I am resolved.

I'm a month late with the annual resolutions and goals post, but the DDH sort of permanently took over the computer for most of his January leave. What can you do?

While I'm trying to take things as they come, stay relaxed, and generally not expect too much so that I can enjoy this first year of motherhood, I do have a few things I'd like to commit to this year. So, in no particular order:


Fit into my pre-pregnancy clothes by the end of the year. I can evaluate this as the year goes on, but let's just say that thanks to the coinciding of the holidays with the ravenous early breastfeeding days, I actually weigh more now than I did the week after T-Rex was born. And clearly that needs to stop. I debated whether my goal was a number (goal weight) or just being able to fit back into my clothes and went with the clothes for now (muscle weighs more than fat, so sometimes clothes are a better measure). But I know pregnancy can wreak some permanent havoc on bellies, so we'll see.

Regardless of how I define it, I know when I'm fit: when I feel strong and have energy. Both of those will be important as T-Rex gets heavier and then mobile!

Anyway, toward this end the DDH and I signed up for a YMCA membership, since it includes childcare. We've scheduled ourselves to go and workout together (weights and swimming) at least two nights a week, and I've already tried a few yoga and zumba classes that hopefully I can attend during the day. After three months doing nothing more than an (almost daily) afternoon walk, this feels amazing.

Make at least four dinners per week at home. This kind of goes with the above goal and kind of fits in because we have no money now. I am picking up some part-time hours at my old job from home, but it's still obviously not the same as pre-baby. We were awful about this in January with the DDH home all day, but I did pretty well in December and am back on the meal-planning wagon starting this week!

I've had to switch up how I cook, and to a certain extent what I cook, thanks to T-Rex. More on this another time.

Read at least one non-fiction and one fiction book per month. I tend to get sucked into all the blogs and Facebooks and etc. because it's easy to operate my smartphone with one hand. But reading longer format works on the page and not on the screen is entirely different for my brain, and I want to make sure I'm intentional about this. I did great with this in January and need to pick out books for February ASAP.

Spend quality time with the DDH. Clearly we were together 24/7 this past month, which was nice. Now, with our new schedules and baby responsibilities, I want to be intentional about making time for each other. It's been great working out at the gym together twice a week, and I'm thinking monthly date nights (Grandma is more than happy to babysit) might be in order, too.

Make friends. This is my vaguest goal. Frankly, the reason I don't really have any (real life, close) friends these days is because I don't know how to make them. I had a group of ladies I thought of as friends that I worked out with pre-T-Rex, but that gym closed and I realized I don't have any other way to contact them. Most of our college friends have moved away, and we just don't meet other people.

I'm hoping at some point to maybe find a mom playgroup, maybe through one of the other churches in town (ours doesn't have one, mostly because there aren't that many young couples there). Regular attendance at fitness classes may yield a new set of fitness buddies. And the DDH and I are discussing ways to reach out and see some of our semi-friends from church or work (mostly older than we are, but nobody ever said you can only be friends with people in your age bracket!) outside of those settings.

Find a new job. While I'm quite happy to work for the old firm from home indefinitely, the volatile nature of the CEO means this is not guaranteed forever. If I have to go to work somewhere at some point, I don't want to go back there.

I'm trying, at 26, to finally figure out what I want to do when I'm grown up. One answer clearly is that what I want, and what I'm good at, is taking care of a house and family. Unfortunately, no one's offering me money for that, so I would like to figure out either what I enjoy that I could get paid for, or find a work situation that leaves me plenty of time and energy (especially mental energy) to do the mom thing. Let's just say that I envy people like the DDH with a clear passion and vocation for a profession.

***

I have some other areas I want to work on, like cleaning and organizing the house (and keeping it that way), making the garden actually work this year (being home during the day should help this), that sort of thing.

We need to sit down and re-order our finances with my changed work situation. Luckily, between everything we received from others before and since T-Rex's birth, and since we're using cloth diapers and he's still just breastfeeding, T-Rex doesn't actually cost us anything extra at the moment. That will change eventually, of course.

But a lot of the items on that short list are pretty intense and time-consuming, so I don't want to clutter the list with too much. My main focus for the year is T-Rex. Watching him grow and learn has been such a pleasure so far, and I can't wait to see how he changes in the next year. My friend Sarah said that every age is her new favorite age, and I think I know exactly what she means.

I've already read most of y'all's annual goal lists. So how's it going? Any advice for me?

What I am into this month (October)



The leaves are hinting at change.

October! Oh, October. Nominally my favorite month, you were long and grueling and terrible and good all at once this year. My very last full month ever without kids. Weird.

Oh, for those of you who are curious, I did mostly finish packing my bags for the hospital, complete with clothes for me to wear on the trip home. I discovered that I'm too clever by half and had already packed the bag with shampoo and things (I keep my usual overnight bag stocked with essentials to make packing for short trips easier), and so I decided I might as well finish the job. Plus, the DDH informed me that I'm simply not allowed to die, so I guess I won't.

