CrazyBusy Mama! (Dot Calm)

For those of us trying to watch our weight, the holidays can be tough. We find ourselves surrounded by snacks and sweets, and though we know we should eat only in moderation, emotions associated with the holiday season can blow all self-discipline out the window. If we’re sad, stressed, or frustrated, it’s easy to think, “I deserve this,” or simply, “Who cares?”

Jillian Michaels has written a great — and short — article on “4 Ways to Make Yourself Feel Better Other Than Eating. You’ll learn some ideas to help yourself soothe those emotions in ways that don’t involve food and won’t make you hate yourself the next time you look in the mirror
(you shouldn’t be hating yourself, anyway, but that’s another blog post). We all need a little TLC once in a while, and I think she’s got some ideas worth reading.

I will add one other outlet for your pent-up emotional energy that Jillian didn’t mention: exercise. I know — weird that Jillian Michaels didn’t mention exercise, but she’s so well-known now that perhaps that’s just a given.

Nonetheless — get out there and do something when those emotions have got you down (or ready to scream). I went for a run with my daughter yesterday, and boy, I felt good afterward. I felt like I’d given it my all, but actually had some energy post-running. A little while later, we drove to the mall, and the mellowness kicked in on the way there. Not a blah, depressed mellowness, but a good, peaceful feeling. It occurred to me later that it was from running. (My daughter even said, “What’s wrong with you?” I had to convince her I really was fine — just mellow!)

Read more about the benefits and basics of running here.

Yes, I know the holidays are almost over, but New Year’s Eve is still on the docket, as is New Year’s Day. If you have more get-togethers planned, take a look at Jillian’s article and remember there are other ways to soothe a sad or cranky soul than by eating.

Happy New Year!

©2009 Sally Dinius
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Sally Dinius is writer-in-chief here at CrazyBusyMama.com, a blog created to inspire and motivate busy mamas everywhere to feel healthy, fit, and in control of their lives. Follow her on Twitter at http://twitter.com/sdinius, and become a member of the CrazyBusy Mama Facebook fan page by clicking here.

Don’t you just love gifts you aren’t expecting? My teenaged daughter, Erica, worked her tail off yesterday and got our decidedly unwelcoming family room looking very Christmas-y. She cleaned the room, put a lighted garland over the door, placed a few snowmen in various locations around the room, and even gave my stuffed Santa and Mrs. Claus a place of prominence on top of a book case.

She then tossed some Christmas pillows and a red and green blanket on the sectional, “lit” a yule log on the TV (you can find it on Comcast OnDemand), and set the most important decoration of all — our nativity set — on top of the piano. Last but not least were the soothing tones of Michael Buble’s Christmas album, “Let it Snow,” wafting from the stereo. (I’ve always liked that word…wafting….)

I helped a little by placing a Christmas tablecloth on our dining table (which is in the family room…it’s a big room), but she did everything else. She gave us a great gift yesterday, not just in the decor of the room, but she also helped us find the Christmas spirit that seemed to be so lacking around here in recent days.

Thank you, Erica.

In turn, I would like to “pay it forward” and hopefully spread a little of that Christmas spirit your way. Everything below is free. Enjoy!

Free MP3 Downloads of Christmas Songs and Carols at Feels Like Christmas. If you don’t have an iPod or other MP3 player, you can play these directly from your computer while you’re working (or playing).

Get a letter from Santa! The Santa Claus Museum in Santa Claus, Indiana, has been sending letters from the jolly old elf to children everywhere since 1914. Every letter received by December 14 will receive a reply. It’s free, but please consider making a donation to help cover the cost of postage. There’s also an option to just print a letter from Santa yourself. No waiting!

Cartoon Cottage has some free animated Christmas clip art you can add to your blog or web site. They’re really pretty cute. They also have some fun Snowman clip art.

I love this next one! If you’re a lover of all things vintage and find the idea of an old-fashioned Christmas especially endearing, you’ll love these free vintage holiday images. Add them to your blog, tuck them in an email, make your own Christmas cards or labels on homemade goodies. You can also choose to use one as your holiday profile picture on Facebook, or even as your background on Twitter. The possibilities are endless!

Want more clip art? Snogirl offers some high-quality (and fun) Christmas graphics. She really did a great job with these! Look around her site and have fun.

Finally, check out the Christmas page at The Holiday Spot. There’s so much to enthrall you at this site that I’m not even going to start telling you what they’ve got. Just grab a cup of hot chocolate, start up some of the Christmas music you downloaded from above, and have fun!

I hope you’re enjoying the Christmas season so far. We’re getting our tree tonight (hopefully), so pictures will follow. Have a great day!

©2009 Sally Dinius

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Sally Dinius is writer-in-chief here at CrazyBusyMama.com, a blog created to inspire and motivate busy mamas everywhere to feel healthy, fit, and in control of their lives. Follow her on Twitter at Twitter.com/SDinius, and become a member of the CrazyBusy Mama Facebook fan page by clicking here.

