Ten things I’ve learned in the past ten days

10. It's okay to call for backup. I had been working on a few things that needed to be finished by Sunday, but by Saturday night I realised that it wasn't going to happen. That's when I sent a text to a friend saying, "Hey, do you have a few minutes tomorrow when you could come help me out? Please, pretty please, and please again?"

9. Room temperature eggs work best when making a cake. The eggs will fluff up and help the cake rise.

8. You can make your own self raising flour if you don't have any and you don't want to brave the cold to go to the store. You just add a bit of rising agent and a pinch of salt. Like I said, you can do it. Apparently, I cannot. From now on I will just find a different recipe. It's really better than throwing away two cakes and then starting on a third. Not that I did that or anything.

7. A hot, bubbly parmesan dip with crusty bread will meet the deepest needs of your heart. 

6. Baking sweet potatoes in the oven is a great way to prepare them for baby. It’s way easier than peeling, chopping, and steaming them. Just bake the whole potato, scoop out the inside, give it a quick pulse with the hand-held blender or mash with a fork. Annnnd, you're done. 

5. With a bit of motivation in the morning, we can have the whole flat clean, everyone showered and dressed, breakfast eaten and cleaned up, bed made and baby down for a nap by 9am. It makes the whole day more enjoyable. 

4. The Mentalist is an intense show. Sometimes we have to watch The Daily Show afterwards so I don't lie in bed thinking about how Patrick Jane is totally going to catch Red John one of these days.

3. Stephen Colbert is ridiculous and there's a good chance I would vote for him for President of the United States of South Carolina. 

2. Our 10 year high school reunion was just scheduled for this summer. Already? Didn't we just graduate?

1. Getting together with girlfriends in the middle of the week for no reason really makes my day.