Anyway, here's the monthly roundup:

On My Nightstand: My favorite this month was a long novel split into two long books, Blackout and All Clear by Connie Willis. Time-traveling World War II historical fiction. The awesomeness cannot be overstated.

Want to Read: Basically, you could wander over to Sheila's blog The Deliberate Reader, look at the list of books in her 31 Days of Nonfiction series, and count all of those on my want-to-read list. If you don't follow that blog, you should. Unless your to-read list is plenty long enough already, in which case, avoid it like the plague, because her reviews will make you want to read the books--more importantly, they'll tell you whether or not you actually would enjoy the book.

TV Show Worth Watching: Hi, fellow Once Upon a Time fans. Can we agree that this season is already levels better than the first? I think we can. Are you following along with Megan's weekly discussions over at SortaCrunchy? I tend to write novels about the episodes in the comments section, heh.

All the other usual favorites are back. Oh, a rec for fans of British comedy: Spy, starring Darren Boyd. The first episode of Season Two just came out and again, already loads better than the first. Another comedy the DDH and I are enjoying right now is Go On. If you watched any Olympic coverage at all, you remember the millions of annoying commercials for this show. Well, the commercials worked, we decided to check it out, and imagine our astonishment when it turns out to actually be pretty good!

Movies I've Seen (in or out of a theater): No movies this month. Someone told me we should take advantage of our last opportunity to go see a movie together for many months to come, but sitting in those seats is just so darn uncomfortable right now.

In My Ears: Mumford & Sons Babel. I really ought to branch out more, but let's face it, I'm pulling out the Christmas carols in 23 days and that will be that until January 6.

What I'm looking forward to next month: I think this is obvious. Before the month is out, we will have a T-Rex outside the womb. I'm looking forward to meeting the little guy. Also, frankly, to not having to go to this job anymore.

Goal Progress: I posted some goals for the new year, and I figured these monthly wrap-up posts would be a good chance to check my progress throughout 2012.

The Budget: The looking-forward-to-not-working-here anymore thing is great. The not-getting-paid-anymore thing is not so great. We had to re-enroll in the benefits stuff for the DDH's job, and now I'm depressed.

The Garden: While my college roommate was in town for the shower, we weeded half of it.

Food: I am on a fast food/junk food roll, unfortunately. The problem is, by the time I get home from work, I have energy for one task. That task can be whatever thing needs to be done to prepare for T-Rex or clean the house or take care of the critters, or it can be "make dinner." "Make dinner" loses over and over.

The Craft Room: I think every room downstairs except the craft room now looks amazing. The craft room and the master bedroom need help now. Clearly, I will never actually have all the rooms of my house clean and organized at once.

How was your October? What are you looking forward to in November?

Here come the colors!

 

I'll admit I'll miss my pretty office window view. It relly can't be beat.

I am a little squirrely.

I am a list-maker and a planner.

I'm not always a very good follow-througher.

The lists help, though. My brain is filled with little squirrels, all apparently hyped up on crack cocaine, darting around and shouting loudly in tiny squirrel voices about all the things I need to do.

Squirrels in a crack den.*

There's a Do the Dishes Squirrel and a Feed the Dogs Squirrel and a Clean the Rabbit Cage Squirrel and a whole big messy pile of Laundry Squirrels. There are Dinner Plans Squirrels and Vacuuming Squirrels mixed in with Reorganize All of the Kitchen Cabinets Squirrels and Rearrange All the Furniture in the Office Squirrels and Stuff To Do For Work Squirrels and every kind of project, idea, inspiration, or chore squirrel imaginable.

If I leave the squirrels in my head, their frantic scrabbling on the inside of my brain paralyzes me. The only squirrel I can hear over the din is the quiet Veg Out In Front of the TV Squirrel, who I think smokes pot instead of snorting crack, or something, because he's very mellow and speaks in a low, slow voice that provides a nice contrast to all his chattering brethren.

ANYWAY.

I have learned that I can trap the squirrels and get them out of my head by writing them down. So I make To Do Lists. EPIC To Do Lists. Pages and pages of to do lists filled with idea squirrels.

The problem is that usually my mind becomes overwhelmingly squirrely and in desperate need of a To Do List intervention while I'm at work. So I trap all the squirrels in an epic To Do List or three typed into a Google Drive document.

Then I'm left with all this antsy squirrel energy and I can't do anything about it.

So I start organizing my To Do Lists. I separate tasks by category (usually room in my house) and break them down into all their component parts. The Organize the Office Squirrel has a litter of little squirrels called Clear Off the Desk and File Papers and Hang Pictures. The Laundry Squirrels have many babies: Wash Darks, Dry Darks, Fold Darks, Put Away Darks, Wash Jeans, Dry Jeans, Fold Jeans, Put Away Jeans, etc.

The idea is to tame each rambunctious, overwhelming, hard-to-catch squirrel into a tiny bite-sized nibble of a project (I think my metaphor just strayed to the point where I'm now eating drugged squirrels, oops) for me to conquer. And by conquer, I mean "cross of my to-do list with a flourish of vindictive satisfaction."

