h e a l t h y s e l f

i mean... okay
cred: ig / nayyirah waheed

I saw this today, and it kind of hit me like a ton of bricks:

(photo credit for this & all the others today: Instagram)

The past several months have been a challenge, on a grating spiritual level. I've been wrestling my deeply-rooted demons, that are exactly as old as I am. They were born with me - part of my human nature, and over the course of my life, have expressed themselves at different times, in different intensities. They're a part of who I am, both good and bad, past and present. I have a hard time saying no when I should, and a propensity for trying to wash out stains I didn't create, for people I shouldn't be touching. I tend to cripple myself.. a lot.

Most recent soapbox opportunity for this: Relationships! (....great).
Where these fickle things are concerned, my track records looks like it's been searching for sunlight on the sea floor for the last decade+. A fun thing I did just recently, was stay voluntarily rooted in one with the most narcissistic person I think I've ever met, let alone dated. The ultra-abridged version says that it was umm... a learning experience, that culminated at a dramatic midnight apex involving assault and cops and 3/4 of a week in jail and the revelation of [his] sidechick in Denver. Really sterling stuff, from a guy with whom I just frankly should've had nothing to do in the first place. It got a lil' messy. And I got OUT. //the end.

Why do I bother with it? Because as I've said many times over, this blog is just as much for my own later recall, as it is for well... anything/anyone else. I want to look back at this entry and be able to feel exactly as grateful on that day, that I do on this one.

And I can say all of it with something of a lighter heart NOW, because 3ish weeks ago when all of this happened, I was met right in the middle of the mess by the small but impassable detail of my closest friends who hedged me into a safe space and waited to ask questions after they were certain I was okay. They helped me put out the immediate fire, and walked in step with me.. figuratively held me by the elbow as I tripped over myself a thousand times in the next week attempting to get walk a straight emotional line on my own without falling apart. When you are physically assaulted by someone, whether you are a man or a woman, your senses go into a tailspin that will settle only when you are truly ready to allow it.

An anecdote to it: In my case, this wasn't "bad," as I would classify other cases. I wasn't hospitalized. I wasn't permanently injured (or worse), but I was still harshly reminded by others after-the-fact that those details still don't matter: what happened is not okay. It's not acceptable (agreed, of course). But that's the part that, if left unaddressed, becomes its own cancerous ivy that chokes the air out of even the idea that this was not, in fact, my fault. He made a choice to cross a line. That is not my fault. What I have been holding myself accountable to, is the fact (to me) that I knew better. I know better. I'm not a teenager with white bread for brain cells. I know better.. than to make excuses for someone else's red flags. That's so far out of my pay grade, and in this context, an absolutely valid case of 'Not my circus, not my monkey.'

So the first two-ish weeks following that had been me just being mean to myself, honestly:

I should've known better. 

I saw this coming. 

Yes, there were red flags. 

No, I am not really all that surprised. 

And a lot of *Sigh, I really just don't even know....... . . . . .   .   .   .       .       .       .

Ya know? 

The dust is settling, almost to stillness now. Of the things that have taken root where fire cleared the brush, the most impressive is the very clear, diamond-cut appreciation for the other relationships in my life. I've had most of them this entire time, but it's one of those situations I can only liken to the sensation of dropping a really heavy lopsided suitcase, that you'd been carrying by a broken handle, in your non-dominant hand. #letitgo

And the internal conversation has changed:

I did know better, but I also figured it out, and got out. 

What happened wasn't my fault. 

Red flags don't make any of that okay. But I AM okay. That's a win.

Ya know what? You're too blessed for this: 

Dust yourself off and try again (name it.... lol)

And a LOT more of *Sigh, I seriously have the best people in my corner. 

ig // postmodernpaul

Whewwww. Yes.

