Book Review: Excess Baggage

I have been on such a reading slump the month of August and this is pretty much the only book I've read so far. I am trying to get into the groove again but summer has worn me down and I'm struggling.

Excess Baggage - Tracey Carisch

Tracey Carisch thought she had it all. As a wife, mother, and successful executive, she seemed to be living the modern American dream. But one night, a panic attack sent her tumbling into an existential crisis and questioning everything about her life. That’s when she and her husband made a decision that shocked their family and friends: they sold everything they owned, pulled their three young daughters out of school, and became a family of wandering globetrotters. 

Loaded with hilarious mishaps as well as deeply meaningful revelations, Excess Baggage chronicles the Carisch family’s extraordinary, eighteen-month adventure across six continents. As they navigate the trials and tribulations of international travel, the family encounters unique people and bizarre situations that teach them about the world―and themselves. Carisch’s candid and insightful account of her family’s journey will have you laughing out loud, shedding a few tears, and bringing the lessons of family travel into your own life . . . without ever having to leave home. 

You know why I picked this book, don't you? If there is anyone who has been on the edge of saying "screw the man", chucking deuces, and going off the grid, it's me. But I have the same hangups you have, a mortgage, bills, jobs, kids, schooling, a life and obligations. The Carisch family had all of that too but once a few years had gone by since the plan they had was thwarted by their first child, Tracey and Brian have a come to Jesus moment where they realize that this isn't the life they wanted. The never wanted to be bogged down by stuff, chained to jobs and bills, keeping up with the neighbors or trying to outdo the next person. It's a lot of stress and it became too much.

So they sold their home and everything they had, got some passports, and traveled the world.

Over the course of 18 months, these parents traveled to 24 countries with their three daughters. Places they visited (Norway, Andorra, France, Croatia, Czech Republic, Ireland, Ethiopia, Thailand, Cambodia, Fiji, New Zealand, Chile, Bolivia, Peru, Nicaragua.. and I think that was it. I might be missing a few.

This entire book hits every single fear I have ever had of international travel. The language barriers, getting lost, driving in new places, meeting strangers, not knowing if I was in an OK neighborhood, the food, hospital visits, getting flagged at the airport, ebola, terrorist attacks, and more. I'm not even kidding. The thought of traveling internationally terrifies me but I really want to see other places before I die. I know the world is so much bigger and more than what we experience in the US and I want to experience it. I just am totally terrified and I don't know if I could bring my kids. My luck I'd lose someone, someone would be kidnapped or fall off a cliff. If any freak thing will happen, it will happen to me. I have proof of that.

I absolutely loved this book. Each chapter is a country (mostly) so if you can only read one chapter at a time, you're getting an adventure and a complete experience in that chapter which makes the book read much faster. It's funny, they absolutely had an adventure of a lifetime. They gave their children an experience so few of us can and what lessons those kids learned. They got to see a multitude of cultures and they will always remember those encounters. Even cooler is that this family made friends in every single country they went to. They stayed in each place for several weeks, volunteered everywhere they went and took advantage of what each country offered.

If you're a mom, stuck in the rut, going through the motions, and life is passing you by- check out this book. While I'm not getting on a plane to fly to Ethiopia anytime soon, I have very much adopted the "you only live once" mantra and doing things because I can. Sure, I might be broke, bills are piling up, but we only a little bit of time with our kids. Go on the trip. Do the fun stuff. Learn about the world and experience new things.

I'm giving this one five stars. Truly, you guys. I know it's compared to the book Eat, Pray, Love and I really thought that book (and movie!) were totally stupid and eye roll worthy, but this book? This book is so much better than that. Because it's real. She's every mom just trying to do the right thing and to not raise her kids into little robots who are too afraid to take a chance. I think we can all learn something from this book.

   

I may have lost some intestines.

Alright, I'm telling you right now if you get grossed out easily, just walk away now. I'm going to tell a story that isn't for the folks with a weak constitution. I'm disgusted by it and it happened to me so that's saying something.

Now that the disclaimer is out of the way...

So I did my follow up with the gastroenterologist, and I saw a nurse practitioner for the doctor. She was pretty amazing and I liked her a lot. She gave me lots of information, and that was really nice. She talked to me about Barrett's Esophagus, which sounds like a treat, and explained how all of my conditions contribute to slow motility constipation and how I have to really be on top of that and to keep things moving.