(And yes, I put things on my list for the sole purpose of being able to have them crossed off already. For instance, I'm making a To Do List for the week, and though it is Tuesday, I wrote down everything I did yesterday and then happily struck through them all. I also always include things that I'll do no matter what, like Go To Work or Meeting, 7 p.m., so that I always have something to feel accomplished about.)

Then I take all those baby squirrels and do a To Do List organized by time frame, assigning squirrels to particular days over the course of a week or weekend, arranged in rough order of importance or when they should be begun (so the Laundry Squirrels always go first because I should always toss a load in the wash before I start anything else so that my washing machine and I can multi-task).

Often, I'll include something like Fifteen Minutes On A Project, when I know I don't have time enough to do a whole task but do have the time to accomplish something. I can grab my lists of thematically organized tasks and work through as many Clean the Office tasks as I get to in fifteen minutes.

The organized lists work great if I still have any of that squirrel energy left when I get home. They don't work as well if I use up all my energy a) organizing my lists of things to do (which happens way too often) or b) doing actual work at work (lame).

My house is a complete wreck right now, and I have a million things to do that may or may not get done (before T-Rex gets here and/or ever). If you looked at my actual life right now, you would pretty much just see chaos.

But if you could see my To Do Lists, you would think I was the Most Awesome and Organized and Put-Together Person Ever In the History of Organized and Put-Together People. Think of me thus and ignore the chaos.

And luckily no one needs to see the squirrels.

*Image source here.

What I am into this month (September).

This is the view from the other side of my building than I
usually post. The smoke comes not from that tall building
but from the other side, as the Tulsa School of
Arts & Sciences burned down.

September has been a rough month. It's been busy, and most of the busyness has been good. But it's been sort of an emotional roller coaster, and a very rough time at work.

Anyway, here's the monthly roundup:

On My Nightstand: I devoured a long chain of novels this month. The most notable is After the Golden Age, by Carrie Vaughn. It's about the daughter of superhero parents who has no powers herself, but really it's about family and self-acceptance and power and all of that. Highly recommend.

Want to Read: I am getting closer to the end of the Luther biography. The problem is that I take it with me places to read and then lose it. Still. Oops.

TV Show Worth Watching: They're slowly coming back! Castle and Bones and Grimm and all the rest--and Once Upon a Time premiered last night. Squee! (Except the DDH has a meeting and I don't know if we'll be able to watch it tonight on Hulu. *cries*)

Movies I've Seen (in or out of a theater): We rented a new Jason Statham movie, Safe, last week. Basically, this movie was designed to show off Jason Statham doing stuff. He gets to drive cars crazily, shoot people, have Epic Fight Scenes, all the fun stuff, and the movie people just didn't worry too much about if the plot tying it together made any sense.

In My Ears: I'm miffed at Amazon. I pre-ordered the new Mumford & Sons album, Babel, expecting to get it, you know, right away, and it didn't get here until Saturday. So all week I had to listen to people going on about how good it is. But. You know, they were right. The weird thing about Mumford & Sons is that I often don't even like their songs the first time I listen to them. But then I hear them again, and then listen again, and suddenly those songs have wormed their way into the very core of my heart. So good.

Links

Apparently I'm not the only one who has noticed that intArwebz are full of outgoing introverts chattering away at each other. Tanya Marlow shares her theory.

While I find myself grumbling at stuff on Patheos more frequently than not, this piece speaks to my irritation with doom-and-gloomers of all sides of the political aisle. Dear Christian, if the Thought of Either Romney or Obama Getting Elected Makes You Fearful, Angry, or Depressed, You Have What We Call a Theological Problem.



I seem to have lost my list of other interesting tidbits I collected around the internets this month. I'll be back to edit if I find it.

What I'm looking forward to next month: It was foolish to look forward to fall weather cool enough for sweaters in September, and I failed to drink even one pumpkin spice latte (or pumpkin anything, actually). Perhaps October shall do better. So many things to look forward to this month: two weddings, the baby shower, finishing things up. The last full month before T-Rex arrives (assuming he doesn't arrive pretty early). Halloween! I need to think of something clever for my costume this year. HALP.

Goal Progress: I posted some goals for the new year, and I figured these monthly wrap-up posts would be a good chance to check my progress throughout 2012.

The Budget: We have one, and it's doing okay, even with spending extra on baby things and renovation supplies. Yay.

The Garden: I may or may not contemplate planting more garlic this month or next.

Food: I failed to make dinner even once this week. We had fast food Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, and a volunteer appreciation dinner to attend on Thursday, and honestly I don't even remember eating on Friday. I don't know. I'm having issues with hating food again.

The Craft Room: Is still not quite done and labeled, but it's being used for crafts, so what more can you ask for? And the office will need to be at least mostly done in the next couple weeks, since we have four or five people staying at our house for the baby shower, and the office is turning into our second guest room (with the bunk beds). And the nursery! The floors are done. It's looking so good.

The leaves are hinting at change.

How was your September? What are you looking forward to in October?

I am making progress on the nursery.

Or, technically, the DDH is. Heh.

You may remember that we started with this:

Carpet, blech!

  Which became this:

No more carpet!

and then this:






First layer of sanding.

