Random Friday, The Last 9 Days.

Things have gotten crazy up in here up in here. I'm too tired to do this in any way but bullets. Here we go!

• On Thursday the 19th, we bought a house. THANK GOD it was the same one we already live in.

  

  My house is a boring box. FOR NOW.

• We closed at 1:00, drove through Arby's and then went home and gutted the kitchen. We emptied and took down all the upper cabinets and removed the disgusting carpet. By bed time we had removed all the hardware, patched holes, textured the walls and painted the kitchen. We also took down the ancient screen door on the front of the house.
• Friday we borrowed a truck and drove 5 hours round trip to buy flooring. Friday night we started rehanging the cabinets, at ceiling level.
• Saturday we got the cabinets up, took a few down again, and put them back up. (Turns out a 33" cabinet and a 36" cabinet look a lot alike.) I painted all the hardware- from ugly brass to a nice brushed nickel, and put the doors back on.

  

  Clear winner.

• Sunday we built some shelving. Let me rephrase that, *I* built some shelving, from plywood and oak tape and stain and I got to use a lot of tools. Mike put up brackets and we installed a row of open shelving under the now higher cabinets. We touched up paint and contemplated 60 year old linoleum. This bullet sounds like not a full days work, but we were busy all day.

  

  Look! Kitchen carpet AND fancy linoleum!

• Monday we put down plywood over the linoleum.
• Tuesday I stained some more wood and Mike worked on the crown at the ceiling level.
• Wednesday we did a lot of tiny catch up things. Staining small places we missed, tons of little things.

I'll post before and after shots later, I like the big reveal moment.

Tired yet? What else did we do?

• Aside from Thursday and Friday, we worked our normal jobs. Having no kitchen is much like camping in your own home. You have showers and beds, but want a cup? HAHAHA. Yeah right. This is my kitchen, in my dining room. That's right, the dining room was unusable too for much of the week.

  

  I should drink some of that liquor. Might help.

• On Thursday night, my elderly cat Phoebe, the last of my Alabama kitties, died in her sleep. She was 18 and grouchy, but she's the end of an era for me.

  

  Phoebe. 1996-2015

• On Monday night our dog Scout got literally deathly ill and had a trip to the emergency vet. She had the doggie flu. (Who knew?? I didn't.) 
• On Tuesday and Wednesday nights I prepared Boxtops for PTO. To be clear, not just my own, the ENTIRE SCHOOL's Boxtops.
• We ("Noah") completed his 1st grade science fair project. He melted leftover candy canes in different solutions.
• On Thursday night (last night), I attended Kindergarten orientation for my baby girl. HOW??

  

  Two weeks ago, when you could see the floor. Or as I like to call it, Before Chaos.

I. Need. A. Nap.

Book Report!

HAHAHAHAHA. Yeah right.

Random Friday the 13th.

South Dakota has the best sunrises, and sunsets, hands down. Doesn't hurt that we live on the river.

• This has been a long week, hasn't it?
• I spent a lot of time this week listening to the adult version of "it wasn't me! and I can prove it with my maturity!" when really it feels so immature. It's exhausting.
• I have an unexplained calf injury and haven't been able to run even once. Not that the weather cooperated.
• Book club, our second meeting, got moved to next week. I was really looking forward to that glass of wine too.
• Next week is crazy every day but Tuesday. I should really double check Tuesday. More on that craziness next week, I don't want to jinx anything.
• The hexagons continue. I have no idea how many I have left to make, somewhere around 600 I think. And a bunch of flowers. I'm kinda of doing three things at once now- making a few hexies, turning already made ones into flowers, and starting to piece it all together. The variety is nice.
  

Book Report!

What I read this week:

• Fire Me Up by Kimberly Kincaid. Reviewed here.
• The Cowboy's Valentine by Donna Alward. Reviewed here.
• Dead Heat by Patricia Briggs. It's no Mercy Thompson, but it was still excellent. I love Anna.
• Trade Me by Courtney Milan.  I've just barely started.

What I Got This Week:

• Still the One by Jill Shalvis (NetGalley) WOOHOO!
• Unfair by Adam Benforado

Looks like I'm the Queen.

Random Friday, Pippi and podcasts

My very own Pippi Longstocking.

