Never enough time....

Have you ever felt completely overwhelmed with life? We all have. There is the kids, the laundry, the overtime at work, the groceries, the cleaning, the driving, the “non-cooking”... the list goes on and on.

I have to admit, I’ve always been one to put myself last. I think that is the definition of a mother. Although there are different needs with teenagers versus babies, or any other ages, I find myself just as busy, but just in different ways.

My life has evolved over the years; from the stay at home mom with a two year old and three in diapers, to the part-time working mom with every other day off to volunteer at the school, to the single working mom of four teenagers. At each stage of motherhood, I have found my joys and my challenges, but the nice thing for me, is somehow when I look back, the joys far out weigh the challenges.

The biggest challenge that I find in my life at this moment is finding time for me. Being a single mom, there is no one around to share in the car pooling, sporting events, school meetings, driving to friends houses, etc. Please don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t change my life for anything, but somehow doing all of this on your own, I think that sometimes “I” get lost in the shuffle.

The odd time that their father takes them for the night (he lives out of town), I find myself with more on my “to-do” list than physically possible. They are all of the “for me” things that I want to get to, but never have time. My list would consist of “trip to the farmers market, start that book I just bought, pull out the dehydrator and “cook” for the day”. But the simplest pleasure on these days is to fill up a bubbly bath, and soak in there until the water goes cold :)

It seems to be a challenge at best to work “me” time in.

There are a few things that I have on my “to do” list at the moment. The first is the WISH Summit, starting on March 8th. There are so many inspirational people lined up, I will make a list of my favourite, and make sure to listen to those calls. If you have never signed up for an event like this before, I strongly suggest that you do. The benefits are amazing. This event is free to register before March 8th.

And speaking of Inspirational people, the top of my list right now is Terilyn. Please check out her latest video. This gal is truly an inspiration to us all. One of the things that I am thankful for in life, is the “online” friends that you develop along the way. There are a few people that I am happy I can call “online friends”, if that is politically correct - hmm, think they are real or imaginary friends? Terilyn is also offering a free give away on her website, who can resist that???

I think that maybe someday, “meeting my online friends” would be a great thing to put on my “to do” list :)

Back to Basics...

Sorry Tim, but I have to admit, nothing beats a mason jar to carry around my green smoothie in my books :)

I have even made it an adventure to find unique and antique mason jars. I remember years ago, my mother buying me one for my birthday because it had my year of birth on it. Haven’t gotten out to quite as many antique or flea markets as I would like to, but the nicer weather is coming :)

I’ve met a woman in the area that makes and sells raw food, and her website inspired my cupboards as well (although I have to admit, mine are still a work in progress). You should check out the photos! Now if I could only find someone to put up the old rustic shelves for me I’d be all set!!!

I had a panic day the other morning; upon waking, I noticed that there were no bananas for my green smoothie! Guess I’ve inspired a few smoothie makers in my household. Uh oh, what was I going to do? I am becoming accustom to my breakie of choice. I guess maybe I am an extremist, I packed up my blender and off I went to work, stopping only long enough to pick up pineapple, bananas and spinach at the grocery store. I must admit that I forgot a mason jar at home to keep at the office, and contemplated going back just for one (strike two for extremist, or maybe that is just anal) :)

So, the day was saved, I now am the proud owner of two blenders; one at home and one at the office. The girls at work are getting quite used to me carrying around mason jars, so the addition of a blender full of green goop to the office kitchen really wasn’t much of a surprise. Just call me Vicky ;)
:)