elaine shannon » family

Three Tips for a Relaxing Sunday Dinner

Elaine — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 12:05:41 +0000

Plan, Share and Tidy as you go

I am excited to have a Guest blogger today. Enjoy Eliza’s tips on the Sunday Dinner.

Like Elaine, Sunday Dinner is an important event in our household. It provides everything Elaine says it does. However … yes, there is a however … it can also be a lot of work and stressful, especially if you are the Chief Cook & Bottle Washer.

In our home, this role falls to my husband. To be honest he has had a couple of meltdowns following a Sunday Dinner standing in the kitchen staring at the mess. Trust me, a grown man throwing a temper tantrum is not a pretty sight. But, he should not be that stressed out in the first place. We knew we had to make some tweaks to the process so that Sunday Dinner is enjoyable for all.

Here are three tips for making your Sunday Dinner relaxing and fun:

1. Everyone pitches in. This truly is Number 1 in the list. Everyone comes with the expectation that they will help with the cooking and cleaning. This means the chores do not fall to one poor family member. It speeds up the work part so we can all get to the play part. It is also part of the bonding aspect to Sunday Dinners.

2. Clean up as you go. Our dinners are a bit more elaborate than boiled hot dogs since Hubby is a chef. Our meals are always a taste sensation, but they do involve a lot of dirty pots and pans. We clean up as we go so that we are not left with a kitchen wasteland at the end of the day.

3. Plan an earlier dinner. Remember, this is Sunday and we all have work the next day. We plan for a 4 p.m. mealtime, which generally means we manage to sit down by 5. With everyone showing up around 2 p.m. this allows plenty of time for meal preparation and clean up. We also get in lots of game playing as the meal is cooking and after we have eaten.

Implement these three organizational tips and everyone, including the Chief Cook & Bottle Washer, can look forward to and enjoy Sunday Dinner.

Eliza Fayle is an international intuitive mentor and custom jewelry designer. She is also the driving force behind Silver & Grace, a community of fun, sexy, intelligent and real women over forty supporting each other in our wisdom phase of life. To be part of this vibrant group of women join in on Facebook and sign up for the weekly ezine A Touch of Wisdom by visiting the Silver & Grace website.

The Art of the Sunday Dinner

Elaine — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 13:43:59 +0000

Want to Connect with People…Have Sunday Dinner

When was the last time you had the classic Big Sunday Dinner?

Did you invite anyone?

I hope you did.

This weekly activity is an important thing for us this year on our journey to Simplicity…

It help us to focus on Relationships!

This Sunday Dinner is a great opportunity for you to;

connect with parents and other family members
a time for your children to get to know the grandparents and visa versa
an excuse to invite friends that you may not see often enough
an awesome opportunity to nurture new friendships

If you are quite brilliant you will make Alot of food and have leftovers for Monday…for us the busiest day of the week so leftovers are really Life savers.

Time to break out the cookbooks for next Sunday…who will you be inviting?

Simplicity is for Me!

Elaine — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 17:45:05 +0000

A life Simplified

Over the next 12 months Elaine and her family are going on a journey to Simplify and Enjoy life to the fullest!

They are not waiting until the children leave to ‘Right Size’ their home, they are doing it now. So the process of selling the beloved family home of 14 years is now in process and when the sold sign hits the lawn the search will start for the ‘Right Size’ home for this family of five. A home with just enough space to live in but not so much that it can’t be cleaned in less than 1 hour!

They are not waiting for retirement to travel, who knows what life will look like in 20 years. Right now life looks great and with good health and the children still home they are going to travel to as many amazing places possible. With awesome friends all over this amazing planet and they want our kids to enjoy meeting them too!

They are not waiting for some tragic news to hit so they can live each day like it is their last…they are doing it now. Living each delicious moment of life like it is their last, too many people they love have had the bad news so they thought they would learn from their lessons.

Top o the morning to you:Happy St Patty’s Day

Elaine — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 11:03:37 +0000

Top o the morning to you….and the rest of the day to yourself!

To honor this St Patty’s Day…my Irish heritage and to celebrate all things Irish I am sharing some great sites that you can search through for recipes, fun stuff for the kids and perhaps an Irish beverage recipe or two.

