resolutions got you down?

GIRLFRIEND.
Are you feeling the pain of your resolutions setting in?
Started off with a bang and it's starting to fizzle?

I've got just the thing!

If you've been around long enough you know I NEVER set New Years Resolutions.
I wrote a little blog about it years ago and it turned into a proper E-Book!

Want a FREE copy? Just click this link to get yours: https://bit.ly/2TFxHXP

Come back and tell me what you think!
My choice in 2019...FOCUS...you'll get it after you read it.
What's yours?

-McGee

what to make AFTER the holidays?

If I see one more potato,

eat anything else that tastes like Turkey

or see another pie I might throw a fit.

Reached for a family favorite in the realm of clean eating tonight and thought I would share it with you! It's simple. It's clean. And my entire family devours it. Best of all? It reminds me of my Grandma Veda's Casserole but in this dish cabbage replaces pasta. It's the bomb dot com you guys. Here you go...

UNSTUFFED CABBAGE ROLLS

Ingredients:

1 1/2 to 2 pounds lean ground beef

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

1 large onion, chopped

1 clove garlic, minced *I add more but we love garlic*

1 green cabbage, chopped

2 cans (14.5 ounces each) low sodium diced tomatoes

1 can (8 ounces) tomato sauce

1/2 cup water

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 teaspoon sea salt

1 teaspoon Italian Seasoning 

Directions:

In a large skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add the ground beef and onion and cook, stirring, until ground beef is no longer pink and onion is tender.

Add the garlic and continue cooking for 1 minute.

Add the chopped cabbage, tomatoes, tomato sauce, pepper, and salt. Bring to a boil. Cover and simmer for 30 to 45 minutes, or until cabbage is tender.

Yield: Serves 6 to 8. I wish I could take credit for this dish or give proper credit-it was passed to me by a friend from a friend from likely an old Weight Watchers source. Apparently the entire dish is only 7 points in the old school WW Points program! 

If you try it let me know what you think! We often serve it as a one bowl dinner or add a salad. 

It's filling AND delicious. 

And bonus this week? 

It tastes nothing like turkey.

Enjoy...

-McGee

don't miss a thing.

With Mr. Man working out of town right now any time I spend decompressing by myself at the end of a night is priceless and sacred. Last night I was trying to get into Mr. Robot.

*Side note* Do we like Mr. Robot? I got a couple episodes in and I'm not entirely sure I'm getting it all nor want to keep going. Please advise!

So I was watching TV and winding down when our littlest comes in already mid-sentence as she does. She's very confident and loves to talk. ALL.THE.TIME. Like I literally hear HER voice more often and always louder than the voice in my head. Legit. I was trying to hear her while not missing anything being said on TV and got irritated. This is how the conversation played out...

Me: "Kiddo-seriously-I'm trying to watch this and I need to pay attention."

Kiddo: "Why do you need to pay attention?"

Me: "Because I don't want to miss anything."

Kiddo: "Oh because then you won't know anything about that person?"

Me: "Exactly. Please go play. This isn't a kid show....go!"

I know, I know but listen, I'm a great mom 90% of the time. Sometimes I just need a minute. And don't worry...I did keep watching to catch my breath after a long week but she also made me pause at the absurdity of what I had just done.

Hey kid...yeah I know you are looking for my attention and that our time together will go so quickly that there will be days I wish you were 6 again. But I really want to pay attention to this tv thing so I don't miss out on anything and know all about this fictional character on TV that I don't yet understand.

#Hello
#MomFail

So today...the kid went in for the ultimate kill. She found her makeup kit *someone* must have hidden in the very back of the bathroom cupboards far away from her little hands and she couldn't wait to go to town...on MY face. Taking my cues from our stellar convo last night I took her extended hand as she led me to her official grand opening of "Chloe's Salon" promptly at 12:01pm.

You should know...this makeup kit was not your ordinary six year old princess make up kit. This was the annual Christmas Edition of a Sephora gift collection that her Nana had gifted her older sister YEARS ago and has prepared MANY lovely little children's faces for their close up over the years, hence it's "hiding spot" tucked neatly away out of sight...

