I love Mother’s Day. I admit, every Hallmark (and even a few Publix) commercials make me cry. When the little boy hands his mom the heart-made card. Sigh. I think it’s great that we have a day to take time out and honor those who create and shape the next generation. Now my mom isn’t with us ‘in person’ anymore. She died in 1987, but every year at this time – maybe more than ever – she’s in my heart and on my mind. But right along with her in my thoughts are all the very special women who still ‘mother’ me… when times are tough, when there’s something to celebrate, or when I just need a shoulder, an ear and a big hug.

So this year, I’ve decided to make it official! I’m declaring the month of May our time to ‘Mother Each Other’. I’m thinking of gathering of my best friends over a good glass of wine – or a frosty margarita! Just time to celebrate each other and the bonds we share. Now don’t go thinking I’m throwing a big ‘all out, get out the good china party’, here. I’m talking about an impromptu, pick up the phone or dash off an email ‘let’s get together’ gathering. Something that’s easy and keeps the focus on the fun of just being together!

Why don’t you join me? I’ve asked my good friend Patti Corcoran of MakeItMineParties.com to help us out. She’s put together an amazing One Click Party package that gives me everything I need … basically a ‘party to go’. I’m talking gorgeous Lily Pulitzer (among others) cups, plates, napkins… you can even add Chinese lanterns if you want to! Every bit of it, toss (or recycle) when you’re done. No dish washing required! And to make it not only easy but even more affordable, she’s giving us a 10% discount* for the month of May. Just LIKE the new MIMP FaceBook page and it’s yours!

In my book, there’s nothing more peaceful than gazing out over the ocean and hearing the waves roll in … over and over and….  well, you get the rhythm. This summer may be coming to an end (sigh!) but a daily vacation is still right at your fingertips. Sound too good to be true? Well, let me share my secret destination:

Try it! Just relax and listen. And don’t touch that mouse! If you do, the timer will start over again.

You may be amazed at how long two minutes can actually be. And, if you continue the practice of ‘doing nothing’ for two minutes on a regular basis, you may learn that a tiny little break now and then will add up to a whole lot of rest and peace and relaxation.

So… don’t do something. Just sit there.

How do you spend your time? Running from thing to thing, place to place, barely getting by with getting things done? The list never-ending and growing longer and longer every day? Everything needed right now? Yeah, me, too!

But it struck me this week when I heard someone say (again!) “Time is money.” Hmmmm. Well, I have to say, when I stop and think about it like that, my time becomes more valuable by the minute. For you see, while I know I can make money, save money, make more money. I can’t make any more time.

Today my friend Sue posted:

“Self cloning equipment, needed immediately. Willing to pay top dollar. “

 Well, unless you know something I don’t, she’ll be waiting a while for that one! So what do we do in the meantime? Right now. Today. Well, I’ve decided to become an Investment Manager. And just as carefully as I’d consider investing in stocks, bonds or (heaven forbid) pork bellies, I’m going to pay VERY careful attention to how I’m investing my time.

In the coming week, I’ll be asking myself:

• Is what I’m doing right now really worth the time I’m spending?
• Is spending my time this way really a good match with my priorities?
• Is there a way I can do this in less time? Or maybe even not do it at all?
• What do I expect the ‘return’ to be on the time I’m investing?

Now, if you think I’m saying the goal of this exercise is to be ‘productive’ every moment… well, you’re right… and wrong. Wrong if you think this is about getting more done faster. But oh-so-right if you recognize that my goal is to live my life more aware of how I’m spending my time, and to make conscious choices in how I spend it, and with whom, doing whatever. Because, when it comes right down to it, I’m not a victim of the clock. How I choose to spend my time is largely up to me.

Life is lived in moments. And when we wander through, let them slip by, even rush past us in a blur without being intentional – or at least recognizing what we’re doing – we might as well be setting fire to a stack of cash.

Now, you’ll have to excuse me; it’s time for dinner and I’m going to really enjoy it!

