Instructions Not Included

After a decade of climbing the career ladder collecting business cards, box files and an assortment of baffling acronyms, Charlotte Moerman leaps off into the great unknown of motherhood. She gamely enters into her new life and soon can't imagine a world before Pampers wipes. But without appraisals or targets to guide her along the way, Charlotte also realises there's an awful lot to learn. Scratching her head over egg-and-soldiers etiquette, the appeal of paper pants, and her instinctive new urge to rock shopping trolleys whether or not there's a passenger on board, Charlotte also surrenders any last hope of achieving household minimalism, what with submarines in the bath, marbles underfoot and a villainous nappy bin that would give Doctor Who a run for his money. Instructions Not Included follows the joy and the pain of becoming mum to three small boys, from juggling multiple demands and accepting going to the loo as a group activity, to finding 300 ways to describe being knackered. Charlotte's days in paid work soon seem distant. So, frequently, does her Dutch husband. Armed with a sharp wit, an encyclopaedic knowledge of children's literature and a nit comb, Charlotte allows women to celebrate their own uncertainty as she guides them through her experiences of the potential minefield that is motherhood.

Savage shares with you the triumphs and trials of new parenthood from initial sleep deprivation (It wasnt even living in actual days really more like an incoherent string of two-hour chunks) to losing the weight (My stomach not only bears a frightening resemblance to a deflated tire, but also has the texture of an orange peel). Savage takes you through a journey of Airplane Baby Haters, Mommys Night Out, Developmental Races, making friends with the Tim Hortons guy, and the joys of shared parenting. Youll feel like your having a drink with a good friend dishing about modern motherhood. Karen shows you how to sift through all the experts out there, cope with your in-laws and dealing your own insecurities, Savage reminds new moms that just doing your best is what already makes you a great mom, and that sometimes all you have to do is just show up for them, no experts required! Karen shares the journey with you, with humour, honesty, and empathy. From the magical to the maddening, Karen Savage guides you through the ups and downs of new parenthood, where instructions are not included.

Click. Whir. Buzz. Not so long ago, math problems had to be solved with pencil and paper, mail delivered by postman, and files were stored in paper folders and metal cabinets. But three women, Betty Snyder, Jean Jennings, and Kay McNulty knew there could be a better way. During World War II, people hoped ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer), one of the earliest computers, could help with the war effort. With little guidance, no instructions, and barely any access to the machine itself, Betty, Jean, and Kay used mathematics, electrical engineering, logic, and common sense to command a computer as large as a room and create the modern world. The machine was like Betty, requiring outside-the-box thinking, like Jean, persistent and consistent, and like Kay, no mistakes, every answer perfect. Today computers are all around us, performing every conceivable task, thanks, in large part, to Betty, Jean, and Kay's pioneering work. Instructions Not Included is their story. This fascinating chapter in history is brought to life with vivid prose by Tami Lewis Brown and Debbie Loren Dunn and with striking illustrations by Chelsea Beck. Detailed back matter including historical photos provides a closer look.

Travel with Diane down haunting roads of unresolved conflicts. Her poems exhibit a fresh and provocative honesty. Her small-town, Catholic-Italian background, help to broaden her experiences, as depicted through her poetry with wit and imagery. Diane often quotes an old Irish proverb: "May we never forget the times worth remembering, nor remember those best forgotten." Perhaps now, she may live by these words.

Rev. ed. of: Computer organization and design / John L. Hennessy, David A. Patterson. 1998.