Wife-ing, Momming, Blogging, Planning, Cooking (Sometimes!), Crafting, Traveling, Having Fun, and Minding My Biscuits
Leaving my Target run and as I’m loading my things on the belt at the register I start thinking to myself, this is weird, literally every single thing I am purchasing is in a cardboard box. Right about the time I’m thinking this through the cashier looks up at the belt and says, “Wow, everything you’re buying is in a box!” and gives me a funny look…
What can I say, at least I’m consistent in my weirdness. 🤷♀️🤦♀️🤣
I swear I start every post by SWEARING that I’m going to start updating this regularly. And then three months go by… Three months where I did NOTHING but work (from home, mind you), keep my kids alive, and collect more cats. I mean, it’s not that I lack the TIME to post regularly, but sometimes the effort can be hard to find.
To be completely honest, this is ALL getting to me – and not in the best way. I’ve been mostly hiding in my personal bubble and kind of hoping it will all go away or at least seem, well, not so awful. I really think the worst thing of all about this time in our lives is that humans can be downright cruel to each other. I’ve seen close friendships ripped apart, day after day, by differences in political opinions, personal preferences, opinions being rammed down each other’s throats, and every single one of us too proud/stubborn/whatever to admit that maybe….. maybe our way ISN’T the only path to be followed, and maybe EVEN THOUGH we don’t agree with the opinions or beliefs of our friends that we should respect them enough to treat them the way we wish to be treated. The world right now is absolutely 100% depressing, and it’s no wonder I choose to collect cats and hide out in my house and play with planners even though I really have nothing to plan.
Choice. It’s a simple matter. Each action we take, each word that comes out of our mouths is a choice. A choice you have the right to make, I’m not arguing that. But also keep in mind your CHOICES affect those around you. Words scar, actions harm, and everything we do is being filed away by our youth, our children, as an example of how to act in the future as an adult. Really, THAT is what scares the shit out of me. My daughter, and now I’m seeing my son as well, are both hyper-aware of the world around them. They hear when you do not think they are listening, they see what you don’t think they’re paying attention to, and their memory is impressive. My daughter, at 3 years old, could remember the exact location of a place I’d taken her to for ice cream ONCE a year previously. My son, at three years old, knows the location of all of mommy’s favorite Starbucks (parenting fail on that one, probably) – but what is getting “saved” to that memory right now that is going to affect who they become as an adult? Will they think it’s ok to break family and friendship ties with harsh words and accusations because of a difference in political beliefs? Will they remember all they’ve seen in the news and all the adult discussions going on around them in hushed tones? Will they be the kind of people that can love and appreciate others no matter their differences?
And how do I teach them to respect others when we’re all running around acting like righteous fools?
Maybe this is just a brain dump, and maybe I’ll end up catching a bunch of flak for it, but I hope not. I’ve been in such a funk, and probably a lot of it is the isolation speaking… I’m such a people person that I feel like I’ve lost all those except my closest family and a tiny few friends. Maybe that loss is cutting deeper because I see so many others cutting those they love out of their lives over things that may or may not matter in the end. It’s frustrating, it’s tragic, and it’s very very dark. I’m not even sure the light is there or that this horribly long tunnel of 2020 has an end.
I’m sorry if I am rambling and none of this makes sense, it’s therapeutic for me to blab it all out onto the page and get the thoughts out of my head. Maybe it does make sense and you too are feeling the darkness. If so, leave a comment, send an email, reach out to me or someone you love and make a connection, however fragile it may be. You never know, the person you reach out to may need that connection just as much as you do.
Tomorrow, back (maybe LOL) to posting cat photos and random crap on Instagram. But hopefully today’s deep thoughts stick and mean something for someone out there. Stay safe, stay bright, and be that person that brings light to others. <3
I decided to entertain myself and my 5 year old with some surprise craft boxes from one of my favorite stores, Little Craft Place in Houston (Spring), TX! WOW y’all, were we ever surprised! SO… MUCH… FUN… STUFF! Run, don’t walk, over to that website and get you one – so worth it and so much fun! What a bright spot in our kind of crappy, stuck at home day! She has boxes for adults, and also has boxes made up for girls 4-6yrs, boys 4-6yrs, girls 7&up, and boys 7&up!
First unboxing was Tatum’s. She’s five and LOVES crafts! We didn’t get to open these until later in the evening so she didn’t get to participate in her unboxing video, but she can’t WAIT to start crafting with all this tomorrow, and I even bribed her to go to bed with it. LOL!
And after she went to bed, I unboxed mine! WOW, I swear Eunice must be the world champion at package Tetris because this box is PACKED (I mean, they both were, but wow!) with goodies!