Then it became this:


Sanding done.

 Which was lots of progress, but the place was pretty gross:

Dusty.

Dusty windowsill.

Clean me.

So we cleaned it up! 

Cleaned.

 

The windowsill is better; ignore the windows.

Clean slate!

 And spackled the walls:

The pink stuff is spackle. It dries clear, or white, or something.

And that's how the place sat for a few weeks. But in the last two weekends, the floor has gotten first one:

Stain One.

 

and then two:

Stain Two.

coats of stain.

And that's where we are now. He needs to, apparently, sand the floor yet again, put two coats of polyurethane on it, sand AGAIN, and THEN we can paint the walls. And THEN AFTER THAT hopefully we can move some furniture back in and put up new blinds and curtains and hopefully this will all be done by November. Although technically T-Rex will be sleeping upstairs for a couple months, it would be nice to be able to clear the guest room out again, since we'll definitely be having visitors soon.

Everybody clap for the DDH and tell him how wonderful he is! I have done absolutely nothing other than help wash down the walls. It's awesome.

Yay! Says the T-Rex.

What I am into this month (August).

Hot and dry at the end of July.

So I maxed out my Picasa web albums and can't add any more pictures. And due to some strange photo-voodoo, spending all morning with their clunky interface deleting fifty pictures allows me to upload exactly three new ones.

Which means a number of posts that relied on images have been completely scrapped, and I have an irritating backlog of posts for the cooking blog to go up. If I can't sort this out, I'll have to go back to that irritating wired method of loading photos and, ugh, that's why I quit food blogging the first time. -_-

All that to say, I don't have an end-of-the-month view from my window picture for you. It's raining, which is good.

ANYWAY. After July completely disappeared with no warning, August sort of dragged on and on and on. Or at least this week has dragged on and on and on. I've been a day ahead of myself all week, but finally it is Friday and so if I can just get through today I get a three-day weekend. Huzzah!

Here's the monthly roundup:

On My Nightstand: I've been perusing cookbooks a lot lately. I only ever got a little less than halfway through Ratio because I kept stopping to experiment--which is a good sign for a cookbook! It's due back for realz now we mean it at the library today, but I think it's going on my Christmas list.

I've also begun scanning through On Food and Cooking, and it is proving to be enlightening, as well.

Want to Read: I am getting closer to the end of the Luther biography. The problem is that I take it with me places to read and then lose it. Oops.

Also a slew of young adult fantasy novels just came in for me at the library. Because I'm very highbrow like that.

TV Show Worth Watching: We're on the sixth and final season of Little Mosque, a strange and entertaining comedy about a group of Muslims in the Canadian equivalent of Podunk, Kansas. It's not exactly high art, but it's entertaining and endearing and Hulu has the whole thing up for free and that's pretty much the only kind of thing we watch.

Movies I've Seen (in or out of a theater): Hmm. I don't think I actually watched any movies at all all month. Interesting.

In My Ears: My Mumford & Sons Pandora station seems to have gotten some new life in it. I'm enjoying the selections from M&S's new album, and whatever else is on there. My ears are still oddly sensitive.

What I'm looking forward to next month: Progress on all things baby. Fall weather. Pumpkin spice lattes and sweaters (though will my overheated pregnant body need sweaters? Unlikely). Finishing the nursery (one can hope). Fall decorating!!! September should be a good month.

Goal Progress: I posted some goals for the new year, and I figured these monthly wrap-up posts would be a good chance to check my progress throughout 2012.

The Budget: I officially paid off my car this month, which means we now own both of them free and clear. Huzzah! And the DDH just paid off the last of the credit card debt from when he was unemployed last year. So. Things are actually on track and okay, even with T-Rex. Double huzzah!

The Garden: Our sunflowers are very nice. That is all. Oops.

Food: I've been baking far too many cookies lately. In general I'm having fun in the kitchen, though I noticed last night that some of my heat/standing intolerance that plagued me in the first trimester might be back. It doesn't help that the DDH absconded with the stool I keep in the kitchen and I don't know where it is. Turns out I really relied on that thing.

The Craft Room: Is still in the same almost-but-not-quite-complete state it was in at the beginning of the month. And the office is still in the complete-disaster-area state it was in. Perhaps that could be a project for this three-day weekend.

How was your August? What are you looking forward to in September?

 

Imagine a picture of the courtyard and fountain when it's raining here.

What I am Into This Month: July

I apparently never took a beginning of July/end of June
picture. This is from early June, when life was green and not
one million degrees and in an emergency drought state.

I'm having a hard time believing July is over. Where on earth did this month go? It's been ridiculous--running around frantically at work, at home, and everywhere in between.

Here's what I've been up to in July, other than working, renovating, registering for baby things, etc., etc., etc.:

On My Nightstand: I'm still working very slowly through the non-fiction books that I've been reading the past few months. Summer interferes; it's simply not non-fiction book weather.