She practiced on herself and really nailed it so I was clearly all in for my very own make up sesh at her brilliant hands. As she picked each color and applied it with flair she would step back to admire her work and choose the next perfect shade for my face. I don't know much about makeup but I do feel like she's really got the whole eyeshadow wing thing down solid.

So I'm still not sure about Mr. Robot and I'm pretty sure I missed some key things about him last night but I do know my kid and I had a blast getting all dolled up. Our Sunday was one for the books.

Sometimes you gotta take the break, watch the show, check out for a bit.

But then you gotta jump back in...often both feet at a time...or at least both cheeks!

Love this kid.

-McGee

P.S. I have the strangest urge to watch Chitty Chitty Bang Bang again...

girls day.

Growing up the highlight of my year was Girls Day.  

It was the stuff dreams were made of. 

It signified the start of the Christmas season and I lived for it. 

The Friday after Thanksgiving my mom gathered my sisters and any combination of aunts, cousins or other women in our lives and we would head into San Francisco for a day of shopping and fun. It wasn't until I was older that I understood the origins of our ever growing tradition. 

When I was too little to really be aware my mom was a single mom of two little girls, broke as a joke, trying to make ends meet. Holidays were nerve wracking I'm sure. In an effort to make something special out of the holiday season she would take my little sister and me on a BART ride up to San Francisco. We would hop off at the Powell Street station, stop to grab a warm street pretzel and watch the street performers bang their buckets and do their thing. Brake dancing was big-I remember stopping to watch head spinning on slabs of cardboard at nearly every corner. 



She would give us both a few dollars-like maybe literally five bucks to spend. At the time it felt like the biggest treat ever. Five whole dollars to spend on ourselves? We had hit the jackpot. We would check out the Hello Kitty store with their pens and tempting little gum packets but inevitably save most of our dollars for our trip to Woolworth's-the OG five and dime store. I honestly cannot recall a single thing I ever bought there with my coveted Girls Day dollars but I do remember feeling so rich and so spoiled. Just seeing the Woolworth sign coming around the corner was enough to make me giddy. 

On a recent solo weekend to San Francisco coming up out of the BART station on Powell I had to catch my breath for a moment as it all flooded back. There it was. The Woolworth building in all it's glory. Woolworth has long been gone but the sign still stood, the building still graced Powell with all it's stature and it was like being that little girl again holding tight to her five dollars dressed in her Goodwill coat and mittens in awe of the big city around her.


As we grew up, Girls Day did too. It became an annual pilgrimage full of aunts and girl cousins occasionally friends and girls day adoptees. At times we even outgrew San Francisco and as my mom's life became more financially successful our Girls Days became more extravagant. At one point we traveled with MY little girls to Chicago first class for a whirlwind weekend filled with American Girl Doll store fun and well more than $5 in their little pockets. 

But when push comes to shove,
the Girls Days I cherish most
included warm pretzels,
five single dollar bills
and the Woolworth store. 

Thank you for that mom.
You did good.
And I love you. 

-McGee

are YOU ready?

Oh how I love the idea of luck.

I mean truly love.

What if it was that simple?

It feels that way sometimes doesn't it?

Like some people just have the best of luck.

But what if that wasn't it?

Maybe, just maybe, they were simply ready.

Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity. I could point to an endless number or quotastic people who've said this as far back as ancient Roman philosopher Seneca. Even Oprah has said a version of this. And you KNOW I worship at the Church of Oprah, long live my Qween!

But seriously...luck is what happens in that moment you're presented an opportunity and you are READY for it. That's it. That's the whole thing right there. When you work and work and work and prepare to be who you want to be, the universe has a way of dropping opportunity in your way and when you're ready for it-that's the magic. When you take that chance and LIVE the life you want to live you are literally getting ready.

Take my girl Jenna. Jenna is a powerhouse in her own right. She has a topic close to her heart that she's lived, breathed and trained on several times. She works consistently on her message and what she wants to deliver to the world at large. Just this past week she was asked to step in for a presenter at a national company convention with legit twenty minutes notice. Did she get lucky? Nope. Did she crush it? Sure did. How did she do that? Jenna. Was. Ready.

