I’m grateful for great friends who can take the place of family during the holidays.

I’m grateful for a daughter who acts as my best friend, and a son who lets me hug and squish and kiss him at least 10 times a day.

I’m grateful for a husband who loves me and our children more than the world.

I’m grateful for my husband’s job and the great place we are able to call home.

I’m grateful for my photography business–which has helped me learn and grow in more ways than I could possibly have imagined.

I’m grateful for my religion.  And the comfort and knowledge that provides me.

And I’m grateful that last night we could go on a little drive, because Zack was cranky.  And we could stumble upon Grapevine’s historic Main Street.  With all the lights up, and beautiful music playing.  I’m grateful that we could walk around in the cold of the night, and begin to celebrate Christmas.  To see the smile on Mackay’s face and the awe on Zack’s.  And I’m grateful that we saw Mrs. Claus, because Mackay could feel her magic.  And Santa is real and Christmas is magical.

And I’m grateful for cheesy beans.

I’m a reader.  Though with kids and a business I was losing that “me” time.  Until I discovered the gym.  I just pay $35 a month and have a babysitter to watch the kids while I read.  (Oh, and um…work out a little.)  So since I began my beloved gym membership I’ve been able to read a little bit.  (Or a lot.)  And I have had a few people asking me what I’ve been reading, or recommendations for good books.  So here is a quick guide to my recent reads:

Pope Joan by Donna Wolfolk Cross.  I’m still not sure if this is based on a true story or not, though some research suggests it to be true.  But it’s about a girl growing up in a time that women are not allowed to be educated.  For them to learn to read or write would just be a waste of time.  But when her dad was away, Joan’s brother taught her from the bible.  And her mind quickly became a dangerous thing.  It was fascinating following her through her life, growing in maturity, education, status and love.  And it’s always nice to know that girls rule and boys drool.

These Is My Words by Nancy Turner.  It took me a good 60 or so pages to get into this book, not gonna lie.  Like literally, I would read a paragraph, and then try to decide if staring off into blank space was a better option than reading further.  But my mom said it was one of her all time favorite books, and my mother-in-law owned it, so I knew that there had to be something more.  I’m glad I kept reading.  It is written in diary format, and it is fascinating to see how Sarah’s writing and grammar improve as she reads books that she finds along her journey with her family to Arizona to settle the territory there.  And you can’t help but smile when the handsome Jack Elliot starts to show interest, and she has no idea of his feelings for her (or her developing feelings for him.)

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon.  *Not meant for any close friends or relatives.*  The language was pretty bad–as bad as it gets, really.  But my interest and intrigue into the world of mental disorders (hence my major) got the best of me.  This book is written from the perspective of a boy with autism.  He is incapable of feeling emotions or empathy, which makes his interpretations of the completely emotional trials he goes through fascinating–such as when his own mother dies.  (Don’t worry, I didn’t give too much away.)  Or when he won’t eat anything a certain color, or how a certain number of same-colored cars in a row mean a good day, a very good day, or a bad day.  Fascinating, really.

Self Marketing Power: Branding Yourself as a Business of One by Jeff Beals.  Honestly a really great book for any entrepreneurs or those that want to continually be moving up in their company or community.  He really focuses on the importance of networking and constantly and continually putting yourself out there to get to know new people.  And when you can honestly and genuinely be nice to people, you can become successful in all aspects of your life.  (This is one I wanted my husband to read, though he’s not the type to read a book just because I tell him to.)

Switch: How to Change Things When Change is Hard by Chip and Dan Heath.  One of my FAVORITE BOOKS!  Honestly, this is one you don’t want to get me started on.  If you are a parent, you need to read it.  If you are starting your own business, you need to read it.  If you work for a company–read it.  Or if you just want to change the world–READ IT!  I already have a problem of quoting research and studies to get a point across.  (I’m sure people don’t really care that much.)  And this has just made it TEN times worse.  These two brothers were constantly referring to specific research that has been done, or specific people that have really been able to bring about change.  And they weren’t the CEO’s of Fortune 500 companies, either.  So read it, so we can talk about elephants and riders together.

