MamaManagement

This past Spring I spent a few months consulting with our favorite children's librarian back in Hudson, Miss Beth, and reading my way through the Tween bookshelves. If she recommended it, I read it. And for the better part of 90 days I devoured 16 books…and had a ton of fun doing it! Lesson learned: when you have a 2 and 4 year old, what better place to find your literary adventure launchpad than your local children's library? I was spending all my time there anyway! And it was much easier to peruse books for myself while keeping a watchful eye on the tots-at-play when I didn't have the leave the children's area. Well, I've been meaning to share the fruits of my adventure with you for quite some time. And it seems there is no time like the present. So, welcome to part one of my many-part series on tween reading. I hope you enjoy this foray into the lives of 9-13 year olds as much as I did. There are some amazing authors in this genre, and I will most certainl...

It's that time of year again…time for soups and stews, time for big, bubbling pots on the stove and stewing crockpots on countertops, time for homes that smell of roasting meats and veggies and simmering herbs and spices. Ahhhhh, it's Autumn. Hurray! And with the return of fall, and our settling into our new home and new routine, I thought it the perfect time to bring back This Week In Food ! Assuming I can find where I put my pots and pans, I will get back into the kitchen and back to cooking up a storm. In the new house I have a new, HUGE island. A football field of prep space. Which is fifty shades of awesome (except when it's just more space for me to pile random crap). And a fabulous farmer's market literally across the street from my neighborhood. So there are no excuses here for not bringing on some new, fun recipes. But, we'll start with one I actually tried last winter…enjoyed…but never got around to sharing: Crockpot Vegetarian Chili with Sweet Potat...

This morning, while out for my morning run, I had this moment of, "Wow, I really missed this." The sun was on the rise. It was a crisp, fall morning. I had my earbuds in and a happy song playing. Neighbors were waving as they headed out to work or taking kids to school. I hit my stride early. The soreness from yesterday's cross-training workout faded away. And I. Was. Just. Running. And it was good. It has been more than 5 years since I ran regularly. It was well before my first pregnancy that I stopped. I still worked-out then, but running had lost its luster. I had run off-and-on since high school, but it was at 24, when I decided to run a marathon, that I became a runner. And though I only ran one marathon, I kept running regularly for a number of years after that, often entering 5 and 10K's. But somewhere after 30, running fell out of favor in my workouts and other things took hold-- walking,  workout videos, the elliptical at the gym, whatever. Then...

Today I kicked off my own recommitment to healthy eating and regular exercise which I'm calling "Healthy for the Holidays"…or, the most apt description: "Shut Your Mouth and Move Your Butt." As we wind down this incredibly stressful and overwhelming move and look toward establishing a new routine for our household, and as summer comes to a close and the holiday season can be seen on the horizon, it seems the perfect time to kick-off a new exercise and eating routine. (And it is MOST NEEDED! I gained considerable weight during this relocation process…and I wasn't at my healthiest before it started.) Care to join me? Here's the basic premise: Shut your mouth (you can talk, just quit constantly stuffing food into your pie-hole). And, move your butt (exercise, workout, walk, run, play actively with your kids…do something that makes you get off your bum and move, everyday). We've got plenty of time to establish a new, healthy routine before the ho...

The last three weeks have been a whirlwind of activity and fun and chaos and stress and lots and lots of driving. Hell, the last three months have been filled with all those things too. Moving is hard. I guess that's why it's one of the most stressful life events. (It depends on which source you consult, but it typically lands just behind death and divorce on the list.) For me, it has definitely been a roller coaster of highs--like fun outings with the kids, sweet time with friends, and bonding time with family-- and lows (which I won't go into because I'm no longer focusing on the negative; but sufficed to say there were some pretty low lows…some tears and a bit of shouting and much jaw-clenching!). But here we are. In our new town. In our new preschool. In our new house…surrounded by boxes and unable to find many things and stalked by flies that joined the family during 8 hours of doors-wide-open whilst the movers unloaded the truck. Here we are at a new beg...

We're moving. Sigh. I have come to terms with the move. With leaving our home and our friends and the world we know so well, the world we've built over the last 13 years. I'm even beginning to look at building a new life in a new place as an exciting adventure. A new phase in our lives. It'll be fun to decorate a new house.. . But for the last two months I have been drowning in the ridiculously overwhelming amount of stuff there is to do to orchestrate a move. The sale of a home, the purchase of a home, the act of having all of one's belongings physically moved from one state to another, the closing down of one life, and the setting up of a new life in a new place (without even being there). And the exponentially greater difficulty of doing all of this with two small children and a dog. It has begun to feel like everyone involved in the process is either actively out to get us or, at the very least, only concerned with their own profit from our situatio...

I am not perfect. I know you all know this about me, just as you know it about yourselves. But what I really mean to say is this… My body does not meet the body ideal our society has set forth. It doesn't even come close. And when I was a teenager and it probably did come close, I was far too busy being insecure and thinking I was fat to even notice. But now, at 39 years old and with two beautiful children that I carried and birthed and nursed, it is so far from the ideal that I sometimes just shake my head and sigh. My belly is squishy, my upper arms are bigger than some of my friends' calves, and don't even get me started on my legs and butt. And I have a ginormous head. And a lengthy list of other physical flaws. I am not a perfect mother. My kids are not always well-behaved. Sometimes I yell at them in a totally lose-my-cool sort of way. Sometimes I am totally frazzled and crazy. Sometimes they are absolute dreams, and sometimes they are not. Sometimes I am a ge...