I once heard someone say — and I’m paraphrasing — that if you don’t give money when you have little, you won’t give money when you have a lot. Real giving is usually a sacrifice, meaning it costs us something. But it’s also rewarding, as we reap dividends of joy and the satisfaction that we have helped others in need. Read on to learn about something you can do — something you must do — to help others who desperately need it right now.

This Christmas season has gotten off to a sad start. Last Sunday in Lakewood, Washington, less than two hours from where I live, four

police officers were murdered by a gun-wielding maniac. My heart is still breaking for these officers and for their families, who are left to face this Christmas — and the rest of their lives — without them. No one can make this go away for these families; no one can bring their loved ones back. But we can show them they are loved and thought of, and that their mother, fathers, wife, and husbands will never be forgotten, and we can do that by donating to a couple of funds set up just for that purpose.

The first I’d like to let you know about has been set up by the Lakewood Police Independent Guild, or www.lpig.us. Once you open the page, you’ll see the “Donate Here” button in the middle of the screen. After donating, be sure to scroll down and read the posts, especially the one called “Stories of Our Fallen,” by Guild President Brian Wurts. You’ll be touched, and you’ll feel like you knew them, too — or at least deeply wish you had.

The other you may contribute to by going into any Bank of America in the United States and telling them it’s for the “Fallen Lakewood Officers Fund.”

Read about other funds set up for the families of the officers — and a warning about scammers taking advantage of this horrible situation — by reading this article at KOMO News.

Thanks so much for helping out.

It’s easy to get a romanticized notion of the holidays. Everything – from greeting cards to novels to holiday movies – tells us how wonderful and perfect the Christmas season should be. For many people, however, it’s far from being wonderful and perfect. Problems like financial stress or the loss of a loved one can put a severe damper on what should be a joyful time.

If you’ve experienced Christmases like this but want this year to be different, here are some things you can do to bring back the joy.

• Give of yourself. If you’re down, this is the last thing you’ll feel like doing, but nothing can pull you out of the doldrums like giving to others. You know what skills you have; how can you use them to benefit someone less fortunate? Maybe you’re short on time (and skills, perhaps). If so, you can donate money to your favorite charities, give non-perishable food to your local food bank, or give clothes your kids have outgrown to local foster groups. Look beyond your town — and even your country — and consider sponsoring a child through Compassion International.

• Throw a Christmas caroling party. Invite some friends and family over for snacks, hot cider, and a musical walk through the neighborhood. It’ll be a lot of fun – not only for your group, but for your neighbors, as well.

• Put up outdoor Christmas lights. It’s a peaceful, beautiful, and sometimes humorous way to spread cheer to those driving by.

• Spend time with your family just playing games, talking, or watching holiday TV shows. Find out when the old Christmas specials are on and watch them together.

• Bundle up the family, toss ‘em in the car, and drive around to look at Christmas lights. Some neighborhoods have contests to see who can decorate the best for Christmas – these are the ones you’ll want to tour. Don’t forget to play Christmas music while driving, and have some hot cider (or cocoa) when you get home.

• Send out Christmas cards. Drink hot chocolate and play Christmas music while signing the cards and addressing the envelopes.

• Bake cookies – lots of them. Take extras to your neighbors or any shut-ins that you know.

• Eat as healthy as possible. Maybe it’s not the best timing for this one — right after the “bake cookies” suggestion — but please take it to heart. When we’re down, most of us want to eat, and women, more than men, tend to reach for sweets. Sugar may make us feel comforted and even happy at first, but the “crash” soon follows, and we end up feeling worse than before.

• Go see a current holiday movie or catch a local theater group’s rendition of “A Christmas Carol” (or the new Disney 3-D animated version starring Jim Carrey).

• Attend a musical Christmas production at a local church. It could also be a great way to make some new friends.

• Remember the real reason for the season: Jesus Christ, who humbled Himself and came to us as a baby to save us from our sins. Read the Christmas story in Luke 1-2:39 aloud to your family…or just to yourself. Thank Him for His gift of salvation.

If you’re lacking joy this Christmas season, I hope these suggestions bring back the glimmer of hope and happiness for you. Merry Christmas!

©2009 Sally Dinius
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Sally Dinius is writer-in-chief for CrazyBusy Mama.com, a blog created to inspire and motivate busy mamas everywhere to feel healthy, fit, and in control of their lives.

Does this ever happen to you?

The holidays go by in a crinkly blur, and you’re left standing in the middle of wadded-up wrapping paper and worn-out decorations, scratching your head and asking:

“What in the heck just happened?”

Most of us, I think, go into the holiday season that way — we just let it happen. I’ve found, though, that the holidays I’ve enjoyed the most have been the ones I’ve taken time to plan. When I write down my Thanksgiving menu and the ingredients I need, meal prep is easier and the day is more enjoyable. Sending out Christmas cards isn’t so difficult if I make a list beforehand of who we’ll be sending them to. Having the cards, envelopes, pictures and stamps together in one box or basket that I can carry around with me (to fill them out wherever and whenever the mood strikes) is helpful, too.

