Huge thank you to all who entered the Zoey’s Attic giveaway. Zoey’s Attic was great to work with & I have my eye on some Easter onesies right now for Lucy & Zach!
And because I just discovered these off the DSLR… More Lucy & Zach!
There were 37 comments on the giveaway. I shot over to random.org & the lucky winner was…
Commenter #36…
Congratulations Jaime C! I’ll be sending you an email shortly with your $35 gift code to Zoey’s Attic.
A Good American by Alex George was a delight to read. It had been a while since I’d read historical fiction & this novel was an awesome re-entry to that beloved genre of mine.
To be honest, I really wanted this story to be true! I kinda fell in love with the characters.
The story is told by what for a long time is an unknown future grandchild telling the story of his grandparents: how they met, immigrated to the US, started & raised a family, how they became “a good American”. I loved that A Good American continued to follow the family through the good times & bad generation after generation.
Some of the good times, I kinda guessed & hoped would happen. A few of the bad times I saw foreshadowed but most of them were fairly surprising. And the twist discovered & discussed at the end, I never saw coming.
I loved the food & music & sense of family- the poignant coming-of-age theme & overall thought that while family might be wild & loud & big, they’re still family.
A Good American was a quick read for me. And while I read it during the day while pumping, I continued to think about the characters & story & was looking forward to getting more caught up on the Meisenheimer family the following day. I think you would too.
We’ll continue the discussion on A Good American on the BlogHer Book Club site. Feel free to jump over to see what we’re saying & even add your own thoughts.
While I was provided a copy of A Good American for purposes of this review, I was not otherwise compensated & all the opinions & thoughts mentioned are my own.
I realize a few of my recent posts on motherhood {the sick, the social, the juggling} have had a negative nancy side. But life is good. The babies are at such a fun age {9 month posts to come soon}!
We had a great weekend. My parents came down Friday night. Lucy & Zach had their first playdate {where they could actually play & interact} when my friend Holly stopped by with her almost 4 & 18 month old daughters. It was a blast seeing the four of them interacting & playing with our toys. I enjoyed catching up with Holly & am hoping we can do it again soon.
They left as the SNOW was really coming down. Mom & I decided to wrap up the babies in warm layers topped with fuzzy bear suits & tiny mittens & let them play outside for a bit. There was more time getting us all dressed than there was spent outside. Also, pretty sure there were more cameras brought out than there were people. Four cell phones & my DSLR. But we captured flakes on Zach’s long lashes & Lucy tearing off her mitten to better crawl in the white stuff. Plus one of the better shots of the four of us in a while. It was awesome.
The rest of Saturday & Sunday was spent cooking {Lemon bars & banana bread & artichoke mushroom chicken}, trying on dresses {yay for refitting into cute ones!}, packing, making bottles, & playing & hugging Lucy & Zach.
Also throw in grocery shopping & a Target trip where 1 return & going to buy face wash somehow relays into spending $35 on candy, sippy cups & baby snacks.
I spent just about 48 hours away from Lucy & Zach on my work trip. I met some new work friends, reconnected with coworker friends & rediscovered that I do enjoy having a few glasses of chilled wine & cold beer {alcohol gets warm when it takes hours to drink in between baby wrangling}.
I also remembered I like the ability to wear fun necklaces & having the time to apply eye shadow. I missed the babies; I showed off pictures more times than I can count. I also discovered I would not want to exclusively pump. My boobs thank me for that realization.
I glance almost nervously every time my work phone rings wondering if it’ll be daycare saying one of the babies is sick. I make very few plans because I never know when they’re going to be sick. I’ve had to cancel a couple of the {very, very, very few} play dates of which we’ve been invited due to sickness.
And while we’ve dealt with our share of sickness this winter {on a three week well run WHAT WHAT?!}, it’s not just that. I never know what to expect anymore.
Am I going to find happy, chirping babies when I get off work? Or whiny, fussy, clingy ones? Will I have time to make dinner or will I cram cereal down at 930p?
Will the evening go smoothly & I’ll have time to unwind with my e-reader & clear off a show from the DVR? Or will I be totally whipped well after my own bedtime from wrangling over-tired babies?
As a newish mom, I struggle with juggling all the unknowns of motherhood. From diapering to sickness, teething & crying, to sleeping & solids. I’m guessing I’m not the only one adjusting to the new normal.
That’s something I love about my online community of bloggers & mothers; that I can write a quick post or shoot off a tweet & like it or not {mostly like it}, I’ll have more experienced mom friends offering advice or cheering me on. Because I need it more often than not.
Arcadia by Lauren Groff was my book club’s February book. We actually didn’t end up meeting this month, but since I was able to complete this one on time, I thought I’d share my take on Arcadia.
It begins in the 1960s & goes through the early 2000s. Arcadia spans most of the life of the main character & the story is set from his point of view. It splits up in chunky chapters that span big years of his life. From life as a child growing up on a hippie commune in NY, life as a young teenager still living in Acadia, life as a young father in NYC, life as an adult.
What I’m going to remember most about this book is the name of the main character. Bit Stone aka the littlest bit of a hippie. I loved that image; a tiny preemie baby turned lil guy.
I liked that the book followed along over a long period of time. I liked seeing how all the characters changed & grew & how their experience living in Acadia impacted their life.
I thought it was interesting how some of the Arcadia kids saw life on the commune as so very different than Bit. Your perspective really is determined by attitude of those around you & whether or not you look on the bright side. Plus, I think if you don’t know any different, living happily albeit cold & hungry isn’t so bad.
I walked away from Arcadia knowing I’d kind of miss the characters. I also know that as much as I enjoy a few bits of
the hippie attitude, I could never have handled commune life.