What if you focused so hard on the person you want to be, became obsessed with her, did the daily work to move you toward that vision of yourself? What if THAT'S the ticket-the move-the magic? When the universe drops an opportunity in your way...guess what...you're already doing it. You're ready!

So what does that look like for you?

What is it you want to do?

What are you hoping to "get lucky" at?

What keeps you up at night dreaming of and hoping for?

Take THAT dream. Reverse engineer it. Work backwards. Break it down into bite size chunks and start with one at a time. DO the work. Get READY. LIVE as though you already are that thing you want to be and when OPPORTUNITY hits you up...you've PREPARED...not gotten lucky. You'll be ready and you'll crush it.

I love luck. I do.

In Vegas at the craps table. 

When I run a mostly yellow light and there's no cop around.

On the day I can't catch a break and finally do.

But when it comes to my dreams?

I'm getting ready.

Are you?

-McGee

**Jenna Green is a phenomenal resource for anyone who cannot work a traditional 9-5 job due to chronic illness, mental health or other factors. She's also a dear friend whom I'm insanely proud to know. If her mission interests you go check out her Facebook group Full of Grit & Grace!**

Above Foothill.

We always had plans to live above Foothill Avenue.

That was the goal.

Of course...we thought it would be in Monrovia!

But life happens, changes are made, surprises are thrown your way and you do what you can to make a new plan. That's what life is, right? A series of plans made, surprises or bumps, and then an adjustment to a new plan. I can wholeheartedly tell you when I first moved to LA eight and a half years ago I would never have ever considered living in the 909. And now, for far more reasons than I can list life has guided us right square into Rancho Cucamonga.

I know, right?

It's a real city, true story.

Trust me. Autocorrect LOVES this town.

So here we are. And at this point all I can say is just yup. This is my town. These are my kind of peeps. This is where we will stay to raise our kids and I couldn't be more settled than to be here. This makes all kinds of sense that I never saw coming.

Hanging on our front porch and checking out our view I can't help but have a great appreciation for where we are and where we started and everything in between.

We are now, officially and happily, waaaaaay above Foothill!

-McGee

P.S. Look for exciting news on the blog this week-big big LuLa changes coming!!

DO right or BE right?

Is it better to BE right or to DO what is right?

I love to be right.
No I mean I REALLY love to be right.
And I'm married to a man who loves to be right.
I parent kids who love to be right.
I was raised in a family where EVERYONE loves to be right.

I'm an expert on being right. Or at least needing to be right.

But every once in awhile something comes up and sparks the question is it better to actually be right or to do what is right because really-there is a difference.

Being right is insisting you're right, fighting to the death, not listening, screaming on Facebook in person or by text that by golly I AM RIGHT and YOU ARE WRONG to people who probably won't even hear you. I've been here all too often-being SO "right" that the only space the other person can find is to defend themselves and close their ears. It's a constant theme right now to BE right in the world.

That sounds like a recipe for success, no?
(Where is that sarcasm font when you need it)

So what does it look like to care less about BEING right and more about DOING what is right?

DOING what is right is so much harder.

Doing what is right often means closing your mouth, opening your ears and softening your heart. It's realizing that it's ok not to fight back with your spouse when they've had a bad day and pick a silly argument. It's scrolling past the Facebook post you don't like. Its loving people even if you don't understand them. It's trying to understand or hear the other side. Doing right means responding when necessary with a listening heart rather than reacting with the urge to shout your rightness (that's a word, right?). Doing what is right is going about your path, following your right and living the way you see fit while allowing others the same grace.

DOING right is often much quieter than BEING right.

Today I will focus on DOING the right thing rather than a desire to BE right.
Today I will be grateful for ALL the people in my life and love them however I can.
Today I will let things go that I feel are wrong because right is subjective anyway.

Today I will try to DO what is right rather than worry if YOU understand how right I am.

That sounds like a peaceful Sunday to me, don't you think?

-McGee

#37

#37 Play a piano. It's been too long.

It's been way too long. On a road trip with Mini-McGee and Little Miss we found this piano in the middle of a park with the invitation for anyone passing by to sit and play for a bit. And anyone who knows me knows I was playing 

Night Swimming... 

