A Week Alfesco

Cora's going to tell you all about her day in the next post, but blogger ate half of it, so instead you're hearing about our week. Which was excellent!

Monday was Monday, but it was a perfectly acceptable Monday at that.

Tuesday was art show day and that was great fun.

On Wednesday Legally Fabulous came over to hang out with the kids and eat dinner outside and that was even more fun. Cora gave her lots of smiles while we drank Mexican martinis and watched the big kids play on the swing set and talked about public sector law jobs, baby names, and her sometimes funny and frequently terribly depressing public defender stories. She is one of my favorite people and I hope her plans to one day move to Texas come to fruition.

On Thursday I used some credit hours to cut out early and run errands. Very productive and necessary errands like buying Cora a tiny bunny t-shirt to wear after church on Easter. As I keep telling JP, if this is my last baby, I get to buy All The Things for every holiday because I'll never again get to put a tiny bunny headband on a tiny fuzzy head on Easter. (The bunny headband is in the mail from a etsy shop.) I picked the kids up super early at 3 and they played outside for hours while I sat with Cora.

Dinner was a challenge- I'd planned to make flatbread pizzas, but found that we didn't have any tomato sauce or mozzarella cheese or much of anything else. We did have some salsa leftover from the Tex Mex night we'd had with Legally Fab, some moneterrey jack cheese, a can of refried black beans, and two avocados. And from that I created flatbread Mexipizzas! (One with salsa verde, black olives, and monterrey jack cheese; the other with red salsa, thin layer of refried black beans, olives, and a mexican cheese blend, topped after baking with sliced avocado.) And they were SO good. That's becoming a regular recipe in the Lag Liv household.

Friday we had friends over with their two kids- 3 years and 9 months, and there was more sitting outside and talking and drinking and watching kids play and babies smile. I made a Greek pasta salad with grilled chicken, pitas, hummus, and tzatziki sauce on the side. With our friend's white wine and beer and JP's leftover swim school anniversary cookies, it was quite an excellent meal and the weather and children couldn't have been better.  Cora wore her party onesie and felt very festive.

Yesterday dawned all rosy and lazy, so I spread an old blanket on the family room floor and let the kids watch 3 episodes of Wild Kratts while JP slept late and Cora rolled around and played among us.

As always, the kids centered their play around Cora, who was, as always, delighted to be included.

The blanket became a central part of our whole day and this morning both kids immediately asked if we could "spread the blanket" again.

But the highlight of the day was the surprise date night I planned for JP. I made a reservation at our very favorite fancy Fort Worth restaurant- the one he surprised me with a date night to when Cora was a few weeks old and we ate the best meal of my life in fancy clothes and blown out hair. I'm not even sure it was actually the best meal of my life, but it was damn good and the fancy adult nature of it all after 6 weeks at home with a newborn elevated the evening to a whole other level. Ever since, any time we talk about going out to eat, JP always jokes, "Ooh, at Grace?!" and I roll my eyes because no, it's all Tex Mex happy hours for us, but last night I got to say "Yes! The babysitter will be here at 7." and it was awesome. To keep up with tradition, I blow dried my hair for the occasion, the first time I'd done that in many a week.

We were celebrating the one year anniversary of starting the swim school and the great success and enormous amount of work he's put in to make that success. I'm so proud of him. He has 115 kids signed up this session alone and his name is bandied about in glowing terms on any FW mom message board.  It's been a lot of work by both of us, but as I wrote here, it's created a life that works well for us and I couldn't be more proud of where he is, and where we are, right now. And so we celebrated with the eating of fried oysters, the greatest salad ever made, filet mignons with Bearnaise, and butterscotch pudding desserts we had to order two of because we wouldn't share. Oh and a great bottle of Bordeaux because that's JP's favorite wine and he hasn't had it since he was in France before we got married because Bordeauxs aren't produced in the Yellow Tail price bracket. We told the waiter we were celebrating an anniversary, which I now realize he probably thought meant wedding anniversary, but I phrased it as "his one year anniversary," meaning JP's for his business, but JP dislocated two fingers at krav maga a few weeks ago and they're still too swollen to wear his wedding ring, so I was the only one wearing one, which probably made for a lot of confusing signals. But no matter, it was a lovely, lovely time.

And now we're all off to Target in the rain because we love adventure. Next week is going to be pretty routine and then it's pretty dress and bunny headband time! I can't wait.

