Life in Words.

When Jake signed up for his first Ironman and now with this move to Johannesburg, people have said, "Wow...do you know what you're getting yourself into?" The honest answer is no...but yes. No, I don't know what is going to happen tomorrow no matter where I live. As they say, I could walk out my front door tomorrow and get hit by a bus. But yes, we are willing to go beyond what is comfortable to find out. People say, "I could never take my kids away from what is familiar." What is familiar is family, a roof over their heads, food on the table, and the consistency of how you run your family. I was really worried about telling Quinn he would go to a new school. His response? "YES!" He was pumped. And really, I'm not sure I want my 6-year-old dictating what is best for our family. Are you worried about your kids or are you worried about you? People have also said, "Isn't it dangerous there?" Yes. If you go to downtown Johannesburg,...

I had to cancel my hair appointment yesterday. I am long overdue and I was bummed about making the call. I had been at a very sad funeral and watched my husband serve as a pallbearer once again. I then drove him to the airport and went to pick up my sweet Ben who was obviously in a fair amount of discomfort (thank God for my sweet and dearest friend Holly who didn't even bat an eye when I asked her to fit my sick child into her busy schedule). While these activities are taking place, I am away from work and watching as my inbox is filling up (thank God for co-workers who understand the importance of caring for family). We make it to the doctors office where he tells me Ben has strep, hand/foot/mouth virus, and an ear infection. Quinn is tired and crabby and mad at me because I won't let him play with his friends 24 hours a day. As soon as we get back to the car, I call to cancel my appointment. The lady says, in the most disgusted, annoyed tone ever, "Ok. Well, I guess I...

I suppose part of me just wanted to get your attention but there is much truth to the title of my "note." In a matter of days, I have talked to multiple people who have talked about the stress they feel and how unhealthy it is. I have had a discussion with a relatively important co-worker who told me he was ready to cash it all in, buy a bunker in the country and ride his motorcycle as far as he could. I shared the picture on Facebook of a kind looking man who disappeared and whose family is absolutely desperate to find him. I have read over and over on Facebook - and felt myself - how quickly the relaxation and peace of the holiday break has evaporated and we are all back to this crazy hectic life we live every day. I find myself reading blog after blog about how to find peace in my life, how to appreciate myself, how to nurture the relationships I have, how to be everything to everyone while being everything to myself so that everyone around me gets everything from me. ...

I've been thinking a lot lately about how I measure myself - how we, especially as women, measure ourselves. Let's be honest, part of our genetic make-up as the feminine species insists that we constantly compare ourselves to those around us and, most likely, consider ourselves inferior at all times. Some of it is inate insecurity and some of it is inate humility. Imagine sitting down to lunch with a group of women, your super model neighbor walking in, and saying to your friends (who are undoubtedly admiring her put-together self), "What? I'm way prettier than her." Then your friends' dilemma would be who to hate more, the super model neighbor or you, right? I guess the conclusion I have come to is that comparing myself to other people is inevitable. I just have to make sure I do it in a healthy way. If you're saying to yourself, "I don't compare myself to other people," I am calling you out right now. I would put that in the same category a...

The date: January 3, 2011. That date means that it is, once again, time for New Year's resolutions. This is obviously a hot topic at this time of the year which has me thinking about a couple things so here comes a blog entry. The big question is, why when we talk about resolutions is there always a tone of implied failure? On the spectrum of resolutions the zero would fall with those who don't even bother to set a resolution because they know they will fail. I was recently talking to someone who said, "Why even bother with resolutions? January 1 is just another day." I see the point here, but in my opinion, there is an essence of perceived failure here. Why set myself up for another failure? In the 10 spot on the spectrum are those who set the goal of climbing Mount Everest and never hesitate for a minute in achieving their goal. Its that amazing quality that allows so many crazy people I know to do Ironman (all shall remain nameless). These are the people I look at ...

I'll bet that got your attention, huh? Don't worry, there is nothing crazy going on here. In fact, I am not even thinking morbid here. I was talking with my mom the other day about how when your parents die (or hers in this case), suddenly there is no "buffer" between you and the inevitable. This brought up the topic that runs through my head multiple times a day... YOU ONLY HAVE SO MANY DAYS ON THIS EARTH...YOU BETTER MAKE THE MOST OF THEM. So today I was sitting at my desk doing my job that is worlds away from helping children in Haiti, and I thought, if I die when I am 90, how many days does that give me? 20857...that's how many days I have left if I live until I'm 90. Then I started wondering if I should count the days I may spend with dementia toward the end of my life (my grandma had it). I decided that even if I don't know where or who I am I may still be making someone happy so I'm going to count them. As always, I digress... I know this s...

These are a few of my favorite things and they have absolutely nothing to do with schnitzel and warm apple strudels (or however that goes). I've decided that tonight's blog is going to be a shameless plug for my favorite products. The products that now line my pantry and frig replacing the big chocolate chip cookies (mouth watering), fat meat (mouth not watering), and justified indulgences that used to be there. I encourage you to comment on my blog post with your favorite products as well...unless you live blocks from some super great grocery store like Whole Foods or Central Market...because that's just bragging. Let me just don my Julie Andrews wig and a ruffled apron and away we go... Disclaimer: I am not a doctor or a dietitian , nor do I play one on TV. In fact, according to the spell check I apparently don't even know how to spell dietitian. I am not in any way saying that any of these products taste better than a warm chocolate cookie. I am not trying to c...