Monday Morning...kicking in to gear again

Here it is Monday once again. We had a great weekend filled with activity. This week, both kids are officially finished with school. Let the summer begin! I'm not wishing for time to go by too fast but there is a big part of me that wants to know everything RIGHT NOW. This period of time is a huge learning lesson in trust and patience. If I could recommend a book for my blogging community to read, it would be The Joy Diet by Martha Beck. I picked it up again over the weekend. She has a 10 step "menu" plan for living a joyous life:

1. Nothing (the process of doing absolutely nothing for 15 minutes per day)
2. Truth (what are we telling ourselves about ourselves?)
3. Desire
4. Creativity
5. Risk
6. Treats
7. Play
8. Laughter
9. Connection
10. Feast

I'm up to the 2nd menu item. "Nothing" is fortunately easy for me since I've developed a nice daily ritual of a guided meditation that lasts for about 25 minutes. The concept of "nothing" is not about being lazy and unproductive; it's about finding the quiet time with no distractions so that you can hear the next steps for yourself. Seriously....we are all so conditioned to feel that we always have to be doing something. The process of doing absolutely nothing is one of the best things we can do for ourselves. Of course, each "menu item" works with the rest of the menu items. You begin to incorporate a little of each in a daily ritual.

Here are a few pictures from the weekend:

Here's my HOT husband dressed in drag for a friend's surprise birthday skit (I think he fills out my black yoga pants quite nicely):


Here we are after the skit:

Here's a reason why I almost always have my camera with me. These flower pots outside of Trader Joe's really give me some artistic inspiration:



I managed to find a few moments for relaxation :))


If you want to see a new APRON, go over here to have a peek!