Too Busy to Plan Dinner

I love to cook, but I detest having to think about what's for dinner, especially on the days that I am in the office or traveling. Dinner is the last thing on my mind all day and then I have to, presto, think of a dinner idea that everyone will eat and for which the ingredients are in my frig or pantry, since I am too busy to make a stop at the grocery store.

So, what to do? I do like the Canned Food Alliance's site, www.mealtime.org. There are good, fast, nutritious recipes and since I try to keep a well-stocked pantry, it works with my lifestyle. Fortunately, my neighbor is a farmer who sells fresh, organic produce. I just send my kids next door and pick a fresh veggie that looks good to them that day.

Still, there are nights like tonight when I feel like I've exhausted all quick ideas for the week and we have an open house at school, meaning less than 45 mins to prep AND eat dinner.

HELP!

Too Busy to Make Airline Reservations

Just tried to book travel for an upcoming family trip. I say "tried" because it was 55 minutes in the making before I was cut off and then additional 30 minutes while trying to recreate the travel scenario for two other agents. (Yes, I timed the calls and no, I could not do online due to they type of reservations.)

After all of that, I received only three of the four travel confirmations via email and had to spend another 15 minutes confirming the fourth.

WHO HAS THAT MUCH TIME TO SPEND MAKING RESERVATIONS? Isn't there a better way?

PLEASE tell me the best way to book travel for a busy, multi-minding woman!

Too Busy to Golf...NOT!

My husband and I took our kids golfing after work yesterday, which we try to do once a week. In talking with the staff at the pro shop and restaurant at the course, we found out the course had been "packed" all day. Interesting... a weekday and one when the market was taking a bath. Granted, the weather was gorgeous, but apparently many people are not too busy to golf!

What are your NEVER too busy to do?

Too Busy to Sort through Blogs, Twitter and Still Have a Life

mommytrackd, twitter, the juggle, momcentral, twittermoms.... There are so many great blogs, resources and sites out there. I love to visit them, post and comment and I learn about a new one everyday. Yesterday, it was the Motherhood, started by two very cool moms who have a great idea -- blog sorting an aggregation. The site helps aggregate content from blogs and sites.

With time being such a premium and the amount of content exploding, this multi-minding woman needs help in prioitizing. Love any ideas that help manage and streamline content I want to see.

What's your go-to resource for the best of the best content? If you could only read one blog a day or visit one site, what would it be?

Love to hear from you.

Loved seeing Leslie Morgan Steiner on the Today Show talking about the Mommy Wars (her great concept and book) and Sarah Palin. Nice job, Leslie!

We know that women, and especially moms, are busier today than ever. We have bypassed multi-tasking and are multi-minding. We need to create shortcuts for ourselves to get done all we need to do in a day with families, work, meals, travel, homework, exercise... the list goes on.

As I thought about it, Sarah Palin is herself a "short cut," in a way, for women voters. Being a working mom with a family facing real challenges is what most women and moms do each day and so Palin seems very relatable to many families. It's shorthand for "I understand you" and helps to cut through the reams of rhetoric that we are supposed to wade through to understand positions.

Just like those great brands seem to embody women, Palin has the potential to do the same with the most influential group of voters... women.

Take the poll and let me know if you want a multi-minding woman in the White House.

A Multi-Minding Woman in the White House?

Have to say, I love the idea of a woman, one with young children and all of the challenges of leading a multi-minding lifestyle, in the White House. Sarah Palin's life experiences as a woman and mom have the potential to change how work and life work are blended in the future.

While her life is not perfect, neither is mine or those of my friends and family. Just like we have to figure it our day by day, so will she. And, for the first time, those realities that we juggle could be juggled by one of the top women in our country. She knows first hand what we know and what we have to do every day.

Many moms have figured out how to do it their way by leveraging the power of blogs as businesses. I love that technology has enabled moms to raise families and work in ways that were impossible just a few short years ago. Perhaps having a working mom in the White House can have equally profound effects on how we, and our daughters, will juggle family and work.