Fast forward to this week: It's Thursday evening and I'm home on the couch with my daughter as she reads one of her books, and I dug into one of mine that's new - a gift:

♥♥♥♥

This book was given to me within the last week, by someone I've loved in varying degrees since I was 18. He became an integral part of my life then, and recently, after nearly 16 years, has dropped back into my orbit, thanks to a universe-wielding God who clearly knows each of the souls that need to surround me. This one walked back into my life as the friend he's been for years, and for reasons unknown, volunteered as tribute to help bear the mess of me being at war with myself after this.. thing.... as I made my way out of the dark black hole where I'd been kind of hanging out for way too long. He's the [type of] person you dismiss from your life when you're young and stupid, and realize 16 years later that you must've done something you clearly don't remember, to merit getting the second chance of having him back. And you catalog that among the other things you've learned the hard way recently... and you're grateful for that thing called grace, that you know you don't deserve. ♥

I didn't make it more than 20 pages into this book without noting a handful of gems already.

this is one of my favorite sentences of the book (so far)

I've never heard of this book, but it's beautiful, and is brined with the passionate intentions of its author: surround the reader with a soul-feeding love: the kind of love that should drive every relationship - both laterally and internally. From what little I've read so far, I can tell this was written around the vulnerable state of the human heart, with space to safely step forward one foot in front of the other, trusting that each step will be met with love, in some form.

And I love it. I've spent the last few days for lack of a better term just... reveling.. in the gratitude that I can't seem to contain. It's a terribly good problem to have, I've found. For the better part of last week, I was in Oklahoma City with one of my wonderful coworkers, downloading best practices to maximize our impact in helping the people we're servicing. Before that, I spent a weekend decompressing, laughing, climbing & hiking in the Red [River Gorge] that could not have been more perfect. I've had lunches with friends, real hugs with people whose smiles reach their eyes, who care without agenda, for my well-being. Late night conversations with family and friends over a glass of wine, remembering to allow myself to feel the light they seem to see in who I am. Celebrating my daughter turning 10, with her cousin who is just one week older. Experiencing the difference between being loved through the lens of manipulation, versus the complete freedom to bring all of my truest self without the anxiety of being chastised, changed, or rejected for it. Recognizing for the first time in far too long, the spark in that happy little weirdo staring back at me in mirrors.

It's a terribly good problem to have. ♥

I found the nugget of advice earlier to write about the thing that frightens me the most. I was reticent to share any of this on a public platform, for fear of brandishing my vulnerability to an audience. For fear of subsequently being cattled into one some pre-defined statistics group of women who make it out of abusive relationships. Of being labeled or discounted somehow. I hesitated for fear that an anonymous audience might have negative feedback. And THEN I realized that that is frankly none of my business.

And so now I'm here, just.. in a stasis of raw contentment that I haven't felt in months - the kind that is too strong to ever be hindered by a single toxic person. One that's not punctuated by round after round of the mind-poisoning that happens when you allow a narcissist [teetering on borderline personality disorder] to take a driver's seat in any area of your life, let alone a relationship. What scares me about that? I'm terrified to think that it could have gone on another six... seven... eight months, and who knows if I would've ever mustered the gumption to leave, despite knowing better? THAT is terrifying. For me, I can speak to it now, for many reasons including but not limited to just knowing that's no longer where I am. It's not how this - how I - am going to turn out. For the record though ladies (&gents!), just umm.. make sure you're on top of those self wellness checks - ya know, the deep heart kind. I know I could've used a few thousand more.

And so I am happy. I'm at peace. I'm content with the course I'm on, debris-littered as it might be in places. And I'm forever grateful for all of the people who've made it a point to walk beside me, love me, hold me accountable, and remind me that while this defines how I'll move forward, it does not define me.

"I would like to talk with you about things I care about that others do not care about because they do not care about me, and hear you care, not because you care about me, but because you care about the things I care about." 

It's a terribly amazing problem to have, this gratitude. ♥

Happy Friday Eve, friends.

xo | cmd 

Friday Book Review: The Chalk Man

We made it to the first Friday of 2018! Only 51 more to go! YES, I Googled that!

Aaaanyway...
Let me tell you how I am spending said first Friday:

botm! 

Yes, that's right. My social life - be jealous - takes a nice hard plunge in the winter months, save for the intermittent trips to the trails, the mountain and/or the gym. Yes guys, that's the exciting life and times of yours truly.