Our Lanman, 6.75

Tonight was a special night for the Lanman. A few weeks ago, a letter came home with him notifying us that his artwork had been one of fourteen pieces chosen by his art teacher to represent his school in the district art show. We were so excited. JP because he is actually very good at art and me because I am very very not. I had flashbacks to my elementary school art show (Houston's Rodeo Art competition) and my failure, despite trying SO HARD to copy the teacher's art piece exactly, to ever have a piece even close to nominated. The art would be displayed at the downtown branch of the public library for 3 weeks and there would be a special reception honoring the nominees on April 8th. We were in and we were pumped.

We decided to book our favorite sitter for the girls (girls! will I ever not get a little thrill saying that? it hasn't worn off yet) and take Landon out on the town for some art viewing, ribbon receiving, and special dessert eating. Upon hearing our plans, his first comment was, "Wait, so I don't get to be home with Claire and Cora and the babysitter?!!" We really had to play up the ice cream angle to get him to stop being jealous of his sitter-watched siblings.

JP had to coach until right before the reception ended, so Landon and I drove in together, parking at my office and walking the two blocks to the library. He loved walking through the city and told me that his Kindergarten teacher had promised to stop by and he hoped we'd see her. And as luck would have it- she was the first familiar face we found. JP ran in (literally) 5 minutes before close and the look on Landon's face when he saw his dad jog across the giant room absolutely epitomized everything about why we're both on the career paths we're on right now. Control over our schedules and making events like this, even if only for a few minutes, are everything.

Landon's art teacher was also at the reception and he had many sweet and complimentary things to say about our little boy. As anyone with kids knows, there is very little better than the high you get when someone else says something nice about your child. Particularly when that something nice is thoughtful and genuine. It is lovely. And not because it says anything about you, but because it says so much about a little one you've loved and cared for since he was a tiny non-breathing non-sleeping infant.

They are so much and so much yet unknown when you're holding that tiny baby. I mean, who knew our surprisingly premature and problematic baby would end up being able to draw so well?

Or that he'd love his little sisters to pieces? That he'd absolutely adore Kindergarten? Or that his Kindergarten teacher would adore him? That he'd be more sociable than you and your husband combined times a hundred? That he'd handle new and unknown situations with aplomb? That he'd love running, the color orange, and the flaming hot cheetos that you find (and have always found) absolutely revolting?

Sometimes I think the best part about being a parent, besides the hilarious things kids say and the way you and your spouse can laugh about them as you fall asleep hours after the kids were put to bed, is discovering the tiny person you made. We're only 6.75 years in, and have a long way yet to go, but it has been a joy to discover our baby Landon.

And though Landon missed Claire and Cora, I think he had a good time being an only kid with us tonight. I know that we enjoyed getting to spend a short time focusing only on him and his achievement- not just with regard to his artwork, but this whole year. Kindergarten has been such a wonderful time for him. He's always loved daycare and school, but mostly because of his love for other kids. This year we got to see him love it for the learning itself- the thrill of learning new things, knowing the answer to the question, doing well at something and being recognized for it. It has been a joy I can't describe to see him fall in love with school the way I loved it. And a relief for JP who never loved school but always wished he did.

We got home well after Claire's bedtime, but she raced out of her room when she heard the back door open and immediately jumped into Landon's picture. An intrusion Landon was only too excited about.

Sometimes I worry that Landon gets overlooked in our day-to-day. He's so easygoing and mellow and genuinely loves his sisters and family so much, and being the oldest already makes it easier to put more responsibility and blame on him. But then I step back and think- he's doing okay. He's an atypical oldest child in many ways- he's not Type A, not particularly rules focused, and while he is happy to bring home smiley-face marked papers, he doesn't seem to see those papers as an extension of himself. In other words, he isn't me. He isn't JP either. He's Landon, and though I spent his first several years speaking for him, he really isn't an extension of me anymore. He's himself, and it's an absolute pleasure (well, 98% of the time) to get to know him as he gets to know himself.

Sunday Food Crawl

Sunday afternoons are my favorite. After a morning doing family things- a park, a trip to the zoo, or today, just a bunch of errands, I go to my 1:30 barre class, swing through the grocery store on the way home, and set up shop in the kitchen by 4 pm. And then the fun begins. Music is turned on, food is put away and organized in the pantry and fridge, and dinner prep begins! On Sunday I always make something that involves a lot of prep because it's the only day I can do so without anybody crying. JP is home, the kids are in and out doing kid things, Cora is sleeping or playing nearby, and it is delightful. In the right circumstances- i.e., when it's not after a full day at work with hungry kids and no husband, I find making my mirepoux very soothing.

