Top Ten Tuesday - 4th of July

Is it hard to get back in the swing of things after a long weekend or what? I could definitely go for another day or two to hang out and eat and nap. Anyone else?

Since that’s not going to happen, I’m going to hold on to that holiday feeling with a look back at my most memorable 4th of Julys. (4ths of July? I don’t know about this one…)

1. The one where the corn field caught on fire. We visited my parents’ friends in Wichita and sat in their backyard watching their neighbors shoot of fireworks. I remember that we got to play with sparklers and snakes (the fireworks kind, not the reptile). And I remember that somehow, their neighbors set the field behind their house on fire.
2. The one where my granddad died. It’s interesting to me (although, I’m pretty sure, not technically ironic) that my granddad, who instilled such a fierce patriotism in our family, died just before the 4th of July. I remember, the night after his visitation, standing out on my grandparents’ driveway and watching a fireworks display in the distance.
3. The one where my cousin got married. I was a personal attendant, not a bridesmaid, which would have bummed me out if I hadn’t gotten to hang out with my cousin and her friends the whole weekend. Despite taking place outside in the middle of the summer, the wedding was beautiful. (And not even that hot!) My favorite memories are from the reception, though, from my aunt shaking it to Brick House to swing dancing with my cousin Craig.
4. The one where we missed the fireworks. The first summer after we were married, my parents came up to visit for the 4th. In typical fashion, we arrived at the town’s event super early, endured a painful performance by a local musician and then, just before the fireworks were finally going to start, we headed home. Because my parents were tired of us getting eaten up by bugs and decided it wasn’t worth it to stay. Not my favorite 4th of July.
5. The one where Mark didn’t shoot his hands off. The summer after I graduated from college, I worked for the Chamber of Commerce. It was our job that year to put on the town’s Independence Day event, including the fireworks display. The guy in charge of the large – and dangerous! – fireworks needed help, and of course my accident-prone husband volunteered. He managed to not get hurt, have a lot of fun and come home with several hundred dollars worth of fireworks. Which he and a friend proceeded to shoot off in our apartment complex parking lot, narrowly missing both our car and the wives!
   

6. The one where we made a flag cake. Though we’d moved back to Kansas City, we hadn’t made many friends yet. So the summer after the summer I graduated, we headed back to Kirksville to visit our friends. And we were so proud of the berries and whipped cream flag cake we made! (And thankful the boys didn’t have nearly as many fireworks to play with this year!)
7. The one where the boys almost blew up a 6-year-old. A couple years in a row, we celebrated the 4th of July with our Sunday school class, where unfortunately, crazy firework-shooting behavior was encouraged. And you know what they say: It’s all fun and games until somebody loses an eye. Well, nobody lost an eye, but I recall some firm words being spoken after an errant bottle rocket flew much too close to the kids!
8. The one where my feet swelled up like balloons. The summer I was pregnant, I took an extra day off around the 4th. I spent my time off registering at Babies R Us and nesting like a madwoman (in other words, organizing every cabinet in the house). By the end of the weekend, my ankles were as big around as my calves. It was quite attractive, and thought I didn’t know it at the time, a sign of things to come.
9. The one where my friend got married – again. After being betrayed and abandoned by her first husband, my friend married a great guy in Hawaii – and then again here. She was sweet enough to ask me to photograph her “home wedding,” and it was so much fun. But more importantly than capturing every moment with my camera, I loved finally seeing her happy again.
10. The one where we saw the ocean. Last summer, we took a family vacation to Florida and Georgia. We didn’t actually watch any fireworks on the 4th (thanks to a cranky toddler, of course), but we did get to watch that not-yet-cranky toddler sit in the ocean for the first time.

And of course, this year, the one where Annalyn saw fireworks for the first time. I was worried that she'd be scared, but she loved it!

For more lists of fun stuff, visit OhAmanda’s Top Ten Tuesday.

How was YOUR 4th of July? And what’s been your most memorable one?


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Rolling with the changes

Annalyn enjoying her daddy at dinnertime!

Life at my house is a little different these days. Mark has a new job, and we’re doing things differently than before.

From the time I was pregnant until just a couple months ago, Mark has worked evenings. And when I say “evenings,” I mean that he was gone from early afternoon to late at night, sometimes not getting home until after midnight.

In other words, for Annalyn’s entire life, we have never had family time during the week. She had time with her daddy, she had time with her mommy, and we all met up on the weekend.

