I'm So Honored

I was honored a few day's ago by one of my favorite bloggers, Hagar's Daughter, with the Superior Scribbler Award. Now, I can't begin to tell you how humbly this blog started. I had no other real intentions except to document my life, share some recipes, show my crochet--and write because I love to write and right now, I can't do it the way I want to. Blogging scratches the itch (and quite well, I might add). In my short time blogging, though, I've come across some phenomenal blogs and bloggers. I'm absolutely thrilled that folks actually read and take time to comment on my blog. I beyond ecstatic at having received this recognition (thanks HD!).

I would like to award the following bloggers: Khadija at Muslim Bushido, Just Me at My Little Slice of Pie, Original Glamazon at The Glamazon Chronicles, Nya at 80sBaby70sSoul.

The Rules: 1. Each Superior Scribbler must in turn pass The Award on to 5 most-deserving Bloggy Friends. 2. Each Superior Scribbler must link to the author & the name of the blog from whom he/she has received The Award. 3. Each Superior Scribbler must display The Award on his/her blog, and link to This Post, which explains The Award. 4. Each Blogger who wins The Superior Scribbler Award must visit this post and add his/her name to the Mr. Linky List. That way, we'll be able to keep up-to-date on everyone who receives This Prestigious Honor! 5. Each Superior Scribbler must post these rules on his/her blog.

Sure you've heard by now . . .

Of the Wal-mart worker trampled to death by "overly-enthusiastic" bargain hunters.

Okay, here's a warning. I'm pissed off and concerned about a lot of things in my personal life so I'm much more easily affected by the horror of this whole thing.

When I heard this news, let me tell you, I was angered to my very core. How is it that Americans are so out of control with greed that they don't even value the life of another human being? What kind of sick, twisted addiction/illness allows you, a supposedly sane person, to step on someone like they are a piece of trash? Shoot, you avoid stepping on trash, don't you . . . how could you treat a person like as if they are worth less than trash?

Look, I'm not the most optimistic person in the world. My husband sometimes says that I don't have enough hope. But it is extremely difficult for me to have hope in humanity when things like this go on. I'm tired of reading about terrorist bombings, genocides and war, baby formula poisoning. When will human beings LIVE UP TO the great potential that the Creator has blessed us with?

I cannot believe it. I just cannot believe that someone was killed over a "good deal". Are you people idiots? Don't you know that if they are charging you $50, they probably only paid $10 and the manufacturer probably paid some poor child in India $0.25 for it? That sale you were willing to kill someone over, where you pay $40 or $35 still gives the merchant a serious profit. Does this merchant do anything in your community? Help your child in any way? What? Giving $0.02 for every dollar when they are making trillions of dollars is not anything to brag about. And what about all the negative environmental impacts the production of all this crap makes?

When you were trampling that HUMAN BEING, did you think?

That's somebody's child. Somebody's lover. Somebody's friend.

Oh, I'm heated and disgusted.

There is enough suffering and pain in this world that we who have more, who are blessed can find ways to lessen that pain, lessen that suffering not do foolish, heartless things to add to it.

My heart goes out to the family of that Wal-mart worker. I pray they find comfort somehow.

For the Love of Music

Okay, I think "For the Love of Music" may very well be the name I'm going to stick with. For some reason, this whole week, I've been really into Gladys Knight. Now, there are soooo many singers who are hot right now--some talented and some who require a lot of studio work and some who are just cute/selling sex. I recognize that the music industry is a business like any other and so they have to make money. But something about Gladys Knight and the Pips moves me and reminds me of what true artistry, true singing is all about. It's clean. It's controlled while inspiring all kinds of emotions. No super duper riffs (which so many people think makes a good singer). Just beautiful and pure. So . . . without further ado . . . the Empress of Soul singing Neither One of Us (1973).

Finding Love for the Holidays

When I "came into my consciousness" while in college, you know, the days of "I'm so deep and conscious" with poetry readings and hours-long sessions talking about "the man" and "the problem with Black people", I lost a lot of joy for life. Holidays went from being fun and exciting to being another "conscious" talking point. Thanksgiving? Think about what the pilgrims did to the Indians--how can we celebrate that? It's just an excuse for history to be mis-told and greedy Americans to gorge themselves while children in Africa starve to death. Christmas? Just a bunch of pagan rituals mashed together and an excuse for entitled Americans to buy tons of crap they don't need while people in Africa and other poor (Black and Brown) places around the world struggle to get clean water that won't make them sick.

