Musing Mommies Podcast Episode

Today’s the day!! The sun is shining! The tank is clean and we are getting out of – The Tank Is Clean!!!!

Are you bright and shiny like Peach or are you a “Debbie Downer”? This week, the Musing Mommies, Kim and Dawn discuss the power of positive thinking.  Tune in to hear about how we are turning our stress into blessings and getting out of the pit of negativity. If we can do it, YOU can too!!

Until next time,

~Dawn and Kim

Please share us with your friends! We are on Facebook, Twitter, iTunes, Miro, and on iPods and mp3 players around the world! We want to hear from you too, so contact us today and say HI!
Email: Kim or Dawn (at) musingmommies.com
Voicemail:  213-280-5327

We now have voicemail!!!

YAY!

If you listened to our last podcast you’ll have heard we MuMos are taking part of the AT&T Share Brand Ambassador program.  So in doing so we have received a Blackberry Torch to use for the next year.  We’ll do some reviews on it and share our experiences. Dawn and I have Iphones, as you know, and have no idea how to use Blackberrys.  So if you have a Blackberry please leave us a comment and give us some insider tips as to how to use this phone to the fullest!

OUR NEW NUMBER IS: 213-280-5327.

So please call and leave us a voicemail.  You know you want to!  Ask us a question, comment on a show you’ve listened to, give us some tips for the phone.  Whatever you think we need to know (please no cranks or inappropriate comments, you will be blocked).

We are excited and eager to hear from you!

~Kim and Dawn

Musing Mommies Podcast Episode 62 Monday June 7th 2010

Welcome to June MuMo listeners! Summer is in full swing and this week Kim and Dawn are…

dead tired.

lol!

But we love you all and we couldn’t leave you hanging another week without recording a fabulous Musing Mommies podcast.  This week is a free chat – where Kim and Dawn talk about a little bit of everything, the good, and the bad. Listen in as we catch you up on what’s going on in the lives of your favorite Podcast mavens!

Until next time,
~Kim and Dawn

LINKS|Twilight Series Theories|Shiver|Maggie Stiefvater|Dawn Fry Photo|

{Guest Blogger}

Life Coach Susan Liddy, MA, PCC, CPCC

I’ve always said that moms have the toughest job on the planet. Not only do they care for their own children, but they often willingly take on responsibility for their children’s friends, their relatives’ children, and any other child who comes along needing mothering! In Mom’s heart, there is room for everyone and plenty of nurturing to go around… also for a husband or boyfriend, and one day maybe even her own parents.

It’s easy to see how a Mom could put herself last on the priority list… or worse… forget about herself entirely while she looks after everyone else.

Do you remember how you took care of yourself before you had children? What were your dreams? Ambitions? What was your daily routine like? Chances are, you made your needs important… and you allowed yourself free time just for you.

Of course, once you’re a mom, it’s no longer easy to fit in that workout, let alone make time for daydreams and other simple pleasures that you once took for granted. These days, you’re busy planning your day carefully, trying to fit it all in before time runs out.  A busy mom quickly learns to go with the flow in her tumultuous life. School meetings and appointments are often rescheduled; kids fall sick unexpectedly; soccer games get rained out and friends break plans. Not to mention, the unexpected surprise of a forgotten overdue bill that needs attention, a car breakdown, or any number of inconveniences that can wreak havoc on your day!

Despite all this… you must remember one thing. YOU are still just as important as you ever were. In fact, let me rephrase that. YOU are even MORE important than you ever were. So, Mom, please don’t forget, in the midst of caring for everyone else, that it is critical that you make time to take care of YOU!

Ways to care for yourself:

Plan out your schedule a day or two in advance so you can fit yourself in there somewhere. Develop a routine that you can stick to during “off hours” when things are the least hectic. For example, maybe you designate Sunday as shopping and cooking day. This way, you can prepare nutritious meals for your family in advance, then freeze single servings that they can heat and eat as needed. This will free up so much dinner making time Monday through Saturday, which will make your life a whole lot easier.