Try this MTW secret:

For one week, keep track of how you spend your time. Just jot it down in your mobile, in a journal, or on a piece of paper you carry around in your purse. Don’t judge. Just jot. Everything. From work to working out. From FaceBooking to book reading. From visiting to volunteering. Cooking, cleaning, eating, shopping, overseeing homework. You name it. Just jot it down, day by day, starting today. Then we’ll check in next week to see what we do with this valuable research.

Does coffee taste better in a potter’s mug?  Carr McCuiston, Atlanta’s leading champion of contemporary American craft makers and owner of The Signature Shop Contemporary Craft gallery, would say so.  She starts her day by choosing which exquisite handmade mug will hold the morning’s first brew.  (And I thought I was fancy when I bought a French coffee bowl!)

Carr was already smitten with handcrafted art as a teenager when she worked part-time at The Signature Shop, then owned by its founder, Blanche Reeves.  Blanche took Carr under her wing, teaching her the business from the ground up. She’s carried forward many of her mentor’s traditions, such as a commitment to representing emerging artists and regularly hosting exhibitions that enable her to share both her wealth of love for and knowledge about contemporary craft with visitors to the shop.

In addition to running one of the oldest continuously-operated craft galleries in the country, Carr incorporates fine craft into her everyday life.  It’s no surprise she’s decorated her home with a treasure trove of handmade pieces.  “I love the crazy fact that these artisans spend an unbelievable amount of time making that one perfect thing,” she says,  “and there will never be another one just like it.”

Carr’s one-of-a-kind contribution to contemporary craft in the Atlanta region has earned her recognition as a “Style Maker”  by the American Craft Council (ACC) during the 2012 ACC Atlanta show.   She and 11 other arts-forward Atlantans were chosen by the ACC from among nearly 50 contenders that range from arts leaders to leading arts aficionados.  “Carr has an extraordinary eye,” says Jim Hackney, a board member of the ACC, “she’s simply the interface for great craft and the Atlanta community.”

Well, when you stop into her gallery, you’ll know exactly what he means.  And believe me, that’s one time you DO NOT want to leave your checkbook at home!

When will things get back to normal?

It’s been a hectic, crazy year. Good with holidays, vacations and family visits and fun times. Not so much fun with medical procedures that have to be done again (because ‘this never happens’ but it did!); the unexpected passing of a dear aunt; a best friend’s teenage son undergoing chemo for a totally unanticipated malignancy. When, oh, when, I wonder, will things get back to normal.

“Normal?” my friend said as we were catching up over the last few weeks. “Normal? Remember, normal is just a setting on the dryer.” We both died laughing, but you know, she’s right. As much as I’d like to think that – someday – all will equalize into some picture perfect moment called normal when everything and everyone is just fine and dandy, I’ve come to realize that’s just a figment of my own very active imagination.

Normal, I’ve had to admit, isn’t some capture-it-in-a glass-and-keep-it-the-same-snapshot. Normal is just life. LIFE! Different every day, with all its goods and bads. Ups and downs. Times when ‘I LOVE IT! alternates right along with moments of ‘Won’t this ever end?’ Life is just, well, living. A process. Constantly changing, evolving, moving.

This is what another wise friend of mine once called a ‘BGO’ – a Blinding Glimpse of the Obvious. Hmmmm.  Let that sink in a bit.

Taking a deep breath now. Giving up on normal and practicing just being happy to be here right this very moment.

“You is kind. You is smart. You is important.”

So says the inimitable Abileen at the start of The Help’s movie version of Kathryn Stockett’s best selling novel. What a message Abileen is giving to the little Mae Mobley Leefolt. Repeated and repeated every day, she is giving the toddler ways to describe herself. Putting words in her mouth? Maybe. But definitely making a lasting, positive impression that can carry her through as her life progresses.

What if we had been raised to say those words every day to ourselves? Were you?

If those are the messages you got from your mother, grandmother, aunt, a beloved housekeeper, or anyone else in your young life, congratulations! You are among the luckiest. Do you still greet your day that way? Knowing you are kind? Smart? That YOU are important.

