I have a confession to make - since Christmas my mantel (and all of the other surfaces which normally get decorated with snowmen after Christmas) has sat empty. I just could not make myself put snowmen out. Yesterday I decided I might as well just go straight to Easter decorations. Then I realized that my family has outgrown my Easter decorations. When your baby is twenty, stuffed bunnies and plastic eggs don't cut it. What with the forecast for the coming week, I guess it's just time to pull out the spring things.
This Week I'm:
Listening To: Still
Jane Eyre, downloaded from Librivox. It's well read and I'm enjoying it. But after I bought four new audiobooks at the library sale the other day, I've been sorely tempted to pop in something I haven't already "read." All of the audiobooks I bought are books I already own in print but I'm far more likely to get to them on audio.
Watching: "The Voice," "Elementary," and "Funny Girl" Friday night while I stayed up waiting for my own funny girl to come to spend the night. Love that she is close enough to do that and still wants her mommy when she doesn't feel good!
Reading: With an empty house Friday night, the timing of #flashreadathon could not have been better. I used my time Friday night and Saturday morning to finish
The Boy Who Loved Rain by Gerard Kelly. Last night I started Wally Lamb's
I Know This Much Is True which the Omaha Bookworms are reading for the next two months. Hoping I can sneak in a few more hours of reading this afternoon but I've been pretty lazy around the house this week so I suppose I should clean.
Making: A cheeseburger casserole but not a whole lot else. We ate manicotti several times after making it for last Sunday's and Monday's birthday celebrations and sneaked in a few meals out. Including my first ever experience eating out in a real restaurant by myself.
Planning: On eating on the patio on Thursday evening! It is supposed to be 70 degrees and, with Daylight Savings Time, will be plenty light out. Okay, it may be a bit chilly to sit out there too long but after four months of being cooped up, I can't wait.
Grateful for: Quiet time. I love him, but The Big Guy must have noise of some kind going all of the time. He was off with family Friday night and Mini-him was out so I read for a long time without the t.v. on or any music playing. I sometimes forget how much that can recharge my battery.
Enjoying: Talking books with my family yesterday. My dad has just finished a book he really enjoyed,
The Cowboy and The Cossack, and BG's sister-in-law was raving about
Reconstructing Amelia. Don't be surprised to see more about both of those pop up on an edition of Mama Shep's Family Recommends" or even a review (hint, hint, Dad!). Sister-in-law was also about 50 pages from finishing
The Girl On The Train so we had fun talking about that one although I so wished she were finished so I didn't have to worry about giving anything away!
Feeling: A little morose. Mini-him is moving out the end of the month. It will be our first time being empty nesters and I'm not really looking forward to it. Although, I am already thinking about what we can do with his room. Luckily, he works close enough that he can still pop over for dinners once in a while.
Looking forward to: Getting back on the 40 Bags In 40 Days bandwagon and working on my photo organizing project. That's a slow process - so many trips down memory lane! Every trip involves so many side trips, too. Here I am with Mini-him the day we brought him home from the hospital. Sitting on our pink sofa (it was the 80's, people!), the first piece of new furniture we ever bought together.
What are you looking forward to this week? I know a lot of you are still in the throes of winter; I'll try to wish some warm air your way this week!
I remember reading I KNOW THIS MUCH IS TRUE. That's a long one but good, as I recall. Well, Mom, you'll get through the empty nest blues. It's a little sad, but there are some definite benefits. Like the quiet. And the privacy. And just a whole new stage of life. Good luck and have a good week!
ReplyDeleteHe's actually not around that much and pretty quiet when he's here. But it will be nice to have that privacy we haven't had in almost 27 years!
DeleteWe're flying up on being a single child household and it's so weird to even think about it. I do have plans for all their rooms though so that helps! It looks like you're going to have a really nice week weather wise. Our temperatures will be rising thankfully but it's going to rain all week. Better rain than ice though! I love the idea of listening to Jane Eyre and all the other classics I've either missed or read ages ago. I want to read them all but my TBR is so huge and my ability to turn down review books is so bad I'm not sure it's ever going to happen. Have a great week!
ReplyDeleteMiss H tells me the other day that she will probably move home when her lease is up. I'm not giving up on the office I've made of her room so I think this room will just sit empty for a few months and then become hers when she moves home. I swear I'm putting a revolving door on the front of my house!
DeleteI'm so glad you could jump into #flashreadathon and get into a few things this weekend! I also hope we can do this more often. :D
ReplyDeleteOh my. I am not looking forward to when The Teen leaves but he is dead set on going away for college. Absolutely will not consider anything local, even though cost will play a huge role. He seems determined to figure it out on his own. Yeah, he is a senior next year and it's coming up fast.
ReplyDeleteWe didn't eat out since we had a bee situation in our chimeny/fireplace and sort of had to stick around for the pup this weekend to make sure it didn't get out of hand but we grilled and then ate burgers while looking out the window. LOL.
Miss H was set that she was going to a college in Chicago, cost be damned. At $30K a year, though, there was no way she was ever going to make that happen. Which is just as well; I'm not sure either of us would survive being apart that much!
DeleteYou make me feel bad about wishing for the day I don't have to put up the Hallmark singing snowmen that someone decided I needed since I have a young child in the home. LOL Truthfully, I don't want to rush that day at all because that means Mouse will be all grown up.
ReplyDeleteI am really enjoying re-visiting Jane Eyre. It's just as wonderful as I remember it. My husband says he is liking it too--which made me a little less nervous since I would hate for him to dislike one of my all time favorite books.
Can you believe it's supposed to reach 90F this weekend? That seems crazy.
I hope you have a great rest of the week!
Oh no - keep those singing snowmen up! When you have little ones in the house, that stuff is perfect!
Deleteoh goodness, that isn't a pink sofa - didn't we call it mauve? What a sweet photo. :)
ReplyDeleteThese posts offer SO MUCH to comment on! But I think I will choose to call you out on the "first ever experience eating out in a real restaurant by myself." Was it OK? Need to share more?
Have a great week!
We DID call it mauve, Care! My first ever experience eating out by myself was a little boring, I must admit. But since Miss H was my waitress I did have her to talk to. I was planning on doing a little reading while I enjoyed my meal but it was too darn dark!
DeleteI loved the title of The Cowboy and the Cossack so much, I had to go look up the book!
ReplyDelete