You Don't Have To.

Friends.

I keep seeing people posting about how they don't understand why they ...

Can't focus enough to even read a chapter. 

Is that you? I'm an AVID reader friends. But this is me.

Aren't cleaning their homes from attic to basement. 

Yeah. No.

Didn't start a work out routine that leaves them feeling fitter than ever. 

Any guesses on my success there?

Don't cook meals from scratch 3x/day. 7x/week. 

If you can even GET groceries it's a big deal, friends.

Haven't started that - what? - garden? hobby? blog? book they have always wanted to write?

Gentle breaths, please. Let's take several steps back here.

Now.

You know you've said it.

I've been home for (fill in the blank because we're all quarantined a different number of days at this point) however long and I haven't done diddly.

Y'all?

You don't have to.

That book isn't going anywhere.

It's okay if you haven't read it from cover to cover yet.

You don't have to.

It's okay if your house looks like a tornado blew through, whether or not you have kids in your home with you. Clean it in sections, if you're motivated to do so. Wipe off surfaces. Lysol whatever you need (you know you've done or are doing that much!). But clean every single room? Surface? Floor? Wall? Baseboard and trim?

You don't have to.

As for working out? I've always said I need more time to fit that into my days. And guess what? As someone with a fenced in yard who takes her dog for way too few walks? We're getting out more often. Am I running a virtual 5K or marathon? Have I started PIYO or Peloton - pssst. thanks for those free workouts, truly, I know somebody's using them! Me? Is it me? No. I haven't. It's not me. And it's okay if you haven't, either.

You don't have to.

And the cooking.

Don't.get.me.STARTED.on.the.COOKING.

Y'all. The cooking. I have been cooking for about 957 days and nights, and it's only me here in my home 50% of the time. When my daughter is here, ssssh, don't tell anyone - tell EVERYONE. Some days we opt for soup or Ramen or Taquitos for her and I decide if I'm hungry at all. SOME days. On other days? I cook. Like actually find myself being a complete grown-up who thawed some meat in advance, or pulled together ingredients from the 500 grocery orders I've attempted and the three (yes, three) I've succeeded at, to create an actual beautiful glorious MEAL that we both enjoy.

But y'all.

You don't have to.

If you find yourself feeding your family with frozen waffles and pancakes, Pop Tarts (generic or otherwise), and a whole lot of chocolate milk? It's okay. You're allowed. I'm not baking everything from scratch. I'm not pulling all of those beautiful cookbooks out of my cabinets and diving right on in. As much as I adore Chrissy Teigen.

And you?

You don't have to.

So please.

Cut yourself some slack.

Give yourself a little grace.

This is pandemic living.

We have no idea what we're supposed to be doing.

There. Are. NO. Shoulds.

You don't have to.

You just don't.

And if you need me to tell you this directly? Message me. Let me help.

I'm more than happy to.

Because beating ourselves up, especially now, during crisis living, quarantine life and these Corona times? That's absolutely something you don't have to do. Absolutely something you need to NOT do.

Take good care of you. Please.

Looking for more resources on taking better care of yourself, your emotional and mental health, and/or how to find support?

How To Keep Calm When Everyone is Freaking Out

Home Alone: Check On Your People

Feel All The Things

5 Steps To Take To Protect Yourself in the Current Political Climate

11 Inspirational Books and Journals

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9 Fun Mugs You'll Want For Yourself

Sometimes I think I'm a mug fanatic.

I love buying them as gifts, but I rarely do. Not sure why. Just tend not to.

I love buying them for myself even more. Don't do that often enough, either.

But I thought I'd round up some of my favorites in case you or someone you know (or maybe you want to buy me one?) is in need of some cheer while you sip your coffee or tea in the coming weeks.

* Affiliate links are provided throughout this post to facilitate your shopping experience. * 

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8 Simple Ways To Reduce Stress

We all know what it's like to find ourselves stressed. Stress is a part of everyday life. It's a constant. Even people who don't think they're stressed probably are in some way. And the best way to move forward is to figure out ways to manage it. We need to find the best ways to shelve it and ensure that we're functioning at our fullest potential, as only we can. 

I'm not saying that's going to be easy, but I am saying that it can be done. And though I'm not always the best example, I do definitely have the right ideas. So - here are a few ways you can reduce your stress - consider which ones will work for you.

