Bloggiesta success! I've gotten so much done this weekend! Not much of it shows but I'll have my book reviews caught up and scheduled, four other posts are written and scheduled, my feed reader was empty as of midnight, I've spent a lot of time on my labels and they are looking much better (although I doubt I will get them entirely cleaned up yet), and I'm working on a mini-challenge that will be very noticeable in my family room (assuming I get it done). I'm not sure how much more I'll get done - I've got a lot of reading to do in the next couple of days before book club on Tuesday, company coming today, and The Big Guy gets back today from a work trip.
This Week I'm: Listening To: I started Sarah's Key this week. It's a book that switches back and forth in time and it's a little jarring on audio when it does that. Otherwise, I'm enjoying it.
Watching: The Roosevelts on PBS. So interesting and I've learned so much. Now I want to get to Doris Kearns Goodwin's No Ordinary Time and The Bully Pulpit. Oh yeah, and football.
Reading: I'm racing through The Perfume Collector before book club on Tuesday. I didn't know anything about it going in but I guess I was under the impression that it would be a little bit on the light side. Enjoying it much more than I expected. Making: With BG gone and the kids at work so much this week, I haven't made much at all. Mini-me spent the day at home yesterday so I did make him some pizza and caramel chocolate brownies.
Planning: I started a book reorganization project as a mini-challenge that I need to get finished and I'll probably continue to tweak for the next week or so. Grateful: I miss BG when he's gone but I've got to admit, I have enjoyed the quiet while he's been gone! Enjoying: Saturday night with Miss H. She unexpectedly had the night off and we haven't gotten to have any time together in much too long.
Feeling: Like it's time to embrace fall. Even though I did have to turn the air-conditioning back on this weekend. Never mind - the fall decorating is going up and I had a pumpkin spice frappucino the other day.
Looking forward to: Book club Tuesday - love my evenings with these ladies!
What are you grateful for this week? Have you started to wrap your mind around the fact that fall is here?
What a good weekend we've had! Friday night we got to attend the wedding of the daughter of some of our oldest friends. The ceremony was in a public garden which was surprisingly beautiful still considering the time of year. There are plants growing there I've never seen before. We enjoyed the band that played for the reception so much that when we found out they were playing in a local bar last night, we headed down with friends to hear them again.
Thursday I finally had time to go to the library sale again and picked up four books on CD. I was disappointed not to find more I was interested in but did pick up a nice variety. Of course, I had to pick up a few books in print while I was there including Mary Doria Russell's The Sparrow.
Then yesterday I got an email that Barnes & Noble had 300 NOOK books for half price so now I have three new books ready on my NOOK including two that I just talked about on Wednesday, Enon and The System. Paris was available as well but I had to draw the line somewhere.
Lincoln's Sunken Garden
Here's What I'm: Listening To: I'm listening to Joan Didion's The Year of Magical Thinking and love the narrator on it.
Watching: "Person of Interest," "The Voice," and "Elementary" were all back this week.
Reading: Still working on Night Film but really need to get some reading in this week with two reviews coming up for next week that I haven't started yet.. Making: I bought a roasted chicken the other night and used it with black bean and roasted corn in burritos as well as making chicken salad. I really need to get in the habit of buying whole chickens and roasting them myself.
Planning: On starting Christmas presents this week. Grateful for: My sister is now close enough that we've been able to start walking together as we both work toward losing some weight and getting healthy. Loving: The incredible sunrises I'm getting so see on my way into work lately. I'm choosing to overlook the fact that I'm getting to see these because the days are growing shorter.
Thinking: That as much as I love football, I'm glad neither of my boys decided it was the sport for them as I've watched players getting injured game after game. It's a dangerous sport. Looking forward to: A less crazy work week this week.
It snowed here again this week (certainly nowhere near as much as some of you!) and it was cold and grey most of the week. Still, I'm hopeful that spring may get here eventually when I look around my yard.
Here's What I'm: Listening To: Well, this is embarrassing - I was listening to M.C. Beaton's The Death of a Gentle Lady...until I realized, nearly to the end of disk one, that I have already listened to this one. Glad I only spent a couple of dollars on it! So I've switched to Stewart O'Nan's Songs for the Missing.