I mean, these things are true. But there is a flip side.

The flip side is that when the holidays come, it seems, despite ourselves we are able to extend a hand of warmth and friendship to those around us. I feel the energy change. Neighbors become neighborly. Drivers actually yield to the folks who have the right of way. People wait patiently in line at the grocery store while the new cashier fumbles around asking for the key to void a transaction. People smile at each other. They're good to each other. Even if it just lasts a few weeks. Or until the liquor wears off.

And I love that.

I still don't celebrate holidays in the traditional sense. You won't catch me going crazy cooking food and inviting folks over. I don't give out gifts or sing carols. But I do give thanks on Thanksgiving in a different kind of way because I know that all over the country, in many different households people of all of colors, creeds, and ways of life are being thankful. They might not give thanks to Jesus. Or any kind of god. But they are reflecting on the things that make life beautiful and rich. Even if it is just a hot bowl of soup on a cold winter day.

And for this I'm thankful. Because growing up we always read in the Bible to give thanks in all things. And I always asked God how could I do that? There are people starving, people suffering. But at this time in my life, I realize that indeed, in all things there is something to give thanks about. Something. There is such profound wisdom in the injunction to always give thanks.

The unmatched Nina Simone sang a song called "Ain't Got No" and it is so appropriate for this day.


Ain't got no home, ain't got no shoes
Ain't got no money, ain't got no class
Ain't got no skirts, ain't got no sweater
Ain't got no perfume, ain't got no beer
Ain't got no man

Ain't got no mother, ain't got no culture
Ain't got no friends, ain't got no schooling
Ain't got no love, ain't got no name
Ain't got no ticket, ain't got no token
Ain't got no God

What about God?
Why am I alive anyway?
Yeah, what about God?
Nobody can take away

I got my hair, I got my head
I got my brains, I got my ears
I got my eyes, I got my nose
I got my mouth, I got my smile
I got my tongue, I got my chin
I got my neck, I got my boobs

I got my heart, I got my soul
I got my back, I got my sex
I got my arms, I got my hands
I got my fingers, Got my legs
I got my feet, I got my toes
I got my liver, Got my blood

I've got life , I've got my freedom
I've got the life

And I'm gonna keep it
I've got the life
And nobody's gonna take it away
I've got life

Look, no matter what . . . really, no matter what there is something to give thanks for. I realized just how powerful giving thanks is when I stopped complaining about my allergies. In the midst of an allergy attack where I can hardly catch my breath, I'm sneezing 15-20 times, I can't see because my eyes are swollen and itchy . . . if I can stop to give a minute of thanks . . . even for something so ludicrous as an over-active immune system that takes regular environmental factors and thinks it's under attack--give thanks that it is functioning . . . well, perspective shifts immediately and what would have totally destroyed my day is a little hump I have to get over. I can focus on sending love and healing throughout my body. For me, giving thanks has to be powerful if it has given me an effective way to deal with allergies in a way that Claritin, Zyrtec, allergy shots and cursing have not.

There are many things I "ain't got" but so many things that I do have. And I'm grateful on this Thanksgiving Day and happy, I say damned joyful that I get the chance to be here to celebrate another Thanksgiving. I've got life!

So . . . Have a Thanksgiving full of giving thanks. Enjoy!

Shoot

Z2 woke up at 6:30 AM--30 minutes before he usually wakes up. His father just brought him to me and he's sitting on my lap right now slobbering on everything and trying to put everything in his mouth. Since I decided to blog and read blogs before doing my 5.5.5. (which usually takes about 30-45 minutes) , I won't get a chance to do it today. This is a reminder to be disciplined and do 5.5.5. first thing without fail. It is most important. And I have so much to do today. Shoot. I really needed to ground myself.

Shoot.

Wedgie-Free Wednesday!

Okay, so I won't front: I am a big booty miss. And being a big booty miss means that wedgies have been the bane of my existence since I was a little girl. Now, in my younger days, the solution to the problem was the thong (remember that awful song?). At least with a thong I had a wedgie on purpose and I could control the wedgie size. But I don't know. The novelty of thongs wore off after a while and I just wanted some comfortable drawers.

One of my closest friends from college and I had always said that one day we would create a line of underwear (bras and panties) for the more voluptuous woman. A line that was sexy. Yet practical and comfortable. And didn't cost an arm and a leg. Since then, I think, there have been a few companies catering to that market though and since our lives have taken different turns with family and careers than we expected, we pretty much abandoned the idea. And I abandoned the idea of finding wedgie-free, full-coverage underwear.