The Heretic’s Daughter by Kathleen Kent.  This is about a specific girl in a specific family during the Salem Witch Trials.  Fascinating to contemplate before and after these terrible trials, as well as seeing it from such a personal perspective.  I like the depth of the outwardly good being bad, and the outwardly bad being good.  Though I really wasn’t too wild about this book.  And it doesn’t help that I bought the paperback from Barnes and Noble for $14, and when I walked in there last week saw the hardback for $5.

The Sound of Paper by Julia Cameron.  If you are needing some meditation time, this is the book for you.  It almost reads like a blog, following the life of this woman and her thoughts.  And at the end of each chapter she ties her thoughts into a sort of “homework” assignment.  But when you see them, you really, really want to do them!  She starts out talking about three things you must do.  1) Morning Pages.  Write THREE pages a day.  About anything.  2) Artist Dates. This is once a week where you are supposed to literally take yourself out–by yourself, in hopes of becoming intimate with yourself.  And 3) Walks. Twenty minutes a day and at least a one hour walk once a week.  To link mind and body together.  Can you just imagine if we were all able to do these things?  To literally put ourselves first, what our lives could be like?  This may look crazy and out there, but I promise you it will get your creative juices flowing and your mind and body reawakened.

A Town Like Alice by Nevil Shute.  This is an old book, written in 1950, and it shows in his writing.  Though it’s almost relieving to read something that doesn’t follow the same contemporary patterns of plot and writing style.  The first half of the book is about a young woman who became a prisoner of war to the Japanese in Malaya, and her journey and trials dealing with that as an Englishwoman.  The second half is about her life after the war finally ends.  There was one part, I was walking on the treadmill, and I got to the end of a chapter.  My mouth dropped, I couldn’t walk anymore, and had to get off to catch my breath–not from exercising, but from the book.  After I regained composure and hopped back on the treadmill, I felt pretty stupid. I hope no one saw me.  But it was just that good.

So I hope during your holiday break you can sit down with a good book and relax!  I know we are all deserving a little down time right about now.

I think 20 mph school zones are unsafe.  I spend more time looking down at my speedometer than the road watching for children.  I’m too paranoid that I will be caught going 2 or 3 miles over by a crazy cop who needs to bring in more revenue for the city, where fines are doubled.  And cruise control doesn’t work at such slow speeds.  Just saying, I may not be the only one like this.  Or maybe I am…

I finally got my car clock changed back an hour.  But not without changing three of my presets to the same radio station.  I hate having to relearn how to do that every six months.  And I can pretty much promise that as long as I am living, I will never remember how to do it.

Zack.  I love him, but the kid has NEVER been a good sleeper.  I can probably count on my fingers the number of times he has NOT woken up in the five o’clock hour.  Last night, he didn’t wake up until 6:06am.  I was laying in bed for those precious six minutes thinking that the only logical explanation was that he died or was kidnapped.  And those were the LOGICAL explanations.  Our fingers are crossed for tonight that he stays safe AND sleeps in ’til 6:00am.  Or even 7:00am, but that’s still a distant dream.

Mackay: “I’ve got some good news and bad news….I put a dirty cup in the dishwasher.”
Me: “But the dishwasher is clean.”
Mackay: “That’s the bad news.”

I’m not really the kind of person to have road rage.  But I AM the kind of person to have parking lot rage.  Note to others that find themselves without the same caliber of intellect that I have:  If you park and can barely get out of you car, don’t think for one minute that my door won’t “accidentally” hit your precious 2010 fully-loaded whatever when I attempt to buckle my children into my car.  Yesterday I actually waited outside in the parking lot for a few minutes hoping the owners of the car next to me would come out so I could give them a piece of my mind.  Instead I squeezed Zack into his carseat, and hit the car next to me with my fist as I walked away.  Fuming.

And I have a serious problem with fully capable people watching me push my groceries out to my car.  They see the vehicle I am walking towards, so they stop.  And put on their blinker.  And wait.  While I unload ALL of my groceries, buckle two kids into car seats, return my shopping cart, and take out my fresh bottled water I just bought and sip ever-so-slightly.  To get the full effect of a refrigerated beverage touching my tongue and going down my throat after a long and exhausting shopping trip.  And then I get in the car, and find my lip gloss, because all of a sudden my lips feel a little too chapped.  And they wait.  Still.  Do they not realize they would be in the store and through three grocery aisles by the time they actually get that “great” parking spot?  The human race sometimes doesn’t make a lot of sense.