesterday's post, I take full responsibility for it. I have already gone to the City Hall building to pay for it. I am now waiting for the nice men to come and turn it back on. I am married to a plumber who could turn it on for me, but that's illegal I think, so I patiently wait for the nice men to undo my mistake.

The thing that's oh so funny is that I haven't showered yet. It's 12:45 pm. I have been planning on going to the gym all morning and work out, then shower... My procrastination is for another blog post though LOL! :)

The point of me sharing this with you is simple. Before I turned 30, I had this crazy obsession with being "perfect". It drove me and everyone around me nuts. Now that i am in my early 30's I realize a few things... Perfection is boring, unrealistic and a pain in the arse!!! I had a friend who put on the "perfect" facade to everyone. She would secretly would let me see the chaos behind the mask. When she started to only show me the mask, I said goodbye. I couldn't keep up or relate anymore.

Can you think of someone who is "perfect"? Someone who wants you to think they are "perfect"? Are they fun, warm and spontaneous or are they tight lipped, boastful and uptight?

My husband's frequent quote "Perfectionist is another word for A$$hole".

So my friends another piece of the "perfect" facade has come crashing down. I am totally okay with it. In fact it makes me more compassionate and enjoy what I do have even more. You never know when you will have to live without something we all take for granted!! It's only for a few hours, but it reminds me how lucky I am to have a home that has fresh, clean, hot, cold and filtered water!

This may all be ramblings... I don't really care LOL. I feel better. It's one more tiny blip on the radar that is my life. Tomorrow it will be forgotten but the lesson will have been learned!

Sometimes the best wisdom is found in the youngest of people!

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Homework! Oh, Homework!

by Jack Prelutsky

	Homework! Oh, homework! I hate you! You stink! I wish I could wash you away in the sink. If only a bomb would explode you to bits. Homework! Oh, homework! You're giving me fits.
	I'd rather take baths with a man-eating shark, or wrestle a lion alone in the dark, eat spinach and liver, pet ten porcupines, than tackle the homework my teacher assigns.
	Homework! Oh, homework! You're last on my list. I simply can't see why you even exist. If you just disappeared it would tickle me pink. Homework! Oh, homework! I hate you! You stink! I can not be the only one who remembers this poem, although I thought Shel Silverstein wrote it?! Hmmm... I remember being a kid hating homework (unless it was something cool like building a covered wagon out of wood in my Grandpa's garage.:). I loved poetry because of the poem. I had it memorized and would repeat it when I had homework to do. Now I am on the other side of the fence. I am no longer a child but a Mother ( a fact which baffles me sometimes. Don't get me wrong, I love being a Mom, but I feel 17 some days!) I have to enforce the rules. I get mad at my children when they forget their homework. They are not allowed to play the DS or watch TV, on the nights they forget homework. Mean and evil, maybe! I remember how mean I thought my parents were for doing the same thing (except for me it was the phone and TV. I've always loved to talk LOL!) Tonight (as I do many nights she forgets homework, because as I have stated before I'm so "Mean") I gave her some homework. I printed off a few worksheets and sat her down at the kitchen table. She is so good, she is singing along to the country music playing in the back round while doing her worksheets. Didn't argue, throw a fit or get mad at me. She knows the rules and she knows she is the one who forgot, not me. It has occurred to me, my daughter is better woman than I am sometimes. When I forget to give her something for school I feel like such an idiot, beat myself up and/or make excuses. She just takes her punishment and gets on with it. I need to take a lesson from my oldest child. Who is wise and beautiful even at the tender age of 8. Please don't misunderstand me, she throws fits, drives me nuts and fights with her siblings, but when she's wrong she admits it and sometimes reminds me of her punishment. I am going to try and be more like her when I make mistakes! Be honest to everyone and myself and take my punishment like a girl, my girl!! Have a beautiful, creative and inspired day! Love, Amy

Abundigas Recipe

(OMG great mexican meatball soup). I will stop here and attach how I do it, (the red headed Gringa that I am LOL). Make meatballs (there are tons of recipes or you can buy them already made frozen!) I make mine out of Turkey. :)

Meatballs
1 can of tomato sauce
1 box of chicken broth
Garlic
2-3 Carrots
2-3 Celery Stalks
1/4-1/2 an Onion
1 bunch Ciltantro
Cumin
Zucchini
Garlic Powder and Onion Powder make it better but not a must!
1/4- 1/2 a lemon (juice only)
Salt

Okay here is my problem I don't ever really measure unless I am baking. So I add as much veggies as I can. I would start with a teaspoon of Cumin and a pinch of salt and add a little at a time until you think there is enough! :) Cilantro is a must!!! It makes it so good!! If you don't like it, it's still good. Cook with a little cilantro then I throw some extra uncooked Cilantro in when serving up.