(I know, you thought you'd never know so much about me, did you??)

Which OK, I know all of that. She tells me I'll go for a Hida scan of my gallbladder because maybe my pain is that (spoiler: scan was fine, my gallbladder is just fine), but she thinks she's going to prescribe me Linzess for the constipation. She says I might have some "discomfort" for a short period but that over time this is pretty successful for people.

I say alright because if the constipation is the source of pain I am 100% on board with a med to fix that because this pain is awful. She tells me NOTHING ELSE about this drug. I see a ton of commercials for it so I figure it's well used and probably fine.

I didn't start the medication right away because I had all of these concerts and I didn't want to be sick during them because that would suck.

AND THANK GOD I DIDN'T.

I take my first pill this past Monday. I took it with all of my other pills (which I need to show you how much I'm taking- it's obscene) and thought nothing of it. I had a bowl of cereal for lunch. I had my one can of soda in the afternoon. At around 3 p.m. I started having horrible pain. Honestly, it was like nothing I've ever had. Then I thought, oh man- I have to go to the bathroom. Like right now. Like I might not make it crisis.

I did not make it.

I'm sitting in my hallway that goes from my kitchen to the downstairs bathroom like, WHAT THE HELL JUST HAPPENED?! Then I get to the bathroom and try to figure out my game plan and it starts again.

You guys- I have never in all of my life had explosive diarrhea. Never, ever. I've had stomach bugs that gave you diarrhea but it was always reasonable and manageable. I can count on one hand how many times I've taken Pepto-Bismol,  I seriously have never been in this situation. So I clean everything up, literally run through my house half naked and put different clothes on. Alright. No problem. I've got this.

Then it happens again. It's only been 15 minutes at this point and I am absolutely certain everything I had eaten over the last two days is now out. I figure this can't possibly keep up. I start drinking water because I don't want to get dehydrated and I take an extra hydrocortisone which I need to do if I get sick like this. I feel like I'm handling it.

Then it starts again. I have now been on the toilet four or five times in a half hour. I start Googling severe diarrhea. It's like 10 times over 24 hours. I'm certain I will pass that within the hour. I see on the Linzess insert that some people report diarrhea. Awesome. I decide I should call the gastro and just ask, because maybe this isn't normal.

Do you know what she says? She says this is what she meant by "discomfort" and that this could last, (wait for it).... TWO WEEKS.

I'm sorry, WHAT?!

So I tell her that she should be more clear because explosive diarrhea is not what I would consider "discomfort". Honest to god.

I have no adult diapers handy (because WHO DOES) so I fashion one out of 3 maxi pads. It was quite the look. I am now worried about going to sleep, will it just keep happening? I didn't even eat dinner because my intestines were screaming from the overworked afternoon they've had. I go to bed hungry.

Enter Tuesday. I'm now scared to take it. But I'm like, it can't be as bad, right? Surely with nothing left in my intestines it'll be OK?

It was not OK. I was on the toilet so much that I had a seat impression on the back of my legs that didn't go away all day. I hardly ate.

Wednesday was slightly better, it wasn't explosive anymore but still, anything I eat or drink comes out almost immediately.

Thursday has been OK. Again, still not normal bowel movements but I've worn the same pair of pants all day so that's a win!!

The best part is next week I have the preschool home visit and I have a concert I'm taking Olivia too so I really, really, REALLY hope this kind of goes away because diarrhea and any of these obligations are not going to go well together.

So long story short, Linzess is the devil and you will lose your bowels. On the bright side, I might be losing weight from it so YAY.

We smashed some pumpkins on date night.

I feel out of sorts this week which I guess isn't anything new so I apologize for not posting as much lately. I swear I have a life and things to talk about! 

On Sunday Matt and I went on a date but this one was a first for us in over three years- all of our kids went to grandma's house. Olivia, Jackson, and Penelope went to Matt's parent's home, and then Lucy went to my mom's. 

 I was kind of sad to leave Lucy for the night. I know 100% she's in good hands, she was going to have fun, and there would be nothing to worry about. But she's my baby and I think really knowing she's the last one, milestones feel more significant with her. My mom thinks I never felt this way with Olivia and Jackson because somehow I knew I wasn't done. And maybe that's true. But I know for sure Lucy is the end so every milestone she hits it's like I'm closing a door I won't ever open again. It's bittersweet for sure. 

