You know what Henry has taught me? To never give up.
It’s pretty incredible to watch a baby try to do… well, anything. They are so intent and focused and put in SO MUCH EFFORT. You should hear the moaning and groaning that escapes from little Henners’ lips as he tries to lift his head or crawl. I look at him and think, “Damn, I would’ve given up hours ago and hopped on the couch to drink a huge glass of wine and watch two hours of The X Factor.” But babies don’t quit. Because there is no other option! Figure out how to do it or stay a motionless little lump of baby cuteness forever.
The next time I want to bail on my workout, I will ask myself, “What would a baby do?” Hah.
Breakfast featured OMGCOFFEE.
And peanut butter toast with a banana.
Excuse the sad drawings; I was eating while simultaneously wrangling a baby.
Charlotte (Giveaway)
Calling my fellow Charlotte readers! The Rock and Read 5K (which benefits our local libraries) is on November 3, and race organizers have given me an entry to raffle away. I am really looking forward to this race (they have comped my entry, too). I hear the Rock and Read 5K is AWESOME because:
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There is music at every mile of the race.
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There’s a festival atmosphere at the finish line, including all kinds of great food and – oh yes – MIMOSAS!!!
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The race shirt is a dri-fit tech T.
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All proceeds benefit book collections for the library.
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The race’s big race goal is to show how the library enriches and empowers our community through connection and access to information. And we are trying to raise 30K!
You can sign up for the Rock and Read 5K here – or you can leave a comment below to enter for a chance to win a free entry. Simply tell me your favorite book of all time, and I’ll pick a winner on Monday.
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{ 53 comments… read them below or add one }
I’d love to win this! I’m in Raleigh, and I love visiting Charlotte (wouldn’t mind living there, either!).
I’m not much of a reader, so I’ll go with my favorite kid’s books of all time – the Little Critter series by Mercer Myer! I have a good collection that were mine when I was a kid that I now read to my son
Pretty much everything about this post made me giggle! Your drawings are so funny – it looks like you may have hallucinated your breakfast.
Inspired by your new phrase!
My favorite book of all time is The Giver. I would love to run the race! I’ve been looking for a 5k to run for my first one. This one would be great.
I’d love a chance to run this race! I’m currently training for my first 5k ever, and this would be a great goal to train for!
My favorite book of all time is probably The Rum Diary. The Johnny Depp film version is crap, but the book is quite good.
Thanks!
That sounds like such a fun race! Music in any race is always a blast. My favorite book will always be To Kill a Mockingbird. Such a classic and it never gets old.
I love Into Thin Air! And the library
What a great cause!!! My all time favorite children’s book (as an adult) is Love You Forever by Robert Munsch and Sheila McGraw. Having two sons makes that one really hit home for me. I know some people think it’s slightly creepy, but I really do love the message.
It’s so true about babies and kids in general! They focus on something and go after what they want no matter what!! Excellent perspective to have.
My favorite book of all times is a toughie but my favorite author is Jonathan Tropper so any of his books are on my top 10 for sure.
This is going to sound really creepy but I totally want to kidnap Henry and play with him all day. He is soooo cute! Ok, I’m really not a crazy person.
Don’t pick me because I live in California, but I can’t resisit an opportunity to post about books
My all-time favorite is Crime and Punishment by Dostoyevski, but runners up are A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving and The Selected Works of TS Spivet by Reif Larsen. Love the premise for this race- it would be enough to get me off my running hiatus!
Please don’t count this as an entry….just wanted to encourage everyone to enter this contest! I won a free entry from Healthy Tipping Point last year, and had a blast! It’s a fun 5k, organized by some great people for a great cause. Thanks, Caitlin!
I can’t wait to run this. I’m a newbie runner and this has been on my must do list since I started.
If I had to pick my favorite book of all time it would probably be “The Handmaids Tale” by Margaret Atwood. I read it over eight years ago but it has continued to resonate with me.
