Living the Dream...

Hello Dear Readers! I just wanted to stop in and let you know that I just registered to take the Jeopardy! online test. This is the first step in qualifying to become a contestant on Jeopardy! My kids and I watch this show every day and I really do consider it a great opportunity for them to learn interesting information and practice thinking on their feet. They can already answer a few questions every week. I would love to appear on Jeopardy! I'd probably end up with a negative score, but you only live once (on this side of eternity) right?!! If you have any interest in taking the test, it is offered online on February 8, 2011 at 8 p.m. EST. Click here for more details and let me know if you'll be testing with me:)

Have a great week!

Kitchen Cred: Five recipes I am trying to master

This morning I made a traditional breakfast for my family of blueberry pancakes, bacon, and scrambled eggs. I must admit, cooking a meal that is well received always boosts my confidence in my credentials as a wife and mother. As I watched my five year old eat his second helping of pancakes, I came up with a list of five recipes that I would like to perfect to secure my place in the minds of my husband and children as a true master of home cooking.

1) Pancakes.  Still working on the recipe- my goal is to figure out what IHOP does and copy that.  My pancakes still tend to be too heavy and doughy for my taste.  I want them to be light, slightly sweet and delicious.  I might as well work on waffles while I'm at it.

2) Turkey and the fixins.  I have only prepared one turkey in my life.  It was dry and only slightly flavorful.  This one will require practice during the off season (times other than Thanksgiving) to perfect.  I also need to settle on a recipe for Greens, Macaroni and Cheese, and potato salad.  The cool thing about side dishes is that every family has their own tastes, so I just have to perfect them for the taste buds of my household. 

3) Chocolate Chip cookies.  I feel pretty confident with my current recipe and it already wins rave reviews from my family members. My next goal is to memorize it and be able to throw it together at will.

4) Pound cake/ birthday cake.  Cake has never been my strong suit in any form.  My mom makes the best pound cake, but I have never been able to duplicate her recipe.  I will continue to practice.  I'd also like to be able to make a delicious yellow or chocolate flavored cake for birthdays without relying on Duncan Hines or Betty Crocker.

5)  Baked pork chops or chicken breasts.  Every time I make a baked piece of boneless meat, there is at least a 50% chance that I will overcook it until it's dry.  When a pork chop is baked right, it's delicious and succulent.  When it's cooked wrong, it's like seasoned rawhide.  This one is just a matter of technique- I am confident that I will figure it out.

Let me know if you have any recipes you are currently trying to perfect.  What recipes do you remember most fondly from your mother's kitchen?  I love my mom's Oven fried chicken, pound cake and macaroni and cheese.  I also love the way she makes fried eggs:)

Ten pounds to Lose.

Today I wore a suit to work that I haven't been able to fit into in over three years.  That probably sounds like good news until I tell you that the last time I wore this suit I was pregnant with my youngest son. In fact, between you and me, it is still missing the button that popped off toward the end of my first trimester:)  This non-maternity suit was purchased during my "camouflage" phase to serve as a clever disguise until I broke out in my Motherhood Maternity gear during trimester two.

That said, it should be obvious that without pregnancy as a scapegoat, my ability to wear this suit is not a good thing. Let the running begin.  I started last week and am proud to say that I have already pushed through the first  few days of achy muscles and fatigue.  My goal is to get back to running five miles 4-5 times a week.  Right now I am winded after the one mile lap around my neighborhood. My, what a difference a few months of no exercise and junk food can make. I realize that perhaps this isn't the best time of year to embark on a weight loss quest;Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas are all formidable foes to anyone trying to stick to a healthy diet.  (Curse you Halloween- the cheap candy sales that followed your holiday are what got me into this mess in the first place... !)

I've got ten pounds to lose, one run at a time. I'll keep you posted on how it goes.  Until then, I'll be revisiting my old "pre" maternity wardrobe that I hope one day to wear again for its original purpose.

Today I Dream

In my experience, there are three essential steps to initiate change:  1) Dream that it can happen (allow your mind to conceive that it could happen).  2) Formulate the plan (confront the reality of how it can happen).  3)  Execute the plan (take action to make it happen).  Although I could write at length about all three steps, today I feel like dreaming.

