WMW: The Voice Recorder

I decided in college that I was an aural learner—that is, that I learned best from listening. I preferred hearing it in a lecture to reading it from a book. Maybe it was the note-taking I enjoyed most. Anyway, for certain
classes I developed a habit before tests of reading my notes aloud to a tape recorder (remember those things?) then listening to myself read the notes aloud while driving in my car or getting ready in my room.

I got to relive that aural, multitasking fun a couple weeks ago for work. It's an editorial consulting-type gig, for which I listened to about twelve hours of a woman dictating the story of her past few years, and brainstorming the angle and organization she should take in writing her memoir.

I have to say, those twelve hours (of paying work!) were awesome, because I could multitask. I did things I always want to do but don't because I'm usually staring at my computer! I took a long walk. I ate lunch on the back porch. I worked while driving to pick the kids up. I scrubbed the baseboards in our kitchen!

It was great. And now that it's over, and I need to type up a proposal for this lovely would-be memoir-writer (and do all my other computer-based work) I'm kinda bummed. And I keep trying to think of ways to incorporate more of this paid-listening activity into my work. I'm coming up empty, though.

I could edit spoken sermons, rather than written ones...? That's kind of what I do when I give feedback on Matt's sermons... Any ideas?

Show and Tell: MY Party

It's no secret I love planning parties. So the whole "have your kid's party here it's so easy" thing does not appeal to me. When Kate says "I want my party at Chuck E Cheese," I think "Noooo! I want to plan a cute, crafty party at home with a fun theme!"

Months before her fourth birthday, Kate was clear that she really wanted to have her party at Monkey Joe's, a kids' activity venue with lots of inflatables, or as we call it in our house, a "bouncy place." I honestly can only think of one third, fourth, or fifth birthday party we've been to recently that hasn't been at a bouncy place. It's just THE thing for the preschool set, apparently. So even though I would have loved to throw her a "Winter Wonderland" party or something else lovely, Matt reminded me (and I reluctantly agreed) that it was HER party and (within reason, of course) it should be what she wants.

So I designed invitations and ordered a cake and bought favors that worked with Monkey Joe's' colors and reflected Kate's activities and style (I just had to!) and Kate really enjoyed her party. For the record, it was kind of nice to go the "easy" route and have someone else run the show for you. (Though with the price, I'll definitely limit "outside-the-home" parties to once every few years!) 

I'm not sure if Matt actually got all parental on me and said, "When it's YOUR birthday, you can have the kind of party YOU want," but that thought came to mind somehow, and I decided I would have a party for my birthday, with the theme and food and decor that I want. 

So, my 32nd birthday is less than two months away now, and I've been brainstorming a little outdoor, evening soiree (can you still call it a soiree if kids are invited?). I'm picturing hors d'ouevres and wine in the backyard, with lights strung around the patio umbrella and kids playing on the swingset while the grownups chat till the lightening bugs come out. I've got a Pinterest board going, aptly entitled "MY Party." 

If we're friends IRL and you live in the Nashville area, I hope you'll be there! 

In other news, I'm now having a little moment over writing the words "my 32nd birthday" above. I'm okay with getting older, but I still have these moments when I think "when did I become a grown up?" 

The moment I started planning "soirees" instead of parties, I guess. 

Like Pulling Teeth

We're having family pictures taken tomorrow (by my former Abingdon colleague Ashley Miller—check her out). I've planned our outfits and some free-for-all time for the girls with a basket of dress-up stuff, but I still have some anxiety because kids are unpredictable and don't always want to cooperate with picture-taking. even if they do cooperate, it's hard to get a picture where multiple children are all smiling (or at least not caught mid-blink).

Ok, I'll be honest. It's mainly Kate I worry about. Let's not forget last year's display of contrarianism:

 Oh, she can work it when she wants to.

Age 2 1/2

Really work it.

Age 3

Age 5 mos.

But when she doesn't want to, it can be tough. Just last weekend, in Louisville, I tried to get a pic of my girls together on the playground. Here's how that went:

No, I don't want to take a picture with Claire.

I said noooo.

Ok, fine.

Hug Claire? Ok, I can do that...

SQUEEEEEEZE!

