Sweet giveaway at The Vintage Pearl

Timely too, as my mother's ring does not include my daughter!  I'd get the chunky spinner ring.
Giveaway here.





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Laundry help.

Look at this picture of my side of the closet and see if you can figure out the one item my husband, whom I love dearly, hung up.

(Sorry for yet another cellphone picture. One day, good pictures, I promise. Just not today. Or probably tomorrow. Maybe next week.)

Mike, if you're reading this, I will ALWAYS appreciate your help. Please note that I left it this way for over a week, just cause it makes me laugh.


I am an Amazon Associate. As such, any purchase you make at Amazon.com after following a link from this blog will earn me a (tiny) percentage back as income. Thanks. All content copyright Books. Lists. Life. at http://bookslistslife.blogspot.com. If you're reading this post anywhere other than there, you are reading stolen content.

Teething bites and Tuesday's list.

I have too much to do to be awake all night with a crabby girl! We got out of bed this morning at the time we should have been getting into the car for school.  The Pirate is the only one presentable.

Since I posted my list yesterday and it kept me accountable, I'm doing the same today. I did pretty well yesterday, don't you think? (Updated list here.)

Today's list:

• Unload car.
• Sort crap from car.
• Try to move boxes in garage to make definite areas for "things that go to storage" and "things that go to the apartment" so that I do not have to be present while loading.
• Start packing playroom.
• Drink more coffee.
• Take a shower.
• Pack hall closet. One coat each is plenty for the next week! Move the extra winter coats to storage and pack the hoodies until this weekend.
• Work at least 2 hours. (Not so ambitious today, afraid sitting here too long will put me right to sleep!)
• Continue laundry.
• Feed children, change diapers, etc.

That seems like more than enough, no?



I am an Amazon Associate. As such, any purchase you make at Amazon.com after following a link from this blog will earn me a (tiny) percentage back as income. Thanks. All content copyright Books. Lists. Life. at http://bookslistslife.blogspot.com. If you're reading this post anywhere other than there, you are reading stolen content.

My done list and my to do list for Monday.

Things I done did:

• Drove approximately 149.5 miles of a 150 mile trip prior to blowing out my (not at all old) tire.
• Blew out my tire half a mile from my friend's home, my final destination.
• Stayed up way too late and the slept in a twin bed with two of my children.
• Loved myself for purchasing Roadside Assistance when I swapped insurance last month. Hi, free tire change in the snow!
• Spent much of Saturday chasing down a new tire for my odd sized car. A $167 tire.
• Side note: I dealt with four different companies for all this, and had excellent customer service at all four: the company that handles Progressive's Roadside Assistance, Carter at Tow Pros, TMA and Martin at Tires Plus.  I would recommend any of them.
• Went to Target to console myself.
• (Mike, look away.)  Bought new sandals for me and the girl. (Wanted these but her feet are too thick.)
• And a shower curtain.
• Loaded all of the rest of my crap from the old house into a trailer.
• Drove 3 hours back home with a crying 5 year old who wanted out of the car. 
• Stopped at one point, in the absolute middle of nowhere, and offered to let him out.
• He declined.
• Did I mention, it was snowing? (See: new sandals.)
• Unloaded trailer at storage unit.
• Came home, did not unload car. Dude. I'm tired.
• Woke up to more snow. (See: new sandals)
• Took the Pirate to school while the Bug complained, loudly, that he wanted the Pirate to stay home.

We move on Friday. That's like 4 days away. I have a lot to do. This is my list, just for today:

• Drink coffee.
• Feed baby.
• Print new weekly to do list and fill in already scheduled tasks.
• Do dishes and wipe counters. (twice)
• Put roast in crock pot.
• Move all the laundry to the laundry room.
• Start laundry.(three loads!)
• Unload car.
• Sort boxes of crap from the car into things that go to storage, things that go to the apartment, and trash.
• Attempt to do 4 (four) hours of paying work today. (This is a bit optimistic.)(1.5 hours as of 8:45pm)
• Pack the baby's closet.
• Pack the office closet (this house has a wide closet with a built in office.)
• Do not get distracted by sorting paperwork. Just pack it.
• All the other daily things like meals, diapers, school pick up, etc.

Yeah, not so bad. I can do that. Rah rah!! (I'll let you know how it goes.)(Updated: 8:45pm- original post at 8:51, not 7:51, I can't figure out how to change the time zone for posting!)