I love dreams because they are not limited by my current circumstances or the boundaries of reality. In my freest moments, I allow my mind to consider possibilities that practicality ultimately overrides. What if I had another five children and homeschooled them all to Harvard? What if I started a school for black boys that combined high academic standards with christian character education to produce a generation of Godly leaders? What if we could find a way to generate enough income so that our family could spend several years abroad and my kids could truly become fluent in multiple languages? What if I became a bestselling author and got to walk the red carpet on Oscar night when my novel became a celebrated film?  What if I actually ran and finished a full marathon? The beauty of a dream is that the only scrutiny it must withstand is the limits of my own imagination. It belongs to me.  I can choose to share it with others or cherish it privately in moments when my sense of purpose is uncertain. Today I sat down and wrote out an updated playlist of the current dreams that constantly loop in my brain when I need an escape.   Here they are in no particular order:

• Start a butterfly garden
• Start a real garden (with food....)
• Learn to play guitar
• Play piano again and develop my skills to the level that they were in high school
• Write a song and record it with my own voice 
• Become debt free
• Write a novel and publish it
• Write a screenplay based on said novel and see it produced into a feature film
• Memorize several biblical passages in the old and new testament and teach them to my kids
• Earn enough as a freelance writer to work from home and build my schedule around our family
• Run a marathon (starting with 10k, and 1/2 marathon )
• Live abroad long enough for my sons to become fluent in all six official languages of the U.N.
• Become fluent in Mandarin and Spanish
• Go on a vacation with my husband alone
• Become debt free
• Take our children on a whale watch to see orca whales in their natural habitat
• Take our children on an African safari
• Visit all 50 states and each continent at least once by the time my oldest child graduates from high school
• Have at least one daughter:)  (I would love twin girls)
• Become debt free (This one repeats itself because realizing this dream is the gateway to realizing so many of the others)
• Introduce my sons to Barack Obama
• Introduce my mom to Barack Obama
• Introduce myself to Michelle Obama 
• Meet: Maya Angelou, Bill Cosby, Phylicia Rashad, Condoleezza Rice, Robin Roberts, India Arie, Marva Collins, Ce Ce Winans, and James Dobson.
• Send homemade cookies and a note of appreciation to all of the people I care about at least once
• Go to an Olympic Games
• Start a children's clothing line for boys
• Start a school for black boys like Urban Prep in Chicago
• Find a place within the pro-life movement
• Become an amateur photographer
• Become an expert in something.

   That's the short list.  My goal is to check in with this list after the new year and give an update on any progress.

The Booklover

I love to read. A lot.  As I type this I have 60 books checked out from the local library and plans to go back for more.  Through the years, I've always found libraries and bookstores comforting because they both offer an endless array of mental escape routes from my rather ordinary everyday life.  For free.  (I've never spent time alone in a bookstore without skim reading at least one or two books and magazines that I didn't purchase.)

Aside from the children's titles that I keep stocked like literary carrot sticks for the healthy development of my children's minds, I would divide my book list into three categories: 1) Books for pure enjoyment. These are books that caught my eye because they are written by a beloved author or because I surfed through a couple of pages and found something special in the author's writing style. These are typically fiction but can be lighthearted non-fiction or tell all biographies.  2) Books I aspire to learn from. These are usually a bit more scholarly and I don't typically read them cover to cover.  I tend to keep these books checked out for the longest period of time because I keep telling myself that one day I will be in the mood to actually sit down and read them.  These are the kind of books that are great to draw quotes from when I want to appear well read and remind folks that I didn't graduate from a top tier law school by accident. 3) Self-help books on whatever topic is on my radar at the moment.  I usually check out numerous books in this category and then end up skimming most of them until one offers advice that actually sticks.  They are like the library's version of impulse buys at the grocery store- I go to the shelf looking for just one title and check out everything on the subject thinking it's a better deal. It usually isn't.


All in all, I probably read about 60% of the books I check out from the library and skim through another 25%.  The rest are tossed aside because they should have never made the cut in the first place or I just simply run out of time and don't feel like renewing them.    Below is a sampling of my current reading list. I have spent time reading all of the books listed within the past week:

• The BAP handbook by Kalyn Johnson, Tracey Lewis, Karla Lightfoot & Ginger Wilson (A light and fluffy read that caught my eye because I saw some elements of myself in it.)
• A Full Quiver, by Rick and Jan Hess (Recommended to me by --of all people-- my gynecologist after a discussion on birth control.  The premise is that you should let God decide how many children is right for your family.)
• Woe Is I by Patricia T. O'Connor (Entertaining grammar reference/refresher.)
• Start Where You Are by Chris Gardner (MY CURRENT FAVORITE- I have checked out multiple times and I keep it for inspiration.)
• 102 Ways to earn Money Writing 1500 Words or Less by L.J. Schecter  (some helpful tips)
• His Word in My Heart by Janet Pope (great book about the importance of memorizing scripture. My family is currently working on the 103 Psalm.)
• Red Hot Manogamy, by Bill and Pam Farrell  (Christian sex- it's a good thing!)
• No Plot? No Problem by Chris Baty (Well-written book about how to overcome the fear of writing a novel. )
• Friendship for Grown-ups: What I Missed and Learned Along the Way by Lisa Whelchel ( I skimmed through most of this book and found it mostly an opportunity for the author to confess her imperfections. I like the fact that reading it made me think more deeply about the kind of friend I want to be and the kind of friends I need.)

This is just a small sampling of what  I am reading right now. I haven't read any fiction lately. I also have numerous books on budgeting money and getting out of debt, writing, blogging, and parenting.  Perhaps I'll share a new list next week.