Have backup babysitters available. Wouldn’t it be great to know that there’s a stay-at-home mom in your neighborhood who has room to watch more child on a day when you really need it? Or how about having the freedom to take a Saturday night off while the kids stay at home in the care of a local teen or senior? Interview your sitters in advance and get referrals. If you can’t afford babysitting, do kid swaps with other parents.

Have once a week date night with your S.O…. and make it something special. Just because you’ve been married many years or had yourself a bunch of kids doesn’t make you any less deserving of a night out alone with the one you love. Go out to a nice restaurant, catch a movie, meet up with friends or have them take you out dancing. Wear that new skirt you bought and don’t forget the lipstick. Having a social life and a little romance now and then will keep a spring in your step and a sparkle in your eye. Mom needs that every once in a while!

Schedule group play dates for your children and other moms. As the kids socialize, so can you. This is also a great way to make new friends if you’re new to the neighborhood or just haven’t had the time to meet people. Seek out child-friendly places to take your kids, that you’ll also enjoy. If you have preschoolers, get everyone together for lunch at the local park where the little ones can swing and slide while you chitchat.

Take a day off! Even Mom needs to recharge her batteries every once in a while. If your children are in school, maybe instead of spending the day working, cleaning and paying bills, you can play hooky from your responsibilities for a spell. Hit the beach, spend the afternoon window shopping, meet an old friend for lunch or take in a local museum or other culture.

Finally, consider that you are a role model for your children. How you take care of yourself reflects not only on how they will treat themselves when they become adults, but also how much effort they’ll expect their own wives or husbands to put into self care. You want your kids to grow up feeling fulfilled and happy as adults, yes? Taking care of you is NOT selfish; it’s actually a gift to yourself and others. After all… the more you put in, the more you’ll get out in the way of a happy and fulfilled life.

About the Author:

Life Coach Susan Liddy, MA, PCC, CPCC is the founder and CEO of AspireLifeCoaching.org, a life coaching company on a mission to empower women globally. Susan is the author of the “Secrets to Ultimate Living; What you wish you knew when you were 20!” and an active contributor to many blogs, including her own blog, SecretsToUltimateLiving.com.

Click here to get FREE access to Life Coach Susan’s Passages to Empowerment Video Series: Passages to Empowerment Video Series

(We are helping to promote Susan’s programs. In gratitude, Susan pays us a commission for any referrals who sign up.)

It’s February 1st, January is G.O.N.E. Do you feel more organized? No, me neither. But I feel like I’ve had a good start. Keeping it fresh in my mind is giving me steam to keep going. I know it’s a work in progress because it is such a big project. I know I can do it and I’m sure you can too.
Have you been enjoying the Facebook page daily tasks? Are they helping at all? What can we do to improve on them?

I have another question for you, are you ready? Ok here:
What can the Musing Mommies do to make your life better (that is within our power and within reason)?
What do you need from us?
What would you like for us to talk about?
Is there someone you’d like us to interview?
Do you want to be on the show?
Ok, so that was more than one question, but I’m on a roll
Tell us what you think. We love and need your feedback to make our podcast and website a better thing. Help us out please and give us your thoughts.

We love you and are so grateful for you, our fans.
~Kim

WOW Coffee with the CGs on the first day of a new year and a new decade?  What a way to start out! Welcome all. Come on in, grab a mug, and sit down to chat for a bit.  These past few weeks have gone by fast. Are the holidays really over? It kinda makes me sad that they are.  I don’t want to take my tree down and put the decorations away.  It’s going to look so bare  I guess that means I have to clean too.

The Musing Mommies are going to start something new. We are going to do our own type of small thing. On our Facebook fan page, we will list an organization tip or task for the day. You can do it or not it’s up to you, but we thought it would help us get a bit more organized and thought we’d share it with all of you.  Let’s make 2010 the year of organization.

What will we start with??? I guess you’ll have to come on by the fan page and see what the task will be.

