kapachino

Blog

  • BlogHer Book Club: What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty

    “Early love is exciting and exhilarating. It’s light and bubbly.Anyone can love like that. But love after three children, after a separation and a near-divorce, after you’ve hurt each other and forgiven each other, bored each other and surprised each other, after you’ve seen the worst and the best—well, that sort of a love is ineffable. It deserves its own word.”  – Liane Moriarty

    ***

    Alice thinks she’s 29 years old – she and her husband Nick are desperately in love, renovating an old house, and she is pregnant with her first baby. Her sister Elisabeth is her best friend, and life couldn’t be better. In reality, she has just had a head injury at the gym and can’t remember the last ten years of her life. She is nearly 40, has three kids, is on the brink of divorce, and her relationship with her sister has become cold and stilted. She must try to put it all together and figure out who she is and what happened.

    This book deals with a lot of heavy topics – divorce, death, the disintegration of a family, and infertility – in a way that takes them seriously but is still lighthearted enough to keep from being totally depressing. I found that I cared for the characters and I appreciated how we saw Alice’s complicated world through a fresh perspective. I liked the mystery of putting together what happened over the years and how bits and pieces emerged, and at times I was genuinely surprised.

    There were cliches and gimmicks – the whole memory loss thing itself, for example, as well as showing Elisabeth’s perspective through journaling to her therapist. But they were an effective means to an end.

    A  note about the HUGE infertility plot line: I didn’t do any research before writing this, but it seems to me that the author must have some sort of experience with infertility, firsthand or not. As someone with a personal history I appreciated it and think she handled it accurately, but I’m curious as to if that part of the story would interest anyone who hasn’t struggled to have children herself.

    It was an enjoyable, fast read, and it got me thinking – what if I couldn’t remember the last ten years of my life? What would my 20-year-old self think about who I am today? How can I ensure that I’m as happy ten years from now as I am today? Because if Alice’s situation is true to life at all (and I think it is, to an extent) it’s obvious that everyday life can muddle and complicate relationships until what’s really important gets lost.

    Read more about this book and join the discussion over at the BlogHer book club.

    ***

    Disclosure: I was compensated for this BlogHer Book Club review but all opinions expressed are my own.

  • Saturday Road Trip

    On Saturday our little family took a road trip. One of my best friends, Carmen, and her husband Steve are moving from Austin, which is about three hours away from us, to Vermont, and we wanted to be there for her going away party. We decided to drive there and back in one day – it’s easier than packing for an overnight stay. I documented the trip on Instagram (@kapachino) with the hashtag #roadtripday, and here’s how it went:

    6 am – Meredith wakes me up and we have breakfast, then I shower and get dressed.

    7 am – I start working on chores like laundry, dishes, floors, and a general tidy-up because I don’t want to come home to a dirty house.

    8 am – Meredith nurses and takes a nap in my lap.

    9 am – David wakes up and gets ready while I continue working. Meredith gets some morning walking practice in.

    10 am – David gets us kolaches. Yum. This is my second breakfast, if you’re keeping track.

    11 am – David takes Meredith for a drive so I can really get some things done. I clean the car, sweep the floors, and pack our bags for the day.

    12:15 pm – We are in the car, but first stop for cheap drinks. Dr Pepper for him, iced mocha for me. Meredith is already asleep.

    I spend most of the drive working on cross stitch and reading magazines. Finished this, which is the first of three. Eventually it’ll be “home sweet home,” framed and hung.

    1:45 pm – We stop for a bathroom break and Meredith is awake. I take her out to give her a break from the car seat and she’s happy with her sippy cup and a snack.

    2:15 pm – Back on the road and M. is fussing quite a lot now, so I climb in back with her and keep her occupied with snacks.

    3:30 pm – We made it! I realize I forgot to pack swim diapers so David goes out to get some. Meredith takes to Carmen right away (they haven’t seen each other in awhile).

    We eat delicious food, talk, listen to music, and swim. It’s Meredith’s first time in the big pool and we have a blast.

    7:15 pm – I wish we could stay longer, but we have to get back. On the road again.

    Tip: listening to the 90’s pop station on Pandora makes the time go by extremely fast.

    9:30 pm – We’re home, and Meredith is asleep. But she wakes up! And wants to stay awake! So I put our stuff away and carry her around and nurse her and play with her.

    11:50 pm – She’s finally asleep, and I follow soon after. It was a good, full day.

  • meredith at 11 months

    Keeping it real with the photos this month – these were taken after daycare, so her shirt is dirty, hair is crazy, and her mood was happy one second, crying the next. 

    She:

    >Kind of says “hi” now. Sometimes I’m convinced she knows what she’s saying, other times I’m not so sure.