My excuse tonight was that tomorrow is going to be a long day, and I was fine flying under the radar tonight. My days of two-in-a-row are rare, and besides, I'm committing to Whole30 so my options while I'm out are limited.

AAAAND, I have lots and lots of anticipated reads on which to catch up!
I finally started The Blinds (Adam Sternbergh), after flying through The Chalk Man (CJ Tudor).

the chalk man | cj tudor

So I'm not the best at book reviews, primarily because I don't ever write them (good reason, right?).

If you haven't read this, and have an interest in doing so BEFORE I spoil the whole thing for you, this would be a good time for me to do the initial sign off for you. See you tomorrow ;)

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Still with me? 

Last warning: Spoilers Ahead :) 

Ok so I got this book through BOTM. I have a friend who has the unfortunate monthly task of blindly selecting which book I have them send, but he got a break this time around when the list came out and I read the first line of the synopsis: "If you're a fan of Stranger Things,...." 

Say no more: Selected. I intentionally avoided all the GoodReads reviews, although I was itching to dig into why this book has an average rating of 4.5 stars, with over 10k reviews across a couple different sites. Now I see why. 

FIRST: I have a really hard time acknowledging that this is C.J. Tudor's debut book. If you didn't know that, it'd be easy to assume she's had at least a couple under her belt. She has - in my opinion - an excellent grasp on prose, character development, plot twists and ability to convey something truly gruesome without emptying a well of gory descriptives. 

"The girl's head rested on a small pile of orange-and-brown leaves."

^ The first line of the first page. Read on? YES, I think I will! 

This is a book with five core characters: Eddie, Gav, Nikki, Hoppo & Mike - a set of friends who share a rupturing experience from their adolescence together. It toggles back and forth between the then (1986) and the now (2016), and fills in the gaps along the way. The book itself opens up with the event around which the rest of the book seems to revolve. 

1986: Tudor paints a picture that is so easy to feel: Five kids living life in the prime of the 80's - riding bikes, meeting at the playground, hanging out at the local small-town hotspots and being blissfully unassuming about what life in the long run might look like. And then there's an accident, followed by a morbid discovery, and things get progressively weird after that. 

2016: We fast forward to Eddie - who is now Ed - who is now a middle-aged teacher residing in the same house in which he grew up. He's constantly haunted by and continually processing the past and the people in it. And as Tudor writes it, it feels.so.relatable. 

Back and forth between 1986 and 2016, we learn that the title is derived from the chalk man drawings that, in their childhood, were a form of communication between the friends, and in their adult lives, seem to keep appearing as haunting messages and warnings.

1986, when the kids go to the fair and the accident leaves a girl half maimed: missing her leg and half her face. Enter in Mr. Halloran, the albino teacher with strange tendencies and awareness, to whom Eddie seems to gravitate throughout the early part of his story (not the story).  Then later in that same year to the final discovery of the body in the woods, and a series of other events: abuse, false allegations and secrets that highlight the nature in which skeletons from the most unlikely closets are revealed on the stages of small community towns. The kids start to disband - a timeline that is steadily unraveled throughout the book, quite consistently and clearly, even through the pattern of time toggling.

2016: Back to Eddie as an adult. He's got a housemate, Chloe, who Tudor paints for us as a wayfaring girl with sharp edges, alternative haircut and a seemingly soft spot for Eddie. They have a platonic relationship as co-inhabitants, despite the age and social gaps between them. Chloe, we learn, has an ulterior agenda all her own, which unsurprisingly ties her together with Eddie and his past, but surprisingly not in the way I would've expected. Again, Tudor with a plot twist win. The characters from Eddie's past resurface in their respective adult forms: Hoppo & Gav, Nikki, Mike. We find out Gav is in a wheelchair. Nikki has disowned her father. Mike... well, Mike's story ends in the same way his brother's did much earlier in the story.

By the end of this book, I had that weird sense of tingly achievement - the one where you've figured it out and feel like you should've seen it all coming before you got to the last sentence. Really, I did nothing but read through what Tudor laid out, but dangit, I wanted more. I wanted to immediately hand the book to the closest human to me and demand they READ IT NOW. 