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Don't Clean Your House. It's Just Not Worth It.

This morning I brought the dogs down - same as I do pretty much every.single.morning.

Dexter cries a lot, but he goes first.

Bella is on a leash so she doesn't eat our cats.

Clyde - fat cat - is downstairs already - so I hold onto Bella to be sure he's safe.

Once I get to the bottom of the stairs I let go of the leash and Bella runs into the living room/kitchen area to either head outside or eat.

Close the gate behind me and we're good to go.

Let's try that this morning, shall we?

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The Starbucks Cup Debacle.

So - if you're on social media at all you already know that Starbucks has changed their cups to be a solid red from a seasonally decorated cup - and people are going crazy. 

I mean, crazy. As if someone took the joy out of Christmas, and it's only early November.

People, Starbucks has had red cups for years, right? 

Right.

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No Fuss Pumpkin-fest Party!

We love Halloween in our house. In fact, it's my favorite holiday. Plain and simple - pumpkins make me happy. They're fun to look at, fun to decorate with and - yes - fun to carve.

I had the amazing opportunity to work with Mr. Clean this October to host a Pumpkin Palooza party for our friends - and to have a little pumpkin fun ourselves while we were at it.

I decided before it was party time that my daughter and I would take a stab (pun intended!) at a few pumpkins on our own to see how they turned out - and to see how well Mr. Clean's Concentrated Multi-Surface Cleaner worked.

I spent some time using Mr. Clean around the house - but the real test would be how well the product worked post pumpkin mess and massacre.

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It's North Carolina Beer Month. Let's Talk Beer.

Over the last month or so my husband has jumped full steam ahead into a new hobby.

Home-brewing. Is that one word, or two? Home brewing. Brewing beer at home.

Making his own beer.

Did you know that April is North Carolina Beer Month? Yeah, I didn't either. Until - well - beer. Being brewed in my home. It's kind of stinky when it gets started and I've banned him from doing that stinky step inside the house for future brews. Outside he goes. And yes, there will be future brews.

Honestly? I think it's much easier to head out about town and find yourself a good brew or two to sip thoughtfully while watching the game or hanging with friends. But for now it's a part of our family's busy schedule. Beer brewing and bottling and the like.

So when the opportunity to introduce you (and myself) to Charlotte Craft Beer came along through the NC Blogger Network, I decided I absolutely needed to participate. Because craft beer? And my husband's new past-time? Perfect together.

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Crockpot Taco Chicken

When it comes to dinner there's little easier than a meal in the crockpot. I mean, it does all the work for you. I've posted varieties of this recipe before but I hesitate to call it salsa chicken since we don't use salsa anymore to make it in our house. What we use is taco sauce. So here you have it ... Easy Taco Chicken in the Crockpot.

Or just call it Crockpot Taco Chicken. Honestly, call it whatever you want - just make some - it's delicious.

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Style Inspiration: Halloween Decor

Decorating for the holidays can feel like a chore. For some reason it was easier before I was a mom. I simply pulled out the bin for the appropriate season and moved ahead from there.

Easy as 1-2-3. Or something.

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Make the night before: French Toast Casserole

So, if you've looked at any of my recipes throughout this blog you'll notice I've gone with the Lazy Mom mindset in the past.

But I kind of got tired of that, I mean, what mom IS actually LAZY?

Not me. Seriously, not me. And I know not you, either.

So why do that? Why call myself, or any of us, that?

I'm not quite the Pinteresting mom, but I can cook up a mean meal of something or other when I set my mind to it, ya know?

And my pictures might not be perfect - honestly - most of my food posts in the past don't even HAVE pictures. I'm from the pre-Pinterest era and all.

But the food tastes good. It's easy to make. And yum. And my kiddo, my husband, myself, at least one of us has enjoyed it so it's gotta be worth recommending, right?

Stay with me, I promise the recipe will be here soon.

Last night I got inspired by the amount of extra bread we had on-hand and decided to prep a French Toast Casserole for this morning's breakfast. I'm not really THAT mom. I'm not prepared and usually my kid is having cold cereal or pop tarts. No capital letters, I tend to opt for generic. Money-saver that I am. Or try to be.