Tonight's dinner was my friend's deliciously healthy turkey chili and my sister's deliciously unhealthy homemade macaroni and cheese. They both involve a lot of prep- lots of chopping for the chili and lots of steps and layering and bechamel making for the macaroni. I like to serve them together in the same bowl- the mac and cheese lends a creamy unctuousness to the otherwise healthy and veggie filled chili and it makes my soul feel complete. We're having the leftovers of each for dinner tomorrow.

After dinner, we played a few rounds of Uno, with Cora on the carpet with us, paying very close attention to the game. When JP and I were done with the two slowest moving rounds of Uno ever (Claire looks at every single card in her hand individually every single time it's her turn; she's very earnest about it but omg we have to cap our nightly rounds at two), the big kids decided to teach Cora to crawl. As with all things, Cora was game, even if she was a bit skeptical at the developmental appropriateness of the initiative.

Landon: Okay Cora, you have to put your hands out like this.
Claire: I'll hold her legs!
Cora: Huh?

Landon: No. Claire, her legs have to go down on the floor.
Claire: See, holding them so high!
Cora: What are you fools doing to me?

Claire: I've got her feet!  I'll make them clap!
Landon: Yay Cora!
Cora: You know we are accomplishing nothing, right?

Cora: Staring contest, go!

Landon: Mom, she's going to do it! She's going to crawl!

Cora: Unlikely.

Landon: See, like this Cora!
Claire: Yes, like this!
Cora: Where's my elephant?

Landon: She doesn't seem to be crawling.
Cora: I am totally not crawling.  Bottle time?

And in other happenings, Landon made her into a superhero this morning so she could join the Lag Liv family junior crime fighting league. She was far more excited about her cape and mask (and mostly that she was wearing it all in the jumperoo) than she was about her post-dinner crawl training.

She is such a joy- more to come in her 5 month post this weekend (5 moths- ack!).

What You've Been Missing

This week! It's over and done and nothing amazing happened, but I'm going to tell you about it anyway.

Mostly, Cora had a cold and it was the saddest.

She sniffled and snuffled and sneezed. She ate less and slept more, but in tiny fretful pieces. Every time she saw you she'd smile and then her lower lip would start to push out and tremble and she'd look at you in confusion like, "I want to be so happy, but something is not right. I do not feel good!" And then she would cry and you'd hold her and she'd stop and stare into your eyes like you held all the answers.

Unfortunately, I don't hold the answer to the common cold, but by Wednesday she was doing better- still sniffly and sneezy, but not so miserable, and by Thursday, she was her usual jolly self, though still just as sneezy and coughy and drippy. But smiley! And constant smiles are a better gauge than body temp or sneeze count for how our Corabunny is feeling.

Thursday morning, post-runny nose wipe

On Thursday night, after many nights of very interrupted sleep (and a Tuesday night where I stayed up until 2 a.m. to finish all 592 pages of The King, because it had come out that day and I have major self-control issues when it comes to reading series; I liked it though!), I got the great idea to thoroughly clean and re-organize our play room. I was tired of looking at disorganized bins, toys left around the edges of where they should be, and millions of pages of original art work all freaking over the place. So I poured a glass of wine, dumped out EVERYTHING, and got to organizing. About 10:30 it was clear that I'd made a HUGE mistake. My wine was long lost (still full, but very lost), my momentum was long gone, and I was a very long way from being done.

But I pushed through. Mostly because I was at that horrible point where everything looks way worse than it did before you began and I just knew I couldn't lay in bed picturing that disaster a few rooms over. So I found my wine, too a fortifying gulp, and got back to work. And just before midnight I was done!

I went to bed feeling at peace with the world and the new organizational structure of our bins. And today, post-barre, errands, and shower, I tackled my closet. Between a pregnancy, weight gain, weight loss/barre addiction, and the changing of several seasons, it was a bit of a mess. I made myself try on every single piece of clothing I own- everything, even things I was certain I loved or certain I hated, and then ruthlessly packed bags for Goodwill. I filled 6 Trader Joe's bags of donations and discovered several pieces of clothing I'd forgotten I had or forgotten I liked.

like shopping for free!