 So after a quick goodbye, Matt and I were on the road. Which ended up being a nightmare. We left at 3 p.m. thinking we'd get there around 5, have dinner, and walk into the show at 7. No problem! Except there was construction. I had literally just driven this highway a few days before through the construction and just zipped right through, no issues. This time we were stopped for a solid twenty minutes and what should have been a two hour drive ended up being a four hour drive. We had just enough time to park, pee, and sit down before the show started. So we ended up eating gross concession stand food that tasted like it had been sitting out for several hours. Totally gross. 

 The date night was all around The Smashing Pumpkins latest tour basically promoting their entire back catalog. I actually saw them way back in 2012 so I wasn't sure how this show was going to play out. 

 It was actually pretty amazing. If you're curious, you can see the entire setlist HERE. 

 I forgot how long Porcelina of the Vast Oceans was but man... that is not a song for a concert. I feel like concerts should fit in as much music as possible and not drag out on one song forever. At some point it was like, come ON. We want another song. 

 Stairway to Heaven cover was kind of a dud, but so was Space Oddity, and in that one Billy Corgan got kind of weird. Hearing Mayonnaise live was pretty great and it was definitely a fan favorite. 

The crowd didn't disappoint during moments it became a sing along but I was really surprised at how chill the crowd was. Maybe because their fans are pushing 40 and we just aren't able to rock out like we once could, but also because we are all thinking about going to bed around 9 as it is. Unexpected sing along was for Thirty Three, I didn't expect the crowd to go wild for that song but they sure did. 

Overall it was absolutely worth the $46 I paid for each ticket. I know some paid almost $200 and I don't want to do that but this felt like a Smashing Pumpkins concert in their heyday. Gone were the skinny silver pants replaced with robes. Oh! Also a really great surprise was Jimmy Chamberlain and James Iha joining on this tour. James did all of the talking to the crowd and you can tell the crowd was glad to see almost all of the founding members there. We were missing D'arcy but she's got her own problems. But 3/4 ain't bad! 

We left before the encore to beat the traffic in the parking lot and it was a LONG drive home. It was super nice to crash into bed when we got here, though. We got home at about 2 in the morning and Matt was at work by 6 because he is insane and super dedicated to his job. But you can best believe we crashed hard on Monday night. We can still party like rock stars.... it's just a longer recovery. HA! 

Book Review: Unlawful Desires

Oy... by the time you're reading this I am (hopefully) catching up on sleep from a concert hangover. Yesterday I went to the Smashing Pumpkins concert with Matt and I'll post about that later, but to get you through the day I have a book review for you! Have you noticed I've slowed down on reading? I'm going through some kind of reading slump all of a sudden and I didn't know which book to read to get me going again but this came along because it's perfect- it's a novella coming in at 162 pages, perfect as a fast read!

Unlawful Desires - Sassy Sinclair

In this erotic suspense romance, sparks fly when a handsome lawyer falls hard for a smart, seductive woman who thinks like a man and acts like one too.

Sharla Ratliff is done with having her heart broken. Her new dating rules are simple. No emotion. No expectation of commitment. Sex purely for her own physical enjoyment. Then she meets Marcel Dennard. The attractive lawyer has all the trappings of success: a thriving career, women at his beck and call, and enough money in the bank for the finer things in life. 

Their lust for each other doesn’t just create sparks, it sets off explosions. The sexual attraction between them is so passionately erotic they behave in ways that can only be called reckless. After a shocking series of events place both of their careers in jeopardy, can they restrain their sexual desires long enough to keep everything they’ve worked for from going up in smoke?

I've said this before but I'm going to say it again because it needs to be said, the romance and erotic genre is TOO WHITE. Hell, I can count on one hand how many books I've read that feature characters that aren't predominately white, let alone romance. If there are people who want to read a book with a character like them, they will be hard pressed to find it. This book does that. We have a strong, smart, independent black woman seeking a strong, smart, independent black man. She's not messing around with these losers who don't shine with her or who only want what she brings to the table. (Honestly, I think we can all relate to that, right??) Sharla doesn't come to play, she knows what she wants and she doesn't want to settle for the sake of settling. She wants a man who is her equal match, who isn't threatened by her success. Enter Marcel. He's made a name for himself on his own right but he's happy being a wandering bachelor. Until Sharla enters the picture.

