Resolve

I'm the kind of person who is always setting goals and resolving to make improvements on the work in progress known as Michal, so New Year's Resolutions are right up my alley. I really try to make them realistic, but some years I am better at that than others. Not to worry-- I'll be setting new goals soon if these don't take!:)

This year, I am making some "more or less" resolutions. Instead of saying never, always, or making specific requirements, I am resolving to do more of some things and less of others. Writing it down and publishing makes me accountable. I'm also going to post these somewhere in my bedroom (the short versions) so that I can see them frequently and keep my focus.

• Listen more-- to my children, my husband, and to the Spirit. This will also mean speaking less, and taking the time to really understand. It might even include listening to recounts of Arthur episodes or Calvin & Hobbes comics that I don't really care about, just because it is important to someone I love.
• Learn more-- from the scriptures, the words of living prophets, and out of the best books-- classics and other books that will help me be a better person. Right after I finish the Hunger Games trilogy:)
• Make more time-- to be the wife, mother, sister, daughter, and friend that I want to be. This involves rushing around less, committing to less that will take me away from these important roles. I have been struggling for some time to figure out how to be less busy and to slow down. I think I've decided (for now at least) that I just need to make the time, take the time when I need it, regardless of the to-dos pressing down on me. I was inspired yesterday by a story I read about George Albert Smith, a very busy man and prophet in the 1940s. It spoke of an experience when he was running late to catch a plane, and came across a woman and her four children who were anxious to shake the hand of a prophet. He paused and spoke with each one individually, shaking their hands. This moment had great meaning in the lives of this family, and was time well spent. I also think of the Savior, who frequently took the time for individuals in the midst of all He was striving to do during his brief ministry. I hope I can follow these examples. 
• Show more gratitude-- to the Lord in prayer, by recording His blessings and tender mercies in my journal, and by sending thank you notes (something that I am terrible about).
• Spend more wisely-- money, time, and calories. I really want to be more mindful in these areas in order to:  afford a kitchen remodel I've been dreaming of (money), in order to accomplish all of my other goals (time), and in order to be healthier (calories).

What have you resolved to improve in 2012? I love hearing other people's goals and aspirations. Go on, inspire me!

Letter to Congress

Dear Congress,

I know that you are all very busy these days debating budgets, naming health care bills after dead Senators, and whether or not sleep deprivation is considered torture, but I would like you to consider a bill that would make you madly popular with mothers everywhere.

Mothers make up a good portion of your constituents and as a whole are far more powerful than any of those big time lobbyists and special interest groups. Think about it-- essentially every voter in the country is somehow influenced by a mother: their own, the mother of their children, or some other woman that they've latched onto as a mother-figure. So if you can please the mothers, you've got it made!

Here's what I want you to do: enact a new law that moms get six more hours in the day than everybody else has. Implementation and logistics are up to you to figure out, but they need to be hours when everyone else is either frozen in time or sleeping. I'm sure that the writers of Heroes could help you out if you need some ideas. They've got time travel all figured out.

If I had six more hours each day, here are a few of the things I would do:

• I'd read every day instead of just in spurts. I have been plowing through Vanity Fair for the past four months. Now that's sad. But reading the classics keeps my mind sharp and challenged--and if it's good for me, it's good for my family, community, and country.
  
• I'd blog every day. I'd have time to compose profound and meaningful posts about life, motherhood, patriotism, and sometimes food. I'd make a difference in people's lives. I might also have time to figure out how to make some money from this hobby, which would improve the economy.
  
• I'd keep up on my pedicures. This would be appreciated by all who know me, I assure you.
• I'd read more to my kids (during their waking hours) and put off some of my housework for these extra six. Better educated kids= better America!
  
• I'd organize all my closets and cupboards and maybe actually paint them as I've been planning to do for nearly six years. I'm not sure how this would benefit my fellow men, but I would definitely like it!
  
• I'd call my friends and sisters-in-law who have all but given up on me since I had my third baby (let alone since I started homeschooling); we'd have time to talk to each other without our kids constantly interrupting or trying to severely wound each other.
• And if I'm being completely honest, I would probably spend some of this time baking cookies that I shouldn't eat, taking a nap, window shopping online for things I can't afford, looking up old friends on facebook, and other unproductive pursuits. But I wouldn't spend ALL of my time this way.