It wasn’t as bad as it sounds, although it did drive me to blog. Then again, I hope you’d agree that my blogging isn’t a bad result, either!

A couple months ago, though, Mark changed jobs and now works (mostly) nights. So now, we have our whole evenings together. We also moved Annalyn’s bedtime back to 7:30, giving us even more time to play and eat and be together.

All this change has spurred more change. It’s all good, but change still takes some getting used to. The first two nights that Mark was home, I thought I was going to lose my mind.

He was just so . . . THERE! In my space! Sitting on my couch! Watching my TV! Looking at me!

Thankfully, I realized quickly that I was being a jerk. I apologized, and we adjusted. Ahem. We’re still adjusting. As a matter of fact, I came up with 10 ways (as in Top Ten Tuesday, of course) that we’re adjusting to change right now:

1. Family time: As I mentioned, we have a lot more time together now. Or, as Annalyn says, “all of us.” If we want, we can go to the store together or play in the backyard together. Granted, it is summer, and the backyard is ridiculously humid. So I should say that it allows Annalyn to play in the yard with Mark while I sneak inside to the house. With the air conditioning.
2. Cooking dinner: But that does bring me to my second point: I have more opportunity to cook dinner now. A real dinner. Not a plain cheese quesadilla and canned fruit for Annalyn, while I eat chips and salsa until she goes to bed. But a real, cooked on the stove, featuring at least three of the four food groups dinner. Sometimes (like last night), Mark does the cooking and I do the playing. Either way, we get the chance to cook for our family, and that’s something we both enjoy but didn’t get to do often when we spent our evenings apart.
3. Family dinner: With Mark’s previous schedule, our only chance to eat meals as a family was on the weekend. And weekends are usually busy, leaving us little time to plan or cook or eat nice meals together. That left lunch on the days I came home from work, but it’s hard to enjoy much together-ness in 30 rushed minutes, with a 2-year-old. So being able to eat dinner – all of us, at the same time, with manners! – feels like a small miracle.
4. Bathtime and bedtime: For the first two and a half years of Annalyn’s life, I was the only person here (during the week) to give her a bath and put her to bed. You know what that means, right? Poor girl did NOT get a bath every night – or, sometimes, even every other night! Seriously, she’s a good girl and there’s only one of her, so it’s not like bedtime was always such a hardship. But having Mark here to help with the nighttime routine is so nice! And I think it’s really good for Annalyn, too.
5. Gas money: Okay, this one has nothing to do with being a family and everything to do with money. Mark’s new job is way closer to our house than the old one. So he buys gas half as often as he used to – saving us more than $100 a month!
6. Mo’ money: On top of the gas savings, he’s also making more money, which means we're finally going to get out of debt. And that makes him feel really good. Not in a money-is-the-most-important-thing sort of way. But he worked really hard to get this job – and he persevered even though that’s not normally his MO, and now he’s proud of the fact that he’s providing so well for his family. And I’m proud of him, too.
7. Flexibility: This might surprise you, but I’m not the most flexible person out there. I like rules and schedules and structure and lines around my colors. But Mark’s new job, at least for now, has none of that. He works a different shift every night, and we don’t know what that different shift will be until the day it happens. When I first realized this (after he’d signed paperwork but before he started the new job), I may have had a complete meltdown. Okay, let’s be honest. I did. But since then, I’ve managed to adjust to this new way of life and can see that it’s not a bad trade-off for the family time we’re gaining and the debt we’re starting to pay off. {Not to say I didn’t freak out a little bit on the night he didn’t get called in to work at all. But c’mon! That would frustrate any budget-creating and bill-paying wife, right?}
8. TV watching: Having Mark home in the evenings was a wake-up call. His presence was like a mirror, held up to my lazy habits. I didn’t like it. Seriously, I’m pretty sure my husband was appalled to realize just how much of my evenings have been spent sitting on the couch. He understands how it happened (newborn + unemployment and then underemployment + too much alone time = a LOT of time spent on the Internet, watching TV and generally not moving around). But he still wasn’t impressed. Thankfully, it’s summer, so TV isn’t a big draw anyway. But we may have some more adjusting to do come fall.
9. Blogging time: Just like it seems that I watch too much TV (and I do), it also seems to Mark that I spend too much time on the computer. And…I do. I haven’t had to be a good manager of my time, because it’s been all my time. Nobody was here to care if I spent three hours in front of my two favorite screens and then stayed up late to change laundry, pick up the house and clean up the kitchen. But now that Mark is here to point out (gently, of course. Ha!) how ridiculous that is? I’m trying to figure out how to be more efficient.
10. My bed: For nine years, Mark and I shared a full-size bed. Not long ago, we finally upgraded to a queen, and we’re not quite sure how we lasted those nine years. Now that we’re sleeping – for the most part – during two completely different parts of the day, though? We are in slumber heaven. Neither one of us has someone snoring in our ears or rolling over too far or breathing in my face. It’s just me, my pillow and nothing but space. Having the bed to myself is a definite change – but I have to say it’s kind of nice. {Weird disclaimer: Please don’t bother being concerned about the state of our marriage based on this situation. Of course I miss my husband at night, and yes, we do sleep in the same bed at the same time on the weekends. So, really, it’s all good.}