What do you say to yourself when you look in the mirror every morning? Think about it. If you don’t talk to yourself the way you’d speak to your best friend, you might want to change the conversation.

“Now that school’s back in, I’m not a crazy lady anymore…for now… at least…”

We hear you, Sister A! Thanks for sharing.

Okay, the countdown is on. Turkey? Check. Dressing? Check. All those yummy veggies? Check. Even a homemade pie or three. But don’t just crank open that can of cranberry sauce to go with all this great home cooking.

Get thee to a grocery store and with a few simple items, you’ll be cranberry queen when you serve this amazing Cranberry Chutney from multi-tasking woman Cyndi Sterne of Hal’s Kitchen… Atlanta’s Hottest Cooking School!

• 12 oz bag of cranberries
• 3 apples cored and chopped
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1/4 apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 cup raisins
• 1/4 cup of brown sugar or more to taste
• mustard seeds
• ginger
• hot pepper flakes

Cook the berries, apples, and onions. Add the vinegar and remaining ingredients. Cook together for 30 minutes or so. adjust the seasonings to your liking. Happy Thanksgiving!

Wow! As they say, that was easy.  Just the way we at MTW like it.

MTW EXTRA! Here’s a special hint from Chef Cindy. Make your Cranberry Chutney multi-task as an easy pre-dinner appetizer, lightly toast slices of French baguette, Spread with some fresh goat cheese (we love Caly Creamery!) and then top with the Cranberry Chutney. YUMMY!

Visit Cyndi at Hal’s Kitchen in Atlanta and register for one of Hal’s fabulous cooking experiences online!

I just dropped my teenager off at school. Another Monday morning. Another week (this, the week before Thanksgiving) looming large and coming in fast. My head dove right in to what I needed to do the minute I hit home. Shower, then email, then run to my 9:30 breakfast meeting – no, wait! She has a sick child, so that’s been cancelled. Right. Email first, then shower.

Sitting at the red light, I looked down and realized my hands were gripping the steering wheel so tightly I could feel the tension all the way up to my shoulders. Breathe. Let go. Now gently take the wheel back. Light but firm control on the wheel. Consciously holding the wheel with a lighter touch. Breathe. Breathe.

How many times, I wonder, do we grip the wheel of our lives so tightly without realizing what a chokehold we have? What would happen if we stopped. Let go. And then consciously re-engaged with a lighter hold. A gentle but firm awareness. What would we be making room for if we gave up our death grip? I imagine more life would flow in.

Why don’t we try it and see?

It’s just a few days till the turkey makes its grand appearance on our Thanksgiving tables, and you know what that means. Candy canes, stockings and Christmas ornaments can’t be far behind. It’s time to go into Holiday Chill mode once again, so be sure to bookmark and visit our seasonal site 12WaysOfChristmas for ideas, tips and tricks to insure that YOU have a holiday you can really enjoy!

Let’s get off to a doing-good start with a recent FB post from my friend social media guru and multi-tasking woman Barb Giamanco of TalentBuilders, Inc. It’s a simple and easy idea that’s really a GREAT way to share the love, and the food, with those who need it this holiday season:

“I want to pass on an idea that was suggested by a colleague. Have a “Canned Sales Meeting” sometime this month where you ask all the participants to bring a few canned or non perishable items to donate to the local food bank. It will be an easy way to help out those in need. Tell your friends!”

Well, ladies, this doesn’t just apply to those of us in sales. Make any gathering multi-task by doing good at the same time you gather. Anytime this month and next, any time you meet/greet, lunch/learn, or network/play, invite your friends, colleagues and co-workers to ‘can hunger’ and stock your local food bank. It’s never been more needed, and it’s so easy to do!

MTW secret: if your local grocery offers BOGOs (buy one, get one free)  like my Publix does, take advantage of it and donate the second or BOTH to your food bank. (Just check their Weekly Ad page for current BOGOs – you can add them to your grocery list at the same time!) Double the love at half the price! We love it! Thanks, Publix, for helping us help others.