The Perfect Gift

I love the holidays and gift giving. Yes, as much as I like receiving gifts, I love  giving gifts even more.

Every year, I am bound and determined to give THE PERFECT gift to family and friends.

　

I try to use a blend of homemade/creative with store-bought items to deliver the best gift someone receives that year. I typically try to stay away from gift cards. I'm not really a fan of giving gift cards because, to me, it just doesn't feel like a whole lot of thought went into it.

(Don't get me wrong, I like receiving gift cards, and do still give gift cards, but I think they have become too widely used as the go-to-easy-way-out gift. I mean, if we're just going to swap gift cards, we might as well just save our money and not even bother. Ok, mini rant over!)

I usually have lots of ideas. The problem is, I also have a budget. (note: the budget isn't very big)

I spend what feels like forever agonizing over what the perfect gift will be for each person on my list.

I get an idea, and then the next day it doesn't feel quite right. I think to myself, "Is this really the best gift idea? Is there something better?"

My stress level rises.

I dream up a different idea, and then it's over my budget. (I really try to stick to my Christmas budget).

My stress level increases even more.

Rinse and Repeat. Ugh.

After a few weeks...I'm out of weeks.  Christmas is here, and I'm still scrambling to find the perfect gift.

　

But this year will be different. I am vowing to make this year different.

I am teaching myself that when you have factors like kids, work, a budget, and wanting even a little bit of sleep, you just have to make do.

So, while this years' gift recipients will still receive some great gifts, I will NOT stress about it being absolutely perfect like I've done in years past.

This year's theme will be to give "great" gifts...maybe not perfect, but still great.

And that, in and of itself, just might be perfect.

　

　

...the rest is just sand...

My husband sent me an email yesterday, that I thought was only appropriate with Thanksgiving being tomorrow.

I did a quick search to see if I could find the original author (you know, to give appropriate "props"), but I couldn't seem to find the original author with enough accuracy to post it.

Anway, I've read variations of this story before, and while it is cheesy, it still rings true and helps put things into perspective, especially with the upcoming stress that I'm sure we'll all endure over the next few weeks.

I am thankful for so many, many things this year.

Happy Thanksgiving!

　

　

The Mayonnaise Jar and Two Cups of Coffee

When things in your lives seem almost too much to handle, when 24 hours in a day are not enough, remember the mayonnaise jar and the 2 cups of coffee.

A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him. When the class began, he wordlessly picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls. He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was.

The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls. He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was.

The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with an unanimous "yes."

The professor then produced two cups of coffee from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar effectively filling the empty space between the sand. The students laughed.

"Now," said the professor as the laughter subsided, "I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life. The golf balls are the important things--your family, your children, your health, your friends and your favorite passions--and if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full.

The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house and your car.

The sand is everything else--the small stuff. "If you put the sand into the jar first," he continued, "there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls. The same goes for life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff you will never have room for the things that are important to you.

"Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Play with your children. Take time to get medical checkups. Take your spouse out to dinner. Play another 18. There will always be time to clean the house and fix the disposal. Take care of the golf balls first--the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand."

One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the coffee represented. The professor smiled. "I'm glad you asked.

It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem, there's always room for a couple of cups of coffee with a friend."

2,190 days

My husband and I celebrated our 6 year wedding anniversary on Saturday.
Some days it feel like we've been married so much longer than 6 years...other days it seem like only yesterday we were walking down the aisle.

So much has changed in the six years we've been married; and at the same time, so little has changed.

We decided to each take a vacation day on Friday from work so that we could spend the day together...kid free.  The kids went to the babysitter, just like any other work day, and it was nice there wasn't a disruption in their schedule for us to be able to spend the day together.
We didn't do anything extravagant (um, that was partly because we had a slight change of plans when we dropped a pretty penny to have a new furnace installed at the last minute on Wednesday....)
We dropped the kids off at the babysitter's, dropped the car off for an oil change, then went to Starbucks and actually went inside and sat and drank coffee together.  With no interruptions.  It was heavenly.  I even commented to my husband while we were sipping our coffees...."Is this what we did when we were first married, before kids, because I can't even remember".
The rest of the day was really just spent, together.  We visited a new restaurant we had been wanting to try for lunch, ran some errands, did some shopping. 

