It has been a fun day. But lets start yesterday...
After I got home from dance class last night I did a clean sweep. I did the dishes, swept the kitchen, washed the table, folded the laundry, swept the dining room, picked up the toys and vacuumed the living room. I got all of the cleaning that has always been a weekly chore and is now becoming a daily/every other day chore. (Other than dishes obviously, I don't think we'd have any dishes left after 2 days). I have been doing this anyway but last night when I got home I looked around and realized in just this one day the all my work over the last week and a half was falling apart.
My brother had his yo yo on the counter...
His hat lay on the dining room table...
His xbox controller was on top of the entertainment center.
My daughter's school bag was on the kitchen floor...
Her dance bag was under the table...
Her toys were creeping out of the living room into the dining room.
There were 2 loads of laundry sitting on the dining room floor...
Coats on the back of every chair...
A sink full of dishes...
Dust bunnies starting to collect in corners...
Coffee stains around the coffee pot...
Jewelry all over the table.
In one day this had happened. I sighed. And then I got to work. Starting Monday I will be gone to work from 630 in the morning until 530 in the evening (including drive time). I refuse to go back to spending most of a day cleaning every Saturday or Sunday, the time that I should be doing fun things with Alexis and Jaime, because it needs done.
In just under 2 hours I had the house back to clean, a cake baked and was decorating the cake. It is my hobby to decorate cakes so my daughter tends to want to take this when she has the snack bucket (once a month, per preschool). Her one preschool won't allow anything that is not prepackaged. This I tend to send healthy snacks for (yogurt, cheese sticks, etc). I also try to send healthier snacks for her other preschool (she is in a 4 year old program and a preschool, both are half days, because of my work and school schedule). However about every 3 months I let my daughter pick whatever she wants. This was that month.
I still was in bed by 10 last night.
This morning I woke up and my friend and I had discussed going shopping today while our children were at school. I debated a little with myself (it was a whopping 2 degrees outside when I woke up with a windchill of -10) and then decided that since I had nothing that needed to be done at home, I deserved to go out with a friend and just enjoy myself before work starts again.
We ran a few 'need to' errands, like taking my engagement ring to the jewelers to be sized, and going to Salvation Army to pick up another pair of slacks for orientation next week, but we did some fun window shopping and went to lunch. It was fun and peaceful.
When I got home I made Lemon Garlic Talapia, roasted potatoes and green beans for dinner. It was delicious. Now I'm not a big fan of fish. Seems like most types have a very fishy flavor (and if you dislike fish, you know exactly what I mean, or if you've ever had a bad piece) and I don't care for it. Talapia however does not have this flavor. It doesn't really have a flavor except for what you cook it in. With all the health benefits of fish, it's wonderful. And the recipe (which I threw in below just for laughs) is super easy. Could easily be a week night meal.
Tomorrow Alexis doesn't have school so...we are going to have a fun mother-daughter day. We're going to get up and start making french bread (to go with dinner, spaghetti with meatballs, salad and homemade garlic bread). Then we are going to make pancakes (her favorite breakfast). We're going to play around home until the bread is done (about 4 hours) and then have lunch (pizza). Then we are going to go to the library, pick up a few boxes, and stop at the grocery store. After dinner we are going to play a game or 2 and then have popcorn with a movie (allowing her to stay up just a little late).
To my 4 year old, this will constitute a perfect day. To me this will constitute a perfect ending to a much needed vacation. And lots of memories. Now if I can just remember to use my camera....
A note about my 52 week challenge...
I will not be doing a new challenge tomorrow because I did my projects earlier in the week. And after this my project will be done either on Saturday or Sunday. Just an FYI if you are following this with me.
Lemon Garlic Talapia
4 talapia filets
3 Tbsp lemon juice
1 Tbsp butter, melted
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1 tsp dried parsley flakes
Black pepper to taste
Preheat oven to 375 degrees
Spray baking pan with non stick cooking spray. Put lemon juice in the bottom of the pan. Place talapia filets in the pan. Drizzle with melted butter. Sprinkle on garlic, parsley and pepper.
Bake until fish is white and flakes with a fork, about 20 minutes.
Swaaaaagbuuuuuuuuuucks
Showing posts with label friends. Show all posts
Showing posts with label friends. Show all posts
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Flying high -- It's Superwoman
It is a wild and crazy day here ladies and gents. I have got my dd off to school and while I was trying to complete my morning routine of catching up on my blogs I realized...I don't have time for that! I have to get down to the city today to fill out my registration for dental assisting, my trainee paperwork for my new job, and have a drug test. Before I leave I need to finish cleaning up the kitchen, get my dd's dance bag packed and ready to go on the table (in case grandma has to take her), take a shower, and pick up the living room. And in order to do all of that, I need to get a move on.
But I still decided I could take a few minutes and blog. Why? Because I have something on my mind.
As I read these blogs, the few that I got in today and the others that I've read regularly, I have been asked one question. Why is it that we think that we have to be superwoman?
We want to be stellar employees (if we work outside the home), excellent wives, over achieving mothers, above reproach as a housewife, there for our friends, and, more and more, be able to reach out across the cyber universe to make friends that we may never meet face to face but offer them the same hope and encouragement that we do our face time friends. Why? Because we are women, hear us roar. So many of those can be narrowed into three catagories.