Like the playroom, there was a point 2 hours in where it all seemed like a big mistake. (You're missing what could have been an excellent picture here of clothing all over my bed, floor, and dresser, but my phone was buried somewhere underneath it all.) But even more than the playroom, I had to push through because no way in hell could I have fallen asleep tonight with clothes all over the floor. I can't even fall asleep after a vacation when I have a suitcase that isn't unpacked.

But now it's so nice!

There is segregation and organization and rainbow order! All previously dusty boots and dressy heels are in plastic bins; shoe boxes are gone; everything fits the me that I am now and not the me I was or want to be! I can't wait to get dressed for work on Monday.

Left on my home to-do list is cleaning all our baseboards, interior and exterior windows (and we have SO many windows), and supervising JP's scrubbing of the skylights. Those things are all terrible, so they may have to wait until next week. Tomorrow is going to be about food shopping, prepping, and cooking, and lots of lounging and making the kids play outside so they don't mess up their pretty playroom. And probably bringing Cora to snuggle in bed with me because this cold has confused her and she thinks 5 a.m. is morning. It's not, but she's darn cute while she tries to convince you that it is.

Happy weekending to you all!

Routine Interrupted

So that routine I went on about on Sunday got all screwed up Sunday night when Cora woke up every 15 minutes from 2 a.m. to 7 a.m. all sniffling and sobbing and feverish. She was definitely not herself and I thought for sure it was an ear infection, so I called the pediatrician right away this morning to make an appointment and then Cora and I spent all day- ALL day- snuggling on our rocking chair watching reruns of Season 5 of Top Chef.

I didn't really mind, but each arm did go numb several times and any attempt at shifting Cora to a cozy papasan chair or boppy pillow or heaven forbid her own beloved crib was met with immediate whimpers and epic sad face, so we continued the cuddles. I took the occasional selfie just to keep myself company and wished that my highly anticipated new JR Ward book was coming out today instead of tomorrow.

I did go to barre this morning, proving the completion of an epic change in my personal mindset regarding exercise (this form of it anyway)- when I realized I'd need to stay home because JP is super busy on Mondays and Cora was too miserable to be anywhere except in one of our arms, my first thought was, "Alright! Now I can go to [super hard teacher's] 8 a.m. Monday class!" And it was super hard and then I sat for hours and froze all my muscles and now it hurts far more than necessary to do things like walk. On the upside, I got to wear the new maxi skirt outfit I bought on Saturday, which I adore, and makes me wonder why I took so long to ever buy one. So cute! So PJ-like! And despite spending the last decade convinced they look terrible on me, I no longer find them offensive, and even if I did, I wouldn't care, because they are SO COMFY. And they're comfy-cute, which is my favorite kind of comfortable.

Pajama-like and casual chic; it doesn't get better

I even got Claire a maxi dress from Old Navy because I couldn't resist and when she saw it she exclaimed, "Oh Mommy, it's just like you, AND the princesses!".  Just like.

After a forever-long trip to the pediatrician, Cora was diagnosed with "definitely not an ear infection- maybe a cold? maybe just mad about the antibiotics she just finished taking? hard to say." She is definitely not herself, so I'm not sure what we'll do tomorrow. I do know that despite sleeping a grand total of 2 hours today, all in tiny bits and pieces, and all within my arms, she is TOTALLY ready to party right now at 10 p.m.

This evening, after dinner but before JP got home (Mondays are his latest night), I sent the kids out to play, finally got Cora to pass out in her bed for a half hour, and went to start on the dishes. As I was holding the first plate, I thought, what am I doing? And I set it back down, picked up my half glass of wine, and took it outside to sit by the kids' playground. They were delighted, "Mom, you're HERE!!" and I got to see every single trick they have, and many more I'm pretty sure they made up on the spot. The weather was gorgeous- 70 with a slight breeze, and the evening light was perfect. I watched and sipped and clapped and only occasional yelled out, "careful!!". JP pulled up at 7:30 and even though that's usually when we're on the books portion of the bedtime routine, he just came and sat next to me so we could talk and watch the kids some more. Everyone was in bed by 8:15 and he ate dinner standing over the counter while I did the dishes.  It was not the routine, but today, it was perfect.

Now if we can get more than 4 hours of cobbled together sleep tonight, we'll hopefully jump back to the usual routine tomorrow.  But even with the sad baby and arm tinglies and the using up a precious post-maternity leave sick day, today wasn't too bad of a detour.