I did read Mockingjay, concluding the Hunger Games trilogy. I'm toying with writing a full review of this, though it's probably redundant. Suffice it to say, I thought it ended exactly as it should.
I also read the first book of Jane Lindskold's Firekeeper series, Through Wolf's Eyes. It's been a long time since I've read such straight, traditional fantasy. I find that I'm a little tired of some of the tropes at this point, but Lindskold treats them well, with interesting variations. I'm working on the second one now and enjoying it.

And I don't know who recommended A Discovery of Witches; it was someone in the blogosphere. Let me just say that this book, the first in a trilogy, is what Twilight should have been. Do you know what I mean by that? The books are, in some ways, eerily similar (vampire becomes obsessed with girl, girl falls in love with vampire, vampire for some unarticulated reason refuses to have sex with girl, etc.), but this heroine--the last in a long line of witches with some pretty kick-ass powers of her own--is much more likeable, relateable, and role-modelly heroine than whiny old Bella. I have the second one on hold and think a more detailed review (and a post on urban fantasy and kick-ass heroines) might be in order.

I've also been reading books on cooking: Forgotten Skills, Ratio, and a few others (most of which I checked out of the library based on Anne's recommendations in this post, which I heartily recommend). Theoretically I'd like to do more with my little ol' food blog, but if nothing else I'm enjoying learning the science behind cooking. I also made fresh linguine the other night for the first time in a long time because Ratio wants me to make all of the doughs forever.

Want to Read: Finishing the Introverts and Luther books would be pretty good right now. I also have the sequel to A Discovery of Witches on hold.

I've been collecting other recommendations all summer, but need to organize and prioritize them. Anyone have any for me?

TV Show Worth Watching: I'm half-heartedly following Hell's Kitchen (we're many many episodes behind). Gordon Ramsey would hate my food, I think. I pop in and out for other things the DDH watches: Royal Pains, Eureka, White Collar.

Of course, for the next two weeks, I'm glued to the Olympics. Much to the DDH's chagrin.

Movies I've Seen (in or out of a theater): Yes, we saw The Dark Knight Rises. The Saturday it came out, so the day after the Aurora, Colorado shooting. The theater was only half-full, and I wonder if that can be attributed to fear, the fact that we picked the less popular, cheaper theater, or just that the movie's not as popular as it should be. Because. My word. Yes. There's a lot of there there, for an action movie, if you know what I mean.
In My Ears: Even my faithful "Like a G6" station irritates me now. Somebody toss me a musical lifeline. I can't listen to anything without getting a headache and wanting to scream.

What I'm looking forward to next month: Progress on all things baby. I don't actually have any plans for August at all. I have to hire someone at work to fill in for me. And I'm sure there's a lot of work to do, at home and at work, to prep for T-Rex's arrival. But I won't complain if the world would take it quietly for a bit. I need to soak in the last of my pre-baby days.

This is the second time ever the DDH and I have faced August without it meaning back to school for someone. I freely admit I miss my own elementary and high school days. And even college. But I'm glad he's done with law school.

Goal Progress: I posted some goals for the new year, and I figured these monthly wrap-up posts would be a good chance to check my progress throughout 2012.

The Budget: Our savings got a nice boost because we switched home insurance companies but apparently had already paid for this year's coverage or something, so the old insurance company mailed us a $3,000 rebate check. Which I guess means it's money we had already paid (and eep! that's a lot of money), but hey, bonus! So that's good. I'm still on track to pay off my car, and my boss even said that, though I shouldn't plan on or expect anything, the firm might actually pay me for part of my maternity leave. God does provide, one way or the other.

The Garden: I've even managed to kill off most of my herbs, though the sunflowers are still growing. Sigh. This year's weather required me to be way more on top of the poor garden than I was. I'm hoping to do a fall planting, though if it doesn't stop being one million degrees out every day, that's not going to happen.

Food: I'm finally back onto a routine and cooking regularly after all the vacationing and visitors. Check out Reality Chef for some of what I've been cooking. I'm experimenting with fresh pastas right now in the hopes of doing a nice comprehensive series over there. Delicious, but perhaps not as healthy it could be.

The Craft Room: I have little left to do in the craft room. Some labels, some shifting around of things. Clearing off my desk. It's beautiful. But I really do need to work in the office now. And of course I've been keeping you posted on the nursery!

How was your July? What are you looking forward to in August?

Oh! Also I got a new phone. See how much nicer the pictures
are? And also how the grounds crew can't keep the grass
green? Hot time, summer in the city....

I am dressed (don't ask much more of me)!

Sorry I haven't actually posted anything since last week's What I Wore Wednesday. It's been crazy 'round here. My boss does finally know I'm pregnant, though! So far no explosions. We'll see.

T-Rex must have had a growth spurt, because I got huge overnight. It's definitely getting to be more of a challenge to dress cutely!

First, a lesson in belting. Here we are above the bump:

Shirt and skirt: Old Navy; belt: Target.

 And here we are across it:

It makes a big difference, no? For a long time I could get away with kind of hiding T-Rex with this trick. At this point, however, 1) few of my belts fit around the baby bump and 2) belting there isn't fooling anyone anymore.

I changed into this skirt after work because it's been so stinking hot. Here's the same shirt and belt with my work pants:

Top: Old Navy; belt: Target; pants: Kohl's.