Those are the main ways we’ve been adjusting to all the changes going on. Does everyone in your family work, eat and sleep on the same schedule? Have you had to adjust to any changes lately?

This post will be linked to OhAmanda’s Top Ten Tuesday.

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Hot Fun in the Summertime

Let me tell you something: the guy who wrote this song must not have had the spiritual gift of sweat like I do. Because I’m not sure “hot” and “fun” actually belong in the same sentence, to be honest.

But, summer is coming. And sweat or not, I’m determined to have fun.

[Do not bother to tell me that I glisten, because I do not, in fact, glisten. I sweat. Buckets of it. It’s not dewy. It’s not sexy like Ashley Judd in A Time to Kill. It’s just sweat.]

Last week, I told you my first five goals for the summer. You might think that I’m doing these in chronological order or, perhaps, order of importance.

But you’d be wrong.

They are actually in no order whatsoever. So if you’re thinking there’s some significance hidden in which activities got listed last week and which ones were left for this post, there’s not.

Sorry to burst your bubble.

Anywho, in no particular order (as I may have mentioned), here are last week’s and this week’s summer fun plans.

[Because, really, who has to make “summer fun” a GOAL? Really.]

Iowa State Fair
Outdoor Theatre
Chalk Festival
City Market
Zoo and/or Deanna Rose Farmstead

Date Night in the Power & Light District – In the past few years, Kansas City has renovated our downtown area and created an incredible entertainment district.

And I don’t mean “entertainment district” like the kind you might find in, say, Las Vegas or New Orleans.

Nope, it’s just several blocks of restaurants and bars and theaters and stores. It’s really an amazing transformation, and we haven’t spent nearly enough time exploring and enjoying it. I plan to fix that this summer.

Try out one of the movie theater restaurants – The theater downtown and a theater closer to our house now offer a special, fancy way to watch a movie. You can eat and drink real food while you’re watching. I don’t know. Maybe it’s a weird way to do date night, stuffing your face while staring at a screen. But it’s different and it’s new, and I think we should try it.

Dierks Bentley concert – For the past two years, the Power and Light District has held free concerts throughout the summer. Two years ago, Smitty and I went to see Dierks Bentley, and it was soooo good! Mark wasn’t able to get off work that night, so our goal this year is to plan far enough in advance that he can take the night off and rock out to some free country music.

I’m also hoping to get a better spot this time; last time, Smitty and I were close to the stage – but even closer to a trash can. Eww.

Buy a baby pool – Did you think I’d totally forgotten about Annalyn? Of course not! I’m so excited to buy a baby pool for our backyard, so she can splash away all summer long.

Her first summer, she refused to sit up, so she couldn’t even sit in a couple inches of water by herself. Last summer, she was crawling like crazy but still not walking, so I didn’t let her play with her friends at the babysitter’s house.

This year, though, she’s moving all over the place and I feel perfectly safe plopping her down beside me in the water and starting a water war with big splashes! (I tell her she can only make “little splashes” in the bathtub, because I’m a mean mom who doesn’t like to mop up puddles on the bathroom floor.)

Picnics and BBQs – Last but not least, I’m hoping we can grill out and hang out as often as possible, with friends and family and anyone who will join us.

Who’s in? :)

Those are my big plans for the summer. We also have a few other things on the calendar, including a trip to Kansas for my cousin’s twins’ birthday party, a blogging conference in Colorado, a trip to Des Moines for a baby shower, play dates with our old babysitter and a former co-worker, and swapping work days with my parents’ to get some home improvements done at their house and ours.

