Sunday, April 19, 2015

Life: It Goes On - April 19

Look, Ma - pink! If you know me at all, you know that I am most decidedly not a pink girl. But the blooms on the crabapple tree in my front yard have the most beautiful pink to them so it seemed natural to use pink lettering on a picture of it. This is one of the few times of year that I actually like that tree - it is beautiful right now but just finished dropping its berries from last year all over my driveway and front sidewalk, effectively dying both as feet and tires crushed them. Spring will make a girl forgive a lot of things. Like winter.

This Week I'm:

Listening To: The Reader by Bernard Schink after finally finishing The Ten-Year Nap. Truth be told, I finally started skipping whole tracks because I was hell bent to finish it but what a yawner.

On Pandora, I've been listening to the Cat Steven's station. Lots of James Taylor, Beatles, Simon and Garfunkel, and Elton John - the music of my early teens.


Watching: Movies - Miss H and I had movie night Friday night and watched Trouble With The Curve and 10 Things I Hate About You; last night was a Sandra Bullock double header with Two Weeks Notice and The Proposal. Sundays are all about PBS right now with Selfridge and Wolf Hall. Have you caught Wolf Hall? I have yet to read the book but this adaptation is really quite good and Mark Rylant, who plays Thomas Cromwell, is superb.

Reading: I finished Last Night at the Blue Angel this week. Loved it; I hope the TLC book tour I was a part of will help get this wonderful book more attention. Also, finishing up I Know This Much Is True for book club. We made it a two month read and it had been three weeks since I had picked it up before I started it again last week. It wasn't hard for me to recall the book but harder for me to get back into the feel of it. I was getting a bit bored with it but it has picked up again for me and I'm looking forward to finishing it.

Making: Chicken nachos, bacon avocado burgers, chicken tex-mex salad, fried potatoes - the Big Guy was out of town for a couple of nights so Miss H and Mini-him came over to keep me company for a couple of dinners and we had fun with food!

Planning: With just BG and I in the house now, my focus for the coming couple of weeks will be in making the best use of the space upstairs. We're going to be working to turn Mini-him's room into a second guest room after we finally get all of the things he's left behind sorted and hidden away. I can't tell you how happy I am to have the "kids" bathroom stay clean after all of these years! Definitely looking forward to a mini-remodel in there soon.

Grateful for: Rain! We've been living the "April showers..." part of the saying the last couple of weeks. Trees are budding and blooming, the lawn has had to be mowed twice already, and my perennials are well on their way.

Enjoying: Roasted vegetables; this week I've roasted cauliflower twice, broccoli, and asparagus. I may never steam vegetables again!

Feeling: Happy about the longer hours of sunshine and warmer temps. Dinners on the patio have started and s'mores can't be far behind.

Looking forward to: Book club on Tuesday and Wednesday I'm thrilled to be going to hear Mini-me read several of his poems at Omaha's biggest indie bookstore. It's being done through the university; he'll be reading his poetry and another student will be reading his non-fiction narrative.

What are you looking forward to this week?

11 comments:

  1. Congrats to your son for the poetry reading - that is wonderful! I want to watch Wolf Hall, but I so want to read the books too, so I'm quite undecided at this point. Maybe I should catch an episode and then make up my mind.

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  2. Crab Apple blossoms are so beautiful! I can definitely understand switching to pink lettering for that. As usual what you're making has me hungry! I could definitely go for some chicken nachos. Your comment about the kids' bathroom staying clean made me small. I've given up with the one my kids use though I have so hope it will be a bit neater when Emma moves out in the fall. Have a great week!

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  3. I've always wanted to re-read I Know This Much Is True, but it's so long! Funny how all the chunksters that I loved (Beach Music, The Shell Seekers, The Stand, etc.) are books I'd love to re-read someday, but I don't have the patience to dedicate so much time to right now.

    Our neighborhood is bursting with color. Lots of crab apples, redbuds, lilacs, tulips and azelas popping with brilliant pinks, purples, reds and white. I love this time of year... as long as the weather doesn't turn scary! I'll take a nice gentle rain any old day. Hail and wind, not so much!

    Have a great week, Lisa.

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  4. Haven't been able to watch Wolf Hall yet (Sundays have been busy in FL), but am hoping to get caught up once we're back home. I'm looking forward to our road trip home :)

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  5. Go Mini-me! That's awesome!

    Your meals this week sound delicious. I may need to rethink what I was planning to make this week.

    This is the time of year I wish I had a tree that bloomed. Even though spring leaves me a watery, weezy mess, I do love watching everything come to life again. It is so reaffirming!

    Have a great week and enjoy your mini remodel! Kids' rooms that stay clean? I can only dream about that right now, but it sounds heavenly!

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  6. That tree is gorgeous!

    You always cook the best stuff. Makes me hungry! I ended up making spaghetti tonight.

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  7. I'm loving Wolf Hall. I heard good things about the books so I'm glad it's a miniseries. I love the spring! So beautiful with the flowers and blossoming trees. Have fun at book club and enjoy the roasted veggies! Yum.

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  8. Roasted veggies are the best, huh? Reminds me that I need to hit up the market and buy some fresh veggies. My fridge is looking a bit bare!

    And LOVE Two Weeks Notice and The Proposal. LOVE!! :)

    And congrats to Mini-me! How exciting.

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  9. I'll be curious to know what you think of The Reader. Have you read it before? I read it several years ago.

    I envy you your rain. I am hoping the forecasts of rain here for the end of the week will come true.

    I hope the poetry reading goes well! How exciting for your son!

    Have a great week, Lisa. I have no plans this week other than work. We got some bad news the end of last week which is kind of throwing everything up in the air for the time being. It's minor in the scheme of things, but big enough that it causes ripples in my every day life. These things happen.

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  10. I can't wait till our trees and flowers start blooming. It's finally starting to warm up here but supposed to cool off a bit later in the week. I love the longer hours of daylight too. It just makes a person feel better.

    I haven't watched Wolf Hall. I wanted to but then ended up missing the first episode. I have yet to read the book but hear it's very good.

    You know I love broccoli and cauliflower but I've never roasted them. It sounds like it would be very tasty. Do you throw a bit of oil over the veggies or anything? I think I need to try this.

    Enjoy your son's reading of his poetry. How exciting!

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  11. Wolf Hall is so good--it really captures the tone of the book perfectly. It is a great book (I haven't read the second one yet), but a bit challenging to read. I think a reread after watching the mini-series will be in order before I tackle book two.

    I am blown away by the acting--superb on all points. I've seen a fair number of Tudor movies/mini-series, and this is at the top. So nice to see the story from Cromwell's pov.

    We're in a wealth of good TV right now--in addition to Wolf Hall (I'm not a Selfridges fan), we also have Call the Midwife and Outlander, as well as Madame Secretary and The Good Wife, and we just started watching Newsroom, which I am loving.

    We're also empty nesters and I'm starting to plan taking over my oldest daughter's room for an office. Weird though, to think of them not having "their" rooms anymore.

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