Thanks to all of you who sent me recipes to get me through these weeks of baseball madness.  It is much appreciated.  I even have a date with a friend to go to “Let’s Dish”  to make a bunch of meals that just need to be reheated.   Who knew?

About eight months ago, Brian and I agreed to run in a marathon with my brother and his wife in Disney at the end of the September.  Brian and I would each do six miles whilst the other two each did the full 13 miles.  This marathon would kick off food and wine week at Epcot. 

This sounded like a good plan for several reasons.  It would be a good excuse to get in shape.  It would be a nice diversion for me after dropping our eldest off in Scotland in mid-September for her freshman year.  We could actually spend time with Mark and Pam without looking after eight kids.

The only problem is that I had never run a day in my life and I didn’t have a gym membership of any sort.  I quit my last gym a few years back because the women there were so unbelievably fit yet they rarely smiled.  How could they?   They were probably always hungry.

I joined a gym right after the holidays.  I went on a fairly regular basis for a month or two, during which time I realized I don’t like running.  Not one bit.   This posed a big problem.  Did I mention that my brother dared me to do this marathon, which is why I agreed in the first place? Forget the shin splints and the aching arches.  I would prefer limping the rest of my life to listening to my brother remind me that he won a dare.

So, I recently went back to the gym and I am able to run two miles on the treadmill.  I started off slowly and I add a little distance each time I go.  I try to equate it to my Arbonne business.  You build it up little by little and before you know it, you have achieved a goal. That is the beauty of network marketing.    Just keep moving forward and you will succeed.

Believe it or not, I am even beginning to enjoy my time on the treadmill or track.  As for my brother, he is already planning the next dare.  It is rumored that we are going to go from running to jumping…..out of a plane.

Over the past few months, I dug myself out of my own mid-life crisis.   I thought it might be trendy to have one, but after going through it, I have come to the conclusion that it is terribly over-rated.

So now I am going back to one of my first loves. Working.  Working?  Has she gone mad?   Just hear me out.    Working is enabling me to learn new things, meet new people, and earn some money to help educate our children and support my handbag habit.   I chose to go the path of direct sales (aka network marketing) so that I may create my own schedule and leverage my time.  Over the next few months I will share with you the many advantages of this type of career.

Today, though, I think it is only fair to warn you that with every life transition there will be at least one obstacle to overcome.  Mine seems to be dinner.   I work in the mornings and take care of the rest of our lives for the rest of the day.

Over the past fourteen years our four children have been served only organic fruits and vegetables. They have gotten very used to home-cooked meals.  In fact, they have even started to expect to be fed at least three times a day.  My Italian-American genetic wiring makes it impossible for me to serve them frozen or canned food.   We even have two vegetable gardens. 

En route to see ”Harry Potter” tonight I decided to engage the children in dinner planning for the next three weeks as the boys have about 200 baseball games. I suggested fresh salads, cut-up fruit, tasty sandwiches and maybe even breakfast for dinner.   Based on their responses, I gather that what really came out of my mouth was “How can I ruin your lives?’   

“I hate salads.”  “Fruit isn’t for dinner!”  “Only bad moms give their kids breakfast for dinner.”   “Sandwiches, are you kidding?’”  “We may starve to death.”  In an effort to be helpful, the husband suggested homemade lasagne or chicken parmigiano.   You know, light summer fare.

So, I will carry on trying to figure out how to fit work AND dinner into our lives.    There will still be plenty of food for anyone who wants to come by and be fed.    I would avoid Thursday, though.  That is the night I am serving everyone cereal.