Marcel is immediately intrigued by her standoffish demeanor and she doesn't play hard to get as much as she's trying to not take a misstep with a guy, she's trying to act like a man and not get emotionally connected. Of course, we know that doesn't work out but it's not without issues. Marcel has a crazy ass ex-girlfriend, there is the issue of her being a judge and Marcel being a lawyer and all of the ethical and legal implications that arise from that. They get into some hot water and face some pretty serious obstacles but can they overcome all of that and make it out together? That's up to you to find out.

So I'm just going to come out and tell you I liked this. It was a fast read, I got it done in just a couple of hours (of interrupted reading time because I have two toddlers who only like me reading to them and this... is not that kind of book...ha!) and I felt like the arc of the story went quickly and it felt complete. I liked the characters, Marcel more than Sharla. If I had to critique anything it would be Sharla, I felt like she was too much of a bitch to Marcel at first. I mean, I get her reasoning and her indecisiveness but man.. when a guy is clearly into you, you don't have to be so damn cold. She's lucky he still kept trying. HA! I enjoyed this book enough that I would recommend this if you're looking for a hot and steamy read or if you're looking for a book that doesn't have an all white cast of characters. Is that so much to ask? Put a little color into your rainbows, authors. There is a whole untapped audience that you're missing. Just my two cents.

   

I know I'm not the only one.... to go to a Sam Smith concert.

I feel like as summer is winding down (which feels disgusting to even say out loud) that the days and weeks are really starting to fly by. We're already in mid-August and that's bananas. But the last two weeks have been one thing after another and I feel like I'm flying by the seat of my pants. Thankfully I've had opportunities to get out of my house in the way of concerts. Last week I went to the Jay-Z and Beyonce concert and that was great. This week I went to Sam Smith with my friend Amy. 

I had purchased these tickets way back in October 2017 as a birthday gift for her. Mostly because I was in charge of getting Adele tickets and I totally failed at that (both times!!) and he is like the guy version of Adele right now and I thought it would be a good show. I kind of forgot about it until my Ticketmaster alert reminded me and I got super excited because I hadn't seen Amy since.. February, I think? But we were due to hang out so if nothing else, I got to see my friend. 

So I drive down St. Paul and I got kind of mixed up when my go-to parking ramp was closed, and my GPS seemingly gave up on me, and then I realized I had driven way far out of the way and couldn't figure out how to find my way back. After having a mini panic attack I got myself together, used my phone GPS and found parking! Only to pay $30 for my spot but whatever- I found parking and I feel like that's a triumph in the situation. 

We head to dinner, which takes FOREVER to get our food, but we had a good time catching up. Headed over to the venue, I managed to use electronic tickets for the first time without messing it up, so another triumph, folks. Found our seats and I'll just spoil it, the crowd didn't bother me. My medication is working and for that I'm ridiculously grateful. I still feel like I want to die every day but at least I'm not having panic attacks in a crowd, gotta take the wins where you can get them. 

The opening act was Beth Ditto, which I got no pictures of because I am a poor photographer while using my phone. But Beth Ditto is AMAZING, and my friend Kate has gushed about her before online and it's always a "I should check her out" but then I forget and it's one of those things. Except her performance was so good that I bought her new album right there for my drive back because it was great. 

You could already tell there was a good vibe about the crowd, that people were friendly and happy, and that always sets the tone for a good show, I think. It certainly adds to it. So Sam Smith comes out and he was SO GREAT. 

I need to just admit that I didn't have any expectations for the show because, as he mentioned, his music is depressing as fuck, and there was a good chance we'd all leave there bummed out. But he made the show really dynamic and fun and even the sad songs left you feeling joyful that you got to experience it live. 

 And I'll just apologize right now for my terrible photos. We were in nosebleeds and the stage was triangle shape with these lights along the edge. The lights were SO bright and they were shining right at us so everything is blurry or bright. 

 His voice is just as amazing live as it is on his albums. He is a genuine singer and there is no doubt about it. 

 You can also tell he adores his band and his band adores him. Such genuine affection that really made it feel super cohesive. 

 I have to say though, this was easily, the best concert I have ever been to for sing-a-longs. Hands down. If you want to see a show where the crowd sings along loud enough to almost drown out the singer and the band? You go to a Sam Smith concert .

