A Time for Everything...

I'm reading a book, "Simple Abundance- A Daybook of Comfort and Joy" by Sarah Ban Breathnach. As I was reading this page, I found it so interesting and optimistic I had to share it with you. Its a passage from this book...Enjoy.

There is a time for everything,
And a season for every activity under heaven - Ecclesiastes 3:1

Yes,but they are not the same.
You cannot raise happy, secure ,emotionally well adjusted children, revel in a fabulous marraige, and work a sixty-hour week.
You want to, I know. So do I. But we can't. It is physically , emotionally. psychologically, and spiritually impossible. We have tried. We have failed.
We cannot circumvent the laws of Heaven and Earth just because it would be convenient. Just because it would fit nicely into our plans. We have tried. We have failed.
When we cannot do it all at the same time, we are meant to do only some of it. In order to find out what that "some" is to be, we need to ask : What is it I truly want right now ? What is it I truly need ? How do I get it ? How much does it cost in life's currency ?
This might be the season for you to wipe a runny nose. That does'nt mean the season of running your own business won't occur. This might be the season of living out of a suitcase. That doesn't mean the season of restoring a colonial farmhouse will never come. Making deals doesn't mean that someday you won't be making school lunches. The seasons of life are not meant to be frenetic, just full.
"You probably can have it all," Anna Quindlen muses. " Just not all at the same time. And ...you might have to make certain compromises when your children are small. But your children are going to be small for a very short period of time... it will go by in a blink of an eye, and you will only be 40, 50, or 60 with another 15 or 25 years ahead of you." A quarter of a century to do what you want to do, the way you want to do it.
Blessed is the woman who knows her own limits.

So signing off for the night with this thought provoking excerpt from this book...

A Happy Heart Makes a Cheerful Face....

A Happy Heart for you all to bring a smile to your face...

A simple decorated heart cake. My Wilton's cake decoration Course 1, week #2 lesson. We learnt how to decorate a cake with a star #16 tip.
Cake : Vanilla Cake with Strawberry Jam Filling

Frosting :Buttercream

Decoration: Used Tip #16 (star)

Colors : Blue, yellow
I Still have to practice some more to get more satisfactory results... This is a beginning....



A Beautiful quote to ponder upon till we meet again.....
I am learning all the time. The tombstone will be my diploma. - Eartha Kitt.

Wilton's Cake decorating program.

I have finally enrolled myself in the Wilton's Cake decorating program. I had googled this online and one of my blogger friend also recommended this. So it was on my mind for almost 3-4 months when finally I decided to just go to the nearest location and get myself enrolled. I'm in Course 1 which lasts for 4 weeks - 1 lesson/week. They have 4 levels. I know they do it here in the United states at Michael's. Just go to your nearest location and enquire about it if you are interested or check them out online.

Today is my second lesson and I'm super excited. We have to take a baked cake complete with Icing and our instructor is going to show us how to decorate..I just can't wait. I'm more or less an amateur baker. Though I've picked up quite a few things and techniques from the net and Youtube. So will keep you guys posted as to what happens with my cake decoration lessons..Is it going to be a hit or a miss...Whatever the results it makes me happy to do something for myself.

This is exactly what I wanted to say in today's post...Many a times we get so wrapped up in everything around us and doing so many things for everybody else we many a times forget to just take care of ourselves. So if you just do a little just FOR YOURSELF.. See how it feels..I'm saying this from experience. It could be as simple as just taking a walk or getting a new haircut you wanted or just going to the library and picking up books you always wanted to read. So How about TODAY...So tomorrow you can have happy memories of Today.

Leaving you all with a beautiful quote :
You only live once - but if you work it right, once is enough. - Joe E. Lewis

Dear Mr. Dryer...

Its been couple days that our dryer decided that enough is enough and it was time to say good bye to us...He left us there stranded...My new load of freshly washed laundry..thanks to Mr. Washer was left to dry by itself or find a replacement.

No, No before you all run to conclusions and think I'm losing my mind- Let me explain the situation. We in this technology advanced era have gotten so used to the household appliances that many a times we just take them for granted. Maybe if we show a little gratitude to the services provided by them and being there for us when we need them..it would be fair on them.. Of course they are machines..they have no feelings..You are absolutely right...But a thought just crossed my mind and for a moment just lets pretend they have feelings. So I decided to show my gratitude to the unsung heroes(appliances) in our household and thought it would be appropriate to address them as Mr. Washer, Mr. Dryer etc.. Why not right...after all they are with us day in day out... So Mr. Dryer maybe you just need a day to rest or maybe you are in a coma--please come back , we all need you..the clothes love you..and need your warmth. We homemakers and busy moms can't work without you. You have been an integral part of our lives. Mr. Appliance Doctor is on its way and I hope can see whats wrong and can fix you.. Everything is going to be fine.

