Becky's Bottom Line: Disaster Zone B

Becky's Bottom Line

By Becky Brownstien

DISASTER ZONE B

I have a rare condition. Yes, it was self diagnosed. My condition is, if I don’t see it, it doesn’t exist. I’m not talking about faith or religious thoughts or anything like that. I’m talking about messes. Huge, ginormous, larger than life disaster areas that make you stop breathing if you think about the act of cleaning it. Like, the basement/playroom, otherwise known as disaster zone B. (Disaster zone A is another post altogether)

In an act to regain control of the playroom, I did a major makeover in the basement. I painted, bought really cute shelving, made a chalkboard on the wall with a really cute boarder, organized the books and toys. I made it adorable!

The kids were so excited about it.

Birth Propaganda

Birth Propaganda

By Mimi Hecht 

Over the course of my pregnancy, during which I lived in two different countries and three different cities, I saw three doctors, three birth-center midwives and spoke at length to two prominent home-birth advocates. I was one of those expectant mothers who came prepared with a plethora of questions, eager to hear various opinions that would help shape my own still forming view. 

But as my child gestated within, the questions too grew larger. Every one I consulted has scripted and predictable answers about what they considered a prime birthing situation.

Neshama & Nourishment: Dairy-Free Scalloped Potatoes

Neshama and Nourishment

By Liorah Abrams 

Dairy-Free Scalloped Potatoes

Neshama: Sometimes in life as in cooking, you will find things you can not accomplish, for one reason or another.  That does not mean that you can not have what you want, only that you must look at things in a different way in order to accomplish your desire.

Tools:

1 Small saucepan

1 Small corning ware (or similar) dish

Ingredients:

1 Pint of Coffee Rich Non-Dairy Creamer

3 Tbsp. Osem Onion Soup Mix

4 - 5 Large Potatoes, Peeled and sliced thin across the width (making "circles", not long ovals)

2 - 3 Tbsp. Margarine, softened

Salt

Pepper

Pam Spray

Becky's Bottom Line: Date Night

Becky's Bottom Line

By Becky Brownstein

"Her emotions are so fragile. But I can’t stop my relationship 

with my husband for a daughter who misunderstands the whole point of a date."

DATE NIGHT

My kids are getting older. With them getting older, life has given me much more space to breathe. But with more breathing space comes many more hardships. For one, date night. You might be thinking, “What the heck is this woman writing about? Date nights making things harder? Seriously?!”

Calm down. Let me explain.

To Have a Sister

TO HAVE A SISTER

In Honor of National Sister's Day, August 1st

"At the wedding, Mushky wept like a baby and danced like a nut."

My relationship with my sister got off to a bad start. As an only girl with five brothers, I had spent months awaiting my mother’s birth, praying for a sister. It was the first pregnancy that I had been cognitive enough to realize my mother was expecting and, let’s just say, my hopes and dreams were no secret. Perhaps if I had a sister, I would have more solid defense when my brothers wanted to wreak havoc on my dolls and it would certainly mean one more female to reckon with when playtime debates were whether to wrestle or play basketball. Never mind the fact that I deeply felt I could use a companion to share the brunt of my mother subjecting me to an overabundance of pink and bows (which totally backfired, by the way).

Marriage Musings: Delicate Speech

Marriage Musings

By Russi Wachtel

"We were given the gift of speech so that we could embrace others through words. 

Yet, many of us thoughtlessly push others away with the absence of verbal concern."

DELICATE SPEECH

Silly folks, say silly things, akin to the infamous quote “Sticks and stones may break your bones, but names will never hurt you.” The founder of such a saying must have had a midget mind or a deprived temporal lobe.
Words are far more powerful than people give credit – it is our speech that can harm or help build a relationship, especially a relationship between a husband and wife.

How many times have you said something to your husband that you regretted only moment’s later, wishing that you could reel your words back into your mouth in order to make a slight alteration?

Happy Mom Tips: Coupons: Friend of Foe?

Happy Mom Tips

By Rivka Caroline

Happy Mom Tip #9

COUPONS: FRIEND OF FOE? 

Here are my golden rules for using coupons effectively:

1) Only clip coupons for items you already buy. 

2) Don't waste time by dividing them into coupon holders; simply keep them in a ziploc bag.

3) Keep your coupons in your car (not on your desk!) and quickly look them through before you jump out of the car (rather than as you shop).

4) Discard expired coupons as you wait online.

Becky's Bottom Line: I Hate Winter

Becky's Bottom Line

By Becky Brownstein

Somewhere over the rainbow....

...there's something Becky calls, "real summer." 

I HATE WINTER 

Growing up in Southern California had many perks. The number one perk is the weather. It took me having to move to Pennsylvania to appreciate the weather I lived with for 18 years of my life. Now that it’s summer and school is out, the kids are home a lot. Yes, they do have camp but the days are long. The days are even longer when it rains. I never knew it rained in the summer until I moved here. What the heck is spring for then?

On the pesky rainy days, when the kids are locked inside, I find myself humming little tunes here and there.

Grocery Spending Stress Disorder

By Mimi Hecht

Grocery Spending Stress Disorder

On my last visit to the grocery store, I witnessed a mother at the cashier in front of me react to her receipt in a way that depicts how I presume a lot of us feel after we spend hundreds of dollars on food shopping. As she scanned the items on the long scroll, she grimaced, shook her head, rolled her eyes and, finally, after breathing a long and audible sigh, banished the receipt to the depths of her purse. Life would go on. After all, it had to - there was a long line of other shoppers also arriving at the counter for their weekly handover of hundreds of dollars in exchange for their sustenance.

I now know that I am not alone in my GSSD: Grocery-Spending-Stress-Disorder.

My Wife Needs a Vacation (COLlive.com)

This is a wonderful response from marriage counselor Daniel Schonbuch to a husband whose wife wants to vacation but they have a limited budget!

http://www.collive.com/show_news.rtx?id=10173&alias=my-wife-wants-a-vacation