I'm able again today to introduce you to another friend and fellow blogger who has agreed to Be My Guest. In the 6th of my Guest Post series I'm introducing Tamara of the blog Confessions of a part time working mom.
Tamara is another international friend I met through blogging. Although you can't tell from her amazing grasp of English, she's from Switzerland. She's one of these people who can do it all, she works part time, raises her son, cooks, bakes, crafts, plans theme parties . . . How can you possibly do it all? Well, I'll let her tell you.
Today it's my honorable turn to guest blog for my dear friend Karen!
We met almost three years ago. Actually, her husband introduced us. This is how it went down:
I was groceries shopping and almost ran over her hubby with my brimful cart. He was crouching in front of the bottom of the baking aisle, scratching his head.
Oohps, I am sorry, I almost didn't see you! Are you OK?"
"Yeah, don't worry. I was just trying to remember what it was that I was supposed to take home."
"Well, what do you want to make?
"Haha, not me. I don't bake. It's for my wife.She wants to bake some bread."
"Hm, not many ingredients needed to make bread. Flour, water, salt, yeast, done!"
"Ohhh, noooo, she doesn't do yeast! It's definitely something else."
"Really? Is it something for St. Patrick's Day maybe? Irish Soda Bread? 'Cause that's a bread that doesn't require yeast!"
Looking relieved, he dumped about a dozen packs of baking soda into his cart and told me his wife blogas about what she bakes. I stood there, rooted to the spot, my mouth probably open. When I regained my composure I asked if by any chance his wife was the famous Karen @Baking In A Tornado?
That's when we were done with shopping and went to their home for some Bay Leaf Coffee and yummy baked goods . . .
Wouldn't that have been a fun way to meet? Instead I can't even remember through which common acquaintance I came to read my first post of hers, but I do know it was the Fly on the Wall about garage door openers.
So today I want to talk about life balance. Just life. No work - OK with you?
We met almost three years ago. Actually, her husband introduced us. This is how it went down:
I was groceries shopping and almost ran over her hubby with my brimful cart. He was crouching in front of the bottom of the baking aisle, scratching his head.
Oohps, I am sorry, I almost didn't see you! Are you OK?"
"Yeah, don't worry. I was just trying to remember what it was that I was supposed to take home."
"Well, what do you want to make?
"Haha, not me. I don't bake. It's for my wife.She wants to bake some bread."
"Hm, not many ingredients needed to make bread. Flour, water, salt, yeast, done!"
"Ohhh, noooo, she doesn't do yeast! It's definitely something else."
"Really? Is it something for St. Patrick's Day maybe? Irish Soda Bread? 'Cause that's a bread that doesn't require yeast!"
Looking relieved, he dumped about a dozen packs of baking soda into his cart and told me his wife blogas about what she bakes. I stood there, rooted to the spot, my mouth probably open. When I regained my composure I asked if by any chance his wife was the famous Karen @Baking In A Tornado?
That's when we were done with shopping and went to their home for some Bay Leaf Coffee and yummy baked goods . . .
Wouldn't that have been a fun way to meet? Instead I can't even remember through which common acquaintance I came to read my first post of hers, but I do know it was the Fly on the Wall about garage door openers.
So today I want to talk about life balance. Just life. No work - OK with you?
- Sleeping
- Eating
- Having coffee and wine, not at the same time, though and PLEASE no bay leaves!
- Spending time with my son
- Blogging
- Browsing at the mall
- Meeting with a friend
- Purchasing a purse
- Watching movies
- Baking
- Arranging parties for St. Patrick's Day or Halloween.
What do I spend my time doing?
- Being awake in the middle of the #$@&%*ing night.
- Doing laundry
- Shopping for groceries and cleaning supplies
- Cooking, sometimes as many as three times a day
- (Un)loading dishwasher
- Cleaning up other people's messes
- Working at the office
- Going to the dentist
- Recycling
- Telling my son to brush his teeth, to hurry up and put on his shoes
Make your to do list more enjoyable!
How?
Grocery runs don't have to be as stressful and annoying if you shop during quiet hours whern there's no war out there in the parking lot.
Bring a list! Sounds like a no-brainer, but how many times did I go to the market because I literally just needed milk, eggs and apples, however I ended up buying milk, crushed tomatoes, shredded mozzarella, ham, pizza dough, Italian herbs mix, olives and more because, oh my goodness, we haven't had pizza night in at least 10 days!!
If you can, order online and pick it up. Saves so much time you can spend doing things you like.
With a little positive attitude (and this is really the key word for it all) I even found things I like about going to the dentist:
Grocery runs don't have to be as stressful and annoying if you shop during quiet hours whern there's no war out there in the parking lot.
Bring a list! Sounds like a no-brainer, but how many times did I go to the market because I literally just needed milk, eggs and apples, however I ended up buying milk, crushed tomatoes, shredded mozzarella, ham, pizza dough, Italian herbs mix, olives and more because, oh my goodness, we haven't had pizza night in at least 10 days!!
If you can, order online and pick it up. Saves so much time you can spend doing things you like.
With a little positive attitude (and this is really the key word for it all) I even found things I like about going to the dentist:
- They play a radio station with music mostly from the 80s
- My hygienist is a really nice girl, unlike the know-all bitch who was treating me before
- All I have to do is lie back, open wide and relax (haha, who can relax at the dentist?)
