A Mom's Year

Creating a comfortable life one moment at a time

Good Enough Groundhog Cupcakes

Lily, freshly bathed, amongst the groundhogs.

It’s her Special Day at school and that means she gets to bring treats. It’s also Groundhog Day. Every year I think about making this:

But I never do.

This reminds me of something I read in Carolyn See’s book Making a Literary Life. She writes about her old Texan dad and his 18-hour chili and his 18-minute chili. His 18-hour chili was a labor of love so good it brought people to tears. But life has its other requirements, as she puts it, so there were nights when he made his 18-minute chili. It tasted perfectly fine and was far better than no chili at all.

Far better than no chili at all. Words to live by. And no offense to the creator of this fun and clever groundhog cupcake, but I’m partial to the six-year-old’s version.

Matchbook Magazine

Matchbook, an online magazine launched just a few days ago by Katie Armour and Jane Lilly Warren, is stuffed to the gills with decorating, fashion, and gift ideas, travel destinations, and even recipes. They hooked me with a section for Book Worms, an interview with Roald Dahl’s granddaughter, and a very charming description of what a “match girl” is on page 4.

Can we agree on something first? Let’s only read this magazine if we promise to enjoy it purely for its escapist qualities and creative ideas. If we for even one second forget ourselves and start to compare our insides to their outsides we have to exit immediately and go back to real life. Deal? Deal. Happy reading!

Fitness: Look Better Naked Workout Video

Such a provocative title. Perhaps I’ll just refer to it as the LBN workout from now on.

I’m always on the lookout for fun new workout videos that are quick but effective. I picked this up at Target the other day because the word “intervals” jumped out at me. The DVD has four parts—a 5-minute warm-up, a 20-minute strength-training workout, a 20-minute intervals workout (they call it a metabolic workout), and a 5-minute cool-down.

Jessica Smith is a very likable instructor and easy to follow. I like the aerobics-class vibe and the serious free weight- and body-weight moves. It met my criteria for hard work in a short amount of time. Why spend hours working out if you don’t have to? Here’s a link if you’d like a preview: Look Better Naked video. The DVD is also available at Amazon.

Here are my workout goals this week. I only did yoga once last week so I’m trying for two this time around:

  • Monday: LBN strength-training workout. Yoga at night.
  • Tuesday: LBN interval workout.
  • Wednesday: Club FYM strength-training workout. Tap class at night. Starting our “Footloose” routine for the recital. Hysterical.
  • Thursday: LBN interval workout.
  • Friday: LBN strength-training workout.
  • Saturday: Maybe Body Pump at the Y if friends are going. (We don’t have a membership, but I like to visit for fun when I can.)
  • Sunday: Super Bowl Sunday! Maybe get that second yoga workout in.
  • The 100 Push-Ups Challenge is still going.

Pinocchio Felted Wool Rug

Here’s some eye candy for you. Almost literally. This colorful rug from the Danish company Hay is called Pinocchio after the round Danish candies the felted balls resemble. Don’t you think it could keep a baby entertained for hours? Or a cat? Actually, they’re not inexpensive so you might want to keep the cat away.

If you’re feeling ambitious you could make your own felted wool balls using this tutorial and then string them all together into a rug. A great winter project! I was almost able to write that with a straight face. You’d have to make, like, a million balls. But it’s still a nice idea.

  • Will and I tested this Chocolate Beer Truffle recipe over the weekend. So good. It’ll be our contribution to the Super Bowl festivities next week since Tim can’t drink beer yet. (No alcohol for 18 months after a spinal cord injury. Poor guy.) Will enjoyed the scandal of handling beer. All three tablespoons of it.
  • Have a go at this style quiz over at Stylish Home. I’m an Antiquated Espresso. What are you?
  • These organic wooden teethers are so sweet.
  • It’s Lily’s turn to bring treats for school on Wednesday. Which happens to be Groundhog Day. I wonder if we can make 19 of these groundhog cupcakes by then.
  • Day 31 of the 100 Push-Ups Challenge!

Book of the Week: Bird by Bird

I started slipping into Immobilized Mode today. Does this ever happen to you? All the things I want and have to do start spinning around in my head faster and faster until I totally freeze up and can’t do anything except stand at the kitchen counter eating Häagen-Dazs while flipping through People magazine. A sure path to success.

Fortunately, I have a little phrase that can pull me out of this.

When Tim and I were first married, he worked for a company called NATCO that supported computer systems for Northwest Airlines’ flight simulators. The best part of his job was the free flight benefits. One of our favorite places to go was Portland, Oregon. Beautiful town and home to a huge bookstore called Powells. We were spending a leisurely afternoon there browsing our way through the shelves when Tim said, “Hey. Check this out.” He was holding Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life by Anne Lamott. He read the blurb on the back, which I’ll summarize for you:

When Anne’s brother was 10 years old he had to write a report about birds. He’d had three months to finish it but hadn’t done anything and it was due the next day. He was sitting at the kitchen table practically in tears with piles of bird books and papers surrounding him “immobilized by the hugeness of the task ahead.” Maybe you know the feeling. Then their father sat down, put his arm around the boy, and said, “Bird by bird, buddy. Just take it bird by bird.”

Isn’t that the best? I can’t tell you how many times I’ve repeated “bird by bird” to myself over the years. Or all the times Tim has said it to me. Pretty much daily, in fact. I rarely say it to him because he’s far less foolish than I am about trying to do too much. I love Anne Lamott for giving us a mental talisman to ward off the spinning.

The book is full of great stuff for writers, but it also has plenty of wisdom and humor that everyone can appreciate.

  • Speaking of birds, I think the “put a bird on it!” video posted on Design Sponge is hilarious. And you know what? It’s absolutely true. Lily and I went to Target today and saw those little birds all over the place.
  • Rachel at Buttons Magee has a great post about the things she’s learned from other women through the years. What a neat thing to think about.
  • Amazing.
  • Still putting together Lily’s classroom Chinese New Year party. We’ll have to hand out red envelopes like these for good luck. Maybe with a pretend yuan inside.
Have a great weekend!