    >Had some erratic sleep patterns this month for the first time. There were three nights in a row of no sleep, and some extremely early mornings. In addition, she regularly resists going to sleep and we’ve had to rely on the “night-night drive.” The past week, however, has been great – so who knows what it is.

    >Is very into cabinets right now. Her favorites are in my bathroom where all my travel-sized toiletries are, and in the living room where we have a basket of knick-knacks.

    >Learned how to climb on top of things. I love to just lie on the floor and let her use me as a jungle gym. She’s also figured out how to lower herself down to the floor off a chair or couch.

    >Points at everything, and if she has anything in her hand she’ll hold it out to show us. She also loves to bang on any nearby surface with her open hand.

    >Drinks water from a sippy cup, although sometimes it’s still just a chew toy to her. Her appetite has been low, but I’m not worried about it. Maybe it’s another teething thing.

    >Still doesn’t have any kind of schedule with anything – eating, sleeping, napping, nursing, etc. We just respond to how she acts and go from there.

    >No bedtime routine either. Every few nights we’ll have a bath, some nights we nurse in the rocking chair and she goes down in the crib, other nights we go to sleep together in my bed. Sometimes I try to read to her, but only ONCE has she actually sat and let me do that.

    >Has been such a delight lately. Not that she wasn’t before, but these days her personality is really coming out. She interacts so much more, and we can start to see what it’ll be like to have a little girl around. And it’s kind of fantastic.

    Happy! (I could not get her to let go of my keys.)

    Crying. Boo.

    I:

    >Am at the point in breastfeeding where I can pretty much eat whatever I want and not gain weight, and OH I am abusing this privilege. I am going to have a seriously rude awakening when Meredith weans. So…yay for extended breastfeeding!

    >Still haven’t babyproofed, so lots of times I’ll just follow M. around the house while I read a book or magazine, let her get into whatever she wants (unless it’s dangerous or breakable), and then I’ll just follow behind picking things up.

    >Have an incredibly hard time dropping Meredith off at daycare now because the lady who was with her since she started retired last week. New lady is nice and all, but she and Meredith don’t know and love each other yet so M. cries every day now, and so far it’s only gotten worse. I know she’s fine once I leave, but the process of leaving is terrible.

    >Swear I saw a tooth poking through Meredith’s gums the other day. It was a little white nub, and my mom saw it too. But the next day it had disappeared. So still no teeth.

    >Really want to make over our bedroom…and the craft room, and the library, and the dining room, and the backyard. It’s not the lack of time or money that inhibits me, it’s the lack of time AND money.

    >Go running maybe once a week right now, if I’m motivated on the weekends. I was doing great until it became oppressively hot here. I need to figure out a way to incorporate yoga back into my routine.

    >Have been having a lot of fun buying craft supplies. I really wish I had time to expand my ventures, but for now I’m just barely keeping up with Project Life and cross stitching when I can.

    >Love love love seeing Meredith interact with her cousins. I’m so glad our family lives nearby. I’m looking forward to giving her a sibling one day, but no idea when that day will be.

    >Have to stop myself every night when I’m writing down my good thing of the day from writing “playing with Meredith” or “making Meredith laugh” or “time with Meredith” because that’s boring, but honestly – it’s the best part of my day, almost every day. And that is a wonderful thing.

    For reference:

    No months
    One month
    Two months
    Three months
    Four months
    Five months
    Six months
    Seven months
    Eight months
    Nine months
    Ten months

  • what i read : may 2012

    Hey look, mostly adult books last month!

    In Zanesville by Jo Ann Beard

    It’s about: A coming-of-age story told from the point of view of a nameless 14-year-old girl who considers herself a sidekick, flying under the radar. She’s got a well-meaning but drunk father, a burnt out mother, an annoying older sister, and a sweet younger brother. More importantly, she has a best friend named Felicia. Although there isn’t really a PLOT, tension does come when the relationship with Felicia is tested because of normal adolescent things – boys, popular girls taking an interest in one but not the other, and family stuff.

    I thought: It was completely up my alley and I had a really good feeling the whole time I was reading. Parts were kind of sad or heartbreaking, but somehow not depressing at all. I thought the end was perfect even though nothing really resolved. Solid.

    Rating: 4 of 5 stars.

    Little Bee by Chris Cleave

    It’s about: A refugee from Nigeria meets a wealthy journalist couple on vacation and their worlds collide in a terrible way.

    I thought: I couldn’t finish it. I read over half of it and it was giving me a terrible feeling. It’s dark and depressing without any hint of hope or redemption. I don’t need that in my life right now.

    Rating: 1 of 5 stars.

