Monday, April 24, 2017

A Monday List

1. I keep forgetting today is Monday, because it really feels like Tuesday. Yesterday, the kids and I stayed home because both kids were pretty snotty. I thought it might be allergies, but a feeling in my gut sent me to the pediatric walk-in clinic and sure enough -- Christina has an ear infection and pink eye. All that to say -- yesterday felt more like Monday. So I'm already trying to catch my bearings this week.

2. I went to Half Priced Books last week ( I LOVE that store) and bought a couple of books, one that I'd already had on my radar, and one spontaneous-I-liked-the-cover purchase. I may end up regretting the spontaneous purchase, but we'll see.

3. I probably won't write a whole post about it, but I ended up reading the first book in the Hugo Marston mystery series (I'd accidentally read book six, The Paris Librarian, a few weeks ago). I liked some parts of that first book -- The Bookseller -- a little better than The Paris Librarian, but some parts less. I think oddly enough, my least favorite parts of the books are the main character. He's a little bit....too perfect, I think. But I like the mysteries, the way the author writes Paris as a character, the supporting cast. So, I think I'll probably return to Hugo Marston when I'm in the mood for a good procedural/detective novel.

4. Chili for dinner tonight. I could have chili every week. In winter, in summer...whatever, whenever. So good.

5. iZombie and The Amazing Race are back! (I'm a few weeks late in proclaiming this, I know, but it's been a bit busy around these parts). I was trying to describe iZombie the other day, and thinking about how with some shows with a "thing" -- like zombies -- the "thing" is really a vehicle for the storytelling (like Walking Dead -- it's not really about the zombies) That's kind of true with iZombie too (although...it's also pretty heavily about the zombies), and I was thinking -- well, it's a procedural mystery show, but funny sometimes, kind of like Veronica Mars, but with zombies. Which duh, makes sense, since it's made by the same person. Anyway...I loved Veronica Mars, so no surprise iZombie hits a sweet spot with me. And of course, Amazing Race will always have a special place in my heart, even though I'm not having much luck staying caught up since I don't have CBS All Access (or cable, etc.).

Happy Monday!

Tuesday, April 18, 2017

Blog reading

It's been a while since I posted links to blogs I enjoy reading on a semi-regular basis. I kind of think of blog reading like magazine reading -- some place I can go to read short(ish) articles about things I find interesting. When I've just got a few minutes, or an attention span too short to read in whatever book I've got, magazine and blog reading is a nice option. My blog reading is kind of all over the place lately: previously, I followed and regularly read quite a few library and book-related blogs as part of my job. Naturally, that consumption has slowed down a bit in the past couple of years, and since I'm not getting paid to perform readers' advisory at the moment, my blog reading has diversified a bit (although I'm always going to gravitate toward book blogs, naturally). Plus, I switched feed readers a while back (which is my favorite way to keep up with blogs) and quite a few blogs got lost in the transition, so I'm building up my list of go-to reading again. In no particular order, here are three blogs that I'm particularly digging these days:

1. http://monicaswanson.com/
Monica Swanson (the "grommom") is an author, wife, and the mom of four boys. She and her family live in Hawaii, homeschool, and surf a lot. Her blog is in the genre of what I'd call "mom blogs." She writes about parenting, homeschooling, healthy eating, and life on the North Shore (which....seriously, all her gorgeous pictures are worth following by themselves!). I discovered her when she was a guest on a podcast, and stuck around her web site because I was drawn to her laid-back, friendly, conversational voice. She clearly values relationship with her kids (who range from upper elementary to teenage), and I'm always trying to soak up examples of building and maintaining family relationships.

2. The Lazy Genius
Y'all, I really feel like The Lazy Genius and I could be friends in real life. This web site and blog is run by Kendra Adachi, and the premise behind Lazy Genius, is "being genius about the things that matter, and lazy about the things that don't." Identify the things that matter most to you (TO YOU being the operative words here), and don't waste valuable energy on things that aren't really important. On this blog you'll find posts on everything from making friends to cleaning, shopping at Aldi and cooking, to books, reading, and a March Madness Bracket of Guys. It's sometimes serious, sometimes fun, and always enjoyable.