That is, until a couple of months after I had Z1 when I discovered the "hipster" style underwear and while still wedgie-fabulous, these drawers cut down my wedgie incidences by at least 50%. Great! So for about three years, I've been buying this style exclusively. Now, after having Z2 (and still holding on hard core to the pregnancy weight) I realized that my semi-solution was now giving me at least 40% more incidences of wedgie-ation. That means that over 90% of the time, I was experiencing a wedgie.

As uncomfortable as that was, I was determined to put up with it because surely as my weight came down, the undies would get comfortable again. But, I just couldn't. Too uncomfortable. I set out to find a better solution.

I'd seen commercials for the Hanes "No ride up" underwear but I was very skeptical. They just don't tailor things to big booty misses. I know that from experience. But even other big booty misses were recommending them so I decided to give them a try. I rolled up into Target and purchased two different styles: boy shorts and bikini. The boy shorts are just a little too much fabric. It feels like I'm wearing bloomers. The bikinis on the other hand are fantastic! They live up to the "no ride up" promise and feel great to wear. So I'm joining other big booty misses to recommend these drawers with no reservations. Okay, they're not Victoria Secret sexy but they're cute and functional, practical and easy on the budget. And above all, they're comfortable and sure to provide Wonderful Wedgie-free Wednesdays and every other day too!

I found a cute book

I borrowed it from the library. It's called Buddha at Bedtime by Dharmachari Nagaraja and I like it. It's not too preachy and basically presents the precepts of Buddhism in the form of stories for children. It is colorfully illustrated and really eye-catching and I just might purchase it at some point.

Generally, however, by 8 o'clock though, Z2 is too agitated and sleepy for us to read or do anything in peace. I may (and have been leaning towards) cutting out watching Wheel of Fortune (okay, laugh if you will) which comes on at 7:30. WoF is basically the only television I watch. If we start our bedtime routine at 7:30, it will give time (in terms of Z2's temperament) for us to read Buddha at Bedtime, do a visualization and get back to the candle meditation I used to do with Z1 before Z2 was born. I'm looking forward to when Z2 will appreciate these things too.

Zucchini Cake

So here I blogged about wanting to try some new recipes that didn't require me to buy a whole bunch of ingredients that I may never use again. I have tried all the recipes with good results. The roasted butternut squash soup was good but came out too thick. The family loved the spanakopita. I wasn't thrilled with it but I'd make it again for them though. That's how much they liked it. The pumpkin muffins? Divine. And yesterday I finally got around to making the zucchini bread. Actually, it's zucchini cake. I fell asleep with the boys last night and didn't get to taste it but DH did and said it was really good. It had a difficult time coming out of the pan which is why it looks so jacked up, but hey, at least I remembered to take a picture. Oh, and I got to use my bundt pan which I haven't used in eons. Can't wait to give it a try later on today!

Weekend Thrifting

So because we are really trying to be wise about how we spend money, I've been limiting doing my favorite thing to do . . . thrifting. But we went this past Saturday because I realized (a little late) that Z2 doesn't have a snow suit. Because Z1 is a summer baby, his snow suits are all too small or too big for Z2. I intended to only get a snow suit but I found some other great things that I couldn't pass up.

When I say we scored, I mean we scored. DH found a Patagonia Baby Reversible Snow Bunting. Retail Price: $99. DH recognized the name as quality (he has a fleece pullover he paid a grip for at REI back in the day). And so we scooped it.
I wore Z2 in the mei tai yesterday to go pick up a couple of things on the Avenue (local shopping area) and he was toasty as he wanted to be. I'm so grateful for this find and wish I hadn't bid on the snowsuit on Ebay. Still that Ebay snowsuit was $10 (s&h included) and is size 18 months so we will probably still need it.

The second score was:

A 8 quart cast iron pot (heavy as all get-out) and a 9" cast iron fry pan, perfect seasoned. I'm still not 100% sure if the pot is cast iron or cast aluminum. I'm going to season it and see if it develops that rich, dark color which is the hallmark of cast iron. I really hope it is . . . it's as heavy as cast iron though. DH is convinced it couldn't be anything else. Oh, and someone at the thrift store was playing me mighty close when I was holding my cookware. If I had even had a flicker of a notion of putting them down, homeboy would have scooped them up. Shoot, I was looking over my shoulder to make sure he wasn't planning on straight taking them out of my hands!!!

Okay, so what, you ask, did I pay for all these lovely items? $31. I could hardly believe it.