The Routine

Someone recently requested a day in the life post and I'd just been thinking that I should do one to preserve our current routine before summer messes it all up again. We've had such different ones along the way- from the baby Landon days in Chicago when I was in law school and JP was an investment banker with an hour+ commute each way; to the baby Claire days in Austin when I was at the firm and JP was in school, then coaching, then looking for a job, then working at a demanding job with another hour+ commute. And now we have a baby Cora in Fort Worth and I'm an attorney with the government and JP is a small business owner.

SEC baby!

The only thing that has stayed the same among the various cities and jobs and babies is that JP and I are 100% all in this crazy wonderful life together. While the percentage of the home and family duties we've shouldered has varied between us- it's really never 50-50, I've always known that he's doing all that he can, and he always knows that I'm doing the same. And when that's true, it's much easier to handle the days when it feels like I'm doing 90% of it and he's doing 10 or vice versa. I remember one day last summer when he was coaching SO much and was literally at the pool from sun-up to sun-down 6 days a week and he was seeing the kids for 5 minutes before bed and I was doing All The Things and it was hard on everyone, but I came home one random Tuesday evening to the dishwasher emptied, and I knew he had to have done it in the few minutes he'd stolen when he'd run home to get the sunglasses he'd left on the counter. Five minutes at home and what did he do- emptied the dishwasher we'd run that morning, because he knew I hated coming home to it full when I was trying to get dinner on and the kids fed. And it's those little extras, and the smile I got after I had sighed and opened the dishwasher and braced myself to start task #1 of many for the evening, that go so far in the crazy times. There really aren't any tasks that are mine v. his; there's just stuff that has to get done for the house and family to run and since we're the only two adults who live here, we always know that if one of is isn't doing something, the other is, and because we each like the other person, we each do everything we can. This works nearly all of the time, and even when it doesn't because one or both of us is too busy to do anything at all, it still works better than anything else.

my crew

But back to our current routine, which isn't particularly crazy, and is fairly evenly balanced for the time being. During the school year JP's lessons run from 1 pm to 6:30 pm each day, Monday-Friday. Luckily for our family, though unluckily for his business, the pool he uses Sept-May isn't open on weekends, so he's all ours on Saturday and Sunday (other than all the phone calls and emails he returns, but still, he does it here). Because he's gone every evening, he owns the mornings. I generally don't do a thing except get up, get ready, kiss the kids, and get out the door. He does the waking up, dressing, making breakfast, packing lunches, and driving and delivering of the children to the right schools at the right times. He comes back home, cleans up the kitchen, does random house stuff as needed (load or two of laundry, dishwasher, etc.) and then heads to the pool. And I do everything at night- pick up the kids, clean out lunch boxes, go through backpacks, make dinner, switch or fold laundry he started earlier, serve dinner, feed Cora, etc. Usually he gets home in the last 5 minutes of dinner, inhales it, and then gives the big kids their shower while I feed Cora. (We only do baths on weekends because they take forever and showers get everyone sparkling clean in less than 5 minutes; it's like a car wash in there and Cora usually swings through too.) One person does dishes while the other directs bedtime routine- pj's on, teeth brushed, hair combed. We gather together for books- these days Landon does all the reading, but Claire picks the books. Cora is passed between us all along the way. She usually goes down about 7:30 and the big kids are in bed by 7:45. JP and I chat while we finish cleaning up the kitchen if there wasn't time before books and then we retire to the TV room- JP with his laptop, me with my book, and we hang out there till 11ish when we go to bed. Sometimes we watch TV, but pretty rarely- he always has emails to return and scheduling or bookkeeping to do and he can only do it from the couch with me (instead of at his his desk in the separate sun room) if the TV is off. And since I'd much rather sit next to him than watch anything on TV, that's generally what we do, chatting on and off as the evening wears on and/or whenever he needs me to help him phrase an email to a client.