Watching: I was home sick on Monday when the Boston Marathon bombing took place and spent most of the rest of the week glued to coverage of that and the aftermath. There was a part of me that thought I needed to just turn the t.v. off, there was so little new to offer so much of the time. But I just couldn't.
Reading: I've added a couple of new things to the blog to show what I'm reading for book club, what I'm listening to, and what I've got on my nightstand. I always keep a book on my nightstand for the nights I crawl into bed only to realize that I've forgotten my book downstairs. Right now, that book is Stephen Chbosky's The Perks of Being A Wallflowerwhich I pulled off the shelf after Trish raved about it. Making: This week I made a delicious cherry pound cake and a very rich chocolate cake. I'm not much of a cake eater so this is kind of unusual for me.
Planning: On getting some painting done around here in the next month or so. We picked out paint for the family room yesterday and The Big Guy is starting on that todayto get us started.
Grateful for: I don't need it yet, but next week our new air conditioner will be installed. We suffered through the end of last summer without one and I don't want to repeat that!
Loving: Watching my kids grow and mature. We enjoy them all so much.
Thinking: This may be the first year ever that I have read the Pulitzer Prize winner before it was even the Pulitzer Prize winner. Congratulations to The Orphan Master's Son and Adam Johnson! Interesting to choose a book about a North Korean with North Korea so much in the news lately. Looking forward to: Book club this week - whether the gals read the book or not, we always have fun. Laugh therapy are its finest.
The other night I had a friend tell me that "fiction is a luxury" he doesn't have time for. As a doctor, much of his reading is, of course, work related. For him, though, even the reading he does in his free time is all about learning so he sticks to nonfiction. I must say that I felt a bit sorry for him; he has never discovered how much there is to be learned from fiction and he doesn't allow himself to be lost in a book. What do you think - is fiction a luxury? Here's What I'm: Listening To: On Pandora, I've got a new station: Movie Soundtracks. I am LOVING it! I get to hear songs from Disney, songs that just scream out the movie they were in (Old Time Rock and Roll from "Risky Business," for example), songs from more recent movie musicals. Mostly, though, it's the songs that you've heard throughout the movie, including Gary Jules covering Tears for Fears' "Mad World" in "Donnie Darko." Love, love this song and this version. I'm finding lots of new songs to enjoy, too, which is half the fun.
As far as books go, I finished The Plague of Doves this week. If you remember my review of Anita Diamont's The Last Days of Dogtown, you'll have a good idea of the way I ended up feeling about this one.
Watching: This afternoon I'll be watching Defiant Requiem: Voices of Resistance on PBS. Here's the show description: In the spring of 1944, a handpicked group of Nazi officers was treated to an unusual performance by inmates in a concentration camp. What appeared to be a soaring rendition of a choral masterpiece was intended as a subversive condemnation of the Nazis and a desperate message to the outside world. In the face of horrific living conditions, slave labor and the constant threat of deportation to Auschwitz, the Jewish inmates of Terezin concentration camp — artists, musicians, poets and writers — fought back with art and music.
There it is again - Terezin. A place I had never heard of until I read a book a few months ago. After I read that book, I did some research of Terezin. So when the commercial for this show started, I immediately recognized the setting. It's amazing to me that this place and time in history has now shown up three times in just a few months. Did I just miss it before?
Reading: I'll be finishing up Sarah Vowell's The Wordy Shipmates tomorrow for this month's book club meeting. My head is swimming from all I've learned! I'm hoping to get caught up with The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle today. It's much less intimidating than I had anticipated, although I find myself really highlighting and taking notes in it, too, trying to make sure I'm catching things. I'll continue reading that this week and I'll also pick up Lionel Shriver's The New Republic for review next week. Making: I'm making bread this weekend. I haven't made yeast bread in more than 20 years and then I wasn't too successful. But my friend assures me that this recipe is foolproof and I'm just the fool to test it. It's rising even as I type.
Planning: I have a project I'm working on right now but it's a secret so I can't tell you about it just yet. Grateful for: Great friends - who made sitting in 36 degree temps at the ballpark on Friday night fun. Loving: The sunshine I'm basking in as I type this. Nebraska typically has very sunny winters but this has been a particularly grey winter and spring, so far, as not been much better.
Thinking: Some of you are doing a lot better at this thing called life than I am. How do you keep all of those plates spinning with out any of them crashing to the floor?