I felt so incredibly blessed. We didn't get there early. We didn't have to dig around and search. It was like these things were there for us. So if You're listening, Thank you so much.

For the Love of Music!

I like what I've seen on some folks blogs, you know, a weekly, recurring "event" like "Lurker Thursday" over at Diary of an Anxious Black Woman and "Monday's Meal" over at My Little Slice of Pie or "Wordless Wednesday" at various blogs I've run into.

Well, through the miracle of YouTube, I've been able to find some fantastic music. I've grown to enjoy many different kinds of music and I want to share with anyone who might stumble upon my blog. I'm going to start out with Igbo music because I think that has been the greatest thing I've found on YouTube. I'm not sure what day this "musical event" will occur but it seems that since I finally got around to it on Friday, I'll stick with that. Now to think of a clever name.

So here it is, the first installment of [insert clever name here]: "Agam Adi Ndu" by Paul Nwokocha


I love this song. Calming. Peaceful. And so powerful. It basically says that "human beings predict or say all these negative things about me and what will become of me but it is only what God says that is true--what God says I will be, is what I will be."

I'm becoming more and more motivated to reconnect my children to my family back home in Nigeria. It's not in the budget or in any way convenient but . . . songs like this make me feel nostalgic and remind me how important it is to go back to the root.

I've Been Tagged!

So I've been blogging for a little while now and I never really imagined I would enjoy it so much. What I am really surprised about is how in starting my own blog, I found so many other fantastic blogs. One such fantastic blog is The Glamazon Chronicles by OG. OG is the person who "tagged" me and I'm so tickled. So I'm taking out time this morning to do my "Tagged Duty". I've been thinking about it so here goes . . .

First the Rules:













Seven Random or Weird Facts
1. Even though I'm a very picky eater, I enjoy eating strange combinations of food. For example, cheese and jelly, pickles and fish sticks, yogurt and peanuts. My husband and friends joke that I eat like a pregnant person even when I'm not pregnant. Also random, I have never eaten lobster or clams or squid. And I never want to.

2. I scored a perfect score of the verbal section of my SAT and on the SATII writing exam and was 20 points away from scoring a perfect score on the SATII American History. In high school, I took three AP courses and scored a perfect score on 2 out of the three. I can't believe how important my scores were to me when I was younger and how inconsequential they are not to my life. They mean nothing now and honestly, I wish I had enjoyed school more instead of working so hard to be "perfect". I really missed out on my teen years!!

3. On each hand, I have the "nub" of what would have been an extra finger. The one on my left hand is larger than the one on my right. As a baby, the doctor tied off the extra fingers (no bone or nerves or anything) and it fell off. But the "nub" is still there. I've always been self-conscious/embarrassed/ashamed of it. In school when we were asked to hold hands, kids gave me such a hard time about the nub and often would refuse to hold my left hand. The hubby melted my heart when we were dating/getting serious by kissing the nub.

4. I wear glasses. Thick. Super Duper Thick. I cannot see a thing without my glasses and the first thing I do in the morning is feel around for them. I worry that if there's a situation and my glasses get broken or knocked off, I'm in a real pickle!! I also have astigmatism some buying contacts is an (expensive) royal PITA.

5. I wanted to be an opera singer when I grew up. I listened obsessively to Kathleen Battle and other Black opera singers and I knew that's what I wanted to do. I practiced and practiced and practiced (much to my mother's annoyance). In high school, one racist teacher "demanded" to know where I learned to sing opera, saying that "hood girls" don't know anything about classical music.

6. I also wanted to be a doctor and was well on my way. I started college in a combined B.S./M.D. program commuting from home. I did horribly and left the program in hopes of becoming a doctor the traditional way. After an all day chemistry lab where by 9:00PM I had no results, I finally decided that the sciences were not for me and found my way to the English department. I graduated with a degree in English lit and a minor in Black studies and I never looked back.

7. I hope to retire to Ghana after I become famously rich here in the United States. I visited for the first time last summer and fell in love. Oh, the two-week trip wasn't easy. I had a 2 year old, was 3 months pregnant, got woefully sick with stomach virus after eating undercooked eggs accidentally but it was fabulous and beautiful and heartbreaking all at the same time. Interestingly enough, I did not get on the computer or check my e-mail for the whole two weeks. It was a great detox and I hope to have the discipline to do another two-week detox right here in the states.

