Worth a Read Yes Length 256 Quick Review Tommy Tomlinson has “always been fat.” After living a full life, he decided to make a change and lose weight.
Tommy Tomlinson is a well known journalist. He had a brilliant career and the love of his life, but he was a fat man. His weight kept him from enjoying his life to the fullest. Over the course of a year, Tomlinson documented his weightloss journey in The Elephant in the Room.
The memoir delves into his year of weight loss but also his past. The past can rear its ugly head forever if it goes unconfronted. To deal with his issues with food he had to look into his past and why he loved food as much as he did. Each chapter documented one month of his weight loss journey. At the end of each chapter he document how much weight he had lost or gained. His honesty about the struggle is refreshing. It is a journey with ups and downs; all of which he experienced.
Tomlinson’s honesty is inspiring. His style of writing is funny and sad and deeply insightful. I really enjoyed reading The Elephant in the Room.
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Growing up, I had a fenced in backyard, so letting the dogs out to go potty was easy any time of day. Living in an apartment, it’s not quite so easy. I actually have to put on pants and leave my comfy home to take Beau potty. The responsible dog mama that I am, I take her out first thing in the morning and right before we crawl into bed at night. (Also a few other times throughout the day; I’m not a monster.)
Potty breaks first thing in the morning and last thing at night are inconvenient. I look more of a mess than I usually do, which is saying something because working from home does not inspire great fashion choices. I have come to mildly enjoy the inconvenience of our late night dog walks. It is usually very late in the evening, so everyone is asleep. I like walking around in the peace and quiet. I even break the rules and let Beau run off the leash when I’m absolutely sure no one else is around. She’s my runner. She loves the freedom to chase leaves and be free. I may mildly enjoy the walks, but Beau loves the walks.
Posing like the fashion icon I am in my red wellies.
Luckily Beau does not care how fashionable I am. I am the absolute least attractive dog walker in my apartment complex. In light of this, I have documented a few late night walk outfits because I look insane. Comfortable but a nut job. I have to wear whole shoes because I’ve been stung by scorpions on more than one occasion. I recently became the proud owner of Hunter wellies, and they are my go to. If I get stung by a scorpion in those suckers, I’m cursed. On the chillier nights I wear my flannel puppy pajamas. Obviously, they are the best jammies ever. I couldn’t find the exact pair, so I linked something equally puppy-rific (shorts, top). On warmer nights, I’m in my professional jammies. Red wellies always. I almost always wear an over-sized men’s sweater because comfy and warm. Surprisingly, I have been on the receiving end of many compliments in my hot mess outfits.
Here’s the thing. Being a dog mom isn’t all about cuddles and cuteness. It’s a lot of inconvenience. Late night dog walks kind of suck. Picking up dog poop definitely sucks. It’s all worth it because I get the unconditional love of my sweet Beau. xoxo, Beau + RaeAnna
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Picking up dog shit sucks. But you gotta do it. I use bags made out of quinoa because it’s good for the environment. I’m a bougie bitch.
There’s just something about a sleigh and a Christmas tree that makes me happy. | Standing in Von Maur at Valley West Mall in Des Moines. | These BCBGeneration Pumps are the literal best!!!
Christmas was one month ago. The holiday season has passed. I’m finally going through all the pictures I took over the holidays and finishing reading my Christmas list. I was so busy traveling, moving, and working during the first three weeks of January, so pretty much nothing else was accomplished. I had planned on writing a post about my favorite holiday traditions before Christmas. I failed. So here it is a month later. Let the spirit live on!
I have spent every holiday season in the Midwest – either Iowa or Chicago – outside of the Christmas of 1999. I’m big on traditions. I like them. They make me happy. Of course traditions have changed and varied over the years along with where and who I spend them with. I’m gonna talk about the traditions I have in my hometown with my family.
