Mommin' It Up!

February 19, 2013

Creating a better me.

I have a stack of self-help books on my nightstand. I’ve read about half of each of them. I start one, but then I find something else about myself that I need to fix, scour the internet obsessively for the book that will change my life, and cast the first book aside. Over and over and over again.

I’ve got books about dieting, books about not dieting, books about listening to my kids, and books about making sure my kids don’t end up hating each other. I’ve got books about compulsive eating, books about how to get my kids to eat (but not too much!), books about living wholeheartedly, and books about managing money.

I’ve mastered none of these skills.

Yet I continue to search, to find the one thing that will fix whatever is broken inside me.

But I don’t know what that is. I continue to treat the symptoms, not the disease. I find something new to obsess about pretty much on a daily basis. My google search button is just about worn out. I’d say I don’t know where to start, but clearly starting isn’t the problem. It’s finishing that I am unable to do.

Maybe it’s my fear of failure. If I follow through with something – if I finally give up carbs or set a strict budget or take the right vitamins – what if it doesn’t work? What if my unnamed issues – whatever they are – are still there?

Then what?

February 14, 2013

Emily’s stupid question of the day

This might go down in history as the dumbest Mommin’ It Up post ever (and seriously, that’s saying something) but I have a VERY REAL quandary that’s plagued me for years and I need your help.

How do you drain the grease when you brown hamburger?

See? I told you it was stupid.

But I am completely serious here! Last Friday I made a quadruple batch of chili for a school event, which required browning eight pounds of hamburger. I cooked two pounds at a time, and it required both me and Andy to drain the grease each time. Our method was to attempt to hold the skillet up and rotate it just enough for the grease to come out. We aimed for the grease to flow into a glass jar.

Needless to say, we had a giant mess on our hands. And we spilled a lot of hamburger. And Andy almost caught his sleeve on fire. Four times.

There has to be a trick to this. Clue me in, people!

February 13, 2013February 21, 2013

Giveaway – Hershey’s KISSES Sweetest Memory

Tomorrow is Valentine’s Day, and there’s nothing more classic than a Hershey’s KISS to celebrate – so we’re giving some away!

Whenever I eat a Hershey’s KISS, I think of my great-grandmother. When I was really young – probably three or four – she lived in an apartment not far from us. I have only one memory of that apartment – the glass jar of Hershey’s KISSES that always sat on the kitchen counter waiting for us kids.

I bet you all have a Hershey’s KISS memory too. Leave a comment sharing your “sweetest” (see how I did that?) Hershey’s KISS memories and you’ll be entered to win four bags of them. You don’t even have to share any with your kids!