This is the time of year where I get a reality check on just how much I have going on and just how badly I manage it sometimes. My two boys have just started their football season, school starts in a week, and of course there is work, the house, the puppy, etc. In the end, I feel like I am so busy that I can’t attend to any of my responsibilities the way I should; that I’m simply running around like crazy just trying to maintain the status quo.

To me, I feel like I’m on a high-speed train and I can’t get off. While I realize that we live the life we choose, I do sometimes need to slow things down- just for a bit- to catch my breath and find a moment of sanity. If there is anyone out there feeling a little overwhelmed, here are some ideas to slowing down your train and getting some much-needed recharge time.

• Absolutely make NO plans on one weekend day. Don’t tell anyone where you are, and don’t make yourself available that day to anyone but yourself. Then, do your most favorite thing (hiking, baking, running, sleeping, etc.).

• Turn your bathroom into a “mini-getaway”. Decorate with candles, add some music, etc. Find your favorite aromatherapy scents and oils and draw yourself a bath. Take your time, listen to the music, read a book… but most importantly be in the moment.

• Go for a walk. Don’t think about what you have to do, what you didn’t do… those are all past and future thoughts. Be in the PRESENT. Only think about what is happening to you in that moment. What do you see? What do you smell? What does the sky look like? Give yourself a break from worrying about everything else and just enjoy the walk.

• Call up a friend that you haven’t seen in ages because you’re too busy and get together. Go see a movie, go play golf- whatever it is that the two of your most enjoy.

• Do something spontaneous. Get in your car and just drive (or get on the bus). Just go. Don’t have a plan, just drive and let things happen however they happen. You might be surprised what your day will turn into if you let it develop on its own.

There are endless possibilities for taking the time to slow down and just… breathe. The main point here is to make sure that you do it. If you never stop to enjoy the present, then what exactly is the point of all that we do? Enjoy the present, worry less about the future and worry NOT about the past.

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I can’t help thinking the last few months about how our country, and the world, got to this place. Here we are, the economy of the world teetering on the brink of total failure, and no one seems to be reflecting on why we’re here; only how we can get out of it. Isn’t that the first basic rule though, problem solving? Don’t you have to understand how the problem came to be before you can solve it appropriately? Yes, banks gave out loans to people they shouldn’t have, and yes, credit card companies and the like we’re allowed to do what they wanted because regulation was lacking. But is that REALLY the problem? I don’t think so. I think it’s the symptom of a bigger problem. It’s a symptom of something that the companies of the world have lost. Integrity. Morals. Compassion. I mean, let’s face it. This whole economic “disaster” is really a simple function of greed. Somewhere along the way, these companies stopped thinking like individual human beings and started thinking as a machine. Money. How can we get more of it? What can we do to increase our bottom line? Who cares about what the costs are to others, it only matters what we stand to gain.

Let’s go back a few decades… say 5. So we’re in the 1950′s. For the most part, didn’t the Capitalist System work? Why did it work? Because even though companies were in the business of making money, it wasn’t at the expense of the people who paid for their services! Nor was it at the expense of the people who worked for them! WOW! What an idea. There was this overall sense of responsibility to each other, and a responsibility to their moral selves. To America. And those CEO’s and CFO’s and small town business owners realized that screwing over their “neighbor” might be a good short term way to earn more money, but long term it would be a disaster for them.

Now we have a system which has been built on greed. Teach people they need to buy. Teach them they need NEW things all the time. Teach them to live beyond their means and that it’s totally okay. In fact, it’s more than okay. It’s a status symbol to have the newest car, biggest house, most expensive shoes. Is it to make our lives better? That’s what we’re “trained” to believe- that the shiny new car will make us happier than our current less-shiny but relatively new car. But it’s not really about us, it’s about them. They need to sell more, because whatever their percent profit margin is now, is not enough. They need to make more money, because that’s what businesses do. And that’s just what happens to customers!

What if you’re an employee? How does it make you feel to know that you work more hours than most people in other countries, have to pay for your own health care and barely make enough to keep up with inflation, when the head honchos of your company are getting billions in bonuses? It’s even worse when they do a SHITTY job and get an even bigger bonus for leaving! Why? I have to say, I was absolutely moved by the bank CEO Leonard Abess, Jr. who gave his $66 million dollars of his own profit to the company’s employees. That guy should be our role model.

So, companies are going under because they sold bad loans. They knew what they were doing. It was short-term BIG gain without regard to long-term consequences. Now many of us are unemployed, in foreclosure, bankruptcy, or in debt up to our eyeballs. What do they want us to do to help the economy? Take out more loans! Yeah! What a fantastically insane idea. Take out more money that we don’t have so we can buy shit we don’t need and can’t afford. Am I the only one who thinks this is asinine?