But this is a really easy recipe. You probably have everything in your house right now.

And if you're not sure? Look at it.

Don't you want to try it now?

Ingredients:

* 12 slices of bread
* 6 eggs (this time I used 5, because that was all I had, and it was still delicious)
* sugar
* milk
* cinnamon
* vanilla extract (optional)
* butter

I'm so ill prepared that I only have a picture of the finished and ready to sit product. Not the step-by-step recipes many people enjoy. But still ...

Find yourself a 9x13 baking pan. I prefer my Pyrex because it's become the go-to baker for me. You could use a Corningware, but mine are all oval or round, and so that doesn't quite work.

Here's the step-by-step for you.

* Melt 1 stick of butter in the microwave, once melted use entire amount to coat the bottom of the baking dish

* Mix together about 1/2 c sugar and several splashes of cinnamon in a small bowl

* Stir sugar/cinnamon mix into baking dish and whisk through the butter. It will seem weird and stuck together, but as long as you work to get it fairly even across the entire dish you'll be fine. And I use the word "work" really lightly here.

* This is where the first optional splash of vanilla extract comes in. A drop goes a long way, so just mixing that in with the butter-cinnamon-sugar at the bottom of the baking dish will give you a little extra flavor.

* Layer 6 slices of bread in the dish. Layer the second 6 slices on top of those. Optional to splash some of the cinnamon/sugar mixture in between the bread slices.

* Mix 6 eggs (or 5 if you only have 5!) and 1-1/2 c milk in a bowl. Pour mixture over bread evenly.

* Second optional splash of vanilla extract here if you want the vanilla flavor to soak into the bread some.

* Splash more of cinnamon/sugar mix on top.

* Cover baking dish (if you're lucky, like me, you'll actually have the right cover for the dish! If not, foil works fine. Refrigerate overnight.

* Preheat oven to 350*. Bake for approximately 40-42 minutes. 45 if you want the top a darker brown.

And TA DAH.

I know, it looks exactly the same, really. Just more golden. But it tastes really good. I promise.

Like really. REALLY good.

Like we could surely eat the entire thing in one sitting good. Not ME. But the three of us. And yet we put the rest of it away for tomorrow's breakfast.

Like, keep your hands off so mommy can take a picture for Instagram good!

You could consider this to be a 3-serving meal, if you each eat two "squares" - but it's pretty rich and flavorful, and quite sugary, so if you serve some fruit or a side of something with it it should feed more than three people. It's certainly not "diet-friendly" - but sometimes we don't care about that, right? I mean, you could mess around with it and probably make it healthier, but why mess with a good thing? Oh! You certainly don't need syrup or extra butter when serving, so that helps, if you really are worried.

Honestly, this is usually just a Christmas breakfast sort of thing in our house. I just got motivated and found myself with extra bread that I didn't want to turn and didn't have room to freeze. And so - there you have it - French Toast Casserole for a regular ole' weekend breakfast! Enjoy!

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Do I have anything in my teeth?

It's been a while since I headed over to Mama Kat's place to find myself one of her writing prompts, but today I so felt like getting prompted - does that even make sense? - and so I popped on by.

What a beautiful surprise to find out that the first prompt was inspired by the lovely Shell over at Things I Can't Say! #BONUS It's an inquiry of the top ten things that make you smile. Perfect! I love this idea!

And then I thought. And thought. And viola! Novel idea from me ... wait for it ...

So, you know how people (ehem, who? me?) tend to share pictures of what they are eating and/or cooking and/or want to be eating and/or drinking on all aspects of social media?

Well, I decided to do a culinary documentation here, and dig through Facebook and Instagram and find you some of my favorite culinary treats. Maybe it's because The Next Food Network Star is over and I'm feeling a hole in my life? Or something. But here goes!

Dad's Chicken Soup 

aka

Jewish Penicillin 

And you can't have chicken soup without ...

Matzo Balls!

Whoop whoop! From scratch! Go, me!

Fried Green Tomatoes

Hushpuppies

KALE!!

Kale chips with a little parmesan cheese. Ah! YUM!

Marinara sauce from scratch. 

It's a big deal, people. I used real garlic cloves. 

Real ones! Woo hoo!

Black and White Cookie.

