Sunday, August 9, 2015

Life: It Goes On - August 9

Just finished updating my Goodreads page for the first time in months and find that I have now read 45 books this year which is below what I've often read by this time but only 5 books away from reaching my goal for the year. I set a lower goal this year because I wanted to make sure I wasn't reading just to reach a particular number and to make sure that I allowed myself time for big books. Even so, I've often felt like I was jammed up with books I had to race through which has pushed up that number. And yet, I just signed up for a scheduled review each of the next three months - as that old song says, "I'm just a girl who cain't say no!" Bloggers, how do you balance it all?

This Week I'm:

Listening To: I finished Sarah Vowell's Unfamiliar Fishes on Friday and started Zadie Smith's On Beauty. While I was familiar with the title when I picked this one up, I find that I had no idea what it was about until I started listening.

Watching: The final episode of "The Daily Show." Gonna miss Jon Stewart's take on the world! What we did not watch? The Republican debate. We had family over and that was not the thing to turn on with people of differing opinions present.

Reading: Loving Tana French's In The Woods. It's particularly impressive considering it was her debut novel.

Making: Hey, I finally did the beets and rhubarb. More on that another time but let's just say that Martha Stewart led me astray. For our family dinner the other night, I did fare a little better - I made the broccoli/raisin salad, cucumber dip, and a killer (if I do say so myself) roasted corn and black bean salsa. Our tomatoes are coming in so, yeah, we may have had BLT's twice this week!

Planning: A move for Mini-him this week. He's still working to find a new place with some different friends so it looks like he'll be moving home for a short bit this week. Cuz who wouldn't want to move someone twice in a couple of weeks?

Grateful for: Time with my family - nothing better than sitting around the dinner table with my parents, a couple of my kids, my sister, my sister-in-law, and my nephew sharing good food and laughs. Actually, the one thing better would have been to have the whole family there!

Enjoying: Finally getting to meet on of the first people I befriended when I discovered bookish people on the internet! Lori (An Irreverent Escapade) and I "met" seven years ago as part of a Goodreads group. Friday night we got to meet in person (gotta love that her new guy is from Nebraska and brought her to me!)! Summer. Made!

Friday night's Balloon & Wine Festival
Feeling: Blessed. I am surrounded by a wonderful family and great friends. What more does a girl need?

Looking forward to: Three days off this week, just because. It will make the moving easier and allow me time to head to my parents' (with Mini-me's girlfriend who volunteered to go in to help them around the house - before she even knew I had time to join her!). Two day work week? I think I can handle that!

What are you looking forward to this week?


4 comments:

  1. I've had mixed results with Martha. Too bad this one wasn't a great one. I'm so glad you're enjoying Tana French! I've been wanting to read her for awhile but I've been a little worried my high expectations will be dashed. Have a great week!

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  2. I decided not to do a numbers-based reading challenge this year, for pretty much the same reason you did...and I'm pretty much still on my normal reading pace anyway! We have the final Daily Show with Jon Stewart on the DVR and hopefully will get to watch it in the next day or two! Enjoy your "just because" days off--those are the BEST :-).

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  3. A two-day work week? Color me jealous!!! Enjoy!

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  4. I was so proud of myself for not signing up for any upcoming tours, and then I go sign up for one in September. I have enough review books to get through without tour dates to worry about. I'm a little behind target this year as compared to last year (but I've already met my Goodreads goal of reading 6 books!).

    I missed the final episode of The Daily Show. I need to see if I can watch it online. I didn't watch that show regularly, but I did enjoy it when I saw it.

    Have a great week, Lisa. Mouse has two more weeks of swim lessons this summer and then we can have our evenings back. It'll be nice not to rush from work to pick her up for swim classes in the evening.

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