I wanna go home!...

What makes you happy?   Make a list, keep it in a safe place, refer to it when nothing seems to make you happy...so you can remember.  So you can kick your senses back into gear and out of neutral...or even worse, reverse.  I've been in "reverse" the past few days.  Lots going on that had already put me into "neutral".  But add a teen-aged girl and the accompanying psyche into the mix and yowza..."REVERSE" in 0 - 60 mph!  You'd think at 52 and two previous drives thru the teen-aged years as a mom I'd have this down pat, wouldn't ya.  Soooooooo "NOT winning" at the present.

Sooooo, in need of a reminder of what makes me happy.  And my list right now consists of two REALLY simple things:

1.  My green enameled cast-iron pot.  I keep it out on my stove top year-round because the color just makes me happy.  An added benefit, lifting it tones my arms...

2.  And chicken soup...

More accurately, it is the AROMA of chicken soup wafting through my home that makes me happy...

I mentioned one time to friends that I always use my left-over chicken to make home-made chicken stock.  I think they thought I was a bit crazy to put in that work when you can easily go to the store and buy pretty darn good chicken stock off the shelf.  I'm no "Barefoot Contessa".  I'm not even Rachel Ray.  I just like the smell.  It transports me back to being a kid, to being home, to having few cares in the world beyond being able to beat the Knittweis twins at knee-sies in Chinese jump rope during recess, or getting home from school in time to catch Barnabas Jones and "Dark Shadows" on tv.  And if anything truly was wrong...my parents could fix it for me, or tell me how to do it myself.

Last night was not a good night.  I'm feeling a bit of a failure in the mom department at the moment.  So this morning, I wrote down two things on my "happy list" and then referred to it right away.  The green pot was already out, so I started making chicken stock for soup.  The house smells like "home".  Today I'm only going to worry about getting nothing done.  AND making sure I leave time from getting nothing done, to catch-up on "The Biggest Loser"...which I didn't get to watch last night because I was already feeling like the biggest loser myself, so why be redundant. I have  no idea what kind of soup I'm even going to make when the stock is done.  I'm vacillating between Avgolemono and a recipe for Moroccan Chicken and Butternut Squash Soup I just read in "Cooking Light".  On second thought, I'm already on shaky ground with my teen-ager...think I'll scratch the latter off my list and save it that one for a night when she is out with friends.

I don't think I've ever heard anyone say being a mom was easy, and for good reason.  But I'll just inhale, and be happy for now.  Oh yeah, and I can add a #3 to my list...

#3.  Chicken Soup Bokeh

I'm such a "Bokeh Bimbo"!

Have a Happy Day...make a list, and check it twice.

--Kathy