The Daily Grind

Living the Dream...One Day at a Time

[epickmwilson-blog]

Jumping in the bath and realized my 8 year old left some friends #enjoylife #keepcalm #throughtheeyesofachild #luckiestmomintheworld #tgif

[epickmwilson-blog]

Monday inspiration #dressforsuccess #liveauthentic #livewithpurpose #femaleempowerment #femaleentrepreneur

[epickmwilson-blog]

OMG!!! 320 burger. I love you! #omnomnomnom #yummyinmytummy #albertabeef #farmfresh

[epickmwilson-blog]

Oh yeah! Happy Wednesday #wildwednesday #midweekmotivation #midweekquote

[epickmwilson-blog]

Goodbye Blue Monday , Hello Cheeky Tuesday...#dosomethinggreat #happytuesday #expecttgeunexpected

[epickmwilson-blog]

Dreaming of the fair! Homemade mini donuts for the boys! So unhealthy-but oh sooooo yummy! 1/2 cup coconut sugar 1/4 cup butter, 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg, 1/2 cup milk (I used almond milk) 1tsp baking powder, 1 cup flour For the topping 1/2 cup sugar (the unhealthy part) 1 tsp ground cinnamon ...melt the butter and whisk in sugar, nutmeg, baking powder milk and flour - fill mini muffin tins half full and bake at 350 for 10 minutes. Cool for 5 minutes . Mix together sugar and cinnamon and roll cooled minidonuts -enjoy #yummyinmytummy #nomnomnom

[epickmwilson-blog]

Sunday Funday Dinners

Sunday dinners were aways a big deal growing up.  My grandmother would spend hours peeling potatoes or stripping green beans during the day all in an attempt to prepare a good wholesome family dinner for all of us.  

I remember watching as grandma seasoned chicken ( the art of first-washing your chicken with lime and water, then combining various spices, green onions, garlic, ginger and of course Worcestershire sauce) early in the morning and allowed it to marinade in the fridge all day until it was time to cook.  Grandma even had her on vegetable garden in her backyard.  She would always ask me to go pick a few tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce leaves and radishes for her salad.  A task that I hated at the time because I hated seeing the slugs and other insects that always lay in between the leaves-taunting me.   When I returned, to the aromas of the kitchen grandma would thank me, then we would sit together in the kitchen, humming tunes or talking about the school day that was quickly impeding on my weekend.  Grandma always had her hair in a bun and I remember how the silver grey shone in the light of the kitchen.  Come to think it, looking back, I don’t ever remember a time when Grandam’s hair didn't shine on those special Sunday afternoons-it seems magical.

My grandma has been dead for over two decades, but the lessons that she taught unbeknownst to me, by those special times on Sundays have been ever present in my Sunday dinner rituals. I don’t have a garden although, I have bought seeds this year to begin this tradition with my kids, but Sunday dinners are an all out affair in my house.  I bring out the special cutlery and dishes, and make a dinner with all the fixings.  We all sit around talking, laughing and enjoying each other’s company.  The boys are usually filled with dread as Monday approaches, and my husband is also saddened that once again we have not managed to win the lottery, hence we now need to prepare for another work week.  I laugh and leave the boys to clean up.

With life moving so fast, it is nice to take moments such as these on Sundays to enjoy the blessing that we have in our lives.  Whatever that looks like for you, stop for a minute today at dinner and simply pause...

[epickmwilson-blog]

Guess what has arrived! I can't wait for spring! Thanks @kitandace best casual chic! #ilovecashmere #casualchic

[epickmwilson-blog]

My Saturday coffee thought. #saturday #weekendsarethebest #contemplatinglife #peoplewatching

[epickmwilson-blog]

Weekly money challenge 2016... Let's see what I can save by the end of the year...next instalment $4 for a total of $6 #moneychallenge #timetosave #ifeelatripcomingon

[epickmwilson-blog]

Pretty much how today went. Should have had more than two cups this morning! #morecoffeetomorrow #gladmondayisover #whatsthedealwithmondays #stayingpositive

[epickmwilson-blog]

Veggie Lasagna! Oh I love easy meals! #vegetarian #easymeals #backtobasics #homestylecooking

[epickmwilson-blog]

getting ready for a new year of barre! #barre3challenge #iwantthesethighs #strength #anewday #healthyeating #healthylifestyle

[epickmwilson-blog]

New Year’s Eve

Another year has past and I have to admit 2015 was a rather interesting year.  There seemed to be a lot of changes and transitions; both personally and professionally, that occurred in this year.  Not necessarily positive. However, on the eve of the dawning of a New Year a few words come to mind....Reinvention, Gratitude, Faith and Hope.  I am filled with a thankful heart, and a heart filled with gratitude, and as I leap expectantly from this year to the next, I am doing so filled with an abundance of joy.  This is how I am choosing to re-invent myself.  I am not going to make oodles of promises that I never seem to keep, nor am I going to write yet another list of goals or objectives that I want to achieve over the next year, to yet again be disappointed at the end of the year at my lack of progress.  No! This year I am going to “wing it”.  I am going to enjoy each day for what it has to offer, the good, the bad and the ugly.  I am going to Thank God for each moment that I get to spend with the amazing family that he has blessed me with.  I am going to breathe and let go!

