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Check out Fitness Together!  My buddy Chris, a personal trainer there, called me and wants to team up with No Mommy's Perfect to design a workout specifically for moms!  That's cool! 

Moms do so much for others and it's hard to find time to exercise.  A plan just for moms is...well, Perfect!  To get things started Fitness Together and No Mommy's Perfect are offering a taste of the facility (in Middle TN) by offering a Gift Certificate for a FREE assessment plus TWO FREE Private sessions with your own trainer!  WOW! 

Check out the website and check back here and on our Facebook Page for details on the Giveaway coming soon:) 

Hi again Friends!  Where is No Mommy's Perfect??  Under Construction....Big Time. 

Hope Everyone had a wonderful Holiday Season and is off to a great New Year.

If you're in the Middle TN area make sure to check out Consigning Time:

www.freewebs.com/consigningtime/

for all the best Consignment Sales.  It's the ultimate way to save money and "recycle" at the same time. 

You will probably meet some new friends too.  Have a super day.

A friend of mine just handed me a nice reading and I thought I would share it ....

.....people in the developed world have been trained in power and performance principles, but not at all in a spirituality of imperfection, detachment, letting go, and least of all surrender.  It sounds like losing and we do not like that.  It's actually accessing a deeper, broader sense of self which is already content and totally abundant.  Once you move...to that level...why would you ever settle for a scarcity model of life--"I'm not enough, this is not enough, I do not have enough" ? Honors, awards, and the luxuries of life are nice but they do not make up our true selves.  In grace and acceptance, you are overwhelmed with "more than enough-ness." 

--what looked initially like losing becomes the ultimate finding

Adapted from The Little Way

Happy Thanksgiving!

Fostering once again....here are a couple of pictures! There are 6 kittens total! They will be spayed and neutered and up for adoption locally in Nashville, TN at PetSmart in a few weeks.  For now they are still nursing (but also eating lots of food).  It's a joy to come home from work and have them all run to you for playtime.  My daughter loves them but knows it's just that we're "babysitting" them until they find a home.  The mommy cat is very sweet and will also be up for adoption.  They were rescued from an apartment complex.   More to come.  The mommy cat is pretty close to "purrfect."  Have a great day.   The rescue group is St Francis Animal Rescue Group. 

watch when you have a couple of minutes. 

Click here.
 

It's a great way to start any day. A great friend shared it with me...I wanted to share it with you:)

conversing & community...don't get hung up on the "technology" so says Bill Seaver who, along with Kate O'Neill, gave great presentations today at Microsoft sponsored by the Nashville Technology Council.  My friend, Dirk, told me about the event so after a quick bite to eat we enjoyed lots of info on blogs, Twitter (or "tweeting"), Facebook of course, podcasts, etc.  Dirk works in this field already but knows I have a computer geek somewhere inside me waiting to emerge.  A great suggestion from Kate was to maintain a schedule for your blogs...just like you'd schedule anything else as well as keeping up with analytics (free on Google Analytics). 

Check out the Nashville Technology Council's site for upcoming events and release your inner geek!  It's so fun to always keep learning new things! 

Bill Seaver's blog:  MicroExplosion.com   

Kate O'Neill's site:  http://metamarketer.com   

One of my favorite sites is still Think Happy Stuff!  The owner has 8, yes that's 8, children and is a very inspiring woman.  Her products are fun, fashionable, and uplifting.  She also has a sly sense of humor including one shirt that reads.....Denial is my Happy Place.  I have to buy another coffee mug soon from her that reads Change Your Thinking....Change Your World.  It's a nice way to start the day.   We worked together at the Southern Women's Show in 2008 and our products are a great fit.  No Mommy's Perfect but it helps to Think Happy Stuff! Have a perfectly imperfect day and check out her site.....after you shop here of course!

"Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forwards."     -Kierkegaard

All I can say is ....how true!     your thoughts?

my "baby" on the left and one of her best friends at California Pizza

Tyler, 16mos.

.....Lots of things but you already know what they are so I won't list them all.  Most of all I find that I tend to make myself the most busy by not being "fully present in the moment" something I used to do with much more success.  It seems the busier I have become the less able I am to really focus on one thing at a time (that's why we call it multi-tasking, right?)  The human brain--and if you're reading this you likely have one of those so pardon the redundancy--finds it hard to truly focus on more than one thing with real intent.  Doing things a bit slower requires effort (and may seem insanely "inefficient") but can yield very productive results because you are truly focusing on your task at hand however big or small.   With a little effort (OK, a lot sometimes) and reconnecting with like-minded friends who tend to "go about their days" this way, I find that it makes my days go so much more smoothly. 