Cora and her helpers; morning and night

So as I said, things feel pretty balanced, but it's a new kind of balance for us- this complete division of a.m. and p.m. responsibilities. I'd rather be able to share everything at both times, but since that isn't possible with JP's evening swim lessons, this way works out well too. The hardest part was training myself not to jump in in the morning. If we oversleep or something, of course I do, but on a day-to-day basis, I need to get out the door so I can leave early enough to get Cora as early as I prefer and because I do everything at night and he's not physically present to jump in, keeping the division as separate in the a.m. as it is in the p.m. helps me to feel balanced. He has his way of doing things- it's not always mine, but it works and the stuff that matters- that the kitchen is clean when I get home, that the kids are at school on time, and that their lunches are good and healthy (JP has higher standards here than I do, so that one's a given), all gets done, even if it's done in a haphazard fashion that involves more rushing around than I could handle morning after morning. But everyone is happy and I love flitting around between them while I get my tea made and myself out the door- getting to give kisses and hugs and wish everyone good days while JP does the actual herding. And then I pay it all back in the evening when school papers litter the counter in between food prep and Cora is hungry at the exact time I need to be getting dinner in the oven so it can be done in time for bedtime. I had some adjusting when I first went back, but now that Cora has dropped that short evening nap and the weather is warmer so the big kids can be outside until dinner, my evenings are MUCH better. I actually get to enjoy most of them and no longer look at the clock quite so often to calculate the minutes until JP is home, which also means I'm a much nicer person when he walks in the door. Everyone is winning.

Sunday special bath!

The only wrinkles are the non-existent after-school activities that we probably need to get better about doing, but honestly, since JP is booked until 7 p.m. each night and I'd be doing them alone, the thought is overwhelming. Landon did basketball this past winter and JP just blocked out Tuesday nights in his schedule so he could take Landon while I stayed home with the girls. It meant giving up revenue and potential new clients, but with Cora a newborn, it was the only option. I don't know what we'll do going forward. I love our evenings at home together- love our family dinners and the kids playing outside while I cook and Cora helps me by sending smiles from her toy covered high-chair. I hated basketball nights, though we enjoyed the weekend games and Landon loved the sport in general. Mostly I think our generation tends to way overschedule kids, so I don't mind that we do the opposite of that, but JP and I were both athletes and we certainly don't want to deny our kids those opportunities forever. So we'll figure that out. Somehow. Later.

On Monday nights I go to 8:00 barre class after the kids are in bed, on Tuesday nights JP goes to 8:00 "fight night" for Krav Maga, and I usually go to barre at 7:30 on Thursdays because he gets home a half hour earlier on that night and the kids are only 15 minutes away from bed when I have to leave. We schedule the kids' doctor and dental appointments for the morning and he generally takes them. If we have a sick little one (a blessedly very rare event for us), he's home in the morning and I work a half-day and come home after lunch to play nurse/snuggler for the rest of the day. Business trips for me are a problem, and one we haven't really solved, but so far we've manage to patchwork something together when needed.

I actually took a quick business trip to Houston this Friday and it all worked out, but only because JP is done a little early on Fridays. I ended up jumping on a much earlier plane home and surprised everyone (and briefly scared the crap out of JP) by walking in the door just in time for a pre-bed game of Memory, a game that Cora takes very seriously:

Such focus

The principal gave Landon a medal for his writing and he was so proud and refused to take it off until he got in bed and we forced him to. Claire, as always, was delighted to have me back in the 3 foot radius that she prefers that all her family stay within. And I got to have Cora snuggled in my arms and JP by my side while I won second place in Memory, which is an unusually good showing for me. We tucked the kids in bed and watched Wolf of Wall Street (our Friday routine pretty much always involves a movie) and went to bed at the time my original flight home would have been landing in Dallas.

Clairebombed

But back to the basic routine. It's a good one right now. I like that we both get to interact with the kids' teachers at school each day- JP in the morning and me at pick-up. I like that we both have flexibility in our schedules, that JP is home in the mornings, and that I can count on being home at a certain time in the evenings. We sneak in the occasional lunch date with each other, which I love, and in general, though I never saw these particular roles for us in the future, I love most of what they do for us and our family. Summer will screw things up- JP will be busier and at a pool with longer hours further away. Landon will be in various camps and I will be doing some of the morning driving and all of the Saturday care taking. But we'll leave that until then. For now, I'm up at about 6:30 am, down at about 11 pm, and all is working very well in the in between.