 He ended up singing quite a few songs from all three of his albums, but his encore was maybe my favorite? He played "Palace", which is OK, but he also did "Stay With Me" and my personal favorite, "Pray". 

This concert was so good. So, so good. I had such a good time. While we were there Amy bought us tickets to see Bruno Mars in September, so now I have him and Taylor Swift (Olivia's birthday present- it's a surprise!) in September, and then Florence + the Machine in October. Pretty excited to get back into going to concerts. I just need a bigger budget to support the habit. Ha! 

Have you ever seen a crowd go Apeshit? I have!

I feel like I have so many things to share with you but I'm too tired to do it and that kind of stinks. Mostly because I've been using my blog as a way to remember what the heck is going on in my life, basically like a diary. I have to get better at taking pictures and then documenting them here because I'm forgetting things and it makes me feel anxious. 

Anyways. So as you're reading this I'm probably on my way to St. Paul to meet my friend Amy because we are going to the Sam Smith concert. I had purchased these tickets almost a year ago for her birthday so I'm glad we finally get to go! I'm a little nervous because I've never had tickets on my phone through an app and I hope I don't get flustered and forget what's going on. I'm finding that when I get stressed out I start to lose memory and cognitive abilities, which I guess is normal, I just have to learn to work around it. Which is really fun. 

But last week I went to a concert with my friend Cassandra, which is one I wanted to go to but missed out on tickets. Turns out she bought two tickets so I bought one from her and we were going to be each other's date. I was nervous about this because we had floor seats (my first time ever being on the floor) and I was worried about being crowded by people, I was nervous about navigating a new place (US Bank Stadium, where the Minnesota Vikings play) but it was good learning experience because this is where Olivia and I are going when we see Taylor Swift (ssh... she doesn't know!!). It also confirmed that the seats I bought, the cheapest they had, are absolute nosebleeds. I don't do well with heights and vertigo now so that ought to be a treat to navigate. HA! 

Anyways. So we went to Jay Z & Beyonce for their On The Run II tour. 

The stadium is gorgeous and really accessible. It's kind of confusing on how you get in and the security lines are SLOW. I mean, the slowest I have ever been in, and that's saying something because I was once searched by a one armed TSA agent in Florida and even he was more efficient than these people.  

 The stage was MASSIVE. We were actually pretty close to the front but quickly realized these chairs are zip tied and CRAMMED together. I was already claustrophobic and kind of freaking out about how I was going to breathe with all of these people around me. The people watching was amazing, by the way. Honestly, maybe some of the best people watching ever? It's a close tie with the Rhianna concert from years ago. 

 Cassandra and I, sweaty and a little less cute after melting in 95 degree heat for almost an hour in full sun waiting to get in. We misjudged the time we needed to leave so that was our fault. 

The openers were supposed to be Chloe & Halle and then DJ Khaled. Chloe & Halle were a duo I had never heard of, though many around us did, and I thought they were totally terrible. I appreciated their full sequin jumpsuits, though. 

DJ Khaled never showed up, which was just as well because I don't think he has any talent. What does he even do? Play records? I mean, I could do that. I do do that, fairly regularly. I can make a mix like anyone else. I can also repeat my name into a microphone. I mean, what does he actually do? I don't know. So I wasn't bummed he didn't show. Mostly because the music they had playing to kill time was a pretty amazing mix of old school hip hop and R&B but also some of the classic rap songs. I wasn't hating on it and was thoroughly enjoying it while making friends with the gals next to me, since they were practically sitting on my lap. 

I'll just say now all of the people around us ended up being very cool, really respectful about the limited space we all had, and nobody spilled their drinks. So that was a pleasant surprise. 

Finally, Bey & Jay started. 

The intro was this really cool, almost Stanley Kubrick/Quentin Tarantino love child of a film. Every interlude featured more so you found yourself pretty engaged with it and it was just as good as the concert. They did a really good job weaving this together. It featured a lot of just them, but also a few sections had Blue and their twins, Sir and Rumi, which of course the crowd went nuts for.  

 Then they came down this elevator thing as the screen parted just enough for them. They had these outfits which were meant to kind of look like wedding attire, I thought, and it really fit. 

