Re-reading To Kill a Mockingbird: I read this book at least once a year and each time I wish I could be reading it for the first time.

Diapers.com: Diapers, wipes and baby wash delivered right to my door—you can’t beat it!

AP Stylebook Online: The AP Stylebook is a journalist’s bible. With the online version, I can find answers to my questions with the click of a mouse and it is with me no matter where I take my laptop.

Cook-in-the-bag veggies: Steamfresh vegetables let me get something green (or orange or yellow) on the table each night and I don’t even have to wash the pan afterward. Now if only my microwave wasn’t on the fritz. 

Bath time: My kiddos have just started bathing together. I save time, they play and Evan usually makes me laugh with his witty comments. The therapy they may need one day will be worth it. 

Caffeine: I always love caffeine, but it has been especially important this week since Baby Girl has been waking up four times a night. 

Web sleuthing for party ideas: My little guy turns four soon and he is head over heels about his superhero themed birthday party. I hope not to disappoint.

This SNL clip about snow in New York: You’ll laugh. I promise.  

Over the weekend my hubby and I watched a few installments of the HBO series Penguins/Capitals: Road to the NHL Winter Classic (and by watching I mean I had my laptop and was catching up on Facebook, drafting e-mails and getting a jump start on my work week).

At one point the Capitals coach (I think it was the Caps coach) said, “Routine is essential for maintaining focus.” The phrase made me perk up and I immediately jotted it down in the Word document I had open at the time.

I am a firm believer in routine. If I don’t have one, I feel lost. Yesterday, for example, my hubby was enjoying one last day of vacation, which made me totally forget my son had gymnastics at 9:45. I remembered as I was fixing dinner.

Today is the first day we’ll be on a normal routine since Dec. 16. After two weeks of a free for all, I’m ready to get back into a groove. I’ve already knocked out two amazing interviews for a story due later this week, caught up on e-mails (mostly) and read my must-read blogs for the day. Yes, routine is good.

As we get into 2011 I’m eager to review my routine, see where I can streamline processes and try to bring more order to our days and weeks. The start of a new year always brings new ideas and my head is spinning with all of the things I want to tackle this year. I figure I can get a lot more in if I can squeeze a little more time out of each day. Since it isn’t possible to create more hours in the day, I think finding the right routines is one of the only ways to get more from the precious time I have. Wish me luck.

As the year winds down, I am still slowly saying goodbye to Christmas. This year’s holiday was filled will family, food and fun memories. My parents flew home this morning and my brother left earlier this week. It is always so hard to hug goodbye curbside at the airport, but it is a necessary evil when miles separate you. The plus side is that the distance between us makes us value our time together and we strive to eek out every minute.

Santa was good to us and the living room still looks like Jolly Old St. Nick’s sleigh tipped over during his visit. 

As expected, my kiddos were enamored with the gift wrap and boxes their treasures came in. 

On Christmas Eve we tracked Santa via NORAD’s official Santa Tracker and our world globe (if you haven’t started this tradition with your family, you should!).

 

On Christmas Eve we made homemade root beer (an all-time favorite family tradition of mine) and feasted on cookies. 

Madelyn learned how to play horsey and bounce on her Grandpa Jerry’s knee. Evan showed the grandparents how well he can ice skate and melted their hearts when he asked them if they could come back and visit again soon.

Amidst all of the holiday festivities I was able to wrap up a couple of looming work projects and get a jump start on a story I plan to tackle next week. I was even able to sneak in some pleasure reading—a rare luxury these days.

Once again I was reminded that life is good. I have a family I adore and work I love. I hope your holiday was as memorable as mine and full of life’s little joys. 

Once upon a time, I created Christmas newsletters. I drafted them up early in the season, had them printed and made sure they were in people’s mailboxes by Dec. 25. Then I had kids. The Christmas newsletters got drafted, but printing and mailing…well that is another story.

This year I’ve gone green and our annual family newsletter is now an online-only version. My Christmas cards will be hitting mailboxes nationwide this week (if you’re not on my list but would like to be, please let me know!). To catch up on the year’s events, check out my 2010 newsletter here. 

And, I hate to admit it, but the 2009 version never made it past my hard drive. You can still see it here. 

It’s Thursday, but you probably knew that. Nearly every Tuesday a friend of mine from college has a Facebook post somewhere along the lines of , “It’s Tuesday. Don’t think much of it being Tuesday? Just wait until next week when you’ll be saying, ‘It is Tuesday already.’” The first few times I saw it I thought it was funny, but then something started happening. Every week on Tuesday I caught myself thinking, “It is Tuesday already.” Those little posts really have made me stop and think about how quickly the week passes. Especially this week when I somehow missed Tuesday and woke up today realizing it is already Thursday. The rush of the holiday season and several large work deadlines are making time fly.

This week I’ve been editing a magazine for a client and tracking down sources for a story on a highway safety program. This particular story involves a lot of cold calling to cultivate new sources, which always takes more work than calling up a tried-and-true sources I have a relationship with. I always like expanding my network, but those cold calls frequently result in dead ends and near misses, which is frustrating when you’re on deadline. I think I have three interviews lined up for next week (assuming no one backs out on me), so keep your fingers crossed.

On the holiday front, Evan and I made egg carton bell ornaments for our Christmas tree yesterday. 

I felt five years old again stringing the ribbon through the top of the bell. I’m on a quest to make sure each of our days has at least a little holiday magic in it, and I am suddenly realizing how much work it is to make magic. Thank you, mom, for all of the happy childhood Christmas memories I have and for somehow making it all look effortless. I hope your holiday preparations are going well and that you’re able to stop and savor the moment—especially if your days are passing as quickly as mine! 

