Prep time!

Good morning!

                       (this is Emilia from daycare and one of the 3 week old puppies.)

Encase anyone missed it, it is now September. Do you know what that means? Well it means kids go back to school. It also means that if you are working with kids the holidays are coming. Halloween is next month and then there's thanksgiving, and then Christmas! It also means that if you plan on making a great deal of your Christmas presents you start now. So I have started. Slowly. Part of the issue is I have to remember what I gave people last year and not give them the same thing. One reason I like making everything. If I forget and give the same thing again it won't be exactly the same. I have 40 people on my list. I guess I like setting myself a challenge?

A question for all though. What books to you feel are must reads? Books that are referenced a lot in other books or in life. I am looking for a list of books that people feel a person should read in their lifetime. Now I'm not asking for what books to you think are Good. A book can be referenced a lot and not be a particularly good read. I want to read the most referenced books. The ones people expect you to have read.

Hugs+kisses
mce

Moving Forward

Good Morning!
There's that crisp fall chill in the air this morning. I'm sure it will burn off but it is just a reminder that summer is almost gone and it's time to get back to work. The past month I have been training with my adopted mother-in-law to be at her daycare. It is about 3 houses down from where I live. Today I start full time. There are 12 kids. Some are babies and some are going to be leaving us next week for kindergarten. It's been a hectic crazy summer and I'm glad to feel the crisp air. I hope that things calm down now. I have been all over the place emotionally since the kids left but today I finally feel like I'm back on track. I'm working again as well as starting viola (on my own) again and picking up my Italian again. I'm figuring out my school stuff as much as I can. I have already started on Christmas presents.

I am more grateful then ever to have Jono. He has been such a help making sure I don't go too out of control this summer. We are started training again and I've started eating better again. He has helped keep me centered this summer when I was flipping out. Just having him as a strong constant has been amazing. I am so happy with the people in my life that I can take one or two bad ones.

The support I have gotten through this summer of ups and downs has been amazing. Thank you everyone. Now back to work!

hugs+kisses
mce

Ch-ch-ch-changes

Hello
So a lot has happened. The kids have moved. It was harder then I expected. The past 3 years everything I did has revolved around the kids. So to have it go from spending 60 hours a week with them to none is hard. I'm still adjusting. The biggest help has been family. I have been spending more time with the Kecks and Jono. It has been such a help. I have dinner with momma Mar monday and wednesday and dinner with the siblings, Amanda and Danny, once a week.  It deffinately helps ground me some more. And speaking of ground....

In 4 days I leave for Japan!!! I've been planing and working on it for the past week. It's been crazy! I'm so excited. I really love these family vacations. We don't get to spend enough time together these days since Joey and I have moved out and Lars is so busy. So spending 10 days together will be a blast.

I'll let you guys know how it goes!
hugs+kisses
mce

Moving on

Hello!
So as some of you know the family I have worked for the past 3 years is moving up north. This is happening in under 2 weeks. By the end of next week I will be out of a job for a while. Thankfully this is not for good. I will start working with my amazing adopted mother-in-law, who runs a daycare out of her home,  in august. This is a huge change. Not only will it be different kids but the hours will be shorter, the pay less and the commute about a 2 minute walk, if I walk really slow. I'm actually really excited about the change. The past 3 years have been amazing but a lot of my life has had to be put on hold. I have been at the mercy of a family that had no idea what their plans were most of the time. I will not be working alone anymore. Meaning that if I start throwing up in the middle of the night I can call in sick, which I have been in terror of the past 3 years. I have been working 60+ hour weeks for so long now that a normal 30-40 hour a week job will give me a ton of time I haven't had. I can work and do errands on the same day. I will finally be able to get my life back on track. As amazing as this experience as been for me and as much as I have grown during this time I am happy to see it end. The amount of stress I have been dealing with is more then a normal job should give you. I am kinda sad to see them go since I have spent so much time with these kids and have really grown to love them a lot. It helps the transition though that I am going to be working with family and am going to have family around me a lot more. I'm also really excited to be able to get my schooling and everything else back on track. I am ready to move on. I'm ready to stop stressing out as much. I'm ready to have my own life again.

hugs+kisses
mc

Hello again

Good morning!
I know I've been away for a while now. So let me catch you up!
The kids had their last day of school down here. It was very emotional for them since they know that they will be moving away.
I also went to Las Vegas last weekend with my mom and cousins. It was a blast! Vegas is a crazy place.