Here's the thing- this concert was almost three hours long and is one of the best shows I have ever been to. If you have the chance, buy a ticket because you will not be disappointed. They each played hits from their solo careers, they did some songs together, one song blended into the next and they shared the stage perfectly. Outfit changes, set changes, stage movements, dancers, the 20 piece band, it was all pretty amazing and worth every dime. 

The best part? This was blatantly obvious that this was Jay-Z's groveling tour. He did her wrong and she was going to make him, and all of us, know it. She commanded that stage and she did not come to play. She was completely not messing around. She owned it. He did too, don't get me wrong, he was amazing and he's just as good live now as he was during the height of his career, and you could tell he knew what this was. At the same time, the sweeter moments of the show were pretty great and it was obvious they love each other and are definitely each other's ride or die. No question. 

Overall? 5 star concert. Truly. It was so great, the crowd loved every second of it. People were losing their minds as they each pulled out oldies but goodies and morphed it with something newer. I think they ended up doing a little over 40 songs? It was long and it was worth it. 

I didn't pull into my driveway until around 3 a.m. and I was SO TIRED. But I had a really great time and I did pretty good on the drive home so I was pretty damn proud of myself. 

Book Review: Ms. Mulligan and the Enchanted Ice Cream

I had to take a couple of days off from blogging last week because I was just exhausted. I feel like summer is almost done and my to-do list increases exponentially once school starts, so I'm trying to chill out when I can. So that's what I did.

Ms. Mulligan and the Enchanted Ice Cream - Tiffany Elaine

Ms. Mulligan lives a charmed life. Literally.

Tabby Easterland wakes on her twelfth birthday to find herself magically transformed into the twenty-five-year-old "Ms. Mulligan," an event witnessed only by her young friends - the platinum-haired southern belle Dolly Hargrave and the hard-boiled urban detective wannabe Kat Dorsett. Hiding her true identity, Ms. Mulligan becomes a teacher at her own school, where a desperate search for answers lead the girls to seek out Tabby's long-lost father, discover an ancient mystical society, and fight the evil Black and White Sisters--witches determined to complete a long-planned curse upon Tabby. In a race against time, will love be enough to overcome the crippling curse and restore Tabby to her former self?

Although ripe with humor, romance, and thrills, Ms. Mulligan ultimately reveals something deeper - Tabby's surprising discovery of inner strength and the bonds of love that persevere even amid the darkest of threats.

Alright, so this book was kind of adorable in all of the best ways. Do you remember that movie with Jennifer Garner called 13 Going On 30? This book reminded me of that. We have twelve year old Tabby who suddenly wakes up one day and she's 25 year old Ms. Mulligan. Together with her friends Dolly and Kat they try to fix the situation only to find themselves in the middle of some bigger magic. The book is full of unique and fun characters, it tackles some bigger topics in a way that this age group can relate to (like having an absent parent come back after a long time and how to accept that in a healthy way). It also tackles the topic of adults making decisions that kids maybe don't understand because they aren't always able to look around at all of the circumstances and are really very insular in their thoughts. Which is kind of deep stuff for a middle grade book but as an adult I caught it, though I don't know that someone in the middle grades group necessarily would.

I'm giving this book a solid 4 stars but I'm also going to say that I hope this really is the start of a series and I am excited to read the next book which is Ms. Mulligan doing her thing with the Council of Butterflies. The only thing keeping this from 5 stars is that I hoped there was going to be more.... stuff to the book? Action, drama, something. I get that this was the exploratory book that explains things but I really liked the Black and White Sisters (who are witches) and I had kind of hoped we would have this climatic event or something. I don't think the middle grade reader would miss that, and they will love this regardless, but as a grown up reading it, I'm used to the lead up of a big event and then the come down from that.

I do recommend this for teachers looking to freshen up their classroom library or maybe a third grade teacher who wants to challenge their avid readers. Fourth and fifth grade kids can easily read this and understand what's going on. Honestly, it would be a fun teacher read book for even second graders because they would like the story but are maybe not strong enough readers to do it on their own. I'm a big fan of teacher led story time. The chapters are relatively short which makes this a good read for parents and their kids, too. And I hate to even say this out loud, but.... Christmas is coming and this would be a nice gift book for emergent readers. It's a little Nancy Drew with a little Magic Treehouse, a little Harry Potter lite, a whole lot of fun.