What's New With Me

I write a lot about what the kids are doing but I wanted to take a second to do an update on me. One of my goals coming out of my cancer treatment was to really take some time to focus on myself as an individual. It's so easy to make your life all about your kids when you are a mom and yeah, obviously a huge part of my life is about my kids. However.... I think it's really important for me to work on some of my own goals as well. I'm starting small and tackling one thing at a time but I am proud of myself and I am beginning to accomplish some of the things on my list.

One thing that I had been wanting to do forever is to attend one of the food swaps put on by the Homestead Atlanta, a great group that offers all kind of classes and workshops on a variety of topics related to homesteading. The food swap was a lot of fun and we met some really interesting people. The above pictures were snapped pretty hastily on my cell phone so I'm sorry for the terrible quality but it will at least give you an idea of what it was like. We brought apple butter, apple sauce and pickled jalapenos to swap and ended up taking home a whole host of stuff including jams and jellies, baked goods, mustard and fresh produce. I love the idea of this and am so glad I got to go! On the whole I'm not sure I would do it regularly since I feel like we ended up with a lot of stuff we didn't really need/want just because we got caught up in the swapping frenzy but I think it was definitely fun to try and I might consider hosting a swap among my friends at some point.

I have also started a yoga class this Fall which is something I had really been looking forward to and I am not disappointed! It feels so amazing to be doing something good for my body and I also love the quiet, meditative aspect of it. Not only is it some much needed me time but it is also bringing me a lot of peace and helping me let go of some of the anger I have been holding on to.

I have been busy and active in the new homeschooling group we have joined as well and I am dipping my little toe back into teaching by starting to teach an art class for our group. Right now it is not going to meet all that often but we will see how it goes, we have the first class this week. I am also turning in to somewhat of an ambassador for unschooling, I did an interview for a group member's blog a little bit ago and I am teaching an unschooling workshop in November for interested parents.

So this Fall has been busy for me as well as the kids but it is all good and I am feeling really happy and fulfilled lately. More and more often I am waking up with a sense of peace and gratitude, I am so lucky to be in the place I am in! I have more little goals to work toward but I have definitely made a good start and it has helped me see what an amazing and full life I am going to have after cancer.