Von Maur is the Macy’s of Iowa. At least, I think it is. It’s a high end department store with several locations around Iowa. My favorite location – I have been to many – is at Valley West Mall in Des Moines. It’s two floors full of pretty things. The decor has not changed at all in my life time, but that doesn’t mean it’s not luxurious. Personally, I think their dedication to Christmas decorations is what everyone should aim for. In the center of the ground floor between the two escalators, a tree is set up every Christmas. A black grand piano is always there along with couches and chairs for shoppers to rest their feet. Growing up, my family would always go to Von Maur to sit and listen to the pianists play Christmas tunes. They were almost always elderly and so very kind. More than anything, they were phenomenal pianists. I still love listening to them play. This past year, I was in Iowa for Christmas, so I took myself and Dylan on a mini shopping spree to Von Maur and listened to the Christmas carols.
As Des Moines has changed over the years, I have started going to the East Village more and more. I now love heading there at Christmas time because it looks so beautiful covered in snow. This past year, there was no snow. Not only the was the wind bitter, but so was I.
Christmas Eve in the Rekemeyer family has always been pretty formulaic. I have helped bolster this formula by insisting certain things are traditions after I enjoyed it the year previously. You just can’t mess with tradition guys!!! Growing up we would always head to the 4:30 church service, followed by dinner, then a movie, and on our way home we would drive by Christmas lights. My mom used to make my brother and I Christmas jammies, so we would get to open them on Christmas Eve before heading to bed. As I got older, my mom and I started going to midnight mass at church, which is candle lit. That became a tradition after one year because I liked the singing. This past year, we did all of those things, but everyone was too tired to go to midnight mass, so I took Dylan. I’m not at all religious, but I like going to see the people I grew up loving and see so rarely now I live across the country.
On Christmas morning, my brother and I would wake up before the sun. A rule about not waking Mom and Dad up before 5 (then 6 a few years later) was instituted. William and I slept in the same room until I was eight, so we would play board games and talk about what we wanted. When we got older, we would always share a room on Christmas Eve in his bunk beds for old times’ sake. Although the no waking Mom and Dad up rule went out the window when we were teenagers because they didn’t have to worry about it. We’d have breakfast and hot cocoa in front of a fire while opening presents. We would open them one at a time, William went first because he was the youngest, then me, then Dad, then Mom, and back to William. It was great fun. Christmas lunch always varied in size depending on if people needed people to spend it with, and we’d finish the day with Christmas movies in our jammies by the fire.
This past year, nothing changed much. William and his wife stayed at my parents’ house on Christmas Eve and I teased them I would sleep in between them with their dog Frank. I didn’t, but I thought about it. Beau stole my breakfast, which was the last piece, so I gave her a stern talking to. We opened presents and hung out by the fire. A few people came over for lunch, and we finished the day with Christmas movies.
Things don’t change much on Christmas for me. I like progress and change in every other part of my life, but the consistency and traditions are something I crave at the holiday season. As I get older and have more money in my pocket, things will start to shift, but for now as the poor twenty-something I am, this is good.
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The BCBGeneration black patent leather pumps are one of the best footwear investments I’ve made. I found them at Saks Fifth Off Fifth for $49, which is a great deal because they’re not that cheap anywhere else. I wear them all the time. So comfortable and durable.
These pictures really don’t match what I’m about to talk about, but they’re adorable. Her sweater has a hood, ears, AND a little pouf tail. How can you not love her in this??? Yes. We match. I’m insane.
Two weeks ago, we started the moving process into our new and bigger apartment. Beau loves having all the extra room to run around. We have two spare rooms. One will be my office, and the other is her bedroom – guests will use it when they visit. After moving in, we realized there was some water damage from the previous tenants. The apartment management has dealt with it really well, and it is being taken care of. All the work that needs to be done does take time. Contractors are coming in and out. Everything is in boxes because we can’t really put anything away with all the work still being done.