Because... 

What else would I play?

#17

#17 Laugh with my mom.

I'm not sure I can recall what exactly we laughed at but I do know 

it was much needed and well timed.

#8

#8 Take a family road trip.

Every other year my Grandmothers generation, their children, THEIR children and now OUR children gather at Eagle Lake for a week for our Shippendom Reunion. There is nothing better than watching our kids experience the same things we loved as children. To make the 1250 mile round trip trek palatable we rent an RV and make a family road trip out of it. 

Best. Decision. Ever.

#36

#36 Decorate something at home using one of the pins on my Pinterest Board.

LOVE my interchangable, always updateable photo wall.

#15

#15 Have a Disneyland date with Mr. Man.

He is seriously the most fun guy I know.

Finding the Win.

I have this bad habit.
(Albeit one that I'm overcoming)
If I'm not great at something,
If I'm not going to win,
I don't like to do it.
Sometimes I won't even try.

So to say I'm competitive is an understatement.

But I'm also an 8U softball coach so I guess you could say I'm glutton for punishment.

As I've grown and through many years of coaching I have learned to let go of the need to be first and embraced the concept of always finding the "Win" of the season. This year I've been fortunate enough to coach The Swarm-13 seven and eight year olds on the softball field. At this age we still have many girls learning to properly catch the ball and a handful of competitive players. It became clear to me after our first couple of games that we were not first place contenders so we would need to find our motivation and our Win creatively.

And because I'm crafty and love a good chart it had to be a cute Win as well.

My coaching team and I decided we would help the girls progress in the game by keeping track of their runs scored. We had a goal chart and decided at 30 runs we would have popsicles at practice and if they hit 50 runs they would get a swim party at the end of the season. (Mind you-our first game we lost 7-0, second game was 12-6 so 50 runs was just about right)

Just before the half-way mark we hit 30 runs and we were feeling pretty good about it!

By this point our outcome each game had less to do with wining or losing and everything to do with how much closer were we to our goal. We had our chart up in the dugout at every game and every girl knew exactly how many runs we still needed. These girls were excited to play, they were ready to hit, they stole bases like they were stealing cookies out of the cookie jar and they loved their time on the field! The Swarm hit their goal of 50 runs with three games still to go in the regular season!

Never one to shy away from a challenge we added some new bonus levels. At 60 runs they would get water balloons at practice. So they hit 60 pretty quickly. Obviously!

At 70 and then every 5 runs after that they would get to toss one coach in the pool at their pool party. We're still waiting on a sunny day for that one but let's just say ALL of our coaching staff should be ready to get wet!

50 was our original goal. 50 was going to be tight if you looked at the start of the season. Do you know-these girls wrapped up their season and then playoff bid with NINETY-TWO runs? We placed 5th out of 6 teams. I don't really even think they are aware of that. What they do know is that they had major Wins as a team. They encouraged eachother, they worked together, everyone improved and they blew our goals repeatedly out of the water.

Sometimes you're outnumbered. Sometimes you will not be the best or even all that great at something. In those sometimes you'll need to find the Win. It's always there if you look for it. Those Win's, I'm learning, are the most meaningful over the course of our lives. Those are the Win's that will never leave us.

Go find your Win today.

-McGee

#7 AND #9

#7 Paddle board.

#9 Take a yoga class.

Or...do them both at the same time-paddle board yoga!

The company and the scenery were just the icing on the cake.

#5

#5 Hike in red mountains.

My sisters, my mom and I spent a long weekend at the Red Mountain Resort in St. George, Utah. 

We quite literally hiked every day in red mountains. 

It was insanely beautiful and not a picture we took would do it justice. 

I. Am. Batman.

This is maybe one of the most proud relationship related photos I have. This is my oldest, his mother, and me-the bonus mom. BMOC (Big Man on Campus-admittedly his McGee name may need work) was only 3 ½ when he came into my world and he hasn’t left it since. Early on his mom and I figured out how to become good friends united by a love for this guy and with his best interests always at heart. I realize it’s not always this way but for us and all of our collective children it was the best way-I highly recommend it!

