Surviving At Home

Seems like we just packed up the Hannah decorations and now it’s time for another birthday! Erin officially turned 11 at 11:47am today and in many ways these years seem like a total whirlwind.

It seems like yesterday that my water broke at 11pm just as I was climbing into bed. The kicker was that my husband was 2 hours away at a business meeting. Why did he go? Well, Erin decided to make her appearance 3 weeks before her due date! Luckily enough he had NOT been drinking at the hotel bar with his work buddies so he was able to hightail it back to our house. Funny how the contractions didn’t start to hurt until after I heard him walk in…

Once she started to speak she earned the nickname, “The Negotiator” because she could never just say, “yes” to something. If I asked her to eat some carrots with dinner her reply would be, “OK but I’m only having 5.” She’ll make a great attorney or business person someday!

She has always done well in school, excelling in reading and language arts (what we used to call “English”). Her kindergarten teacher pegged her as a “serious student” and that has held true through these years but we think it’s great that she has a respect for her teachers and understands the importance of finishing homework and projects. She’s quiet in class but we see nothing wrong with that. Her 5th grade teacher says she has an awesome, dry sense of humor and always laughs at her jokes.

Last year she developed an interest in ballet and although she was older than the other students in her beginner’s class, her interest has grown into a love of dance and she was invited this year to dance with the Ballet 4 class. Now she dreams of auditioning for the youth ballet company and eventually performing with a professional company.

Next year will prove interesting as she makes her way to middle school: new building, new rules, changing classes, and new friends. No doubt she will handle the change much better than I will!

Happy Birthday, Erin!! 

Yes, I am one of those broken-record-moms who just can’t get over the fact that my children keep having birthdays and keep getting older. That’s just not fair because that means I’m getting older, too.

Today is my youngest daughter’s birthday. She’s been having a major countdown ever since her Hannah Montana party supplies arrived. It was killing her that we had a box full of Hannah stuff that she could not put on the table. Yes, I listened to this for 3 straight weeks!

So we had her kids’ party this past Saturday; a nice, small affair at home. We played Hannah’s CD nonstop while they made jewelled bracelets, played musical chairs, played “pin the microphone on Hannah’s hand” and balloon volleyball. I’m such a sucker that I even bought a cake from Carvel with an edible image of Hannah on it. As much as I love decorating birthday cakes myself, the picture looked awesome!

This morning we’re baking brownies so she can bring them to school and extend her birthday celebration even more (thank goodness for afternoon kindergarten!) She can’t wait to be crowned the birthday girl by her teacher and even the principal comes to visit with a little card for the birthday kids.

Oh, to be 6 again…

We decided to treat ourselves to pizza on Saturday night because our daughter had a friend sleep over and hey, any excuse not to cook is good! Because we had this extra person and because we assumed that she was a bigger eater than our two kids, we ordered two pizzas instead of just one.

Needless to say, the kids were not very hungry Saturday and we had one full pizza left, which we finished for dinner on Sunday night. Our money did not go to waste but I felt like I could have eaten pizza all night long.

We all love carbs in my family and I was intrigued to find the following information written by the author of the ebook, Craving Secrets:

Eating carbs like pasta, rice, bread and sweets will raise your blood sugar levels. It also temporarily elevates the levels of certain neurotransmitters in our bodies, most notably dopamine which releases chemicals including endorphins that give us a feeling of pleasure and serotonin which produces a feeling of well being.

Many of our comfort foods are also heavy in carbs. Think about the foods you want and crave when you are feeling stressed or sad. Is it mac’n cheese, fried chicken and mashed potatoes or a bowl of spaghetti? Maybe you start craving cake, cookies or pastries.

One way or another we go back to the foods mom used to give us to make us feel better after a hard day at school or when we got hurt. Combine this with the raise in serotonin levels that tell our brains that we are happy and it’s no wonder we crave foods rich in carbohydrates when we are stressed or sad. Getting more carbohydrate information will help you understand your eating habits and take control of it.

Are Carbs Really Dangerous Or Addictive?

Yes and No. Our body needs carbohydrates as a source of energy, but not in the amounts our society as a whole has been consuming carbohydrates, especially in the form or refined products such as bleached flour, white rice and processed pasta. It is also a good idea to stay away from white table sugar as much as possible. This refined sugar has almost no nutritional value other than the “empty” calories it provides.

Eating whole grain products combined with some lean protein is a much better way to give our bodies the carbs they need while also absorbing an array of other nutrients, vitamins, minerals and micronutrients. Combining some lean protein with the carbs will also keep us feeling full and satisfied longer than eating carbs by themselves.

The high consumption of refined carbohydrates from white bread to pasta, in the western world is leading to an increase in health conditions from diabetes to obesity.

Can refined carbs be addictive? Yes – not only to we get addicted to the neurotransmitters that are released by the consumption of carbohydrate rich foods, which is a reaction very similar to the “high” of a drug addict, consuming simple carbohydrates also causes our blood sugar levels to rise quickly and then plummet back down just as fast, resulting in a craving for more food. This is a desperate (and futile) attempt of our body to keep the blood sugar in balance.

Article by:
Are cravings controlling your life? Diana Walker’s book www.CravingSecrets.com will show you why you have certain food cravings, how they affect your health and your mood, and what you can do to beat them and live a healthier life.

This is Part 2 of my Week of Giving Thanks series.

For over two years I had been in the midst of a mini mid-life crisis. As my children grew older and more self-sufficient, I was desparate to find something for ME to do. I was tired of being everybody’s maid and short-order cook but I had no idea where to turn.

One Friday afternoon last May I received an email notice from Nell that Kelly McCausey of www.MomsTalkNetwork.com was looking for a podcasting intern to learn the business and work with her. On a total whim and with only 15 minutes to spare before having to pick up my daughter at preschool, I whipped up a resume and cover letter to apply for this unpaid job. What better way for a stay-at-home mom of 11 years to learn a new skill?

I was running out of time so I took a deep breath and pressed the send button. I had heard in various forums how difficult it was to find work to do from home so I really did not think about it another minute, figuring that a million other people were applying for the internship, too.

You can imagine my surprise when Nell responded to my email and wanted to interview me! Holy cow! I hadn’t interviewed for any job in over 13 years and all I knew about was raising kids. What on earth would I say to win this job?

Well, that interview is a blur as is my subsequent conversation with Kelly! I was stunned when Kelly offered me the position during that first phone conversation. Either I hit a home run or she was desperate! LOL!

Fast forward six months and I could not be happier or more grateful for that chance that Kelly took on me, the inexperienced SAHM who didn’t know the first thing about podcasting. After many silly mistakes and some pretty dumb questions, I feel confident in my new skills, I have pretty steady work every week and I learned to try new things rather than always being afraid of failure. Because of this newfound belief in myself, I am doing some ghostwriting and am loving it!

Hope that wasn’t too sappy, Kelly! No need for tissues, just wanted to pay my respect to an awesome role model!!