Sounds like a full few months, doesn’t it? That’s the way I like it, but maybe now that I’ve made some specific plans for FUN, the season won’t fly by without us even having time to enjoy it!

What kind of plans do you have for this summer?

This post will be linked to OhAmanda’s Top Ten Tuesday next week.

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Thrive Africa: Top 10 and a Giveaway

Today I want to tell you about my friend, Alece.

(And in case you’re like me and are saying “Alice” in your head, let me set you straight. Her name is pronounced like “Elise.” Just so you know. The things you can learn in a video post, am I right?)

For a long time, I didn’t know much about what Alece does. I read her blog and comments on other people’s blogs. Sometimes we commented on each other’s blogs, but for a while, that was all. I eventually figured out that she’s a missionary in Africa, but honestly, I didn’t look much deeper.

Then I started reading more about her ministry and became true bloggy friends with her and even got to meet her. And now?

I’m 100 percent, completely and totally in love and on board with Alece and what she does.

{Not that I didn’t love her before. But to know someone and her heart for ministry? It’s a whole different level of friendship and respect and all that good stuff.}

See, around the same time I was sloooowly getting to know Alece and what she does, God was sloooowly breaking my heart for missions.

I’ve told you before about how I never really cared about missions. I’ve admitted that I had no desire to do anything other than give my missionary friends a pat on the back and thank God for not calling me to live in the desert or the jungle or the hood.

Alece didn’t have quite the same experience. I love how she describes it on her blog:

Africa steals the hearts of anyone who comes here. I know. It happened to me.

I got the missions bug in me when I went on my first mission trip at 14. At 16, I was ruined forever by a two-month trip to Southern Africa. I went home with more than a tan and some wooden carvings. I knew I’d spend my life on this continent, with these beautiful people.

I moved to South Africa when I was 19. I didn’t know much, beyond the fact that God called me here. I’ve learned a lot over the past decade+ of living in Africa, but in many ways I still don’t know much. And I’m okay with that. I’ll be a student of Africa forever.

After moving to South Africa in 1998, Alece founded Thrive Africa, a ministry that disciples believers, equips leaders and strengthens the Church in South Africa. Everything they do is focused on guiding people into a growing relationship with God and training them to be competent, upright leaders.

Like so many companies and organizations, Thrive Africa is having some hard times financially. In another incredible leap of faith, they set a God-sized goal to raise $80,000 by June 1.

Which is right around the corner. As in . . . next week!

So today I’m asking you to consider joining Thrive Africa in 10 Buck Tuesday. Just $10 can provide . . .

• Year-round vegetable gardens for three families
• Weekly transport for a coach to teach hundreds of students
• Paper for printing discipleship materials
• A day’s wages for three national employees
• 5 AIDS prevention workbooks, teaching students God’s ways

To give you a larger glimpse into the work Thrive Africa is doing, here are the Top 10 reasons why we should support them. Keep reading . . . there’s a giveaway at the end!

The Top 10 Reasons to Support Thrive Africa

1. Our Leadership Summit program is breaking barriers of communication and providing vital knowledge to turn the tide of the AIDS pandemic in southern Africa. 93% of our partnering pastors report that sexual activity among their youth is a significant problem – and they’re asking us to help. 50% of our surveyed students still need to know essential truths about HIV/AIDS.
2. Boitsebelo School reported zero teen pregnancies this year, due to the impact of Leadership Summit. Their headmaster, Mr. Lebone said this: “Much has been done in terms of equipping students with tools and knowledge to make wise decisions. Example, during the past years we had several learners who got pregnant, but we don’t have even one learner who is pregnant this year.”
3. One Hand-in-Hand conference equips 100 church leaders. We’re aiming to change what’s been said about the African church – that it’s a mile wide and only an inch deep.
4. LaunchPad students come to our discipleship classes during their free time because they are hungry to know about God. Your $10 helps us get to our six classes each week. Our160 LaunchPad students are developing connections with Christ, building relationships with our staff team, learning to make prayer a lifestyle and experiencing what it means to never be alone.
5. Nearly 400 students participate in our quarterly IMPACT conferences, where they are equipped and advanced as leaders. Eighteen schools in QwaQwa (South Africa) participate in our conferences, and hundreds of schools are still waiting for the opportunity.
6. We equip and mentor 23 coaches who impart hope and knowledge to approximately 4,000 students every two weeks.
7. The Department of Education has granted Thrive Africa unlimited access to the schools in our entire district (over 300). Our limitation is the funds to pay for additional coaches and curriculum. Just $10 pays a days’ wages for two coaches or for five curriculum books.
8. Thrive is investing in 52 national staff members and combating the 88% unemployment rate. Your gift of just $10 covers a day’s wages for two South African staff.
9. Your investment in Thrive is guaranteed to multiply. As we invest in pastors and other church leaders, they become equipped to invest in others and bring lasting change to this nation.
10. For less than the cost of a date night or coffee with a friend or a new CD, you can equip a nation for tomorrow and make an eternal impact on our world. Our investment in South Africa is exponential because we extend our reach of God-centered change by raising up indigenous leaders who will model the same. We believe in teaching men to fish rather than solely giving them a fish for today.

