Lisa Zahn

Staring out the window--a favorite past-time, and something I must do in order to function After yesterday's post, today I planned to write one called "Why I'm a Stay-at-home Mom (Still)".  But I'm suffering from what I'm calling "introvert exhaustion" and can't think well enough to write coherent enough thoughts so I'm going to briefly  instead tell you why I'm so wiped out. I had meetings at church two nights in a row this week.  That happens about once a month and it's way too much for me.  Even though I like the things I do at church, and like the people there very much, I'm am counting the days when I get to be free from the obligations that cause me to have meetings.  How many times do I have to re-learn to say no?  And re-learn that only ONE obligation at a time involving no more than one meeting a week is what I can handle?  I have such a hard time saying no when people ask me to do something. I feel honored to be a...

A couple of days ago I stated in no uncertain terms that I'm a political liberal.  I am, unabashedly so. Here's why: First and foremost, it is a response to the Christian faith that underlies and ultimately informs everything about me.  I know!  I can't help it!  I've tried and tried to rebel against this, but it keeps popping back up in my life.  There is generally a Christian spiritual reason for the values I hold, whether the food I eat or the way I raise my kids, or any number of things. I blame the following verse, primarily, but all of Scripture is ultimately about God's steadfast love for God's people.  ALL of the people.  Jesus' words in Matthew 25, NRSV: “Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world;  for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me,  I was naked and you gave me clothi...

1)  Heather's Bok Choy and Egg meal .  This was last Friday night's "date night" dinner for George and me.  We fed the kids their usual pizza in front of the TV, and ate by candlelight in the kitchen.  Often we prefer this to going out, because we get to cook and eat things the kids wouldn't touch.  Like bok choy sauteed in olive oil and garlic, with a little salt and a poached egg on top.  I couldn't believe how tasty this very simple meal was. 2)  Sally's post on How to Balance a Long Torso , because this is me!  I've discovered many of these ideas through trial and error, but the tip about looking for shirts in the tall section and the sleeve length guidelines are totally new to me.  Petite pants I've been doing, but tall shirts?  Blew my mind! 3)  Speaking of which...I have to share Sheila's series at To Love, Honor and Vacuum called "29 Days to Great Sex", which she ran through the month of February, because it was so well...

Last week was spring break so in this post I'll share some photos from our trip to Duluth, Minnesota where we went skiing at Spirit Mountain... These are my feet in ski boots.  I got down half a hill before crying and hyper-ventilating while I looked down the rest of the hill.  My dear husband walked me back up to the lodge and that was that. I have a new plan to give myself more time and less distraction in my days.  After reading Zen Habits' recent post on how to overcome information addiction, I latched onto the idea of negative consequences.  According to Leo's list of "how to tell if you're addicted", I still don't know if I'm truly addicted to Facebook and Pinterest because I don't feel I qualify for many of his items and I actually like being unplugged sometimes.  However, I'm online ALL day long most days and I do frequently and habitually check the two social networking sites to see if I have any notifications.  Yes, if I...