Crows

Crows, crows, and more crows…..

Read all about it! Visit my online store domenica mastromatteo and find out what it's all about!

Nutella Cheesecake

I'm usually a purist when it comes to nutella, but this combination is awesome!

And so easy to make!

Let's begin….

Place a small cookie cutter on a plate. Place a large piece of plastic wrap over the cookie cutter. 

Set aside.

Combine crumbs and melted butter in a small bowl. I made the crumbs by grinding oreo cookies with with a coffee grinder. My kids didn't mind scooping out the centres of the oreos for themselves!

Press the crumb mixture into the center of the cookie cutter; on top of the plastic wrap. Set aside.

Mix nutella and cream cheese until well blended. 

Scoop mixture on top of the cookie crumbs. 

Press down with a spoon. 

Use the excess plastic wrap to cover the tiny cake. 

Freeze for until firm; about 1 hour. 

Unwrap.

Enjoy! 

Morning - Typography

I'm adding Typography to my artwork….it makes sense….I've been doing it for years! And now I'll finally catalogue it in my portfolio. Prices coming soon!

Balance

I can hear the eagles where I live. Sometimes, I look up at the sky and see them soaring above. I do most of my writing work at the dinning room table (my desk is stacked with papers I don’t want to look at). Today was the day…..All week I had the blank document with the only word “Balance” typed on it…today, I would start writing something worth sharing. But as I stared at my document, I heard the eagle calling.  I stood up to draw open the curtains and there he was. Magnificent. Huge. Closer than ever before.

I am privileged. Yes. And I wonder if that is what ‘s stopping me. I am part of a culture that feels we are entitled to be happy. And carpe diem has been engraved in our souls. Except, without fully understanding the consequences of that and without respecting the bigger picture. Without understanding that, sometimes, happiness comes with a price.

I am privileged to have the time to think about what balance means to me. In January 2014, I picked up a copy of the “Real Simple” magazine. The title of the issue was, Balance, and I thought, “I could use some of that.” But I didn’t learn anything about IT or how to get IT in the magazine. There is one piece of writing in the magazine, by Jennifer Senior (a contributor to Real Simple and to New York magazine), I cut out and saved on my bulletin board. She writes, “I think life balance is worth striving for, but it’s a pretty high-class problem.” She also writes, “I can’t see how real balance, at least as we fantasize about it, is achievable. I am skeptical about the need for balance anyway.” And I totally agree with her. End of story, right? But, for over a year, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about balance and what it means to me. And why is it so important that I get it?

Everyone thinks I need some. Maybe, I do. Maybe, I already have some….I mean, I do everything….but I’m not happy with everything and most of the time, I feel like I’m juggling too many things as my balance keeps shifting. And then I get lost in the whole Idea of balance and my thoughts return to the beginning as I ask myself again, what is balance?

I recently read a highly energetic blog post by a popular Vancouver mom blogger who I will not name. I am sure she is awesome. Her article was awesome. She wrote about how to have everything with details about how she gets it all done. And the comments to her blog were filled with applause and praise for showing women about how they could really have it all; children, loving husband, and career (multiple careers). Is she balanced? It definitely sounds like she is balanced.

Is balance about getting everything we want, without making any sacrifices? That’s totally unrealistic. Something’s gotta give. So when you look at your life and realize it’s not like Mommy Blogger’s. It’s not because you failed, it’s because you’re living a real complicated life. And that’s okay. And that is Carpe diem; enjoying what you have right now. Living right now. Not for some illusion media is dangling in front of you. Society, time, culture….all of them have a funny way of distorting the true definition of words in such a way that we get caught up in an illusion and we spend our life striving for the impossible.

Balance isn’t something to achieve, it’s something we just do….everyday and some of us better than others. The merriam-webster dictionary defines balance as “the ability to move or to remain in a position without losing control.” But what we really want is to be in a position where changing and losing control just isn’t an option and we may define balance as such a state…it’s crazy how we complicate the English language.

I still have the urge to simplify the word Balance and come up with some solution on how I’ll get IT, or do IT. Do you get IT? Do you do IT? Or is IT just a state of being?

After my year (and more) of analysis on the word, Balance, I still believe that it doesn’t mean that we can have everything and be happy. Sorry, Mommy Blogger, but I don’t believe you. And although you are doing a great job attracting readers, I really believe they would benefit not from hearing about how you get it all done….because, really, we all know what we need to do….but they would benefit by reading about how you overcome your struggles. What did you have to give up? And why it’s okay. It’s okay that it didn’t all happen today, because most of us get to wake up tomorrow and try again. How wonderful is that?

