Busy Moms

      I don't know even one conscientious mom who is not busy.  Even with most of my big ol' family grown and gone, I'm still a Happy Busy Mama and now a Happy Busy Gram-mama!

     Busy goes is  necessary! Busy is a way of life! Busy is part of the job description! 

At the same, busy does not have to mean hectic. I'm on a mission to make sure moms INVEST in their physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health. It won't just happen.

     Moms! It's time to take care of yourself.  Do you think there just isn't enough time? I promise, there is.  Join me for the next 12 weeks of Mom Minutes.

Do you think it's possible to add more hours to your day?  Stay tuned!

Dinner Tiiiiiiiime!

The best dish of all is conversation!

      What meal of the day to you call dinner?  I learned this the hard way.  In my family, although we typically called our evening meal supper, the back up description for the evening meal was "dinner" with the exception of Thanksgiving Dinner [which could happen anywhere in between noon and six o'clock p.m.] OR Sunday dinner [which was between noon and two o'clock] which was a Southern staple. I know it sounds a little mixed up, but it was simply understood.

     However, and I mean a BIG however, my mother-in-law called the noon day meal "dinner." Soooo, when she asked if we would be there by dinner time and we said yes, the comedy of errors began. OK maybe we should call it the tragedy of errors.  There's nothing quite like arriving to a fully set table with obviously sweaty iced tea glasses whose ice had melted hours ago, dried out food that had been on the stove or in the oven (being kept "warm"), and I will leave you to your imagination the awkward mix of joy and disappointment that hung in the air.

      For future reference, I invite you to bank on this definition from Merriam-Webster's online dictionary. Be aware that you need to clarify which definition of "dinner" you are hosting or being invited to.

1. 1a :  the principal meal of the dayb :  a formal feast or banquet
2. 2:  table d'hôte 2
3. 3:  the food prepared for a dinner dinner>

4     :  a packaged meal usually for quick preparation dinner

Merriam Webster Online Dictionary

     Whatever you call your meals, stop the madness!   Make sure that your meals are not just an item on your to do list.  Meals are about fellowship! Meals are about conversation! Meals are about connecting. It's not about scarfing down something in record time and getting back to business. Just a little web surfing will yield a plethora of information on how our digestion can be enhanced by slowing down, sitting down, chewing slowly, enjoying our meal and, better yet, enjoying the fellowship.

       Just 15 years ago, you would find my homeschooling family eating at 21 meals a week together. About 10 years ago, add in teenage drivers, jobs, sports and that dwindled to about a dozen meals together. At this point, we are down to about one --- the proverbial Sunday dinner. We are working on improving that!

      We now have more adult children on their own than we do children at home, but for those who make it, we have 2nd Sunday Dinner for the clan. It is precious!

     What does your dinner time look like? Let's rediscover meal time! When I visited my daughter in California, I loved it. In many restaurants there were community tables where strangers sat together; so much better than sitting alone at a table.  By the end of the meal, you are no longer strangers and the world is a little smaller, a little more connected.

        To connect, we have to disconnect!  Put down that phone or your "screen" of choice (TV too, old school, but it's still a screen).

        Dinner Tiiiime might take some planning, but its worth it.  I am going to start a new Saturday morning series dedicated to Dinner Time.

So what do we need?

1. Place:      It can be your kitchen table or dinner out.

2. Food:      Home-cooked meals or take out

3. People:   People living with you or inivited guests

4. Time:      Make time; shedule time

5. Activity:  Conversation and good attitudes

6. Extras:    Candles and background music 

What we don't need?

1. Electronics:  Phone, ipad, TV, gaming

2. Grumps:       Complaining /negativity = indigestion

Stay tuned for recipes, conversation starters, and tips to make meal time prep & clean up easy peasy!

Change your world one meal at a time!

Bon appetit!

Click for video: 

Meals in America v. Meals in France

Right Side Up

Wow! Where have the last three years gone so quickly? My last blog post was in September of 2013?

So much as happened.  I started the blog as a way to stay active and in touch despite debilitating fatigue, but I am awestruck at the transformation that has come over me since then.