Beau has been an absolute trooper. She has to be in her box or shut up in a room with me while the contractors work because they’re scared of her. I don’t think she’s completely for sure we’re staying here because the boxes haven’t been unpacked yet. Her anxiety has been a bit high the last week with the uncertainty. We’ve had a few instances of stress peeing. She didn’t even realize she did it. I was a little worried it was a UTI, but she’s just fine. Stressed. Poor baby had to wear a doggy diaper for a little bit. She looked so sad and pathetic.
We’ve gone two days without any stress peeing. No diaper. The contractors should be done by the end of the week. Which means I can finally unpack and organize and maybe get a desk for my office, and Beau can get comfy cozy!!!
Over the past several days, my little family moved to a new apartment in Houston. Moving sucks. I don’t know anyone who says “Yay! Moving!” After several moves in the last decade, this was the most stressful and the smallest.
Why?
It’s the first time I’ve moved with an anxiety riddled dog.
Traveling with Beau has hurdles. Moving with Beau also has bigger hurdles. The moment things start to change, she gets anxious. Her biggest fear, as far as I can tell, is being left behind. She does everything in her power to be included in everything. The only way to avoid her idiosyncrasies is to hide change from her until the last minute.
Normally, I like to be very organized. Moving is chaos even for the most organized. This was the most chaotic move I’ve ever been in charge of. Chaos ensued for three reasons: 1) We didn’t get back from holiday travels until three days before moving. 2) We didn’t pack at all to help save Beau from a complete mental break. (See above paragraph.) 3) Once we moved in, we realized there was a lot of water damage that needs to be fixed in the new place.
It’s hard to avoid holiday travels.
I had no idea how Beau would do moving, so we didn’t pack anything knowing we would have several days to move. This ended up being chaotic, but a good idea. We took things a little bit at a time starting with all of Beau’s stuff. She stayed in the new apartment as we packed. It helped her get acquainted with the new as the old was being introduced. She settled down a lot once the couch and bed arrived in the new apartment. Although, she did enjoy having a huge empty apartment to run around in with nothing but her toys, which only lasted for a few minutes.
Everything is now in our new apartment in a variety of disarray. It is not sorted or put away because we have contractors coming in and out of the apartment. They’re fixing everything, which is great, but in the meantime, it’s not so great. Beau has to be kept in her crate because the contractors are kind of scared of dogs.
I’m wishing I had one of these magic wands from Sleeping Beauty that organizes, cleans, and puts away.
Worth A Read Meh Length 354 Quick Review Haley’s Christmas spirit is less than jolly when her boss sends her to Christmas camp in order to do research for a project. The owner’s attractive son makes it easier and harder to concentrate on her job.
Christmas Camp by Karen Schaler hits all the Hallmark moments we have come to expect from feel-good Christmas stories. If you have a Netflix account, you’re probably familiar with her script from The Christmas Prince, which was a huge hit last year.
Haley is a marketing executive. Her company needs to make a pitch for a Christmas loving toy company. Haley wants to make the pitch more than anything to make partner, but she doesn’t have much of the Christmas spirit. Her boss sends her to Christmas Camp to find her own spirit to help her company. She joins a group of people who are there for many different reasons. The owner’s son is attractive and distracts Haley from completely her job.
To be completely honest, I really did not like Haley. Not for the reason we’re supposed to not like her. I didn’t like her because she just wasn’t terribly likable. Her ambition was about the only thing I could actually relate to.
I didn’t hate the storyline in Christmas Camp. I definitely did not love the storytelling. It reads a lot more like a script than a novel. It makes sense consider Schaler’s background as a screenwriter. There is a lot of telling who there characters are without showing. It’s almost like a “Hi. I’m Haley. I’m a workaholic, but I’m also very nice.” The dialogue is clunky and feels a little bit like I’m being spoon fed the novel. It over simplifies everything.
I think Christmas Campis a nice novel for the season. If you’re looking for a complex look into human interaction, this is not that. It is all the things a Hallmark movie is but in novel form.