Have I mentioned yet that my maternity slacks don't have pockets and I HATE IT? Because my maternity slacks don't have pockets and I HATE IT. But they look nice and are comfy. It's sort of like wearing yoga pants to work. I feel a bit of a cheater.

Cami: Old Navy; skirt: Old Navy; belt: Target
(I'm sensing a pattern here); necklace: gift.

I'm trying to decide if the green and tan work with the gray skirt. At the time I decided I didn't care because the skirt has pockets. Now I think I wish I had a khaki skirt that has pockets.

This was a Saturday outfit--cool, comfortable, cute. Way too short a skirt. Oops.

Top: Old Navy; skirt: hand-me-down;
leggings:Target.

I haven't worn skirts to the office in a long time, for the simple and logical reason that it's often sixty-nine degrees in my office. Or less. Leggings are a must, but leggings are tolerable for about two seconds outside in the hundred plus degree heat.

I like this outfit, though. I will have to keep it in mind for the fall.

Okay. Those were still from a couple weeks ago. So to give you an idea of what I meant by "T-Rex had a growth spurt," I present you with these:

Shirt and cami: Old Navy; belt: Target;
pants: Kohl's, necklace: Target?

Hey baby!

This is today. Bam! There he is.

See what I mean about the belts not fitting over the baby bump anymore? It barely fits around my waist above it.

It's Wednesday, and that's what I've been wearing.

How do you dress for the heat? And am I alone in my fascination with belts?

What I Am Into This Month: June

Gray June morning.

The calendar turned over while I was on vacation, but here's what I was into in June:

On My Nightstand: I'm still working through Introverts in the Church and Here I Stand: A Biography of Martin Luther, both of which the DDH got me for Easter. This is still true. I did of course read and review Spirit-Led Parenting.

The DDH bought me a Kindle as a very early birthday present. So far I have only loaded free books onto it, because I have a hard time convincing myself to pony up ten or fifteen dollars for an e-book, which is what all the best-seller-type books I have on hold from the Library cost. If I'm going to shell out that kind of money, I want physical evidence to place on my shelf, y'know? However, I've been enjoying Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Lost World, which was free.

I'm also almost done with a re-read of A Wrinkle In Time, read and returned Catching Fire and am anxiously awaiting Mockingjay, and read the entirety of the last book in the Sisters Grimm series, The Council of Mirrors, on the first day of my vacation.

So I guess I've been reading a lot. I just haven't been reading the books I'm supposed to be reading.

Want to Read: Finishing the Introverts and Luther books would be pretty good right now.

TV Show Worth Watching: Still trucking along with Mad Men, but overall not watching much television, which is a-okay by me!

Movies I've Seen (in or out of a theater): The DDH and I quite enjoyed Men In Black III, which we even saw in 3-D. That was the DDH's First Father's Day wish.

In My Ears: I am weirdly sensitive to sounds lately. The radio does not play anything good, and even my faithful talk radio gets on my ears' nerves (there was a primary election while I was out of town, the first I haven't voted in, and perhaps election season repetitiveness has something to do with that). About the only thing I can stand is my failsafe Like A G6 Pandora station--something about an unapologetic dance beat soothes me when nothing else will.

On that note (ha), do yourself a favor and check out this parody if you or anyone you have ever known plays role-playing games. I freely admit that thinking of this version may be one of the reasons why I love the original so much. Please note the comments arguing about what kind of wizard the chick in the video is, and be thankful you have Real Lives.

What I'm looking forward to next month: My birthday, obviously. Though I already got my big present (the Kindle), there should be ice cream and fun times at my mother-in-law's. The step-grandfather-in-law, Bob, shares my birthday. If I must share birthday celebrations, I will admit that I do not mind sharing them with an entertaining old person.

And Independence Day. No plans, but I shall not look a gift-day-off-work in the mouth.

You will be unsurprised to hear that I am still not looking forward to telling my boss I'm pregnant. Let me just say that my one-week absence permanently scarred the psyche of my poor assistant, and no one will like me when I tell them I'll be gone for a minimum of eight weeks. Sigh.

Goal Progress: I posted some goals for the new year, and I figured these monthly wrap-up posts would be a good chance to check my progress throughout 2012.

The Budget: We impressively paid cash for the entirety of our vacation. Yes, it helped that every time we turned around parents or grandparents were paying for food, gas, lodging, and entertainment...but we bought so much fudge. And wine. But no scary credit card bills looming! Amazing.

The Garden: My herbs survived a week of no watering, as did the sunflowers out front. I still have potato bushes that may or may not harbor potatoes, but everything else...dead dead dead. I fail.

Food: I ate so much this last week. So much food everywhere. I gained ten pounds. Now it's back to having to cook for myself, which really is all for the best.

The Craft Room: I know I keep promising a post on this, but truly. I startled myself with how clean it was when I walked in yesterday. Now to tackle the office....

How was your June? What are you looking forward to in July?

Zombies all around me; I be hacking them all up.

I am letting go of the ideal.

I'm over at Every Breath I Take today posting about my iffy, ever-changing, miles-away-from-ideal yoga practice.