Looking forward to:
I am beyond excited to be going to see Thrity Umrigar on Thursday. If I didn't listen to my local NPR station, I would never even have known that this internationally best-selling author were coming to town which is a tremendous shame. Fortunately, I do. As soon as I got to work the morning I found out about it, I got online and reserved my spot at the luncheon she'll be speaking at. If you're in Omaha, let me know if you'll be there!
It's spring, it's spring - and we have football! I'm not sure how many other colleges are able to charge people to come watch the final spring practice of the football team but here we shell out $10 apiece to have a look at the new players, see our old favorites and start to get excited for football season. Here's What I'm:
Listening To: I happened to catch "Guys and Dolls" on TCM the other day so I've been back on a musicals kick this week. A Twitter conversation about singing songs from musicals as lullabies only made me want to listen to them even more.
Also, "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me" on NPR. Smart and funny. Really I love the entire Saturday morning on my NPR station.
Watching: "Forget Paris" with Billy Crystal and Debra Winger. I can completely overlook this movie's flaws because there are just so many things in it that make me laugh out loud. Like the scene where Winger has a pigeon stuck to her head.
Reading: I downloaded two books to my Nook this week, finally. I've finally started The Windup Bird Chronicles and will be playing catchup with the readalong gang. I'm also starting The Wordy Shipmates for book club this month. I've been wanting to read both Murakami and Vowell for a while so this should be a great month.
Making: Progress on finding homes for all of the things we brought from The Big Guy's mom's apartment.
Planning: Family history scrapbooks for The Big Guy's siblings for Christmas. I can't wait to get started on these. Grateful for: Vacuums. And brooms. And lint rollers. These cats of ours are dropping fur by the handful as the weather warms up. If they jump in your lap right now, when they get up, you look like you're wearing fur pants. Loving: The hours of alone time I got this past week. You all know how much I love my family, but this girl needs her quiet time.
Thinking: A trip to Lowe's is on this week's agenda. I'm fired up to do some painting. Looking forward to: Spring cleaning this week; this makes me ridiculously happy.
Happy Easter to those of you who celebrate it! We're having dinner today for my family. It will be a much shorter drive for my sister than previous family dinners - she moved this weekend to a house that, if you make the light, is only about a minute away from me driveway-to-driveway.
Here's What I'm: Listening To: I'm still listening to Louise Erdrich's The Plague of Doves and enjoying it a lot for my driving book. On Pandora, I've moved to classical music this week - Bach, Handel, Corelli. Very soothing. Watching: We watched "Flight" with Denzel Washington and "Argo" with Ben Affleck this week and would give both of them two thumbs up. Excellent performances by both actors.
Reading: I'll be racing to finish Amanda Coplin's The Orchardist today. I hate that I'm having to race through it; it's such a good book and I would love to be able to draw it out longer. I'm going to start The Windup Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami this week as part of an April readalong, hosted Ti of Book Chatter. I'll also start Sarah Vowell's The Wordy Shipmates which is the Omaha Bookworms April selection. Making: I tell you, I have been incredibly lazy when it came to meal time this week. I did make a chocolate cake but that's about it.
Planning: On getting back to Project: Things That Feed My Soul. Once again, going through other people's stuff (and still working on finding homes for all of the things we've inherited from The Big Guy's mom) has me thinking about what things are important to me...and what things are weighing me down. Grateful for: For having such great kids. All three of them cleared their schedules yesterday to help with the move. I'm not surprised, because family is so important to all three of them. Still, at their ages, there are a lot of distractions in life and they all worked hard and put in a full day. Loving: Seeing my sister move into her dream house. She and her husband have worked so hard and often struggled. It's wonderful to see them so happy.
Thinking: I'm glad my daughter had to learn CPR in lifesaving class. She had to use her training to save a customer this week who had a piece of food stuck in her throat. Looking forward to: Okay, this week I really am hoping to get back to a "normal" life. I think, I really do think, that there is nothing exceptional to look forward to this week. Which is a good thing. What are you looking forward to this week?