A few years ago I went through something that forced me to change the way I thought about things and consequently I was able to take life much more lightly.  For example, if I were in a long line and switched to one that seemed faster &...the other line sped up...Murphy's Law?  My luck?  I learned to use that as a chance to practice, yes, patience.  Sometimes it worked better than others.  Adding a child to the mix (and a preschool pick-up time, work deadlines, a new business, etc.) seemed to lessen my devotion to personal development and on just getting everything done.  Someone had to do it!  I didn't exactly have a fairy to do this stuff.  This thinking didn't get me anywhere faster...just in a worse mood and with a fussy story to tell.  I am returning to my former line of thinking!  Why?  Well, because it worked about 1000 times better.  It kept me more focused, I lost less things and consequently spent a lot less time looking for stuff, and amazingly got MORE done and with more intent and happiness.  If I don't get something done, I make sure it's not an emergency...then I have a chance for a little gratitude which gives me energy to focus on the next day. 

Hope you all had a wonderful Mother's Day!

We are excitedly working on a BRAND NEW WEBSITE!  The first designs look awesome and you will not recognize the new No Mommy's Perfect!   You'll be able to contribute to our upcoming Book directly online! ...that's close to perfect.

The puppy dog above, Tyler,  is close to perfect too...he's up for adoption and needs a forever home.  He is great with kids and other dogs and is currently with a foster family in TN waiting for you!  For more info on this sweet lab CONTACT ASAP:

Kim Reynolds
Vice President
Ingram Group
(615) 213-5454
Kim.Reynolds@ingrambook.com

I love this cartoon from Baby Blues.....thoughts?......

We are still here at the Convention Center for the Southern Women's Show with crazy deals on merchandise!  The classic onesies (that say ...."my mommy is priceless" sold out completely yesterday).  We are also sold out of the black tote bags.  Obviously the prices are hot.  Come on down and visit on this last day, 11am-6pm.   We are in booths 1200-1204 with Ladies Who Launch.   We're part of their fashion show/dance show at 1pm on the main stage.  See ya!    Here's our booth area....we are at the far left.  Lots of friends are with us!

Vote daily http://tinyurl.com/d7ga33 & help us spread the positive message worldwide!

Just a few more days friends!  Vote daily and tell all of your friends!  We are nearing the HOT mark on the scale!  Yea!    

Oscars and Winners....that's You!

Just in case you are not signed up for our newsletter, you can sign up on the home page of our site.

Click here to see the recent edition right away!  Have a super day! 

Wow! The New Handmade Mommy Journals are here!.... thanks to Patricia Terry's hard work at Eskimo Cards  despite the fact that her little one was sick--so she recruited more family to help.  That's multitasking team work if you ask me.  They will be available on the site very soon...until then just be thinking of Mother's Day....baby showers or one just for yourself.  I have one and I love it.  "List books" coming soon.

The Journals come with 2 laminated bookmarks...one to keep and one to share! Also available in blue and brown.

      Well, I suppose it is never too early for Spring cleaning.  Since our daughter's birthday coincides with Christmas we have a lot of new things at the house.  We also have a lot of old things now too which can be a bit overwhelming for a four year old...and definitely not in keeping with the Montessori methodology of simplicity.  It's also overwhelming for her parents!  So....to the donation station we went this week and now we have room to breathe again....aahhhh (I also discovered some dust bunnies--oh, well).

When does your Spring cleaning begin or is it a year round event?  How do you keep clutter at bay? 

Here are a few more pictures of the MOPS moms' event too.....they sent a donation to No Mommy's Perfect (thanks!) and Patricia Terry of Eskimo Cards (site is in development...keep checking...it's worth it) sent us two custom designed "list books" for No Mommy's Perfect.  You might see those on the website one day soon-even in blue!  They are awesome for a mom's endless to-do lists!  now, here's more pics from 1-20-09....

I won a prize!

 me too!

