Archive for the 'Mommy Moments' Category
Monday, June 29th, 2009
So many mothers are looking at their children, and their children are looking back at them and singing that all too familiar song that children have been singing every summer; “Mommy, I’m bored!”  I wonder if Eve had to hear it from her sons, Cain and Abel; “Mom, I’m bored! Mom, there’s nothing to do! Mom, My brother is bugging me!” I wonder is she just shouted in frustration, “Go outside and settle it yourselves!”
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Sunday, May 17th, 2009
So we started the home schooling and there have been some wonderful moments. I am working with, Mrs. Lloyd, a lovely and patient teacher at our local public school. At first, I was hell bent and rigid to get my hours in and followed a lesson plan to the “T”! It was efficient and I found that we accomplished all the lessons in a matter of a few hours. Then, with Mrs Lloyd’s encouragement, I started to relax and enjoy the lessons and looked for creative ways to extend the lessons. There was less and less paper work to turn in to Mrs. Lloyd and more and more to talk about!
Pilar couldn’t wait to give her some home made scones and butter from our colonial history lesson. She baked and brought her a home made loaf of Irish Soda bread. Pilar was embarrassed to give it to her because she thought it turned out ugly. Mrs. Lloyd took one look at it and exclaimed, “It looks so beautiful and rustic, just like you baked in a colonial oven!” We have taken trips…everywhere! The California Science Museum (photo above), the History museum, the Monterey Bay Aquarium, a California Mission… we turn all these trips into learning opportunities. She joined a book club for kids her age, I didn’t even know they existed! We visited her older sister, Anna Maria, who gathers wool and spins her own yarn. We sat and spun with her all day. It really brought home what being a colonist went through to provide for their families. Pilar has read 4 books in one month. In 11 years of being read to and 6 years of reading on her own, Pilar has never liked to read. Once the formatted book reports were no longer required, books came alive to her and she loves reading! We have done several science experiments…3 on one day! We took pictures and discussed the process of diffusion and osmosis.
I am more relaxed in my teaching and proud of my daughters capabilities and skills. As you can see, I have had time to blog!
Sure there are lows. I am on the other end of every bad mood and temper tantrum. If I do not reach out for support and ask my husband for help, I get overwhelmed. I will write a separate blog about the meltdowns and how I didn’t even take my own advice. Stay tuned!
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Wednesday, April 8th, 2009
My schedule has been so unpredictable and I have some emotional upheaval but am feeling back on track and ready to write my sassy blogs.
Stella got her grove back and Deb feels some dancing coming on!
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Thursday, February 26th, 2009
First, to those of you who read my blog daily, thank you! I appreciate your stopping by! I have not blogged in almost a month and it is because my husband, our daughter and I made a very important and life changing decision.
Due to a difficult classroom situation, we had to withdraw our daughter from her fifth grade class. Our choices were public school, another private school, or home school.  Since we made this decision at the end of the semester, we were looking at a solution for four months, not the entire school year. Our public school system was not acceptable. Another private school would be costly as we would have to pay for registration, book fees and new uniforms and all for just 16 weeks before we had to do it all over again for the new year.
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Thursday, January 29th, 2009
Here’s one of my favorites, in fact, I am making this later today for my daughter and her babysitter! I’ll have just enough for leftovers for hubby’s lunch.
Chicken Pot Pie
Frozen deep dish pie shells
1 family sized can of chicken (or you can use leftover roasted chicken)
1 bag of frozen mixed vegetables
1 can of Cambells cream of chicken mushroom soup
salt, pepper, garlic powder
Simply mix chicken, vegetables, and soup into a bowl. Add seasonings to your taste. Scoop mixture into pie shells. Here’s a hint, place the top shell on to the mixture the same way they were placed as frozen, so pie crust is sealing the chicken mixture. Place on a cookie sheet and bake for 40 minutes. If you want a pretty presentation, during the last 15 minutes, brush egg wash over the pie for a golden crust. Serve with biscuits.
I keep all these things on hand so I can get this dinner together when I have a day that gets away from me. Fix it and forget it and like I said, leftovers make a good breakfast or lunch!
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Friday, January 23rd, 2009
Today there was a photo of Miley Cyrus on the web. She looked like a homeless adult woman. All her clothes were tattered and torn. She was wearing tights that were ripped to shreds and a shirt that barely covered her privates! She looked slutty. I am so sick of Miley Cyrus sporting her trampy look and her parents being OK with it.  I am sick of her (at 16) parading around the 22 year old boyfriend and her parents being ok with that too.  And her songs are so vengeful towards any boy who did her wrong!
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Thursday, January 22nd, 2009
Like most of you, the hours of 5-7 is my crunch time! We moms face every battle and challenge from homework, to after school activities, to dinner…and for some reason, that is the time everyone needs to call me. Throw in any other from the assorted errands, and we are pulling our hair out!