Leisure by W.H. Davies

What is this life , if full of care
We have no time to stand and stare ?

No time to stand beneath the boughs,
and stare as long as sheep and cows :

No time to see, when woods we pass,
where squirrels hide their nuts in grass-

No time to see, in broad daylight,
Streams full of stars, like skies at night:

No time to turn at beauty's glance,
And watch her feet, how they can dance:

No time to wait till her mouth can
Enrich that smile that her eyes began ?

A poor life this if full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.

I love this poem even till this day. I remember learning this as a child and I revert back to the wisdom in this poem from time to time.

Sometimes when life goes about at such crazy and hectic schedule this poem always reminds me to take a moment and relax. Enjoy the bounties of nature. There will always be some task to be completed some place to reach.

I'm sure many would agree with me that time to time many of us over commit ourselves. We think if we squeeze in our time we could even do a particular thing for someone. In all this grand plan of making time for everybody we many a times fail to make time for ourselves. I'm guilty of this. So I know and now it soon catches up with you and then you end up emotionally , physically and mentally drained.

So as we all our in our spring cleaning mode I just took a moment to declutter my mind as well. I'm making a list of things I can do and things I could not really do. If I over stretch myself I end up over exerting myself and that leaves me feeling so tired and not happy either . So I narrowed on 2 important things which will really make my life very easy and make me happy-

• I figured its alright to allow ourselves to say , 'No' once in a while to commitments which we really do not have time for. Its impossible to please everyone everytime.
• Make time for 'ME' time where I can do things I love to do- this could be as little as 10-15 minutes to an hour- things like writing, blogging, reading to name a few.

See, I feel better already by pouring my heart out in this post. See you soon with more of whats happening in my life. In the meanwhile, feel free to give me your suggestions and feeback on this post.

Another Snow Storm...

By now we on the East Coast have seen so much of snow this winter, we do not even want to think about more snow. Until this morning, we get some more. The school called this morning to let us know, No School Today. My son is excited and happy as he gets another snow day...

My younger son is happy as he has his big brother to play with him all day long. Now I see this as a plan to keep me super busy. The morning begins with a lazy start. The kids are awake and are tip toeing downstairs to check out the snow. Soon I'm busy fixing breakfast and lunch and occasionally tempted to see the weather report.

It has started to snow and sweet soft snow flakes oblivious to everything around are beginning to cover everything it falls on. Now that does feel beautiful to look at. But as too much of a good thing loses its charm after a while, thats how I've started to feel about snow too. The first snowfall is beautiful and kids love making snow angels and having innocent snow ball fights. Then when it starts disrupting the normalcy around you, then you know you have had too much.

Soon Its evening and I get some quiet 'Me' time when the kids are being entertained by my husband who was working from home. I guess when you say you are working from home in fact you are over working. We saw him emerge once from his study for lunch and has been busy all day with his conferences and the likes. So I enjoyed my time sipping my favorite hot ginger tea and writing this post. This has been therapeutic for me and when I write and pour out my thoughts and ideas it makes me rejuvenated and makes me feel so good.

Talking about Winter and the Snow storms, I know this shall soon pass. Spring will be here soon. You can feel the crisp spring air, the birds chirping happily, the sun shining bright letting us know all is well. The new flowers blooming and seeing the landscape change makes you so happy.

So this makes me think, if we did not have the cold severe weather would we appreciate the warm weather and the beautiful gifts of nature. I guess not, as we would soon begin to take things for granted. Only when we lose something , do we value it for what it was worth.

A Wakeup Call...

Thanks a lot for caring. I was away for a while and many of you were worried for me. I was a bit under the weather and also too sad to post for some time now.

I was with one of my friends trying to comfort her as much as I could as her husband is far away from her Now. He had just turned 40 and his exit from this earth was untimely and just so soon. I must say though he has lived is life to the fullest enjoying every moment of it. That's what one of his dearest friend so beautifully described saying what we could have done and achieved by the time we would be say in our 80's he did it by the time he was 40. Also he always had a wonderful smile on his face and his sense of humor was one which got people hooked onto him. Best of all was his love for food. He loved to cook as well. He was a person who could make friends with anybody and everybody. As we were grieving with his wife and amidst the tears we were exchanging notes and incidents about him ,there was laughter with the tears. Then his wife said so too -He would'nt want us to cry for him but to celebrate his life on this earth. A Remarkable human being, a caring and loving husband, a wonderful father to his 3 girls and a wonderful friend.

He taught us all one thing. It was like a wakeup call for us. Seize the moment and live for today and live like there's no tomorrow. Be kind and thoughtful today. Sometimes there is no tomorrow, just a memory of what yesterday was all about. Its almost 3 weeks now since we lost him but he will be missed and remembered forever.