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RF: Today's To Do list

I have one meeeeeellllion things to do before 5 pm today when the kids and I pack up and go back to Rapid City to see some friends (and do a little work at the old house so the sale goes through!)  Would you like to see my list? Yes?

• Watch my 2 month old nephew (in addition to the Princess and the Bug) until 3. Go pick up the Pirate at three. Watch all 4 children until 5. My nephew needs a blog name. 
• Ignore that I sometimes used the number (3) and sometimes wrote it out (three) with no regard for grammar rules. This whole post ignores every rule of grammar and outlines. Go with it.
• Do at least one load of laundry so that there are clean work clothes for Mike on Monday morning. (He'll be joining us in Rapid City tomorrow night, it's a crazy weekend.) This means finishing the laundry already in the washer and dryer.
• Pack for the kids and I. The Princess needs a lot of stuff.
• Empty the car. 
• Fill the car with gas.
• Find some snacks for the car ride. This is a hard one, as I have two babies in bucket car seats AND a (almost) 3 year old. Going inside a store isn't really a good idea. Thank god for Coolers Drive Thru.
• Do a minimal amount of cleaning, including the litter box.
• Try to squeeze in as many work hours as possible. Most days I try to work three hours. I would be happy to work one today.

And now, Random Thoughts:

• The sell of the house looks like it's going to go through! Yay!
• We move one week from today (ok, one weekend from now. But it starts on the first.)
• I still believe I'll be ready. I am more ready than I was a week before our last move.
• I have some pictures of an adorable baby in an adorable mama-made dress to show you- but they are on the camera and my camera cable is at Mike's office.
• It is supposed to snow this weekend. I'm done with winter.
• We planted some herbs in one of those window greenhouse boxes you get for five bucks. They are sprouting! I have the best idea ever for planting them in a container garden after we move. Cross your fingers that it's as cute in real life as it is in my head.
• The Princess has figured out that she can move if she tries. She isn't crawling, but she scoots on her butt and makes decent progress across rooms. I am SO happy to be moving to a flat house.

What I Read This Week:

• Dash & Lily's Book of Dares  by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan. Finished it! Look for a buddy review (my first!) on this one.
• All I Ever Wanted (Hqn) by Kristan Higgins. It's marketed as a romance, but seems much more general chick-lit to me. I'm enjoying it a lot. I couldn't get into the author's Too Good to Be True so I'm happy to like this one.

Other bookish notes:

• I checked  Lolita out of the library on audio. I had to request it from ILL! And then I realized that I am never without my children and probably they should not listen to it.  No idea when I'll get to hear it.
• I also got Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins on ILL. Really looking forward to that, but have four other books on the go and don't want to add it in.

From the Library:

• I have a HUGE stack of library books checked out and can't bring myself to return any of them unread. I'd show you a picture, but I'm too lazy to go take one.  
• Coop: A Family, a Farm, and the Pursuit of One Good Egg (P.S.) by Michael Perry
• Not That Kind Of Girl,  
• Cinderella Ate My Daughter: Dispatches from the Front Lines of the New Girlie-Girl Culture, 
• The Girl in the Green Sweater: A Life in Holocaust's Shadow
• Population 485 Meeting Your Neighbors One Siren at a Time - 2002 publication. by Michael Perry
• Pants on Fire by Meg Cabot
• In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto by Michael Pollan
• Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan
• The Hiding Place by Corrie ten Boom
• Honey, Baby, Sweetheart by Deb Caletti
• Matched by Ally Condie
• Can't Stand The Heat (A Recipe for Love) by Louisa Edwards
• One Day (Vintage Contemporaries Original) by David Nicholls
• Except the Queen by Jane Yolen
• Dreamfever: The Fever Series and Shadowfever by Karen Marie Moning
• Liar by Justine Larbalestier
• Whew. What do I read next? (Well, Anna and the French Kiss, since it's ILL, but after that?)

Ok, gotta get to it to do it! have a great weekend!


I am an Amazon Associate. As such, any purchase you make at Amazon.com after following a link from this blog will earn me a (tiny) percentage back as income. Thanks. All content copyright Books. Lists. Life. at http://bookslistslife.blogspot.com. If you're reading this post anywhere other than there, you are reading stolen content.

Have Nothing in your houses.