So when BMOC called with information for his graduation from Texas A&M in December (Could I be any prouder??) I was thrilled, my next call was to his mom to chat about details, compare notes about what to wear, made arrangements and we were set!

While I was packing for my trip I realized there were some family dynamics at play that could prove challenging with extended family members, bless their hearts. I’m finding these days that there is often a jockeying affect with family members, in particular in those families that are different from the traditional two parent household where it’s a competition to be the important one in the room or to mark ones territory.

Ever grateful for my relationship with BMOC’s mom we chatted about it, had a good chuckle at the similar feelings we both had around the situation and figured to hell with anyone who thought otherwise-this is his day and it will be an amazing one!

The night before my flight I read that when news of Ben Affleck playing Batman broke Michael Keaton was asked if he was envious of Affleck. His response was like someone took my snow globe, turned it upside down and the snow shifted in a new way never to be the same. He replied:

“No. Do you know why? Because I’m Batman. I’m very secure in that.”

It hit me with so hard I chuckled out loud.

I am Batman.

There is no one who can take away who I am.

Nothing changes the relationship I have with BMOC.

Or with his mom.
And for me, that changes the way I see everything.

As I drove down to College Station from the airport-it was a long Texas travel day-I was also struck that the reason this works, the reason our son enjoys both his mom and his bonus mom, and has grown into the man he is was because SHE was Batman. His mom has always known who she was to her son and that there was no one, no bonus mom, no time away while he lived in my home, nothing that could take that away. It was because of who SHE knew SHE was that allowed me to be a bonus in his life. And because of that he has two soft landing places when things get tough or he wants to come home.

So when he graduated and someone said-grab the mom's for a picture-when his mom laughed and said "Are you ready?" I knew what she was looking for and we both planted some mom love squarely on his cheeks!

Over the past six months this has proved to be the most all encompassing concept in my repertoire, my annual motto of sorts-I am Batman. There is nothing you can say or do, no opinion you have of me, no situation that can be thrown at me that will ever take away who I am. I am very secure in that.  And there is no opinion I have of you that will take away who you are. It’s pretty simple. There is a great deal of peace and power in knowing who you are and an even greater abundance of love when you can accept yourself and allow others to be who they are in the space they are in.

And just for the record…Michael Keaton was always my Batman.

40 by 40...McGee Style

Ok.
It's true.
I'm entering my 40th year.

It seems like a cliche reasonable time to reflect on where I've been and where I'm going and in my obsessive online searches research I've come across the idea of a 40 things to do before I turn 40 list.

Now, there aren't all earth shattering, high dollar, big deal things but they are all moments I would like to have over the next 365 days. And as I go I'll update and highlight the fun stuff!

My 40 by 40

1. Enjoy a drink with a sphere ice cube.
2. Learn to surf.
3. Camp at the beach.
4. Get to my lifetime goal weight.
5. Take a hike in red mountains.
6. Run a 5k.
7. Paddle board.
8. Take a family road trip.
9. Take a yoga class.
10. Road trip with Mr Man.
11. Visit a museum.
12. Get my substitute teacher credential.
13. Outline my first book.
14. Post 20 blogs.
15. Have a Disneyland date with Mr. Man.
16. Make something.
17. Laugh with my mom.
18. Watch a movie outside.
19. Donate blood.
20. Give $20 to someone who needs it more than me.
21. Spend 24 hours alone.
22. Treat myself to a facial.
23. Send a card in the mail just because.
24. Spend time with dad.
25. Let it go-that thing that gives you anxiety. You know the one.
26. Have coffee with a friend you haven’t seen in more than a year.
27. Submit an article for publication.
28. Ride a bike.
29. Run the two mile route.
30. Bake a strawberry rhubarb pie.
31. Go to a Bingo night.
32. Shoot a gun.
33. Get dressed up for a night out on the town, dinner and a show.
34. Throw a party.
35. Send out Christmas cards.
36. Decorate something at home using one of the pins on my Pinterest board.
37. Play a piano. It’s been too long.
38. Spend a day with my camera out. Not my iPhone camera. THE camera.
39. Read a really great book. 
40. Dare I say get a tattoo? Or at least decide on the tattoo.