• This is the season of the podcast for me. I have become addicted to them.Unfortunately, while I am in the car several times a day, none of my drives are more than a couple miles so it takes a very long time to listen to anything. I'm loving Books on the Nightstand; Another Mother Runner; How to do Everything; Dear Bitches, Smart Authors. Anything else I should be listening to?
• We had Parent Teacher Conferences last night. The boys are both doing great, but I have to brag a bit on the Bug- he struggles a lot with emotion and behavior, but is incredibly smart. You know how when they do really well on standardized tests they get a little dot in the 99th percentile area? One of his dots was an arrow pointing off the chart. And half way through first grade he's figuring out 3rd grade math unassisted. And I didn't expect the Pirate's teacher to say that she was constantly having to take books away from him in class so he would do his work. I'm thrilled to hear it, wish he'd read more at home!
• I started training for another half marathon this week. Unfortunately, between sub-zero temps and work obligations I only managed two of the four runs. Here's hoping the weekend and next week will be better. Mike bought me these cool ice cleat things for my shoes, so that should help.

Book Report!

What I Read This Week:

• The Man Who Killed Kennedy. I finished this one. I need to review it, but I'm waiting until after Book Club.
• Just Mercy by Bryan Stephenson. This was a very eye-opening look at the prison system and death row and something very cool happened as I was reading it, more on that in my review.
• Is This What You Just Put In Your Mouth? by Patrick Di Justo. I've only started this collection of essays, but I think I'm going to enjoy it.

New books on my e-shelf:

• The Cowboy's Valentine by Donna Alward (NetGalley) What can I say, I'm an Alward fan.
• A Bone to Pick: The Good and Bad News About Food, Along with Wisdom and Advice on Diets, Food Safety, GMOs, Farming, and More by Mark Bittman (NetGalley)
• Sweet Disorder by Rose Lerner (Amazon) A friend recommended this a month ago and it was $1.32 on Amazon this week.

Up next:

• I'll continue Is This What You Just Put In Your Mouth? and I'd love to finish up Fire Me Up. Then I want to dive into Milan's Trade Me guilt free.

Random Friday, Nothing but the books.

This week was incredibly uneventful and I like it that way. So I really have nothing to report besides the books I'm reading. Let's get on with that, shall we?

Book Report!

What I Read This Week:

• Hyperbole and a Half by Allie Brosh. (Scribd) You know, I loved some, hated some. I don't plan to write a full review, but if you liked the blog you'll probably enjoy the book. I loved the parts about her depression (wow, I'm a jerk!) but some of the parts were just too dense and introspective for me. Also: PARP!
• The Man Who Killed Kennedy: The Case Against LBJ by Roger Stone. This is our book club book. I'm endlessly sidetracked by having to go look up things like the Zapruder film.

New on my e-Shelf this week (the library is foiling all my reading plans and giving me all my ebook requests at once. Thanks library! Looks like I'll be reading those two next):

• Just Mercy by Bryan Stephenson (library e-book) It was on one of those "If you enjoyed the Serial podcast, you'd enjoy..." lists.
• All the Light We Cannot See by (library e-book) Why did I never notice this was 500+ pages??
• Dead Heat by Patricia Briggs (NetGalley) Ah, I almost made it to Friday with no new NetGalley books! One of my very favorite authors, I can't wait to dive in.
• You by Caroline Kepnes. (Amazon) I heard a review of this and could not resist. I'd really like to listen to it tho, so am debating also buying the audio.
• Her Highland Fling by Jennifer McQuiston. (Amazon) Some authors are just really good at self-promotion.

Another Week of Random!

This picture has nothing to do with anything, except I love it. Our family and another family have meshed in a really terrific way. We all get along beautifully and have started trading kids off regularly as well as doing things as a family. Last weekend they invited my boys to spend the night in a local hotel and swim. This picture captures all of their personalities perfectly.

Several people have commented on how cold it is when I run. Honestly guys, it's all relative. Temps in the 30s are a beautiful day this time a year. Everyone is outside walking and running and not being stuck inside. Yes, it's still cold, but your face doesn't literally freeze (I use literally here to mean literally.) I have to make sure my ears are covered or I die. I can stand the rest of me being cold, but once the ears hurt I turn back.  Mike, on the other hand, ran one day a month or so ago and came home with his sweat frozen into ice on the back of his neck. That, friends, is crazy. That said, today's goal is to find a new training plan for a half marathon.

National Readathon Day is this weekend! I can't wait to force my kids off their games and videos for four hours of whining about no tv quiet together time. I don't care, *I* am reading all four hours, try and stop me.

Book Report!

What I Am Reading:

• Hyperbole and a Half by Allie Bosch. This one has been on my list a while, but I just noticed it was on Scribd when I was looking for another title so I started reading.
• The Man Who Killed Kennedy by Roger Stone. The intro scared me but I'm 7 or 8 chapters in now and it's going pretty well. I was not expecting so much gossip, and I admit to knowing nothing about LBJ at all.
• Outlander by Diana Gabaldon (Audio). Yes, still.
• Fire Me Up by Kimberly Kincaid. I've barely started.
• Something True by Karelia Stetz-Waters. Reviewed here.

