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?