And our government, I realize they’re in emergency mode and worried about companies and conglomerate’s failing that our economy requires for survival, but I am absolutely certain that bailing out a company who fraudulently operated it’s business for the sole purpose of making their bigwigs and stockholders rich at the expense of everyone else, should NOT be saved. They should succumb to the Capitalist System. It’s a good system. It means that if you offer a good service at a competitive price and you operate honorably, you get to grow and prosper. If you’re a bad businessman, are greedy, lie to your customers or sell a bad product, you go out of business. That’s how the system is supposed to work. We’re trying to fix a system that was broken long before it began it’s recent descent. I have no doubt in the Capitalist System and no doubt in America. I do not believe, however, that we should be trying to repair a system that is dependent on the citizens of this country going into debt, and allows greedy, selfish companies to be bailed out so they can continue to operate the same ways. And why wouldn’t they? There was NO consequence to what they did! They made a gazillion bucks and now the government covered their ass. They’ll do it again.

I think that the only way to truly fix this, is to realize that this whole problem comes down to the human level. The humanity of not just doing what is best for you, but what is best for the people around you, the state you live in, and your country. It means saying, I’m not going to buy from a company who operates like this. I’m not going to work for a company who has such a low opinion of it’s people. It also means not letting the machine suck you in, and realizing that the idea that our economy HAS to be based on consumerism alone is a scam. There are other ways to have a successful economy. And most of them would probably equate to a healthier economy as well. One more thing: think back to the 1950′s. Do you think people shopped and bought like we do today? No way. People saved for a TV. They drove their cars until they didn’t work anymore. They didn’t need 12 things, all the same just in different colors. They only needed one.

As much as I am angry at the corporations, we also have to realize on an individual level that we are all equally to blame. We have to take responsibility for the fact that we fell for what they were selling. I did. I went shopping every weekend. I saw things everyday that I thought I absolutely couldn’t live without. Things that would make me happier, hipper, whatever. I bought them on the spot. Even if I didn’t have any money. They sold us this idea, we bought it and here we are. I don’t want that anymore. I don’t want that kind of life for myself, that future for my sons, and I certainly don’t want to support the institutions who want to keep the status quo. But maybe that’s just me.

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I love traveling. If I could make a career out of it I would. Unfortunately, I have yet to come up with a way to enjoy a career of travel while still enjoying a career of motherhood. Most of us I think tend to get away for a week here or there. Sometimes though it can be hard to get away for that long. Maybe it’s money, time at work- whatever. The fact is though, there is a good reason to get away. We all need it for our sanity. So, what about just a weekend getaway? I am big on weekend traveling. Love it. I am fortunate to live in Colorado, because just an hour or two driving west from where I live dumps me in the heart of the Rocky Mountains where I can camp, boat/water ski, hike, rock climb, snowboard, etc. This weekend I’m traveling to Salida, CO. It’s an “old west” town with a penchant for music, art and outdoor sports. It’s so nice there. My excitement this morning got me thinking, everyone should do this! It’s just a weekend, so it’s doable for nearly everyone. Here are my top ten reasons to get away for the weekend:

