Martini Momma

Here's to LOVE!

Ralph Waldo Emerson said, "The only gift is a portion of thyself."

21 years ago today, I agreed without any cajoling to date with my now husband.  It is amazing to me to think about the kid that I was then.  Truthfully if you would have asked me to predict where we'd be 21 years later, I could not have.  I didn't have the knowledge or the confidence to know that we would be loving our life as a little family fo 4 (plus one furry dog).  Answering only to ourselves.  Striving to be our best.  To be better.  Loving whole heartedly.  Hugging, kissing and laughing our days away. 

My husband is a brilliant soul.  He has a huge heart and a soft side that is evident only if mortgage rates are NOT rising or dropping.  I am only joshing.  I am one of the lucky ones.  I married a man who is ever embracing change.  Brent is my rock.  He is analytical, smart and compassionate.  He is weak for children selling wares at our door or for children period.  He is a father that I can barely speak about.  Yet, he is ruthless when it comes to inequality.  He is someone with whom I have so much respect and admiration.

Each day that passes, he laughs to himself about the Martini Momma blah, blah, blahs and yet he gets up and drinks a green smoothie and eats bread that is filled with items he would never repeat.  He ADORES my Ya-Ya's.  He encourages my dreams and he embraces a life that allows me to be the person I am growing into.

Today is not our anniversary of marriage but it is a day that began a journey of LOVE.  Today I took a fork in the road of life.  Today is a day that also happens to be the anniversary of Grandpa Lorne's death and the birth of my nephew Rowan.  In NOVEMBER my dad left us and my little GRacie girl came to us.  It is the 11th month of the year and as the earth begins to cool, this momma's heart is just warming up.

 

Happy Humping....

Today is hump day and I just can not get sex off the brain:) Not literally. It seems to be a hot topic these days and not always in the steamy hot kind of way! 

I heard the retreat sparked a late night sex chat and that got me thinking...but just when I put it to rest I read this book and it is all about busy life, young kids, love, family, and a terrible infidelity.  It got me back thinking :)  What is going on out there?  Here are a few crazy stats I found...who knew?

Couples living together report having sex 146 times per year.

Married couples make love 98 times per year.

Single folks are having sex the least at 49 times a year.

Four percent of the respondents to the survey claim to have sex daily.

57% say they have sex at least once per week.

People around the world would rather go out with their friends than have sex. More than a fifth (22%) choose their peers rather than having sex with a partner (19%), while a further 10% prefer to either play sport or go shopping.

That is it better run -  I have the morning to myself and I am working on a very cool coaching package coming soon:)

PS.  I tried to insert a cool naked photo but when I googled naked pictures all I got was porn!

Early Morning Artistry

Yesterday morning, all kids loaded into car for daycare and we're off, Ty says to me, "you know what's funny, mom, you didn't even yell today when we were getting ready to go."  OOoooohhhh, bad mom.  I don't even have to think deep to know that this should be my goal for the week.  You might have picked  up from Miss Parnell's post this morning that I'm not a real "zen" mom, I leave the vision boards to my sisters here.  (By the way, my coffee with Brent was great, read her post, you'll get it)   I do, however, always look for ways to improve my life and my kids constantly and yesterday provided me with just the aha moment I needed to see what needed some work.

So, I woke to a child screaming, Maggie's up.  I dug deep, I breathed and I finally coaxed her into a morning snuggle, no frustration from either party.  We did great all morning.  I did not raise my voice, I did not use any of my usual, "hurry up, we're late, let's go, come on's".  I actually felt really good.  I felt in control and I could tell that the kids were having a good time this morning.  It's a really great way to head to work, everyone happy and knowing that we had a few more moments of quality time.  Quiet time. 

It's quiet.  This must be the "zen" the book is talking about that mom's can come to appreciate.  No, it's too damn quiet.  Something is brewing.

Not "zen" but rather Maggie and her wee sis up to some early morning artistry on a white wall canvas.  It's beautiful, isn't it?

So much for my "breathe deep, no yelling" policy.  Only 9 hours till I will get another shot at success.

Be YOUR Best Bootcamp

"As a single footstep will not make a path on the earth, so a single thought will not make a pathway in the mind. To make a deep physical path, we walk again and again. To make a deep mental path, we must think over and over the kind of thoughts we wish to dominate our lives." ~Henry David Thoreau

Sit down, buckle up and get ready to GET REAL.  This is your TUESDAY, kick your own ass post.  As you have read, The Coach has been sharing snippets of her VISION BOARD and has been gracious enough to even let us in on her private thoughts/hopes/wishes around what each image means to her.  Today, I want to challenge you to reach deep and make one goal for this week that challenges YOU in terms of BEING YOUR BEST.