New on my e-shelf:

• Trade Me by Courtney Milan (NetGalley). I am a total Milan fan girl. I'm a bit nervous about it being a contemporary.
• The Dead Play On by Heather Graham (NetGalley). Katherine, I'm looking at you. Why do I need more titles??

The Return of Random Friday

I'm just as surprised as you are, Sirius Black!

It has been stupidly cold here since Christmas, but the last two days were beautiful, in the 30s. All the paths are mostly clear of snow and the urge to run outside struck strong. Unfortunately I couldn't go Wednesday (more on that momentarily!) but last night Mike pushed me out the door at 5 and I had my first outdoor run in months. It was awesome. I didn't quite make it 3 miles, because all the snow that had melted during the day was turning back to ice and the ground got slick, but I could have. I am WAY behind on my two miles a day goal, but I expect that when the weather picks up again I'll start making up ground.

And why didn't I run Wednesday as well? Because I had book club! I realize that most people who want a book club already have one, and I've been talking about it half my life. So finally I decided to put up or shut up and we had our first meeting this week. We read Station Eleven and while we got a bit sidetracked on discussion it was a lot of fun. Since it was our first meeting we spent a lot of time talking about other books and our bookish history and getting to know each other's preferences. We are planning to rotate through our own TBR for titles. I chose Station Eleven, Jenna chose next months book (The Man Who Killed Kennedy ), Lyndee will go next, etc.  We have veto power, but the idea is that we have to not reject it without a good reason. No one wants depressing books, but that's about it. No excessive crying (sorry, Shawna.) Anyone have suggestions?

Book Report!

What I Read (Am Reading):

• Something True by Karelia Stetz-Waters (NetGalley) This one is outside of my usual romance road, as it features two female leads, but I'm enjoying it.
• The Sweet Spot: How to Find Your Groove at Home and Work by Christine Carter. (NetGalley) I DNF'd this one. It just was not what I thought it would be.
• Echo Lake by Carla Neggers (NetGalley) My first full length Neggers, review to come.
• Outlander by Diana Gabaldon (Personal e-book/audio) I listened to this one for two miles while I was on the treadmill. Guys, I'm not feeling the love everyone else does.

New on my e-Shelf:

• The Man Who Killed Kennedy: The Case Against LBJ by Roger Stone. (Purchases for Book Club)
• Seeker by Arwen Elys Dayton (NetGalley)
• The Dark Side of the Road by Simon R. Green (NetGalley) Mike and I loved the Nightside books.
• How (Not) to Fall in Love by Lisa Brown Roberts (NetGalley) YA Romance.
• Moonlight on My Mind by Jennifer McQuiston. (Purchased) McQuiston is also an infectious disease expert and the combination of those two things fascinates me.

The ones I'm hoping to read next, but don't hold me to it:

• Fire Me Up by Kimberly Kincaid. (NetGalley) I read another in this series recently and thought I'd give her a second chance.
• Sweet Talking Man by Liz Talley. (NetGalley) I've yet to read a Liz Talley I didn't love.
• Tales from Another Mother Runner by Dimity McDowell and Sarah Bowen Shea (NetGalley, but I would have bought it.) I need to get my mojo back and I loved their first two.

Random Things on a Friday and some recent reading

I have decided to change how I use my friends list at Goodreads. Up until now I have accepted friend requests from people I know from the blogging world  and real life but NOT from random strangers. Every morning I get the email of updates and barely glance at it. I realized that I’m really skimming it to find the people who read what I read. I mean, duh.  So even tho I love many of you very much, I’m going to be removing you from my list.

 

This winter is killing me, like it’s killing many of you. It’s been so cold for so long and the very idea of going outside is painful.  In order to feel active again, Mike and I rejoined the YMCA. I am looking forward to zoning out on the treadmill for a bit. To make this even more fun, we both got Fitbits. He has the Fitbit Zip and I ordered a Fitbit Flex (hot pink, thank you!) He is loving his and mine should be here any moment. If you have one I'd love to  hear how you like it and it seems theres is a buddy system on the website, so once I get signed up I'll be looking for people I know.

 I started the year off great with a gratitude journal, but at the end of January I pretty much lost interest. I think I’m going to continue using the journal- I have several other pretty goal sheets and lists in there- and revisit the gratitude idea every couple of months. I found that some days I was grateful for the same things as the day before, and giving it a little breathing room will make it enjoyable and not a chore.

 

What am I reading? Not a lot.  I have no idea where my time is going.

