The Secret In the Sauce

I had an old friend message me and ask me a question awhile back that she asked me to answer. She is a fiery and funny gal, nearing 30 and unmarried and the premise of her request was this: "Since I can't make anyone marry me, what I've decided to do is to focus on what I CAN do, especially since a lot of those things take quite a bit of time to implement & become habitual. Then when the time does come to get married, I'll have learned those things & be that much further ahead of the game." I thought I would share my insight here as her request falls completely in line with my life mantra "I only have control of myself." This has been especially helpful to repeat to myself in those moments when you are supposed to count to '10' before reacting/responding - I just repeat my mantra instead of counting. :) Question:  What is one (or a few) thing(s)/talents/skills you wish you'd developed before you got married/had kids or something y...

I had the opportunity a couple of nights ago to have a chat with renowned personal trainer Pete Cerqua. I have been reading his book The 90-Second Fitness Solution and loving it! As I was speaking with him, there was one nugget of information that stood out to me the most and it wasn’t necessarily the fact he pointed out but the reason for it. You will see greater results and benefit from a 30 minute walk once a week than an hour of running every day. Why? The psychological effect and the lack of STRESS that comes with the walking. When you go for a walk, you are calm, relaxed, you are outside taking in what is around you; it’s just plain pleasant. When you hit the pavement for a run you are on a mission and it has to be ‘x’ intense and it has multiple requirements (by us) and stressors that go with it (not to mention that running is stressful on the body and Pete actually has you make a ‘withdrawl’ from your ‘life balance’ sheet for it). I also read some tips from ...

SO... Preston's first week of school was fantastic. He completed all of his work in class, did his homework and was thrilled beyond measure to not have any missing assignments. In fact, this morning he came into my room complaining about a sore throat and in worrying that he wouldn't be at school said, "Oh no! I don't want to miss any work and have missing assignments!" From that kid it was almost like the heavens opened and there was an angelic chorus singing - he has that internal drive to stay on top of his work! I am hopeful that he retains that, but it was something I hadn't heard from him before. The days are long and grueling for him which is obvious from his meltdowns last week, but I have been giving him a lithium orotate when he gets home from school and I do think that is helping. I also sat down yesterday to write out my expectations of him during the school year bearing in mind some of the issues we have been having of late (back-talking, whining,...