Passion - What lights your fire?!

I'm not talking about romantic passion here. I'm talking what sets your soul on fire, what fuels you to grow into the person you aspire you to be?

A few weeks ago at a networking event I met Michelle. She is a life coach who administers the Passion Test with her clients. We chatted over coffee yesterday and as we talked about her work with women, especially moms who are coming out of that newborn/baby coma (you know what I'm talking about unless you're still in it) I felt a shift within myself. I felt like a tetris board whose pieces just turned and dropped right into place. For years I've been thinking about being a writer, for months I've been calling myself a writer, and I think yesterday I finally embraced, or became, a writer. I allowed my brain to accept the fact that writing is my calling. Writing a parenting blog and writing children's prose. Those two things. I could be a wine writer, but it doesn't get me going. I could write about pet care, but I don't care about that.

Wine is also a passion for me and working with my husband is a passion for me. What is wonderful, and what Michelle validated, is that one does not have to have a singular passion that one devotes themselves to entirely. I do not have to give up my writing to pursue the dream with my husband. I do not have to feel like a 'less-than' mother because I am not with, and frankly don't want to be with, my children 100% of the time. I can do all of these simultaneously and be successful at all of them and be a happy and fulfilled person because I'm getting back in joy the energy I give to my writing, my business and my family.

Michelle said, "Kids go away and someday you are left with you."

Think about that. We'll (you and me) talk more tomorrow. Or another day very soon!

Tuesday Tidbits

Isn't it funny how when you stop chasing after something, it comes right to you? Have you ever noticed this? For months I've been blogging and joining bloggy networks and review networks and the like and not much came of it. I was hoping to eventually make some money from blogging, get free stuff for reviewing things and generally just getting something back from my investment. But then, as you may know, I started working and haven't paid much attention to the blog lately. Since I stopped pursuing reviews I've been contacted by two companies! So, I'm going to do reviews only for those who contact me and not hunt them down anymore.

Speaking of reviews, I just wanted to give you my 2 cents on a few things I've encountered lately. These are unsolicited reviews!

Tangled (the Movie) - Loved it. I took my two daughters to see this last week. That is only their second movie in a movie theater and we were the only ones in the room! That was fun and the movie was great! There were a few scenes that made me cringe, but my girls handled the few fighting scenes without any reaction. I got misty at the end of it and overall the 3 of us thoroughly enjoyed it!

Bissell All-in-One sweeper steamer - I like the fact that I can steam immediately after I sweep an area, but the problem lies in it being a sweeper and not a vacuum. I'm wishing I'd spent the $20 more on the Shark Vac & Steam, or purchased it from the TV to get the better price + the handheld steamer! But my husband won't let me buy it now that we have the Bissell.

Bottle top Wine Aerators - These really work! At least this one! It is amazing. My husband and I did several tests with this very aerator, which can be found at the bottom of the page from this link. If you love a good, full-bodied red wine, but don't typically take the time to decant it or let it breathe, this thing ages the wine by about a year just by pouring the wine through it into your glass. We poured one glass straight from the bottle without this and one with this and the difference was immense. It opens up the wine, smooths out the rough edges and makes it so much more enjoyable! I've sold at least one at every wine-tasting I've done recently just by doing two pours of the same wine, one without and then with the aerator. So, if you love your reds, invest in one of these!

Have a beautiful Tuesday and enjoy the rest of your week!

Ahhh... a moment of quiet devoted to my love of the written word

Don't you just love those glorious moments when you are left alone for a few sweet minutes? I have an hour to myself. 2 children in school, 1 napping and my now work-at-home husband off to a meeting. This is a rare moment and I treasure it.

I have always been fond of solitude. I believe that is probably the case for most avid readers and writers. We need time alone to dive deep into the pages of a book or to let our creativity start to flow so the words flow from our heads down to our fingertips. I love to get lost in those places. I've written more than I've read in recent months. When I have read it's been to my children, though with my oldest edging closer to 6, I've stepped up our library a bit. We have read the first three books in the Chronicles of Narnia and just finished one of my childhood favorites, A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett. This book could have waited a couple more years, but I'm trying to develop within her a desire to be a reader. She loves books, but she loves them when I'm reading them and doesn't have much of a drive to learn to read herself. She is learning, she's just not ambitious about it. I want her to have a passion for reading. To teach her that there is real magic in the world and it can be found in books. She's lamenting lately how there is no such place as an "enchanted forest" and that magic, mermaids and unicorns aren't real. As she moves from that magical place of childhood where everything make-believe is believable to that place in older childhood where they begin to differentiate between fantasy and reality, I want her to know how to get back! I get there through books.

I'm not sure what "big" book I'll read with her next, but I will be taking the time out of my very busy schedule to immerse myself in one soon! This month the final (I think it's the final) book in the Earth's Children series by Jean M. Auel comes out! I've been reading this series for 16 years now!! Some have been reading it for more than 30. I usually reread the entire series each time another book comes out, but sadly I don't have the time right now. I'm so excited about this one!!

It's been lovely writing to you. I thank all of you for your kind words and encouragement to keep blogging. I will. This morning has reminded me how much I love it! I am busy with the wine world these days, but my heart and soul is that of a writer.

I'm a magnet for wonderful things!

This has been an amazing week and it isn't even over yet! I have to admit, at the start I was having an internal conflict as to whether or not to continue this blog. As I am back to work (and LOVING it) I have less and less time to write. And when I get the urge it's mostly about wine or the networking events I've been attending recently. I was thinking perhaps my readers, who are used to a stay-at-home mom perspective wouldn't be as interested if I start writing about my working life. I'll eventually be starting a blog for the business, so why not just switch from one to the other.

Then the other night I went to this awesome women's networking Meetup and met a life coach! I had actually been considering doing Jack Canfield's Success Principles coaching, but fearful of the cost. This woman, Michelle, facilitates the Passion Test with her clients. She actually has a video clip of Jack Canfield talking about the Passion Test on her website. Talk about the Law of Attraction! In speaking (about passion and motherhood and losing ourselves within that role) with her I got excited about the potential to interview her for my blog. After talking to her and taking everything in, I embraced the fact that I never need to trade one passion for another! I am passionate about sharing with and inspiring other mothers the fact that motherhood is challenging, but beautiful! There's no other job that can facilitate personal growth like motherhood does! And, I'm passionate about wine. And so fortunate that I share that passion with my husband and we now get to work together in that shared passion. It's making us closer and more connected than ever before. 

So, I was feeling fantastic about my week. My life. Today I get a call from an It Works distributor. I had dropped my business card to her at a women's business expo last week to win a free body wrap. I won it!!! I am ridiculously excited! Especially as the scale this morning has dipped to its lowest since getting pregnant with the boy! I haven't even been paying much attention to my weight, but dropped my mochas again and have been very active. Oh, to be in the 120s by next week!!  I am hoping this wrap does what it claims - inches lost in 45 minutes! Imagine if for $20 you can really get that baby belly closer to its pre-parent state. I am going on Monday and will be sure to tell you all about it! And I get it for free! I love winning things. It happens so rarely. At least it used to.

Sometimes life feels like a snowball of negativity. Since my husband and I have joined together to embrace our shared passion, my life feels like a snowball of positivity. Thank you, Universe!