My Literary Aspirations for 2011.

I finished up The Help a few weeks ago and was inspired to come up with a reading plan for the rest of the year. With my free time at such a premium, I have to plan, plan, plan.

I meant to post a list back in January but just never got there. It's been completely revised with the addition of Baby J to the household. Now that there are only 4.5 months left in the year, here's what I've got in store for the next few months:

--The Pragmatic Programmer: From Journeyman to Master by Andrew Hunt and David Thomas. Status: purchased. That sounds so serious doesn't it? I'm a software engineer, and this book is to help me hone my craft. Yep, software engineering is a creative art as well as a science.

--Interrupted by Jen Hatmaker. Status: purchased. This is along the same lines as Radical by David Platt that I read last year. It is giving me a lot of perspective on affluency and the American dream. According to Jen's statistics, Americans spend more annually on trashbags that nearly half the world spends on goods combined. That blows my mind! I'm taking my time reading this one.

--One Day. Status: purchased. I saw the preview for the movie version of this book while watching Midnight in Paris (which I pink puffy hearted.) If the Princess of Genovia is in it, AND it includes British accents, then I'm in. So basically this is junk food for the mind.

--Bringing Up Boys by Dr. James Dobson. Status: borrowed. I think that one's pretty self explanatory. I might need to invest in my own copy in case I need to keep re-reading.
I'm already starting my list for 2012 and since I am so out of the modern literary loop, I need help! It is so sad when a friend asks you for a book rec and your only thought is Pride and Prejudice (which don't get me wrong, that is the best book rec ever, but you know they've already read it.)

What's the last book you read? Would you read it again?

Fridays with Jack

Our jobs allow my husband and I to have every other Friday off. Before J was born, we had Fridays off together, but now that we have his sweet self, we stagger them. This past Friday was my Friday with Jack.

We loooove to get out and about and basically not stay home. By lunchtime, one of us had napped, the other had picked up in the house, and we were both ready to go somewhere. The mall was just too cliche. I decided our destination for the day would be the Kimbell Art Museum, one of the many wonderful museums in our town that I have not visited. We have so many fine arts opportunities, and slowly but surely I am trying to acquaint myself with them.

We loaded up and headed to the cultural district. By the time we were there it was well after lunch, so I decided to stop at the museum restaurant. I guess it was a little lunch date with my smiley boy who bestowed his favor to everyone who came our way. He was the only baby in the museum, so I guess I am either brave or dumb. Anyway! His behavior was impeccable and behooves a great future as a purveyor of fine arts. Right?

After touring the Picasso and Braque exhibit (which I believe those who are art history deficient such as myself would find worthwhile,) we meandered through the Kimbell's permanent exhibit. (By this time, my boy had leaned back and gone to sleep.) It is beautiful, and the architecture of the museum's soaring corridors make it beautiful to behold. Just a gem in our fair city. A gem, I say!

The rest of the weekend low key too. We met friends for dinner on Friday evening at Pop's, a place that won the best burger in town by dfw.com. After that, the girls snuck off to see The Help, which was great. Saturday we slept in (exhibit A: baby in jimjams above circa noon) and spent the day preparing for church the next day. Promotion Sunday! New senior girls for my class, which is so exciting. They are a group I had two years ago as sophomores, and they are precious.

I hope you had just a wonderful weekend yourselves!

Friday Fave Finds: You've gotta try this.

This week I found out about an iPhone app called Fooducate. It's awesome. If you are watching what you eat (like most every woman I know) then I think you would love it. You scan the barcode on almost any food product packaging, and it tells you the nutritional value PLUS the WW points.


via
Additionally, it lists healthier alternatives in the same food category of what you scanned. Thanks for looking out for me, Fooducate!

Working (New) Mom Survival Kit

The working new mother is fueled by caffeine,
prepared for any dark circles or unsightly lines,
and running in flats. Of course, she is never
without digital portraits of her tiny tot.

Or her lipstick.

Bobbi Brown eye brightener, Goody Spin Pins, MAC hot tahiti,
Spanx, Tazo Awake tea, MAC Splashproof Mascara,
Kate Spade daycation medium leila,
Lauren by Ralph Lauren Abira flats

All of these items are perfect for the mom about the conference room, as well as the mom about the playgroup. I've mentioned how much I love Goody Spin pins before. Bobbi Brown's tinted eye brightener is a fabulous quick fix before that all important meeting where you do not need the answer to the "is your baby sleeping through the night" question written all over your face. Of course, leopard print is abundant for fall, and a flat is polished but perfect for the afternoon car sprint to reach the wee one as quickly as possible post-workday. And dear ladies, I must admit with a color called "Hot Tahiti" on my lips, I am feeling on my game.

{I'll let the Spanx speak for themselves.}

I've spilled my shortcuts. What delightful tools are hiding in your mommy survival kit?

Where this is going.

I’ve been back to work now since May 26th, which is plenty of time for me to gauge how things are going to go. I would love to have had a smooth, not much responsibility, ease back into my “new normal” transition period, but alas that was not to be. I came back from maternity leave at a critical time in my project. While it’s a great feeling to be respected for the experience and work ethic you bring to the table, my work life became a bit more complex with a little person at home whose heart beat within me only months prior.

So far, with the help of my husband, the backing of our family, and God’s blessing to provide wonderful care for our son, it is working. Really, I have 3 full time jobs: housekeeping (that’s right, I do all my own stunts), child-rearing, and the work for which I am paid. There are moments when I get all annoyed with women’s lib, not because I can't do it all, but because I am tired of doing it all. (Save me the lecture, women's libbers. Yes, I'm proud to have the right to vote.)

But God has been so gracious to me. I've only fallen flat on my face once during these three months, and it was exactly that--I fell flat on my face in my kitchen after slipping in some water! (Water that I dripped--way to go, me.) I have never felt His kindness more to me than in this time. He holds me up at work, He raises me in the morning at ridiculously early o'clock, and He grants me wonderful times with my husband and son. And somewhere in there, I have started exercising with my old running buddy and counting WW points.

So I see the blog headed in a bit of a new direction. Hopefully it won't be just in the direction of picture and caption, but instead, a place where I lay down my thoughts as a working mom, homemaker, wife, and pursuer of the Lord. I'm sure to have stories of my major fails (because that is a noun here in the '10s), but I have great expectation that there will be victories to recount as well!

I hope you'll come along for the ride!

Weekending

We've had just a lovely and long {yay!} weekend around here. My parents came up on Wednesday to play with the very cute young man that lives at my house, and in the meantime, they treated us to some fun including, but not limited to: shopping, eating out, eating in, and {oh yeah!} cleaning my house while I was at work.


Thursday evening at Babe's Chicken House in Granbury. We absolutely love Granbury! It's one of the most picturesque town squares in Texas. This kiddo is sitting up like a big boy, and we'll be ready to break out the high chair when it is finished this week.


Uncle D came for a visit! He was fresh off of a show in Dallas at The Double Wide which got a great review. Their EP will be released on iTunes on the 16th. I'm sure you'll hear about it again here. I'm definitely a proud big sister.


Granddaddy, Jack, and Sugar just before they left on Saturday. Thank you for the fun weekend!

Dog Days of Summer

We've been eating.

And laughing.

And eating some more.

And staying cool!