A Worst and Most-Blessed Mother

The other morning, the hubs had taken the car to work at an early hour and let me sleep in. I was woken up by the J-Rex, who proceeded to quiz me on my favorite breakfast foods and promptly bring me a surprise (I had to close my eyes when she brought it in) breakfast in bed. 

She made herself something and we sat in bed for a while. I talked to her about being proud of her. She opened up about her fears and we talked about that. It was a wonderful meal and I was left a bit in awe of who this little 8 year old girl is becoming.

Quick Tip for Confidence - Keep Your Portfolio Up to Date

I grew up mistaking self-confidence with hubris, avoiding it as though a sin.  Turns out, it's a good thing and I was missing out for a long, long time.  So, I'm trying to bring practices into my routine to improve my confidence…as I find things that work, I'll jot a quick note about it here and maybe it will work for someone else, too!

…and now, without further ado, I bring you my first Quick Tip for Confidence:

Keep Your Portfolio Up to Date

This may sound like trite advice that only applies to artists and writers who actually keep portfolios but it does work. Here's why: Whether you're keeping an actual portfolio of your published and/or best work or you're simply keeping a folder in which to file way your accomplishments, regular reminders of what you do when you're at your best make it easier to remember those same accomplishments when you're feeling down.

Facing Fears & Growing Up at Amicalola Falls

Over the past year, I've been working on my fitness levels, with the goal of reigniting my once-hobby of hiking and backpacking.  As part of this adventure, this Summer, I gathered the family and we went on a hike to the top of one of our local waterfalls, Amicalola Falls. Amicalola being only a 2-hour drive from our home, we made a spontaneous day trip of it, expecting to have a pleasant dive, a brief but enjoyable hike, and some chill-out time in the woods.  We got most of these things. We also got a bit more.

This Time It's Different

Lately, I've been feeling down. As someone who has struggled with depression and anxiety throughout my life, I suppose this feeling should be old hat by now. This time, though, it's a bit different, as I've spent the past year doing a pretty good job of finding my sanity and keeping the negatives in check:

Sometime last year, I simply became fed up with a lifetime of meloncholia and self-hatred. Nerd that I am, I began researching neurotransmitters and determining the nature of my own imbalances based off years of personal data. Then, I began to study the action of the transmitters and taught myself a form of biofeedback contingent on recognizing the warning signs of an imbalance forming and responding with methods that would correct the situation before it became unmanageable. The results were nothing short of miraculous and I began a process of finding the happy me that had been hidden under layers of sad for so long I had almost forgotten she existed.

A Mother-Daughter Date to Remember

The other night, I had a terrible nightmare: I drempt the J-Rex ran out into traffic without looking and was run over by a car.  In my dream, I tried to catch her but couldn't because I was too slow and too far away. 

I woke up immediately and, blurry-eyed with shuffling feet, made my way to the J-Rex's room to wake her for hugs and kisses.  Before I could even explain, she looks at me and exclaims, "I had the best dream last night!"  A tear rolled down my cheek, I smiled, hugged her tighter, and asked her to tell me all about it.

The Cascade Effect of Self-Improvement

For a long time , I was pretty down.  I was seeing my lifestyle fall apart around me, watching from the sidelines as I kept losing and losing...family members and friends, jobs, possessions, confidence...  

I comforted myself with cigarettes, sleep, and generally attempting to hide from myself and life in general.  

Then, I quit smoking.  To fill the time and distract myself from the cravings, I began taking on new challenges. I tried all sorts of things, from a daily gratitude practice, to clearing out my to-do list, to cultivating an active lifestyle and beginning to exercise regularly.

Cookin' Up the Harvest a.k.a. Wednesday Food Porn

I'm not what you'd call a "foodie," even though I love food and both the eating and cooking thereof. I'm not into fancy or exotic, though I do enjoy them on occasion.  What I am into is the fine art of being a household chef: You see, to me, the true measure of a good cook is the ability to work with the foods available to create healthy meals the whole family will actually eat and, hopefully, do so with gusto.I pride myself in my ability to keep the family in nutritious home-made soup stock made purely from vegetable and meat scraps we would have otherwise thrown away or my ability to whip up meals of whatever vegetables just happen to need to be eaten ASAP.  These meals may not look pretty...they may not have the delicate balance of flavor and texture you'd find in a fancy restaurant...and, yes, they may be the same four or five veggies made several different ways with little variety in the dishes other than the spices...but they'll feed the whole family for the next several days and, by golly, our taste buds will love us when we're done!

Today was one of those days where I looked in the fridge and realized most of our fresh vegetables were about to go bad, we had a plethora of stock-making odds and ends filling our freezer, and we had just enough space in the fridge to fit a few Tupperware containers of meals...  Those were my cue: it was time to have a bit of creative fun in the kitchen today!

Harvesting Wealth

The best thing about harvest time isn't eating the ripe foods, but finding ways to use the extras, preserve them, and create the wealth that comes from having a taste of the harvest in the winter months.

Steppin' Into Second

our mascot, drawn in our school colors

I am proud to announce that our first week of second grade is finished and went far better than I could have expected! The J-Rex has had some kind of huge leap in maturity and her behavior all week has been 10x better than her best days last year. On her pre-testing (something new I'm trying this year - more on this in a later post), she broke the rubrics, demonstrating a command of language well above her grade level. Most importantly, we had more fun learning together each day this week than we ever did last year!

...but why?

The Thing About Gratitude

This month, thanks to a challenge by one of my favorite bloggers, Mama Scout, I have been trying to spend a lot of time thinking about and practicing gratitude.