These reasons were taken from the Thrive Africa blog.

Now for the giveaway! Do you like coffee? Do you care about Africa? Well, howsabout we put those things together and give you a lovely red Thrive Africa mug and a bag of Thrive Africa blend coffee?!

{The certified fair trade and organic coffee comes from Africa in the Sidamo region of Ethiopia. It’s coffee from Africa for Africa!}

To enter the giveaway, do one of the following and leave a comment telling me about it. For additional entries, do more than one of the following and leave a {separate} comment for each one.

• LIKE: Thrive Africa on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/thriveafrica)
• FOLLOW: Thrive Africa on Twitter (@impactSA)
• TWEET: $10 goes farther than you think. Join in the fight against AIDS in africa. http://10bucktuesday.com/ #10BuckTues
• DONATE: http://10bucktuesday.com/

Random.org will choose a winner after midnight on Thursday, and I’ll announce the winner on Friday.

This post will be linked to Top Ten Tuesday at OhAmanda.

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Week Recap: Positive Polly vs. Negative Nelly

As I was driving home from work on Friday, I started thinking about all the ways my week had been crummy. But even though it had, in fact, been a terrible week in some way, I had a hard time not also thinking about the good parts of my week.

[Who is this positive-thinking woman, and where did she come from? Weird!]

Don’t worry. My rose-colored glasses aren’t totally clouding my vision. I can still tell you about all the crazy things that happened last week. But I’ve just got to mix in the good stuff, too.

So, here are 10 [completely random and unrelated] things that have happened in the last week. We’ll see who comes out ahead: Positive Polly or Negative Nelly.

1. Last week, I was miserable at work. And, it’s possible I made my co-workers miserable while I was at it. Thanks to a huge, mundane project that took longer than I anticipated, I became even further behind on another huge, mundane project that’s taken longer than I anticipated. By Friday, I was on the verge of tears, both frustrated with the job and with myself for not getting it all done. Quitting time both could not come fast enough – and came way too fast!
2. One of our local radio stations has gone through several changes over the past couple years, after being one of the city’s classic rock stations for years. (Maybe decades, but I’m not going to look it up now.) Last week, the station became Gen-X Radio, playing retro, grunge, hip hop and hair bands. You know, music from the 90s – the stuff us Gen-X-ers like. At least I do. (And yes, I consider myself Gen X. Don’t get me started. I did a ridiculous amount of research and debate on this very topic with a former co-worker. And I won.)
3. Several girls from my church organized a huge, multi-family garage sale last weekend. Because my cousins and I trade hand-me-downs like my husband used to trade baseball cards (I don’t know. I tried to be clever, and that’s all I came up with.), I don’t have boxes of children’s clothes to get rid of. And because we’re probably not finished having children, I can only pass on so many baby things. So when I somehow ended up making $70 (and that’s after buying several fall outfits for Annalyn), I was thrilled!
4. I was not thrilled, however, to pay $150 to the plumber. It’s too bad they don’t have some sort of frequent customer club. We’d be getting discounts left and right. Instead, I got busted for putting a few “potty wipes” down the toilet during our recent potty training adventures. Guess what I won’t be doing anymore!
5. I didn’t edit my Losing It post to tell you the big news, but I’m telling you now: I was down 3.4 lbs on Friday! Woo-hoo!! Considering the two – count ‘em, TWO – packages of Oreos that have called my house their home over the past week, I’m not predicting a repeat performance this week. But, I’m still trying…
6. When I shared ice cream with Annalyn last week, I actually thought, “Good thing she’s not sick!” Um, yeah. She was. And now I am, too. The cough and scratchy throat started on Thursday and by the time I made it to bed on Saturday, I felt like death. Or at least, an upper respiratory infection. I actually stayed home from work yesterday. It was either that – or listen to my co-workers say after every cough, “You should go home!”
7. The reason I got to bed late on Saturday? A girls night, that’s why. I spent the evening reminiscing and laughing with girls who I’ve known forever. I love them so much, and it’s always good to catch up.
8. Remember the plumbing problem I mentioned up there? Well, before our washing machine overflowed, our fridge started leaking. The very same night. Thankfully, Mark is handy, and he’s already fixed it.
9. Mark got a job transfer a few weeks ago, and now he’s working nights. It’s been hard to adjust – for all of us. The weirdest adjustment? Not being able to call him during the day. I say “weird,” because it’s not like I need to ask him important questions at all hours of my work day. But it’s nice to be able to call him…just in case I have some of those important questions, you know?
10. Even though I can’t call Mark during the day – because he’s sleeping, if I didn’t make that clear and I don’t think I did – it’s been so great to have him home in the evenings. Annalyn can play with him, while I cook dinner. Then we can eat dinner together and do the bedtime routine together and sometimes even watch TV together. Like we’re a normal family or something. It’s good.