On Monday night after my kiddos were in bed, I started catching up on all of my favorite blogs. One of them showed a beautiful Thanksgiving table with coordinated linens and multiple flower decorations. I suddenly felt silly for sharing a picture of mine here on my little corner of the Internet. What I had loved just a few days before suddenly seemed to be lacking. Instead of focusing on the sweet sentiment that each piece of my table held—-the napkins my hubby gave me when we were newlyweds, the napkin rings I received as a wedding gift and, of course, the hand-painted turkey candleholder my little guy toted home from preschool—-I started examining all the areas where it was flawed. I thought about it for a bit before I gained some perspective and gave myself a little lecture on the dangers of comparing ourselves to others. Every piece on my table had special meaning and was something I adored, even if it isn’t straight out of a magazine. But it is so easy to fall into that trap, isn’t it? Why do we do that?

There is really no reason to feel as though what we have is less than enough just because someone else has something that is a little more picture perfect. One of the nice things about getting older is that I seem to get more comfortable with who I am with each passing year. I’ve learned to worry less about my faults and play up to my strengths. I can be more forgiving of my less-than-perfect attributes and let go of those things I don’t do well. Organized closets just aren’t in my future and no one will ever pay me to sing, but I can write an in-depth feature article, ferret out sources and conduct a great interview. On the home front, I bake a mean batch of sugar cookies and I know how to keep my family happy. I take pride in making people feel comfortable in my home, even if they have to step over a toy in the living room.

As we head into the holidays I’m going to pull focus and concentrate on those things that matter most. I am going to use blogs and magazines as inspiration and appreciate the beauty in what others do for what it is. I am going to let go of the idea that I have to accomplish everything and that my home will be coordinated perfectly. I’m going to bring out the kid-crafted Christmas decorations and worry more about how my home feels rather than how it looks. Putting Evan’s preschool creations front and center in our home will do far more to shape who is he than surrounding him with picture-perfect decorations.

It may be easier said than done, but that is my new plan to keep myself happy and sane. I would love to know what works for you. How do you quiet those voices when you start trying to keep up with the Joneses—-either on the career front or in your home life?

Happy Monday! I hope your Thanksgiving weekend was as relaxing as ours. Mine was filled with everything Thanksgiving should be—time with loved ones (albeit only a few), traditional family recipes and traditions (some old, some new).

My favorite part of the weekend was waking up early with my little larks on Thanksgiving morning. Madelyn was up at 5:30 and Evan slept in clear until 6:00. We all made our way into the kitchen and put the finishing touches on some recipes while the rest of the house slept. Evan had the special job of mixing together the final layer for our Pretzel Raspberry Jell-o Salad. Watching him stir reminded me of my own childhood Thanksgivings and the way my mom always made me feel like an important piece of the puzzle.

I was always in charge of setting the table, which is probably why I still love doing it now. Our turkey handprint cards looked cute at each place setting. My aunt sent us the cutest turkey brownie pops that looked adorable on the table and tasted even better than they looked. I loved polishing up my great grandmother’s silver and dusting off her china. It really is a shame I don’t do it more often.

Our centerpiece was a lovely candleholder Evan made at preschool and some leaves he found outside. I couldn’t have loved it more.

We watched the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. My brother carved the turkey.

Thanksgiving gave Madelyn her first taste of sweet potatoes. Last year at this time I was trying to hide my nausea because I hadn’t yet spread the word I was expecting. It is amazing how much can change in a year. 

We spent the rest of the weekend watching movies, hitting the mall and enjoying family. On Sunday morning we reluctantly hugged goodbye to my brother who came in from Rhode Island and my cousin who was heading back to Georgetown. Then, I settled in trying to get this house back in order. We’re still in a bit of a shambles as I put off cleaning and organizing over the holiday. We have an eclectic mix of holiday decorations up—-a few Christmas things have made their way down from the attic, but all of the fall decorations haven’t made their way back up. I even saw a few rogue Halloween decorations that are still hanging out.

This afternoon will be dedicated to straightening up and putting away. Then, we’ll start spreading Christmas cheer from room to room. I’ve looked at our December calendar and the month is going to pass quickly. I want to start savoring the holiday spirit as soon as possible. I’ll be sharing some of my favorite Christmas gifts and holiday traditions over the next few weeks, and I hope to learn more about yours, too. So, tell me, what is your favorite tradition you carry on with your family?

My little guy made this picture of our family at preschool last week and it sums up everything I am thankful for this holiday season. Madelyn and I are crafted out of purple construction paper. Bryan is blue and Evan is tan. I love that he picked pink for his house. He marches to the beat of his own drummer and went with the color he liked—even if most of the boys’ houses were blue.

Thank you, my little guy, for bringing home this picture and making my day. Thank you for letting me experience the wonders of life through you all over again. The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade, the first snowfall of the season and Christmas morning all come alive for me more now than they ever have. Puddles hold new magic, and I’ve never had more fun jumping over cracks in the sidewalk. You bring out the small joys in each day that grown ups take for granted all too often. I’m so grateful for our little family and all the laughter you’ve brought into my life. You are a great kid and I am so happy you are mine. 

Oh to start the day with this much enthusiasm and excitement. This is the little face I am greeted with each morning and after each nap. I love that I have been blessed with a happy little baby. I can’t help but to smile when I see Miss Madelyn’s grin—even if it is 3 a.m.