1. Change of Scenery. Ruts are bad. They stomp on our spirit and cause mindless droning for weeks at a time. A quick and cheap weekend trip can be awakening and refreshing. Break out of your rut!
2. Exploration. I myself can tell you that of all the cool places to visit in Colorado, I have probably not scratched the surface. So many of us think of a vacation as leaving the place we live… so naturally, we go far. As far as we think is necessary to feel as though we are free from our life. In doing so, we skip right over all kinds of great places. Do some searching on the internet about your state or region. I bet you’ll find some great places to explore. I always figure for a weekend trip, a 4 hour drive is no big deal, and if it’s something supercool, then a 6-hour drive is ok, too.
3. Budget-friendly. Yep. There’s nothing better than a vacation that is kind to your pocketbook. This weekend for instance, I will pay only for gas and food (my sister lives in Salida). Next weekend I’m taking my kids to a hot springs town where we will soak and eat ice cream and drink coffee and repeat. That trip will cost me less than $250, and that’s including the hotel. You can’t beat weekend getaways when it comes to cost.
4. No Time off Work. Taking a weekend trip saves you time off from work. In turn this can allow you save up your time for a bigger trip later.
5. Fewer Mental Health Days. Anytime I’m feeling overloaded, tired, or frustrated about my job, I take a “mental health day”. I consider it to be a valuable tool towards keeping me on-track and motivated at my job. Taking weekend trips seriously reduces the number of “mental health days” I need to function. This in turn also helps with number 4: saving time off for the BIG trip.
6. Education. Any trip away from home is a chance to learn. Whether it’s about yourself, history, geography, or something else, you learn. The more stagnant and routine our life, the less our body takes in and absorbs. I mean lets face it, if your weekend is currently a regimented two-day shopping and eating spree, what have you left to learn from it? Do something different!
7. Variety. The cool thing about quick trips is the variety of things you can do. A full length vacation requires planning so that you can do this and that, and go here and there. With a weekend trip, you pick one thing, and then each time you a take the weekend to travel you pick something else. It great. Here’s an example of the various things I could do here, all within a four-hour drive (some of them I have yet to do). Camping, stay at one of the Hot Springs, tour the Anasazi Indian ruins, go four-wheeling in the sand dunes, stay in a fancy hotel at a ski resort and ski/snowboard, rent a cabin the middle of nowhere and be a hermit, find a Ghost Town, or visit the vineyards on the west side of the state for a weekend wine tasting adventure. I’m sure there are even more things I could do.
8. Kids. OK, so maybe you don’t have any. For those of us that do, weekend trips are by far the best way to go. It’s long enough for them to learn and play and build great memories, but not so long that they get cranky and over-stimulated. A weekend trip geared towards kids can be fun even for parents. Our annual fall hot springs trip is something I look forward to all year long.
9. Purpose. Sometimes I get caught up in the “why” of life. Why am I doing this day-in and day-out? What’s the point? It’s easy to feel like your putting into life more than you’re getting out if you only really getaway once a year. Weekend trips are great reminders of what you can do in your life… they can answer the “why”.
10. Your health. I do believe whole-heartedly that weekend getaways can improve your health. Health is so much a part of your attitude. And sometimes the best fix for your attitude to run away from your life. Even if it’s only two days.

SO there you have it; as if you needed 10 reasons to take a weekend trip! Do some searching and find something that’s not to far from where you live (but still far enough away for it to feel “foreign”), pick an activity and then jump in your car on Friday afternoon. I truly value my little getaways, and I think everyone should incorporate them into their life. Happy Friday….

**Photo of Pagosa Springs, CO.

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All animals in nature do it; they prepare for the long winter by getting their home or den ready and then settle in until spring comes. We typically talk about spring cleaning- the time to cleanup our lives after the long winter. But, what if we were to prepare a little bit before the change of season? Maybe spring cleaning wouldn’t be such a chore, and winter would be a little nicer. Winter is often when we spend the most time at home and I find that getting organized beforehand often makes winter more enjoyable. Here are some things that I do to get myself ready.