I save my sanity by keeping a list of “5 Ingredients Or Less” dinner suggestions handy and I am going to share a few with you. Feel free to give me your ideas as well!
Let’s start with an easy one…so incredibly easy!  Breakfast for dinner!!  It’s been months since my family has had time to enjoy a great breakfast on the weekend. Dinner gives us a little more time. Fry bacon, make toast and to keep it easy for me, I make scrambled eggs for everyone. I scramble them with milk and can toss in anything I may have handy, green onions, bell peppers, shredded cheese, or ham. I slice up some fruit and we are eating within a half hour.
Ingredients:
Bacon, eggs, bread, fruit.
It’s that easy!
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Tuesday, January 20th, 2009
I am so overwhelmed and words can’t express the pride I have today as I watched history in the making as President Obama took the oath to become the president of the United States of America. I am filled with hope and inspired by his words. I am ready to do as he asks to make my country a better one and restore her. I am proud to be part of that patchwork of America he spoke of in his inaugural speech. Our country is on it’s way to healing. Today, we celebrate, tomorrow, we begin our tasks. God Bless you and your family, Mr. President.
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Friday, January 16th, 2009
We love our babysitter, or like my 11 year old likes me to refer to her, our kid sitter. There are so many things you need to consider when hiring a sitter. My oldest daughter, Anna Maria, supports her self and pays college expenses by baby sitting. She is a great sitter and is in demand and has a full calender. She has even been hired to sit for a child who has yet to be born! Now, I call that “in demand”! My daughter has shared with me some horror stories about people who have never even met her, ask her to baby sit…they don’t know her, she doesn’t know the children…yet these people are willing to leave children with a total stranger! Of course, she does not even consider these charges.
Here are some guidelines I have learned to set when interviewing and hiring a baby sitter.
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Thursday, January 15th, 2009
Who says Oprah has the market on her favorite things? Oh, yeah, she’s Oprah, of course she has the market on favorite things! But I am Debi…a brilliant home manager and I have a few favorite things myself. I have been raising a family for 25 years now and I have a few things that make my management of the home simple, easy, economic and some that are just plain fun! I want to share with you a few of those. Who needs a lab coat and research to tell you what products work and what products flop. I have been through the ringer with kids and hubby….I know which lunch boxes and back packs stand up to being slammed into walls and down a few flight of stairs. I know which freezer paper packs meat for months at a time and, when I unwrap it, the meat is as fresh as the day I bought it. I know which laundry detergent is worth the splurge and which ones leave your clothes looking like you tried to clean them by beating them on a rock by the riverside. I know when it is best to be brand loyal and when you can bat your eyes at something new on the shelf. My methods are tried and true. I have been lucky enough to sit in on conversations my mom has had with her girlfriends and pick up lots of information about favorite things from long ago but still work wonderfully today! I look forward to sharing my favorite things with you and hearing about yours. Unlike Oprah’s favorite things, I can afford all of them. Sure, there will be a splurge now and then, but if you are hearing it from me, you know it is one well worth the money.
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Thursday, January 15th, 2009
There are so many ideas out there by experts who are also contributors to magazines and talk shows. The problem with these experts is that they are often testing their ideas in a lab kitchen or closet, not a real one like yours and mine. My tips are used in a real home, so you know they are tried and true.
Here’s how I save time in the kitchen. First, I plan my grocery shopping to take a few hours from the time I get my coupons together, shopping, unloading and organizing my groceries for the week. I know it sounds like an extravaganza, but trust me, it’s worth it. I am a busy woman and I never know when I will be called for an audition which takes me out of town for the better part of the day. I organize my kitchen so my husband or I can make meals with little effort. But it does take time.
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Monday, January 5th, 2009
 
Finally, the new year is here! I headlined 2 shows on New Year’s Eve and the audience members were more than ready to say good riddance to 2008! No one I know had anything good to say about last year! Most of us think we can get hit by a tow truck, dragged 3 miles and left in front of a closed-due -to-the economy soup kitchen and when you came to would utter, “At least it is better than last year!”
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Thursday, October 9th, 2008
It’s time to take care of what you have! Let’s face it, times are tough and are about to get a lot tougher. Families in most homes across the country are rethinking their budgets. Every news program, talk show and magazine and news paper articles are featuring how your family can employ budget cuts. Budget cuts, like diets, focus on what you CAN’T have! I do agree cuts have to made in our family budget, but I am looking at enjoying what I have.