Happy first weekend of spring, although temps in the 20's and snow aren't really very encouraging signs that we'll soon be wearing pastels and shorts. Here's What I'm: Listening To: The Plague of Doves by Louise Erdrich. Yes, yes I am finally finished with The Enchantress of Florence. As much as I whined about it, I'm not sure I really realized how much work it had become until I stuck in the first disk of Plague and remembered what it was to enjoy listening to a book again.
Watching: Lordy me, I'm watching a lot of college basketball, cheering on the hometown Creighton Bluejays (both the men and women's teams made the tournaments) and the Husker women. I don't watch much basketball the rest of the season, but I do love to watch the tournament.
Reading: The Orchardist by Amanda Coplin. Just getting started with this one. I've been reading so slowly this month that Mystery March has been a complete bust, only one mystery book read. I'm not sure Mystery June has quite the same ring to it but that's just what may happen. Making: A lot of guacamole and everything else I can think of using avocado in since they've been a great price in the store this week and we love them so. I highly recommend avocado in chicken salad!
Planning: Some spring spruce ups around the house - a little painting, some rearranging, and a lot of cleaning. It may not be warm enough to throw open the windows yet but I'm getting started anyway. Grateful for: The sunrise I saw Friday. I'm telling you it was one of the most beautiful sunrises I've ever seen and a wonderful reminder that there is beauty in everyday. Loving: Laughter with my family. Four of us got to go out Friday evening to celebrate some good health news The Big Guy had and we had so much fun together.
Thinking: The world is a very scary place. Listened to a retired detective talk about a book he wrote about a crime in Omaha that scared the sh*% out of me the other day. Little Pollyanna out here in the burbs - I know that there are very bad people out there but it still takes me by surprise any time I'm confronted by just how bad they can be. Looking forward to: My sister is moving this week; she'll only be a few blocks away from me now. I'm, believe it or not, looking forward to helping her get moved into their new place.
Happy St. Patrick's Day! Are you celebrating today? The Big Guy has some Irish ancestry so we usually try to do something to observe that heritage on this day but we steer clear of bars most years. I'm planning on making Irish soda bread, we'll probably tip back a Guinness, but no corned beef and cabbage for us. Here's What I'm: Listening To: I've been going old school this week, listening to Tony Bennett, Andy Williams, and I'm continuing to love the Nat King Cole station on Pandora.
Watching: Friday night I watched "Valmont" starring Colin Firth then "Cruel Intentions" starring Ryan Phillipe and Reese Witherspoon. Both are based on Les Liaisons Dangereuses (1782) by Choderlos de Laclos. It was interesting to watch the more faithful adaptation immediately followed by the modern take on the story.
Reading: Reading's been tough the past few weeks. I'm almost finished with The Enchantress of Florence on audio and this week I'm reading Enchantments by Kathryn Harris for a TLC Book Tour. Hoping to get back into the swing of reading this week. Making: Not a thing this past week but today I'm cooking some chicken thighs so I can cook for the week and then I'll start some steel cut oats.
Planning: A massive purge at my house. After being stunned by the amount of paper, photos, and "stuff" in my mother-in-law's apartment, I'm hell bent to further reduce the amount of stuff we have in our house and get it organized.
Grateful: To have such wonderful friends and family who have been a great support during these past few weeks. Loving: All of the time I've spent this week going through old pictures.
Thinking: You never know people as well as you think you do and stressful situations bring out the best in some people and the worst in others. Looking forward to: A normal week, getting my house back in order, and spring which is really and truly almost here.
This week The Big Guy's mom passed away. We spent her last day sitting with her and the family and have spent the last two days planning funeral, cleaning out her apartment and helping each other heal. Today we're taking a mental break and catching up with life.
The Big Guy's mom and dad when they were still courting
Here's What I'm: Listening To: My mother-in-law singing on DVD. Several years ago, she recorded/video'd herself singing songs she would like for her funeral. She hasn't been able to talk much with us in the past month so it was nice to hear her voice. Watching: Basketball. Lots of basketball. We've watched the high school championships and both men's and women's college ball. The Shepp family loves its basketball; my brother-in-law coached for many years and it's always interesting to watch with him.
Reading: Almost nothing. Which feels so strange. I'm going to take a couple of hours today and curl up with a month. It will be just what I need to recharge my battery for the next few days. I'm starting (finally) my Maisie Dobbs book and I think it's going to be the perfect read for a distracted mind.