One of the things I've been working on in my spare time (go ahead, laugh, I do!) is the perfect "to do" list-slash- weekly calendar. I've got it roughed out in excel and each week I print it off on Monday morning. Once I have it perfect I'm going to share the actual form with you, but for now I want to share the first section. In the upper left corner of each week I have a section called "Inspiration." I've been finding a nice little thought or quote to plug in there, and reading over it and trying to internalize it. You might be the sort to do this with a Bible verse, I'm not- my quotes aren't even always from someone famous. And they aren't always quotes!

Anyway. This week I choose this:

"Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful."

I thought it was fitting, since I'm packing to move into a home half the size of this one.


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RF: No school!

Random Thoughts: 

• No school today! This could turn into a great thing, or a bad thing. The Pirate really believes that the Bug should understand rules and turn taking and have an attention span long enough to play school. The Bug is great at playing "recess", but that's about it.
• Did I mention we sold the house? Waiting to clear inspection now.
• We move two weeks from today. The new place is significantly smaller than this one, and there isn't a ton of storage. I am once again paring down down down. I'm actually looking forward to living with less, as I am the primary putter-away-er in our house. Might be nice to get the house straightened in under an hour as well! 
• Another benefit of a smaller place- the Bug won't have to constantly run back to find me since I will be right there. Right now he'll play for ten minutes and then remember he has to tell me something, come find me and forget that he can play alone. I'm hoping smaller quarters will fake him into thinking that I'm paying attention. 
• Temps have been in the 50s all week, the snow is 70% gone! Well, not the giant piles where it's shoveled, but in the yards and sidewalks and streets and all that.
• Posting will continue to be fairly light and sporadic until we get moved. The good news is that I already have a cable appointment for the day we move, so we shouldn't be without internet access again.
• This weekend we're starting to move some things to a storage unit. I am both excited to get things out of my way, and dreading the work. What are you doing this weekend?

What I Read This Week:

• Dash & Lily's Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan. About halfway done and really enjoying it. I actually stayed up late to keep reading last night. I have one niggling problem with it that I will explain later. I'm reading this for a buddy read!
• All I Ever Wanted (Hqn) by Kristen Higgins. Still funny, also about half done. Yes, if I'd focus on one I'd be done, but then I have to keep up with one book. This way I can have a book anywhere I happen to have to sit.
• Food Network Kitchens Cookbook  Ok, I've looked at some pictures.

I think that's it! Gotta get a little work done now before the baby girl wakes up or the boys need me to help them get into costume or the dog starts to whine or or or. My life is one big OR sometimes.



I am an Amazon Associate. As such, any purchase you make at Amazon.com after following a link from this blog will earn me a (tiny) percentage back as income. Thanks. All content copyright Books. Lists. Life. at http://bookslistslife.blogspot.com. If you're reading this post anywhere other than there, you are reading stolen content.

3 things.

1. We have a place to live. We move in two weeks. Signed the lease yesterday.
2. We accepted an offer on our house this morning.
3. You are all invited over for champagne tonight after the school concert.




I am an Amazon Associate. As such, any purchase you make at Amazon.com after following a link from this blog will earn me a (tiny) percentage back as income. Thanks. All content copyright Books. Lists. Life. at http://bookslistslife.blogspot.com. If you're reading this post anywhere other than there, you are reading stolen content.

From Pillowcase to Spring Bag

I've been wanting to turn this pillow sham into a bag for a couple years now. The other day I finally did it. It's fairly roomy, fits my largish wallet and a hardback book plus other stuff, initial dimensions were 13tx15w, and then I boxed the corners to be about 4.5 inches deep. Two big front pockets. I lined it with a little bit of Michael Miller's Ta Dots in moss. I made it with a long strap so I can sling it across my body for hands-free child toting.

Please excuse the cellphone pics, again.





I am an Amazon Associate. As such, any purchase you make at Amazon.com after following a link from this blog will earn me a (tiny) percentage back as income. Thanks. All content copyright Books. Lists. Life. at http://bookslistslife.blogspot.com. If you're reading this post anywhere other than there, you are reading stolen content.

Random Friday, the thermometer says 47!

