Blog It Forward

People often ask me why I blog. Beyond the obvious reasons of chronicling my children's lives and having an outlet for me to vent share my feelings about parenting and life, it's really about the community. A community that bans together to let you know you're not alone, a community that lifts you up when you're down and a community that supports each other in crisis (even if you've never met in real life).

The love and support in this community is simply amazing to me.

That's why I am planning on joining Amelia and other Cleveland area bloggers on Dec. 3 to support Anissa Mayhew, who last week suffered her second stroke at the young age of 35. I've never met Anissa, but have followed her story of how she's survived year's of cancer treatments with her daughter (who just last week celebrated 1 year of being cancer free).

Thanks to Amelia for spearheading this wonderful event. I hope to meet you all there!

Simple Cooking: Cranberry Nut Crunch

I enjoy discovering new recipes on blogs and trying them out on my family. OHmommy's Cooking with a Toddler series is one of my favorites and I've even added this cookbook to my Christmas list.

So after improvising a recipe from one of my children's cookbooks, I thought I'd share it with you, my dear readers. It's SO simple and SO delicious (and I'll be making it for Thanksgiving).

Ingredients:

2 cups each of dried cranberries, pretzels and walnuts

1/4 cup butter and brown sugar

1 tablespoon maple syrup

Oh, and don't forget the cinnamon (like I did). You'll need 1/4 teaspoon.

Melt the butter, brown sugar and maple syrup over medium low heat.

Then stir in the cinnamon.

Pour the melted mixture over the walnuts, pretzels and dried cranberries.

Stir until coated evenly.

Spread mixture on a baking sheet (with edges) and bake at 300 degrees for 15 minutes.

Let cool (so the syrup coating has time to harden up) and enjoy.

(Hopefully it will last longer than the few minutes it did at my house.)

Tips for Surviving Single Parenthood (as told by a married mother)

Having been thrust into the role of single parenting for the last four years (thanks to my husband's current work situation), I have become a quasi-expert on how to not lose your mind survive those endless days while your spouse is away.


1. Stay Busy.

I cannot stress the importance of this enough. Single parenting is NOT an easy job (my hats off to those who do this full time). For me, keeping my children occuppied has been KEY to my sanity, especially when my husband embarks on a three week trip to South Africa/Mexico. So when they ask you to schedule a playdate...it's a good thing. When they want to go to a movie, go to the park, go shopping, play games...it's all a good thing. A busy child is usually a happy child (at least for my children). And a happy child (aka one that is not bored, whiney, bickering, etc) makes for a happier mom.


2. Don't be afraid to let things slide a little.

While my instinct is to keep things nice, neat and orderly, it's not always easy/necessary to keep a perfect house while living as a single parent. I've learned to let go of the guilt if endless dishes pile up in the sink, if the floors get dirty, laundry piles up, etc. It doesn't make my children any happier if I'm spending all my time doing housework.


3.  Try to schedule a little "me" time

When I say schedule, I mean just that. You have to PLAN time for yourself...it won't happen on its own valition. Whether, it's escaping to the gym during your lunch hour, enjoying an hour of shopping alone while your children are at a playdate, or having dinner with friends, taking time for yourself is essential. It provides a much needed respite from single parenting responsibilities and gives a much needed energy boost.


4. Don't feel sorry for yourself.

Granted this is an easy trap to fall into (in fact, I've caught myself going down that road tonight after a particularly challenging night referreeing/arguing/trying not to blow my top dealing with my children.) But it's essential to keep things in perspective. Your husband is not gone forever and he is available to help you long-distance (unless there is a 7 or 9 hour time difference which throws a horrendous wrench in your communications.)

For me, self pity usually starts to creep in after two weeks of full-time single parenting (about where I'm at right now in my husband's business trip). The children are mising their dad, I'm missing my husband and every little thing starts to grate on everyone's nerves. The kids are at each other's throats and I just want "Calgon to take me away."

That's when I have to nip self pity in the bud...it is hard to recover from and makes my time as a single parent seem much longer, more aggrivating and much more difficult to endure. Plus, I have to remember that homecomings are all the sweeter after longer rounds of single parenting...just sayin'.

Favorite Photo Friday: Chocolate

It's not an exaggeration to say that our family LOVES chocolate. Milk. Dark. Combined with Peanut Butter. Espresso. Pretzels. And chocolate fondue with strawberries and marshmallows is AWESOME!

This weekend will be all about the chocolate as I'll be heading to the Fabulous Food Show at Cleveland's IX Center to work with my baby sister, Amanda, at her Nothing But Chocolate booth. If you're in the CLE, head on over to the Ohio Proud section ...we'll have samples (and who doesn't love free chocolate?)

And her hand-made chocolates are to die for...not that I know from experience or anything ;o)

Visiting Grandma

Since July 2008, there has been an added destination on my itinerary whenever I go home for a visit. One that was at first VERY difficult to go to, but has become more of a comfort as time has passed.

I go to visit my grandmother's gravesite.

It's hard to comprehend that it has been more than a year since she's passed. And each visit has stirred up different emotions. At first, all I had to do was just drive near the cemetary for the tears to start flowing. But eventually, those tears subsided and were replaced by a warm sense of peace that she is in a much better place.

This past weekend, as I took the kids to Friends Cemetary to visit her, I consciously remember thinking to myself that I wasn't sad and that I've come a long way in my grief for my beloved grandma.

And then we got back in the car and Mr. B innocently asked if I was sad.

I found it ironic that he was asking about something I had just thought about. "I'm not really sad, Mr. B, because Grandma is in a much better place and is no longer in pain...I miss her, but I know that I will see her again."

And as I spoke I could feel the emotions well up and my eyes became teary. I was in fact sad, no matter what I had tried to convince myself of otherwise. She's been gone for more than a year and I still miss seeing her smiling face, hearing her voice as she says Hellll-ooo and feeling her arms surround me with love.

I'm missing you grandma, today and always.

Favorite Photo Friday: Daddy's Little Girl

Well, this week I've had to dig into my photo archives for my favorite photo. (Our good camera in S. Africa with my husband, our old camera being a real pain...not reading 2 different memory cards)

I was hoping to post a few photos from Halloween that I took on my cell camera, but alas, it is giving me communications errors EVERY time I try to email them to myself...grrrrr.

But it's not been all bad, I did get to go down memory lane a little going through photos and THIS photo is one of my favorites of all time.