Making: Decisions. Who gets what, what to keep. My mother-in-law didn't have much and even so, there have already been some little tiffs. I don't know how families survive when more is at stake and there is less love.
Planning: A funeral that will be both what the original Mama Shepp wanted and what her kids need to help them find peace. She had made a lot of decisions ahead of time. I strongly urge all of you to do this and to keep it updated. So much easier for families at a time when making decisions is so difficult. Grateful for: Thirty-three years with a woman who welcomed me into her family with open arms. She was a wonderful example of how to live your life. Loving: All of the laughs we've had in the past couple of days. I cannot tell you how often I've laughed until I've cried.
Thinking: Spring cleaning cannot come soon enough to my house. I am more ready than ever to pitch and throw. Looking forward to: Getting back to a normal life. The past few months have been stressful and busier than normal. I'm looking forward to being able to look forward.
Yesterday it was springlike here, in the upper 50's, sunny, smelling of
the cleansing rain we had on Friday. Today - 6-8" of snow. Welcome to
March in the midwest.
If you follow me on Twitter, you know I got a new phone this week, a fancy new phone that does a lot of things my other phone didn't do, partly because it couldn't and partly because I chose not to add a data plan to it. If you're a person who likes to have the latest gadgets or a person who changes phones every year, you'll be surprised to read below that my new phone is not the thing I'm grateful for or loving. I hate new phones. I'm an old dog; I hate learning new tricks. At least when it comes to something that's supposed to make my life easier. Here's What I'm:
Nat King Cole
Listening To: The Nat King Cole station on Pandora. Why did I not think of this one sooner? Love, love this for unwinding at the end of the day. Oh, and I'm back to The Enchantress of Florence. I've resigned myself to the idea that I'll just be lost some of time. Watching: "Smash" - although I must say that there are so many new characters and things going on that I'm a little lost (that does seem to be a theme for me lately, doesn't it?).
Reading: I started Madeleine Albright's Prague In Winter this week, my third non-fiction in a row. So far it's not exactly what I was expecting but I'm learning a lot and happy to see Albright's voice is really showing through; she is a smart and surprisingly funny lady. Making: A Tex-Mex feast for Miss H's birthday dinner: soft and hard shell tacos, cheese & onion enchiladas, refried beans, guacamole and Key Lime mini-cupcakes. Forgot to make the rice. Darn.
Planning: On finding some time this week to play with my new phone and find more apps I can have fun with.
The Original Mama Shepp
Grateful for: Having thirty years with a woman who has treated me like one of her own. I know how rare that is and never forget that I've been blessed.
Thinking: That there is no such thing as "enough" time. Looking forward to: Right now we are not looking too far forward. We won't have The Big Guy's mom with us much longer and all of our thoughts are on the here and now. I feel a little bit as though we are about to be set adrift.
Can you believe this is the last Sunday in February? I find myself wondering if this winter has flown by because I'm getting older or because I've refused to let it get me down as it so often does. People, we are only a few weeks from spring! Here's What I'm: Listening To: NotThe Enchantress of Florence. Seriously, I've reached the point with this one where I'm not turning it on at all some days. So much going back and forth in time, so many characters - I'm not sure I really even know what's going on any more! Watching: The Nebraska state swim championships this weekend. I don't have kids swimming at the high school any more but I still like to cheer for the team and I do love to watch swim meets.
Johnny Lee Miller as Sherlock Holmes
Also, Elementary which I love and which has not disappointed me unlike a certain British program which killed off a second major character last week. I'm looking at you, Downtown Abbey! I swear I watch Elementary because it's a great show and not just to look at Johnny Lee Miller...although it's definitely one of the reasons!
Reading: Half The Sky - this one is a tough read but also so uplifting. I'm counting my blessings with every story.
Found this week:
On Flavorwire this week I found a great link to bookish buildings. Hmm, wondering if I could get The Big Guy to repaint the house? Probably wouldn't get it by the neighborhood association, I suppose?
Making: White chili, steel cut oats, crock pot pork chops with mashed potatoes, and meatloaf. It's been a productive week in my kitchen...for a change!
Planning: A major reorganization of my books, starting with a purge. This is going to be tough.