The stillness of the early morning. A refreshing hour spent in a roomy, calm space. Flowing smoothly through an intricate and varied series of poses as grey dawn brightens the world outside my big bay window. Beginning my day strong, centered, and at peace, ready to face whatever the day may bring.

Well, that’s the theory, anyway....

If you've ever struggled with keeping a resolution because your reality looks so far from the ideal (or even if you haven't), hop over here to read the rest. I think you can relate even if you aren't a yoga fan.

Either way, go check out the cute bonus pic of the dogs in "Begging For Breakfast" pose!

While you're there, I encourage you to poke around Jennifer's beautiful blog. She categorizes her posts into four Intentions: Yoga, Parenthood, Relationships, and Faith. And if you do enjoy yoga, be sure to check out her Virtual Yoga Studio. Jen's son Max is due any day now, and she kindly responded multiple times to my lengthy emails with lots of useful advice for practicing yoga while pregnant.

In what areas do you struggle because reality never matches the ideal?

How do you let go and be good enough be good enough?

I am productive.

Work's been crazy. I have some posts in the works that hopefully will get published soon.

Life lately:

Wednesday, my hold on Catching Fire (the second book in The Hunger Games trilogy, for those of you hiding under rocks or with bad memories for book titles) came in and I picked it up at the library.

I read a chapter at lunch on Thursday.

Friday, I ended up not getting a lunch but instead getting to leave work about an hour early. I came home, sprinkled baking powder over the family room carpet in a futile attempt to make it smell less like dog pee, started some pizza dough going in the bread maker, made a very belated lunch, and sat down to read Catching Fire while I ate.

Four hours later, there was still baking soda on my floors and dough in the machine, but I had finished my lunch--and the book.

I love getting swallowed up in a story. I rarely have the luxury of doing so for hours at a time anymore. My soul needed it.

Also, my hold on Mockingjay needs to come in now.

***

Over the weekend, I turned our guest bedroom from a junk graveyard to a welcoming resting place in preparation for some visitors next week.

It's a bit of a novelty for me to have a guest bedroom in the first place. I grew up with three siblings and three bedrooms; my sister and I shared a room not too terribly much bigger than my furniture. Guests were relegated to a pull-out sofa in the living room.

Then my dog ate my grandmother's expensive Italian leather shoes. After that, they stayed in a hotel when they came to visit.

The DDH and I, however, have five bedrooms all to ourselves (and The Roommate), because the DDH bought this house in order to rent out the rooms to other students. So now I have a master bedroom, an office, a craft room, and not one but two guest bedrooms. Or, now, one guest room and one Roommate-room, and soon to be one guest bedroom and one nursery.

These aren't true before pictures, as I took them Sunday, when I had already spent an hour or so Saturday mostly-clearing the bed. I also didn't think to take pictures until after I had reorganized and neatened the bookshelves. Let's just say that when The Roommate moved in, a lot of what was stored in what is now his room simply crossed the hall to this room and has languished there ever since.

The bed used to be worse. Much worse.

Admittedly the stepstool is there because I just finished dusting
and straightening the bookshelves. But the vacuum had been
stored in that exact same place.

Too much furniture in this room. You can't even see it all
because I couldn't photograph from the fourth corner.

But look at these nice afters! Wouldn't you like to come stay with me?

The Neuschwanstein poster is straight; the camera is crooked.

Much better.

I can actually take a picture from this angle now!

Ta-da!

Ok, so it lacks curtains. And pillows. And the walls are just white. But look! There's stuff on them! And not on the bed/tables/headboard/floor! You can get into the bed from either side, and all the superfluous furniture has gone on to bigger and better things.

I was going to frame that horse breeds poster on the bed and hang it on the blank wall, but the DDH had a better idea. He bought some wood, made a frame, and stretched a canvas map we had lying around to make a lovely art piece for the room--not pictured, because he hadn't done it yet. And because his level is at work so he can't hang it until he remembers to bring that home.

So with the map and the Neuschwanstein poster that I bought at the actual Neuschwanstein*, there's sort of a travel theme going, I guess. And look at all these lovely books:

This is where I keep all my "kids' books:" YA/children's novels,
kids' Bibles, picture books, and illustrated reference books.

The MIL and the sweet boy I babysit both donated to our
picture book collection.

There are a lot of books on horses.

Mein liebstes Maerchen Buch, a puppy from the DDH,
and a sketch of balloons by a college friend.

***

There was originally more re-capping that was going to occur in this post, but it's been three days since I intended to write it and this is all I remember.

Everyone loves a good before-and-after picture set, though. So that's enough. ^_^


*Proof:

Famous fairy-tale castle and somewhat-less-famous me.

What are you up to these days? How do you accommodate guests?

Do you have too little space or, like us, too much?

I am dressed (don't ask much more of me)!

This week: Layering, belts, dresses, and a surprise find in the back of my closet.

Tops: Old Navy; belt and pants: Target.

Belts are a continuing theme. I've also been doing a lot of tanks-over-tees. Trying to add some variety to my work outfits (not to mention taking advantage of slimming effects).

