5 Things You Might Not Know About Me

1. I prefer not wearing makeup.  Polished eyebrows, clear skin, and lip balm is my usual. 
2. I hate the sound of whistling. If I hear a stranger whistling, I will start a conversation with them just to get them to stop whistling.  And yes, I can whistle, two ways. 
3. Before Babyface was born, I barely sang Happy Birthday.  Now I can't stop singing to him.  I have good morning songs, soothing songs, dropoff at daycare song, pickup at daycare song, comforting song, and goodnight songs.  
   
4. In my early 20's, I was secretly living with a horrible boyfriend.  Until my mom (who was living in a different time zone) went to a psychic and the psychic busted me.
5. Whenever I hear or read the word Milwaukee, I automatically think, "Actually, it's pronounced "mill-e-wah-kay," which is Algonquin for "the good land." Thanks, Wayne's World.

Rise and Shine: Report 1

As I stated in my Spring Goals, I am trying to make exercise and writing what I do first thing so that they get done.  My goal was to get up by 5:15 am at least three weekdays and by 6:30 am one weekend day.  I  was up by 5:15 three weekdays this week.  I wrote and exercised for two of them. Then my horrible allergies kicked in and I just wrote instead of doing both.

Yesterday morning I was up and at 'em at 5:45 am (I went to bed ridiculously early on Friday night) and got in nearly two and a half hours of writing before Babyface was ready to start the day.  Creative Nonfiction retweets 130-character story tweets.

The more I write, the more I'm mulling about things to write and have more ideas.  So that's been great.  I've also been looking for publications that accept shorts.

5 Things I Learned: Mom Was Right!

Despite the profuse arguing, eye-rolling, and head shaving of my formative years, my mom never stopped giving advice.  I rarely took it then, but I'm glad I have it now.

Here are 5 pieces of advice I learned from my mom:

1.  The rules apply to you.  Like it or not, the rules apply to everyone.  It sometimes makes me cuckoo bananas when I see someone act like the rules don't apply to them.  The same can be said for my mom.  For years she loved volunteering to write tickets to people who parked in the handicapped spots without placards. And, yes, she'd show up at court when challenged (with Polaroids!).
2.  You don't have to sleep, but you do have to rest.  When I had a hard time sleeping, I'd want to get up and do something.  My mom taught me that even if I couldn't sleep, it was still important to lie down and rest.  You may not go back to sleep just lying there, but you definitely won't go back to sleep if you're not lying down. Though Babyface naps sporadically, he still has to rest during nap time.
3.  A joke is a funny story.  Along with my sharp-tongued siblings, we used words to cut to the quick, often wrapped as a joke.  "A joke is a funny story," mom would say, "not making fun of someone or at their expense." When someone says something mean in a funny way, it can be hurtful, whether it's intentional or not.
4.  Put some money in your 'something' fund because there's always something.  Just when I think I'm on top of my finances, my car needs four new tires or we have an extravagant vet bill or, you know, something. It's never an unexpected expense of $50, it's usually a swift kick to the wallet.

5.  If you don't ask, you'll never know. Where nerve and thriftiness meet, you'll find my mom.  She has the nerve to do things because she doesn't care if the answer is no.  Last year she knocked on our neighbors door and, long story short, we now have their toddler climbing equipment. When I was applying to college for undergrad, I was reluctant to apply to schools that I didn't think would take me.  "For $50, you let them tell you no.  You don't tell yourself no," she said.  Now I didn't go nuts and apply to Harvard, but I did apply to some schools that were a stretch.  My admissions counselor doubted I'd get into any of them, but I got accepted at two, wait listed at two and denied at two. I took the same approach when applying to graduate school.

Spring 2014 Goal: Rise and Shine

When I want something to get done, I do it first thing. I am not a natural early riser.  But over the past years, I have become one.  I've always had my best energy, ideas, and creativity in the morning.  When I was in graduate school, I separated my homework into AM and PM, the former for writing and analysis, the latter for reading.

When I got my first post-graduate school job, I rose early at least a few times a week to exercise.  Fast forward to when I first became a mom and was constantly sleep-deprived, once Babyface started sleeping through the night, 5am felt like heaven.  When he would sleep until 6 and I still got up at 5, I had one gorgeous hour to myself.

Since I started my new job in December, I've been getting up early to workout. In the winter, it was harder for me to rise earlier. So I started getting up closer to 6 than 5.  Now that daylight saving time is here (hello, sunshine!) and spring is slowly arriving, that makes it a bit easier. I've also been trying to maintain my same bedtime (within an hour) on the weekends.