I don't know the "official" cooking time, I simmer on med-low for about 30 mins and serve. The veggies are cooked but still crunchish!

Not my first, first blog... back then or now?!

I have so much rattling around in my brain at any given time, it's a wonder I get anything done! LOL. I have been diagnosed with A.D.D. I think we all have a form of A.D.D. to be honest. It's called modern life!

In the past I would read a historic romance novel (yes the "those" kind, I totally love them from time to time and my husband benefits...win win LMAO!) Anyway, I would think, "how glamorous and beautiful life must have been" or "Oh if I could just be...(insert a lady in waiting for Queen Elizabeth I or an antebellum Southern Belle)" I have since read the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon and also Through the Glass Darkly by Karleen Koen (I am currently reading the sequel Now Face to Face). These books have since doused my girlish fantasies with ice cold reality. They are, as far as I can guess, historically accurate (well minus the time travel in the Outlander Series, but then again anything is possible...).

While we are very over worked and put ridiculous pressures on ourselves and other Mothers like us, we are lazy compared to most women in history. I have to say here that MOST women in history were NOT Duchesses, Princesses or wealthy Heiresses! They had hard, brutal lives. They were treated as half human, the property of men. There were a few exceptions to the rule, but for the most part that was the norm. I have to tell you, I have fantasized about a huge house, a maid, a chef, a beautiful bronzed pool boy with an exotic name like Demetrius or Antonio. LOL. (For the record my husband is aware of my pool boy fantasies! LOL) This is again not the norm, but back to the point. Women in history had to wash clothes in a tub with lye soap and hang it out to dry on lines, bushes or anything they had handy. Can you imagine how bad your hands would hurt after washing clothes like that?! Chapped and dry, as they didn't have lotion in a pump bottle or rubber gloves. I throw my (insane number of children's) clothes in a machine that has 100 cycles to choose from. Then take them out clean with no effort what so ever from me and throw them into another machine with another 100 cycles to choose from and I complain because I have to fold them and put them away LOL! Can you imagine what the women of history would say to me?! "Woman, what is thy problem, you have this magical contraption that washes and dries your clothes and yet you whine like a child". Yep that's about it! LOL. I have a machine for just about everything, washing dishes, super fast cooking, keeping food cold or frozen, keeping food hot, a box that entertains me, a contraption to talk on, to communicate on and get information in a split second on! All they had was their sweat, their muscle and primitive tools. I guess by their standards they were cutting edge LOL! :)

The point you may be asking after my round about rambling... MY LIFE ROCKS!! I have a great family who hopefully will live a long and healthy life (do to or in spite of modern medicine), equality, the right to vote, own land, divorce (not that I want to, just sayin')... You get the idea. We are so blessed to live now. We as women live in a fantastic time and place (if you live in a westernized and modern country).

We torture ourselves over "being perfect". That is a rant for another blog... but let me say this. We are our own worst enemies. We worry about stupid things like, "I can't buy cupcakes for the class birthday party, all the other mothers would judge me" or "If I don't do... I am a failure".

The only failure in my eyes (you don't have to agree with me, I can take it. LOL) is judging yourself to harshly for not being perfect. A perfect woman has NEVER existed, EVER! We are human full of oddities, imperfections and vices. At the end of the day all that matters is that you did your best and that you loved well. That's it! That's all!

I say pick three things everyday off your mile long to do list and start there. Rome wasn't built in a day and neither are our lives.
My Facebook status today was... "Today was not singularly spectacular, rather many great moments strung together, resulting in a peaceful and lovely day" That is life my friends, a series of events strung together to make the necklace of your life! :) (I make jewelry so I love this analogy! LOL).

One more GOAL I'd like to share...

My husband had a friend die (who was older and they worked together for a few years)a little over a week ago. On Saturday he went to the funeral. It shook him up and he's made changes in his life (that I am very happy about and I hope he keeps them up!). I have heard before that you should write what you would like said as your Eulogy and live backwards!
That's the goal. Write your Eulogy! What do you want people to say about you?

Here is the beginning of mine,

"Amy loved deeply and was very loved in return. She had a smile for everyone. She was a person who helped us to see the good in life and appreciate all that life is! She was a beautiful person inside and out..."



If you have read all this I thank you and I hope you come back. I forgot how much I love blogging! I have so many random thoughts you never know what you are going to get LOL! I will always try to help, be inspirational and positive, mostly because that's who I am! :)

Have a beautiful, creative and inspired day!

Amy