Favorite Book- I loved A Million Little Pieces by James Frey. Would love to visit Charlotte again as I graduated from college there!
Oh my gosh. Favorite book of all time? Impossible.
I will say that my favorite book I’ve read recently is The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver.
Does that count?
Thanks, Caitlin!
HAHAHA, your breakfast drawings are fantastic!
I LOOOVE the local libraries! Most of the books I read are from the library! The late fees, I do not like (I’m notorious for forgetting to turn in my books, but if I look on the bright side, I’m funding one of my favorite places to visit- the library!) My favorite book of all time, I think will have to be Jane Eyre- I’m such a romantic. I might sign up for this race even if I don’t win, it might give me motivation to start exercising again!
Gone With the Wind is my favorite book. Scarlett appeals to my inner procrastinator. Love this race – its in my neighborhood and the finish party is a lot of fun.
What a fun race! I’m nowhere near Charlotte, so thus excluded, but I’ll tell you my favorite book anyway. The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough! Epic!
50 Shades of Grey … JUST KIDDING!!
Probably “God of Small Things” by Arundati Roy
I would love to win this! It would be my first official 5K
My favorite book is probably Shantaram. Too hard to pick just one!
That’s my favorite book too! I was so disappointed to hear they won’t be making the movie out of that book any more.
Hands down, without a doubt, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith. It’s so classic and earnest and uncomplicated.
And this sounds like an AWESOME race.
May I say you have epic drawing skills, especially when combined with baby wrangling!
Number the Stars is my favorite book still to this day.
My favorite book changes all the time, but right now I’m going to go with The Fault in our Stars by John Green. So good- and so sad!
I am a HUGE fan of the library. It’s so sad to see public library funds getting cut. Thanks for putting the word out about this race! Currently, my favorite book is Love Walked In by Marisa de los Santos. If anyone is looking for a fantastic, compelling but warm-fuzzy book, anything by Marisa de los Santos is perfect!
I’m a Pride & Prejudice girl! Love me some Jane Austen!
And I’d love to make this 5k my first race post baby!!
Favorite book of all time: The Great Gatsby
I feel somewhat silly saying that since I read it in high school but for someee strange reason it has left an impression on me!
P.S. This would be so cool to win because my husband’s mother [aka the MIL] has been asking us to visit her in Charleston- Charlotte would be a perfect half-way point!!!
My favorite book would have to be any written by Emily Giffin!
Ahaha those pictures were hilarious!
I seriously can’t pick my favorite book of all time. BUT I will say that I have fun reading books after my students are done with them (yes, I’m a broke teacher). I love young adult fiction. It’s a good way to get out of your own head for a while.
My favorite book would have to be Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. A timeless classic that explores all emotions from the most unique type of character. Also, anything from the Bronte sisters
–This will be my 2nd 5K in Charlotte!! Woo Hoo!!
Love me a good Queen City 5k!! This one seems almost perfect because I along with a love of running I have a major love of reading! My favorite book of all time is “A Tree Grows in Brooklyn”. I am a sucker for quality historical fiction.
My favorite book has to be Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. I read it a few years ago, and it has changed my life. I’d love to do that race! It would be my first race since I had my baby (9 weeks ago).
I wish I could go since it’s 1.5 hrs away but I’m already TRIPLE BOOKED for that day! :/ My mom instilled a love of books in us but it only really stuck with me. LOL Since she’s there, if I won, I’d give the entry to her. I don’t like to play favorites with books. (Maybe they’ll get mad and never let me read another good one??) But I love love LOVE “Pride and Prejudice” so for the sake of this contest, let’s go with that one!
Please exclude me from the contest, but I just had to comment saying how much your drawing made me chuckle! that coffee mug is pretty much the best thing I’ve seen all day. That’s exactly how I feel when I get my mug every morning….fireworks! kapow. energy explosions. hah. I can imagine even more so for a mom!