    Eldest by Christopher Paolini

    It’s about: This is the sequel to Eragon, and I listened to both on audio. Eragon is a dragon rider, and he and his dragon Saphira have just saved the world in a big battle against the evil emperor, and now they travel to the land of the elves for further training. Meanwhile in his hometown his cousin Roran is leading the village in a fight against the empire’s soldiers.

    I thought: Although I like the characters and I care about what happens to them, there was waaay too little action in this. I almost gave up in the middle because the descriptions of the training sessions got so boring and repetitive. The only upside is that when the action comes at the end there is a bigger payoff because of all you’ve invested. I don’t know if I’ll read the next one or not though.

    Rating: 2 of 5 stars.

    Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut

    It’s about: Billy Pilgrim is a survivor of the bombing of Dresden in WW2, a victim of alien abduction to the planet Tralfamadore, and a time traveler. It may sound crazy but it’s really not – it works. Mainly it’s the story of Billy’s life.

    I thought: Depressing but not in an over-the-top way, sci-fi without being sci-fi, subtly anti-war by showing you its destructiveness, clever and kind of genius. I liked it even more after thinking about it and analyzing it.

    Rating: 4 of 5 stars

    Bossypants by Tina Fey

    It’s about: Not a deep exploration into Tina Fey’s past or anything, but it gives insight into her family, her pursuit of comedy writing, her time on SNL, 30 Rock, and takes a good look at the role of women in comedy.

    I thought: I was already a fan of Tina Fey and this reinforced my fanship. It was amusing all the way through and as a bonus I got to listen to her narrate on the audio version and they threw in a couple SNL sketches. I only chuckled out loud a couple times, but I’m not a big LOL-er in general.

    Rating: 3 of 5 stars.

    Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? by Mindy Kaling

    It’s about: A random memoir with a little bit of her childhood, to how she got her start in comedy writing, to her experience on The Office, to her thoughts on marriage and lots of things in between.

    I thought: This started really slow for me – it just felt straightforward and not overly clever at first, but it got better and better all the time, and by the end I wanted it to keep going. Not very deep, but funny and worth the read. Note that there are a lot of lists in the book and they don’t translate to audio very well.

    Rating: 3 of 5 stars.

  • project life 2012 : weeks 18 – 19

    I’m totally caught up, so exciting! I had lots of fun the past two weeks with some new supplies. I love that I feel justified buying things since I know I will actually use them. Choosing what I want is half the fun, too.

    Week 18:

    As I was putting this week together I thought of it as more of a neutral color scheme, but looking at it here I see that it still has some vibrancy to it. I like that.

    We’ve been going to yet another new church for a few weeks now, so I included one of their cards (bottom left). The photo on the bottom right illustrates how Meredith has discovered cabinets and my life is changed forever.

    I got a book in the mail from Bookmooch and it was from Hong Kong so I saved the stamps. I ordered it a couple months ago so it was a fun surprise to receive. :)

    Love the stamps I ordered from Elise, like the TODAY IS. In that pocket I wrote a little about a rough day I had.

    The “I make stuff” card was included in my stamp order, and the little cow button came in the package with my book from Hong Kong. I thought it was so cute!

    Another one of my new stamps in action here (although I need to purchase a new stamp pad) and a little about my reading habits these days.

    Week 19:

    I wanted this week to be a lot brighter than the last. Especially since it was kind of a hard one, so it needed some perking up!

    The picture in the top right here turned out pretty blurry but it’s the first one we got of our entire family (including my husband, Meredith, and my brother’s wife) in a long time. It was taken at my brother’s wife’s niece’s birthday party (did you follow that?)

    This past week I used my essential oils like never before. I am really starting to get the hang of them and seeing great results.

    One day David decided to get crafty with my supplies and I came home to this note. One of his nicknames for me is “Dayleen” – you know, like Brangelina? Yeah, we’re super cool.

    In the bottom right pocket you can also see the picture I took of David’s grandparents, who celebrated their 65th anniversary. They’re so cute. The background didn’t go very well here so I cut them out and framed them.

    Nothing groundbreaking here, but the top left pocket is kind of fun. We went to Chuck E. Cheese one night and they have this little booth that’s only a token and it takes a “picture” of you and it comes out kind of like a drawing. I stapled a ticket to it and cropped it to fit.

    The top right photo is my mom holding Meredith petting a neighbor’s kitty when we went to hang with my parents one night.

    I just liked this paper (it’s Amy Tangerine) and added another of Elise’s stamps to it.

    The side ponytail is my new go-to hairstyle for Meredith. It naturally goes to the side anyway, and I think it bothers her less – plus it’s super cute. :) The right pocket here is some additional journaling about the weirdness of the week. My favorite technique for adding more personal journaling is folding a piece of pretty paper in half and paper clipping it in.

    I’m still loving this project! Anyone else out decide to take it on?