Sunday, May 31, 2015

Life: It Goes On - May 31

Seriously? The end of May already? I can't remember the last time we got all of the way through May without even considering turning on the air conditioning. Come on summer!

This morning I got a call about 10 a.m. from Mini-him asking if I could run his spare car key over to him (the very fact that this call was made will tell you why WE still have the spare keys to the kids' cars). He'd gone off last night to a convention and lost his keys. Mind you, this was in Council Bluffs, not Omaha. Okay, Council Bluffs is just on the other side of the Missouri River from Omaha; but still, he was in a different town. And I was still in my pjs. Of course, I went; that's what moms do. But don't even think for a moment that I didn't take this opportunity to impart a life lesson. Not that you should be more responsible. No, my lesson was that this is precisely why he should never move very far away from me. In theory, I'm all for my kids spreading their wings and exploring the world. Just as long as they do it within easy driving distance. Sorry, kids!

This Week I'm:

Listening To: The Story of Beautiful Girl (mixed feelings about this book), the Slate Book Club discussion about The Girl On The Train (they all enjoyed it much less than I did), and an episode of This American Life which dealt with discipline in schools. That was really interesting and struck close to home with a segment about racism and discipline in preschool in a part of the greater Omaha metropolitan area.

Watching: Another movie marathon night with Miss H last night - we watched "Wild," with Reese Witherspoon (and I'm now, finally, ready to read the book and I was knocked out by Witherspoon's performance); "Tammy," with Melissa McCarthy and Susan Sarandon (it had some issues but it also made us laugh a lot); and "Into The Woods," with, oh, just about everyone in Hollywood who can sing. I'll talk more about that on Fairy Tale Friday.

Reading: Ripped through Nancy Bilyeau's latest Joanna Stafford book, The Tapestry. Coming so soon after watching "Wolf Hall" on PBS, this one really captured my attention. Tomorrow I start two readalongs: Misery by Stephen King (click on the link on the sidebar if you're interesting in joining the group that's reading this one) and Reading Lolita In Tehran by Azar Nafisi, which I'm reading with Lori of An Irreverent Escapade. If you're interested in joining us, just let me know!

Making: Me? Not much. The Big Guy's done most of the cooking this week. And if it wasn't quick and easy and could be eaten on the patio (on the days it wasn't raining right when we sat down to eat), it probably wasn't happening.

Planning: On finishing up getting the gardens in. The vegetables and herbs are all done, just need to finish up the flower pots and get my strawberry pot going. Spent a good chunk of Thursday afternoon weeding flower beds. Since I can't really kneel any more since my knee surgery, I had to lean over to do it all. Apologies to my neighbors for that unending shot of my rear. On the plus side, my leg muscles got quite a workout.

Grateful for: Some quiet time this morning. BG went camping with friends last night so, except for movie time, the television has not been on since he left. Love being able to hear the birds singing outside as I type this up.

Enjoying: Lots of time with Miss H this weekend. Friday I went to her house to continue our work on organizing her extremely tiny room. Two hours later, we called it a night but there is still work to be done. That girl has so much stuff! Yesterday we went out to lunch, went shopping all afternoon, had a dinner of cheesecake at The Cheesecake Factory, and ended the day with movies at home. This morning we watched another movie before she went off to work. Love having a daughter who is also my friend. Thanks, Mom, for letting me know that is possible!

Feeling: Content.

Looking forward to: Spending the day outside. Because, for a change, there is no rain in the forecast.

12 comments:

  1. I was hoping to go a little longer with turning on the air conditioner, but with temperatures in the 90's this past weekend, it had to be done. I was disappointed, but not at all surprised, to learn the park we frequent well not be running their water fountain play area for the children this summer. Severe drought and all that. We can't even run our sprinkers during the day. I wonder if water balloon fights count . . . It's going to be a hot summer.

    The American Life episode you listened to sounds like it would be interesting. I'm listening to The Girl on the Train at the moment and really enjoying it.

    I remember reading Misery. :-) I hope you enjoy it! I've also read Reading Lolita In Tehran, at which time I remember wishing I'd read more of the books the author talks about--but still a good read even so.

    I hope you have a good week, Lisa.

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    1. I'm already wishing I'd read more of the books in Reading Lolita and I'm not even that far into it! Maybe a good reading project when I'm finished.

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  2. It has been so horribly hot the past few weeks that it takes a lot of motivation to want to step out in the sun. Ugh. Last year's summer was so pleasant - this year's is turning out to be very harsh.

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    1. I was pregnant to the end of July one year - it is so miserable being really pregnant when it's so hot! Stay cool!

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  3. Had to laugh at your life lesson - "Don't move too far away" LOL.
    Happy gardening! So glad you are in on Misery. I think I owe you mail. I can't find my list - I'm so unorganized, ugh....

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    1. I swear - if they all move outside of a five-hour radius of me, I will curl up in a ball and cry!

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  4. So I'm guessing they don't outgrow losing their keys? I can't count the number of times I've had to run a key up somewhere. This has not given me much hope for the future! Your mention and picture remind me I haven't been to the Cheesecake Factory in far too long! I should fix that soon. Have a great week!

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    1. On the plus side, for a change the keys actually did show back up!

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  5. I was so bored with Into the Woods. Kendrick doesn't do it for me. She's talented and all but she reminds me of a crow. I don't know. I need some sleep.

    Wild, the book. I still get hate email from people who read my review on Amazon. Did not like the book but I'd give the movie the try if it was on TV and I happened to stumble across it. I like Witherspoon.

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    1. Yeah, Kendrick was a little flat but I actually did like the movie. The young kids were especially good. See, now you're making me think that I should NOT read Wild. I'm thinking they really toned down some things in the movie that I'm under the impression are in the book that wouldn't do it for me. Did that even make sense?!

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  7. Catching up on all your news. I had to smile about the neighbour's unusual view of you! However, sorry that the knee is still causing some problems. I'm pleased to see that Nancy Bilyeau's latest is out, but not so pleased at the price of the hardback. This one will have to wait and hopefully it'll be published in paperback. I can't see the library service getting it in for the time being because of the economic cuts and I haven't got a Kindle as yet.

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