Toot your own horn!  With grace.

Recently a friend of mine has worked really hard to get in shape.  She has been training for a
marathon, working full time and is a single mother too.  I’m still trying to figure out where she’s finding time to sleep!  I saw her recently and noticed that she has lost a lot of weight and looks really great.  So I said “you really look great, how much weight have you lost?”  Her reply was “60 pounds so far, but I still weigh .  .  .  “  I couldn’t help feeling a little bit bad because she made a commitment to exercise and eat right and achieved something truly commendable and she still was unhappy with her weight.

I think that our society tends to make us insecure and shy when it comes to our own accomplishments.  For a time I thought that it was just women that felt that way, but when having lunch with a male friend recently he said that he has often felt this way too.  I’ll admit readily that I fall victim to it just as much as anyone else.  I will do something that truly is an accomplishment and someone will thank me or recognize a job
well done and I will say “oh thanks, but it really wasn’t a big deal,” or something to that effect.  Sometimes that is true, but sometimes it
IS a big deal and I’ve had to move proverbial mountains to make things happen.  I’ve decided to make a conscious effort to acknowledge that
with grace and dignity.

I’m not advocating running around and bragging or sounding arrogant, but rather just taking a minute to say “thanks for recognizing that, I really appreciate it.”  You can be sure of yourself and happy with what you’ve done, and share that with others.  This goes for work, life and family.  We need to stop feeling insecure and really look at all the great things that we do every day. They may not seem like big things at first, but when you put them all together through the course of the day, it can really be mind boggling, how much we do!

Instead of being bogged down by the fact that you have so much laundry, and you have to get dinner on the table in the midst of a really busy time at work (or whatever “IT” is for you) take a minute and congratulate yourself for having a clean, well-fed family.  When someone stops to say something nice to you, say thank you, mean it, and feel good about yourself the rest of the day! Recently an elderly lady stopped me in the library parking lot to tell me that I was doing a great job with my children and I thanked her and with a big smile and a laugh said that it was a refreshing change from the disapproving looks I get during meltdowns at the grocery store.  I needed to hear that and you know what?  It made me feel great!

By the same token, it doesn’t hurt to recognize the accomplishments of your friends and family.  When they say “oh, it was nothing,” take a
minute to say, “it really was something and you did it well.”Enjoy the little things and reward the big things with a few kind words.  Trust
me, you’ll make someone’s day (and it might be your own!). 

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The Zoo is also another favorite place.  At first I thought this was cost prohibitive, but the more I looked at it, I realized that purchasing the family membership (which covers parking and admission and a discount at the gift shop) and packing our own lunch we can make the drive to Columbus and it’s actually a fun low-budget day.  The beauty of our Zoo is that there is something to do year round so whether we’re enjoying summer fun or admiring the holiday lights we get our money’s worth out of the membership!

The park and the bike path – here in tiny Newark, Ohio we are very lucky to have a bunch of wonderful parks and a great bike path that goes on for miles.  We put on our walking shoes, pack our lunch and enjoying swinging, walking and looking at what my girls call “nature” which means we pick up every bug and rock and examine it carefully.  Most of the time there are baby ducks too so we get to watch them grow up, which is always fun too.

The garden – we have always planted a large vegetable garden in the summer and it is a family project.  The girls help plant, weed, water (if the rain doesn’t do it for free like it did this morning!) and harvest.  This year I have gotten several books out of the library about canning and we are going to try our hand at pickles and tomato sauce, and a few other things.  There’s nothing better than a dirty kid eating the green beans that she planted and then running through the sprinkler to clean off before venturing back inside!  I really think that the garden is the reason my girls eat anything (especially veggies) because they are so excited that they have grown these things themselves.  The neighbors also like it when they walk around to certain houses and share the excess tomatoes with our elderly neighbors who can’t have their own gardens anymore.

Camps and other fun stuff – I am always on the lookout for great camps and programs that my school-aged daughter can participate in.  When she was in first grade I found that asking the gifted and talented coordinator at her school about summer opportunities was a great idea.  A lot of the local camps send her information and she was able to provide me with information on several camps.  Zoe has gone to art camp with a local art company for the past two years and she will be going again this year.  The owners of the company are also instructors at Columbus College of Art and Design and for a minimal cost, she really learns a lot.  One of our local churches also sponsors a sports camp that meets every Wednesday evening.  Kids get to try a variety of sports, there is a short faith based lesson and they get a snack at the end.  Best of all camp is free and meets from late May to early August.

I also stock up on inexpensive craft supplies when I see them.  My oldest daughter is very into making friendship bracelets right now, her left arm is adorned almost from wrist to elbow.  I’ve tried telling her the point of friendship bracelets is to give them to your friends, but she’s just not ready to part with them yet.  I also save all my “scrap” paper in my office throughout the school year (it’s usually stuff that people print, but never pick up) so that there is plenty of drawing paper to encourage the young artists.

