Category Archives: Kind of Crazy

Lean In {to our Virtual Book Club}

What started out for me as a late night texting conversation with TheThread about work and life, poured over into the same type of conversation with Lindsey the next day as we headed up to Portland for the PNWBlogger Holiday Party. From both conversations, I drew the same conclusion for myself: I need some inspiration.

When the book Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg first came out I was more than skeptical of the hoopla that surrounded it. But during that Saturday evening texting session, Alicia who is currently reading the book, was telling us how much she is enjoying it. Beth Anne recently raved about how much she enjoyed the book. Considering those two reviews from two working moms that I have a lot of respect for, I figured there must be something to it. I decided that Saturday night I wanted to read the book.

The next day, when Lindsey and I were chatting about it we decided that we’d read the book together. Then on Monday, thanks to Twitter, a virtual book club was born.

On one hand I think I’m crazy for taking on one.more.thing. On the other hand I am totally excited about it.

I love being a working mom…I’m wired for it but that doesn’t mean it comes without struggles…at home and in the office. Lately I’ve felt…meh about things. I’m ready to reignite the flame and passion. I’m ready to start kicking ass and taking names again, instead of just checking things off of my to-do list because that’s what needs to be done.

So yep, I’ve co-started a virtual book club…

******

Want to join us?

The Ladies Who Book Club Details:

Lindsey and I have started a “closed group” on facebook. Between now and Monday November 18, book club members will have time to join the group and introduce themselves then get the book and read the first chapter. On Monday November 18 we will open things up for discussion on Chapter 1. We’ll tackle one chapter a week and use the group wall to open up discussions, inviting other members to join in by either commenting on a thread started by Lindsey or myself or start their own discussion point. Each week following we will begin discussion on a new chapter.

Our plan is to keep things pretty free form. Everyone will likely have a different take on what they’re reading based on where they are in their careers. More than anything we just want to provide a place we can freely discuss the book and how we can apply the principles in our lives.

Sound like something you need in your life right now? If you want to join us in reading Lean In, just click the link and request to join!

Life can be messy.

2 Replies

When I started this blog, it was to document milestones in Rylee’s life and share them with family and friends near and far. It was meant to serve as a pseudo baby book until I got my -ish together and got a real one. Fast forward 5-ish years and one more kid and somewhere along the way something changed. Yes, I still blog for those original reasons, but I also blog for more than that now. I’ve met an amazing community through this little blog. Three of my closest and dearest friends I’ve met because of blogging. But this whole blogging this can be a double edged sword. When you put things out there in the world, you make yourself vulnerable. Open to judgement. People making assumptions about your life because of the 500 word posts you share a couple of times a week. There are so many blogs out there that continually paint a “life is rosy” picture for their life.

If you haven’t noticed, I’m not exactly one of those people.

I’m not one to go on and on about how awful my life is {mainly because it’s not}, but I’m also not afraid to put it out there that things aren’t always perfect. Like how being super pregnant isn’t always that fun. Or how having a 3 week old baby is hard. Or how new schedules and new school years are hard. Or my most recent favorite…sometimes school pictures are really bad.

Just because I share these less than perfect things and put it out there that I don’t “cherish every moment”, doesn’t automatically mean that I’m unhappy or that something is wrong.

Do I have an amazing life? Personally, I happen to think I do. An amazing husband. Sweet girls. A good job. A beautiful property.

But at the same time, life is just plain messy sometimes and it’s not always perfect and that’s ok. Sometimes work drives me crazy. Sometimes my kids drive me crazy. Other times it’s my husband or housework or the never-ending piles of crap on my kitchen island. {seriously…why is that the catch-all!?}

There are days I feel like I have my shit together and I could take over the world. Other days I feel like I’m being completely consumed by life trying to see through the fog. A good majority of days I’m just teetering on the edge.

Do I wish that I had more “conquer the world” days over the foggy days? Yup. Right about the time I think I have things figured out, life will change again. But guess what? That’s just life. Kids get older, needs change. What seems overwhelming today, I may be laughing about next month. What matters is that at the end of the day, I still go to bed and thank God for the crazy because I am blessed beyond what I ever thought possible.

