Don't Underestimate Thanksgiving

Really. Please. Don't underestimate Thanksgiving. I know it doesn't come with as many decorations as some other winter holidays, and no catchy tunes that I can think of, but why, oh why must the Christmas carols be playing and the trees go up even before the turkey is bought?

I actually love Thanksgiving, it's all about hanging out with your family, watching the parade, playing games and doing puzzles, cooking and eating yummy food (snapping the wishbone!) and let's not forget - giving thanks.


Maybe it's because I am interior-decorating-challenged, but I just cannot get geared up for Christmas until Thanksgiving is done. The next day, if you all want to start the madness, that's OK with me, but it makes me feel sad, every year, that people are so eager to get to Christmas that they must "jump in line" as it were and push poor Thanksgiving aside.


So in my salute to Thanksgiving here are some links for you!


High Heeled Mama's 30 days of thanks

Thanksgiving trivia

The Butterball website

How to make your own pumpkin puree ~ You can make pumpkin pie from a real pumpkin!

Thanksgiving Crafts

Thanksgiving story


Got any more to add?

Don't underestimate the Court Jester

The kid has been having some trouble going to sleep. Since turning three, he has developed fears at night, seemingly of rectangles and circles (no, not kidding, and I don't get it either).

Last night, I decided to try to read him to sleep. Normally, this would have the opposite effect since he loves books and most of them are chock full of pictures and words he wants to "follow along with" (meaning I have to point to the words as I read them). But the husband has a series of books from his childhood that are full of stories, but very few pictures. I made the kid a deal - he stays (mostly) still on the bed and I will read, carefully noting that this is a *listening* story, not an interactive one.

The first story in the volume I picked up was Many Moons by James Thurber. The kid was asleep 2 pages in, but I read the entire thing anyway.

Now, about the Court Jester. The idea of the story is that the Princess Lenore is ill and she thinks she will get better if she has the moon. The King calls in all his wisest advisers, but each one tells him the task is impossible. The Court Jester comes in to cheer him up, hears the tale, and fixes the problem. I'll leave out the details, this little story really is worth reading (for all ages) and I don't want to spoil it.

Here's the thing. The wisest men in the land, who had obtained countless things for the King from every corner of the earth, could not (or would not?) get the moon for the Princess. The Court Jester did. Just because someone tells you something can't be done, doesn't mean it can't. Not everything has to be hard, get out of your wise-man brain and put a little Jester into your thoughts - you might be surprised.

Don't Underestimate procrastination-itis

Yes, I've got it. Bad. The dreaded procrastination-itis.

I have a list a mile long (including "write your blog") and very few things crossed off. Do you know what's holding me back? Jeans. I need new jeans. We are going to Colorado, and somehow, I don't think my NC summer wear is going to cut it.

Why are jeans such a problem? I *hate* to shop. Hate it, hate it, hate it. My sister is like some crazed fashionista who can spend a day trying on clothes and go back and purchase the first thing she tried on. I think having to go along for that as a "tween" (that word didn't even exist back then) has scarred me for life.

So, I procrastinate. I read Facebook, Twitter, online forums, etc. ANYTHING except what's on my list. This has been going on for days. But now, I've started my recovery - cross "write your blog" off the list.

Don't underestimate bears

Don't underestimate bears. I mean, OBVIOUSLY not in the wild, I'm talking about the ones in books.

Today is Paddington Bear's 50th "birthday" (as anyone who used Google search today has already figured out). He and I go waaaaay back. I had the books, the bear, even played Paddington in the 2nd grade play. My dad used to make Paddington's hat "talk" to me before bed when I was in elementary school. For my birthday, my mom gave me the new book, and I'm pleased to report I enjoyed it as much as I thought I would.

Really, how can you go wrong with a children's book that starts with a bear "from Darkest Peru" showing up on a railway platform with a tag that says "Please look after this bear. Thank you."? Now, years later, the kid loves him too, as he should - they're very similar. As Paddington says, "Things happen to me. I'm that sort of bear".