New York City style. 

Trifles. 

Only I haven't made one yet. 

This one's pretty cute, though, right?

I'm gonna stop there. Because I know you won't follow me on Instagram anymore if I don't. Because I just don't have enough pictures to make a list of ten. Yeah. That must be it.

Anyway, I think this goes to show you for sure that I'm a Jewish Southern girl from New Yawk, all the way. Hushpuppies, fried green tomatoes and chicken soup with matzo balls and homemade marinara on the same list? That's me. In a nutshell.

Hope you enjoyed my masterpiece collection. Stick with me. I'm sure to have more to share in the coming months. I'm really working at cooking from scratch more often, so maybe next time ALL of my pictures will contain food made by me ... what? You didn't think I made that cookie, did you?

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Have you heard of Novica? Let me introduce you.

Disclaimer: This is a sponsored and compensated post. I have been provided with a code to gift one of my readers directly from Novica. I have also been provided with a code for myself to purchase an item of my choosing. All expressed opinions are my own. I have ordered from Novica many times and am completely impressed with the products I have received. Because of this I choose to continue working with them and am thrilled to be introducing them to my readers. 

I've been fortunate to have worked with Novica several times before, and I absolutely love their products. Of course, if you know me at all, you can guess that I most especially have an eye on their jewelry.

This is my favorite piece I have purchased from them.

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Don't be shocked - it's a sentimental thing - but I really love it and it fits perfectly.

This time I'm thinking of going in a different direction with my purchase. Actually, a few weeks ago I was surfing around their site and eyeing the fabric hammocks. 

This one is absolutely beautiful.

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It's 100% cotton. And it holds up to 450 lbs. Sounds good to me. I can totally picture myself curling up with exhaustion in this thing on a cool fall night. Ahhh.

Now ... where was I?

Oh, right, Novica. One of the things I love most about them is that they actually work with the creators of their products. They do incredible things like facilitate loans by connecting artists with lenders, help artists reach a more global market and more. You can read up on their mission by checking out their website and you'll be pleasantly surprised at how important both, the customer and creator are to Novica. 

Novica also carries beautiful clothing. Cotton dresses in a variety of styles, batik dresses, beautiful ponchos, and a variety of accessories to go with them.

And for your household partying needs you can head over to Novica for things like serving platters (many more beautiful than any you've ever seen), margarita glasses (how fun!) and more.

I think that these margarita glasses are my favorite. I kind of have a glass-related obsession, and would probably buy a glass for every drink if I had the cabinet space. As it is we have flutes and wine glasses and pilsner glasses we rarely get around to using. But aren't these beautiful? Think how much your favorite Jimmy Buffet* fan would love them!

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* Please tell me you know Margaritaville ... please ...

Anyway - it's your lucky day - no matter what product you choose! I'm giving away a code for $50 compliments of Novica.com. So check out the Rafflecopter below. I decided to use them today because I was too lazy to come up with ideas that would earn you entries. I promise, though, no jumping through hoops. Just simple entries that will earn you a shopping spree. 

So what are you waiting for? Get to it! A winner will be chosen in about a week. More details on the Rafflecopter form. Now go on and enter. And good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

p.s. How beautiful is THIS rainbow hammock? I think this might be the one I end up getting ... now if only I could figure out where the heck to PUT one. Anyone have two huge pillars I can borrow?

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TGIF, I guess.

It's Friday. Whew.

Sort of.

This week has been Dr. Seuss week at school. Which has been fun and awesome and actually not as stressful as one would think.

But this morning waking up the kiddo was torture. For us both.

I actually woke up pretty quickly today. First alarm, no back-up needed (what, you don't have one? You totally should!). She was impossible. Zonked out like nobody's business.

Eventually she got up - bathroom - dressed - came downstairs.

Me, as the incredible mom of the month, I realized that it was March 1st. Time to bring in her book log. I'm awful, I don't always keep on top of it and yes, I write it out. Because it's like the longest process of our lives if she does it every month. It was causing battles and I didn't want to go there. Maybe it's wrong of me, but so be it. She reads, she reads well, and we discuss the books, etc. She's started reading the books before bed TO me. That's awesome, right?