Well, I thought Positive Polly and Negative Nelly were going to have a tie. But now that I’ve written about my week, I think that Polly has eked out a win with Mark fixing the fridge in #8. So, it turns out I had a pretty good week. What about you?

This post will be linked to OhAmanda's Top Ten Tuesday.


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And THAT is the night the lights went out in Georgia.

I was sad to hear last week that Dixie Carter passed away. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: I want to be just like Julia Sugarbaker when I grow up.

In honor of Ms. Carter, I set out to find 10 of her best rants from Designing Women. It shouldn’t have been hard. After all, she had a good rant at least once every episode!

But YouTube wasn’t feeling cooperative last night. It seems like only a few episodes are available online. I still found plenty of good stuff, though, so if you were a fan, here are 10 videos for you. (Which means, yes, this post will be linked to OhAmanda's Top Ten Tuesday.)

1. The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia
2. It Has Been the Men
3. We’re proud of our crazy people.
4. The Designing Women Talk About AIDS
5. Jury Duty
6. Sweet Georgia Brown
7. Ain’t No Mountain High Enough
8. It’s still compost.
9. Football in the South
10. Dixie Carter on The Bonnie Hunt Show

Did you watch Designing Women? Do you ever like a good rant, too?

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Who wants a worm, anyway?

 

Image by chefranden

I’m trying to become an early bird.

A few weeks ago, I decided that I really need to start getting up earlier. Of course, I make this decision about once a month, so it isn’t quite a dramatic statement as it seems.

But this time I actually prayed about it. I asked God to help me get up earlier. And you know what happened the next morning? A certain two-year-old woke up a good 40 minutes earlier than normal!

And she’s been doing that for the past several days, waking up and hollering, “Get me out, Mommy!” until I pull myself out of bed and join the land of the living.

Now that Annalyn’s going to daycare, we’re going to have to make this a regular thing, this getting up before the last minute, this rising before the sun, this not hitting snooze half a dozen times.

It’ll be good for me. Right? Staying up late and sleeping in is overrated, right? (Not that 7 a.m. is sleeping in. Because it’s not.)

Yes, I think I’m convinced. Getting up early will be good. As a matter of fact, I thought of 10 benefits of getting up early, and I’m linking up to OhAmanda’s Top Ten Tuesday (which is hosted at Mandi’s It’s Come 2 This today).

1. I can finally, once and for all, for real this time read my Bible every morning.
2. I could change a load of laundry. And maybe, after a bunch of early mornings in a row, my hamper might be empty for at least 10 minutes.
3. I can empty the dishwasher before breakfast. So I can actually sit down with Annalyn at dinnertime.
4. If I get up before the sun, it’s possible I might actually snap a picture of it coming up. (I said it’s possible, not probable. Quit laughing.)
5. Once I get tired of oatmeal (my Weight Watchers breakfast strategy), I’ll have time to scrambled an egg and nuke some turkey sausage.
6. If I’m really feeling good (and Annalyn’s not awake and wanting to play blocks, watch a movie or play with her clubhouse), I could work out. Water aerobics class is over for now, but that doesn’t mean I can’t pop in a Walk Away the Pounds, Shred or even Tae-Bo video.
7. I can wear my needs-to-be-ironed shirts. The ones that have been crammed in the back of my closet for months because I never have time to iron.
8. I can make coffee for Mark and wake him up nicely – as in, without shouting, “Come on! You’ve got to get up now! I’m going to be late!”
9. I can actually dry my hair and go to work looking like a grown-up.
10. I can breathe. Instead of spending the first hour of my day in a panic, I can spend that time with purpose.