Character & plot development: Thank heavens for the absence of static characters and story line. Literally there's nothing worse for me than a set of stagnant character who learn zilch and do nothing but exist for 3-400+ pages in a plot that doesn't go anywhere.

Prose, construction, composition: I'm pretty sure that when I try to do this, it looks like the plot from Memento, but like, drunk. Seriously. I've never used the word toggling more in one blog entry, but that's exactly what Tudor's done with this, and she does it with a precision that I kindasortadefinitely envy.

Overall: 100% I recommend this book. It's in the Thriller/Mystery genre, and while I don't know how much I'd call it a relative of Stranger Things, it is certainly strange, suspenseful and capturing. It's a quickish read, at 352 pages and relatively short, easy-to-conquer individual chapters.

Oh, and here's C.J. Tudor talking about the book, if you're into that :) 

And there ya have it! My Friday night, as a book review. Whew. Now I remember why I don't do reviews often.. haha.

I'm on a war path to find some good reads for 2018, so if you're here, if you've made it this far, feel free to leave a suggestion of something you loved in 2017 (or beyond!) that I can add to that list.

For now, I'm off to dig into this Sternbergh read. Maybe I'll review that, too... later. ;)

Happy weekend, blogbots!

xo | cms

Meet the Teacher!

I found this little guy off Chibird, and had to share it, because ya'll...

June and July were literally 5 seconds long, I'm sure of it. What happened?!

*Le sigh... No sense obviously in wondering where it all went, although I'm not really complaining because that just stands to reason that the summer was packed full enough to make time seem fleeting. We were fortunate to travel most of this summer, catch up with the regular faces, reconnect with some old familiar ones, and even meet some new ones. Birthdays, weddings, baby showers, bridal showers and following Sydni around for whatever it is she's doing = my summer.

Speaking of Sydni.. and speaking of Summer..

The latter is coming to a close, and the former just went to check out her third grade classroom tonight. And guys, lemme tell you what.. unless her teacher turns out to be some heinously bipolar train wreck, I can tell you right now that I already love her. I've heard nothing but positive things from other parent friends whose kids went through her class, and meeting her tonight was pretty much all the confirmation I needed to feel confident that Sydni's going to have a great year.

I walked into a room filled with THESE CHAIRS.

gaiams!!!!

Literally, I geeked. I guessed Sydni's reaction before she came through the door, and I wasn't wrong. She's on cloud 9 right now - she got the homeroom teacher she wanted, and she gets to be just like mom while she's "working."

like mama like mini! 

I don't know who's more excited about her 3rd grade experience - me, or her. Whew..

Seriously though. This kid hit the jackpot.

And I did, too! I came home to find this waiting on the front porch for me:

botm! 

The August Book of the Month is HERE! I had a friend randomly pick this out of the August lineup, and read the overview later. It looks legit, so once I find the spare time [hahahahhhahahahahahaha] to read it, maybe I'll post a book review. We'll see. Don't hold your breath ;).

Monday.. check.
This week is stacked already.. time for some rest!

xo | cms

A Court of Cori & Her Little Life [See What I Did There?]

Another off-and-on super rainy day today... *meh.

At one point today, I looked under my desk and realized that the girl who lives there, is way cooler than me. Hah. I really need to take things home, but it made me chuckle at the fact that I could very well introduce myself for the most part, using just the contents beneath my desk. I don't know if that's sad or not, but it's true no less. 

hi, i'm cori.

After work, it was straight to the gym. I've been intentionally silent about the past several months of gym endeavors, mainly because I didn't have anything to say. I'm definitely not an all-the-time gym selfie person, but I came to another milestone tonight and for my own benefit, I need to stop and recognize it. I've admitted to myself that I wasted a lot of time last year avoiding awareness of my body and what it's always been capable of, and just before Thanksgiving last year when I set foot back in the gym for the first time in a couple years, I promised myself I wouldn't ever let it get to a point where I was starting over, again, like I pretty much am now. 