And just for fun, here are two of my favorite recipes for play clay and bubbles!  The play clay is great and stores nicely in a zip-top bag or one of the canisters that the sugar free drink mixes come in and years ago I bought a container of bubbles from the store and I have been refilling it with this recipe ever since!  If you don’t have a bubble container to reuse, an empty peanut butter jar (scrape out all excess peanut butter with a rubber spatula and wash with hot water, half a scoop of oxy clean and a good squirt of dish soap, let it soak for a while and it will wash right out) will work just fine too and a drinking straw is good for blowing lots of tiny bubbles!

Homemade bubbles:

Makes a little more than a quart

4 cups water

½ cup light corn syrup or glycerin (if you’re like me you will have the corn syrup because I make a lot of pecan pies)

1 cup dishwashing soap

Mix together gently and pour into a reused bubble container or a clean empty peanut butter jar.

Play clay:

2 1/2 cups flour

1/2 cup salt

2 packages unsweetened powdered drink mix (buy the cheap stuff for this, I get the pack of 8 or 12 different little packets so I can make a few different colors, I think it’s 89 cents)

2 cups boiling water

3 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 teaspoon cream of tartar

Mix flour, salt, drink mix, cream of tartar and oil until blended.  Add boiling water, mix with spoon until cool enough to knead. Continue kneading until color is blended.   Store in a zip top bag or plastic container (PB jar or empty sugar free drink mix canisters work well for this).

Photo Credits © Ingrid Balabanova | Dreamstime.com © Teodor Ostojic | Dreamstime.com © Elena Elisseeva | Dreamstime.com

I’m happy to say that the love of reading has never left my life, but with the demands of work and home I don’t always find the time to read like I used to.  I try to read during my lunch hour, but inevitably one of my faculty members finds my hiding spot and needs something and usually by the time I sit down to read at home (after all the other stuff is finished) I fall asleep with the book in my lap.  I was beginning to get discouraged around Christmas time because my reading time was so limited and I was very hungry for a new book that would pique my interest and make me ignore the other stuff for a while because I couldn’t wait to read it.  Our staff organization on campus sponsors a book sale every March to raise money for people in need and so I went ready to find my next favorite new book.  I tried really hard to restrain myself because I have a lot of books, but I still filled up one shopping bag full.   

I picked up a copy of “The Good Earth” by Pearl Buck.  It was a pocket reader edition from the 1960′s and since I had never read it I thought why not?  The book itself was so old that by the time I finished reading it I had to tape the covers back on, but the story!  Wow!  This is what I had been looking for.  I found myself itching to read it to find out what happened next.  The story itself is really a story of the human spirit and family life in China many years ago, but it is so beautifully written that you can see what is happening in your mind’s eye.  I found myself asking “how have I never read this book?”  It was like a balm for my soul.  Not to sound corny, but I have a full time job, two kids, a husband and a bunch of dogs, and we don’t go away much.  So any time a book can transport me to China from my own family room sofa, it’s worth taking note.

This summer I plan to take more time to read, and I will haunt the library to find more books by Pearl Buck and other authors that can take me on a “mini-vacation” and I encourage you to do the same.  I am lucky since both of my daughters both love to read too and the library is one of our favorite places.  Since I’m guessing that your travel plans might have been put on hold or canceled due to the economy at trip to the library can take you wherever you want to go!  And don’t just stick to the fiction section, there is so much great stuff in the non-fiction too.  Hundreds of glossy cookbooks, ripe for the picking, knitting pattern books, books about historical figures, the sky really is the limit!

In my mind there is almost nothing better than a nice day, a glass of iced tea and a good book.  I’d love to hear from our readers who your favorite authors are, or if you’ve read anything good lately.  Please post them in the comments so I can get ready for Summer Reading 2009! 

One lucky person who posts in the comments will be randomly selected for a $10 Starbuck’s gift card.

Congratulations #4 Danielle!

Photo Credit © Hallgerd | Dreamstime.com

It’s been busy around here, recently I discovered that my soon-to-be three year old poured non-dairy creamer into my Vera Bradley bag (a NICE Christmas gift from my sister), and it had dried and made a big mess.  Swim lessons start tomorrow, but when my oldest tried on last year’s bathing suits they were all too small.  Two of our dogs had puppies and I found a new bread recipe that I am in love with.  If you would like it I’ll share it!   

Anyway, in my last article I promised a list of my favorite beauty products that work and are reasonably priced.  Some of these items are new to me as they were recommended by friends or discovered in the oddest places and some of them have been on my bathroom shelves for years.  So without further ado and in no particular order here is my list of favorites old and new.