#1 In June of 2014  A friend introduced me to a some high quality supplements that have turned my life right side up. Within weeks I noticed a slight difference and within months, my life was transformed from living between naps to going full speed ahead.  My fatigue was gone. My constant muscle and joint discomfort was gone. My digestive issues were gone. My restless nights were gone.  Instead, I was full of energy, feeling great and sleeping soundly.  It was like someone hit my reset button.

#2  Three weddings and a new grand-baby.  January of 2014, September of 2015 and May of 2016, three of our eight children were married. Christmas Day of 2014, we were blessed with our first grand-child. This beautifully busy season of life has been full of activity.

#3  Feeling better means I am on the go! Yay!  I feel like my old self again. As a matter of fact, I feel better than my old self.  This new energy means I am doing all sorts of new things.

I have a part-time job with a homeschooling organization called Classical Conversations that is now over 100,000 students strong across the nation.  I cherish being a part of this organization. I get to see first hand what a blessing it is to homeschool families to have support and encouragement along the way.

I LOVE my job!!!

In March of 2015, I invested in my own personal growth and became an Independent Certified John Maxwell Coach, Speaker and Trainer.  That spring, On Track Solutions, LLC was born. I have a general track of Leadership coaching and training, along with On Track Solutions, LLC Family with a specific outreach to families, especially in education including special needs at home.

I LOVE my job!!!!

Find me on facebook:

On Track Solutions
On Track Solutions, Family






In June of 2016, I completed my first e-book called Grading without the Guesswork to help homeschoolers navigate this often challenging responsibility. Homeschool parents can transform surviving to thriving in their record keeping and evaluations.

I LOVE my job!!!

My best job is still caring for my family. I confess that with all these changes, I have had my share of readjusting priorities. I am no longer homeschooling a crowd, only two left in high school. Life is different. The birdies are leaving the nest rapidly, but instead of focusing on the emptiness, I focus on the  fullness. My eye is on the opportunities, not the obstacles.  In many ways, my life is being turned upside down with changes as my children leave home. Now, I am more focused on wrapping up this journey and making time for hospitality and new dreams!

It is my turn to change my Upside Down to my  Right Side Up!

 I LOVE my job. I LOVE my life!

My Front Porch ~ Plum Nearly

  

The front porch has been sadly neglected in the busyness of late summer.  It has been a flurry of activity from back to school hustle and bustle to the fabulous news of our daughter’s engagement to the start of football season for our 8^th grader. Fall is officially in the air: chilly mornings, first falling leaves, busy squirrels diligently storing for winter.  Pumpkin is in the air: kids aflutter about pumpkin spice lattes, talk of revisiting our favorite pumpkin recipes, pulling out fall decorations and cleaning up the fire pit.

Not only has the front porch been neglected, but the whole house has been neglected in the midst of the truly crazy busyness.  Fact: we are way too busy.  It’s just not fittin’.  Fact: we are just way too busy to figure out how to not be so busy! So, we have decided to just be happy.  You can’t always configure life to be convenient or peaceful or ultimately fulfilling, but you can just decide to be down right, plum nearly happy no matter what.

Just like these little squirrels scrambling around and ordering their stores for the winter, I used to scramble around to order my life . . . like once and for all . . . so I could live in a state of rest for the remainder of my journey on the globe. Now I did not say this out loud, or even think it out loud in my own mind, but I was nonetheless governed by this frantic hustle and bustle to get my ducks in a row, and have my life flow from a foundation of perfect order.  I was restless with things undone, the lack of harmony , things out of place. I was a compulsive perfectionist craving rest, but always restless. I was happy, but restless. 

Then one day, I was outnumbered.  I had been given more children than I could manage with the dignity I desired I could no longer keep my compulsive pace for order. I had a choice to make. Let it go and make time for snuggles and shepherding hearts without being in a hurry OR have the order that I craved and no time to really enjoy my children.  Granted it does not always have to be a choice between order and gentle shepherding but in my case it was.  You see, I did not have the kind of children who sit quietly and play with their toys. Ok, so I had two, but for the most part, I gave birth to inventors and artists.  That is messy stuff y’all.  I could either embrace these gifts in the package they arrived in or allow my need for order to turn me into a grumpy mother of frustrated inventors. So, I gave over to the mess of creativity.

