Life: It Goes On - April 13

Happy Sunday! It's starting to get really beautiful outside of my window, with the little bright green leaves on the lilac bushes and the brilliant pink buds on the crabapple tree. This is the one time of the year that I'm happy the Big Guy went against my wishes and came home with a crabapple tree 25 years ago. 

It follows very closely on the heels of the time I am most annoyed at him for the same reason. Early every spring, those little crabapples (which, to be fair, have provided a nice spot of color throughout the winter), just drop off that tree, fully ready to be squished and leave a streak of juice all over my driveway. Not at all the "they'll dry up before they fall off and blow away" scenario my husband was sold. 

Anyone else been mostly chained to their desk chairs getting their taxes done this week? Please tell me it's not just me who puts it off! It's really put a cloud over my head all week On the plus side, at least I got excused from jury duty so I didn't have to deal with that as well. I was terrified I was going to end up sequestered and not be able to get my taxes done! 

Last Week I: 

Listened To: A short book I won't even be reviewing until December and don't know why I listened to now. Other than it was available immediately. Also started Stephanie Wrobel's The Hitchcock Hotel, which the New York Times Book Review convinced me to listen to - so far, the jury is out. I should have expected some magical/fantasy elements (having read Haig's The Midnight Library) but, for some reason, I was taken by surprise and you know how I struggle with fantasy in a book.

Watched: NCAA basketball championships and a couple of episodes of Shrinking (if you have Apple TV and you haven't discovered this one yet, you really need to check it out). Then yesterday, when I was taking breaks from doing taxes, I watched a couple of musicals. One was Sara Bareilles' Waitress - absolutely loved it and hope it comes to Omaha soon so I can see it live. The other was a trip down memory land - Robert Stigwood's Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, starring George Burns, The Bee Gees and Peter Frampton. It really is quite bad but I remember seeing it in the movie theater in 1978 and haven't seen it since. I had such a crush on Peter Frampton then! 

Read: Matt Haig's The Life Impossible, which is my book club's June selection. I'm a little over half way through it and still not sure how I feel about it. I'm also reading The Fairbanks Four: Murder, Injustice and the Birth of a Movement by Brian Patrick O'Donoghue. 

Made: BLTs (which I always regret when I don't have homegrown tomatoes to use), pizza, BLT salads (because we needed to use up the rest of the bacon we'd cooked), and chicken orzo soup. 

Enjoyed: Thursday four members of our book club drove across the Missouri River to Council Bluffs, Iowa, to see Shelby Van Pelt, author of Remarkably Bright Creatures, which is our July selection. She is really wonder to see in person, if you get the chance - humorous, open, and very comfortable in a very crowded room. My only regret is that we got no pictures. 

Also, we enjoyed our first evening on the patio on Friday night after we had dinner out. We didn't even have all of the furniture uncovered yet or the fire pit ready but it was too nice to be inside. 

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This Week I’m:  

Planning: Y'all, Easter snuck up on me so this week will be about getting food ready and figuring out how I get it to my dad's to celebrate with him. 

Thinking About: Taxes. Even with a tax software, they are so complicated! And why is there always one document that you need but don't recall getting in the mail? 

Feeling: In theory I have one week of 40 Bags in 40 Days left and I haven't even come close to getting through all of the areas I wanted to get through or to reaching 40 bags. I'm frustrated! 

Looking forward to: Book club on Tuesday.  

Question of the week: what are your go-to side dishes for Easter dinner? What do you have for dessert?