Mother's Day Blog Tradition

I've been blogging for several years now, and I think I've reposted this every year....I think it bears repeating...


Confidential to Mama, I miss you, I love you and every day I wish you were here. Mother's Day is bittersweet without you but I know you'd be proud of me and you'd love your grandsons. Miss you.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Why Being a Mother Kicks Arse!!

Here are some reasons why being a mom kicks arse...

1. It builds intelligence. Clearly, it takes an upper level intelligence to sort a pile of 56 baby socks, all in similar color schemes.

2. It fosters creativity. See, a childless person would not necessarily have the creativity to know that peas and carrots are not just peas and carrots. They are, in fact, ogre booger balls and orange alien space ships.

3. It is a nifty way to have fun. There is no other time in your life when it is acceptable to do these things: Go to Chuck E. Cheese, play Barbies, color, watch Lady and the Tramp (and cry), rock out to The Imagination Movers, or swing at the park. Okay, well you could do these things as a childless person, but with children, the chances of you being ostracized by society is far less.

4. It is endlessly changing, thus building your ability to roll with the punches. Plans with your spouse? NOPE, someones puking. Need a hair cut? NOPE, dance recital. But, somehow, everything gets done and you learn how to make things happen in a pinch! (Shhh, no one needs to know your hair is out of a bottle.

5. It is a wonderful excuse! Invited to a party you REALLY don't want to attend? Not a problem. Blame it on the kids!! Saying someone is sick, has baseball practice, has leprosy, is allergic to shag carpeting is almost always foolproof....just keep track of your 'fibs.'

6. You suddenly learn how valuable the little things are and learn the real value of money. 50.00 toy from Grandma. Ignored. 35.00 onesie from Auntie Kim? Puked on. .25c bag of Cheerios in your diaper bag while stuck in traffic? PRICELESS.

7. You learn how really STUPID and PETTY the things that worried you when you had no children are. Suddenly, what your next purse purchase will be, who is sleeping with who, and what new vodka is on the market is not really important anymore. Upon entering parenthood, a whole slew of 'grown up' worries hits you--health insurance, life insurance, safest car, vaccines, good pediatricians, college costs, how much a bottle of vodka is, etc.

Okay, so the vodka remains important no matter what stage of life you are in.

8. You have instant companionship--for awhile! Now this is not to say you should turn your back on your spouse or your friends upon becoming a mother. And remember, children do not need you to be their friends, they need you to be their parent. HOWEVER, how incredibly awesome is it to be having one of THOSE days, and be given a big smooch by the human being YOU brought forth into this world? And if you play your cards right...get past the scary teen years, and do your job...you WILL have a friend in your child---when THEY are an adult and can appreciate what you went through for them!

9. You get to dress them up. Okay, so it's petty but come on...dressing up babies is SOOO much more fun than dressing up animals. And please...stop dressing up animals. I beg of you.

10. And finally... no matter how your day goes, how you may have screwed up, what you said wrong....at the end of the day, you get to tuck in and kiss the most beautiful creature(s) in the world and know that YOU are their mommy and that is that--no matter HOW you came to be their mommy..you are and that is yours alone!

I think the perks far outweigh the sleeplessness, belly bloop and expense, don't you?





Amy...proud mommy


All Text Copyright Amy Dutsch 2009
Feel free to share...but give me the credit I deserve!

girl, disconnected....coming in June

Hey all, you know me, a little A.D.D. and need to change things up from time to time. Well, last month I decided I wanted to do a month of being virtually offline. So for the month of June, I will be doing a blog series, "girl, disconnected". It should probably be, girl--mostly disconnected because I will not be COMPLETELY offline. For one...I can't blog the progress without being ONline. So here's the deal:

I will be allowed online for the following things:
1. To blog the progress of this project, sort of a diary of how I'm doing dealing with disconnecting. I plan to write 2-3x a week...depending on how bad my withdrawal is!!
2. To check in and run my most popular shops, Badge Reels (which is getting it's own website!) and MicroMops. I will also leave all my Artfire shops open, after all I do pay a monthly fee....I have to be a realist and recognize that I am trying to run a business here and I need to keep up with my income. However, it will be, a log in, check for sales, answer customer questions, print shipping, and get offline! No online promoting, etc.
3. My other blogs and sites may 'post' but will be due to scheduled postings I've already planned ahead of time.
4. Weekly check of email so my inbox doesn't implode.

What I will NOT be allowed to do:
1. Facebook, twitter or plurk. Ouch....that's gonna hurt.
2. Look up patterns, tutorials, recipes, etc. I have a wealth of information ALREADY, it's time I use some of it.
3. Shop Online. This one is gonna really hurt too.... I'll miss you Amazon.
4. Print Coupons. Again, I have PLENTY cut already and a decent stockpile.
5. Play online games....bye bye farm on my Ipad....
6. Any other internet access. My family still can, and we do sometimes use Skype as a form of communication, so that is ok, since connecting in REAL life is  my goal here.

I suspect this will be both equally hard and rewarding. There are days where I don't get online much, as is, like the days I take my Dad grocery shopping...and those days are really nice. Running errands, then sitting in my Dad's beautiful green yard sipping sweet tea....seriously I wonder WHY we get so caught up in social networking. I wonder what it'd be like to be more like Kelly, my best friend who is a rare soul, rarely online, no facebook, twitter, blogs, nothing. She barely remembers to check her email. Granted she has three children and is trying to sell her house, so she has zero time for it as is. But she's an old soul...she even fought getting a cell phone tooth and nail. If she didn't have children, she probably still wouldn't have a cell! Perhaps she's on to something....

I remember years spent in my youth bored to TEARS. Do children even experience that now? Do they know what it's like to just SIT and BE?

I don't plan to just sit around during my month of disconnection. I'll still have my business to attend to, but I hope to really focus on my kids, family, home and what I want. Sometimes, I wonder if I really want to continue in my business. As success grows, what do we sacrifice? What would it like to not rush so much for a month? Could I really close down ALL my shops for a month? REALLY, truly disconnect? (that's a later experiment!).

There is so much I want to create, complete, finish. I tend to take on WAY too many tasks, because, well, I don't know. But I do miss the early years after my son was born, before I took up the handmade life, when I just sat, reading a magazine, while he played on the floor....what happened to that? Where did it go?

It went into starting a business...which has been an incredible experience. I have learned SO much the past 3 years that I've been running my handmade shops. I've actually found some success with it, and there is the possibility to have continued, advanced success if I play my cards right. So part of why I'm disconnecting in June is to focus on that...how can I blend a successful business, my family and my dreams into one?

Soooo, stayed tuned, the journey beings June 1st!!!

~~Amy

Chili anyone?

I haven't done a recipe in awhile, so here go, homemade chili for even the laziest of cooks.



Ingredients:

1 1/14 ground beef (or turkey)
2 cup diced onion (I buy mine precut from a local produce farm)
1 (6oz) can of tomato paste
1 (14oz) can of diced tomatoes with juice
2 1/2 tablespoons of chili powder
2 1/2 teaspoons of cumin
1 1/2 teaspoons of salt
1 1/14 cup of water or beef stock
1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder
1 small bay leaf
1 teaspoon oregano
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 can kidney beans (or pinto)

1. Sautee' meat and onions in big pot.
2. Add all ingredients EXCEPT beans.
3. Simmer and stir occasionally for 1 hour.
4. Add beans (after you drained them if you wish to drain them)
5. Simmer 15 minutes more.
6. EAT! :) Serve with cheese, tostitos or crackers, or whatever floats your boat!!

Enjoy!!