Are you an early bird? If not, what could you accomplish if you got up a few minutes early?

Also, for inspiration to wake up earlier, you should check out Kat’s new blog, Inspired to Action.

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Can we get a translator over here?

The other day my manager was talking about how her 4-year-old daughter only has a couple words that she mispronounces, and she's sad to see those cute, funny words disappear.

As she said it, I thought to myself, "Well, I won't ever know what that's like, because Annalyn's vocabulary skills are so advanced that she really doesn't mispronounce most things. That girl can enunciate!"

I even believed what I was thinking.

Then I started listening for mispronunciations. I'm sure you're not as surprised as I am that I noticed a few. Okay, a lot.

And they are Super Cute. Here are a few, used in sentences for your ease of understanding:

• Lie-vray - "Where do we get Elmo videos, Annalyn?" "The lie-vray! Pincess moovie! Pink pincess movie!" (We're temporarily over Elmo these days.)
  
• PQ - "Where did Annalyn go?" "PQ!!" "Oh, peekaboo! There you are!"
  
• broccoli - "Bockolee and panties! Mommy's tummy! Hahaha!"
  
• gunnel bar - "Do you want cheerios for breakfast?" "No! Want gunnel bahr!" (In other words, she wants Mommy's Fiber One granola bar. The kind with chocolate chips. The ones Mommy rations and considers the perfect snack. Those.)
  
• hamma - "Mommy want a hamma?" "A what?" "Hamma!" "Um, okay?" (It turns out she was saying "hamburger" and referring to the fake plastic steaks that came with her fake food set.)
  
• fah-pah- "Daddy watch fah-pah." Lots and lots of fah-pah. Good thing the Superbowl is almost here. You know, so we can move on to baseball. Or, um, base-bah?
  
• eemo - "Send eemo. Send eemo to Kyle." Annalyn calls my manager Kyle (which is not her name, but it's close). And one morning I had to send her an e-mail from home. Ever since, Annalyn likes to pretend that she's sending "Kyle" e-mails from her computer.
• pooter - I almost forgot. "Computer" is actually "pooter."
  
• CDO - "Watch CDO, Mommy! See baby! Watch CDO!" No, no, she's not referring to a strange and confusing Phil Collins song. She's confusing the many forms of media we have in our house - CD plus DVD plus video plus uploaded video of herself on Youtube (what she was actually referring to) equals "CDO."
• Slinky bankie - "No! Don't want slinky bankie in here!" Annalyn has a really soft pink blanket. And she has an unexplained love/hate relationship with it. Some nights, she can't go to sleep without it. Other nights, she can't go to sleep if it's anywhere in sight. Most nights it's folded up in the closet.
  

I have to admit, I'm glad she has all these cute little words. I've told her several times - although, clearly, not enough - to stop growing up and to Stay Little!

This post of ten words I realized (learned) Annalyn mispronounces in her super cute way will be linked to OhAmanda's Top Ten Tuesday and Musings of a Housewife's What I Learned This Week.

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That's what I call a pizza craving!

I don't like watching the news. I do realize that, as a public relations professional, I should be interested in the news. And I am. When it involves my company or our industry.

But the local news? Not my favorite.

However, I didn't turn the TV off fast enough when Castle was over, and I caught the first story on the nightly news.

Apparently, a Pizza Hut delivery man was carjacked and kidnapped Monday night.

What? Have you ever wanted pizza that bad? I mean, wow. I love pizza. And I'm sure I've craved it at times. But those are some pretty extreme measures. (Yes, I realize it's possible that there's more to this story than the delivery of a large one-topping. But just go with it, will you?)

Thanks to this brave delivery man and the fact that his story was the most newsworthy thing going on tonight, I now have a blog topic. That's right. Here are my top ten favorite pizzas.

• Pizza Hut pepperoni stuffed crust (I know. Okay? I know.)
  
• Pizza Hut hamburger hand-tossed crust (Boring? Maybe. Or delicious? Oh, yeahhhh.)
  