Think of balance as your diet. We all need a balanced diet, but we know that we can’t have it all in one sitting. We have to spread our nutrients along an entire day and, maybe, a week. And if we tried to get all our nutrients in a signal meal, we would just fail….it’s not possible. If you wash down your milk (calcium) with a steak (iron), it’s useless in your body. The calcium will interact with iron in such a way that your body will not absorb the iron. So enjoy your steak, but hold off on the milk and cheese until a few hours later. And when you look at the big picture; your diet throughout the week, you’ll realize that, maybe, it was balanced.

So think of the big picture. You may not be able to raise four happy children and have a successful career at the same time, and that’s okay. When you look at the big picture of your life, you’ll realize you can have everything….just not all at once.

Romance

Remember that? Romance.

Duh?

What?

A few weeks ago, my cousin’s wife posted a picture on Facebook of her home; decorated in hearts for Valentine’s Day. All I could think is, ugh….where does she get the energy? She has two girls; two lovely girls, I’m sure. I have four monsters. Everyday chores are more than I can bear. Adding holidays to my list of things to do is just cruel.

So sad. Everything feels like so much work! Where’s the magic? And when it comes to Valentine’s Day, I guess I should ask, where is the romance?

According to The Gottman Institute, “Research shows that within three years after the birth of a baby, approximately 2/3 of couples will experience a significant drop in relationship quality and have a dramatic increase in conflict and hostility.” It is an international social problem; one that I am not immune to. Richard and I are busy…..what romance?

So I have to put my pride aside and say Valentine’s Day is for people like me; people who need that yearly reminder that Romance is important. A reminder of the part of myself that I’ve been ignoring for too long. Before children, LOVE was everything. I engulfed myself in love poetry, held on to sentimental thoughts; danced in love’s energy….life was beautiful.

I’m reminded of the article entitled, “How American Parenting is Killing the American Marriage” on qz.com. Danielle Teller writes, “Nothing in life is allowed to be more important than our children, and we must never speak a disloyal word about our relationships with our offspring. Children always come first. We accept this premise so reflexively today that we forget that it was not always so.”

Another thing to pondor, “In the 21st century, most Americans marry for love. We choose partners who we hope will be our soulmates for life. When children come along, we believe that we can press pause on the soulmate narrative, because parenthood has become our new priority and religion. We raise our children as best we can, and we know that we have succeeded if they leave us, going out into the world to find partners and have children of their own. Once our gods have left us, we try to pick up the pieces of our long neglected marriages and find new purpose. Is it surprising that divorce rates are rising fastest for new empty nesters? Perhaps it is time that we gave the parenthood religion a second thought.”

Sadly, that’s what I sometimes think….parenting is so hard, I want to press pause on my relationship with Richard. But life is an ever-changing organic experience. I can’t press pause. Relationships can’t be frozen, to be played at a better time. While waiting for the right time to come along, things are changing, people are changing, and a relationship that hasn’t been taken care of will fall apart.

And for those of you who still feel that children need to be our number one priority; further research has shown that relationship discord and conflict have a profound negative effect on infants and toddlers (and no doubt, on the development of our adolescent children as well).

I guess it’s very timely I am just starting to offer the Bring Baby Home Program developed by the Gottman’s at The Relationship Research Institute in Seattle. The goal of the program is to improve the quality of life for babies and children by strengthening the parental relationship.

And what about my relationship with Richard? You may ask. I have all the literature and research summaries on how to maintain a solid relationship; and it’s all very helpful. It really is. Just looking through the literature floods me with wonderful memories of our shared love.

How do I get over my “ugh” for Valentine’s Day?  William Shakespeare wrote, “Sweet love, renew thy force….do not kill the spirit of love with a perpetual dullness…” I found solace and a renewed energy in those long forgotten love poems I used to read in my youth.  I didn’t just brush my ambivalence away or accept my frustration over preparing for “another holiday” as the current state of affairs. What I’m trying to say is I’m making an effort to look for Romance and I’m finding it everywhere. Remember my blog, “Travelling with Children”? I explained that we can look at things in different perspectives and make arguments to prove each perspective right. I’m finding proof that there is Romance everywhere and Valentine’s Day gives us a wonderful moment to celebrate love.

Happy Valentine’s Day!