Favorite is definitely Winn Dixie.Is that bad? haha
Ah I cannot pick. My favorite genre in nonfiction though!
My favorite book of all time is Where the Red Fern Grows. True love AND two sweet puppies. be still my heart. I cry every time.
I live in Charlotte and would love to run this 5k. I just started my first job out of college and don’t have much money to spend in on fun things like races unfortunately.
I have lots of favorites, but I’ll just share one: Blindness by Jose Saramago. It’s an amazing read and makes you question a lot about the the core of humanity. Highly recommended!
So I’m fairly new to your blog, and I have to say I LOVE it sometimes you write things and all I can think is Oh my I feel the same way and thats the way I’ve always felt and now I know I’m not alone! Its reassuring and great thank you for making me feel less like an oddball.
I’m fairly close to Charlotte and would love to do that race, it sounds awesome, my first 5k is in December but hey I could try another one sooner haha.
hmm, my favorite book? Is it bad if I say Harry Potter, I feel like I should write something profound like Withering Heights or something but Harry Potter was one of the first books I read on my own without having to and its always had a specially place in my heart.
I do really love Bram Stokers Dracula though. Oh and anything by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the Hound of the Baskervilles is one of my favorites.
Ok I’ll stop talking now.
I work with kids (teaching them to crawl and walk) and I totally agree that they are so determined and inspire me every day!
My favorite book is A Thousand Splendid Suns. Not only does the book open your eyes to another culture but it also shows how strong and beautiful women can be!
I’m crazy over the books by George R. R. Martin – A Song of Fire and Ice…such interesting story telling and a fun visit to another long ago past time.
PS: Henry has taught me not to give up on my Argentine Tango – so I’ll just keep on dancing until I get it….race you Henry can you walk before I’m a dancin Tango!
I’d love to win and love the library in a completely nerdy way! I don’t have ONE favorite book but The Coldest Winter Ever By Sister Souljah is high on the list. Thanks!
I’d love to run that race! I was supposed to do the zombie race at the whitewater center, but pulled out because, let’s face it, running through woods while being chased is nightmare-inducing.
My favorite book changes weekly, but I think a persistent fave is Everything Is Illuminated. Hilarious and heartbreaking, so can’t beat it.
On a side note, just read your post about looking for running friends and I think I have a friend (a new SAHM) who would love some company. Is Myers park too far?
I don’t think I can pick one favorite book of all time, but a favorite recent read is The Art of Racing in the Rain. I thought it being told from the dog’s point of view might be a little too hokey for me (and I LOVE dogs), but it was wonderful. Although I did spend the next 3 weeks convinced my dogs were completely able to understand everything I was saying, they just weren’t able to talk back, lol.
The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks. I’m a hopeless romantic and have read this entirely too many times to count!
I’m in Charlotte and would love to do this race! My favorite book is Kris Carr’s ” Crazy Sexy Diet” because it changed my life! “Animal Vegetable Miracle a close 2nd. Have a great chilly week
I love when local races are to benefit great causes!
One of my favorite books is The Final Season, a book about the Detroit Tigers final season playing in Tiger Stadium. I grew up going to games with my Dad, just as the author had, so I felt a personal bond with and understanding of the author.
Love this post. WWHD? What would Henry do? A great reminder about just keep trying and moving forward. They say you expend more energy treading water than you do swimming or “moving forward.” However, many times we just decide to stop and keep treading water even though even though this takes more energy.
And love the Rock & Read plug. I don’t need to be in the contest but my favorite book is Delivering Happiness.
Caitlin-thanks so much for helping us promote the Rock & Read 5K. Every dime raised goes to get you all more books in our libraries. Yay! As a newbie runner too (I just did my first sprint triathlon a month ago) I love so many of you having a goal. I’m proud of each of you & hope to see you at the race in November.
A favorite book? It changes all the time. One of my favorites is “Prep” by Curtis Sittenfeld.