hodge-podge

It's random thoughts or nothin' today...and since I've already picked nothin' for two days in a row, we'll go with the random thoughts.

1. This working mom gig is no joke. In case you were under the impression that working 40 hours a week (45 if you count the commutes!) plus raising an infant was some kind of walk in the park...well, it's not. And to top it off, it's dark by the time I get home so WE CAN'T EVEN GO TO THE PARK. Waaah. So it's not easy BUT I must say- it's still better than I thought it would be. I cram more than I ever thought possible into the minutes when Millie is sleeping so that I can be fully present and engaged every minute that she's awake and we're together. Matt and I have all of these lists around the house (Things To Do At Night, Things To Do Before Work...) and we're being super proactive about everything and therefore so far I can say that we haven't been too overwhelmed by anything. The laundry stays in check (including the diapers). The house isn't a wreck. We cook and eat 3 meals a day. Her diaper bag(s) are always properly stocked. And in addition to all of that and work, we have this fabulous little person to love and play with and snuggle and we absolutely couldn't be happier. Tonight we even crammed in 30 minutes of circuits while she napped before dinner. Since exercise is definitely the most prominent thing we've given up lately, that made me feel like today was extra-successful! (PS. In case it didn't seem abundantly clear here- every single 'sacrifice' is infinitesimal to what we've gained. I am so incredibly grateful for the opportunity to be a working mom because it means I'm a MOM, and that's all that really matters.)

2. Since I don't get much down time now, I've become highly selective about how I spend it. As you may have observed...blogging doesn't make the cut every day. Ha. My spare hour or so at night is usually split between trucking through Gilmore Girls or reading. I've read some GREAT books lately. I kept thinking about doing a book review post, but like...nahhhh. Too much work. I'll just share my current fave. In a separate bullet point, of course.

3. READ THIS:

Source

But Erika, you're probably thinking, that looks like yet another YA dystopian trilogy! Haven't you gotten over those yet? Aren't you 31 and not 15? Aren't they all basically the same?

To answer your very judgy questions...Yes, No, Yes, Yes. BUT SERIOUSLY YOU NEED TO READ THIS SERIES. I'm not quite finished with Book 3 (I picked blogging instead!!), but they are AMAZING. Sure, in a way they're very much like all the other YA trilogies of late. BUT in another way, they're better. One of the best differences is that the back story on this one (like, how did The Country Formerly Known as the United States become some insane dystopian society?) is FAR more believable and plausible than usual. They don't really explain that until the 2nd book, but when they do, you're like whoa. That could actually happen. And then THAT could happen and then THAT could happen and then OMG IN TWO GENERATIONS WE COULD BE LIVING IN THIS STORY!!!!! It makes the whole thing much creepier and more awesome. Also, there isn't nearly as much teenage angst in these, in my opinion. Sure, there's a teenage romance, but it's compelling without being quite as eye-roll-worthy as in other books.

So anyway, in conclusion, add these to your library holds list and thank me later.

4. I was looking at my Google Analytics yesterday and noticed that one of my favorite old posts must have gotten discovered and shared and re-shared on Facebook, based on tons of new visitors all coming from FB to the same post. And it just happens to be last year's Christmas Grammar Intervention. And you know what THAT means- it must be Christmas card season again!! I had planned on doing Christmas cards this year (hello cute baby!), but I feel like I just got done addressing our birth announcements like five minutes ago and I STILL haven't finished my thank you cards, sooooo...all of a sudden, doing another mail out doesn't seem nearly as appealing. I don't know. Does that make me the Grinch? 

5. I really try to avoid sharing the same photo on multiple platforms, but sometimes it simply can't be avoided. My deepest apologies if you already saw this on Instagram the other day, but see...I've looked at it 282929491 times and still think it's the best thing I've ever seen, so maybe it won't annoy you too badly. 

Sometimes Camilla gets to come to my work and spend lunch hour with me. This is evidently what she thinks about it:

Dying. I just die every time I see it. AHHHHHHHHHHHH she is so stinkin' cute!!!!

But for the sake of fairness, this was really just one of her many facial expressions she made in about 4 seconds. Matt caught all of them with his fast thumb snapping lots of pictures.

See, really she likes it there. Or something. Maybe.

That's all I've got. Have a great Thursday!