Vitamin E Oil – I always have a bottle of this on hand, it’s great for dry skin, but I also use it every day to remove my eye make-up before washing my face.  It helps the skin around my eyes stay moisturized and removes every trace of mascara!   

Natural Instincts hair color – I like this color, it enhances my natural color, adds shine and body and leaves no roots behind.

Tresemme Styling Gel – I have used this for years, it’s reliable in any weather and whether my hair is super long or super short it works without making me look like some weird throwback from the 80s.

Suave Extra Hold Hairspray (Non-Aerosol) – Again, I’ve used this for years, it’s in a pretty pink bottle that appeals to my girly side and it works all day without being sticky or stiff.  Plus, I really like their ad campaigns aimed at busy moms like me, they appeal to my silly side.   

Avon Glazewear Lip gloss – For a long time I didn’t wear lip gloss since it was sticky and it felt like it was sitting on my lips.  That was before I discovered this lip gloss.  It goes on nicely and doesn’t feel weird or sticky.  I like the raisin glaze shade, it’s my everyday color.  They usually have good sales too so you can get it for as low as $1.99 or sometimes 2 for $5.00.

Burt’s Bees Lip Shimmers – Sometimes you want to wear lipstick, but your lips are too dry, or you want to wear lip balm, but would like some color too.  Problem solved!  Burt’s Bee’s lip shimmers are the best of both worlds, lip balm with color!  In fact I’m wearing the cocoa color right now because my lips are dry.  Note to self: drink more water!

Wet and Wild Ultimate Minerals Foundation – this is a new discovery, mentioned by a friend.  I thought I’d give it a try, I’ve been using the Avon mineral foundation for a few years now and it works well too, but for $4.99 I thought it was worth looking in to.  Turns out it is a very nice product that offers sheer, buildable coverage and has really good staying power.

Anti Monkey Butt Powder – Funny name, great product!  This is a true story – this winter I got really dry skin, I was in my local Tractor Supply buying dog food and I saw this funny can.  I had heard about the powder at the hairdresser’s so I thought why not give it a try and it helped my skin in 24 hours.  Now we all know that sometimes fashion can cause pain, like that bra that makes your bust line look great, but is constructed like some medieval torture device and chafes. And yes, despite our best efforts, sometimes we get sweaty and hot.  Try this product, you will be pleasantly surprised.  I liked it so much that I e-mailed the company for permission to include it in this article and they were happy to say yes.

Lubriderm Advanced Therapy Lotion – I buy this in the big bottle and sometimes I can even find it at our local Big Lots store for $5.00.  I do feel like it’s a little more expensive than some of the other lotions out there, but it works really well, absorbs quickly and the moisture lasts so it’s well worth it at $6-8 for the big bottle.

Dove Cream Oil Body Wash – This really feels like a little luxury to me.  It’s rich and creamy; it smells good, and just feels indulgent.  My local grocery store has a clearance bin (which I, of course, dig through regularly) and I recently discovered 5 bottles of the cherry almond scent marked down to $2.99, so of course I bought all of them.  As a mom, the shower is a big place for “me” time so adding a little luxury into the mix never hurts.   

Colgate Total Toothpaste and my Sonicare Toothbrush are two of my absolute favorite beauty items.  Now you might say “really?”  But trust me a beautiful smile can make any outfit.  The Sonicare might be a little pricey at $75-100, but I had my first one for six years and I just got a new one for Christmas since my other one finally died.  AND there is the added bonus of less time in the dental hygienist’s chair because your teeth are so much cleaner!

One-A–Day Women’s Vitamins – I truly believe that looking good on the outside starts with taking care of what’s inside.  I try to eat healthy and take my vitamins, I like these because they actually have what they say in them in the correct quantities and nothing else (Consumerlab.com tested vitamins a few years ago and these were at the top of their list, some of the other findings were scary).  I also make sure to take extra calcium daily for strong, healthy bones.

Aveeno Skin Brightening Moisturizer – This was a pleasant find, a nice, light moisturizer with SPF that is good for all seasons for $13.99.  I don’t know about you, but I haven’t left the house without SPF moisturizer on my face since I was 12.  If you don’t use SPF moisturizer daily, you should.  I’m 36, but most people tell me that you would never know it by looking at me and they think that I am in my mid-20′s.  It really doesn’t get any better than that!  I first bought this particular moisturizer after seeing it in magazines and getting a really good coupon and it’s a regular in my routine now.

There you have it! These are a few of my favorite things (don’t worry I’m probably not going to break out in song, but I can’t promise!).  Go out and treat yourself with a sensible indulgence.  You definitely deserve it!

Photo Credit © Graça Victoria | Dreamstime.com