Uncommon

As long time readers will know, I've never done a sponsored post on this blog. Ever. Anything I say about a product is purely because it's the thing that popped into my head to write about when I opened blogger, and anything I say about it is simply because that's what I wanted to say. I've never used affiliated links (I don't really even know what affiliate links are) and I've responded to every potential sponsor's email over the last 7.5 years with a polite "thank but no thanks." I don't care when other blogs do sponsored things- maintaining a blog is hard and there's many a night I go to bed later than I otherwise would have just so I can update mine, so if people get to receive and review the occasional free product for their efforts, that's great, I've just always felt a strong need to separate my corporate from my personal. A lawyer by paycheck, blogger by fun/choice kind of thing.

But then, several weeks ago, I was shopping for a wedding gift for my sister on www.uncommongoods.com, and while browsing, an email popped up in my inbox from someone in the Uncommon Goods marketing department asking if I'd be interested in a sponsored post. My first thought was, Whoah Google, you've taken this sneaky matching ads with what I'm browsing thing TOO FAR. But then I realized that this nice marketing person had nothing to do with google and appeared to have actually looked at my blog (unlike many an email I get), and so, for the first time ever, I agreed to do a sponsored post.

Because, you guys, I really do like this online store. They have a collection of items that are nice, different (uncommon!), and generally handcrafted by independent artisans. The item I eventually ordered for my sister is one such thing and I can't wait to show it to you, but she does occasionally read this blog and her bridal shower isn't until the middle of May, so we have to wait. But the gift arrived with a note from the artist and an explanation of how she learned her craft (she's third generation at what she does) and I love that, especially for a special wedding gift. I also love that much of what they sell uses recycled or upcycled materials and their lowest paid seasonal worker still is paid at least 50% above minimum wage. And mostly I just love a well-organized website with pretty, unique things.

Like this floating mug (here). Necessary? Absolutely not. Cool gift for the rabid tea drinker in your life who doesn't have a coaster at work and keeps getting napkins stuck to the wood of her desk because her hot cup melts the napkin fibers? Yes!

Or these "neighborhood" coasters. I may not still live in Chicago, but I like buying things that let me relive the memories. (There's other cities too, here).

Or this potential wedding gift! (Link here, and no Val, this isn't what you're getting, but I do like it!)

So if you're looking for a gift for Mother's Day, click here or here, or another unique gift, give them a look. Their website is nicely divided into lots of gift giving categories (like "gifts for women" click here, or "gifts for kids" here) which I appreciate, particularly after the google has overwhelmed me with options. And in a few more weeks I'll get to show you what I picked out for my sister- I love it so much I can't wait for her (and you) to see it!

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In case it wasn't already clear, this post was sponsored by Uncommon Goods. I got to pick out an item in exchange for writing something about the company. All words and opinions are very much mine and none of the links have any sort of commission component. I just think it's just a good company with pretty things that I like and hope you like too :).

All the Books

I got an email from Amazon this morning- an email I almost deleted because I'm trying to delete all commercial type emails that make me want to buy things like pretty Spring clothes and shoes- and discovered I have a $51.12 book credit from the antitrust settlement! $51!! Apparently I bought a LOT of kindle books during the relevant time period.

Now I just need some new books to buy! So in that spirit, I thought I'd offer quick rundown of books I've read and liked in the last few months and seek your recommendations on any others that I need:

1. Kresley Cole- Immortals after Dark series: Fabulous. Seriously. One of my favorite series ever and though we're up to book 14 Cole manages to keep each new story just as strong as the ones before it. Dark Skye (which will be Lanthe's book) is coming out in August and I can't wait!

1.5 Kresley Cole- The Professional/Game Maker mini-series. Whoah. As a warning this is erotica (something many people apparently didn't realize when they downloaded Cole's latest when it popped up on Amazon), but it's well-written, with good, mostly 3-dimensional characters and though I haven't actually read 50 Shades of Grey, I've read a few excerpts (that were terrible), and I can assure you that this book is WAY better.

2. Kresley Cole- Arcana Chronicles: I continue to be obsessed with this series and am very sad I didn't discover it 5 years from now when all the books will be written and done so I could binge read them like I want to. Instead I'm stuck re-reading books 1 and 2 and waiting another YEAR for book 3 to come out. Cole recently said she expects to write 5-6 for the series, so at this rate I'll be about 40 when they're finally done. Just about time for me to probably stop having countdowns for new releases in YA book series.

3. Larissa Ione- Lords of Deliverance series: A dark, funny, and fabulous spin-off of the similarly fabulous Daemonica series (I actually prefer the Lords of Deliverance books, but I re-read all 10 books on a regular basis). Another of my very favorite series ever. Reaver came out recently and though it was supposed to be the last book, she's announced that at least 2 more are coming and I'm so happy.