• Papa John's supreme when eaten with our friends, Zac and Mandy
• Totino's Combination Party Pizza (This one's a throwback to college...when have I even eaten one of these? I mean, half of one. Nope. One.)
  
• Jack's frozen pepperoni pizza (with extra mozzarella, just to up the health factor)
• Homemade pizza, with hamburger, onion and green pepper
• Minsky's combo pizza without sausage
• Godfather's humble pie, substitute beef for sausage (What can I say, we don't do sausage!)
• Shakespeare's pizza with beef, pepperoni, onion, green pepper and mushroom
• Waldo Pizza - everything I've ever eaten there.

N0w I'd like to know: What's your favorite pizza?

For more Top 10 lists, visit Oh Amanda's Top Ten Tuesday.

Taking a shortcut on Wednesday. And Tuesday.

I love reading The Pioneer Woman’s cooking blog. The combination of delicious, down-home comfort food and fantastic photography is a thing of beauty. And it makes me hungry.

But sometimes . . . I have to admit . . . it’s a little discouraging. Because on any given day, I just cannot handle recipes with a dozen ingredients. Or fresh herbs.

So I was excited to read yesterday’s post: Monkey Bread. You know why? Because monkey bread, I have just learned, is made from canned biscuit dough.

Ah-ha!

I feel like I just discovered a national secret, a cooking conspiracy. Or somethin’.

All this thought about canned biscuits made me think about how many shortcuts I take in the kitchen. How many pre-made ingredients I use. How many products make my life easier when it comes time to feed myself and my family.

And you know what happens when I start thinking, right? I have to make a list. So, here you go. The top 10 cooking shortcuts that work for me:

1. Brownie mix – In some circles I’m actually well-known for one thing and one thing only. And that’s my brownies. That come from a store-brand mix. What can I say? Not everyone is destined for greatness. Like I am.
2. Muffin mix – Mark’s mom often made blueberry muffins for them when he was growing up. I’m not sure if she made them from scratch, but I’m going to guess she did. I, on the other hand, love these packets of muffin mix with these three life-giving words: Simply Add Water.
3. Pizza crust in a can – I’ve tried the pizza crust mix in a packet. It’s not the same thing. And yes, Mom, I do know how to make it from scratch, which is way cheaper. I just don’t like to do it.
4. Salsa – Yeah, yeah, yeah. I said I want to make my own salsa. And I do. But I sure haven’t done it yet. Until then, Sam’s Choice medium salsa is doing the trick.
5. Shredded cheese – I’ve noticed that some of the cooking blogs I read like to mention how much better cheese is when you grate it yourself. And I don’t disagree. I do, however, remember how much it hurts to catch your knuckles in that thing. And there’s the fact that it takes so much time. Like, minutes.
6. Spaghetti sauce – I had never considered making my own spaghetti sauce. It really seemed like an awful lot of work. But then I made this lasagna, which pretty much forced me to make my own sauce. And you know what? It wasn’t so bad. In fact, it was pretty good. But for spaghetti on a Wednesday or Friday night homemade pizza, you can’t beat Prego traditional sauce. Mmmm…yum.
7. Crescent rolls – Another favorite from Mark’s family, the canned crescent rolls are a staple around here. Thankfully, they make a reduced fat version. Because one can? Yeah, pretty much disappears around here!
8. Cinnamon rolls – Are you seeing a pattern here? I like my bread products to come from a can! Canned cinnamon rolls (again, the low-fat and store-brand version) is the easiest, most delicious “homemade” breakfast I make. It’s perfect when we have overnight company or have to take “treats” to our Sunday school class.
9. Break-apart cookie dough – It’s the ultimate in laziness, I think, but you better believe I do it. Not only do I buy pre-made cookie dough, I don’t even take the time to scoop it or slice it. Nope – just break it apart and bake. At least, I bake the ones I don’t just eat right out of the package!
10. Instant oatmeal – Time to redeem myself after all of that not-so-healthy talk. When I’m really on my weight loss game, I eat a bowl of apple and cinnamon oatmeal (two points, if you’re counting them) every morning. It takes just a few seconds, it’s delicious and it’s filling. Can’t beat that.

Unless you count the cinnamon rolls.

This post is part of Top Ten Tuesday and Works for Me Wednesday. (Hey, I actually wrote it on Tuesday but it will post on Wednesday!)

What are your shortcuts in the kitchen?