Grateful for: Road crews who worked through the night to make sure that the 8" of snow that fell Thursday was largely off the roads by Friday morning. Now we are just left with a lovely blanket of snow on our lawns. Loving: that my husband and his three siblings got to spend last weekend together - the first time they've all been together in two years.
Thinking: Three plus hour happy hours spent with great friends are just the way to end the week.
Looking forward to: Miss H's 18th birthday this week! Eighteen years since pink clothes, those beautiful brown eyes, and all of that sass came into our lives. We are so proud of the person she's become!
Wishing my sister-in-law a very happy birthday today!
Here's What I'm: Listening To: The Enchantress of Florence by Salmon Rushdie. I've got the paperback as well and I've found a combination of reading and listening is necessary on this one at times.In music, I've been listening to Fitz and the Tantrums, Michael Kiwanuki, and The Sheepdogs, all of which are new to me this week.
Jim Carter, center, in Brassed Off
Watching: "Brassed Off" yesterday, starring Ewan McGregor and Pete Postlethwaite. Funny, sad, heartwarming and, Downton Abbey fans, Mr. Carson is even in it! Then Miss H and I had a girls' movie night. First we watched "Music and Lyrics" with Hugh Grant and Drew Barrymore then "2 Week's Notice" with Sandra Bullock and Hugh Grant. Lots of laughs but, unfortunately, we both now have "Pop Goes My Heart" stuck in our heads.
Illustration by Kyle Bean
Reading: Midnight In Peking by Paul French and I'm back to Les Mis finally. I wish I didn't know that there was a long passage about the sewers of Paris coming up!I also read this interesting article in Fast Times magazine which The Big Guy found about the future of reading. I found hope in the fact that there were more books published in 2011 than in any previous year.
Making: progress on a kitchen reorganization project I started this week. These kinds of projects make me so happy! Here's what happens in my house when you empty a cupboard:
Planning: On working on my dining room this week as part of Project: The Things That Feed My Soul. There are so many things in this room that I love, including the glasses The Big Guy and I toasted with on our wedding day. Grateful: that my brother-in-law and nephew came to visit from Colorado. It's the first time The Big Guy and all three of his siblings have been together in two years and the first time my nephew's been here in ten years. I know having them all with her brightened my mother-in-law's weekend.
Loving: Nivea Extended Moisture Hand Cream which has kept my fingers from cracking this winter.
Thinking: The things that happen to us (even, maybe especially, the tough times) help us become better able to help others.
Cathy Marie Buchanan
Looking forward to: book club this week. We're talking to Cathy Marie Buchanan about The Painted Girls! Thanks, Mari, for lining this up for us! Have you read this book? Is there anything you'd like to ask Cathy?
I'm also starting to think about my gardens and what changes I want to make this year and when I need to start my heirloom tomato seeds.
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?
Happy Super Bowl Sunday! As much as I love football, I'm not all that enthusiastic about this game - I don't care who wins and I really don't like the Harbaugh brothers. Could both of their teams lose? Here's What I'm: Listening To: The music from Broadway musicals - it's like comfort food for my ears. Although I will say that Pandora disappoints me here - I listened to the Andrew Lloyd Weber station yesterday for a couple of hours and never heard a single song from any of his shows other than Phantom.
Watching: "Seeking A Friend For The End Of The World" with Mini-him and his girlfriend. It's an odd movie, starts out funny and then turns very quiet and serious. I think I liked it; it just wasn't what I was expecting especially after the first 30 minutes.
Reading: The Painted Girls by Cathy Marie Buchanan for book club, Les Miserables for the readalong that continues through February, and, on audio, City of Women by David Gillham which I am absolutely loving. Making: Yesterday I made a chocolate cake using a recipe that's been in my husband's family for more than 50 years. It's what sounded good to my mother-in-law and right now, she gets whatever she wants. Today I'm making her fettucine alfredo.
Planning: Project: The Things That Feed My Soul (see Friday's post).
Grateful for: Compassionate medical professionals. Loving: The forecast for the coming week: everyday has a high in the forties except one. Spring is on the way!
Thinking: Sometimes life is just not fair. And sometimes it is really, really not fair. Looking forward to: A second day in a row with several hours of having the house to myself. I love my family more than I could ever say but some days it's nice not to see any of them for a while!
What's on your schedule this week? Have you read anything I should be adding to my wish list?