Dr. Seuss week has rocked, as she has read us Green Eggs and Ham AND The Cat in the Hat. Rock on, my 6-yo delight. Rock on!

This morning we had decided she'd have breakfast and lunch at school today. Why not? She's been good in the AMs as far as eating goes, I figured toss in a break for mommy this morning. Especially since I had that list to do ... ehem.

Cue boredom.

Boredom, you ask?

Yes. Of course. She must have been bored in the five minutes or so we had been downstairs. It was enough time for her to start playing with the gate. You know the one - right? The important one in between our living room and the rest of the house to keep beautiful boxer Bella away from the cats? The cats she does not quite hate or love, but needs to chase at all times? Yes. Yes. Now you're with me. THAT one.

Boing.

"Kiddo, stop playing with the gate. Go brush your teeth."

Boing.

"Come on, leave the gate alone and go brush your teeth."

Me, writing in the remaining books on her list. At the kitchen table. Back to the action.

BOING! Clank! Crash?

"WHAT HAPPENED?"

Her face frozen in fear.

"YOU BROKE THE GATE? HOW DID - HOW COULD YOU? What HAPPENED?"

Cue crying.

Oops.

Yes, she broke the gate. Of course she started crying. She felt bad and I was yelling.

"Come on, kiddo, brush your teeth."

It's not that bad ... (from HER, not me)

"It's not that bad, but it's BROKEN."

Cue more tears.

I didn't mean it ... (her, again)

"I know, kiddo, but you still broke it. I know it was an accident, but you know you shouldn't have been playing with it."

Tears.

"Remember, when something like this happens it's important to say you're sorry. Instead of I didn't mean it," (me, calming down some) "Okay?"

Nods. Tears. Whining.

Mom of the year award goes to?

ME.

The husband comes down with Bella. We have the child sit down for breakfast as it's the easiest way to get her to sit and do something else. She starts crying harder about no breakfast at school.

Lord help me.

This was my morning. The day has to start looking up, right?

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With all my heart.

I wish you and yours a beautiful Valentine's Day.

You know what I've been doing this morning?

Yeah - well - let me tell you.

My daughter crawled into bed with us at I don't know what hour.

While she was in the bathroom my husband suddenly realized that she doesn't have school tomorrow, NOT Monday as we had been discussing.

Oops.

Someone's homework needs to be put into her binder.

*made mental note*

Got her to focus on getting dressed.

Came downstairs with the dogs and the cats. Focused on feeding the dogs.

Grabbed child's knapsack.

Do you call it a bookbag? A knapsack? A backpack? We use backpack. So why I just referred to it as a knapsack I have NO clue.

Anyway, the bag. Remember the bag? No. You couldn't. I haven't posted much this week.

On Monday we came downstairs to find that Harley (veteran cat in the household) had taken the liberties to pee on the part of the couch the bag was hanging out on and ON THE FREAKING BAG!!

Fantastic.

Well, today I went back to that area of the couch. It's been removed from the full couch because the husband has to do some work on it *cough cough* yep. And he peed over there again. Fecker.

Fortunately the only things that were there were oh, her hat and gloves.

Double fecker.

So then we discuss breakfast and lunch. I had it in my mind to make her some cute heart-shaped cutouts for her lunch bag and thought it would be a cute ... "Can I have lunch at school today?"

At school?

"Yes. At school."

Uhm. Okay.

"Because you didn't make it yet?"

"Right. Sure. Okay. Lunch at school. Do you want breakfast at home?"

Breakfast varies. We used to be on an eat at school kick which made our lives somewhat easier. Lately she's been eating at home, which I'm cool with because every now and then she comes home and says she ate a donut for breakfast. Say wha?

Now, where was I?

Right. Breakfast. At home.

I'm the kind of parent that gives choices. I know. Maybe I do too many. But they have so little control over so much - breakfast can be a choice. Lunch is usually my pick, but sometimes she helps so she has a say. But dinner is all me. If we go out we decide as a family. Don't judge, m'kay?

Anyway - waffles? French toast sticks? Cereal? Egg/Sausage/Cheese sandwich? No. No. No.

Fabulous.

We ended up with French toast sticks - my call. And I gave her some yogurt to get her started. If she doesn't make the call I do. We're good.

