May is the new December

A friend of mine declared recently that "May is the new December."

Boy, she is NOT kidding.  If you are at all involved in your children's life, and if they are at all involved with any activities beyond eating, drinking, bathing, sleeping, going to school and coming home, then your weeks leading up to the close of the school year are just as busy as those leading up to the holidays.

Recitals and performances, tournaments, bees, competitions, concerts, and countless other exhibitions of the talents that your children have been honing throughout the fleeting school year, must be attended.

Loose ends must be tied up.  Missing books must be found and returned.  Gifts must be purchased or made for teachers in appreciation for their efforts to help shape our "young breed."

This is the time that the weekends become crowded with First Communion and prom and graduation celebrations.  You know they are coming. You just don't often know when or how many until you've already got multiple balls in the air and you've abandoned the ink pen on your calendar and resorted to pencil instead.

In the midst of all this, winter clothes must be purged and replaced with summer wardrobes. 

Those of us who wear all the hats of running a small business or work away from the home must still find time to keep those initiatives moving forward.  The good news is, I decide when and where and who I work with on most days.  But what I want to get done and what is humanly possible are two different things in May. 

And just like the Winter holiday season, those who enjoy it most are the ones who simplify and prioritize.  The ones who trade in at least some of the "nice-to-haves-but-not-necessary-for-happiness" in exchange for "this-must-be-done-to-preserve-sanity" tasks wind up getting to June with a sense of sentimental accomplishment, traditions and memories that their children will cherish.

I'm working on that.  But it's a feeble attempt at best.  What do you think?  Is May the new December at your house?


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Creating weekly meal plans

Since I'm going to be working and traveling fulltime, I'm trying to learn some new strategies for making better, more realistic meal plans for my family.

I love to cook, and I anticipate this becoming a source of frustration for me if I don't get a handle on it right out of the shoot.

I learned today that Meijer grocery stores does something nice on their website to this end. They create weekly meal plans that are built around the sale ad for that week. THANK YOU Meijer!

I'm gonna give it a try. http://www.meijerhealthyliving.com/

I also signed up for Bust-a-Meal. www.BustAMeal.com
On this service, you go to the website and pick your favorite yummy easy recipes from their database of hundreds (maybe thousands by now). All are sorted by main dish and there are side recipes too. You tag your favs, then each week, they send you an email with a menu for the week with whatever number of meals you want (I just picked 3 per week because I know that I won't have time to cook more than that. Then I just fix extra to have as leftovers and we wind up doing a sandwich or going out once or twice for something cheap and fast on a busy day.)

So, the automatic weekly menu email is compiled from the recipes you flagged. They mix it up and follow stuff that's in season. Then, you get the email which contains your menu and a shopping list to take to the store to make sure you have all the ingredients on hand! I'm loving this! Thank you Bust A Meal!

Spiritual Needs and Happiness

Considering spiritual needs and happiness.

The need to feel unique, the need to feel a sense of purpose, the need to feel connected with others and with something bigger than me, and the need to understand where I fit in to the big picture.

Find ways to meet these needs in my own life and to look for ways to help others recognize and meet these needs in their own lives.

Celebrate the things that make me different, that make me special - even the littlest things.
Observe others and notice their beauty and uniqueness.

Work to identify my gifts and talents, and use them to the best of my ability as often as possible.
Look for ways to encourage others as they discover, exercise and grow their own talents.

Look for opportunities to make connections with others and with God.
Live a life that expresses gratitude.

Consider the issues that face the world and ask myself what I can do to make a difference in my small part of that big world. Don't live in a bubble. Keep my own challenges, problems and weaknesses in perspective.

Aim for this every day.

Where can a boy climb a tree in Newport Kentucky?

In our urban neighborhood, there are very small yards. Many homes have no yard.

We have a lot of young couples who moved here and are now starting families. Some move away to the suburbs when the baby comes. More are beginning to stay and raise their families in the city.

Luckily for us, there are a couple of small parks nearby. There's a nice fenced playground next to the Montessori school down the street. It's good for little ones, but no dogs allowed and no balls allowed.

So where can the older children play?

There's an open grassy field next to the highway at the end of our street. It has become the unofficial "dog park" for the many dog owners in the neighborhood. The city has added benches and trash cans and planted some trees. It's perfect for the dogs to run and chase a stick or ball. The older children can kick a soccer ball here - if there aren't too many landmines. Most dog owners seem conscientious about that and pick up.

There are some trees along the edge of this park that my sons have taken for their own. They love to play and then stop and rest - up in a tree. When my son is sitting up there, in the branches, he is calm and peaceful - drawing energy from the living structure that suspends him above the ground.

These trees are the perfect size for climbing. Not too tall, but big enough to withstand the rigors of a boy's climb and weight. The leaves are dense - just enough for a boy to hide, but still be able to survey his kingdom.

The state wants to take out this dog park and all the trees that go with it and build a new exit ramp to accomodate the new high rise buildings going up along the river.

While I understand that we must find a way to accomodate the traffic that "progress" brings, I ask: If we take this space away, where can a boy climb a tree in Newport?