Bonus Random Fact
My first name has 11 letters in it.
My middle name has 12 letters in it.
My maiden last name has 7 letters in it
My married last name has 9 letters in it.
My last name is hyphenated. So my whole name has a total of 39 letters in it.
(As a 4 year old, learning to write my name was, I was convinced, slow, painful torture!)
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Now for the folks I'm tagging!
1. Nya over at 80sBaby70ssoul
2. Amoi over at I am the sum of my parts
3. Just me at My Little Slice of Pie
4. Anaylli at Nyam: Adventures in Cooking and Eating
5. Kellybelle at Ephphatha
Hmmm . . . I need two more but I don't have two more. The two more would have probably been OG (but she tagged me and if you're reading this, it was great to read your 7 random things . . . LoL!) and Black Girl in Maine.
Anyway, tagged folks, I hope you'll do it!! :)

Not So Hidden Racism

Okay, so every Black person I know has a story of how they've felt racism--overt and covert. I always find it interesting the times/places where racism rears it's ugly head.

Tuesdays I take my boys to the local library. They play, look at books and have storytime while I collect the books needed for the week's lesson. Well, today upon our arrival, I noticed an older White lady kind of just sitting there waiting. She soon started to pass out papers. When I looked at mine, it was basically a breakdown of healthy eating, you know, according to the food guide pyramid. Me, being as well-versed in nutrition as I am, was like, okay, cool, whatever, I know all this.

So the kids are playing and making all their noise and enjoying themselves and she starts in on talking to "the mothers". Now, I smirked because she didn't even bother to find out if we were actually the mothers. Brown women. Brown babies. Ass-umption. Most of the ladies there are actually the caretakers/babysitters. Well, she continues on addressing us as "mothers". What annoyed me first and foremost was that Homegirl never introduced herself. Like, who the heck are you anyway and what qualifies you to be "educating" us? She never did say who she was and where she came from. She just started in on lecturing us. She never found out what we did know and what we didn't know. Just started to let us know that indeed, McDonald's is crap food and you shouldn't be feeding it to your kids. Well, as time went on, the lecture rolled around to whole grains. I thought I'd give Grandma a run for her money so when she said, "Now do any of you mothers know about the kinds of whole grains?" I said, "Sure, there's millet, amaranth, buckwheat, quinoa, oats, whole wheat groats, and rice." She genuinely looked stunned and retorted, "What kind of rice?" I said, "Well, brown rice of course." She turns to "the mothers" and says, "Yes, brown rice for your brown babies!" Wtf??

Well, the lecture hobbled along that way. She asked where you can get things like whole grains and high fructose corn syrup free foods "around here". And I said, "you can't get it around here . . . you drive 5 mins to Super Stop and Shop and you might be able to get a couple of good things; you drive 20 mins and go to Trader Joes, Mrs. Greens or Whole PaycheckFoods." She looked at us so pityingly I almost wanted to say, "Don't worry Grandma, most of us poor Black folks own vehicles and drive." I guess because these "mothers" were there at the library at that time, they couldn't be gainfully employed or otherwise educated. The whole thing was in sharp contrast to another White woman who came to give us a presentation on lead poisoning. She respected us. Engaged us. Introduced herself for goodness sake. We left feeling positive and having received some useful information.

I did speak to her after the session though. In a "Black Ambassador" kind of way. You know like, "Well, actually we've learned a lot about this stuff because we've had folks come before" and "yeah, I've always been interested in health especially since I was a vegetarian for a number of years" and "yeah, I've considered returning to school to earn my Ph.d in nutritional anthropology" and "yeah, you know my mother is actually a Columbia university educated nutritionist" and "Oh and yeah, I have a master's degree in childhood education and cook all our food from scratch . . . " The old biddy couldn't process all that--like, "You? A nigger? Wow."

As I watched this older woman today functioning under all these assumption about us as Black women, I just felt the enormity of what the daily struggle for people of color is in this country. This woman was ostensibly there to give out good information. I know she thought she was doing good. But the motivation behind her actions was all wrong. And because it was wrong, based in racism, she wasn't able to do an effective job. I think if nothing else, it crystallized what the problem with racism is--it makes building bridges, connecting with other humans based on our humanity virtually impossible. If we cannot connect, if we cannot build bridges, we cannot collectively grow and evolve.

Look, when Old Girl said that my kids "look healthy", I was hoping she wouldn't touch them. I would seriously have smacked her hand away or worse. It felt like another Color Purple moment (my life, it seems, is filled with Color Purple moments--LoL):
Mayor's Wife: Your kids are so nice and clean. Do you want to be my housekeeper?
Sophia: Hell no.
Mayor's Wife: What did you say?
Sophia: I said, Hell no.