Hey Monday Hey

3 Replies

No matter what other people have told me, friends and family alike, I’ve never really felt like I’m a “writer”. I write much like I talk and I don’t particularly think that’s anything I’d call “writing”. When I think of someone being a “writer” I think of books. Or even blog posts that all have a beginning, middle and end. Ones that have a purpose. Ones that move you.

Sure I have written like that before, and there’s even posts I’ve written that I’m particularly proud of, but I don’t think I do it on a regular basis enough to call myself a writer.

You may or may not have noticed, but I have posted every single day for the month so far. Yes, even on the weekends. Or, chances are, you didn’t notice…and that’s cool too. Either way, I’m participating in this year’s NaBloPoMo, or for you non-bloggers wondering what the hell that means…National Blog Posting Month. I’ve made the commitment to myself that I will post every single day in the month of November.

If you’ve been around these parts for a while, you may remember that I did it, or at least attempted to, a couple of years ago. I had the month all planned out, creating new “features” on the blog like recipe reviews and such.

This year I’m taking a different approach. I’m doing it to write. Nothing more, nothing less. I want to get back into the habit of it being a habit. A lot of my posts for the month will probably be random stream of consciousness posts that I don’t even share or “promote” once I hit publish. Not because I don’t want people to read what I’ve written, but because I’m doing this for myself more than anything.

So far, all my posts have been quick little recaps written from my phone. That could end up being the majority of what I do for the month, but the point will be that I’ve done it.

Anyway, my point is this…whether you want to or not, you’re going to be seeing a lot more of me around these parts in November. So here we go!

Shopping Dates

3 Replies

Over the last few months my sister and I have started a new weekend ritual. Shopping dates. More specifically, grocery shopping dates.The girls and I load up and head into town, meal plan, grocery list and reusable grocery bags in hand. Sometimes we stop for coffee first but not always. We both park in our “normal spot”, grab our carts and get to it. The girls love the time with their auntie and I love the time with my sister. And I also love having a bit of backup on days one (or both) of the girls decide shopping is for losers.

It sounds ridiculous, I know, but our grocery shopping dates have quickly become something I cherish about my weekends.

20k in my Venza

Leave a reply

As I sit here in the dealership’s waiting area while the mechanic dudes give my car it’s 20,000 mile tune-up, I realize I never wrote a proper “hey we got a new car!” post. Turns out I’ve got some time to kill so, lucky you?

We’ve had our Toyota Venza now for 11 months. Yes. 20,000 miles in 11 months. We drive quite a little bit.

It’s our “main driver”. The kid hauler. The first choice. See, before we had this car we had 1 car that was the kid hauler and 1 car that got good gas mileage. And the Venza does both. So this is our go-to for any errands we run or any trips we take; whether we have the kids with us or not. Hence the 20,000 miles.

Most of those miles have been put on by Andy…he drives about 75 miles a day so he takes the car most days. I joke that we have joint custody of it since I get it during his school breaks/holidays and on the weekends.

Of course there have been minor annoyances…like the controls on the wipers and lights are the total opposite of our other vehicle so I’m constantly having to “relearn” everything. If it was my daily driver I guess it wouldn’t be an issue.

Then there’s the point of the car seat installation. The car is a 2013 model, the “Extended Rear Facing” recommendation has been a thing for a while now. When I went to upgrade Reese’s seat from the infant to the rear-facing convertible seat I was pretty disappointed to find that it didn’t have the ERF floor anchor. I guess I just assumed that Toyota would be on top of that junk and I wouldn’t have to jimmy rig a tether strap around the front seat mount. {First world problems…I’m aware}

Overall? I really do love it. It’s comfortable. Roomy for a car {technically I “crossover”, I suppose}. We like the looks of it. It gets decent gas mileage. The car seats fit well. There are a number of little touches you don’t even notice until…well, you notice them and you’re like “wow, that’s pretty sweet little feature!” {i.e. the adjustable center console/elbow rest}.

The point of this post? I don’t know…a time killer, I suppose. But seriously, if you’re in the market for a new car and you’ve got a family, want good cargo space without getting an SUV and need decent gas mileage check out the Toyota Venza.

The end.

Somewhere In The Middle

Mostly Average Accounts of the World's Okayest Mom.