Needless to say, I’ve already jumped on and ordered both of us second boxes. Ha ha ha!! Hope this helps give you some great crafting ideas for both you and your little ones during this social distancing! So happy to see small business thinking **inside** the surprise box, and what a wonderful way to market your business and all the wonderful things you offer once you’re able to safely get out and about! <3
I’m tired, y’all. Just… tired. The anxiety and mental stress of wondering constantly if I’m doing the right things for my family and myself. Wondering how this is all going to affect the kids in the long run. Wondering how our economy is going to come out on the other side. Worrying about all the small businesses that probably won’t make it or will suffer if they do. Wondering how everyone else is feeling. It’s draining, and it’s scary, and it’s currently all-consuming.
I ventured out to the grocery store today, and while it wasn’t quite as bad as I had built it up to be in my mind, it was still a very sobering experience. There were literally NO canned goods on the shelves, people were snapping up packages of ground beef faster than the worker could put them on the shelf (I will say, I was pleasantly surprised at how nice all the shoppers and employees were to each other). No pasta, no bread, no toilet paper or paper towels. Lunch meat was so picked over there was barely anything left. Oddly enough there was plenty of produce, but that’s a puzzle for another time, most likely because it spoils so quickly? Who knows.
It’s kind of like a really bad dream that you can’t wake up from. Everything is so uncertain, the outcome isn’t written. You have people who are holed into their homes refusing to step foot in the light of day, and then you have people who don’t seem to give a shit what happens or who it happens to. Scary stuff, y’all.
I was actually going to try to write something funny and lighthearted tonight, but I just don’t really seem to have that in me, so I’m going to cut it here, go do something calming to my mind and come back at it tomorrow.
Here’s hoping tomorrow is a better day for us all. <3
Day two of the social distancing/quarantine… The cats have resorted to caffeine and are trying to escape through the chimney flue. I got temporarily “laid off” from my job. I’m hoarding my toilet paper like a doomsday prepper and my kids still don’t understand why I’m rationing squares. Shit is getting real, y’all.
I still don’t know what to think. Between the media and social media and hysteria it’s all so confusing. everything is canceled, everything is screeching to a halt, and I don’t know whether to freak out or just go with the flow. Currently I’m choosing “Just Move Forward” as my mindset and hope that the situation starts to improve. It HAS to improve, right?
On the good side, maybe this will give me the kick in the ass I need to start writing again, because I’ve kind of failed miserably at it for the last year or so. I need an outlet right now for all these thoughts bumping around in my head. Who doesn’t? Hubs is still working from the office, so I’m anxious about that. Trying to find good ways of explaining to the kids why we can’t have a play date at their favorite play place. It’s just crazy and I can’t even organize all this in my brain.
Meanwhile I’ll just start posting all my random thoughts here on the blog, and we can all be random together! 🤣🤣🤣 See you fellow forced introverts tomorrow!
I went to my first “real” planner event this weekend, and I have to tell you I got some weird reactions to that from a bunch of my family and friends. I had asked my hubby for a ticket for my birthday this year and I was super pumped about going. My hubby told me “I don’t know why you’d want to do that, but if it’s what you want then go for it!”
So I was thinking to myself last night, how to explain to the non-planner WHY exactly I love planning. Brace yourself for the shocker, it’s NOT primarily organizational based like you would think. Far from it (though it is a nice side perk!) I enjoy planning because for ME, it is a creative release.
I am not particularly artistic when it comes to drawing/painting/etc. I’ve never had, nor will I probably ever develop that particular skill set. My stick people look like maybe my 4 year old drew them. I’ve always wanted to be super artistic, and I’ve tried and tried to draw/paint/sketch, but the reality is… it’s not going to happen.
When I’m working on a spread or layout for the week in one of my planners, not only am I reminding myself of the things I need to do and appointments I need to keep, but I’m creating a visually appealing way to look at my life the next 7 days. I thoroughly enjoy putting stickers, washi tape, and colorful pens/markers down in a collection of thoughts that speaks to me. It’s soothing, and it’s fun.
That being said, sometimes I am also like a squirrel surrounded by shiny objects when faced with the sheer collection of planner stuff I’ve acquired when trying to plan out my week. When that happens I try to sit back and look around for something that inspires me. I have a lot of stuff hanging around, and generally there’s always something I can create an idea from.
I wasn’t sure what to expect when I headed off to this planner event. I consider myself somewhat of an “Introverted Extrovert”. I love people, love meeting new personalities and experiencing moments from their point of view, but I also get nervous and a little anxious at the beginning of a social situation, especially when I don’t really know anyone. I tend to cling to people I DO know like a rat to a sinking ship until I can get comfortable enough to be myself.