Top: gift; skirt: thrifted.

I got the Firefly t-shirt as a Christmas present ("Curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal!"), and though I've weaned myself off most graphic tees, I just can't pass up on Firefly.

The skirt I snagged at the Animal Aid thrift store a few weeks ago because it's loose and floaty (so much fabric!) and casual but fun. I am contemplating living in it this summer. It's not the most flattering thing, but its different and I can wear it while doing gardening and stuff because there's plenty of fabric to keep me from flashing everyone.

I got the t-shirt-with-skirt idea from Megan here; I'm not sure it actually looks good on me (reviewing Megan's photo, I've decided perhaps a belt is the answer), but it sure was cozy. 

Shirt: Loft; belt: Target; pants: old old old.

 Another work outfit. Pretty boring. I do love that belt, though.

Top: Old Navy; skirt: Sears;
necklace: Gordman's?

Sunday outfit. Yes please. I bought this skirt when I worked at Sears before I started my teaching job (skirts required; that's a rant in and of itself. Let's just say that girls and women had to wear skirts no matter how cold it was (and we had multiple ice/snow storms that year), but if it were hot, boys could wear shorts to chapel. Yeah. Very glad I got out of that place). ANYWAY, I love love love it. It's structured yet swingy, a modest-yet-flattering length, and oh. Love.

The shirt is actually small teal and navy stripes, which you can't see in the picture, and is another Old Navy favorite that I don't know how I'll ever replace. I love this outfit because it's trim and neat, with a touch of feminine flare in the skirt, bling in the necklace, and good color. Also, it makes me look skinny.

Dress: Loft.

I forgot to take a picture at home of what I wore to the step-sister-in-law's wedding on Saturday, which is a shame, because I was strutting some dang-girl! heels (these strappy purple beauties). And yes, I danced in them.

However. The dress looks ok; nothing special, but it was comfortable with my mini-baby-bump (my blue dress-for-weddings standby was a touch tight around the middle. and also was stained, ugh). Also: clearance at Loft for twenty bucks. Score.

You can't really see the jewelry I'm wearing because it's small and the necklace chain is very delicate, but it's almost the only "real" jewelry I own, and also the only jewelry the DDH has given me. He gave me the necklace the first Christmas we were dating, the matching earrings for my birthday, and the matching bracelet for...some other holiday. Dating anniversary, maybe? Anyway. Sapphires (blue!), baby diamonds, gold. I do love them, and I wear them to weddings for sentimental more than fashion reasons.

Dress: Old Navy; leggings: Sears.

I think that dress is from Old Navy; it might be Target. It has pockets, so it's one of my go-to party dresses (with leggings). I think it's actually either a girl's dress or a tunic shirt. Or an extra-small or something. Anyway. I like it because it's comfortable and cute (and has pockets), but it shows a lot of boobage. Not that I have much to show, but it's a struggle to keep the dress covering the bra. In the winter I wear it over a shirt, but it was so hot out I went with it plain.

Except it was so cold in the room of the birthday party we went to Friday night that I ended up dressed like this:

Scarf: Target?

Which at least also solved the boobage problem.

Shirts: Old Navy; pants and belt: Target.

Again with the belt-over-tank-over-t-shirt look. But. On some radio show or another this weekend I heard someone say that you couldn't wear brown and gray together. Excuse me? This is one of my favorite outfits. I had to wear it yesterday to prove the radio wrong. Take that.

Necklace: Gordman's; shirt: Old Navy;
skirt: homemade.

So I'm doing a closet purge (more on that later) for two reasons: one, it needed to be done anyway, and two, I need to pack away clothes that already don't fit me and make room for a key maternity piece or two.

Anyway, I made this skirt in the seventh grade. It and the absolutely hideous matching collared blouse are the only articles of clothing I have ever sewn, but I made them all by myself, from picking out a pattern and the cloth to cutting and pinning and sewing and hemming. That is a pleated front skirt with pockets and an elastic back. Fancy, right? Of course, I used someone else's sewing machine and haven't touched one since, so I have this split personality of I can sew/I can't sew thanks to this project.

The truth is, I now think the fabric (it's a tiny teal flower pattern) is sort of ugly, and it's not the most flattering length (though I will point out that I made this for myself in the seventh grade and it still fits. So there). I was about to toss it in the donate/repurpose pile. But it has pockets. And comfy 100% cotton. And a pleated front but an elastic back, which means it might fit me for a good bit of this pregnancy.

So I tried it on. Just to see. And you know, it went pretty well with the gray shirt I was wearing. And hey, I have this silver-and-turquoise necklace that really ties it together. So I wore it the rest of the day. The DDH is not a fan of skirts that hit below the knee (and in his defense, mid-calf really is not a flattering length for me), but he didn't say anything. I wore it to WalMart and no one gave me strange looks (though admittedly, it's WalMart). So it's staying in the closet for at least awhile longer.

It's Wednesday, and that's what I wore. What are y'all wearing this week?

Have you salvaged any surprises from your closet lately?

Linked up with What I Wore Wednesday at the Pleated Poppy.