She's Crafty

So one of the things I love most about my life is my book club.  I have been in the same group for nearly 10 years.  I try super hard to not only attend the meeting but also read the book.  Right now we are reading Blame (so far so good).  The women in the High Flyers are smart, funny, amazing chefs and well...crafty.

We had our annual holiday celebration this past week and one of the women brought a craft for us to do.  I thought it was a great project and a cool way to recycle your old holiday cards.  So turn on some old school Beastie Boys (I like Paul's Boutique) and get Crafty.

Sorry this is really small, so I also included a link here to the Chicago Children's Museum site, where you can get the directions in larger type font.

Here's a picture of our boxes that we made last night.  It works best to chose a card with a cool design on the front.

I gotta frittata

Meal planning is one of my trade secrets.  It makes me feel more in control of dinner and definitely gives me direction at the grocery.  I was feeling pretty good yesterday when I decided to make a frittata for dinner.  I figured that I would use the leftover goat cheese, throw in an onion and add some broccoli and herbs.  In fact, I was feeling, impressed that I could just whip up a frittata for dinner.  So 80% of me was totally in control and was confident that I would have a healthy dinner on the table by 6pm.

Here comes the other 20% of me that is not totally together...MENTAL NOTE TO SELF-be sure to check how many eggs you have before you decide to make a frittata for dinner. 

Dinner tonight-pizza, let's just pray we have cheese in the house.

Operation Inspiration

Our typical weekend includes a birthday party of two, which usually includes a present, which usually includes some sort of Disney Princesses something.  How to teach your child to care about social justice and that not everyone has big fancy elaborate birthday parties with hordes of presents?

In effort to begin to share important values with my family, I went in search of age appropriate volunteer activities.  It was more difficult than I would have expected.  A few ideas included, visiting a senior citizen home, packing meals together and helping to restore nature trails.  I will update you in January when we help prepare meals together.

In my professional life, I work as a consultant with a variety of nonprofits and social enterprises.  So hopefully as inspiration to give back in 2011 here are some great organizations and ones that I think are doing really innovative work.

Kiva-Small micro-finance loans that truly change peoples' live.  By donating through Kiva, you can help entrepreneurs get the seed capital they need to start a new business and often transform the economic path for their family.  (Also, I just realized that they were chosen as one of Oprah's 2010 Favorite Things, please don't let that be a deterrent.  Even though it usually is for my book list.)

Soma Goods-As the old world status of charities go out the window and the new model of social enterprises and LC3s take old, I am excited at corporations that "Do Good".  Soma Goods is a new emerging social venture out of Atlanta (in full disclosure, started by a long lost friend-but none the less, really great).  They will work with refugee women to produce home goods made from recycled saris.

Inspiration Cafe/Cop-This was the place where I first fell in love with volunteering and helping others.  I have been involved with Inspiration Cafe since I was 16.  It started as a modest cafe that would allow the homeless a hot meal with dignity in a restaurant type setting.  They have branched out to include job training, cafes across the City and a social enterprise restaurant in Chicago's Uptown/Edgewater community, Cafe Too.

And then there is Tuesday's Child.  We all struggle with meltdowns, tantrums and if you are like me, strong willed children.  It's how we deal with these...umm, shall we say,..bumps in the road that sets up apart.  Tuesday's Child helps parents with positive discipline and to strives create a stronger relationships between parents and children.  They also help kids too, which has been really helpful for our family.

Obviously there are hundreds/thousands more.  So get inspired and go volunteer.

Downtown to Sleepytown

It is sometimes a wonder how I function at all. I am constantly in a sleep deprived state of being. I thought this stage would end once my kids started sleeping through the night (which is only a recent development for my 2 1/2 year old son). However, it hasn't really materialized. I don't have anxiety and I am not an insomniac, I am just a mom.

I can fall asleep pretty easily. So much so that I rarely make it through a movie or even a full show. However, I am not sure I ever fall into a deep, well rested slumber. This sleeping disorder started literally the day my daughter was born...well actually maybe slightly before. I remember talking with my mom while I was pregnant and her saying, "That's good Amy, those are your maternal instincts kicking in." I wish I could shut them off say for just one night so I could really wake up refreshed.