With that being said, I pushed myself a little further tonight, just to the edge - just to that fine line before I sacrificed form for safety - I don't cross that line. I was able to bump up weights in a few areas and felt like my bum shoulder [and its metal plate & 9 screws] was actually ready and willing to go along with me tonight. I still look like a Maple tree trunk with twigs for arms, but the goal is to balance that out by Summer, and I am dead set on that happening. 

one day at a time ♥

 AND, I finished ACOMAF! [A Court of Mist and Fury]

photo cred: instagram @queen.aelin.galathynius

I borrowed this shot from an Insta user because it's beautiful, and as I closed ACOMAF tonight, I realized that this was, for me, one of the most poignant chapters in the entire book. It's the only chapter seen through Rhysand's eyes, and the way that author has built these characters into the iron-clad, devastatingly loyal family that they are, is heartbreaking in a way. Between Lord of Shadows and A Court of Wings and Ruin both coming out in May, I'm not sure which one I'm more excited to have maybe not or maybe definitely already pre-ordered. As of tonight, I'm kind of leaning towards ACOWAR. 

OH, and ya'll were definitely right; Tamlin's not all he's cracked up to be. Rhysand on the other hand... :) 

Happy almost hump day! 

xo | cms 

ACOTAR | ACOMAF | ACOWAR

Books, books, BOOKS!

Thanks to Amazon, for delivering this guy to me today! Adding it to the read-immediately list, since I downed the first installment (ACOTAR) in two days. At this point, I'm still pro-Tamlin, but I hear that'll change once I read this. Check back in a few days once I've read enough to decide. I'm nervous.... :p 

acotar | acomaf

Oh, and I maybe pre-ordered the third one:

acowar | may 2017!

I'm obsessed, I know. I think I've pinned enough ideas on Pinterest for book nooks that I'll either build an incredible one, or nothing at all for fear that I'll try to incorporate all the ideas at once. These beauties, along with the new one, and the new Shadowhunters book [Lord of Shadows] will be among the first to decorate said book nook, when it's ready to go.

For now though, I need to plow through ACOMAF, because I am super curious and a little disturbed at the seemingly-obvious fact that I'll feel entirely different about Tamlin at the end. We. Shall. See.... 

Happy Reading! 

xo | cms

Pretty, Pretty Books

This isn't the first time I've said that Book Depository will be a (the?) key contributor to my ultimate financial downfall. The fact that UK-designed covers and jackets are just so... beautiful, is a hard truth to ignore. 

And most of the time I don't ignore it. I do just the opposite and indulge it. And then I'm at work and things like this happen: A postman drops off a very obviously-shaped box and I open it, usually at least halfway certain of which book or books it contains. Today, I'd remembered that Ink was somewhere in transit, but I'd forgotten about A Little Princess. 

Staaaahp. They're so.. PRETTY! 

no, thank YOU, Book Depository!

Ink might stand alone until I at least get my hands on the gold runed copy of Lady Midnight, but ALP will find its home with neighbors in its collection set.

^ I just re-read what I typed there and realized that the nerdvibes today are far. too. real.

Anyway, I hope you all had a wonderful Wednesday; I  know I did.

Cheers!
xo | cms

Pitbull Personal Space

I titled this according to the short list of non-existent things in my life right now. 

I am not complaining, but it's still true. There is no such thing as personal space when it comes to these dogs.

I'm still kinda reeling from the Adoptathon that we attended over the weekend, and after spying on a couple of other baby bullies without permanent homes, it made me want to come home and give mine that extra inch of space (and then they take a mile, because they're pits and that's what they do, duh..). 

h....i. 

For almost an hour, this is how they both sat. Sasha eventually fell over, which is nothing new, but for that 45 minutes of dog breath into my book, it was still endearing in its weird little way.

I've managed to fly under the radar this week - no sick bugs in our home, no unusual crisis at work, and only the occasional hiccup here and there in between it all. I pray your weeks are treating you well out there also, blogbots!

Happy Hump Day!

xo | cms 

Friday the 13th

On a scale of 1 to stereotypical, today was 5 paces past the latter for being a Friday the 13th. My team [at work] managed to make it through the day in tact, but it sure didn't come without a fight. 