- Once it's over, I don't have to worry about it for another year
Keeping that in mind, stuffing your laundry in your machine and pushing a button isn't really hard, and afterwards you may have coffee and do something from your wish list! Time permitting, take the items out of the dryer while they're still warm and not wrinkled. It's kind of nice to fold and put away. What an achievement, you're done! Coffee?
The day job. Hmmm. If you are not passionate about what you earn your money doing, that's a bit of a toughie. Still there are plenty of things that may be quite nice about that job, I'm sure. coworkers, the coffee maker, a nice pen, the fact that you are indoors where it's warm and dry (or would you rather collect other people's trash while it's raining cats and dogs? I didn't think so), plus you can squeeze in some Facebook time here and there.
If you feel the scale pan that contains the chores, worries and annoying things is weighing you down, please take a step back and think about how you can remove one item! Just one! Can a family member do it? Will the world end if nobody did it at all? How much happier will you be once you're released from it? What will you do with the time you've just won?
Visualize it!
Are you smiling?
Tell me about your simple change you're going to make!
The day job. Hmmm. If you are not passionate about what you earn your money doing, that's a bit of a toughie. Still there are plenty of things that may be quite nice about that job, I'm sure. coworkers, the coffee maker, a nice pen, the fact that you are indoors where it's warm and dry (or would you rather collect other people's trash while it's raining cats and dogs? I didn't think so), plus you can squeeze in some Facebook time here and there.
If you feel the scale pan that contains the chores, worries and annoying things is weighing you down, please take a step back and think about how you can remove one item! Just one! Can a family member do it? Will the world end if nobody did it at all? How much happier will you be once you're released from it? What will you do with the time you've just won?
Visualize it!
Are you smiling?
Tell me about your simple change you're going to make!
About the author:
Tamara has been blogging as part-time working mom since summer 2012. When she isn't working, parenting or writing, she likes to bake and craft, and she has a bit of a reputation for taking on one too many projects.
You can find her posts here:
Confessions of a part time working mom
Follow her on social media here:
Facebook
Google +
Tamara has been blogging as part-time working mom since summer 2012. When she isn't working, parenting or writing, she likes to bake and craft, and she has a bit of a reputation for taking on one too many projects.
You can find her posts here:
Confessions of a part time working mom
Follow her on social media here:
Google +
You wouldn't believe what a little bit of positive attitude can do to a dull Tuesday at the office! A friend joined us for lunch, and he brought a bottle of Bachelor wine.
ReplyDeleteJust wanted to let you know that your guest blogger's tips are really working! You choose them really wisely!
PS: Tamara says thanks for having her. She's not quite herself currently.
Kidding.
Tamara is very welcome. I love having her join this series.
DeleteLoved reading this piece...:)
ReplyDeleteI know we should not push ourselves to do the chores...Just love what you do...and be more creative and have loads of fun. I may sound ridiculous, but I love doing all the chores, along with taking care of my 5+ and 18 months old kids..and then guest writing, and blogging etc..etc...but as long as I am getting my "me time" and good amount of sleep...I can take on a whole lot more!!
Nice post Tamara and Karen.
xoxo
Epsita | www.thepositivewindow.com
Thank you, Epsita, it's no surprise that your blog is called the positive window! :-)
DeleteThank you, Tamara, for the laugh and for the wonderful advice!
ReplyDeleteI was more than happy to do it! As you can see, I can use my own advice as well!
DeleteGreat video! I love to have all my major appliances working for me, the dishwasher, the washer, the dryer and something in the oven. Makes me feel like the General of my home. Now putting away the clean dishes the laundry and preparing what is in the oven, I am happy to leave to the troops! Where are my troops?
ReplyDeleteYes, where are the troops, Haralee? They never show up at my place either?!
DeleteVery grateful for appliances, indeed. One dying on me causes annoyance and usually a blog post.
Reading this was the most I'm going to adult today, so... mission accomplished! ;)
ReplyDeleteWell said, Tamara. It's always a pleasure reading what you have to say.
What else did you do yesterday, Robin? Built a pillow fort? Worked on some coloring pages? Had ice cream?
DeleteI hope so for you, and I thank you for reading my stuff and leaving this nice comment!
I am glad I came over today wasn't going to read any blogs today as I am not feeling in the mood to blog but decided to delete some emails and then decided to read only a few blogs and this one was one of the chosen blogs to read.
ReplyDeleteJo-Anne, I am honored to be among the chosen ones!
DeleteDeleting e-mails qualifies as cleaning up, so you did really well and deserved your reading time! I hope a cup of coffee was involved as well?
Come on over any time!
I've always been a list maker and try very hard to not waste time but do as many things at once as humanly possible. LOL
ReplyDeleteNow...Wade has been teaching me to "chill" and focus on life, things that are really important. Not a spotless house, now it's still very clean, but spending time with him and relaxing. It's been awesome.
Spatulas On Parade
I don't consider myself being a list maker - I don't like to commit to chores, you know! (they're so ungrateful!)
DeleteHowever for groceries it helps.
If I have the choice I'll take a fun time over cleaning the house every time!
I do know about "I can only relax when everything is done", though. Actually I blogged about it a while ago.
How many days till Wade is back in town?