Random Thoughts:

• Do you have an account on Pinterest.com? No? Can I send you an invitation? It's a place where you publicly share pictures (with links) like an actual bulletin board. You get to create boards, so I have a crafty one and a baby one and a house one and.. oh just go look! It's perfect for sewing inspiration, instead of a list of links I can see a bunch of pictures without printing them out. I've been wanting this for years. I'm here. Since I can't figure out how to search for people be sure to leave me a link to your boards, ok?
• SO sick of winter! My thermometer says it's 47, but it's still snowy and muddy out there, so still can't go outside to play.
• We still have no place to move to and we're supposed to move in three weeks. We are starting to panic.
• I cut the Bug's hair this week. I even tapered the back down and everything. I am so proud of myself. I wouldn't dare attempt the Pirate's, his is coarse and wavy. Buggy has my straight, slick hair.
• I'm testing out a new method of posting. I don't like not posting at all, but it is a great relief to not have to compose long, logical posts. I'm going to try to post whenever the idea strikes me, with little explanation, like yesterday's post. If it gets annoying let me know, but  there are things I really want to share with you all and don't want to squeeze into Friday's posts.

Books I Finished This Week:

• Boy Meets Boy by David Levithan. I wasn't sure if I would finish it, but I'm glad I did. Boy Meets Boy is set in a utopia where everyone is equal and accepted. Paul is gay and it's really no big deal, as it should be. The story is mainly about Paul falling for Noah and while that part is beautifully done, I was much more impressed by the plot line about Tony. Tony lives in the neighboring town, where things aren't so easy. Levithan does an excellent job of showing Tony's bravery and heartbreak, and explaining why some people aren't so accepting of everything. I thought that part, that chapter, was the best in the book, and is really what pushes me to want to read more of the author. The writing is both beautiful and overdone, and the parts showing the complete acceptance of everyone were so intentionally heavy-handed that he almost annoyed me into not caring about his point, but I've been thinking about the book a lot this week and would recommend it. Have you read it? What did you think?

Books I Read This Week:

• Faefever: The Fever Series by Karen Marie Moning. Yes, still. It's very good, but I haven't been in the mood for it.
• All I Ever Wanted (Hqn) by Kristen Higgins. Barely started, funny though. Also the book I've had out of the library the longest, so it's now or return it unread.
• My Reading Life by Pat Conroy. Two chapters in, enjoying it, but I admit that I get Pat Conroy and Larry McMurtry confused in my head (no idea why) and it keeps throwing me off.

What did you read this week? What's on tap for your weekend? What am I missing in the blog world?


I am an Amazon Associate. As such, any purchase you make at Amazon.com after following a link from this blog will earn me a (tiny) percentage back as income. Thanks. All content copyright Books. Lists. Life. at http://bookslistslife.blogspot.com. If you're reading this post anywhere other than there, you are reading stolen content.

The Charlotte Dress

I am so making one of these dresses for my baby girl. Link to the tutorial at the end.

(And isn't that baby nearly as cute as the Princess?)


I am an Amazon Associate. As such, any purchase you make at Amazon.com after following a link from this blog will earn me a (tiny) percentage back as income. Thanks. All content copyright Books. Lists. Life. at http://bookslistslife.blogspot.com. If you're reading this post anywhere other than there, you are reading stolen content.

Random Friday, life gets in the way

I love this picture SO MUCH.

Random Thoughts:

• First, an announcement of sorts- I am taking a little break from the blog. I still plan to do Random Friday, so not a total break. I'll still read your blogs, as much as I do now. I'll probably expand the "What I Read this Week" part to be smallish reviews, unless a book knocks my socks off. I'm hoping to be back to normal by mid-April. We have the move coming up, I have more hours at work, and I'll have my nephew part-time soon. The blog needs more love than I can give it. The biggest downside is that I'll miss your comments in my inbox, so stop by and say hi sometimes, ok?
• Do you IM? Feel free to say hello any time on gmail chat (under my name, not bookslistslife) or MSN Messenger as bookslistslife at hotmail dot com. If I can't chat I won't reply, so no worries about interrupting. Now that I'm home all the time I need more grownup chat.
• We have all been sick this week. The bad news, I'm still sick. The good news? Let's say I can't remember the last time my clothes fit so well.  Seriously guys, like years. This morning I'm faking being better- I got up and showered and got dressed. I'm loading up on coffee and oj and I'm about to eat some breakfast.
• We still don't have a house to move into and we have to move in one month.  HAVE to move. We have a lead, pray it pans out.
• We had on offer on our house this week, but it was so low that we couldn't reach an agreement.  We really need to sell it, but losing $23,500 on the deal isn't really in the cards. Please note: we are NOT upside down on the house, the bid was THAT low.
• My new job is going really well. I haven't managed to post about it so here's the bare bones- I'm doing some freelance work for a company that does mobile aps. It is entry-level, so in a lot of ways insanely tedious, but it pays well and I can do it in spurts through the day. I get enough hours that I can stay home with the kids, and the job is flexible enough that I can do it after bedtime or whenever. It is perfect. I am still learning the ins and outs of freelance work, tracking time and invoicing and all that, but it's cool.
• Seven months ago, when I was pregnant and working at the credit union, I never would have imagined this life. It is nearly perfect. (Will be, once we get settled in a long term house and sell ours!)