So you see, these six hours would add up to make a major difference in my life, which would impact my family, community, and country for good. Just imagine if all mothers had these extra six hours. We could probably solve every problem under the sun! So get to work on making this one happen, and we'll take care of your other headaches.

Sincerely,

A Mother with a Plan

P.S. If sleep deprivation is considered torture, then the mothers of America have had lots of practice in enduring such torture. Maybe some of your special investigators should talk to some moms before taking away all of the CIA's interrogation strategies. Yes, sleep deprivation does make you a little crazy, but cruel and unusual? Hardly.

P.P.S. On second thought, maybe 10 hours is a better idea . . .


Readers: What would you do with six more hours in the day? Click on the comment button and let your voice be heard!:)

Too Busy to Blog

Dear Readers,

I apologize that I have been neglecting you so much of late. You see, between feeding Margaret 8-10 times a day, making sure that Bronwen is always in sight, keeping my boys from getting "so bored," and attempting to nap any chance I get, I have pretty much filled all my time. Add to those things that mentally I am busy thinking about and planning the new school year, pondering changing my life when it comes to healthy habits, and plotting household projects that I want done as soon as possible, and perhaps you can understand why reading and writing blog posts is barely on my radar right now.

However, I do miss this little creative outlet and the interaction it stimulates with all of you. As I mentioned a few posts ago, I have a giveaway coming up that I am really excited about as well. So this isn't meant to be any sort of long-term hiatus. In the meantime, I thought I'd share with you a little Best of Relishing Motherhood.

• The recipe you need the most (and the one that I've gotten the most positive feedback on from my readers.)
• The post in which you get to laugh out loud at my expense
• The most-commented on post (also my 100th post, in which I beg pathetically for comments:-)
• The post in which I preach the doctrine of nurturing through food
• The post in which I sing the praises of a new fridge
  
• The post in which I bid farewell to a beloved friend
• The post in which I attempt to sell my childhood home (now sold)
  
• A post I wrote this week last year
• A post I wrote this week two years ago
• A funny post about Kimball
• A funny post about Henry
• A funny post about Ian
• A funny post about Bronwen
• And of course, if you have lots of time, you can read all about Evan and Tamara and 31 Dates in 31 Days. (hint: start at the bottom of the page, as the posts are in reverse chronological order.)
  

Have fun reading and feel free to leave me comments on any posts you read. I promise it will get me blogging again sooner.:)

Remember Me?

Sorry for my Missing In Action status lately. I've been caught up in the world of 13th century Wales and England. All of my discretionary time for the past two weeks has gone to reading Here Be Dragons. I can't remember the last time I was so captivated--I have seriously dreamed this book every night. If you enjoy historical fiction, I highly recommend this book.

What else has been going on? Hmmm. Schoolwork. Laundry. Baby showers (not for me-- there are so many people pregnant around here these days). Feeding my family-can you believe that they want food three or more times a day? Helping my mom plan her upcoming move. Primary. Gardening (although not as much as I'd like. We're supposed to finally get our new concrete poured and stamped on Monday and I can get in our new, second garden after that). Helping with an Emergency Preparedness Fair for the community. Growing a baby. Chasing an exhausting 2-year-old. No wonder I've not been reading or writing blogs lately. When did I ever have the time before this?

Now I need to go get dressed and get over to the library for the next book in the trilogy.

What's keeping you busy this spring?

Catching You Up

It's been a crazy couple of weeks, and I haven't had as much time as I'd like to post on my blog or to visit everyone else's blogs. Here is a glimpse at what I've been doing instead of blogging.

The kids and I spent a day researching plants, compost, etc, and mapped out a garden. We have about half of it planted now--tomatoes, bell peppers, yellow squash, zucchini, leeks, and various herbs. We hope to get the rest of our plants and seeds this next week and get it finished. They have really enjoyed the daily ritual of taking out the bowl of peelings to the compost pile and watering the little plants.