1. Setting high, but achievable, goals for ourselves inside and outside the home. To quote the army national guard, we want to be all that we can be.
2. We want our family to be happy, healthy and well cared for. This means so much more than does my child have the latest toy fad. In fact, sometimes it means NOT getting your child that latest toy fad. Now I'll admit my daughter has a zhu zhu pet. But she has 1. No accessories. A single zhu zhu pet. She also has silly bands (they're cheap enough and she wears them), a leapster 2 and a vreader (both bought by her godfather with limited amount of game time from me). But she has also learned that her crayons and some blank paper is a great way to spend her time. In fact she spends a lot of her time using that creative outlet.
3. We want to be the friend we want to have. Who wants a friend that, when you need her, she is NEVER available. That's not who I want. And that's not who I want to be. I was raised by the golden rule, and so I treat others how I want to be treated, even if that means taking 10 minutes out of my day to listen to a friend rant about how she is driving 90 minutes one way to pick up a duck (her son had a pet duck who died inexplicably) and how much easier it would be if her husband wasn't working 2nd shift. Or taking 20 minutes out of my day to help a friend look for some job listings because she is getting worried about not finding a job. Could I spend that time cleaning, organizing, cooking, baking, or playing with my child? Yes. BUT when it's me looking for someone to listen when my mom shoots yet another idea of mine out of the water for my wedding or about the dog that won't stay in the yard, will they be there for me? Pretty sure they wouldn't be for long if I wasn't there for thme.
The biggest part of all of this is being realistic. I have a friend who has 3 small children, ages 5, 3, and 2. She is potty training the youngest. The oldest is in Kindergarten, the middle started a 3 year old preschool program. The two older ones are in dance. She knits. She tries to keep her house running without any high fructose corn syrup. She sews. She wants her house to stay neat and clean. She wants to raise moral, kind children. But she knows that sometimes some of these have to be allowed to slide. She may have to buy bread through the summer when she is busy in the garden. She may have to buy prepared foods when she is sick. She may have to focus more on the knitting and sewing around Christmas and then take a break to get her house back in order. She is realistic in the fact that she knows she can't do it all all of the time. Life happens.
So when I get asked why do we think we have to be superwoman it's easy. Because inside every woman is a superhero. Why not make the most of that potential.
But I still decided I could take a few minutes and blog. Why? Because I have something on my mind.
As I read these blogs, the few that I got in today and the others that I've read regularly, I have been asked one question. Why is it that we think that we have to be superwoman?
We want to be stellar employees (if we work outside the home), excellent wives, over achieving mothers, above reproach as a housewife, there for our friends, and, more and more, be able to reach out across the cyber universe to make friends that we may never meet face to face but offer them the same hope and encouragement that we do our face time friends. Why? Because we are women, hear us roar. So many of those can be narrowed into three catagories.
1. Setting high, but achievable, goals for ourselves inside and outside the home. To quote the army national guard, we want to be all that we can be.
2. We want our family to be happy, healthy and well cared for. This means so much more than does my child have the latest toy fad. In fact, sometimes it means NOT getting your child that latest toy fad. Now I'll admit my daughter has a zhu zhu pet. But she has 1. No accessories. A single zhu zhu pet. She also has silly bands (they're cheap enough and she wears them), a leapster 2 and a vreader (both bought by her godfather with limited amount of game time from me). But she has also learned that her crayons and some blank paper is a great way to spend her time. In fact she spends a lot of her time using that creative outlet.
3. We want to be the friend we want to have. Who wants a friend that, when you need her, she is NEVER available. That's not who I want. And that's not who I want to be. I was raised by the golden rule, and so I treat others how I want to be treated, even if that means taking 10 minutes out of my day to listen to a friend rant about how she is driving 90 minutes one way to pick up a duck (her son had a pet duck who died inexplicably) and how much easier it would be if her husband wasn't working 2nd shift. Or taking 20 minutes out of my day to help a friend look for some job listings because she is getting worried about not finding a job. Could I spend that time cleaning, organizing, cooking, baking, or playing with my child? Yes. BUT when it's me looking for someone to listen when my mom shoots yet another idea of mine out of the water for my wedding or about the dog that won't stay in the yard, will they be there for me? Pretty sure they wouldn't be for long if I wasn't there for thme.
The biggest part of all of this is being realistic. I have a friend who has 3 small children, ages 5, 3, and 2. She is potty training the youngest. The oldest is in Kindergarten, the middle started a 3 year old preschool program. The two older ones are in dance. She knits. She tries to keep her house running without any high fructose corn syrup. She sews. She wants her house to stay neat and clean. She wants to raise moral, kind children. But she knows that sometimes some of these have to be allowed to slide. She may have to buy bread through the summer when she is busy in the garden. She may have to buy prepared foods when she is sick. She may have to focus more on the knitting and sewing around Christmas and then take a break to get her house back in order. She is realistic in the fact that she knows she can't do it all all of the time. Life happens.
So when I get asked why do we think we have to be superwoman it's easy. Because inside every woman is a superhero. Why not make the most of that potential.
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