What I Read This Week:

• Faefever: The Fever Series by Karen Marie Moning.  Still loving this series.
• Driven to Ink: A Tattoo Shop Mystery by Karen E. Olson. Finished this one and thought it was better than the last one. Brett isn't doing completely stupid things. Love Jeff to pieces, but am worried about a Stephanie Plum-esque triangle with Jeff and Bixby. Will definitely continue with the series.
• Boy Meets Boy by David Levithan. Picked this up at the library because it was there and started it while feeling sick. I almost didn't continue wit it because it was just so outlandish at the beginning. Persevered (mainly cause I was trapped in the bathroom with it) and will finish it up to see what happens. I also picked up The Realm of Possibility at the same time, we'll see if I read it as well.

Shop Update:
In addition to putting the blog on modified hiatus, I am doing the same with the shop. I will still be working on custom orders and will still take sales through the shop. I just am not making new items to add at this time. It's too discouraging to add things that don't sell and have them sit in my office looking at me.  For the time being, any sewing will be for myself and as gifts, and by request. If you have a request, by all means, let me know! I'm just not making any more needle rolls or crayon rolls or whatever to have sit in inventory.

I am an Amazon Associate. As such, any purchase you make at Amazon.com after following a link from this blog will earn me a (tiny) percentage back as income. Thanks. All content copyright Books. Lists. Life. at http://bookslistslife.blogspot.com. If you're reading this post anywhere other than there, you are reading stolen content.

The more things change

the more they stay the same.

I now spend much of my time sitting at my kitchen table.  At the old house, I sat in an armchair with my stuff piled next to me. We still have the chair, but it's in the basement, which is dark and messy and I find I prefer the table in front of a big window. We keep the upstairs  fairly neat, so aside from my own clutter, it's usually  pretty calm. There isn't a television within sight of the table either, like there was at my cushy chair. In fact, there is only one tv upstairs at all, in our bedroom.  It's easier for me to do my actual job at the table as well.

I took this lovely picture with my cellphone (too pressed for time to located my camera cable, sorry!), but here's what you can see there:
-the laptop, duh.
-a "drawing" the Bug made me, with a pair of tiny pink socks on top of it.
-a card to send to a friend.
-my pocket moleskin notebook with my master to do list in it. This is the list that never ends. I have an identical one with my library list in it. I'm considering buying one of the bigger size and using it for both things, one list from the front, one from the back. Since both notebooks are usually in my pile anyway.
-my weekly to do list, on a folded sheet of paper. On the other side of the fold is a calendar for the week. I have actually drawn out my layout for both these things in excel and as soon as I have printer ink will use a printed page.
-my current book-a notepad for jotting things down, like what time I started and stopped working, before transferring it onto my spreadsheet.
-the last scratch note I made. All that info will be transferred to the to do list, an email, or a spreadsheet before I toss the page.
-my current work assignment.
-a couple pens. I love Flair pens.
-a cat. Don't worry, I'll move her before we eat dinner.
-usually my phone, but you know, taking the picture with it!

I am planning to get a smart phone when my contract renews and I have to wonder how much of that paper I'll replace with the phone.  I love flipping through pages of lists manually, quite like reading paper books, so it's possible that I won't ever transition to an electronic version.

How do you keep your to do list? What sort of stuff accumulates around you? Do you have a favorite pen? Favorite journal?

I am an Amazon Associate. As such, any purchase you make at Amazon.com after following a link from this blog will earn me a (tiny) percentage back as income. Thanks. All content copyright Books. Lists. Life. at http://bookslistslife.blogspot.com. If you're reading this post anywhere other than there, you are reading stolen content.