![\"Libraryhaul\"](\"https:\/\/oshetablogs.files.wordpress.com\/2015\/04\/libraryhaul.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nI just got home from one of the most fulfilling and decadent self-care activities, ever.\u00a0 Going to the library alone.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s much more refreshing than the spa.
\nWay more energizing than enjoying a venti latte at Starbucks.
\nMore efficient than solo shopping at Target.
\nA more nourishing for my soul than going for a walk on a breezy summer\u2019s morning.<\/p>\n
Visiting the library by myself a luxury I rarely, but really should make time to do. As stay at home mom, the kiddos are at school for six hours a day, so I could make time to go, but chores and meetings, and past episodes of \u201cParenthood\u201d sneak in like little foxes and rob my time.\u00a0 I think I\u2019m going to put \u201cgo to the library\u201d on my weekly calendar.\u00a0 Yes, that sounds like a lovely plan.\u00a0 Will y\u2019all help me remember?\u00a0 You will?\u00a0 Thanks, you\u2019re the best!<\/p>\n
If I make it a more consistent rhythm, I\u2019ll publish more posts like this where I share my haul with you every week?\u00a0 Ok?<\/p>\n
Deal.<\/p>\n
Ok so, I finished all my chores.\u00a0 The house looks (and smells) amazing.\u00a0 I submitted my first paid writing assignment this morning and I was feeling all self-care-y.\u00a0 Like I should go out and buy a new dress or make something off of Pinterest or have the slice of cake for breakfast as my daughter suggested.<\/p>\n Instead, I thought, \u2018what do I need right now?\u2019 Not necessarily what do I want to do, but what do I need.<\/p>\n And what I needed to do today is: 2: Get something new to read.<\/p>\n So, I popped over to the library to revel in the\u00a0 productive quiet of a roomful of readers and researchers.\u00a0 It was pure joy to not have to help a child show his work or look for quadrilaterals in a magazine or nag my tween to start his project on Ancient Greece.<\/p>\n I was at the library for me- oh glorious, self-care!<\/strong><\/p>\n I read a post this week about how you\u2019d know if you were a total bookworm<\/a> as a kid and one of the indicators was you \u201cthought the library was more fun than any playground\u201d<\/p>\n Yep, that\u2019s was me. Every day.\u00a0 All the time.<\/p>\n My love for the library rivals my love for the bookstore\/coffee shop, especially if said bookstore is owned by an eccentric ex-hippie who hired her anarchist post-grad son covered in ironic tattoos, to make fair trade lattes.<\/p>\n Back in Cambridge, there was a library the next town over, Watertown that actually has a coffee shop INSIDE IT!\u00a0 Brilliance.\u00a0 Simply brilliant.\u00a0 While the library closest to me only has a bookstore in the back, it\u2019s still a pretty magical place.<\/p>\n To be honest, y\u2019all, I\u2019m still amazed at the ease of getting a card!\u00a0 I can\u2019t believe the\u00a0 implied trust that I am responsible enough to take whatever I want home! \u00a0 And of course, let\u2019s not overlook the frugality of the library!<\/p>\n Everyday We\u2019re Budgeting!!!!!!<\/p>\n Choosing books by this standard slowly released me from a sort insecurity I\u2019ve always felt around reading.\u00a0<\/strong> You see, when I notice what my friends are reading or I check out the book my favorite bloggers review or when a podcaster I love interviews an intriguing author, I instantly add those books to my \u201d need to read\u201d list, but in all honesty, I know I\u2019m not going to read those books.\u00a0<\/strong> Not because they\u2019re not well-written, timely, or interesting but simply because, I\u2019m not interested in them.<\/p>\n The worse is when I\u2019m rushed with the kids at the library because\u00a0 I check out books on the \u201cthe list\u201d even though I know I\u2019m probably not going to crack them open. Once home, they sit at the bottom of my bag ridiculing me for my impulsively or lack of resolve until it\u2019s time to take them back and exchange them for new members of the Taunting Book Chorus.<\/p>\n Today\u2019s library trip silenced the Symphony of Insecurity.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Today, I chose self-care and enjoyment while at the library and brought home four very different books than I would have if I were following the \u201cthe list.\u201d<\/p>\n 1:\u00a0 The Mom 100 Cookbook by Katie Workman<\/a> ***A word about picking cookbooks:\u00a0 If when I thumb through it, it has pictures any devices or tools I don\u2019t have or can pick up within the next two days, I don\u2019t get it.\u00a0 Same goes for the ingredients.\u00a0 Radicchio people, we are not.<\/p>\n 2:\u00a0 Save the Date by Mary Kay Andrews<\/a> 3: The Vow by Kim and Krickitt Carpenter with Dana Wilkerson<\/a> Was I not serious or smart enough because I gravitated to a love story made into a romantic blockbuster? Shouldn\u2019t I be reading more rigorous, important books? It\u2019s shame-based questions like these that makes self-care difficult. They rob me\u00a0 from authentically caring for myself.\u00a0 Shame always undermines truth and core self-care is about becoming comfortable with true yourself. Loving the person you are now.\u00a0 Nurturing your heart with gentleness and dignity.\u00a0 When I realized myself spinning out with these questions,\u00a0 I kicked shame to the curb, and chose \u201cThe Vow\u201d.\u00a0 Also,\u00a0 I have this annoying snobbery about reading a book before I watch the movie. Maybe I think movies are a lower art form.\u00a0 Maybe I just like to play the critic.\u00a0 Whatever, man.\u00a0 I\u2019m reading the book then inviting some ladies from New City over to have a chick flick night.\u00a0 Love the you, you<\/em> are, baby!<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/a>
\n1: Save money
\nEvery day we\u2019re pastoring, but everyday we\u2019re budgeting too- it\u2019s just the nature of the beast.<\/p>\n<\/a>
\nToday, I wandered the aisles- just because.\u00a0 Which, by the way, is the best wandering- the \u201cjust cause kind\u201d.\u00a0 While wandering, I\u2019d grab a book, read the jacket, and imagine where I would sit while I read it.\u00a0 In the van?\u00a0 On the couch?\u00a0 At the park?\u00a0 If I couldn\u2019t see myself reading it, I didn\u2019t pick it up.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n
\nI\u2019m always looking for new cookbooks for my Plan to Eat schedule<\/a>.\u00a0 In all honesty, I thought it said, \u201cMom 101 Cookbook\u201d when I picked it up. This really resonated with me because I feel like I need to start back at the basics of meal planning and prep for the kids.\u00a0 We\u2019re in a rut and I\u2019m hoping this book will pull us out. Even though it says, \u201c100\u201d, I\u2019ll forgive it and give it a chance.<\/p>\n
\nI\u2019ve never read anything by Mary Kay Andrews, but I liked the synopsis in the jacket- a wedding florist experiencing mishap after mishap all while trying to prove to her father that her dream of becoming the premiere wedding florist is a viable one. \u201cSave the Date\u201d\u00a0 promises to be full of belly laughs and heart-warming romance.\u00a0 This will definitely be a before bed treat.<\/p>\n
\nThis book was hard for me to choose because right above it was, \u201cI Know Why The Caged Bird Sings\u201d.\u00a0 I want to read that masterpiece by Maya Angelou, but it didn\u2019t pass my \u201ccan I see myself reading this right now\u201d test.\u00a0 I felt so torn choosing \u201cThe Vow\u201d over \u201cI Know Why The Caged Bird Sings\u201d.<\/p>\n
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