Five minutes in my brain.

It's 7:45am.

It's way too early for me to be up on a Sunday. 

The dogs did it. 

Well, one of them. 

Our older dog, who I love with my entire heart, wakes us up earlier on the regular and tends to cry like a baby when we leave him and his sister pup downstairs. 

So there's no (or minimal) going back to bed anymore. 

I slept in yesterday so today I came back down so my husband could get the extra rest. 

I know y'all are thinking, 7:45??? Goodness, woman, that's late!

Well - not in my house. We're lucky. Or not. We're lucky because our daughter sleeps in late. Later than late if we don't wake her sometimes. 

And we're not lucky because that means bedtime is late. 

Oy. 

Have you ever read my bedtime-related posts here? Let me tell you that there were many a nights I wanted to call Samuel L. Jackson and have him come read that Go the Eff to Sleep book. That might not be the exact name ... ehem. 

It's 7:48 now.

I type kind of quickly when I free write. 

Kind of just get all the words out there and breathe as I do it. Or hold my breath in until I "break" for a sec. 

The dogs are in right now. And old man pup is crying. It's this whining, wheezing, almost - kind of cry. And it makes me NUTS. 

And they're right behind me. I'm at my desk, on the laptop. They're RIGHT. THERE. RIGHT. THERE. And he whines. Poor guy. I know the day will come and he won't be here anymore and i'll bawl my eyes out like a baby and beyond. But for now I just wish the whining would be less frequent. Because I don't know what it's about when he's eaten and he's gone potty several times, and had water, and a cookie (biscuit). And what else? Oy. 

And I just remembered I've got an Oprah Chai in my fridge. 

Ahhhh. The stuff dreams are made of. 

7:50. 

Catch ya' later!!

Also - p.s. SCHOOL TOMORROW!!!!

Crockpot White Chicken Chili

One of my favorite recipes to make that completely takes care of itself is white chicken chili.

It's simple and I almost always have the ingredients on-hand.

I start off with the following:

* 2c shredded chicken (I typically use rotisserie leftovers, but any kind will work)
* 2 cans of white beans - drained (I usually do a can of Northern/can of Navy)
* 1 can hominy - drained
* 1 can white corn niblets - drained
* 1 can chicken broth
* 1 can cream of chicken soup
* 1 packet of taco seasoning

Add the chicken to your crockpot.

Then add the corn, hominy and beans.

Add in the remaining ingredients (chicken broth, cream of chicken soup, taco seasoning) and stir.

Cover and let sit for 4-6 hours. Stir occasionally.

Dinner is served!

Optional way of serving, top with shredded cheddar cheese. 

Because, cheese, people. I don't have to say anything else, right? 

So - I won't - I'll just show you. 

Look. Cheese. 

This chili is not very spicy. You can feel free to kick it up several notches by incorporating jalapeño, green chiles, or other spices, but I'm a wimp, and I'm more likely to cool it down with cheese (as you already know), or sour cream, which makes it even more perfect for my tastes.

You can easily serve on its own, or wrap it up in a tortilla (my daughter's preference), or toss it into a bowl with some tortilla chips. It's really versatile. Which is a weird way to describe a dinner. But true.

Let me know if you give it a try and if you've doctored it up to meet your flavor needs.

Enjoy!

* There are affiliate links scattered throughout this post. Should you be interested in buying anything by using one of them you'll help me earn a few dollars towards my next kitchen appliance purchase. *

Book of the Week: Women Are Scary, Melanie Dale

When I received an email introducing me to Melanie Dale and her new book with an opportunity to read and review it I jumped at the chance.

I mean - look at the cover? It's hilarious.

Even my husband asked me, are those cake pops?

Uhm, yeah. Yeah, they are.

Mommy cake pops.

Intimidating looking mommy cake pops.

And hilarious looking ones, as well.

When nothing means everything.

We just got home from a ton of errands.

A quick lunch.

A pop-in at a friend's.

Selling some of my books. Buying more used ones (not for me - well - not more than one for me).

Grocery shopping.

For some reason I bought a can of Planters peanuts today.

1000 Voices. And I am one.

Voices. Connecting. Gathering together. Speaking loudly.

All for one thing.

Compassion.

When I learned about this event I decided pretty quickly that I wanted to participate.

If you don't know me already, you'll learn quickly that I believe that advocating for others is extremely important, and that raising our voices when we need to be heard is extremely powerful when we do so together.

So - compassion - where to begin?