For the kiddies I found this great site with many links to games, stories, songs and the History of St Patrick’s Day, check it out.

Here is an easy recipe that would warm any leprechaun’s heart on this day of Irish Celebrations..its what The Irish “Shannon’s” are having tonight!

Here are 10 interesting facts about the Irish brew Guinness courtesy of Alltop.com.

With a last name like Shannon we will certainly be doing some celebrating today…I will leave you now with a proper Irish Toast.

Here’s to absent friends and here’s twice to absent enemies.

Here’s to the light heart and the heavy hand.

Thirst is a shameless disease so here’s to a shameful cure.

Here’s to a wet night and a dry morning.

May we always have a clean shirt, a clean conscience, and a bob in the pocket.

May you be across Heaven’s threshold before the old boy knows you’re dead.

…toast courtesy of this awesome site

How are you celebrating International Women’s Day?

Elaine — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 10:53:54 +0000

March 8th is a special day….a day that has been celebrated annually since 1911…it is a global day celebrating the economic, political and social achievements of women past, present and future.

It is International Women’s day and I will be celebrating at the KV Networks 5th annual
International Women’s Day Breakfast this morning. I am excited to hear this years guest speaker Mary Schryer . She is the MLA for Quispamsis and the Minister responsible for the Status of Women.

This day is a celebration of achievements…of moving towards equality…making the world a better place for everyone.

It is hard to believe that just last night Kathryn Bigelow made the Oscar history books by taking home the Oscar for best Director….can you imagine…

How many other firsts are we still waiting to achieve?

This is not a day about feminism…it is a day to celebrate Women, our accomplishments and contributions.

I would like to share this article by Jennifer Parmalee who cites this startling statistic “Worldwide, women and girls bear the brunt of poverty, hunger and discrimination, comprising more than 60 percent of the world’s chronically hungry – now charted at a record one billion people. Inherited hunger – when malnourished mothers give birth to malnourished children – is a huge obstacle to development, from Afghanistan to Haiti.”

So I ask again….How are you Celebrating International Women’s Day?

How do Entrepreneurs take a Vacation?

Elaine — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 19:30:30 +0000

I know, you are waiting for a catchy punchline….

Something profound that will perhaps help you as you are thinking of unplugging, taking a break, spending some time with family or friends and doing nothing work related for several days in a row!

Can you feel the anxiety building up…I can.

Tomorrow I am embarking on a new adventure. I am unplugging and heading away with my family.

I feel it is time to back away from the computer and the Blackberry and give myself, my husband and my family time to live in the present moment. We are disconnecting from the internet ..all of us…even me…and are allowing only one cell phone for emergencies…yes we are vacationing old school…. an old fashioned road trip. Hopefully not National lampoon style!

We are all looking forward to playing board games, reading, walking, and re-connecting.

I am excited and anxious at the same time. Intellectually I know that my business will go on when I get back, but there are parts of me that think if I am not going at warp speed that I will miss something.

Here are some awesome resources to check out if you are thinking of vacationing and not sure how to manage it.

James at Men with Pens shares the analogy of a Run Away Train and momentum in our businesses. What happens when you stop the train? Check out the article.

And finally Gretchen over at the Happiness Project… yes you read that correctly, a project on happiness. Gretchen shares 5 tips for happiness that were reinforced during her vacation. I would like to thank Gretchen for helping me to see that the Skippers obsession laundry thing on vacation is just a thing and that I need to just chill and not make a big deal about him knowing where every laundry facility is when we vacation and the need to have clean laundry when we travel. Obviously doing laundry while on vacation is FUN for the skipper.

Back to the initial questions of how an Entrepreneur takes a vacation…you just go…you enjoy yourself…live in the moment and deal with the stuff when you get back.

Elaine Shannon Rants on the Recession and Overconsumption

Elaine — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 14:15:05 +0000

creak….can you hear the video vault being opened?

I have been known to get up on my soapbox as you have seen in the last few weeks and I also love a good rant….

