That’s my daughter giving Donald Duck a fist bump, complete with explosion at the end (or, “‘bloom!” as she says it).

When we went on vacation a couple weeks ago, I thought about re-publishing a couple of my favorite posts. As I looked back through my posts over the past few months, I realized that I’ve left you hanging on quite a few topics. So, because I’m sure (sarcasm font) you have just been dying for updates on my fascinating life, I thought I’d make a list for you.

{You’re welcome.}

1. My father-in-law is finally home from the hospital. Thank you to everyone who prayed for him and left sweet comments. It was a long three weeks, partly because his situation was pretty serious and partly because it meant Mark was at the hospital (and not at home, with us) every second he wasn’t working or sleeping. And, as so many hospital stays do (at least in my experience), it brought up several stressful family issues. So, for several reasons, I’m thankful he’s safe at home!

2. I’m back to saying, “My daughter is such a good eater!” You all had so many great ideas (and strong opinions!) about how to fight Annalyn’s picky eating phase, and I’m happy to say they worked. For the most part, I truly think it was a phase that she just outgrew (kind of like all her clothes, now that she’s back to eating!). But what also helped was allowing her to pick one piece of each food that she doesn’t eat (one bean, one bite of chicken, etc.), or in worse circumstances, allowing her to be finished after just three bites (three bites for three years old).

3. I did complete a 5K. But I barely ran any of it! Once I hit week four or five of my Couch to 5K program, my progress kind of stalled. I went out of town, too, and that pretty much put an end to my momentum. So, as the weeks continued to fly by – and my feet did not – I considered canceling my plans for the 5K. But it turns out, once you register for a 5K, you can’t un-register. So, my brother came down to run/walk with me, and my sister-in-law came down to cheer us on and snap cheesy photos. We mostly walked, but we ran for a few yards. More importantly, we had a great time catching up – and I’m pretty sure, based on my sweaty shirt, I burned some calories anyway.

4. Low-carb is easier and harder than it seems. I managed to eat low-carb (or, for you sticklers, lower carb than normal) for approximately three days. I was amazed at how not-that-hard (I just can’t make myself say “easy.”) it was! And how much better I was eating! And then . . . well, I fell off the wagon, as per usual. I want to give it another try. Maybe I’ll start today . . .

5. I’m still not an early bird. At the moment I’m writing this, it’s 11:30 at night and I literally (yes, literally) just said to a friend on Skype, “I should go to bed now.” And yet, here I am. Blogging, Skyping and watching a TV movie on Lifetime. That I’ve already seen. I know. I know. Just go to bed! I hear you. And I should. I’m in a horrible cycle of staying up late/sleeping as late as possible/being super tired/napping/staying up late again. I’d like to tell you that I’m going to break that cycle tomorrow, but, well, the fact is I enjoy my night owl-ness. So, there it is.

6. I bought a baby book! Okay, so maybe I haven’t written anything in it yet. But I bought it!

7. Good Enough is still the new perfect. When I read and reviewed this book, my plan was to hold a discussion each weekend of summer based on a chapter of the book. Yes, I do realize that it is July. So, this might end up being a fall thing. I’m not sure. But it will be good enough, I’m sure of that. (Get it? “Good enough?” Okay. Yeah.)

8. I have not yet written an e-book. This may not be a surprise, since if and when I write anything you will most certainly know about it. When I mentioned, in passing, that I was going to write an e-book about how to throw a party without losing your mind, I meant it. I had several pages of ideas and a rough draft of a cover. But since then, I’ve had major doubts – about the topic, the process, my writing, my qualifications. So, without going further into a pity party (ugggggh. Pun not intended!), I haven’t written an e-book yet.

9. There’s too much good TV on this summer! Did you ever think you’d hear me say that? It’s true, though. I need my TV to have more junk and reruns and fewer new shows. It’s really the only way I’ll put down the remote and get some things done! Until that happens, though (I anticipate a TV drought come mid- to late-August.), I’m enjoying White Collar, Franklin & Bash, Burn Notice and a Hulu Plus membership. And I’m looking forward to catching up on So You Think You Can Dance and the new season of Warehouse 13. And, oh yeah, organizing my cabinets or weeding the front yard. Something productive like that. In August.

10. I’m accepting new ads for the month of July or the entire third quarter of the year (July – September). If you have a business or a blog you’d like to promote to all the wonderful readers of this blog, please e-mail me about prices!

So, tell me: What have YOU been up to lately? Any updates or news to share?

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