A Sad Story

Today I found out that a dear co-worker is in hospice and will die from an advanced cancer soon. That bums the crap out of me. She is so strong-willed and assertive yet kind and caring. I am having a hard time accepting that this terrible disease is, once again, going to take the life of someone who is close to me.

Dammit.

An email around work has circulated with regards from her and her family. Her husband says that her wishes to us all is to "retire early and enjoy your life."

Hmmmm. Just what I have been thinking lately. Retire early and enjoy your life. How many times do we hear those types of words with respect to spending enough time with your family. It resonates with me. Some of us may not have the finances in place to retire early but we can certainly enjoy our lives outside of work. Here is what I am going to do to improve my personal life.

1. Spend more time with my kids when I pick them up from school. I will turn off the radio and listen to them tell me about their day.
2. I will lay out the toys in their room more and sit on the floor and play, read or do whatever they want me to do.
3. I will take more shortcuts in areas that don't involve spending time with family such as cooking, cleaning, and other housework unless they are participating with me.
4. I will enjoy my children climbing into bed with me in the morning rather than fret over them waking me up so early.
5. I will cheer loudly for my kids at their baseball games even though it might embarrass them. I want them to remember how proud I am of them.
6. I will talk more with my husband about the good things of the day rather than the stresses.
7. I will take my vitamins, eat healthier, and keep exercising.
8. I will keep thinking of ways to create a happy and healthy home for all of us.

I Am Gentle?

What type of Mother Hen Are You?
by Montessorimom.com: Educational Resource

Tell that to my kids who just heard me scream at them at the top of my lungs last night because the house was a chaotic mess!

I Don't Really Need Another Hobby

I was watching Martha Stewart and she was making candles with this expert candle maker. The process looked really, really simple. So simple that I found myself uttering the familiar mantra "I can do THAT." I was intrigued by the fact that you can make your own candles any color and any fragrance that you desire from materials that you can purchase from your local Michaels. There is no real science to it.

I happened to be in Michael's today to get a few last minute Christmas things when I happened on the candle making department. ***Alert - Digression about to take place*** Whenever I get these hobby ideas I try not to invest too much money into them in case I don't like the hobby. There was a cute candle making kit that was available to purchase and with the familiar 40% off coupon in hand I thought this would be a perfect test for me and my candle making abilities. I purchased the kit and am eagerly awaiting making my first few candles this weekend.

I will blog later on how it goes. And hopefully I won't report back any major scalding burns, rather some beautiful scents for this holiday season.

All I Want For Christmas Is.....

one of these....



Does that make me wierd?