In my post yesterday I asked you what you were accountable for?  I did get some great comments and emails.  It is natural that many of us are focusing on household tasks, work projects, and of course family projects.  But truth be told, I am wondering what is making you tick.  It is NOVEMBER and this month's book choice thanks to this cool chick is Momma Zen.  So mommas, let's get Zen.  Whoa Mollie, come back here.

Let me translate...  A comment a while back from Jude was about how fortunate this generation is because as women we talk, we share and we commiserate.  I agree w-h-o-l-e heartedly.  The beauty is that Martini Mommas have aligned with so many cool chicks that read this blog and share their own stories on where they are going.  There are artists, entrepreneurs, SAHMs, teachers, nurses, personal trainers, accountants, social workers, women everywhere who are on a path of some kind to GREATNESS!  Is it coincidence that this network of POWERHOUSE WOMEN is growing?  NO WAY!  Life is a journey and this is part of the evolution. 

I know Brent and Mollie are now having coffee together at Starbucks.

But seriously, with all of the power and spirituality that is flowing through this blog, I am asking you to be accountable this week to yourself.   What are you going to do FOR YOU?  This doesn't have to be a new outfit from Lulu (although it could be), it doesn't have to be a HUGE undertaking.  Let's break off little pieces and celebrate together.

So, for me, I am going to work hard at recognizing when situations are NOT perfect and just be.  The idiots version is that I am going to focus on NOT judging a situation OR feeling guilt about my actions.

Here's a quick example, my disclosure is that I am pretty sure my MIL does NOT read this blog...Sunday night my in-laws came for dinner.  Throughout the evening she (whom I ADORE) made mention of several things that we (Team Parnell) do differently than she does.  With each instance I had an internal battle on whether or not I need to defend Team Parnell.  I did not and I do not need to defend.  We are a little battle troop on our own journey.

SO, my goal this week is to just BE and ACCEPT whatever situation I am in without judgment.  I will simply tell myself, how interesting that she does blank her way.  End of story.

Btw - it is ok to consume copious amounts of wine during the process, whatever your process is, as long as you are HONORING YOURSELF!

OK, what are you going to do for YOU this week?

Faithful Heart

Today marks 4 years since the day my mom passed away.  I miss her as much today as I did that day, however, like all breaks and hurts, the acute pain that overtakes us at the moment of impact dulls and and fades with time.  I attended church yesterday and like every week, it provided me with an hour of uninterrupted time to think about what the message is.  I often find my mother's prescence so intense around me in that place.  No, I am not feeling ghosts or anything paranormal but I do feel such a connection to her there.  We attended with my parents before we even knew she was sick.  My mom proudly carried her first grandchild around the church for all to see, I can still close my eyes and remember that.  Tyson was dedicated with my mom watching proudly in the pews.  I left her in charge of pictures and her shots confirmed that I did not get any of my photographic attributes from her, heads cut off were her specialty.  Our former pastor visited us in the hospital at my mom's bedside a dozen times and the comfort in his words for me and for my mom was a blessing to say the least.  My mom's funeral was held in the sanctuary with countless people, so many that the gym was opened for a simulcast of the ceremony.  They came to hear memories, to share memories, to say their farewells and to offer support.  I revisit that night EVERY time I sit in the pew, sometimes briefly in a fleeting memory and sometimes lingering long enough to bring a tear to my eye.  I have come to expect that memory of her at that time and I look forward to it.  When else in our busy world would I find a moment to just sit and think and hold on to her.  I was never one to vocalize my faith but as I get older and realize more and more who I am, I can see that it is just one of many facets that make up my being.  For some faith has nothing to do with religion but for me, the two are intertwined deeply.  I will never preach my point of view from a religious standpoint because l believe fiercely in everyone's right to believe what they believe and I respect the very, very personal place from which faith grows.  For me and my experience with mom, I searched for something, I needed to know that this woman that I loved hard and long would someday be a part of my world again.  For me in that moment it meant turning to our church.  I met friends there that also had lost moms  and we sat through services in the nursing room feeding our babes and often skipping the message to cry together and find our Sunday solace.  I sat yesterday and like every other week, I clung to her memory a little longer as I played out her final days one more time in my mind.  I remembered the funny things about her and the love she gave so fully to me and I smiled to myself certain she could feel it.  It was a good place to be.

If you're at work, put on your headphones...

 

Here's the skinny on SUPERFOODS, including Accaii and Monavie!
 

A Spooktackular Weekend!

Happy November - Wow, can you believe it's November.  Our weekend was great other than one neighbor who scared the living daylights out of poor little Gracie.  He was dressed as a skeleton and sat on the steps completely still.  Apparently he only came to life to scare 2 year olds!  Nice.  Here's a peak at our goblins...