• Take time to Give. This doesn’t just help create space and organization, but it helps other’s too. This is the time of year that I go through the closets and find everything that I know I’m either not going to wear this winter, or won’t want to keep around for next summer. I go through my closet, and then I go through all the kids clothes too, since they’re always outgrowing things. I also look for toys and gadgets and anything that I haven’t used in a while. Another great place to look for things is in your storage areas (i.e. your basement or storage shed). My general rule of thumb is if I haven’t taken the box out in the last year, I don’t need it. Once everything is piled up in boxes I load up my car and take them to my nearest charity. Did I mention that the timing of this gives you an added bonus? I collect receipts for the things I give and then deduct it from my taxes.
• File Away! This is a good time to get your bills and filing in order. I am what’s known as a stacker. I have stacks everywhere. I generally stack all summer, and while I know where everything is, the stacks will get out of control if I don’t do something with them. Every fall (ans spring), I sit down with my files and bill stubs and I put them all away. I get rid of the older stuff (say, more than a year or two old) and put all the new stuff in it’s place. Suddenly, my desk is clear, the bill box is empty (a particularly good feeling, even if it’s only psychological!), and I’ve got my finances nice and organized.
• Dump Your Pack Rat Tendency. When it comes to animals in nature, it makes sense to stash food everywhere so that they can make it through the winter. It doesn’t make much sense for us, though. Take a look in your cabinets. I bet there are a bunch of food items that have been in there so long there’s dust on them. Now’s the time to find the old, smooshed bags of Ramen noodles, the 2-year old pasta boxes, and rock-hard raisins and get rid of them! Canned veggies and soups are always good to keep, but even they have a “best by” date. Check and make sure they aren’t from 2003.
• Somebody’s Gotta Do It. The refrigerator is my least favorite thing to clean. I have kids, so they spill juice from time to time, or leave a yogurt half eaten in the way back of the fridge, and so I must admit, my fridge is probably grosser than most. I take everything out, throw away the obvious (i.e. long lost cheese from last spring… YUCK and those year-old condiments) and then I wipe everything down. I am usually pretty surprised at what I find in there, and truth be told, I should be doing this far more often. Once all the stuff I want to keep goes back in, I realize I don’t have nearly as much food as I thought.
• Pick Your Favorites. All of us girls have impressive collections in the bathroom of different potions and tonics and makeup that we bought once upon a time. It’s hard to get rid of them because what if someday that lotion we used once and then shoved underneath the sink comes in handy again? Here’s why we should get rid of them. It will be in our nature to continue to acquire the newest scents and the newest makeup. If we don’t get rid of the old, we can’t make room for the new! Go through your medicine cabinets and sink drawers and ask yourself if you’re really going to use that sparkly lotion you bought from Victoria’s Secret 8 years ago. Keep all your favorites, but be honest about the stuff you don’t use. This is also a good time to get rid of old medicine that has passed it’s expiration date.
• Wash, Wash, Wash. I always get ready for winter by dragging out all the blankets and washing them so they’re fresh, fuzzy and super-cuddly. I must admit, I have some sort of blanket-fetish problem which I can’t explain, so there are dozens of blankets floating around our house in the winter. But blankets aren’t the only things that need to be refreshed. Winter jackets, hats, scarfs, etc. will all be significantly nicer to wear if they’re freshly washed.
• The Big Stuff. Everyone has they’re own preferred time for doing this stuff. But, the carpets, walls and windows are the final thing that I try to tackle before winter. I do the carpets myself, and the walls I have found can be tackled easily with some of those cleaning wipes that come in a canister and a “magic eraser”. It’s amazing how much dirt is on your walls. You don’t notice in daily life, but once you start washing, thousands of little finger marks and peanut butter smears suddenly become visible. I don’t wash my outside windows in the fall, but the inside windows get pretty bad from all the summer air breezing through the screens.

This seems like a lot, but you’ll find winter to be far more enjoyable, and in many ways spring will be better too, because you won’t have quite as much to be done. What are your favorite ways to get ready for winter? Got any good tips to share?

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Yep. As is typical of the beginning of the school year, my son is sick. It happens every year within the first month of school and it seems to be entirely unavoidable. It will inevitable snowball and as soon as one boy is better the other is sick, until finally I’ll get it but have not time left to take off for myself. B-E-A-utiful! Since I’ve already been through this a few times, I now start the school year off armed and ready. Here’s some tips to get you through the Sickies.

For You:

• If your job allows you to accumulate comp time, do it… and fast! Any amount of extra hours you can accumulate now can save you some of your paid time off.
• If your job allows for you to work at home some days, start preparing for what you could take home to work on if you had to.
• Start takin’ vitamins… arm yourself with Zicam, Airborne, or whatever works for you!

For your kids:

• Vitamins and sleep. Make sure they’re as healthy as you can get them. Even if it doesn’t prevent the sickies completely, it could very well minimize the intensity of what they do pick up.
• Get a humidifier. I live in a super-dry climate, but even in humid areas, a humidifier and assist their bodies by keeping everything moist and mobile while they sleep.
• Get ‘em something sparkly. To drink, that is. Something good and fizzy will help loosen and break up all that gunk. Around here we have something called “Juice-pop” (Super technical, huh?). I mix orange juice or cranberry juice with either sprite or ginger ale. It works wonders!
• Aromatherapy. If you already have an aromatherapy burner than you’re ahead of the game. Pick up a bottle of peppermint, eucalyptus and tea tree oils. Put in 3-4 drops of the tea tree, 2 drops of eucalyptus and one drop of peppermint. It will open up their passage ways, and the tea tree has the added bonus of helping to kill bacteria that’s floating around your house.
• Buy them some cool (and yummy smelling) foam soap that will encourage them to wash their hands. I don’t dare to even discuss the multitude of places that kids put their hands… but they share all those nasty places with each other, so be a stickler for washing!
• A hot bath or sitting in the bathroom while the shower runs hot (for the steam) will loosen up a lot of the crud that they can then get out of their system.
• Last, but certainly not least, make sure you’re there to give them lots of love. Remember too, while most the time this first round of sick is usually viral, if things don’t improve right away get you little rug rat in to see the doctor.

Got any other good tips to share? I’m hoping that tomorrow I’ll be back at work and have a few days to recover before my little one gets anything!

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