I hope you all had a safe and happy new years eve and got plenty of sleep

~Kim

Hello everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season and a great New Year’s Eve.  We didn’t do anything here – I made a bunch of junk food and the kids went to bed at the usual time; they didn’t even know anything was special about the day.  Both kids are sporting a cold, thanks to my mom and her annual Christmas cold, so my oldest was up all night long (and therefor so was I. ugh).  He sounds awful, coughing and gagging and blowing snot everywhere.  The baby slept till way past his usual wake up time, or so I thought, until I went in his room and discovered he had no voice.  Poor thing, if he had been calling for me I didn’t hear it.

This year my goal is organization too, so I hope to be participating in the Small Things over at Rachel’s site more and also doing the Musing Mommies challenges.  The “new year” is such an interesting concept to me, and hopefully I can get a blog post out about it over on my personal blog.  If only I can get rid of this headache first…

Enjoy the coffee and the visit. I look forward to checking in over at your blog as well.

Best wishes for a FANTASTIC 2010!!

~Dawn

Good morning girls! How quickly the holidays have passed. I’m actually on the road headed to the Texas panhandle. We just left from Dallas where my parents live. We had a great time laughing EATING playing and having a fun time. We even had a white Christmas!!! My kids were able to build thier first snowman. How cool is that? I’m so very thankful that we were able to give them such a good Christmas. I hope you and your’s had a wonderful holiday. Until next week.

-Kim

Welcome girls! I’m tired. I could and would sleep for a long time. This week has done me in.  Let’s go back to last week shall we? Friday night was our Musing Mommies Cookie Exchange and holiday party.  We had a wonderful group of gals join us for some snacking and chatting.  It was a great start to the weekend. We had more cookies than we could handle. We also had more snacks than we could eat because MuMo Dawn tends to go crazy when making food for parties! But I’m not going to complain cause it was all yum!

Sunday was Party with my girlfriends, we ate, drank, played Pokeno (which I ended up winning the last pot), and KARAOKE!!! It was a blast.  But DH went outta town for 3 days so I was single mom and let me tell you it wears me out. I’m not used to it and I hope it never becomes a permanent thing.

This week was the last week of school until Jan 4th.  We had parties, Christmas programs and piano recitals! I was busy this week. Tonight we’re going to go see the trail of lights which is a tradition. It should be fun.

I hope you all are having a great week/end. Be Safe and Merry!

~Kim

Hey there Company Girls!
Well, my week wasn’t near as busy as Kim’s, but I am still exhausted – does that count?   The cookie exchange party was a blast, as was the other party Kim mentioned. I spent this week finishing up client orders, delivering prints and creating my own personal holiday card.  I got it in from the printer yesterday and I think it turned out great.  Is no one sending holiday cards this year? So far we’ve only received 1.  Maybe everyone is getting them out late like me.

So what kind of holiday card do you like?  Pictures, no pictures, year-in-review letter written by the dog or just a typical holiday greeting? Signed or not signed or does it matter?  I am curious to your preference!

Hope you have a great week and a wonderful Christmas! May Santa bring you everything you desire!

~Dawn

I just have to share this blog post that I came across. It’s GREAT for us moms that actually text (poking Dawn).  I think you all will get a kick out of it.

I found this on the Hip Moms Who Work blog.

Seems like everything under the sun has a text shorthand equivalent (just checkout netlingo.com) but no one has come up with text shorthand for Moms. WTF?! We deserve our own secret language!

I’ve taken the liberty of starting a list of shorthand we can use when we text one another. Of course, I based this on the most commonly used phrases in the current Mom lexicon.

