Sunday Salon - February 10

Hope this Sunday finds those of you hit by the nor'easter (I refuse to use the names that The Weather Channel has decided to give storms) all well and safe. I know some of you (I'm lookin' at you, Mari!) have enjoyed the snowfall and I hope the rest of you have been able to use it as an excuse to read and relax.

Here's What I'm:

Listening To: Covers - the local indie music station plays covers on Fridays and I've been making a list for a couple of years but never got around to getting them put somewhere I could listen to them. Finally found most of them on Pandora and I'm really enjoying them.

Meryl Streep and Robert Redford in "Out Of Africa"

Watching: As part of February's Pin It/Do It (once again hosted by Trish of Love, Laughter and A Touch of Insanity), I've been watching some old favorite movies I've pinned. I haven't been able to focus as well on reading of late and I've needed the mental break the movies have provided.

Reading: I finished two books on Thursday, City of Women on audio (I drove all of the way home from work crying while listening) and The Painted Girls, which I'm looking forward to discussing with the Omaha Bookworms and Cathy Marie Buchanan this month. I'll be finishing up Randy Susan Meyer's The Comfort of Lies for review this week. I'm listening to Salmon Rushdie's The Enchantress of Florence.

Making: Yesterday I made vegetable broth for my vegetarians. Today I'm going to work on making some breakfasts for the coming week. I'm just fed up with paying what they want for a box of dry cereal but I don't always feel like making hot breakfasts on the weekdays. We'll have some muffins, some oatmeal, homemade pop-tarts (thanks Pinterest!) and perhaps an egg casserole.

Planning: I'm working on plans for a very special surprise but I can't say anything about it here for now.

Grateful: That we live close to our families. We've been making a lot of trips into spend time with The Big Guy's mom and being close also meant that I got to babysit my two great-nieces and my great-nephew the other night. They worked wonders on raising my mood! What do you think of my new nickname - Auntie Ick?

Loving: My sister and her family just bought a new house. We have no desire to do that but it really has gotten The Big Guy fired up to make some long-needed changes around here. We've already been updating hardware and that will get finished, some new light fixtures are in the works, some changes in furniture and even (gasp!) some painting. Hope we can get everything done before this whim passes over!

Thinking: There need to be more wireless computer components. I finally pulled out my desk and tried to make some sense of all of the wires running back there. Clearly I 'm going to have to start being the person who hooks up the components as we replace things - I found a cord tangled in with everything else for a printer we haven't even had in three years! And our families wonder why we feel like we have to do everything.

Looking forward to: Continuing to work on the projects I've got going including getting my mother-in-laws photos into organized albums and Project: The Things That Feed My Soul. Here's a hint on what I'm thinking about for that now:

Original artwork by The Big Guy's brother and nephew

What are you looking forward to this week? Any great books on your nightstand?