Somehow I notice that something smells. It's not the cat pee. It's not the house. Or the child.

It's me.

I stink.

How'd that happen? Maybe the cleaning up of the cat pee? Whatever it is.

Do you ever do that? Notice you stink? It's a fun realization.

So I've moved dishes around. Stared at the clutter on my counters and sink and more. Made myself some tea. Watched a little Ellen. And started to write.

Like this. Like now.

Happy Valentine's Day, friends. May you and your day and your family and everyone around you smell like roses. Me? I'm going to go take a shower.

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Alphabet Photography ~ Product Review

I'm so excited to have the opportunity to receive an original Alphabet Photography product to review and enjoy.

If you have not yet heard about Alphabet Photography, let me give you a little introduction. Alphabet Photography is a very cool artform that allows you to create any word by using images taken that resemble letters. These images exist in a library where you go through and decide on letters that mesh together best to create the word of your choice.

While many friends reviewing this product decided to create beautiful and inspiring words, others of us chose to display family names. First, last, combined, whatever works for you they will create it out of pictures of things you see around you every day that *look* like letters.

Surely you know how it is? You see something and think, that looks like ...  fill in the blank! Well, these photographers have captured the "looks like" and enabled us to turn them into complete words of our choosing.

The artwork came bubble wrapped in a strong cardboard box. Once opened I saw that the frame was packaged carefully and beautifully as shown here:

The completed artwork reflected a variety of images from the Alphabet Photography library of choices. I must have arranged and rearranged the possibilities a dozen times before I finalized my decision.  I decided to make us a piece displaying our last name.

My mom was visiting when this arrived and she thought it was beautiful. We discussed what a perfect gift it would be for someone's new home, new baby (beautiful for the baby's room!) or as a holiday gift for someone special. Like your parents or in-laws, maybe? [Wink, nudge!]

I'm not normally of the mindset to buy myself something so seemingly extravagant, because I often feel like my home is a mish-mash of pictures and frames and more. But as elegant as this artwork is, it also blends right in with the rest of my home.

I was so pleased with my choice that my husband hung it up over our mantle the evening we opened it. Which is crazy fast in this household! It fits perfectly with our decor, and with the color scheme of our downstairs. It kind of ties the room together in a way that I didn't expect, but truly appreciate.

Each official Alphabet Photography piece is a true original as chosen by you for someone special and is a perfect display of originality, class and style.

The perfect customized gift that includes photographs from all over the world, this is the original Alphabet Photography. Celebrity owners include: Prince Charles, Prince William and Kate, Tyra Banks, Ryan Seacrest, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, John Schneider, Nelly Furtado and many more!


*This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Alphabet Photography. The opinions, photographs and text are all mine. 

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Speed writing for me and reading for you!

It's been a while since we've played with sticky-notes, so here goes:

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Trying to breathe

My house is closing in on me.

Whenever I think I'm catching up I notice that I'm totally not.

I know I should step away from the computer and clear yet another surface, but when I look at them - coming back to life with new clutter - day after day after day - I just wonder why I bother.

And then my child.

The child I love SO very much.

G-d, I love my daughter. I'm sitting here fighting tears as they approach the surface.

Because I hate how frustrated I get with her sometimes.

She's non-stop. She doesn't stop talking. Moving. Acting and reacting.

And I'm blessed. I know I am. I feel I am. I AM.

But dear G-d, sometimes I am SO freakin' tired. So ready to go to bed. And then I realize I haven't taken a single minute for myself yet today. Or yesterday. And yet, I have spent some time online. Diving in, beyond the surface, to the place where my friends live.

Am I doing it to avoid my child? Some days it feels like that. Like today, maybe. And it's wrong. I shouldn't do it. But I am normal. I'm a mom and I do.

I've spent almost every.single.day of my child's 5+ years with her. At home. Entertaining her. Engaging her. Finding ways to keep her busy, happy, motivated. Excited. Enthused. Less than bored.

And I'm tired. I'm kind of finding myself ready for her to go to school.

Is that wrong of me? Maybe.

Are there people who probably sit, shaking their heads, offering nothing more than an 'I knew that would happen,' when what they really want to say is that they told me so - but they bit their tongues well enough that they didn't ACTUALLY tell me so. Ya know? Those people? They're out there. They're not quite wrong.