I've been learning (or trying to learn) how to do little girl hair. To be honest, Jared is the better hairdresser around here, but he's not usually around during the week when it's time to do hair. These piggy tails are her first--the boys said she looks just like a bug with antennae!


I also gave Bronwen her first pedicure. Ok, so really it was just her first polish, since I didn't do anything else. She was fascinated and kept wanting to grab the nail polish. And I picked such a pale pink that you can't even tell in the picture. I'm not ready to put lipstick red on her toes yet, even if it is on mine!

We saw Henry receive a Good Citizen Award in kindergarten for the middle trimester. He was very proud, and so were we. In kindergarten this year Henry has been developing his social and leadership skills, and is coming out of his shell. Here he is with his principal.



Henry also recently completed 19 laps at his school Jog-a-thon. The activity has been so popular with our family in the years that my kids have attended public school that I'm thinking about hosting our own next year at Tiger Academy.

I created this cake for Jared's birthday, which turned out to be too rich. I didn't think that was possible--I've never had anything chocolaty before that was too rich. I did four layers of chocolate-chocolate chip pound cake with two layers of whipped ganache filling and one layer of chocolate mousse filling, chocolate ganache frosting, and toffee pieces all around. So either I've finally proved my theory wrong about there being no such thing as too much chocolate, or I've turned a big corner when it comes to food. I was actually sick to my stomach for 36 hours after I at a piece of this--and I didn't even eat the whole piece. After we celebrated with our family, I took the rest of the cake and gave it away.

I've been reading (and enjoying) this book. Sadly, it has taken me a few weeks to finish, since I have had so many other things going on. A good read.

While folding laundry the other night, I caught a bit of "I Can Make You Thin" on TLC. It plays a lot like an infomercial, but I tried out a couple of the techniques and they seem to work. So if you can tolerate the feeling that you are being sold something, you might want to check it out. I'm sure he's doing the show to sell his books, but it's not actually an infomercial. I watched the episode on cravings and found it to be very effective in giving me control over chocolate. Perhaps it has something to do with why Jared's birthday cake made me sick?

Today was Patient Appreciation Day in Jared's office. We do this event twice yearly; existing patients are treated to a free adjustment and 10 minute massage, new patients get an exam and x-ray for free. I do a food spread to keep everyone happy while they are waiting their turn. This time I decided to not go overboard--I generally have ridiculous amounts of leftovers. We ordered sandwiches from Costco, had a veggie platter, lots of fresh fruit, and some homemade desserts. I was so proud of myself for not overdoing it. Then we had our best turnout ever and I had to send someone to Costco at noon for more sandwiches! Still, that is good.

I made Lemon Raspberry Bars,

Mint Brownies,
Chocolate Chip Pecan Cookies (which you must try if you haven't yet),

and a new twist on my CCP Cookies, with some added 1 c. coconut, 2 c. oatmeal (I reduced the flour by 1 1/2 cups), and 1 c. semi-sweet chips (I reduced the milk chips to 2 cups). Amazingly, although I made all that food this week, I did very little picking at it as I baked. And I was down 2.4 lbs at my Wednesday weigh-in! Yeah! Here's hoping that will be true next week, too.

I do not have a picture of the mountains of laundry that I have done in the past couple of weeks with the stomach flu running rampant through our house yet again (this has not been a good year for that,) and my decision to stop buying pull-ups for some bedwetters in the house. Enough said on that subject. If you are a mother, you feel my pain!

Life is Crazy

I finally have my new computer and have been dying to post the past couple of days. But things are taking a rather crazy turn around here and I haven't had time. There are some exciting things in our future. . . stay tuned for more info. I will leave you to speculate for a few days (leave a comment with your guesses).
In the meantime, I am busy making soups and stews for Jared's Patient Appreciation Day tomorrow. I made rolls earlier this week and froze them. Hopefully things will be a bit calmer by tomorrow evening and I might even get a post in before the Sabbath!
Thanks for not giving up on me. I love knowing that people are reading and I haven't been giving you much to work with lately! Bronwen has resorted to reading the ads in the Sunday paper. Yikes!