Well, let's just be grateful she didn't touch them. My inner South Bronx girl might have made an appearance. :)

Vision Boards and Other Meditation Tools

I want to focus on putting up a vision board in the space where I do my 5.5.5. I already did a vision statement using powerpoint but I want something tangible that I can see without opening up a program. I'd also like to make a Chakra poster that helps me organize the functions of each chakra, its strengths/weaknesses, and corresponding affirmations/meditations. I'm not sure how long it will take me. I'm pretty sure working on it will be next to impossible so long as "put everything in my mouth" Z2 is on the loose. So it might have to be an early morning project. I will need poster paper/oaktag, markers and pictures from magazines.

I'm looking online to get ideas about how to do each project. Can't wait to have it done and post pictures.

Keeping it Light Online

I have a vice . . . Okay we all do but I feel mine is silly and due to a lack of discipline. It is getting too emotionally invested in online conversations (message boards and blogs). The conversations sometimes get a little too real in my mind. I think about the conversation constantly wondering did I make my point. I get offended when folks say offensive things. And I forget that these "online people" don't know me and I don't know them. I forget that "online people" say and do a lot of things that may not necessarily be true. You can create a whole online personality if you so choose, say you are who you are not, make up a whole history for yourself, offer advice and tips based on stuff you made up or things you found on the internet and not really things you've experienced and gone through. Why then do I find myself from time to time emotionally invested in trying to bring my point across to "online people". It's silly. I feel silly. I know it's partially because most of my days are spent talking to a three year old and a 10 month old--that I crave the adult interaction and intellectual stimulation. The other reason is because clicking around reading threads/blogs is one of the few activities that I can do while nursing or holding a child (I now can type pretty darn fast with one hand). Like many things in my life, though, I have to remind myself that in due time, in due time, I'll get that aspect of my life back. Online "intellectual exercises" without the benefit of really knowing the participants, seeing their facial expressions and body language leaves much to be desired.

I was involved in a conversation for almost four days that I have had to mentally and spiritually purge from. It took an ugly turn (where I felt that I was essentially called "the enemy" in a "spiritual battle") for basically presenting an unpopular viewpoint. So I unsubscribed this morning, deleted all the e-mails, every physical trace of the conversation. And this post is my final effort to purge and recommit to the discipline of keeping it light online. If a post starts out with, "I know this will ruffle feathers", stay far, far away especially as soon as you realize that anything other than agreeing with the main point is not truly what is being sought for; when the poster is basically looking for folks to sign on. I realize that looking for support only is indeed a valid reason to blog/post.

Online is to enjoy. To learn. To connect. Not to battle or feel attacked or be defensive or to feel judged.

For me, blogging and participating in online forums is supposed to be fun and enlightening. Supportive at times. Light. I know there's work to be done in real life and sometimes engaging in "deep" conversation online is a way to avoid real work. I know that my real life is serious enough where my online life really shouldn't be.

Every time this recent "online incident" comes to my mind, I recognize it and purge it with one huge breath out. I'm getting rid of this vice today.

Getting your side hustle on . . .

I'm constantly trying to find ways to augment our household income that don't take too much time away from my babies. I hate feeling like I'm neglecting them just to make a couple of bucks. I also need time at some point in the day to decompress so I know I don't want to do any work that eats away at what little free time I have.

One way of making extra that I find extremely compatible with being a stay-at-home mom is my baking. Now, I made a go of the home baking business way before Z2 was born with meager results. I'm encouraged now to keep at it especially since recently I've received a number of orders. It's the best way to make money for me because I enjoy it and because I can do it while fully engaged with my babies.

Z2 is young right now and requires a lot of me but I have some ideas about making Chi's Cakes and Cookies a profitable enterprise while I stay at home. Z2 will be one in December and I know that once children hit that one year mark (closer to 15 months), you as a mother can do so much more. And so I'm looking forward to picking up more business. I made the investment in equipment a while ago so I'm taking time now to plan, plan, plan to see if I could bring in some extra. Any extra helps. And if that extra doesn't cause the household complete upheaval (which in that case I might as well go back to teaching), I'm all for it.

I just wonder what angle to push Vegan? Healthier? Homemade? All of the above? None of the above? To label something as "vegan" and "healthier" sometimes gives people the idea that it's just nasty. LoL. Homemade . . . aren't people afraid of things made at home? Ahhh . . . I understand why marketing is so crucial. :)