Sometimes I am sure that my husband would like to visit the old me. Well, this weekend, I visited.  After a month of purging the “once necessary” and piles of good intentions, I was very excited to host a reunion with our dining room table. I have already given away close to over 1000 books this year, but here in lies another 1000 purged.  I know,  where did I keep them?  Well, imagine a house decorated in “early bookshelf.” During the flurry of late summer activity, I stopped and started the great purge several times.  Every time I was right in the middle, some event would happen and we would once again, cram it back into boxes and stuff the closet. Then I would haul it out again and start over.  My family would say, “Why are we doing this again?” I would remind them that we never actually finished it, only postponed it. So this time, I pressed on and pressed on and pressed on and I did it.  Did you hear me?  I DID iiiiiit ! The stuff is gone and I am free.

My goal is to get rid of things and make room for more people, more time for people.  Things take time . . . time to care for them, time to organize them. Things take space. . . space to store them, space to use them.  I turned 50 this year and I want to make every day count… for me that means less stuff, more people. Sunday was a great day of celebration for me . . . not on the front porch, but on the back porch.  We closed in our back porch and expanded our home to make room for more fellowship. Sunday we celebrated the return of gathering around our big ol’ dining room table, clean and clutter free. We even had the privilege to set another plate for an unexpected visitor.  I LOVE that. Less stuff means always room for one more.

 I am delighted to team up for a front porch series with one of my dearest friends in all the world, Elizabeth Ours, who hosts the blog Yes They’re All Ours. She lives on the warm, sunny Georgia coast, while we are nestled in the a little cabin in the woods of the SC mountains.

My Front Porch ~ Hot Enuf Fer Ya!

     

      Sometimes life comes at you fast!  Summer has been a blur.  We don't know when it started and we might not know when it ends. I think we are all bit confused and disoriented here in the Southeast. Typically we have a really rainy April, a hot sunny May, a little cool spell the first of June right before the Southern summer sun turns up the sweltering heat and the humidity goes through the roof.

      It can be so humid in July that you break into a sweat walking across the porch. The air here is like water suspended in mid-air, hanging and sticking to you all over.That's our usual SC summer. We have a general idea of when to enjoy an occasional, perfectly sunny, breezy day and when to crank up our collective complaining about the heat, as if it had never even been that hot before.  Every year it strangely surprises us, even though we know it's coming.

     You see, we just  l-o-v-e to talk about the weather here in the South.  In fact,  we just love to talk, and the weather is a good starting place.  Southerners are not usually comfortable being quiet.  I suppose we think it is a bit rude, so we engage in any number of awkward conversations with perfect strangers just to avoid the appearance of lacking hospitality.  We talk to strangers in elevators, standing in check-out lines, doctor offices, street corners. At any point that there at least two people caught up in the same spot, after, I would say about 20 good long seconds of silence, the awkward, but cordial conversation begins.

"Phew! Hot enough for ya?"

" Sure is, I just don't remember it being this hot!"

"I don't either, and I grew up down in Newberry with no air conditionin', but it just didn't seem this hot!"

"Newberry?  Where abouts in Newberry?  My cousin married a boy from Newberry and they lived down by that big farm off the interstate."

"What's your cousin's name? 'Cause my mother's cousin on her daddy's side married a girl from up this way."

"Her name is Jenny, Jenny Watkins. She's married to Jimmy Watkins."

" Well, my lands, that's my cousin twice removed! We are practically family!"

     Y'all might think I'm exaggerating, but that is what happens around here.  You might not know somebody, but in no time flat, you can start to connect the dots.  I recently overheard a girl dressed up for her high school prom get in a conversation with somebody's granny in the bathroom of a restaurant.  Neither one could wrap up the conversations until they landed on a connection between the girl and the granny's granddaughter whose prom was the week before. They established the girl's date was related to the granddaughter's date by marriage. I promise I'm not making this stuff up.

     Here's the biggest hoot of all. It all started with the weather.  The granny said, "You look mighty pretty honey, I'm glad it didn't rain on y'all tonight like it was supposed to."  You see this was back in April when it was supposed to rain and didn't.  April was like a long beautiful spring day with a few scattered showers. Before we realized it was going to last, it was over.  We kept waiting for the rain and we were afraid to plan on it not raining, because we just don't trust April like that. By May, we knew we could count on warm summer days. Oh May teased us with a few hot days, but then it started raining . . . and raining . . and raining. It even rained through most of June and into July, and I don't mean just a little rain either, I mean like hurricane without the winds kind of rain where your yard turns into a shallow pond and your driveway like an instant river.


