One characteristic of the past few weeks is how much time I’ve spent reading. Books from the library, magazines I never got around to finishing, new blogs… I’ve gone through a large number of books I’ve really, really enjoyed, and my internet reading has introduced me to one new (to me) concept Radical Homemaking, which I don’t think I’m exactly doing, but I’ve always been the kind of person to be nearly radical, taking what I can and being pragmatic where I need to be, too.

Then there is the “slow” movement. I read about slow foods years and years ago, but it seems to be gaining acceptance in family and parenting circles as well. Slow summers, slow day camps… it all sounds a lot like our life, though I didn’t necessarily know it had a name. We are definitely slowing down, my husband and I narrowing in on our the careers we at least want to have for iteration #2 of our grown up lives, ones that fulfill us more and, definitely in my case, will hopefully allow for the balance I seek. As our boys all speed up, it seems more and more important that our home be the calm guiding hand for their days, the place where they can create and be inspired and follow their whims.

I think for the longest time I’ve sought this at home, but also wanted the go-go-go career that made it impossible. Time to find slow for my professional life, too.

I’m starting to get used to the reverse order of my days, where I accomplish things all week and then have to throw household responsibilities out the window for the weekend to focus on the kids. As such, I find myself doing a million odds and ends today to prepare for another semi-hectic weekend.

There are so many things that are rewarding about my hiatus — watching my body unbuckle from the stress, finally figuring out the best way to make t-shirt yarn, grabbing the raspberries and blackberries before the chipmunks get them all, getting rid of clutter and finding needed treasures in our basement, and living out of our pantry now that it is again organized. And of course, so much extra time with my boys and having a peaceful evening with my husband here and there.

I can’t even describe how much of my life was slipping through the cracks, or how good it feels to have it back.

If only I could do this for a living…

On my many happily-bubbling-but-none-boiling-over burners, I’ve got:

• Job hunting, basically sending out resumes and checking in with colleagues.
• Goal setting, since part of the problem is my lack of overall direction.
• Listening to a lot of music (you can watch my playlist grow, right now it’s just the two songs in my head these days).
• Garage sale planning (3 weeks to go) and garage sale shopping (I picked up a backless booster for P for $3, a Melissa & Doug Alphabet puzzle for $2, a pile of Mrs Grossmans stickers for $0.10/each, new sandals for P who blasted thru his early summer pair as usual for $2 NWT, and an awesome pair of perfect condition flats for me for $0.25. Oh, and a little tabletop Christmas tree for $0.25. Yes, I know we’re Jewish, but much of our family and all of our city is not, and P always asks for somewhere to put the ornaments and decorations that get sent to us. It’s really cute and has pine cones on it.)
• Preschool planning for the little ones. Full post with links coming soon.
• Clearing up back log. Full post on birthday parts with pics coming soon.
• Volunteering, as I mentioned yesterday.
• Cooking. Lots and lots of cooking.
• Discovering piles of things in the basement that I forgot about. I love the bag of girls’ clothes I’ve gotten at swaps for my friend who has GGG triplets, and the fact that I will clear that clutter when we see them on Monday.
• Took three bags of really nice clothes to the resale store in our neighborhood.
• Reading a lot, too. Books from the library as well as the piles of free magazines I get. Next week I’ll organize the magazine pile in the basement and take 90% of them to Half Price Books for a few bucks.
• Not working too hard so that I have the mental space for my husband and my boys that I haven’t had in oh-so-long.
• Blogging! I’m so glad to be back in the habit. Even if it’s totally self indulgent. But it’s good to have somewhere I can keep track of my progress and feel accountable for doing something every day, without boring DH with the details.

Back to work!

Part of the balance I’ve been seeking is (1) more time with my kids and (2) more time to do extracurricular activities, which often for me means helping to run high profile political events. It’s something I used to do for work, but now I just get to drop in a day or two ahead of time and help out. And I get to grab a ticket or two for my family, which yesterday ended up with this:

That’s my 5 year old, P. And you know who the other guy is. I feel fulfilled, as a mom and as an individual. Now I just need to find a job that lets me keep as much of this feeling as possible.

We’re still using tons of this stuff for the little ones’ eczema, so I was thrilled to see a steep discount at Amazon.

I got this email today:

For a limited time, we are offering an additional 15% off Subscribe & Save diapers and wipes in addition to the standard 15% discount you receive as a Subscribe & Save customer.

Since you have an active subscription for diapers and/or wipes on Subscribe & Save, you will automatically receive a total of 30% off all eligible orders shipped during this limited-time promotional offer. This includes the standard 15% Subscribe & Save discount plus a limited-time offer of an additional 15% discount.  No action is required to receive this additional discount.

And unrelated, was looking for more Aquaphor and sunscreen to order tonight. Why Aquaphor is included with this deal is beyond me, but I will take it, especially at $9/tub!

• I need a new toothbrush. I’ve been holding out until I can get it for free. Looks like with a printable I can at Walgreen’s this week!
• Planning out a preschool homeschooling curriculum for our nanny to start in the fall. Hoping to use blogs like this one as much as possible, will resort to premade kits only if necessary. (Aside: Can you believe my babies are old enough for preschool? Sob!)
• Some way to make enough money to live on without going back to having a full time job. Are any work-at-home opportunities for real?
• Kohlrabi, grated, and sauteed with garlic scapes and olive oil. Serve with chicken sausages and lots of parmesan cheese. Yay for the farmer’s market!
• That the only things my little ones make in their play kitchen is coffee for mama. “Mama, more coffee!?”
• My husband. He’s been amazing through my transition, even as he goes through a few of his own.
• Swagbucks. Those free Amazon gift codes add up quickly when I’m working on my home computer all day!

