Emily at Chatting With the Sky has started a monthly feature where she asks us to share what we have learned each month. It can be silly or serious, two things or twenty – all that is up to you. If you’d like to join the fun, link up your post at her blog here.

1. This month my baby started her first year of school. Four days a week for three hours a day she goes to 4K at the same school as her brother and I? Get about three hours to myself. I learned that I can accomplish a lot in three hours (That first week I went to the video store, the bank and Target in less than an hour!) but that the hours definitely go by fast. I can’t tell you how many times this week I have beat the bus to my house by mere minutes!
2. I took a macro photography class this month and in addition to a lot of other cool tips on macro photography, I learned how to make my own light box using a cardboard box and parchment paper! I think she uses tissue paper in the video but my photography instructor recommend parchment paper so that’s what I used. I picked up some clamp lights from the hardware store for my lighting source and got some pretty cool pictures with it, like the picture at the top of this post.
3. We learned this month that putting in click and lock laminate flooring can be way harder and more time consuming than it sounds. A predicted weekend warrior project took more like a week and actually technically still isn’t done. My husband learned that wearing a tool belt makes the job go much faster, so you don’t have to constantly go to the other side of the room to get that hammer you left lying over there (or ask your wife to do it). I learned that there is, in fact, a limit to how many times I want to go out to eat before I miss my kitchen.
4. I learned that when I type “the” my phone’s keyboard suggests “doctor” – all is right with the world.
5. I took some time to learn more about Syria and what is going on there, thanks to a fantastic post by Tsh @ Simple Mom.
6. I learned that I need to work harder on finding my voice and speaking up. After sitting in the waiting room of our doctor’s office for ONE HOUR, I finally got up to complain / ask to reschedule because I really didn’t have time to wait longer – I found out that their printer had run out of paper or broken temporarily and that the nurses never got my file and didn’t realize I was there apparently. Whoops – if I’d spoken up forty minutes earlier, I’d have come and gone already!
7. I learned a seriously delicious muffin recipe using shredded carrots, pineapples, raisins and walnuts. Yum!
8. I learned that it takes Taye Diggs approximately 45 seconds to get the child safety latch off a toilet. And that a talk show hosted by Ilana @ Mommy Shorts with her kiddos is kind of a fantastic premise.
9. I learned that it is possible for my entire book club to ALL agree on a book. Every single member in attendance last night loved reading A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki, myself definitely included! We had a nice, long discussion about the book and talked about philosophy, ghosts, parenting, teenage bullying, being content with the present, life, death and so much more!
10. I learned that the judges and I will have to seriously agree to disagree on Project Runway this season. Seriously.
11. I learned what a conversation on Facebook or Twitter would sound like in real life. #awesome