 

 

Too much candy, too little sleep and too many activities.  All fun but I am thrilled it is a new week and a clean slate.  Aside from doing on camera interviews, this momma is going to get back to business.  Here are 3 things I am focusing on this week:

1.  Rolling with the punches.  Yep, I am going to think about being flexible and going where the moment takes me.

2.  Turnips.  Yes, I said turnips.  Team Parnell is trying to add in a new veggie whenever possible.

3.  Write, write, write.  This week rounds the deadline for my foodie article.  I am so on it.

What are you focusing on???  Come on, be accountable and leave it here in the comments section!
 
 
 
 
 
 

Halloween Howl

You may have seen the mommas make their TV debut on Saturday night on Global Winnipeg's evening news.  Our phone rang off the hook today wondering how they, too, can get a news crew to cover their children's party.  Let me walk you through the craziness of the day. 

1.  2 hours before I am set to host 16 5 year olds for Ty's 5th birthday party, I get a call from martini Momma sister, Kath, who says in her best "please do this for me" voice, "listen, I know one of the news anchors for Global and they are looking to interview some kids and some moms about their feelings about H1N1 and Halloween, could they come and shoot?"  After a small amount of minor arm twisting, "ah, what the hell, it's already going to be a gong show, why not, but you must stay and be the one interviewed, I will be tied up with many little monkeys..and ghosts and goblins and princesses."  Deal.

2.  Both martini momma sisters arrive, Brandi and Kath along with their adorable very scary boys.  Party is on.  I am in a witch suit, hat, really and beads and Halloween T-shirt, they look news worthy and presentable.  Yes, they will do the interviewing and they can only then be dismissed to go grab a coffee while I entertain these monsters.

3.  Parents come bearing ghouls and goblins and party is off to the races.  It is a great time.  All activities aare going as planned, except WAY faster than planned and what I thought would take 1 hour is done in a half hour.  What now?  Yes, the news crew.  Not a bad idea to invite news crew to parties.  They interview half a dozen kids, they watch them limbo, visit Frankenstein's laboratory, making crafts, playing "pin the eye on the monster", and eyeball spoon races.  Interviews are complete upstairs, where are those mommas and what are they doing in my kitchen alone and unsupervised?  I am nervous, I don't trust them, last time the blog exposed some of my organized clutter. 

4.  Party is to reconvene upstairs in dining room where we will eat, drink and be merry.

 
This is the only picture taken by the supposed photographer of the group.  Hands are too full, another good reason to invite said news crew to film for posterity. 

5.  Have found the two missing mommas.  They have exposed all untidiness in every cupboard while in search of Brewt.  They have their little chuckles at my choice of childproof cupboards and I know they are wondering why they are ALL so messy.  Well, hear this, you two.  I heard Kath say at the retreat that by saying "Yes" to something, we are in turn saying "No" to something else.  So, when the cupboards asked begged to be cleaned I said, "NO" so that I wouldn't miss out on something else.  Priorities, ladies, now stay the h@#* out of my cupboards.

6.  Party was a roaring success, news story was informative from Brand and Kath and then they hit me in the basement and asked me to discuss a serious topic while donning my witch attire.  A riot, really!  Ty was so pumped to be on the news doing a real interview.

7.  Trick or Treating was the best ever.  I enjoyed it as much as the kids and woke with a suger hangover this morning.  Ty would have stayed out all night and little Maggie was as proud as I've ever seen.  We were some proud parents out there so thankful that we were still "allowed" to be out with the crew.  I was told at a few houses to wait at the end of the driveway as Ty ventured off with his kindy buddies.  Growing so fast!  I was just grateful that Ty was my date for most of the night.  We had a good time and he even walked me to my door and thanked me for such an "awesome" night.  What more can I ask for?

Happy Halloween

 

The Fallout

Well. like everyone else I debated and debated all week and then received my flu shot Tuesday and H1N1 shot Wednesday.  I probably could have gone without the flu shot but kind of got roped in at my doctor's appointment based on my being exposed daily to 450 kids.  We all had our H1N1 and no one has any side effects...except me.  I am going to blame the flu shot.  I have been lethargic, EXHAUSTED (the kind where your eyes feel heavy at all times), achy, sweating at night, you know all that crap.  It's awesome.  I have decided that a day at home today is just what the doctor ordered and my bed seems like a good place to start.  I need to reboot before my house is taken over my 16 5 year olds for Ty's Halloween party.  I need the energy as I start the peeling of 100 grapes to mimic the feel of eyeball's in Frankenstein's Laboratory.  It is going to be "spook"tacular.  The bed beckons and girls, I'm even wearing the fleece jammies.  Retreat bedmates, you know this is a big stretch for me.