     If it was any hotter, we would think we had slipped down the map towards Florida. If it had been cooler, we would have thought we were transplanted to Maine.  With this crazy weather, we have simply been confused.  We have been pleasantly surprised by the cooler temperatures and at a loss of how to live with this rain.  Why we hardly even know how to complain the weather, but don't worry, we have managed to collectively question the monsoon.

     The blessing in it all is that come rain or shine, Southerns have something to talk about. I think I feel most sorry for the baggers who carry groceries to the car for customers.  I expect they hear 100 weather stories a day. ;-)  Amazingly, they are gracious all day long with their "yes mam, this rain is something else " as if they had not heard the same old thing all day long. 

     This rain has made us mindful who folks who live with it all the time. This rain has made us mindful that life is unpredictable. This rain has made us mindful that perfect strangers could, and would mind you, pull together and build and ark if necessary. (I have heard many conversations to that effect . . . mostly waiting in line at the grocery store, lol)  

       This rain will give us something to talk about for years to come. "Now when I was just 50 years old, back in 2013, it was the rainiest summer I remembered in my whole life. The rain started in May and went clear through . . ."  Frankly, I am looking forward to having a bunch of little grand-children to love and climb on me and listen to my stories, at least until the figure out that I really don't know very much at all. ;-) Perhaps, they will humor me, right here on my front porch. 
©Lori Pruett 2013

  I am delighted to team up for a front porch series with one of my dearest friends in all the world, Elizabeth Ours, who hosts the blog Yes They’re All Ours. She lives on the warm, sunny Georgia coast, while we are nestled in the a little cabin in the woods of the SC mountains.

My Front Porch ~ Yikes!

      The dogs were barking like crazy, so I threw on bathrobe and ran onto the front porch. We've had some visits from not-shy-enough bears in our neighborhood.  I don't know what I thought I would do armed with nothing but slippers and a holler, but out I went.

     There was something in my garden alright, but it was no bear.  It was Ma Ju, (Mama Julia), our dear African friend. If you read my post about plants a couple of weeks ago, you will know why she was in my garden. She does not trust me to tend it well. :-)   I can't blame her, but at least I am one brave brown thumb giving it a shot.

       

     Julia has been part of lives for over two decades. She is family.  One of my babies grew up on Julia's back, tied on in a traditional wrapper.  She has been such a blessing in our lives.  Where else would my children learn to prepare smoked turkey necks on the grill in our back yard? We have learned to eat so many things that we may have never tried.  This week she came to visit and cooked up perfectly tender rice and big pot of luscious greens with various meats and the hottest pepper known to man.  It was so good even my kiddos that don't like veggies ate up collard greens.

                                

         Even though she does not look it, this beautiful woman is 75 years old and only recently retired. Her spirit was willing, but her old bones are giving out. Still she has a servant's heart and keeps busy.  This morning she asked to borrow my phone because every Friday morning she and some other African ladies meet on a conference call to pray for an hour or two. They even asked to pray for me.  


     As we finished up lunch, she began to quiz my sons about matters of their faith and if they could give an account of what they believe and why.  Then she launched into her lesson that she wants them to remember about grace and redemption.

     Julia is so much like family that when my children were younger they had no idea that she was not actually related to us. When one of our babies was born, one of them said,"I think she has Julia's nose!"  She has been so much a part of their lives that even my adult children say that they won't marry anyone who does not meet her approval.

      Oh, how we love our Ma Ju.  When she takes time to teach us, I want to sit at her feet and catch every word. She blends seasoned wisdom with a child-like faith to nourish our souls. She tells the old stories. She tells the new ones. She connects us to another place, another culture, another people and, sometimes, the world seems a little bit smaller right here on my front porch.

     Therefore I, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, 2with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, 3eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— 5one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. 7But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift. Ephesians 4: 1-7

  I am delighted to team up for a front porch series with one of my dearest friends in all the world, Elizabeth Ours, who hosts the blog Yes They’re All Ours. She lives on the warm, sunny Georgia coast, while we are nestled in the a little cabin in the woods of the SC mountains.