I suppose in some ways I did this to myself. I am truly lucky to have had the opportunity to make the choice that enabled me to stay at home with my child. She is very well-adjusted, interacts well with others, she's had loads of playdates, groups, classes and the like. She's friendly, fun and sweet. She's mine and I adore her.

But add her clingy and neediness in with the hoarder-lite mode I'm trying to bust out of these days and I feel like I'm trapped in a bubble. One that I need out of and can't seem to break through.

But this weekend I get some time away. I'm looking forward to it - and I know that's normal. And yet I know I'll be sad to leave her - and that's normal, too.

So I'm torn.

I'm all out of faith,
This is how I feel.
I'm cold and I'm ashamed ...
lying naked on the floor. 

Deep inside I'm torn. 

Totally butchered those lyrics. With apologies to natalie imbruglia.




** Important note ... I wrote this last night. I was drained. Exhausted. Battling a child who didn't want to sleep. This morning is a new day. I came downstairs, my house isn't as horrible as it was in the dark of night, it's amazing how nighttime hits me like that and I want to go on a cleaning frenzy but am too damned tired to do so. And how the exhaustion creeps in and the day fills my body, mind and soul, and my child fights closing her eyes and the frustrations escalate and ... well ... you get the picture. But today I move forward. Finding positives and love and more. I hope you do, too.

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Frush ~ Product Review

Have you heard of Frush yet?

If you haven't - no worries, you surely will soon.

Frush is a new yogurt and fruit shake that contains protein, probiotic and calcium. It's made with real fruit and a rich, creamy yogurt. It's like a smoothie and a shake mixed in one. It's got all the benefits of a smoothie and the thickness of a yummy shake!

It comes in four delicious flavors: Strawberry, Strawberry banana, Peach and blueberry.

Strawberry was my daughter's favorite, and mine, too. I'll admit I didn't try the strawberry-banana flavor - because I personally don't do bananas. The blueberry was really yum, as well. I'd say the kids all preferred the strawberry flavor. I don't know if that's because it's strawberry season here in NC, and they're all in the mood for that red, juicy taste, or just because that was the best flavor of the bunch.

Peach was probably the least well-liked. I think kids don't branch out to peach-flavored things very often, so it's not something they recognized as quickly as the other three. In fact, I think we have a few peach ones left in our fridge, so they're definitely going more slowly.

Honestly I think my daughter would have enjoyed 2-3 of these every day if she could have. The individual serving size I was provided with for my party and review was a perfect breakfast for her, but sometimes she'd request a second one soon after. Do all kids do that - or just mine?

8.4 ounces of Frush contains 200 calories (that's the small bottle size). It's a perfect addition to your breakfast on-the-go choices for a mom ready to rush out of her house in the early mornings, as many moms do! It's a great after school snack for the little ones, especially if you pour it over some ice and give them a wide straw.

I did notice that the thickness was sometimes difficult to get through a standard thin straw, which is good, as far as taste and the ability to fill you up goes, but for the kids it was a little bit rough from the get-go because they can't exactly run around with cups that don't have lids. Even at age 5, I would worry that my daughter will end up with more on her clothes or my house than in her mouth if I did that.

By the way, my husband, who is usually not a big smoothie fan - but certainly enjoys a milkshake on occasion - actually liked these, too. Blueberry was his favorite flavor.

You can check out their Facebook page for more information on the product by clicking here.

Right now it is available at Lowes Foods, ingles and BI~LO locations. I have a handful of coupons left in my stash that will get you $1 off two Frush products. If you're interested let me know in the comments and I'll contact you for your mailing address. I'm happy to share these if you're planning on going out to give the product a try. Every little coupon helps us save.

You can find out if it's available near you by checking their store locator page here.

So check these out if you find them near you. I'm sure it's just a matter of time before they get there. And Cheers!

Also, I apologize to Frush for having technical issues and being unable to post pictures of friends and family enjoying the product at this time ... but I promise an update once I find my camera cable.

I was provided with samples, coupons and marketing material in order to complete this post. All opinions expressed are my own (and that of friends and family who tried the product).

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Bazinga!

The Big Bang Theory is on in the living room.