That’s what this summer is all about. Catching up with friends and family. Extra time with my boys. Volunteer work. And a little job hunting!

Over the weekend, we got a small coupon book in the mail from our local conventional grocery store. With the weekly ad, I noticed that there was a promotion to buy 6 boxes of General Mills cereal and then get $10 back and coupons for a free gallon of milk and a free dozen eggs. Clearly, it was time to look for coupons!

Between coupons.com, Smart Source, and Box Tops for Education, I amassed enough coupons to head out confidently for double coupon day today. I also planned on picking up a couple of other things we needed. Here’s my plunder:

Besides the cereal, I got English muffins (coupon was for $0.88), pasta (coupon for $0.44), vinegar that we needed for laundry, granola bars ($0.40 printable doubled), toothpaste (printable for $1.00 doubled, plus a bonus $3.79 lip balm for free!), frozen waffles, 21 Luna bars (10/$10, I eat them for breakfast every day), a can of tomato soup for a recipe, and a jumbo of Huggies for $4.49 (store coupon for $7.49, printable coupon stacked for $3.00 off). In return, I also received a register coupon for $3.25 off any gallon of milk and $1.85 off any dozen eggs, which I will use to steeply discount some organic products in the near future.

So my receipt shows that I saved $34.33, but that doesn’t count (1) the $5.05 on future purchases and (2) the free lip balm, which brings my savings to $43.17 when I spent $41.73. I can tell you that in a household where we purchase ~80% of our goods natural and organic, this kind of savings is really, really rare, and very exciting!

Doing well, doing well. Except for a huge welt/hive right below my right eye (1) making it hard to see and (2) necessitating benadryl which is now making me kinda sleepy. I’ve checked in with some contacts and already have a coffee date for tomorrow, drinks on Wednesday. I made a pile of appointments for before our insurance lapses. I walked the big boy to his first day of summer camp, and will walk to pick him up. Quite possibly, my biggest accomplishment is my meaningful, targeted to do list, focused on doing the right things first. Like, for example, meal planning!

I did this again for the first time in months and months, 3 weeks ago with the big P. By involving him in the plan, he tried all sorts of new foods willingly, like pasta salad. He’s always liked ethnic food, but getting him to try new things has waned since he turned 4 or so. He’s not here for me to plan right now, but maybe next weekend.

Monday:  Already in the slow cooker, anticipating a medicine-induced nap, is slow cooker tortilla soup, one of our family’s favorites. I used fresh corn leftover from last night’s dinner.

Tuesday: Grandma Fran’s porcupine meatballs, garlic bread & steamed brocolli. I have two lbs of ground turkey in refrigerator I need to use this week. This will make dinner and some awesome lunch leftovers for me.

Wednesday: Spinach ravioli, some veggie side. I’m going to hit the conventional grocery store on double coupon day, so I’ll grab something fresh to add to the ravioli.

Thursday: Pecan maple chicken and roasted potatoes. This was a recipe P selected that I haven’t had time to make yet. I’m excited to try it.

Friday: Leftovers.

Saturday: Both of my brothers will be in town, a rare treat, so I’m sure we’ll be grilling or splitting some take out.

A living list of the things I pledge to do, each weekday, to improve my household, take steps towards employment, nurture my marriage, and spend time with my sons:

• Reach out to three contacts in my network, whether it is having coffee, planning a lunch meeting, or whatever. (Follow ups count, my network isn’t that dense.)
• Work on fixing our school’s aftercare program so that we can ostensible cut our personal childcare expenditures dramatically this fall, and then a little more each year.
• Wash and put away least one load of laundry.
• Make pocket change, by pricing things for a garage sale, listing things on Craigs List, or taking items to resale/consignment stores.
• Tackle one nursable grudge on my list in our house, from the upstairs bathroom closet to the basement and beyond.
• Do yoga, take a walk, or otherwise engage in something physical.
• Eat breakfast and lunch in the house, unless I have a career-related obligation.

The list will grow, but I’m trying to not make too many lists, since I have the tendency to make them longer and longer so that there is a lot of low-hanging fruit and I don’t have to get to the tough stuff!

I am newly unemployed.

If you look at my last post, you can see why I might not be too unhappy about that. Yes, I need to find something as soon as possible with health insurance, but I was working in a job that made me very unhappy, trying to find ways to still pursue any of my passions and be a good mom

I was writing things like, “Realized that if I could have more of either, it would be time, not money.” I’ve been reading Just Let Me Lie Down: Necessary Terms for the Half-Insane Working Mom. In April, I developed stress hives and then eczema from my job. I was starting to wonder the long-term impact of all of this stress on my health.

So I have more time, and for now, way less money. I’m not okay with that, it’s not fair to my very hard working husband or kids for that to be the case, but I’m okay with finding the place I can be *me*. I’ve lost me, I’ve been Program Director and Mom, but not Meagan for a very long time.

Expect a blog resurgence!