Hug a bear today :-)

Don't Underestimate The Universe's Sense of Humor

Recently, the fabulous Dawn Goldberg of Write Well U, posted about her Note from the Universe on her blog.

Clearly, I'm open to suggestion these days, as that post made me go and sign up for my own notes this past Sunday. Yes, this was *another* one of those things that I'd been meaning to do forever, it just took the right nudge from the right person (thanks, Dawn!)

Side note: When you go to the site, it's not just notes from the universe, in fact, there's a tag in the top left called "Tut's Adventurers Club" which made my day because it made me think of the Adventurer's Club on Disney's Pleasure Island, which had closed that very day. (Kungaloosh!)

Off I went to sign up. I wasn't prepared - you need to enter goals (which makes sense - in order for the universe to give you what you want, you have to tell it - right? A little like Santa Claus in that way). The first one has to be a material possession. I type in "Fabulous inviting deck". You see, our house is literally falling apart at the back door - the previous owners "patched up" some water damage which resulted years later in a rotting floor and door frame along with the part of the deck that attaches to the house. When we get this fixed, we will have to tear down the existing deck, and replace it with - that's right, a "Fabulous inviting deck".

Here's what showed up in my email on Monday:

The cards of life are stacked in your favor, Heather. Overall, you're far more likely to succeed than fail, and to thrive than dive. Don't let the inevitable setbacks get you down. After all, having a fabulous inviting deck is not asking for much!
Whirlpools of love, The Universe

Get it? Cards? Decks? Haha. Verrrrry funny, Universe! (sigh) off to play go-fish with my new deck of cards...

Don't Underestimate bath toys

Apparently, if you are too mean to your bath toys, they will sneak up and getcha.

The kid was playing in the bath with his plastic boat. Decided he didn't want to play with it anymore, so threw it at the faucet. It landed back in the bath and floated (as boats will do) up behind him.

He sat on it.

And then screamed at the top of his lungs.

The good news is, we don't have to go to the ER and he will be fine. The bad news is that we have to pay WAY more attention to his, um... posterior than any good parent should have to for the next few days. And I'm pretty sure we made the after-hours nurse's night :-).

Don't underestimate the down-side of a potty trained 3 year old

If you don't have kids, ignore this post.

The kid is almost 3 1/2. We have recently had potty training success (yay us!) He was the last of his group of friends, and I think a lot of it had to do with my laziness in this area - I just did not want to deal with it.

Thankfully, the husband finally decided to take it on, and I must say, it's been nowhere near as bad as I thought it would be. A few accidents the first week, and smooth sailing since then!

Since it's been going so well, he can go in the potty by himself and calls me for assistance when needed.

Today, what I heard was "Mommy! I need more wipes!" (these are the flushable wipes) That's not good, especially since the box was half full this morning, and extra-especially since he's not supposed to use them without us. As I'm running to the bathroom, he hears me coming and flushes the toilet.

And floods the bathroom.

And says "Mommy don't be mad, I didn't mean to".

So as I'm very calmly getting towels to mop up the floor, I ask him how many wipes he put in there.

"One. Two. Threefourfivesixseveneightnineten."

Me - "Ten?"

Him - "Yep - or maybe not, I didn't count them. Am I s'posed to count them?"

Me - (sigh) "Anything else?"

Him - "Nope. Oh, yeah, I forgot - a washcloth."

I sent him upstairs to pick up his books, shut the bathroom door, made myself a cup of tea and left it for the husband. A girl can only deal with so much, ya know?

Don't underestimate a Virtual Assistant

I'm a Virtual Assistant. Really, there is such a thing. I even have a web site. I get all kinds of reactions when I tell people what I do. Usually, something along the lines of "You're a WHAT? Howdya get to be one of those?"