I really shouldn’t have worried at all. Planner people have this “You can sit with us” mentality that is truly refreshing in this socially stunted world. Everyone is open and friendly and excited to share. I also THOROUGHLY enjoyed the speaker, Heather Kell, from @kellofaplan on Instagram! She took a fairly mundane, everyday object like a sticker book full of icon stickers and transformed it into a glorious assembly of creative ideas, and her excitement and passion for what she was doing was infectious! I couldn’t WAIT to get home and start creating things using the creativity she had inspired!
So that’s why I plan – it’s a great group of people, and honestly, they’re on to something! I find organizing my thoughts and getting it down onto paper centers me and soothes my anxiety, plus the added bonus of rarely (I’m not saying it never happens) forgetting some thing I’m supposed to do or somewhere I’m supposed to be. =)
That being said…. it’s been a month since I posted here. Maybe I need to start planning out my blogging a bit better!! ha! <3
It’s been a hot minute since I posted here, almost two months in fact. What’s been holding me back, you ask? ME. I’ve been holding me back.
A friend and I were talking at lunch today, and we were discussing motivational issues (mostly mine). She was giving me some tips and tricks on things that helped her stay on task, and it really started to perk me up. “That sounds pretty easy”, I was thinking to myself, but in reality it’s not. Focus and discipline are hard work, but if you put into it what you want to get out of it, then it will become as natural as breathing.
While we were tossing ideas about, we both kind of stumbled on a phrase I found really important, and I think this phrase can apply to ALL creative types, regardless of genre: Creatively Overwhelmed.
I think this is an important phrase to describe where I frequently find myself in life. I have all these great ideas floating around in my head, and I KNOW the things I am good at and COULD be GREAT at if given the chance, but especially as a mother I frequently find myself distracted, straying away from those ideas, or even forgetting them entirely in lieu of something else that popped in at the last minute. Can anyone else relate? It happens to me all the time and it’s really starting to get me down.
I Can… and I Will…
People made a big deal this year about “One Word.” One word that describes your plan for the year. I feel like ONE word for the entire year may be pushing it for me. Maybe smaller goals, some that will push me a little but are otherwise easily achievable, might be MY answer.
So starting August 1st (well, if you want to be technical about it, August 2nd), I’m going to focus on “One Word” a month. One word that showcases or encompasses the goal I have for myself that month. One word for one goal that I CAN, and I WILL achieve. One thing at a time.
This month’s word is “MOTIVATION” – and this weekend will see me writing down and brainstorming answers to the question: “How do I MOTIVATE myself each day to get both the tasks I NEED to get done for both my business and personal life, as well as a couple tasks from my WANT to get done list?”
How do YOU get your MOTIVATION in check? I’m a planner by nature, so my first thought is better scheduling for my “free” time. Even though I don’t have a “real job” per se, I need to schedule myself hourly as if I do. Plan a set amount of time to focus on ONE task and not get sidetracked. Treat both my craft business AND my blog like a “real job” (because I WANT IT TO BE, so why shouldn’t I work for it?) and prioritize my day.
I’d love to know, though, how my readers get it all done! What have you found helpful in scheduling both your personal and professional life? What tricks do you use to MOTIVATE yourself to strive to be your best? Leave them in the comments, and I can’t wait to hear!
Well, not really, but after THIS INTERVIEW with me from Kristin from Exploring Domesticity came out on her blog today I kinda feel like it.
(If you can’t get that link to work here it is in all its glory: https://exploringdomesticity.com/jamies-mom-life)
Seriously y’all, after a really tough, trying day with both kids (the boy in particular) I actually needed to read through this interview again myself and remind myself all of the little joys in parenting and ALSO to stay as low-key as I possibly can. Believe me, it’s hard enough sometimes taking my own advice, but it’s fairly sound….. I think.
Make sure you take a look around while you’re over there, such a fun website full of awesome tips! <3
Yesterday Wade made fun of me when I invited him to do day 2 of 21 day fix with me. He laughed at my silly workout, but he did it. 1/3 of the way through he got real quiet, 1/2 of the way through he started grunting and moaning, and by the end he was toast. I’m pretty sure he went off to the living room to cry after that. #LegDay 😂
BUT.
He showed up today, and worked out with me again.
After leg day it was hard enough just squatting down enough to make it to the toilet seat without groaning, and now with Upper Fix and the “Bonus Abs” I feel like raw meat. 😂😂😂
Also, I went to Sprouts today and came home with a much better selection of healthier foods and produce, and rid our pantry of most of the items that would cause me to stray off-course.
I CAN do this.
Dinner tonight:
-Boneless Skinless Chicken Thighs trimmed of fat, with a citrus poultry spice blend in the air fryer (I ADORE my air fryer!!)
-Brown and Wild Rice Blend
-Avocado
-Banana for a nighttime snack. ❤️❤️❤️