From My Front Porch ~ a Gentle Breeze

         I am delighted to team up for a front porch series with one of my dearest friends in all the world, Elizabeth Ours, who hosts the blog Yes They’re All Ours. She lives on the warm, sunny Georgia coast, while we are nestled in the a little cabin in the woods of the SC mountains.

      Friday on the front porch  ~  after the first string of sweltering summer days, our morning coffee rendezvous was graced by an almost nippy, morning breeze  .  .  .  just cool enough to think you might need a sweater, but just warm enough to wish this morning could last forever.  Every now and then, when you don’t even expect it, a fresh breeze blows through your life and you cannot do anything but bask in it, breathe it in and quietly celebrate all that is right in the world.

     A fresh breeze blew in from Idaho this week.  Dear friends, more like family than friends, trekked eastward and landed right here in the mountains.  Their daughter brought a friend, and as the week went on, we seem to collect more teenagers to spend the week with us.  What unfolded proved to be one of those refreshing breezes that turns your world upside down and fills you to overflowing with grateful, abundant living.

This fabulous group of energetic young people crammed tons of fun into every minute. During the day, boys went one way, girls the other.  The boys enjoyed way too much Xbox (but hey, it was just that kind of live-it-up week), and the girls preferred variety. The baked up a storm: Italian bread sticks (Thanks Annarose), cinnamon rolls (Thanks Mary), and out of this world chocolate chip cookies (Thanks Emily), not to mention three meals a day.  I was up and out with some other adventures each morning, so there is nothing quite like coming home to a clean kitchen and leftover chocolate chip pancakes.  Each day was something different. Someone started working on a knitting project and before you knew it, there were knitting and crochet needles fast at work, all trying to learn to make the same cool things.  Throw in dressy friend pics on Landrum’s historic train tracks and a spa treatment, et voila ~ a week to remember.

Then of course, were the traditions, especially the things you can’t find out west like Chick-fil-a and Cheerwine soda.  Childhood memories of club meetings were revisited with gold fish, oreos (Vitamin 0) and chocolate milk. My husband even made them homemade ice cream down at the lake, just like old times. Although the young whipper snappers enjoyed their days at the lake, we old people joined them for a  feast of hot dogs, watermelon and ice cream.  It almost felt like a beloved old movie, watching kids whoopin’ and hollerin’, swimming, paddle boating ,bravely jumping from the boathouse window, tossing each other back in the water after they were all dried off.  It was a blessed evening of fellowship with old friends and new friends, tying knots like a tapestry that connect to make our days a little more beautiful.
     By night, the excitement burst like fireworks , each event a spontaneous surprise: touch football games, star tipping, mini concerts with guitars and piano and harmonious singing. Board games gave way to impromptu talent shows that gave way to moving the furniture out of the way and swing dancing to the oldies.  They even invited old 50 yo fogies to do the Electric Slide. It was great, wholesome, exhaustion—a good reminder that it is healthy to exert ourselves. Like most things, we were happy to extend a little hospitality, but what a pleasant surprise for the blessing to pour right back down on us.
      By midnight, the loud, and I do mean loud, laughter and exhilarating fun would prompt our sweet, but tired, ole grizzly bear we call Daddy to pull himself up out of bed and say, “I’m glad y’all are having a good time, but some old folks have to work in the morning.” Then came the movies and the midnight brownie baking before the chatter was hushed and teenagers finally crashed to recharge their batteries for the next day. This glorious week will be coming to an end tomorrow as one by one our guests return to their own homes, all worn out, but hopefully refreshed in spirit.

     So it is. Sometimes when we least expect it, a refreshing breeze blows across our lives that is so comfortable, so absolutely deep-down pleasant that we never want it to end.  It is a glimpse of paradise that fades like a honeysuckle, but what a blessing it is to breathe it in deeply and from that time forward compare every other day to its sweetness. Mysteriously the breezes seems to suspend time, and connect us to all that was , is and is to come.

    Lord, may You keep us mindful of the breezes and may we never be too busy to sit a spell and wallow in it. My Your Spirit blow through our lives refreshing and renewing our weary souls that we too might be the gentle breeze for others. Keep us from storming in with our frustrations and selfish ambitions that wound and devastate. May we be a fragrant offering