3. Forever Young Adult
Unlike the other two blogs, this a site I've been following for a while. What started out as a site that posted reviews of YA books has evolved into a site for all the best parts of YA and YA-adjacent media -- books, movies, tv. It's still a great place for book reviews, and a lot of fun too.

Tuesday, April 11, 2017

A Tuesday list

1. Barry's Irish Breakfast Tea. Backstory: a former coworker Aimee told me about this tea when we worked together at the Pender County Public Library. She had been to Ireland several times, and discovered this tea -- which she had only ever found in Ireland. She took a trip to Ireland while we were working together, and brought back some Barry's, which she generously shared a bit with me. I never knew I could love just a simple black breakfast tea so much. Fast forward: I happen to glance at the tiny "British" section of my local HEB grocery store and practically do a happy dance when I see my beloved Barry's. HEB is the best, y'all. The. best.

2. The Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon and Half Marathon is coming up soon! This is significant to me because I'm signed up to run the half. I'm excited because it's my first half since before the kids were born. Actually, I think it's my first race, period since then. Training is a different animal this time around. A lot more people involved and a lot more logistics to work out when it comes long (i.e., time consuming) runs. It's been good though. It's felt good to push myself physically again, to get back into a running groove. I will say I am looking forward to not juggling all of those logistics. Hats off to my running friends with kids who are training for something most of the year. And hats off to an extremely supportive husband who helps me manage those logistics by doing things like getting the kids ready for church on Sunday mornings and keeping air in the tires of my jogging stroller.

3. Finished Rivals in the City, which was a delight from beginning to end. I didn't have anything specifically lined up to read next, so I'm flailing a little bit today. I have a lot of choices and a lot of books on my to-read list, so it's mostly a matter of just figuring out my mood. Which is easier said than done. On the non-fiction front, I am in the middle of Good Faith, which is really good and really thought-provoking. I'll have a lot more to say about that when I'm finished.

4. Bought Christina's birthday present yesterday and I'm super excited about it. I stole the idea from my parents and a gift they bought my niece -- a ukelele. C LOVES to pretend to play the guitar, but right now she just uses our Rock Band guitar. I liked the idea of giving her an actual instrument, just in case she really likes it and wants to learn to play as she gets older. Bonus: if she ends up not caring one day, she can just pass that instrument on to her mama. Double Bonus: I found a red one. And anyone who knows C probably knows it's her favorite color.

5. Anyone else feeling bereft on Tuesday nights these days without This is Us? Just me?

Happy Tuesday!



Wednesday, April 5, 2017

A Wednesday List

1. My post-vacation hangover (travel hangover, not alcohol hangover...just to clarify) isn't as bad as I thought it would be. I think part of that is the fact that it really was a relaxing vacation. Did I get enough sleep? Of course not! There were conversations to have and games to play! But stress level was minimal, and I definitely left feeling mentally, emotionally, and spiritually recharged. Plus, my first two days back I had fun activities scheduled with Houston friends, so that helped soften the blow of being back to "real life."

2. The weather today is AMAZING. Mid seventies, low humidity. It's the kind of weather you forget happens in Houston when it's the middle of July and the tropical weather -- mid to upper 90s with high humidity -- has you sweating under a heat blanket with no end in sight. Definitely not taking it for granted today.

3. I'm in the middle of reading Rivals in the City by Y.S. Lee. It's the fourth book in The Agency series, a Victorian mystery series starring a young female detective. It's a really fantastic series. The Victorian setting is clearly meticulously researched, and beautifully and artfully portrayed -- there's no dry, historical exposition, in other words -- the mysteries are solid, and the characters are people you want to get to know more. I'm moving a little slow on finishing this book because of vacation and then real life catch-up activities, but I'm enjoying it just as much as the first three.

4. Speaking of vacation (I know...jumping around here), even though we didn't travel to someplace exotic, just getting out of town and going someplace new stirred my travel bug a bit. Then listening to two different guests on The Happy Hour with Jamie Ivey talk about traveling and traveling with their families (kids) really fanned the flame. I'm busting out the white board today to start brainstorming our family travel bucket list. Because A) if you don't plan for it, it won't happen B) I need to be able to research, look for deals, and know how much money to save up for trips and C) a little dreaming is good for the soul!

Happy Wednesday!