Love that headline today. Who doesn’t need some time-saving items every morning? Today, as I was racing around trying to figure out what to wear, put my make up on, fix my son’s lunch to take to school, find his Crocs because it’s “water day” at school, and just doing all my other morning stuff — all while also trying to finlize our travel plans for a long weekend, I caught a glimpse of a segment on “Good Morning America” about products that save time.

In order to save time myself, I should have just kept going, but I stopped for a moment to see what the advice was … a few good things:

Downey Wrinkle Releaser — I already know about this product so it’s worth sharing with the world. This stuff actually works. If you pull out clothes from the dryer and they are wrinkled, spray some of this on it, give a tug and let dry. I find it works best when used at night so it can dry overnight, but it would work if you do it before you get ready too.

Remington Wet 2 Straight Flat Iron – OMG! No description needed. I must buy this.

Pop-up toaster — they say they cook toast faster than a toaster oven. Who knew?

See the whole list at ABCNews.com

I’ve been letting my son’s hair grow — it was getting in his eyes. A haircut was overdue, but haircuts with a toddler are no fun. There’s crying, crying and more crying. His head jerks from left to right when the scissors get near his head. Forget the clippers.

I started researching hair salons for kids and found one in our area, although a good 30-minute drive from home. It was worth a try, I thought.

This place was awesome. It was colorfully decorated, had a Thomas the Tank Engine train set and video game systems for kids to play while they wait.

Once it was his turn, he got to sit in a mini-firetruck that was raised on a pole. TVs that play DVDs are in front of each chair while the kids get their haircuts.

This combination equaled no tears for us. The 30-minute drive was worth it for us. We’ll definitely be back for the next hair cut, this time before his hair gets in his face.

Photos taken at Cool Cuts 4 Kids salon in Kissimmee, FL

I was flipping through the September issue of “O” magazine last night and read Oprah’s “What I Know For Sure” column. What a great read this always is. It reminds me that even she is human and struggles with issues like being overwhelmed.

This month she writes that she was working so much and trying to find a President for her new TV network as well as a new Head for her school in Africa. Nothing was working. Then, she:

pulled out my gratitude journal, in which I’d been too tired to write even a sentence for months. … I took a few deep breaths. I said “Thank you” out loud.

And I wrote in my journal: “I am grateful for my breath and the recognition that I am here, alive. Breathing. I am grateful for life. And for this time alone. In this moment, I have to do nothing. Yes, there are many things that need to get done, but in this moment I have to do nothing.”

I sat in silence. I prayed. I meditated. I napped. I filled three more pages with praise and gratitude for all that’s gone right. And stopped giving my attention to what wasn’t working …

The next day, I found the new head of school. Two days later, a president for OWN.

She took time to step back. To be thankful. And everything came together.

Read Oprah’s full article here. 

Tropical Storm Fay is approaching Florida and meteorologists predict she is coming my way, Central Florida. At the beginning of the season I wrote about my experiences during the 2004 season (tree falls, hunkering down in bathroom, not fun, but all ends up safe.) It was from those experiences that I developed the family hurricane checklist. I’m reposting it here today because I had to pull it out to start getting ready. Hopefully some of you can find it helpful in the next few days, but I’ll be happier if, because we are all prepared, we are spared any damage or losses.

Family Hurricane Preparedness List It breaks down everything that we need to have on hand and to prepare (like taking porch furniture inside), and is color-coded based on when each task needs to be done. For example: You don’t need to fill your bathtub up with water until 24 hours prior to the storm’s arrival, but you should get cash from your bank at least 48-hours in advance to avoid ATMs running out of money.

Related:

• Balancing Motherhood’s Official Hurricane Checklist — Download now
• National Hurricane Center Official Web site

OK, so this post doesn’t really have much to do with motherhood, but I’m going to tell you about it anyway. My new best friend is the SanDisk MobileMate SD+ USB memory card reader. I love this thing. It’s making my life so much easier.

It’s works like your traditional memory card reader, except it fits in your purse or your pocket and doesn’t have a cable. I can take this baby anywhere and plug it in — in a second. No more long, tangled cables to hook up to my camera and computer. No more bulky memory card reader taking up space on my desk.

The reader has the micro and mini SDHC memory card slots so you have two options based on your camera equipment. Certainly a way to make a moms life easier: small size, bit rewards. Just don’t tell my husband — I stole it from him!