Jono and I have been ridiculously busy as of late. we've both been working all week and then had full weekends that hardly leave time to get to the market much less cook. We've gone to visit with family up in Baywood, gone to a family birthday party in santa clarita, and changed bedrooms. Lets talk bedrooms for a minute.
For a while now as well as the last time we stayed there, we were staying in my mother-in law's guest room. and it was tiny. A true guest room meant for a single person. It was very cramped and we had to get rid of a lot of our things to fit. With all that has happened these past few months and the amount of support we have given Jono's mom we decided we should switch bedrooms with her. She had a big bedroom built for 2. It has a sliding glass door leading onto a patio with a hot tub and the backyard. She had not taken good care of any of it. It took all weekend to move and clean. The outcome is that now Jono and I have a larger room with space for us to move and a patio we can use. It makes such a difference. I have big plans for the yard and patio. I want to set it up so we can have dinner parties out there and not have to worry about being inside and getting interrupted. I want to get the hot tub working again since it has not been used in over 4 years. The room gets a lot more light that I realized and it is so nice.

But now to cooking. I have done very little cooking these past few weeks and I am trying to get back into it. I am going to start cooking with the kids more since I now have them all day. Not a lot is happening right now though since both twins have the stomach flu and have been sick since monday.

I think that's all for now. I'm sure I will think of more I want to tell you all later.
hope you all have a beautiful day!
mce 

Relax and enjoy the sun

Good Morning!
It's my favorite time of year. Spring and Summer always lift my spirits. There is so much fresh fruit and veggies at farmers markets. I feel like spring and summer are for fruit and fall and winter are for veggies. Strawberries and peaches are coming back and amazing tomatoes. Grills are lighting up wherever you look. It's the time of year I crave light clean food.

I never really thought about food and what I ate while I was growing up. It was whatever was on hand and was quick and easy to eat. Now that I've started paying more attention I find that I like to eat with the seasons. When I'm cooking in the winter I have no problem standing by the stove making soup or roasting veggies. But once the weather warms up I don't want soup I want something cool. I want vanilla pound cake with fresh fruit and whipped cream. In the fall and winter I want things hot not luke warm. In spring and summer I don't mind. I want cold rice noodles with peanut sauce. I want to add citrus to everything. I no longer want to sit making pasta for hours I would rather have a piece of bread with fresh tomatoes. We are lucky in LA to have a few farmers markets that are open year round but they are truly amazing once spring comes in.


My life also changes with the seasons. This summer big changes are coming. For one I am loosing my current job. The family is moving up north in July. This will change a lot for me. While I know I will be able to find another job without too much worry I will have to change around a lot. I am so used to my long hours and endless weeks that I will have to adjust to not having them. Hopefully I will be able to find another job that pays better and has better hours. I hope I will be able to once again start school at least part time. I will be able to balance my life better. But it will be a big change. I have been working at least part time for the same family for 3 years. It will be an adventure to start all over. I am looking forward to it since there is no point in looking back.

hope you all have some fun in the sun today!
hugs+kisses
mce

working with kids

Good Morning!
In case you missed it, today is Friday! It did not elude me at all. I feel that this comes with working with kids.

Now don't get me wrong. I love the kids dearly. I love working with them and would rather do what I do then sit in a cubical. For example I took the picture above at the Getty center when we went last week. You don't get to do that sitting in an office. But when you work the hours I do it's harder. You aren't dealing with just your emotions but with four other sets that are all doing there own thing. You can't waver or blink. If they think they can get something past you they will. Being on your toes and staying sharp for 12+ hours is not the easiest thing. I've been doing this so much though that at this point I feel like I can do anything with the kids. I do my workouts with the twins and keep track of my budget and pay bills while they play in the living room. Next week I have to take them with me to the doctor.  But the mental and emotional strain is immense at times. When I learn I am working longer then 12 1/2 hours I feel like crying. It would be amazing if I ever worked less then 55 hours a week. This makes the weekends even more special.

I plan my weekend all week. I plan what I'm going to cook and what I'm going to do. My time away from the kids is amazing for me. Friday marks Movie Day with the kids and date night with Jono. It is the last day of a long week. This weekend we are going to the ren faire on Saturday and visiting the Kecks on Sunday. Fun will be had by all.

I hope you all have fun plans for this weekend and have some time to relax.

hugs+kisses
mattie