If you are one of those people who don't know what a VA is (and I know you're out there), I suggest you check out AssistU, everything you want to know about being or getting a VA is right there (nanpatience - this is for you, thanks for asking!).

Last week, Stacy Brice (Founder of AssistU and thus, VA queen and guru) wrote a post in Virtual Moxie about VA's leaving work on the table.

This is the other half of that - don't underestimate a Virtual Assistant.

Here's the thing about being a VA. Your client asks you to do something. You either know how to do it, you learn how to do it or you help your client find someone else to do it. When I first partner with a client, I tell them to assume I can do everything until I tell them otherwise. Now, obviously, I can't do *everything*, but they've been surprised (and sometimes, so have I) at the things I *can* do.

If you have a VA, a good rule of thumb is to not do anything you don't love to do. Anything that doesn't make you jazzed just thinking about it should be off your list. From there, your VA can take and do the things she (or he) wants to do, and the two of you can work together to outsource the rest.

If you *are* a VA, follow Stacy's advice in her post. Also, be very clear in your own mind about the things you like to do and know that there may be things that neither you nor your client want on your lists - just have fabulous resources ready for those times.

So, although no one can do everything, don't underestimate your VA if you have one, and if you *are* one, don't underestimate yourself.

Don't Underestimate Coupons

About 6 months ago, the husband and I decided to quit throwing away the coupons in the Sunday paper. We started planning meals (thank goodness he cooks) and doing weekly grocery shopping instead of having the usual conversation which went something like this:

"Hey, what's for dinner?"

"Dunno, I thought you were making something"

"Mmm - nope, didn't do it"

"Well, whaddaya want?"

"I don't know, what do we have?"

"Not much, but I suppose we should feed the kid, huh?"

"Yep. We have 4 kinds of fruit, carrots, PB&J and yogurt."

"Let's order take out."

Well, that tab will run up pretty fast. So we started this coupon "thing", and we've been doing pretty well. There are entire sites out there dedicated to couponing where you can get coupon info, download coupons, order extra coupons, etc. I don't have that kind of time, so I rely on my fellow mommies at www.charlottemommies.com (If you aren't in Charlotte, try www.themommiesnetwork.com to see if there is one in your area) in the "Domestic Goddess" forum.

No kidding, these ladies have tricks up their sleeves you would not believe. Cleaning, organization, recipes, thrifty spending - all those things I should do, but don't.

Until the couponing. Now, I'm no coupon diva, but these days I usually manage to save about 50% per trip. Until today. Today was triples. As someone else said, this is like the "Coupon Olympics". There are spreadsheets and strategies and game plans and trades and buys and sells and sleep deprivation and meetings. I swear I am not exaggerating. There are people out there buying a few hundred dollars worth of groceries for $20 or $30. I didn't do that well, but I did spend $6 and save $42. Not bad.

And then to reward myself, I went and got a Frappuccino.

Don't underestimate home-baked treats

I try to be a good mom food-wise. The kid doesn't get candy, we don't buy chocolate or cookies, I think Trader Joe's Fruit Bars are the most processed snack we give him. I try to read labels for HFCS. There are a lot of fruits and veggies going on at my house. He only drinks water and milk, and currently, yogurt is his favorite food.

Now, I won't lie. There's a stash of Pringles that only my 6-foot-4 Husband can reach, and a dark chocolate bar (or two... or three...) in my desk drawer. He and I are both addicted to caffeine. But we do try to provide the kid with a well-rounded, nutritious diet.

That said, I feel very strongly about home-baked treats. Cookies, cake, pie, quick-breads, all OK in my book. There's a lot to be said for baking, and baking with kids is F-U-N (if you don't mind a little mess).

My cousin and I have a theory that home-made stuff is better for you by virtue of the fact that it's home-made. This makes me happy. Consider that you know exactly what's in it and where it was prepared. You expended energy making it (thus offsetting some of the calories you will consume eating it). If you are so inclined, you can substitute things to make it healthier or taste better or have extra chocolate.

