I woke up this morning a little resentful. I wasn’t sure of the source of my mood, but I figured the rain had something to do with it.

By the time I got ready, dressed my daughter, and jumped into the car with my husband (we are sharing as a way to save expenses), my foul mood was full-blown.

Elyse sang about strawberries on her way to daycare, which made me smile. But, Mike and I rode to downtown in silence. Pretty sure that didn’t improve my spirits.

As I snatched my bag out of the backseat, I realized that I missed riding in my car alone. It’s nice to spend extra time with my family, but I used the 30-minute trek to and from work to decompress. It gave me a chance to shed any hangups from home before I got into the office and vice-versa. It sounds cliché, but I think it made me a better person.

I thought about different ways to explain this to my husband. All the scenarios I concocted seemed like one-way tickets to more days of awkward silence.

So I’ve decided that this is another opportunity for a productive five minutes. Five minutes of peace. Doesn’t that sound great? I haven’t figured out how to make that work yet, but I will definitely keep you posted!

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When it comes to taking lunch to work, I’m pretty inconsistent. I could be on a hot streak for weeks, but after one wrong move, I’m walking to the Chinese buffet three days in a row. When I do take a lunch, half the time I don’t want to eat it, but I suck it up and think about what I could do with the $8 I’m saving.

My problem is laziness. I think it takes Herculean effort to pull together something appealing and nutritious. So many times, I reach for the Lean Cuisine. Many people really enjoy the low-cal frozen meals; I happen not to be one of them. After all, the term “Lean” is part of the product name. I’m usually starving within two hours of eating one. Then I end up raiding a colleague’s office for candy. It’s a bad scene.

This week, I tried something different. I checked my fridge to see what leftovers I could work with before they went bad. This weekend, I made a pot of soup for my husband to eat when he comes home from work. (He gets in at 2 or 3 am). It took less than a minute to put some aside in a bowl for Monday. Sunday’s leftover brown rice paired with a package of tomato-basil tuna made for a great lunch today. Plus, the rice was already in a small microwave container. Tossing that and a pack of string cheese in a bag took seconds.

Tomorrow, I’m taking more soup. It was really good! And for a snack, I packed a yogurt and strawberries. Total prep time – 2:38. I’m sure it would have taken less time if I had yogurt in single-serving cups.

I hope this new streak holds, because I eat way too much when I go to the buffet.

I once had a male friend tell me that every man needs a sista circle – a group of women he can turn to for advice, encouragement, or a friendly ear. I was reminded this weekend that women need the same.

Between work, travel for work, teaching, and time with my family, I lost touch with my friends. It’s an imbalance I fight often. The days and weeks fly by, and I mean to show up to a happy hour or simply pick up the phone. But, as I’ve said before, life sometimes gets in the way of living.

The stars aligned this past Friday, and I was able to connect with several of my friends. I met one for lunch, and I hung out with the rest later that evening. I had two (or was it three?) pomegranate martinis and a lot of laughs. A weight, that I didn’t even know was there, was lifted, and I felt more like myself than I have in a few months.

If you caught the title of this post, then you won’t be surprised that the next paragraphs are love notes to my girls.

My Chicago Sista – Distance and work schedules keep us from staying in better touch. But no matter how much time passes, we will always be the best of friends.

My STL Sista – I think you are the one person who keeps me from slipping into the depths of obscurity. While I hope a drop-dead gorgeous man one day replaces me as your date to company-sponsored functions, I relish them as an escape from the everyday.

My Bartending Sista – Whenever I come over, I can count on you for good food and great drinks. Those martinis were the TRUTH!

My Warrior Sista – I am in awe of your unwavering faith and your ability to turn endings into new beginnings. I look forward to watching you evolve in the next chapter of your life.

My Graceful Sista – Your poise in the face of an overwhelming challenge is simply amazing. And your new haircut is fierce!

My Nurturing Sista – You were right, I so need to hang out more often! I hope you are taking some breaks from caring for everyone else and caring for yourself.

My Business Sista – Girl you are doing it! I’m glad you could get out and relax too.

Thank you my Sistas! We’ll have to get together again soon.

Have you ever heard the phrase “I should have followed my first mind?” The statement usually follows an incident where something goes wrong. Someone then swears that a little voice told them to make a different choice and that they ignored it.

On Wedneday night, a little voice told me to do laundry as I pulled the last set of clean underwear from Elyse’s drawer at bathtime. “Oh no,” I thought. “It can wait until tomorrow. There is a basket of clean clothes in the TV room.” I found out the next morning after Elyse had a small accident that the aforementioned basket of clothes was actually a basket of sheets. As I stood in the bathroom drying a pair of panties with a hairdryer, I cursed myself for not following my first mind.

So, of course, yesterday’s five minutes was dedicated to laundry. But after I spent three minutes sorting Elyse’s clothes, I realized that she didn’t have a lot of underwear.

Hold up. I bought a 10-pack of Dora AND a four-pack of Princess Tiana. How is it that I only found seven pair?

I searched my entire house for a pile of abandoned laundry. I looked under every bed. I dug through the hamper in the basement like a miner in the California Gold Rush. There was a hint of white at the bottom. “Aha!” I yelled.

It was one of Mike’s workout towels. Damn. Fool’s gold.

I gave up and washed what I had. When I couldn’t find Elyse’s Dora overnight bag for a trip to Grandma’s, I made a call.

“Momma, do you have some of Elyse’s clothes? I’m packing a bag for her to go to Mike’s mom’s.”

“Oh yeah, I’ve been meaning to tell you.”

“Do you have any of her underwear?”

“I think so, but not that much. Maybe three or four pairs. I’ll wash her stuff and get it to you.”

There are two things I know about my mom. One, “three or four pairs” means five or six pairs. Two, Momma is notoriously bad about laundry. Elyse will have outgrown these clothes by three sizes by the time she gets to washing them.

Looks like I’ll be making a trip to Grandma’s this weekend too.

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There’s a stack of unread magazines and junk mail spread across my kitchen counter like weeds in a rain-drenched field. Today, I was determined to use five minutes to make a dent in the unwieldy mass.

But something on top of the pile caught my attention. It was a white strip of paper stapled in a circle to make a hat. It had a little red cross on the front. I put it on my head and walked into the family room.

“Elyse – what’s this?”

She giggled. “A nurses hat. We made it at school.”

“When?”

She shrugged. “I don’t remember.” I felt like a terrible mom instantly, because I’m sure it’s been here for at least a week.

“What do nurses do?”

Elyse told me all about them. Nurses could be girls or boys. They help with surgery, especially ones where babies are born. They are nice, and they take care of you when you are sick.

We had grilled cheese sanwiches and Brussels sprouts for dinner. Strange, I know, but we like it. After a few rounds of Wii tennis, it was bath and story time.

This hour with my little one is what my five-minute challenges are all about. I want to clear out the clutter, literally and figuratively, so I can do the things that are most important to me. For one whole hour today, I was in a moment that really mattered. And I wasn’t worried about cleaning or bills or anything else, because I knew I would get to it eventually – five minutes at a time.

Oh, and Elyse thought that I looked funny in her nurses hat, so she took a picture. Enjoy.

– Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone