May all of your eggs be sunny side up
Ah, the bliss that comes from a well-oiled and finely-tuned routine. This week was the perfect combination of work and relaxation. Every day occurred exactly as I planned it. School drop-offs and pick-ups worked like magic; Rosa showed up as planned; I saw some friends and shared some laughs; I spent quality time with the kids; I wrote tons of posts including these two for BlogHer and this one for Silicon Valley Moms Blog; and I even got to spend some time shopping in San Francisco. A truly blissful week.
And it looks like the feeling of bliss will be continuing into the weekend. I've already got the makings for a super deluxe breakfast waiting in the fridge. Mike requested corned beef hash with an egg on top and I'm going to make the corned beef from scratch with the leftover tri tip and potatoes from tonight's dinner. I know! I'm impressed, too. What weekend can go wrong after a breakfast like that?
After breakfast, I've got less than 30 minutes of painting to go in Mike's office and then we can put up the shelves, assemble the desks, and start making it the home office of his (and my) dreams. We might be able to finish the whole thing tomorrow, and I'll definitely be posting before and after pictures when it's done.
There's really nothing like having a feeling of contentment, and that's how I feel right now. Life has been especially full and rewarding lately. I like this particular stage of motherhood that I'm in. The minute-to-minute demands are less, and with Emily in preschool two mornings a week, I now have the opportunity to spend time alone with Thomas. It's nice to have regularly schedule Thomas-n-me time. And I think it's also good for him to be apart from Emily once in awhile. It gives him an opportunity to explore the world without being in the shadow of his older, wiser sister.
I've been reading one of my favorite authors lately, Alexandra Stoddard. She is a "philosopher of contemporary living." Per her website, "Alexandra Stoddard’s unique insights reveal the small but significant things that we can do to change our attitude, heart and environment for the better. Her mantra is Happiness is the first principle of life. Love & Live Happy."
Stoddard's message is hopeful, but her writing isn't sappy or mawkish. She's smart, she has good taste, she likes interior design and organization, and she is self-aware enough to know that the thoughts she has on how to live well and happy are ones that others may benefit from knowing, too. I've read only a handful of her books (she's written 25), but her words of wisdom never seem re-worked. She's somebody I would love to one day have the opportunity to meet, if only to thank her for sharing her insight with me.
One piece of insight that I just read in her book Things I Want My Daughters To Know is perfectly applicable to working on Mike's office tomorrow. She writes, "Nothing great is ever accomplished without plans and perseverance." She goes on to explain how other people can inadvertently derail our plans with their own and how we owe it to ourselves to stick to the plan that holds true to our original intent and accomplishes our own goal. What I particularly like about her writing is that she provides realistic examples of how life and situations can so easily derail our happiness. I also enjoy her assurances that many times the circumstances are not out of our control, as we so often think they are.
I highly recommend her books if you're looking for something to read that will make you feel good and give you hope.
Have a great weekend, everybody! May all of your eggs be sunny side up.
***
Technorati tags: Life, Family, week in review, Alexandra Stoddard, happiness
And it looks like the feeling of bliss will be continuing into the weekend. I've already got the makings for a super deluxe breakfast waiting in the fridge. Mike requested corned beef hash with an egg on top and I'm going to make the corned beef from scratch with the leftover tri tip and potatoes from tonight's dinner. I know! I'm impressed, too. What weekend can go wrong after a breakfast like that?
After breakfast, I've got less than 30 minutes of painting to go in Mike's office and then we can put up the shelves, assemble the desks, and start making it the home office of his (and my) dreams. We might be able to finish the whole thing tomorrow, and I'll definitely be posting before and after pictures when it's done.
There's really nothing like having a feeling of contentment, and that's how I feel right now. Life has been especially full and rewarding lately. I like this particular stage of motherhood that I'm in. The minute-to-minute demands are less, and with Emily in preschool two mornings a week, I now have the opportunity to spend time alone with Thomas. It's nice to have regularly schedule Thomas-n-me time. And I think it's also good for him to be apart from Emily once in awhile. It gives him an opportunity to explore the world without being in the shadow of his older, wiser sister.
I've been reading one of my favorite authors lately, Alexandra Stoddard. She is a "philosopher of contemporary living." Per her website, "Alexandra Stoddard’s unique insights reveal the small but significant things that we can do to change our attitude, heart and environment for the better. Her mantra is Happiness is the first principle of life. Love & Live Happy."
Stoddard's message is hopeful, but her writing isn't sappy or mawkish. She's smart, she has good taste, she likes interior design and organization, and she is self-aware enough to know that the thoughts she has on how to live well and happy are ones that others may benefit from knowing, too. I've read only a handful of her books (she's written 25), but her words of wisdom never seem re-worked. She's somebody I would love to one day have the opportunity to meet, if only to thank her for sharing her insight with me.
One piece of insight that I just read in her book Things I Want My Daughters To Know is perfectly applicable to working on Mike's office tomorrow. She writes, "Nothing great is ever accomplished without plans and perseverance." She goes on to explain how other people can inadvertently derail our plans with their own and how we owe it to ourselves to stick to the plan that holds true to our original intent and accomplishes our own goal. What I particularly like about her writing is that she provides realistic examples of how life and situations can so easily derail our happiness. I also enjoy her assurances that many times the circumstances are not out of our control, as we so often think they are.
I highly recommend her books if you're looking for something to read that will make you feel good and give you hope.
Have a great weekend, everybody! May all of your eggs be sunny side up.
***
Technorati tags: Life, Family, week in review, Alexandra Stoddard, happiness
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