MKRDMN – My Kids Are Driving Me Nuts
OMGMKRDMFN – Oh My God My Kids Are Driving Me F***ing Nuts
MHIDMN – My Husband Is Driving Me Nuts
OMGMHIDMFN – Oh My God My Husband Is Driving Me F***ing Nuts
MNC – Mommy Needs Coffee
MNW – Mommy Needs Wine
MNM – Mommy Needs Margaritas
MNV – Mommy Needs Vodka
ITHNNIHH- I Told Him Not Now I Have A Headache
CTMA – Calgon Take Me Away
WHIJCTPU – What Happened I Just Cleaned This Place Up
MNANO – Mommy Needs A Night Out
IIHTGTASGIWLMS – If I Have To Go To Another Soccer Game I Will Lose My S***
GTT – Going To Target
GTC – Going To Costco
GGS – Going Grocery Shopping
HNTGAV – Husband Needs To Get A Vasectomy
LCKMA – Laundry Can Kiss My Ass
GMOH – Get Me Outta Here
GMFOH – Get Me the F*** Outta Here
LGAT&L – Let’s Go All Thelma & Louise
WRWGFDBINMA – Where Are We Going For Dinner Because I’m Not Making Any
MBRSSTFOOMBWIBO – My Boobs Are So Saggy They Fall Out Of My Bra When I Bend Over
WYPSP# – What’s Your Plastic Surgeon’s Phone Number
IHSMLIAW – I Haven’t Shaved My Legs In A Week
IHSYT – I Haven’t Showered Yet Today
IHBMTYT – I Haven’t Brushed My Teeth Yet Today
INAM/P – I Need A Mani/Pedi
IHNTW – I Have Nothing To Wear
INTGOM – I Need To Get Out More
INTGAB – I Need To Get A Babysitter
IGCYWC – I’m Going Crazy You Wanna Come
WYSP# – What’s Your Shrink’s Phone Number

So if you have any more to add to this please leave a comment and let us know!

~Kim

Welcome girls, it’s a chilly day so let your mug of delish warm you up. It’s been a busy week, hasn’t it?  Thanksgiving travels, back to school, back to lessons and practice, and The Pioneer Woman!

Dawn and I talked all about our Thanksgiving travels in our last podcast but let me tell you just a bit.  We traveled many miles, ate lots of food, conversed with many a family member and got home in time to go see NEW MOON together.  I was so happy to be able to see the movie, again, with my co-host.  I was dying to talk with her about it and now I can, finally!

So last night Dawn and I went to The Pioneer Woman’s book signing at the BookPeople store in Austin.  It was cold, there were may people but it was really a treat to get to meet her and her family.  She really seems to be as sweet as she can be.

All ages from tiny babies to "elderly"

I've never seen her so excited!

Dawn has the full account of our “night out with PW” on her blog: Fry Moments. Go read about it, it’s a great read and there are some fun pics there too.

I wish you all a safe, happy, healthy and WARM week!

~Kim

Here is something to watch while you are all in your turkey induced coma!

Enjoy and blessings to all!

Because I personally love browsing blogs I thought I’d re post something I read on ProBlogger. Please read and don’t leave us all hangin after the Turkey day break:

Yesterday was my first day back at blogging after a 10 day vacation with my family and on Twitter I commented that I was finding it a little hard to get my brain back into blogging mode. @Mikeachim responded by suggesting I write a post on the daily rituals that I use to get my mind into gear.

I thought I’d take his suggestion and jot down a few notes – both as a way of getting my head back into blogging but also because looking at the tweets I received this morning it’s a problem many bloggers face.

As my head is a little scattered today (as I readjust) I’m going to tackle this as a list post – here’s a few thoughts:

1. Coffee

2 lattes with a sugar in each is a fairly essential part of my blogging routine.

2. Cafes

More important than the fact that I get caffeine into my bloodstream each morning is the fact that I do it in one of 2-3 local cafes each day. I find getting out of the house (I usually walk to them so get a 10 minute walk in too) helps me to snap myself out of ‘home mode’ and into ‘working/blogging mode’. I also find that blogging in public is stimulating too – sitting in the middle of a cafe is noisy and some might find it distracting but for me I find it actually helps me generate ideas and takes me into a slightly more social space than sitting alone at home in my front room.

You can read the rest of the article HERE!

Enjoy
~Kim