That's sister love, right there. We'll see what kind of love we see tomorrow!

Claire at 18 months

So Claire is 18 months today! I'm excited to celebrate her, bloggy-style, but it's late in the evening and I'm kind of tired, partially because dear Clairy-Bear is still waking once at night and then rising early. Usually it's 2:00 and then up for good at 5:30 (though I often lay back down and nurse her in bed), but I was thrilled that this morning it was 4:30 and then 6:15! I'll stop complaining, though. I got to sleep until 9:30 one morning at my parents' house last weekend, since we had grandparental reinforcements around, and it was fabulous.

As to the facts beyond her sleep schedule, I don't know her weight since we haven't been to the doctor yet, but her height when we did her growth chart this morning (we do it on birthdays and half birthdays) was 30 2/3 inches. She's about to outgrow her size 3 diapers, wears size 4 shoes, and is true-to-size in clothes, shifting now from 12-18 mos. to 18 and 18-24 mos. clothes. Her hair is straight and wispy, so I usually do it in one or two ponytails.

Stuff Claire likes: bananas, coloring, walking around in other people's shoes, showing off her teeth and her tummy ("ummy"), cell phones and remotes, playgrounds, Llama Llama books, and—oh yeah—NURSING. 

I've been wrestling for a few months over when to cut her off on the daytime/public nursing. I don't mind bedtime and during the night (I mind getting up in the night, but not because of the nursing!) but so often she wants to nurse not out of hunger but just fun or comfort. We call me the "human pacifier" because she uses me for quick doses of comfort like Kate did her beloved paci. She nurses to have fun with me too, I think, because she's started biting me gently with a big grin, and laughing. I say "no bite" and take her off, which makes her mad. She just loves to nurse, and her most used and enthusiastic word these days is "Nur! Nur!" while pulling at my shirt. ("Milk," to Claire, means any drink in a sippy or other container.) 

Claire also loves her big sis, and says "Sister" and "Kate" a lot. She'll yell to Kate across the gym while we're watching from the viewing area at gymnastics. Likewise, Kate will hug and kiss Claire and say things like "I'm so proud of you!" so the encouragement goes both ways. Kate also calls her "Sweetie" and "my little teddy bear." And while it's largely a stalling tactic for bedtime, Kate will come into Claire's room while I'm nursing her to sleep to smother her with kisses and say, "sleep tight, my little sweetie! sweet dreams!" As an only child, it just melts my heart every time they interact so sweetly.

Stuff Claire doesn't like: when I won't nurse her the second she wants it, when I take away something she wants to play with (remotes, phones, markers, and my lipstick are common ones), whenever I can't hold her and she wants to be picked up . . . and that's about it! She doesn't seem to like green veggies these days, but is still generally a pretty good eater. She's even relatively tolerant of Kate's hugs that are like wrestling moves, tickling that is like clawing, and cuddles that are like choke holds. 

She uses her "No!" quite emphatically these days, and is showing teeny glimmers of the "terrible twos" to come. She'll refuse a certain food offered to her, or the suggestion of an activity, and sometimes has fits of inconsolability, when even offers of things she loves are met with "Noooo!" and a fierce shaking of the head. It's tough to have strong opinions when no one knows what you want!

It's funny how, when Kate was 18 months (and every other age) she seemed so big, but Claire still seems like my baby and I'm shocked when she can do things like climb a playground ladder that Kate did at that age or younger. It's the curse of the younger child, who always seems little no matter what they do. I think back on Kate at two or 2 1/2 and how it seemed like she could speak so clearly and looked so old, and then I watch a video of her at that age and she's so little! Claire's growing by leaps and bounds, but will always be my little baby . . . until we have a third child or a foster child younger than she, and then she'll seem big! It's all relative.

At the Old Ball Game

We went up to Louisville last weekend to see my parents. The main event of the visit was going to a Louisville Riverbats game with some long-time family friends—the kids' first baseball game and a fun gathering of three generations of friends. I was in utero when my mom met a new friend and her little red-headed toddler daughter, who would become my best friend in late elementary/middle school. It means so much that Lindsay and I can reconnect whenever I'm in Louisville and our kiddos are all getting to know each other.