My husband and my daughter (yes, she's five) are watching. At the same time she's sorting her "day kit" - which would be more along the lines of what you'd call your first aid kit.

She's taken to Band Aids lately. I don't know if it started before my hand-bite incident, or after, but the Band Aids and their non-name-brand copies are all over her stuffed animals.

Perry (the platypus) had two on his eyes yesterday morning.

Pugsly (her beanie baby pug that used to be mine) had a tiny one on his head, as well.

Pounce (we have a thing for P-names, it seems, he's a beanie baby cat that was mine many moons ago, too) hasn't had any yet, but he's her favorite these days so it's important that he stay healthy.

As I sit here typing this she's telling my husband that he "needs a check-up!" ... come to think of it, it could be Doc McStuffins' influence. Have you watched that yet? It's really super cute. I think it's a nice change from the typical kids' shows out there, especially what's been out there for girls.

We're waiting to start grilling dinner (hamburgers and turkey burgers are sitting on the newly cleared island) - well, my husband is going to. I have never actually learned to use the grill. I mean, I know the concept, but it's not something I have ever tried.

Have I mentioned my daughter enjoys The Big Bang Theory? Lately she's taken to shouting:

"BAZINGA!"

When she teases us about something, or pretends to be.

If you're unfamiliar with the word or the concept, watch this.



The ballpit scenes? All one episode. Pee-worthy.

If we're not shouting that out we're singing the theme song. A little BNL that isn't exactly kid-specific, but she loves it anyway.

And my puppy - the one out of prison? Is sitting here licking the bottoms of my arms, whimpering like a looney toon because she wants to go back to her crate, I'm sure.

Le sigh. Just another Tuesday night at our house.

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I don't even know what to title this post.

So we noticed a water spot on our kitchen ceiling the other day. It seemed to appear over night. It sure felt like it did. And I looked at it and it was brownish/blackish definitely mold-ish.

Fast forward to yesterday when we had a friend who is a contractor come out, and he did a quick assessment and told us what the next steps would be.

So after he left I called a plumber - they were out in a few hours. Guy cuts a square hole in our ceiling, pulls out the drywall and it's so nasty you wouldn't want to see it on TV. Ew.

Determines the leak is definitely from our upstairs toilet (in our master bath). Great. Takes up our toilet, wax seal is like shredded or something. Well, there you go. It appears that the toilet has been removed before, and there's a definite leak on at least one side. It's really gross, but the leak is fixed so we're done with step one, at least.

He recommends we call a mold guy. Mold guy is in the area and comes out a few hours later. Checks kitchen ceiling. It's definitely mold. He's going to have to cut more out of the ceiling. Probably do a mold treatment. Did I mention yesterday was our 10yr anniversary? Happy anniversary to us!

Checks the ceiling and it's bad, but it's not like the whole ceiling, which is great news, thank goodness. We don't have to move to a hotel, kennel the dogs and hide the cats. ;) We DO have to live with a loud fan and a plastic wrapped section of our kitchen. I'll live. It's all good. No dishwasher? I won't cook. We're all set.

BUT.

He goes upstairs to cut up some of the bathroom floor and it is so freakin' gross there are NO WORDS. NO WORDS, people. It's nasty. It's rotted. It's a Stage 3 or whatever that means. It's likely that the bottom of the toilet has been leaking into the bathroom floor forEVER. Probably since before we bought our house 5 years ago. WTH? How is that even possible?

Note to self, and to everyone you know in this world ... if you ever buy a house (first house, second, again and again), make sure you have a water detector person come and check all your bathrooms, walls, floors, and laundry room, too, while you're at it. Heck, throw in the kitchen to be safe.  There was so much moisture and water in the bathroom floor that it was off the charts. Ew.

So right now we have our upstairs bath cordoned off. It's a biohazard. Seriously. The plumber had to come back out and take our toilet off again and it's in our master bathtub. What? Yes. That is my life right now.

My daughter even drew a picture of it.

Toilet - meet bathtub. Redneck much?

Happy anniversary to us. Oy.

On a positive note, we're getting a new bathroom floor. And have to paint the kitchen ceiling. Maybe I'll go yellow or something. That could be fun. Or cheesy. Or both. We'll see.

Thanks for listening. I wish you a household-stress-free-weekend ahead.

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