SNAPSHOTS, A BOOK RECOMMENDATION, AND AN ARTICLE YOU NEED TO READ

Hello shugpies.

Long time, no visit.

I have been gently scolded for abandoning this here bloggage.

{Psych. The person who 'scolded' me has never scolded anyone in her life.}

Life has been cray. And busy. And exhausting.

But, good.

Here are some bits of what's been going on ... a stream of consciousness of sorts. Well, except not. It's really just a random spouted off my life as of late.

* Living room rearranging and intense decluttering

Fast forward >>>>

* We sold all our living room furniture on Craigslist and now have nothing to sit on except our kitchen chairs

* I broke my second shoe in a month - this time while on my first day of working with a new client, of course.

* I had a mini meltdown about standing up for myself, and by meltdown, I mean tears, and telling my husband that he was making fun of me.

* The Southern Women's Show in Charlotte

* Pumpkin Spice Lattes - my version and Starbucks' version

* Brody BoBo

* The Lightrail by myself for the first time ever (I admit, I felt nervous)

* Two birthday celebrations

* Some bomb ass string bean casserole

* A bluegrass & BBQ festival - where we got roped into being wing judges, and had an encounter with one psycho wing judging instructor who scolded us for being honest about some wings that were wooftastic

* Davis Store hoodies, long sleeve shirts and hats ... eventually

* The Prodigal God - if you are: a devout Christian, a slacker Christian, one who thinks Christians are hypocrites, think The Prodigal Son story is primarily about the younger son who was lost, someone who thinks that Christianity is simply about heaven and hell, or anywhere in between, read this book. Essential to the Gospel - the real one, not the self-righteous one. I found it to be convicting, encouraging and eye-opening.

* Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure

* Learned: Rich, single, metrosexual men are way more high maintenance than any woman you will ever meet

* Raw Cotton/kids' garden gloves meetup/exchange

* more sweet tea consumption than I'd care to admit

* haircut - trying it a little shorter than last time - think I'm going to like it

* free food at a new restaurant's "practice run" thanks to our friend, the cook - gluten free goodness was had

* my GPS has been my right hand man girl for the last three weeks

* Walking. Because it's not 95 degrees outside.

* new Lilly jumbo planner - my ... left? hand man girl

* sort, clean, photograph, eBay, Craigslist, consignment, yard sale, wash, rinse, repeat

PS - I read this article, Why the Woman Who "Has It All" Doesn't Really Exist" and was noddin' my head the whole time. Yep, uh-huh, what I'm talkin' bout.

This part especially stood out to me:

 The most maddening thing about these new expectations? We're not supposed to care about them. In the Wonder Woman world, perfection is meant to come easily. Look at late-night phenom Chelsea Handler swearing, "I don't like to be that aggressive or ambitious," or svelte Blake Lively proclaiming, "I'd rather have a little bit of cellulite and go do a food trip and try every ice-cream place in the South." These women have extraordinary lives, but their nonchalance is the final flourish. Meanwhile, women who admit they've worked hard and wanted something face backlash—just remember the reaction to Anne Hathaway's "It came true!" Oscar speech. We like to believe women today are too cool, confident, and fully evolved to worry about this new crush of pressures and expectations. But we do worry—about our jobs, looks, finances, and families. We worry a lot, so far as I can tell, and maybe simply acknowledging that is the best way to start.

 Why do women pretend to have it all perfect and under control when we really don't? And if we are keeping it all going, seemingly effortlessly, are we really happy? 

Or are we exhausted? Miserable? Resentful? 

Sometimes it even feels like some women boost their self esteem by attempting to make other women feel incompetent because they don't have it all together - like the perfect, well-rounded life should just come naturally unless you are a total screw up. Or, maybe it's not a stab at another woman's self esteem. Maybe women are like this because they really believe that everyone else has it together and they don't want to look like a failure. Life is hard. We need to be friends.

 What is wrong with our culture?

Lord knows I ain't ever got it together.