Why am I up at 5:30am to head out into the freezing cold to go walk on a rat wheel at the gym? Where are my keys? Did I forget to pay something? I have two grown kids who have moved out and one who can dress herself, why am I not sleeping? I have had broken sleep for at least a decade due to those precious babies, I deserve to sleep! And how in the Sam Hill did Dayve lose every inch he wanted? Oh yes, he runs. Well, I’ve been running for 24 years and I’m too damn tired to run frankly. Why do I have five pets? I’m not that old right? I really need to go to the gym, come on just get up.
   This is how my morning began today and how it begins most days. I am 43 years old, with three kids of which two are grown (at least in age) and a teenager who makes me rethink not using a switch but who is also a very loving girl so I don’t beat her. I have a husband who is just the most thoughtful man on the planet but also makes me roll my eyes a lot. He also thinks I’m the best thing since sliced bread and I want to gobble him up all the time so what can I do. I also have five pets who drive me absolutely crazy, some days I want to simply open the door and let them go but love stops me. I am at a weird age in life where I should be settled, organized, in shape and well rested. I know that is what people think but come on ladies, we all know that is not reality. All of this to ask, am I the only one out here like this? There must be more of you, we are the Erma Bombeck’s of this century and we should proudly lay claim to it. We have kids who do what they want knowing full well it will make life harder. We spend money traveling instead of saving because you never know if you are going to make it until tomorrow so have fun now. We tirelessly clean only to be faced with a pile bigger than we started with. We clean up for company like the Pope is coming over for dinner. We drive ourselves nuts trying to fit into groups we don’t fit but feel we should while ignoring loved ones who just take us as we are.
   This Fall, I just stopped. I stopped going to meetings, I stopped signing up and to be honest I spent two days watching “Christley Knows Best” knowing full well that not only does that man not know best but needs a kick in the pants and still, I watched. The house is not as clean, the laundry piles up a bit more but something else is happening. I am relaxing a bit. I am spending time with the teenage hormonal daughter, and laughing a lot with her. I go to bed at 8pm if I feel like it and sometimes I take a piece of cake with me as I watch mindless television. In this era that might seem odd because the world is on fire and everyone is watching to see what everyone else has. Well, those people can keep up with the Joneses but I have news for them. We are the Joneses just as Erma told us all of those years ago. So before you hurry off to Pinterest of Facebook to plan that next craft or crazy, think twice. Let some of those tasks go. Go laugh with a friend, hang out with your kids, kiss on that man of yours, have a bottle of wine, sit on the couch and relax. I guarantee you will find that those moments are some of the most important.

Rave On Middle Aged Momma’s!

        My grandmother Jewel Maxine Kemp was from the tiny town of Shubuta, Mississippi. She moved to California in the sixties and brought with her every tradition from her home town and a love of all people regardless of what color their skin was or who their family was. Not a popular thing in rural Mississippi in that time. It was just who she was and she brought people around to her way of thinking by just living that way and talking to them as she fed them. Let me tell you, everyone around loved to come have a meal at Jewel's. She knew how to make something special out of whatever she had to work with. I spent years learning to garden, cook, bake, can, freeze and mostly to love on people with all of those skills. Wherever Grandma Jewel was, I was shortly behind on her heels. Her way of life is a way of life I not only love but feel needs a re birth in some places. I have spent years sharing my table, recipes and ideas with loved ones and friends. This place is just a new community to share all of that with all of you. You will find all kinds of odds and ends around here that I hope you will share with loved ones as well. I have inherited so much of myself from her and had such a wonderful time learning from her as I grew up. She has long passed on but seems to always be nearby as those around me will tell you. I hope you enjoy this work in progress as I add to it and take some ideas with you as you go.