3.5 Larissa Ione- Moonbound Clan series: This popped up in my Amazon feed and since it was written by Ione, I bought it, but I didn't find it quite up to par with her previous two series. There's only one book so far, so she's still world building, and I'll definitely download book 2, but if you're going to go Ione, start with Pleasure Unbound.

4. Jeaniene Frost- Night Huntress series: Great fun! I started out pretty "meh" for the first half of book 1 (the heroine annoyed me greatly in the beginning), but I persevered and next thing I knew I'd read all 6 books and all 4 spin-off books and have already re-read several of them 2-3 times. Frost is no Larissa Ione or Kresley Cole, but she's good and I enjoyed the books and characters. (Except for the last book, but I'm just pretending that one didn't happen because I'm too happy to have found another fun paranormal romancey adventurey series).

5. J.D. Robb/Nora Robert- In Death series: I'm kind of a sucker for this one. During my maternity leave I read all 40, borrowing them from our library's ebooks section, and re-download and read favorites all the time. I enjoy the characters and the TV-episode-like nature of the book installments. It's like watching House- established characters you know and enjoy, a new little mystery you know will be solved by the end, and small character developments along the way. You can read them out of order and it doesn't really matter, but I enjoy them all the same.

6. Veronica Roth- Divergent trilogy: I thought book 1 was great, book 2 was mediocre, and book 3 was TERRIBLE. Terrible. Just seeing the title in my kindle account renewed my fury and I deeply regret not demanding a refund back when I read it. I do remember finishing it, hours after it was released, and just staring at my kindle and saying out loud, What. The. Fcuk. I don't care about the shocking plot twist, it was that the shocking plot element didn't make sense within the plot. Roth's world-building fell into pieces when she tried to expand it. The characters were unrecognizable and when the first person perspective bounced back and forth between them I frequently had to back page just to remember who was the one talking. SO BAD. Clearly I'm still pretty mad about it.

7. Marie Force- Fatal series: These have been fun. Honestly, they read like a paler imitation of JD Robb's In Death series (to the point that I can't believe Force hadn't read many an In Death book and didn't accidentally have them in the back of her mind while she was writing), but they're still good and I've enjoyed them all.

8. Roberta Gellis- Rosalynde Chronicles: some of the first historical fiction I ever read (back in middle school, I think), I just rediscovered these on the Kindle a few months ago and enjoyed re-reading them. They're not as heavily researched as your average Sharon Kay Penman novel, but they're a fun look at medieval England.

9. J.D. Ward- Black Dagger Brotherhood: the newest installment ("The King") is coming out next Tuesday and I'm very excited to get a whole book focused on the two original characters of the series. I feel like Ward's story lines have gotten so convoluted and scattered and I'm hoping this book brings a bit of focus back to the series. Her prose (tough guy talk that frequently sounds ridiculous) may be annoying at times, but the characters and the friendships and relationships are wonderful and very real. Despite, you know, all of them being vampires.

So let me know what I need to read next! I have a strong preference for series, but will occasionally read a stand-alone if it's really REALLY good. I could use a good string of historical fiction/romances- I've been on an accidental paranormal streak and wouldn't mind jumping tracks for a bit (though, that said, if you have a good adventure-y romance-y paranomral-y series, please chime in!).

Speaking of adventure-y, romance-y books, Outlander, still my second favorite book series of all time (Harry Potter Forever in spot #1), has a new book coming out in June and a TV series debuting later this year! I'm thrilled and terrified to see it translated on screen, but the trailer and character casting has been very good and the author has been heavily involved in the casting and scripting, so I have hope.

And not speaking of anything relating to this post, Cora is teething and it is terrible. She is the saddest, but still also the sweetest, and she tremulously smiles at me in the middle of the night (SO much waking up in the middle of the night) with big fat tears in her eyes and it makes my heart hurt. When we got home from school/work this afternoon she only wanted to be held while she chewed on her elephant (basically a poor man's Sophie, but Cora doesn't mind), so that's exactly what we did for 1.5 hours. I read a new book (the latest In Death installation, I finally got to the top of the library's hold list) and we cuddled while the big kids played outside.

I finished the book just as JP got home and we threw dinner together in less than 10 minutes (our shishless kebabs, so delicious!), which circles us back to the point- new book recommendations! I needs them.