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Tuesday, October 7th, 2008
I belong to a wonderful group of women who are wives and mommies. They are called the Manic Mommies and they are a network of moms like me who listen to and love the Manic Mommies Podcast by the founding manic mommies, Kristen and Erin! I encourage all my friends to listen to the podcasts and visit the website. (www.manicmommies.com)
In a day and age where friends, girlfriends, are so very important, the manic mommies offers a place where other moms can get advice, empathy, ideas or laughs! I don’t know my next door neighbors, our schedules never really permitted us to bond. I have some good friends from church and school, but again, our schedules get hectic and we get busy. Many of us grew up with stay at home moms who had good friends up an down the street! They helped each other out, watching kids, borrowing a can of tomato sauce, doing laundry for a sick mom, helping with carpool. But today’s woman doesn’t have that. We can, however, reach out out to other moms on the web. I am hoping my own blog can do that. I do enjoy the Manic Mom Web site, blogs and message boards. There are so many smart, savvy, and humorous women who share ideas, thoughts and suggestions. It’s like a neighbor who is available when you are!
You go Manic Moms!
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Tuesday, September 30th, 2008
Where the heck have I been? Has it really been 2 weeks since I blogged? I have so many ideas on which to blog because my family and I have been through so much since I last wrote an entry. Of course we are all in the middle of the nation’s financial crisis and it seems like the news changes hourly! Since “Black Wednesday” there has been so much financial chaos on Wall Street and the effects are now being felt on Main Street. We are all awaiting to see what happens on Thursday, the first day back to work since the Jewish High Holidays.
My uncle lost his best friend and partner of 33 years 2 weeks ago. My sister’s husband and one of my favorite people in the whole world, Uncle Dave, had a stroke. We looked at a public school for our daughter and had to make a choice as to where we were going to send her to school for the rest of the academic year. My unions are back to fighting and a possible strike once again looms over Hollywood. My husband saw his doctor yesterday and now has to have a surgery he has been able to avoid up until now. Throughout it all, I have been auditioning for TV shows and have had some great stand up spots in town. I have been managing my home during financially tough times.
No wonder I haven’t had a chance to blog! But I have missed it. Those of you who journal know just how therapeutic it can be. I will be blogging on all of this and more. I am having a cup of coffee while my little girl sleeps well into the weekday morning. We were all up until 4 A.M. with the noise the wind makes when it whips through our canyon. My poor husband didn’t sleep at all. He was like a guard dog over his family trying to figure out if the noise was actual damage to the house! I look forward to sorting out the thoughts in my head and sharing with you.
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Friday, September 19th, 2008
I was looking forward to blogging today. But, I will be spending the entire day sitting next to my fifth grader at school. My daughter continues to not take her school work seriously. I will sit right next to her and WATCH her all day. Hopefully one day of your mother sitting next to you will be enough. I will let you know. Stay tuned!
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Wednesday, August 20th, 2008
I recently had to defend my view on hiring household help. If you read a prior blog entry, you may know that I do my own housework, not by myself, my family helps too. In a nutshell, my thoughts are, if we dirty it, we clean it! We are the ones who eat off the plates, dirty the laundry and, last I looked, it was our hair in the shower floor! Why is it someone else’s job to come in and clean that? I have heard people say, “Don’t worry about it, the maid will clean it”. Why is it her job to pick up the glass I drank out of? I can take it to the sink and wash it!
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Wednesday, August 13th, 2008
I love watching Jon and Kate plus 8 on TLC! That mom loses her mind on every episode! In fact, I am writing this during commercials and sipping a glass of well deserved merlot! Kate tries to micromanage every move these 8 children make. She is successful too! Now, everyone who blogs or comments on Kate says the same thing; Kate has to micromanage to keep order in the house. But does she have to treat her husband like crap on every episode?
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Thursday, July 31st, 2008
My husband made 4 of these Emergency Kits last Christmas and gave them to each of our immediate families. You can personalize them to match your needs and even do one with just food and water! Having these little luxuries in an easy to carry duffel bag would mean so much to us if we had mere moments to evacuate our home.
Keep this in an easy to find place. We keep our in the closet next to the front door. Also, you may want to add to it throughout the year. It would be a good idea to open it up and inspect it once or twice a year. Give yourself a visual reference as to what’s in there so if the time comes to use it, you’ll remember more easily what you have.
Putting all this stuff together may seem like a daunting task. If you take it little by little, you’ll see that it’s not that hard and it won’t be such a hit on your bank account. Before you know it, you’ll have an emergency kit and a sense of security knowing you’re covered if an emergency hits.
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Wednesday, July 30th, 2008
It wasn’t the big one, but it certainly was a frightening one! Yesterday’s earthquake rocked Southern California! I was visiting my mom at her home in Diamond Bar, one city away from Chino Hills, when it hit. My mom, daughter and I huddled under the doorway as the ground shook and pictures came flying off the walls. Once the quake stopped, we went outside on the front lawn. Neighbors were checking on each other as car alarms blared in the distance. Within moments we heard police and fire sirens. It was very scary. We couldn’t get anywhere on the phone. Land lines and cell phones were unable to get signals and connect us to family members. My niece was home alone in Chino Hills and her family was spread out in nearby cities.
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