My January Goal to have TV free weeknights was great practice in keeping me mindful of how I spend my evenings.  For about a month I was very consistent about only watching TV on the weekends.  Now it's been a few months and I've noticed that I watch less TV in general, even on weekends when I'm allowed.  Sometimes My Heart's Desire and I will watch a show on a weeknight and when that show is over (or half over, Dexter), I'm done.  I don't get sucked into watching "just one more." This has helped me go to bed earlier, which helps me rise earlier.

When I rise early in the morning, I do not fool around. I do what I got up to do.

So here is my Spring Goal: to rise early in the morning. Waking up early allows me to do the things that I want to do—like exercise and write. To be SMART about it, my Spring Goal is to rise by 5:15 at least three weekdays per week and by 6:30 one weekend day from now until Memorial Day.

Grateful Thursday

Today I am grateful for four seasons of approximately equal length, forsythia, daffodil, and hyacinth blooms, buds on the tree outside my window, open-toed shoes, being prepared, learning silly songs to sing with Babyface,  new ideas, friends near and far, my smartphone, and cuddling in the big chair with My Heart's Desire.

Slow Cooker Mushroom Soup

I had no idea that mushroom soup could taste like this.  I made this as a lark a few months ago to use up some leftover mushrooms and was surprised by how good it is.

Slow Cooker Mushroom Soup Ingredients:

1 container sliced mushrooms

1 big T minced garlic

3/4 cup of chopped onion 

1 Q chicken broth (or 4 cups of water and 1.5T of chicken better than bullion) 

1/2 cup milk (or half and half, or cream)

1/2 cup light sour cream

1/8 t black pepper

1t seasoned salt

First, saute the garlic and onions in hot olive oil, then add the mushrooms.  This will make your house smell amazing.  While I was doing this, some guys came to pick up our donated couch and both of them told me that it smelled really good.  And now we don't have a couch, we have two very comfy chairs side-by-side like Chandler and Joey.

Anyway, pour the contents of the pan in the crock with the chicken broth.  Let it cook on low heat for 5-6 hours.

Turn the heat off.  Take a 2 cup measuring cup and scoop out two chunky cups.  Then use the handblender and blend the remaining soup.  Add the 2 cups back in so that it has some chunks. If you like your soup smoother, keep blending until it's the consistency you like. 

Then add the milk (or half and half, or cream, I use 1% milk.), sour cream, salt and pepper and give it a good stir. Put the lid back on and let it sit for 10 minutes then serve immediately.  It's just as good the next day. 

Slow Cooker Mushroom Soup (from scratch!)

April Fools: 5 Things I Learned

My Heart's Desire and I married on April 1, 2007.  Happy Anniversary to us!

April fools in love

Here are 5 things I learned on our wedding day:

1. Things you didn't plan for can be a favorite part of the day.
About two hours before our wedding, the DJ called and told me that he couldn't play the song I wanted to walk down the aisle to.  So we went back and forth, me asking do you have this song, no, do you have that song, no, no...Finally I asked if he had "Can't Get Enough of Your Love" by Barry White.  He did and played it while I walked down the aisle.  I was afraid that if I walked down the aisle and saw people looking tearful that I would lose it.  When I walked down the aisle to Barry White, everyone was laughing.  I loved it.  And it's one of my favorite memories.

2. Roll with it.
Sometimes things go awry and you've just got to roll with it.  My wedding day mantra was: whatever happens, happens.  So I was able to stay cool.  I laughed when the limo driver got lost on our way to the ceremony.  We got there late but they weren't going to start without me!

3. Eat

MOH steals fries

I read in one of my myriad wedding books that it's important to eat before the wedding.  The hair and makeup people arrived around 7am and I didn't have breakfast. So at 11 am on my wedding day, I had a cheeseburger and fries.  Of course there was plenty of food at the wedding but I knew it would be a whirlwind (see below) and I might not get a chance to eat.  My Heart's Desire did not eat before the ceremony, had barely a chance to nibble, and to this day brings up how hungry he was on our wedding day. He loved the food at the tasting and was looking forward to having it again.

4. Time goes by so fast.
Our wedding day was one of the fastest days of my life.  Some things I can remember crystal clear, others are a blur.  Time seems to have sped up since I got married and even more so since Babyface was born.

5. Before the event is important too.

Excited > nervous

On the morning of our wedding day, My Heart's Desire texted me to remind me to take my allergy medicine. I loved holding hands with my family and BFF and saying a prayer before we left for the ceremony.  My sister helped me put my veil on properly. And of course eating the cheeseburger!

Prayer

What did you learn on your wedding day?