If you are Canadian then you have had the opportunity to see Rick Mercer in action…well…he is the king of rants. For my non Canadian readers you need to bookmark Rick’s youtube channel this guy is funny, smart and he really gets you thinking.

For today you get my rant…I am Ranting on the recession, the election of a new president and overconsumption…Please, ignore the dark sunglasses, the wardrobe gal forgot my other ones…just kidding I don’t have a wardrobe gal..it was Kim and we were just so excited to do this segment we did not think of the glasses…ENJOY!

Go Ahead Have Fun and Laugh a Bit

Elaine — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 13:34:29 +0000

Sometimes we get too serious..work too hard…and forget to have some HaHa…today go and have some…not some….lots of hahaha…ok got to go…there is some paper that I have to crumple up and laugh about….and I might roll around on my belly and giggle some more….oh and don’t bang your head when you are laughing so hard!

We are not in this ALONE, Elaine gets on her soapbox

Elaine — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 10:47:33 +0000

I got this question the other day on my Youtube channel.…Yes I have my own channel…yes with videos…and yes I am in them…Enough with the sarcasm please!

Anyhow this is how it went.

…”you have a lot of great ideas…can you do a video on maybe getting your kids (and husband lol) to help around the house more? I am always looking for ideas on that”

I had to bring my soap box out for this one…enjoy my response…remember my clients all say that I am Firm but Loving!

Peter Walsh and Oprah reveal “The Disconnection of the Family”

Elaine — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 12:35:08 +0000

Everything is not fine…from the outside it is all puppy dogs and white picket fences but when you start to dig a bit deeper….cutting through the surface…there is a problem…a big problem.

This show really got to me. It got to me in a way that we all need to be gotten to. We need to get disturbed…there is a dark problem cloaking our continent.

It is “The Disconnection of the Family”.

It is hard to say how or when it all began but people we have a problem…and Peter Walsh, life organizational expert, and OPRAH brought it front and center for everyone to see, and I am grateful to both of them for addressing the elephant in the room.

We are drowning in stuff, our schedules are so filled up that we don’t have time to think about the fact that we are so disconnected and most importantly we are AFRAID.

When we stop communicating (IN PERSON) we don’t have to address the real issues.

•   The real reason the house is a mess.
•   The real reason that we are so busy that we don’t have meals together.
•   The real reason our children are out of control.
•   The real reason our relationships are completely disconnected.
•   The real reason resentment and anger has clouded our relationships.

So what are we afraid of…as Peter said “if you open that door it may get horrible”?

It is horrible. We are afraid of admitting that all the stuff and the busy schedules are making us miserable and we don’t know how to get HAPPY back…

Well Peter Walsh has an answer and if you are willing to do the work you can get your “FAMILY” back.

Here is a summary of the “Stripped Down” Challenge. To strip down means to lose anything preventing you from living your best life.

1.       No cell phones or texting
2.       No electronics (e-mail, computers, iPod, TV, microwave, etc)
3.       Prepare and eat healthy meals together
4.       Clean and organize the house
5.       Family must hug and say “I love you” to each other at least one a day

The family that Peter worked with took the one week challenge and in that short span of time the youngest boy had a dramatic change in behavior…to the good. The oldest boy realized that he did not need to text 7000-10000 times per month. The couple had an aha moment when they realized that she was feeling guilt over not contributing financially to the family and he was afraid that he was not doing enough for the family. All of this happened when the lines of communication were opened…not through a cell phone or a text…but through one to one communication….yes people…they talked.

Take this challenge and make it your own. Place boundaries on the times that you do not use electronics such as at meals times and before school in the am. Pick a game night and enjoy each other. Have 3-4 healthy meal nights per week where the kitchen is the hub of activity and everyone shares the fruits of their labors together. Please…take the time and get your home organized and clean. To quote Peter, “If your home does not bring you peace and harmony where are you getting it from”. The last one is so critical…tell your family you love them and connect with a hug….who doesn’t love a good hug.

Wake up…we need to help each other. The African proverb made famous by Hillary Clinton “It takes a village to raise a child” is so appropriate for our times. I would also like to add this to it “and in order to get plugged in to our family in a way that connects our souls we need to UnPLUG”.