Jack and Kate get along famously, and I'd be lying if I denied that the words "rehearsal dinner slide show" go through my head whenever I take pictures of these kids together.

Popi and the kids watched the game while most of the rest of us chatted and tried to keep toddlers from eating popcorn off the cement floor.

Said toddlers weren't quite to the age they could play together, exactly. They're only six months apart in age, but it's a big six months, socially! Claire didn't quite reciprocate Emmalea's efforts to hold hands. (I may elaborate on this in Claire's 18 month post tomorrow, but I keep remembering Kate at two and how much development happens between 18 and 24 months!)

Claire was intrigued by the girls in the next box, though! She and Emmalea both tried to climb over the wall to see what was going on over there!

There's a nice carousel and two playgrounds at Louisville's ball park (it's a great one—relatively new and much nicer than either Nashville's or Louisville's older one, where my parents and I frequently went to see the Redbirds play when I was a kid). I had one of my guilty "just enjoy the moment" impulses and didn't take the camera down to the play area, and Lindsay and I were both kicking ourselves; the dads and kids were so cute riding around together on the carousel!

The evening ended with fireworks after the game, and though threatening rain meant the kids didn't get to run the bases after it was over, we still all had a great time. We asked Kate what her favorite part of the game was, and she said, "seeing Jack." :0)

It's always fun going to see Nala and Popi, and reconnecting with one of my favorite cities and some of my favorite people in the world!

WMW: Lists and Time-Tracking

A friend recently asked me for tips on getting better organized at work. I don't have a lot of super-fancy tricks or tips—my main thing is just being a compulsive list-maker. I have a master checklist for my work to-dos each week, with sub-checkboxes if there are numerous parts under one main task. For example, editing a book, I might make a sub-list of all the chapters, so that I can mark them off as I go. (That's part organization and part motivation—checking off a to-do is a proven endorphin boost, so the more small tasks you can get on that list, the more frequently you get to check one off! I'm like a productivity junkie.)

One "fancier" tool I did tell my friend about, however, was Yast.com, an online time tracker. It has become absolutely essential to my work life. I heard about it in the fall in a Forbes article listing several "must-try" online organizational tools. I tried a couple of them, but Yast is the only one I've found to be a must-use.

I actually started using it when I was full-time at my old job, just to track how long I was spending on certain tasks each day (a very educational exercise, I must say). And now that I'm a freelancer, billing some jobs by the hour, it is even more important to know how long I spend on each job.

You add your projects, grouped under higher categories if you desire, and give a color code to each one. I pixelated the names of my projects above, but you can see the two main categories, "UMPH Work" (my long-time employer for which I still do a good bit of work) and "Other Paid Work." Below that, I also have a "Personal" category for things like blogging, VBS-planning, etc.

To start the time on a certain project, you just click the blue arrow, and it starts running with that project's color on the timeline at the top and showing you the time next to the orange square on the line. On the above screen cap, for example, I'd been working for 24 minutes on my "orange" job. At the end of the line, you can see the day's total for that job (2 hrs, 20 min) and the week's total (6 hours, 40 min).

It's nice to know, at the end of the day or week, how long you've worked and on what. Yast tracks your time by the day and the week, and you can view reports of any time period (SO useful when turning in a time sheet or invoice!)

Whether you're tracking paid work by the client or project, or just want to know how long you're spending each day on various parts of your job or various other activities like email and blogging, I really recommend this tool.

Pastor's Wives Uncensored

My friend Kim invited me to participate in her blog series, Pastor's Wives Uncensored. I confess my previous status as a "disgruntled" pastor's wife, and also explain some of my recovery from that cynicism.

Here's a little teaser:

Unlike Kim, I wasn’t turned off at all by the idea of dating a pastor/pastor-to-be. Matt was working in youth ministry when we met on our first night of orientation at Vanderbilt Divinity School. Being a religion major in college, and going on to study religion in grad school, I already had a notion of hoping to marry a man preparing to be either a pastor or professor. My parents told me to hang out next door at the Law School, but I liked spiritual, scholarly types, and knew there was a good chance of getting my MRS at the same place I was getting my MTS (Master of Theological Studies).

Go read the rest on Kim's blog, The Seeds You Sow.