Albeit a day of chaos that came in waves, I received my second installment from the Book of the Month club that I joined. The first book, The Sun is Also A Star from last month, introduced me to Nicola Yoon, and I read it as quickly as I could. I promptly wanted to either re-read it, or have a sequel materialize into my lap so I could continue being a fly on the wall to Natasha & Daniel. 

I haven't heard of either of these authors until now, but I am all about it and these two reads look like they'll be quick to finish but long to forget [here's hopin'!].

With the work day finally conquered, I made a beeline home and traded my office pants for lycra and met Rob at the gym. We squeezed in an evening of working out on separate sides of the building before reconvening for a jog side-by-side on the treadmills. 

I'm about to crack open the bigger of these two new books; I'll keep ya'll posted on how it goes. :)

Happy Friday the 13th! 

xo | cms

When Tuesdays Play Nice

Yes, yes & yes. 

Today was admittedly much better of a day in general than yesterday, and to add to it, I added another book to the collection. This one was recommended by Britta, and now I own it, and soon I will read it. These are the little things in life and lunch breaks that I live for.

the snow child | eowyn ivey

^ I am taking this slowly, believe it or not. There's an entire ship's worth of books on this to-read list, I know, but what's a goal if not challenging? ;)

Other than another bookstore on a sunny day, I did manage to do some other adulty things too: work, more work, some more work and then a parent teacher conference to top it off.

OH, and today a little birdy chirped that there's a return missions trip to Panama, scheduled for May 30 - June 6. Yes, yes & YES.

Gosh, Tuesday. You're all right. You're all right.

xo | cms

Magnificant Magnus

Today was the perfect day to finish up reading through the world of Shadowhunters; as it stands now, this was the only book I had not yet tackled, and now that I've done it, I'm just patiently waiting for Lord of Shadows to be released in May. 

bane chronicles

^ Oh, and I am so thankful that Harry Shum was cast as the show Magnus.

Really not much to report here, folks. Read on!

xo | cms

Me, Adulting, 2017.

It's amazing how some of the simplest things can provide so much excitement. These days, I'm losing it over coordinated curtains and clean towels. Don't even get me started on matching furniture. All of the sudden, I actually care about that stuff, and it's weird.

So when Rob's mom bought this for me for Christmas and we saw the box there a few weeks ago, I've been patiently biding my time until we took a vehicle large enough to transport it [with us + dogs + stuff, etc] back to Cincinnati. It came back with us last night. It's here, and I love it ♥

final bedroom furniture touch! 

For any of you who see these things online, I will say to you that YES, it is a good investment.
Oh, and as a note to future me, buy this book:

... & buy it because The Sun is Also a Star made you ugly cry in the best way.

& also, I'll be adding The Bane Chronicles to this hoard later this week, along with pre-ordering Lord of Shadows. I'm tellin' ya... addicted. 

because... Shadowhunters

It seemed far more like a Monday than the Tuesday that it actually was, and I can already tell I am thankful this is a 4-day week. 

Cheers! 

xo | cms

It's Just Another MAYnic Mondayyyy

Wow, I went there. Sorry guysssss...

yeeesssssss... 

OKAY, I'm done... haha. Sorry guys, but you knew that was coming, and it's an annual obligation, so just deal with it. #ITSMAY!

Anyway, it's the first Monday of the month and it was certainly an over-exaggerated buster, at that.. 

awesome.

This would've been totally normal if I still lived in Illinois, but here, it's weird for me to see an actual train on any of the tracks that run through the city, let alone get stuck in line for one to cross. But that's Monday, yeah? Yeah. 

Fooortunately, the day improved in leaps & bounds, with the majority of the credit for such falling on Kristin & Clarissa. Here's a free piece of advice on stellar co-workers: if they're as awesome as mine, do whatever you can to realize and express to them how thankful you are that they're not stark-raving lunatics, or otherwise unbearable. These two are blessings in plain view, and I am so thankful for them! 

The day ended, leaving Kristin and I after hours to do some catching up and preparation for the next couple days. The UPS guy took his sweet time making rounds today, so I'm happy that at 5:45pm when he got denied by a locked front door, we were still here to let him. 