On Saturday my in-laws offerred to watch the kids while we went to dinner.
We tried another resaturant we hadn't been to yet, but had been wanting to visit and stopped for a drink after dinner.
We made early dinner reservations so that we'd still be able to pick the kids up and head home at somewhat early hour.  Because THAT is definitely one way in how our lives have changed over the past 6 years. 
It's not about just us anymore.  It's about our kids too.  Our family.
And our kids don't sleep in. 

Happy Anniversary to my best friend.  Here's to many, many more years together!

Do you eat the seeds?

Wow, it's been a while since I've had time to sit down and write!
Remeber when I mentioned how much I love FALL?

I think I forgot to mention, that our fall also includes:

-My daughter's birthday
-My son's birthday
-My wedding anniversary
-Halloween
-My birthday

Oh, and all of that in less than a 4 week time span!  Say WHAT!?  To say we are busy this time of year is a bit understated.

Anyway, more on all of the fun we've been having with birthdays and anniversaries and such later. 
We finally carved our pumpkin tonight, which always prompts the discussion of the pumpkin seeds.

It was tradition in my family to scoop out the seeds, clean them and roast 'em up for eating.
My husband and his family NEVER roast the pumpkin seeds! 

We were with my in-laws last night and they carved their pumpkin....so naturally, I asked them for their seeds that they were just going to *gasp* throw in the garbage!
I brought them home, cleaned them up and put them in the fridge so I could add them to our seeds tonight.

I keep my pumpkin seeds pretty basic.  I add a little bit of butter and salt (ok, maybe lots  of salt...I have a bit of an unhealthy addiction).  Put them on a baking sheet and roast at 350 degrees for 10-20 minutes, turning once.
So easy, so yummy!

Do you roast the pumpkin seeds you save from your jack-o-lantern?

Reusable Grocery Bags

Do you use reusable grocery bags?
We do, and I love it!  We have all kids of them, small, medium, large, cloth, canvas, insulated, colorful, etc.  You catch my drift.  I even have one that rolls into itself and stays clipped to my key chain for those improptu trips to Target (or the grocery or whatever).  We even have some reusable produce bags!

This isn't to say that we never use plastic bags. 

Like when we had our recent weekly trip to the grocery store and realized we had forgotten ALL of our reusable bags at home. I didn't even have an emergency stash in the car!  We had both kids in tow, so the though of heading back home to get the bags was out of the question.  It crossed my mind for about half of a second before it was quickly wiped from my thoughts.

A few plastic bags won't be that bad, right?

OH.  MY.  GOSH.

I'm writing this blog post if for no other reason than to remind myself to bring my reusable bags every time we do our weekly grocery trip.  Every. Single. Time.



(my husband found 2 more bags in the car after I snapped this picture!)

 For reference, we usually have about 4-5 of our reusable bags full of groceries each week.
The amount of plastic bags used was just ridiculous.  Pair the fact that the plastic bags can't hold as much as the resuable bags with the terrible bagging process and it's just has WASTE written all over it.

The 3lb bag of potatoes that we bought was in a plastic bag by itself.  Really?  Was that necessary?

Don't get me wrong.  We still use these plastic grocery bags as liners in our bathroom garbage cans and for misc. dirty diapers that need to be brought outside ASAP, but we might only use 2-3 per week, if that many!
So, I gathered up the extra bags to be taken back to the store next weekend to be placed in the "bag recycling center".
From now on, I'll try even harder to remember to bring those reusable bags!

Do you use reusable grocery bags?
What tricks or tips might you have for a busy mom like me to remember to bring them with her to the store?!