My Life As A WAHM

Wow its been a minute since we've last connected. I tell ya balancing work and home is no joke. Seriously. I started working from home without worrying about interacting with brick and mortar for about four months now and as I was sitting on our bottom stairs and then our mudroom bench in progress staring at our blooming male pear tree (meaning it bears no fruit).

I was thinking of my reason why I became a WAHM. It was for my girls. My last career as a healthcare professional lasted almost a decade. I really did love what I my profession but being here for my daughters is.... well.... priceless. I wanted to be totally available to them no matter what seeing that my husband travels at times for work. Being available to them wasn't an option before. I would wake up at 5am leave the house at 6:30am and our office would open at 7am on the dot and the patients would pour in literally waiting for us to open the door as if we had a sale a blood draws and EKG's that day.

Now a days I wake up and I'm able to get the girls up and ready for school and greet them when they return home. I love it but there is a catch. The catch is that I had to learn the hard way how much discipline is needed with being a "WAHM". In the beginning I jumped in without a plan. No plan results in distractions from every household chore that stares you in the face. Dishes, laundry, dusting, vacuuming, mopping etc. etc. Don't get me wrong by no means am I saying that these things are no longer important but what I am saying is that a balance is definitely needed between work, home and family. That definitely takes serious discipline, without it the day comes to an end and you realize that you haven't done any work at all and when its time to pay bills... well um.... I'm sure that you can figure out the rest of this story. I will be sharing with you A Day In The Life Of Me in an upcoming post and what I have done to resolve this issue. To hopefully help out other Moms whether a WAHM or a SAHM that maybe new to this or just needs help in this department as well.

Until Next Time.

Homemade Macaroni and Cheese

I apologize for being M.I.A. as some of you know. I work from home and my blog isn't my main source of income. I've been self educating myself for what I do so that I know what I'm talking about as I assist my customers. Anywho.

I've had a few of you ask for this recipe after I broke it down on  how to prevent cooking too much Mac well without further ado ;-)

Ingredients

1 cup shredded cheese (I prefer a mixture of sharp cheddar and swiss)

2 tablespoons of flour 

2 tablespoons of margarine

3/4 cup of milk

1/2 teaspoon of salt or seasoning salt or both :)

1/2 teaspoon of pepper

Directions

Prepare a pot of boiling water to boil 3/4 cup of macaroni. Boil for approximately 8 minutes or until aldente. Once the pasta is to your liking simply drain in a collander and sit aside until ready to prepare for baking. Next melt margarine in a boiler and add the flour whisking continuously until you've made a roux. Next add milk and continue to whisk. This may take about 5 minutes until you've created a creamy sauce at this time add cheese and adore the beautiful cheese sauce you've just created.

Now its time to combine the pasta and cream sauce in a glass dish for baking. Preferably I sprinkle a little salt and pepper on the pasta as well making sure each bite is tasty and not bland. At this time sprinkle some shredded cheese on top with a dash of chili powder for decoration and bake at 375 for about 15 minutes.

Note: This is only one way to make home made baked mac and cheese. How do you make yours? I'd love for you to share. I'm up for trying new recipes. 

I'm So Proud

Who really just cannot say they are proud of at least one accomplishment that their child has made. This acheivement that Aliya accomplished happened in early February but yet and still I'd like to share it.

I'm sure those of you who have or have had a child in the fifth grade maybe familiar with the D.A.R.E. program. A police officer comes to their school to teach your children the negatives of drug and alcohol abuse. After several weeks of learning, the kids write an essay on what they've learned and how it will affect them for the rest of their lives. A few of the essays are hand picked to be presented at the D.A.R.E. graduation in front of the entire fifth grade class, fifth grade teachers, parents and principal. Certificates are also presented by the officers and teachers.

Aliya's essay was one of the ones that was chosen, her Dad and I were so proud. It holds a special place in my heart because she's always felt that her big sister has been awarded with so much and she wanted her time to shine well baby here's your time. Congratulations and may the words you shared with all of us hold true for the rest of your life and that you can become a great role model for kids who are following in your footsteps.

One more thing. I just had to share a pic I found of Ayanna in 2010 with her D.A.R.E. officer at her graduation. Its only fair right?