Another wise practice is to keep all of your Christmas decorations in one place. My family and I broke that cardinal rule this year. I found two plastic totes in our utility room full of Christmas things (mostly my snowman collection), and various other things were in what I call our “Christmas Trunk.” It’s an old steamer trunk at the foot of our bed. Most years, it’s no big deal getting into the trunk: just flip the latches and lift the lid. But earlier this year, it was forced into double duty as a TV stand. The TV is an older one that is too heavy for me to lift on my own, so my sons helped with that.

After the totes and trunk had been gone through, along with a cupboard in our laundry/utility room, I found out why being unorganized can bite you in the rear: Our Advent wreath is missing. And because Sunday was the first Sunday of the Advent season, we weren’t able to begin our celebration, which includes candle lighting, the singing of carols or hymns, and reading Bible verses and a Christmas story or two.

The search for the wreath will continue tomorrow. Hopefully it won’t culminate with me buying a new one, because that’s when I’ll find the one that’s missing (it always works that way). And then I’ll have two.

If you’re like me and tend to let the holidays happen to you rather than the other way around, here are a few links to help you reign in some otherwise crazy days:

1. If you’re hosting a Christmas party or family get-together, Party411’s Christmas Party Planning Guide will give you lots of ideas and help you feel at least a little bit sane. It’s a fun site to go through, so be ready to print out ideas you like — or at least have a notepad ready to write them down.

2. The interior decorating channel at About.com has a fantastic, short and simple article on how to plan for Christmas. I’m not going to recommend any other “get organized” list to you. This one’s pretty much perfect. Why? It’s the KISS principle: Keep it Simple, Sweetheart (or as I learned it years ago: Keep it Simple, Stupid…which isn’t very nice). This article tells you a few great ways to simplify without getting too complicated. I don’t know about you, but if I have too many things on my list, my brain shuts down and I start playing games on my computer. Yes, I did just admit that.

3. Once you’ve decided what you need to plan for, write it down.
There are many ways to keep track of your list (or lists) electronically (such as in a note to yourself on your iPhone, et al), but I really like the good, old-fashioned write-it-down method, and I prefer to do that in a planner. The Busy Body Book is my all-time favorite planner. Each week is broken into five columns, which gives you five boxes to write in for each day. These columns can be used for anything: different family members (good for seeing what each child has going on that week at one glance), or use them to organize household tasks, work-related activities, or even…yes…the holidays. It’s very inexpensive and I think you’ll love it as much as I do.

So, if you haven’t already figured it out, the best holiday stress-reliever is…planning. Delegating follows at a very close second — please don’t think you have to do it all yourself.

Do you plan or delegate to lessen the stress of the holidays? I’d love to hear your strategies!

©2009 Sally Dinius
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Sally Dinius is writer-in-chief for CrazyBusyMama.com, a blog created to inspire and motivate busy mamas everywhere to feel healthy, fit, and in control of their lives.

It’s that time of year again! The leaves are turning, there’s a nip in the air, Starbuck’s is serving their Pumpkin Spice lattes, and the stores will be bringing in their Christmas decorations and merchandise before Halloween even has a chance to be a spooky memory. And, in many locations around the world, children from kneecap height through age 14 are anxiously awaiting the arrival of shoeboxes.

Shoeboxes??

Absolutely! Every year, Operation Christmas Child, a ministry of Samaritan’s Purse (headed by Franklin Graham), delivers shoebox gifts to children in impoverished or disaster-stricken areas around the world. Hundreds of thousands of people — just like you and me — wrap these shoeboxes (lid and box separately) in Christmas paper, fill them with appropriate gifts (see How to Pack a Shoebox), slip a rubber band around each box (with lid on), and take them to a local OCC drop-off site.

What’s the best part for me and my kids? Trying to imagine just who will be getting our boxes, praying for those children, and hoping the gifts will be a really bright spot in the midst of their troubles. On a personal level, I enjoy knowing that many of these kids and their families will really hear about Jesus for the first time through this ministry of Samaritan’s Purse.

You’ve probably heard of Operation Christmas Child, but if not, take a look at their site. Better yet, take part with your family, get a group of your friends involved, or take it to the next level and get your church or neighborhood in on this. Have fun with it — put together a shoebox gift, or two (or three…or twenty).

Shoeboxes will be collected at the drop-off locations November 16-23 this year, so now’s a great time to start putting them together!

It’s one of the best hands-on opportunities out there to teach your kids how to give. And in doing so, they’ll be taking the first step to living a life of showing compassion to others.

Click here to read about recording artist Matthew West’s experience giving shoebox gifts to some really great kids in Columbia. Check out some of Matthew’s music here.

©2009 Sally Dinius (except pictures)
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