From an education standpoint, it's fantastic. Counting, reading numbers, fractions, weights, chemistry, following instructions and something yummy at the end!

So the kid and I made pumpkin bread today. It's a great recipe, makes 2 loaves or 24 muffins, some to eat and some to freeze. It uses a whole can of pumpkin, no more, no less (partial can-usage makes me nuts). If there's a kid handy to make this with, sifting is apparently a lot of fun for a preschooler (but have them sift on wax or parchment paper - it seems getting it all in a bowl is too difficult) and if you have a KitchenAid, well, what's better than turning it on and changing the speeds?

Then there's licking the spoon. Yum.




*Disclaimer - The FDA discourages the consumption of eggs that have not been adequately cooked, and eating the batter of this particular recipe would require eating raw eggs. I do it anyway, and so does the kid, but don't tell the husband..

So at 7:30pm today, my house smelled great, everyone is happy eating fresh pumpkin bread and playing Go Fish. I'll say it again - don't underestimate home-baked treats.

If you are now in the mood to try Pumpkin Bread, here's the recipe, thanks to my favorite recipe site, Epicurious. I don't use the walnuts, and if you want to do muffins, it makes about 24 regular-sized ones and they only need to bake about 20 min. If you try it, come back and let me know what you think!

Spiced Pumpkin Bread

Don't underestimate down time

As I mentioned in my last post, this was the thought that started it. Down time. I own my business, my husband works, we have a 3 year old and 2 dogs and no family lives in town.

Down time is like the Holy Grail to me.

Last winter, my husband changed to a job where he had weekends off. We've known each other for 15 years, and this was the first time we had *ever* both had weekends off! So, what do we do? We make plans. Birthday parties for kids turning 3. Visiting friends and family. Having friends and family visit us. Day trips. Home improvements. Festivals. All fun, fun stuff, but decidedly *not* down time.

So two weekends ago, we find ourselves faced with nothing on the calendar. We have some "maybes", things we could do but had not planned. What to do? We leave it blank. Aahh..

We read the paper
He tinkered in the garage
I did the crossword and the sudoku
I read a book
He cooked
We played trivial pursuit and had cocktails (after the kid was in bed)
We took the dogs to the park both days
We taught the kid to play slapjack and war.
We watched movies.
We played with legos and trains.

We did not go to our "maybes". Just 'cause we didn't have to.

Then this past weekend? Same thing. Heaven.

Soon the trips and visits will start up again, but we need to remember to put a big, fat "X" through the weekend every once in a while and take it for ourselves.

So for you? Take your down time - it's worth it, I promise.

Don't underestimate the influence you might have on someone else.

I've been wanting to start a blog for what seems like forever. My clients blog, my fellow Virtual Assistants blog, my friends blog. I like to read blogs, and am always impressed that people can do this.

I, however, seemed to have a case of "blogger's block". I am, admittedly, not overly creative. The technician in me needed a THEME for my blog, but I just couldn't come up with one.

Mommy blog?
Work-at-home-mom blog?
Virtual-Assistant blog?
Web life blog?

Hmm, no.

Then, as they have a way of doing, the planets aligned. I joined Facebook, mostly for business, but was lucky enough to re-connect with a few old and dear friends. One was kind enough to plug his wife's blog to me, and I knew her through school as well, so I jumped right over to read. She's great - just the kind of blogger I wanted to be - witty, down to earth, real.

So I spend the afternoon reading her archives and marvelling that these two people I knew a lifetime ago have such wonderful and interesting stories. AND that I can find this out on a blog.

The next day, as I sat there doing the daily crossword, relishing in my second weekend with nothing to do in a row, I kept thinking "Don't underestimate the power of down-time". I use that phrase a lot in my thoughts - "Don't underestimate", and Bingo! There's my theme!

So, the blogger who inspired me becomes the first blog on my blogroll, and we'll see how the rest of it goes!