I'll be making some changes around here and updating the look a bit, adding a section for my 40 by 40 and just generally getting all crafty on you so keep coming back...It's going to be a great year!

Are you still there?

Hey.

You.

You're still there?

I've got big things brewing this year.

I know I've neglected you.

But.

It's my 40th year.

It's going to be a bang.

Keep coming back...I'll be getting back to my McGee roots and finding some wings!

-McGee

walking.

It's an oddly unusual position I'm in.
I have one child who just learned to walk
And one readying herself to walk out into the world.

Several times in life I've thought "It will get easier when..."
Or "Life will be less busy when..."
"Surely things will settle down when..."
But I'm beginning to rethink this.

There is a different type of busy I've experienced at every point in my seventeen years of parenting.  At 20 I had a very active although super sweet step-son for the summer with a newborn baby-I was overwhelmed busy.  When I had a toddler and a baby it was physically busy but I could repeat every Teletubby episode verbatim.  I had a sweet baby boy in the midst of opening a new business and saying goodbye to my grandmother which created a different whirlwind busy.  When I was stressing about one girl starting high school the same year her brother started college, one in middle school, one in elementary, another in pre-K and a baby on the way it was a very panicked "Am I equipped to stretch this way?" type of busy.

And now I find myself here.

The Bean is a walking, talking little toddler who is finding her way in the great big world also known as our house and Mini-McGee is finding her way our into the world at large readying herself for college and beyond.  On any given day I can be cheering at a Varsity basketball game, coaching 6 and 7 year old softball, working on a science project for 4th grade or shopping for teething medication.

It's a mind trip.
A roller coaster ride.
But one I wouldn't trade for the world.

It takes a lot of work to pay the proper amount of attention to each of the five kids under our roof and frankly I'm not always great at it.  I'm not perfect but my priority in life is to be the best mom I can be.  Right now, given the kids we have and the way things run in our house, I'll say I'm feeling pretty good about the job we're doing as parents.

But like with anyone...
Late at night...
I wonder...
I pray...
And I dream about who they are and who they will be.

Tomorrow morning I will wake up with the Bean, change her diaper, make lunches for the elementary crew and see the teenagers off to the high school.

Set up a college tour, arrange for a second knee surgery for the other teen.  Make an 18 month appointment for the baby and play basketball with the boy while waiting for the 6 year old to come home.

It's what life looks like right now.
It's a different kind of busy,
And I'm ok with that!

-McGee

Cliche day.

Can you hear that So Cal?
I can almost literally feel the sound of it.
Rain.
Glorious rain.

The sound of rain after a long hot patch creates a visceral reaction in me.  It's cleansing and calming-I just want to turn off the lights, quite any noise, bundle up in a blanket, close my eyes and listen.

My day was ridiculously cliche today.

Hubby out of town.
5am baby is up.
Up, up.  Like for the day, up.

8am dropped off the boy.
Taking Little Miss into the city.
Hoping to get a diagnosis on her knee.
Frustrating process.

Car warning signals going off.
No oil in the car.
Pull over for a fast oil change.
"Ma'am there's a nail in your tire."

Seriously?
Seriously.

Meet a loved one for a hard conversation.
Painful, aggravating, tender, resolving.
Leave with a different feel than I came in with.

And then LA traffic.
In the rain.
Enough said.

Our bedroom bathroom light has had issues and needed attention from the electrician.  I've been applying make-up and getting ready with dull light at best for a week.  When I walked in from a long day and flipped the switch, lo and behold...there was light.  And everything looked different.  No more shady areas, no dark spots in the room, nothing hidden and everything clearer in the mirror.

And then the rain came.
Cleansing a bad day.
Light shed in my bathroom.
Maybe a little in my own mirror.
And also on others' feelings.

Bad day comes around feeling more like...
A complete day.

It's interesting, the cliche kind of days, they sneak up and will pass you right by if you're not paying attention. From bad to worse is challenging.  From emotionally fragile to emotional understanding is risky.  From no light to full light and rain to cleanse it all is a blessing.

Favorite line of a current song?
"We hit play.  Don't hit pause."

So play, it is...here's to what's next.
For now?
I'm going to go listen to the rain.

-McGee