Thank you to the Dickson, TN MOPS (mothers of pre-schoolers) group for inviting No Mommy's Perfect to speak to their moms' group on 1-20-09!  Anne and I had a wonderful morning talking about motherhood--the good, the bad, the ugly, the funny, the hysterical, the tears, and the triumphs!  We broke up into 2 groups and covered a lot of questions and generated a lot of discussion...Some of the questions and the answers generated by the groups were : 

What permission(s) have you learned to give yourself as a Mom? 

-"me" time!            (these moms had learned that this is very important & healthy!)

What "old tapes" play in your mind about how you haven't done something well enough, made something "homemade", cleaned enough, worked enough, spent enough time with your child, etc.?  

-trying to keep up such high expectations, makes you unhappy, "let it go"

What activities or people bring you energy or revitalize you?

-walking, painting, pottery, scrapbooking, gardening, date night with spouse, alone time!

What activities or people drain you or make you tired?

-mother, mother-in-law, negativity, housework, homeschooling, spit-up, changing clothes all the time

What would you like to do differently as a Mom?

-more time with spouse, more time for myself with no guilt!, buy something just for myself without guilt, not worry so much, not yell

 It was a most productive and energizing morning!  We met lots of new moms and saw some we knew.  We gave away door prizes to two lucky moms (our eco-friendly tote bags) and other moms were able to purchase items at special rates. 

     We also gathered stories for our book in progress....real stories of real moms...you know, YOU...the experts!  Several moms submitted stories they had written prior to our arrival and others took the My Story Page we had prepared and will mail them into us.  Soon we will have a compilation of stories ready for print!

Here are a few photos from that day...more soon...sorry for the blur!  We're working on that! No Mommy's Perfect!

I am ready for some snow!!!! It doesn't snow in Tennessee too much.  If it is forecast or we even see a flake we close the schools and rush to the store for bread and milk whether we can tolerate gluten and lactose or not, it's just tradition.  Seems like it used to snow more or perhaps the excitement of building snowmen (& snowwomen) with my brother is just burned in my brain somewhere.  I may have to visit Michigan or Minnesota and get a winter fix.  Here's a look of real excitement from last year....we're ready...bring it on!

What's your favorite way to enjoy winter? We like to make snow angels....then have hot cocoa and cookies.

Again, Happy New Year!  2009!  

Sometimes the world seems like a really big place and at other times it seems very small.  After you become a parent I think the world seems a little smaller.  It did for me anyway.  I felt connected to "moms" everywhere even when I wasn't particularly in the mood to be one (because I knew someone somewhere felt the same way!)  Luckily after a good night's rest or a few hours to myself I felt ready to go at it again.  One thing I did quit doing, though, was getting up super crazy early for my alone time.  I did that for years and I loved it.  After we had a baby,  I was just too tired most of the time.  I really need that quiet time, before the day starts, and find that I have a much better day if I start out centered rather than up and running!   I am feeling pretty grateful tonight as my husband and I have the house to ourselves (thank God for Grandparents) and have actually had time to talk.  Pretty amazing considering our 4 year old usually keeps the same hours as us.  She just doesn't need a lot of sleep. She is like our little Energizer Bunny.  Tonight, I also had time to enjoy this You Tube Video which someone kindly shared with me-enjoy!  It also makes the world a little smaller!

I love the beginning of the New Year!  All of the calendars are so fresh and clean-just full of possibilities.   I don't usually get too bummed about putting up the holiday trimmings since I know there are fun things around the corner....birthdays, Spring, & family trips.   For some of you 2009 may bring new babies or hopes of a baby.   For others it will be time for one to fly the nest and head to college.  Others will see their "babies" start kindergarten.  More businesses will close but new ones will open.  Technology will keep moving forward.  My car will likely keep running even though I pray to the contrary so I will have a reason to get a new one.  We will even have a new President very soon!  Wow!  lots of exciting things to thing about for 2009 and it's here. 

We will also be having some guest mommy bloggers this year sharing their adventures in parenting. 

Happy New Year! 

Here is Grant, the last kitten we have been fostering!  HE may be adopted today.  It has been wonderful to foster kittens around the holidays.   All I can say is I highly recommend it!  While it is difficult to see them go it's awesome to know they are going to good homes--much better than remaining little strays on the street.  I hope everyone is enjoying their holidays and having fun with the kiddos.  Have a perfectly imperfect day.