Fall Weather

It is finally Fall in the Sunshine State!  Well I don't know if finally is the correct word, it seems as thought it's here earlier than usual.  But I'm not complaining!  I love having the windows and doors open on the cool mornings.  It is quite pleasant outside.

I've really enjoyed the cool mornings to practice my yoga with the windows and doors open and the sounds of birds chirping and squirrels scurrying around.  It does a lot for the mind and body.

Fall also brings fabulous fall decorations.  I decided to make some a few additions this year.  My favorite being from Michaels of course! If you don't visit Michael's regularly you really should!  

How cute are these little words?

With the cooler weather comes the craving of heartier foods.  I went to Publix for some inspiration without really having a list (could have been a disaster) however I kept myself in check.  I'm trying a new recipe tonight for chicken stroganoff, saw it on the TODAY show (of course).  Beef Stroganoff was one of my favs growing up but this one seemed healthier so we shall see how it turns out.  I'm doing it from memory of what I saw this morning.

Tomorrow... CHILI!  OH I CAN'T WAIT!

It's truly Fall when you have Chili cooking all day long!

Happy Fall Y'all!

-lp  

Working From Home

Working From Home is a concept that I get asked about all the time. I have thewonderfulblessing of being able to work from myhouse for acompany located on the East Coast of this Beautiful sunshine state in which we live. The question I get asked the most is, "Don't you just LOVE working from home?" And most of the time myanswer is, "YES!" But, sometimes I want togive the long answer. Pictures in this post show you my workspace in the smack-dab, middle of my house (quite literally, since we live in a 12oo sq.ft. bowling alley of a townhouse, for which we are very thankful). What these pictures do not capture are the following items:

1. The Ringing Phone of personal calls that you desperately want to take but have to choose work in stead.

2. The laundry piled high while you stare at spreadsheets.

3. The chicken you forgot to take out of the freezer to thaw for

dinner and in turn you feel like a dummy cause you have after all been in the house all day.

4. The 5:45, 6:30, 7:00 & 9:00 evening phone calls that still come cause after all your really haven't ever left the office, in fact you sleep at the office.

5. The projects left unfinished because while you stare at them day in day out you're really staring at training materials and culinary forms.

6. Dog Hair.

7. The distractions. Here is a picture of my latest distraction and the newest decorative change in the Kelly household. PSA: Decorative changes happen quite often here don't be surprised.

8. Being home when MK has to make an emergency run home from work due to a "wardrobe malfunction" (which happened today).

9. Being able to snuggle sleeping puppies after a stresfull work email, phone call, text, voice mail. Because after all that's what sleeping puppies are for.

10. Being able to take a lunch break to the gym and not having to worry about making it back to office all sweaty cause your shower is upstairs and you'll get a shower at some point today.

There are other highs and lows of working from home but those are just some highlights and ideas of what your workspace might look like spread across your dining room table if you too were a housewife with another full time job that required much of your time.

- home-worker expert lp

Suzy Q

I never ever claimed to be Suzy Q Homemaker, although the thought be of being Suzy Q appeals to me in many ways. But honestly I'm lacking in SEVERAL areas that would disqualify me for sure from obtaining the Suzy Q name.

I do have a professional job and feel quite blessed to be employed by a good company. I never thought I would be a career person but here I am, 27 with a career, and I kinda like it despite the pity that has been expressed to me by others that are not career people. They can keep their pity.

With these 2 thoughts in mind, here are my thoughts today.

I am blessed to be at home a good deal of the time due to the fact I work mostly from home (despite the occasional traveling that is becoming more frequent). This working from home allows me at the moment to have a the best of both of these worlds.

I have productive days everyday due the fact I have on going work projects that need work everyday. But I also have productive days because sitting at my dining room table and working allows me to also throw a load of laundry in the washing machine and if the dog hair has gotten out of control I can sweep at 2:00 in the afternoon instead 6:00 in the evening after a long commute.

***Now remember the beginning of this post and I claimed to not be Suzy Q....when you see throw a load of laundry in the machine - read "clothes made it into the machine and probably not to the dryer." And when you read dog hair has gotten out of control read - "a tumble weed just blew by and I can't concentrate on my work unless it is removed."***

Sometimes it's a hard balance to end work when MK is headed home and close up the computer and put my stacks of paper away because after all this is our home too not just my office. A positive though - if there is a frustrating moment with work I can walk to kitchen pull out some chicken and whack it to death, oh excuse me, tenderize it with my handy dandy Pampered Chef Tenderizer (see Suzy Q wannabe and failing at those aspirations)!

I'm working on the Suzy Q stuff though and I will say that my cooking skills have VASTLY improved since becoming a career woman too. We have moved from unhealthy casseroles and pasta laden food to crisp fresh ingredients. I'll have to attribute this to my job - working side by side with a chef and taking down his every step on paper may have some influence on me.

So while I'm sure Suzy Q I'll never be, I'll try my hardest to keep the two in balance. After all if I wasn't attempting to be Suzy Q in some manner I would miss things like this in the afternoon sun.


And trying summer salad recipes that consisted of arugula, cilantro, parsley, grilled corn, lemon, lime, tomatoes and yummy shrimp (since we can't afford the lobster the Martha Stewart suggested). For goodness sakes Martha if I'm not Suzy Q I'll never be up to your standards and cook with lobster for Sunday lunch! Sheesh! The pressure!

But I sure do like doing productive things that are not housework home related daily too.

-Suzy Q LP
Career Woman
Wannabe