Sometimes for work I travel to NY. It is hard to leave the family, but sometimes I secretly look forward to having a night to myself. When I first started traveling, I thought, 'this will be great, I will get to sleep all through the night in a great hotel bed and wake up with a new woman.' On the contrary, I often sleep even worse than at home. I find myself, missing the little coughs in the night or my husband who snores. My brain is a funny thing.

So although I have been up since 4am (when I heard someone call out from their bed), I am just settling into my other job at 9am. This reminds me of the Senifeld episode where George takes a nap under his desk...anyone??

Life List

This year has been a good one, in fact a great one. However, it has been sprinkled with a number of people close to me or close to my inner circle getting sick. Those phone calls are hard and deep but really important. For me, they always make me feel so grateful...for literally everything in my life. They also make me take stock of everything else I want to do with my life. I know many people have what they call a "bucket list" but frankly, I think that's a bit morbid. So I am changing it to my life list. Well, maybe just my 2011 list.

Given my attention span, I am going to scale down this posting to only things on my Life List-the Chicago edition. I recently told a friend, "It's been 10 years since I moved back to Chicago and I am so happy I did. There are still so many things in the City that I have yet to experience but still want to do." She started laughing at me, however, I think she came around when she realized that there were things on my list that she too wanted to do in Chicago as well. So read away and feel free to add your own.

1. Go and see Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind. I know its been around for ever, but I have yet to see it.

2. Take an intro to sewing class at the Needle Shop and learned to make a pillow. I was inspired but never followed through myself.

3. Visit and tour Graceland Cemetary.

4. Go and see a blue show at Buddy Guys or Kingston Mines. I know, I know...I should have done this one already, but life is busy and yadda yadda. (no links as I am blocked from entertainment type sites at work)

5. Take a class at Lill Street.-A long time ago there was a girl that was a sculpture major in college. Then she started working in politics and had two kids and lost her creative spark. 2011 is the year to bring it back!!

So my list is short. It is my feeble attempt to try to feel accomplished. It's all about baby steps people.

Instant Karma's Gonna Get You

Today I took the kids downtown by myself and got off at the Grand stop. It was nearing rush hour and it was pretty difficult to maneuver a double stroller off a crowded train and into a station with no elevator.

Instead of being annoyed that I would need to carry my stroller up the long flight of stairs, I thought of my friend Karen. She is disabled and is one of the most spirited and amazing women and mother I know personally. (She once wrote Obama a letter about how she tried to attend a fundraiser at a church and it didn't have a ramp. He called her personally to apologize and now she is invited to the White House Xmas party...cool and inspiring!) I thought this is the type of stuff she deals with on a daily basis. In this day and age, when we spend millions of dollars on high tech cameras (I know I used to work for Homeland Security), why the hell can't we put in an elevator and make this world more ADA compliant.

Then as the crowds descended up the stairs and I was left alone on the platform with two kids. This man offered to carry my stroller for me up the stairs, not just up one flight of stairs, but two. I was struck by his willingness to help a complete stranger. What a mentsh. It doesn't happen very often, but when it does...I feel re-energized by the human spirit.

So, pay it forward. It's good karma.

Just a spoonful of sugar...

So it's Winter Break and I feel even more like a super mom than I usually do. I admit it, being a stay at home mom is hard. We have been up since 5am this morning and have been going nonstop. I must confess, I am having a blast. Going back to work will be a bit like taking a cold shower the morning after singing karoke until 2am at the Hidden Cove (but that's another story for another blog).

We have had playdates, gone to the library, visited museums, played dress up and really it's been awesome. I feel like perhaps I cherish this time more because I don't get to do it everyday. I am also accutely aware of how fleeting this time is, perhaps I can bottle up my kids right now and pickle them.

I am having so much fun planning the days activities and exploring with them. Just call me Mary Poppins or Maria (cue "These are a few of my favorite things").

So, as I go to bed at 8:30 this evening. I am fully exhausted in a different way than my day job and looking forward to tomorrow.