All I Really Need to Know....

An oldie but goodie...

All I really need to know I learned in Kindergarten:

Most of what I really need to know about how to live and what to do and how to be I learned in kindergarten. Wisdom was not at the top of the graduate school mountain, but there in the sandpile at Sunday school. These are the things I learned:

Share everything.
Play fair.
Don't hit people.
Put things back where you found them.
Clean up your own mess.
Don't take things that aren't yours.
Say you're sorry when you hurt somebody.
Wash you hands before you eat.
Flush.
Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you.
Live a balanced life - learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work everyday some.
Take a nap every afternoon.
When you go out into the world, watch out for traffic, hold hands and stick together.
Be aware of wonder.

Spring is just around the corner... isn't it?

Just some pictures to help us get through the next month or two.....

Mojo Riders Planning party 2010

Another Mojo Riders Planning party come and gone... And good times had by all as usual. I'm looking forward to another great year of riding with my Mojo family and making some great memories. Ride On!

Pondering life's priorities

I have recently been forced (unwillingly at first) to take a good honest look at my life and what is important to myself and my family. Please don't misconstrue that statement. I have ALWAYS wanted the best for my family but I think sometimes we want something so bad that our reasoning gets blurred and what, at first, seems like a good idea, turns out in the end, to be ...not so good.

I have struggled since I went back to work about 6 years ago to find a job that I could really be happy with. I had a great job in Kansas City working for a pharmaceutical company. I worked there for 13 years until they closed their doors and moved part of the company (my part) back east to New Jersey. After that, we moved to Boonville looking for a fresh start...a place to start a family. We grew to love Boonville even though friends and family were far away and we were here alone with 2 young children trying to meet other people and have some sort of a social life. I basically went from job to job trying to find balance between my family and work. And I must say, I was not very successful. I had a very bad experience at one company that rendered me completely paranoid about ever having a sick child. In which case, we all know is totally impossible of ever avoiding if you have kids.

So, I proceeded to try and find a job that would provide a great deal of flexibility...like real estate. But unfortunately, the market and the timing was not the best. We needed for me to go back to work. As much as I would have liked to stay at home and work on writing my book and manage our rock business...that just wasn't in the cards. At least, not for now. I tried again with a couple of other jobs thinking they would provide the flexibility I craved but they turned out to not be what was right for me or my family either.

My focus had to be on getting a good paying job with benefits for the future of our family, an 8-4 or 9-5 job that provided security for us and our needs. I have come to realize in this journey the past several years that children will endure and be fine. They are much more flexible that we are. And my kids are now saying...."Mommy, I want you to go out and get a good job." I will still be able to help out with my kids class parties and fund-raising events at school. People do it everyday. I kept saying to myself...."How am I going to have a regular job and get everything else done around the house and with kids and business and everything else that has to be done...? There's not enough hours in the day!!" Well, I realized that women and men do it everyday. They manage and they prioritize and the MAKE IT WORK. Everything will be fine.

I've done a lot of self-talk lately. And I've realized that I can make anything work that I want to and my family is top priority to me. They are the ones that matter. All the "other stuff" comes later like writing, or practicing my piano or reading or doing whatever else it is that I feel the need to accomplish. At the end of the day, I want my family to be taken care of and happy. If that is the case, then I've set out to do what I planned to do.

So, on that note....anyone have any good leads on good jobs...pass them my way...ha! This is long and windy and I've said enough. Good Night my friends!

7 already?

I can't believe my little boy, Vince, is 7 years old now. And Michael will turn 9 this summer. Where does all the time go??

Well, we had Vince's birthday party this past weekend. We decided to have an old fashion party this year instead of taking them somewhere or letting something or someone else entertain them. It was a blast!! ...tiring, but a blast! We had 12 little kids over and played a resemblance to "Pin the Tail on the Donkey". This one was actually "pin the dinosaur skull on the dinosaur body". We had a pinate (sp) and cake (homemade) & ice cream. I think the kids really had a good time. Of course, the adults were pooped! Plus, we had 2 additional little boys over for a sleep over that night. It was fun! Just might have to make this a regular tradition. Will definitely have to call for adult reinforcements again, though...;)

Words to live by...

Just a few words that have a lot of truth to them....

-- Work like you don't need money.
-- Love like nobody has ever hurt you.
-- Dance like nobody's watching.
-- Sing like nobody's listening.

And....

-- Live as if this was paradise on earth.

Christmas stuff finally put away

As Mrs. Doubtfire would say.... "Help is on the WAaayyy!!.." :)

We finally got our Christmas decorations down a couple of weeks ago. We always keep them up for the 12 days after Christmas (i.e. The 12 Days of Christmas) but this year was so busy and COLD that we didn't get everything down until way later. And this year I had some much needed help. The whole family pitched in (including Greg) and helped me get everything taken down and put up. The boys did such a great job and we were able to get everything taken down in just a few hours (instead of a couple of days). And we had fun, too.

Now, I'm ready for Spring!!