Why's that so exciting?
THIS: 

infernal devices...... yesssss... ♥

Poor Rob. He knows that I'm no match for myself when it comes to reading. I got sucked into The Mortal Instruments, but having knocked out all six of those, it's time for these three prequels... *sigh.. 

Oh, AND.... I got home to find this in the mailbox: 

it's here! 

Arley, it made it!! If you just wondered who Arley is, she's one of my gorgeous mama friends from the hometown {MTV} who now sells Mary Kay and will hook it up on whatever it is you need from the MK inventory. Seriously. She's awesome, and so is THIS: 

finishing spray. mascara. 

Stay tuned for some post-makeup photos. I'm really trying to do some girly things and this will be one of them. I also got to support a friend's venture in selling this stuff, so that makes me feel pretty good about it too! 

So, dolls, I'm outta here. I've got mascara to learn how to use, dinner to make and books to read. Nevermind the weeds that I said I'd pull tonight.. it's gloomy anyway ;) 

See ya tomorrow! 

xo | cmd

Mmmgghhh... Monderp Monday.

Workplace tattoo, day 1:

healing up! 

^ Today was one of those Mondays that, I imagine, in human form would resemble some form of rabid, multi-taloned bird skating down the side of a chalkboard, while blindfolded and covered in cheap, wet nail polish. Don't ask me why that's the image that I conjured, but it's an accurate read of what today felt like, but it feels right, so we're going with it. It's either that, or the space of sidewalk that was formerly occupied by a real human, presumably having been abducted by aliens. Today was a mix of chaos and all the people we needed being either unavailable, sick or just non-existent all together (i.e., tenured SharePoint Developer - are you a real thing?!).

So yeah. That was Monday.
Post-workday proved to have better ratings. For starters, there was an impromptu family dinner date:

goofballs.. love them to the moon & back! 

We ran an errand as a family after that: the start of our efforts to dispatch the swarms of dandelions that grow back seemingly overnight in our yard [wish us luck]..

pretty nights at home depot.. haha 

That dandelion problem I mentioned: 

the parking lot & the field...
... aka my driveway.. and my yard. :| 

Rob started yesterday by mowing "I ♥ U" in the yard, and Sydni turned it into a racetrack: 

I seriously love this girl.. haha. 

It seemed like all of us had our fill of this Monday; Syd was out cold immediately following the lawn-mowing, and Rob wasn't far behind her. My body was still in lag mode from this weekend, but I was bent on finishing the final book of The Mortal Instruments, which I did tonight, around 1am. 

And yes, this entry is backdated. 

done & done! 

i'll leave this here like the good fangirl i've evidently become.... 

 ^ Thanks, Tumblr for that last one. Seriously. I'm hooked. Now that I've finished all six of these books, I suppose I'm on now to the Infernal Devices, which is also a Cassandra Clare creation. 

Le sigh. 

Anyway, it's a short week this week [again], and then the Pilcic wedding. Woooo! 

Seeeeee yaaaa... 

xo | cmd 

Here We Go, Weekend!

Rob left for Illinois this morning, which meant Sydni and I got to kick off the weekend on our own. I picked her up after work and we got started in on our first order of weekend business: starting a Mommy-Daughter notebook. It was Sydni's idea, and I think it's an absolutely terrific one!

It wasn't long at all after we got home that we were both doodling in our joint notebook; Sydni got the best of the artwork for tonight, but I'm excited for her to come back next week while she's at her dad's to find some notes I'll be leaving just for her ♥.

i love this girl!! 

I've come a loooong way from the Friday nights of the late 2000's; tonight I wanted nothing more than a quiet, disconnected marathon of silly doodles, cuddles and bedtime stories. I still dearly cherish those friends from the times of late nights and sore dancing feet, but I couldn't imagine trading my 8pm PJ's and sticky little PB&J fingers for anything a night on the town could've ever offered. 

bedtime stories!

It's gonna be a fun weekend, I can tell. For now though, there's another round of glitter-encrusted books with frilly tales of jibber jabber and tall-tale fun. My little bookworm is reading most of these on her own now, a fact that makes me feel both proud and pathetically nostalgic all at once. 

Don't ever lose your spirit, mini me ♥.

TGIF!

xo | cmd