So as this year comes to a close, I have emptied every garbage in my house, cleaned my living space, washed all the laundry and put new sheets on the beds.  Each one of us has had a shower and are in freshly laundered pyjamas waiting patiently for the New Year of 2016 to begin.  As I write this I am smiling because I can hear the chatter of my boys in the basement, my dog playing with her squeaky toy and my husband engaged in idle chatter with our children.  I am at peace.  Isn't this a great way to start a New Year?

[epickmwilson-blog]

Parenting with patience

I spoke too soon-yesterday I raved at how awesome my eleven year old son was when he actually listened. Well in pre-teen years, that one incident was code for just wait until tomorrow. Argh! Meltdown city when I got home. You see we had made a deal before I left the house this morning. Clearly bartering with an eleven year old a 6 am is not a smart parenting decision. In any case the terms were simple-NO XBOX until noon, walk the dog at 2, actually hang out with your grandma-who is babysitting and play games with your brother. Let’s say that rule 1 was broken by 8am! The consequences were, bed by 8 and no sleepover with your friend today. Whoa he went off the rails. He stormed out of the house;he was running away, don’t you know. Finally when he calmed down, or perhaps was too cold to stay outside any longer, he came in and apologized. Now normally with meltdowns I react. I get frustrated very easily. However, in my quest to do the opposite, I kept calm and ignored his behaviour. And it worked! It stopped the meltdown, eventually and he was calmer. Doing the opposite is tough, but it certainly does get results.

[epickmwilson-blog]

I did it! I have officially begun my journey into doing the opposite of what my natural instinct would be.  It takes a lot of conscious effort and brain power, but at the end of the day, I honestly feel...lighter.  Like a giant weight has been lifted off my shoulders.  Okay, so it is only day 1, but still...progress.

So what did I do you ask that was so life changing?  Well for starters, I didn’t spend any money today! No coffees, no cafeteria lunches and no afternoon snack. I took my own coffee to work in a Thermos, packed a salad for lunch and had apple slices for my 2pm snack.

 This morning, when I greeted all of my direct reports, I viewed them with “10′s” above their heads.  I didn't revert to my usual old thinking of...”why are they...”, but instead saw each one of them for the integral role they play in my organization.  Even when I had to speak to one of my colleagues for not following through on an issue, I did so without judgement or allowing past behaviour to interfere with the here and now.

Then when I came home today, my son was on the Xbox as usual.  Now normally I would nag him to come off, he would yell and protest and eventually he would end up in tears.  But tonight, I didn’t nag.  I greeted him with a warm hello, a smile and a kiss on the forehead.  He greeted me back and even kissed me back (yes, my 11 year old actually gave his mother a kiss).  There was no arguing, no fighting and YIPPIE! no tears. When I asked him an hour later to come off for dinner-which usually again would lead to more arguing and tears his response was a simple “Okay mom” WHAT! Success!

Last, but not least, in my quest to live a simpler life, free of distractions from monetary gain and possessions I finished freezing my VISA Card. The law of buoyancy caused me to fill a plastic container halfway yesterday, and freeze my card partially, and well, tonight I finished the deed.  So now I am living on cash, if I choose to make any purchases.

So this is why I feel elated, jubilant and free.  Of course, I still have more than 365 days to go, but hey, it’s a start.

[epickmwilson-blog]

Opposite 2016

Last night I could not sleep.  I am not entirely sure as to the reason, but at 2 am, I was officially awake.  I did what I usually do when I can’t sleep, I pulled out my iPhone and decided that I was going to watch a movie on Netflix.  Nothing caught my interest, so I turned to You Tube, and that is when I came across old episodes of Seinfeld.  I remembered the 11 years that I spent watching the antics of George, Elaine, Kramer and of course Seinfeld himself.  This was when TV was worth watching; I no longer have cable. The good old fashioned belly laughs at seemingly mundanely ordinarily life conversations. As I waded through clip after clip from beneath my duvet (I didn’t want to risk waking up my husband with the light from my phone), I felt elated.  Oh the simpler times, or at least they seemed simpler.  I was a freshly graduated high school student about to embark on the beginning of adulthood when the first episode of Seinfeld aired in 1989.

Then it dawned on me;  actually what dawned on me was the episode where George decided that he was going to do the exact opposite of everything that he would normally do in an attempt to change every bad decision he had ever made.  And by George (no pun intended) his life changed.  This concept started me thinking, what if I spent the next year of my life doing exactly as George did...the exact opposite of everything that I would normally do, think and feel. Would my life change for the better or would there be catastrophic consequences?  Only time would tell.

So, for the next year I am going to change the way that I have been living.  I am going to live a simpler life, no credit cards (I’m going to freeze my credit card), no more debit transactions, only cash and I will live off of what I make.  If I don’t have the money I will go without.  Sounds simple, but I am breaking out in a cold sweat here.  Now that my Visa card is in the freezer, there is no turning back.This is a novel idea, so 80′s but hey, it is worth a shot.  I mean what do I have to lose?