I survived a solo week with my toddler
Ahhh. I survived a solo week for the first time this past week, and arrived at the end still intact. Sure, I ate quesadillas and mac and cheese all week, but I think I did rather well. We watched lots of movies, practiced sitting on the potty (god help us), ate popsicles, and read books. There was only one major meltdown over a Minney Mouse shirt, and even that turned into something productive (understanding the laundry cycle and that clothes spin in the washer!)
I even managed to throw together a last-minute Valentine’s craft for her daycare friends. Last minute as in 5 am that morning…not good. Organic grahams, fruit leathers and leftover craft supplies from college to the rescue!
Even when KK was great, life managed to kick my butt. I’ll spare you the details but leave you with the highlights: cat puke on my work clothes, dog poop in the bed (how!?), setting the house alarm off at 5am letting the dogs out not only once but twice, and not bathing my toddler for nearly a week.
I have a whole new respect for people who do this day in and day out. I was EXHAUSTED by the end of each day, and I just barely kept up with anything that wasn’t a “have to.”
Somehow in the midst of all the survival-mode, I finished two books. I find that I’m reading two books in tandem now pretty much every week. One is an actual book I can tote around, the other is on my Kindle for after KK falls asleep. Good strategy if you can maintain multiple plot lines comfortably and enjoyably. As always you can follow me on GoodReads to see what I’m up to book-wise.
Actual Book: Swing Time by Zadie Smith
This is a complicated story of two friends that touches on themes of race, gender, colonialism, capitalism, celebrity culture, and dance theory. Where I struggled is that the story shifts back and forth in no easy to understand way, and the inclusion of so many themes and messages leaving the depth of the story feeling a little flat. It’s like not being able to see the forest through the trees, but also maybe not being able to really capture the trees either. That being said, Zadie Smith writes beautifully, probably one of the most beautiful writers I’ve ever written.
eBook: Venom & Vanilla (The Venom Trilogy #1) by Shannon Mayer
We all know that I like a good fantasy read. I love the Dorothy Must Die series, and I love The Lunar Chronicles and Kara Gillian. I feel like the Venom Trilogy is kind of similar in ways to all of these, so if you like new stories built on popular fairy tales or mythology, this is up your alley. I found it a bit long in the beginning, but it got better as the Shannon Mayer was able to set the scene of how Alena is transformed (sorry — don’t want to give too much away).
I have umpteen new books to read thanks to the law of the universe that says all your requests/holds will come in on the same day.
It was nice to mellow out this weekend. We hit our normal errands and had a great BBQ to celebrate the end of our Whole30/Nutrition Challenge. We opened all the windows and ate BBQ. I took lots of walks and enjoyed plenty of naptime. The weather is supposed to remain superb this week, and the CrossFit Open (our sixth) starts this week! I’m also kind of shifting focus toward some creative projects of my own, so I’m excited to share more of those.