 

I recently finished Incognito by Andrea Raynor. This got my attention because it was about her experience at Harvard Divinity School, and I am always fascinated by religion and by how people experience faith. I was hoping it would be a bit like Girl Meets God- someone struggling with where their faith was leading them, without being a call to the faith- and I suppose it was, but it didn't have the same emotion that Girl Meets God does. It read much more like anyone else struggling to declare a major and I think that dedicating a life to God would be a bit more climatic than this was.  Additionally, the cover copy reads like there's going to be scandalous bits, and she shies off from really going there. I think she's trying to paint herself as a little wild and make her decision to enter the ministry as more of a moral dilemna, but there's really never any doubt. She didn't quite go far enough with her relationship scandals (what scandals?) or her ambivalence. I had a similar reaction to  the one about the weight-lifting librarian.

 

I am nearly done with White Cat by Holly Black.  This one is a YA set in what is to me a very unique world of curse workers. It's a world with organized crime conducted by curses, which is pretty cool. I had to request it by Inter Library Loan, and it's paper, so it took me a while to get back into the habit of a paper book again. There are two more in the series and I suspect that I'll want to read them as well.

 

And I've gotten a good jump into City of Bones by Cassandra Clare. I resisted because have you SEEN how big these books are? Enough people mentioned them as being incredibly romantic that I had to see what they were talking about.  I find that this one reminds me of the "Fever" books by Karen Marie Moning but I can't pinpoint why.

 

I also have a giant  "stack" of NetGalley books waiting on the iPad. I've pretty much completely lost track of what's going on there, so I need to sit down and get it straight.

 

 

 

Recently Random

It’s been a while since I posted a random blog entry. You probably didn’t realize you were missing them.
-I recently went to my local library over my lunch hour in the middle of a terrific thunderstorm to see the Overdrive e-bookmobile. My friend Julie was working there and I wanted to say hello and check it out. I was taken completely off guard when I walked (swam) into the trailer and the very nice person who greeted me knew me. Or rather, knew my blog. Eek! (Hi Jane! This post is for you!)

- Kind bars. They are more expensive than most granola bars, but not more than Luna bars and the like. They are terrifically good, and I can pronounce all of the ingredients. My favorite is the coconut almond variety.

-I have been  reading nearly exclusively on the Nook lately. It has gotten to the point where it feels weird to read a paper book.  That said, I have a huge stack of library books that I could not resist this week.

- The fair was in town last weekend and it turns out there is a small parade that goes right in front of our house. We invited some friends over and turned it into a BBQ. It was lovely. (The above picture is us waiting for the parade to start- and the coals to get hot!)

-The boys are going to summer camp together. They come home physically exhausted every day. It’s both awesome, because they sleep well, and awful, because the Bug is a BEAR.

-You know how I've said that I find the park incredibly boring? Well I assumed the beach would be worse, what with the threat of drowning. Turns out my kids are completely happy to play at the water's edge without my assistance at all. And since the water gets deep so gradually at the park by my house, there is very little threat of drowning. Plus, it's so close that we don't have to plan a trip there, we can go spur of the moment. I get to sit and read (with one eye) and they get to play in the river. It's a win-win.

-Remember the birds? They hatched and flew away.  It’s crazy how fast they grew.
-I'm still plugging away on the pink and gray hexagon quilt. I'm at 915 hexes, with a goal of around 3000.  It seems possible that I will finish it one day.
-Thanks for all the nice notes after my father-in-law's passing. We really appreciated it.

What's new with you?

 

Moving books, disappearing wives.

• Today is a school holiday. It's 10am and my kids are already crazy. I suspect we'll be packing up and leaving the house if it ever warms up a bit.
• We move in one week! I can't wait!
• Things on the job front are going well. I don't want to jinx it by talking about it though. I'll let you know as soon as I can.
• All of our books are packed except the library books. I still have about 50 of those checked out. (Not all for me.) I'm not sure why I think I need ALL of them in the next week or two but I can't bring myself to return them either. I should just pack or return them all and just read on the Nook this week, but I won't.

What I Read This Week:

• On the Banks of Plum Creek (Little House, Book 4) by Laura Ingalls Wilder. I am really getting worried about grasshoppers!
• Gone Girl: A Novel by Gillian Flynn. Finished up last night. I was really loving the ride, but I'm just not sure about the ending. More on this later.

Random Fridays keep on coming.

• Everyone in my family was under the weather on Sunday, which resulted in the Princess and I taking the comforters to the laundromat on Monday. She thought it was the most fun ever, except for the bit where I used my very last dollar to buy her a treat from the machine and it didn't fall. Luckily for her, the route guy showed up minutes later and retrieved it.
• This week's struggles are nothing new. The Pirate still hates school. The Princess still refuses to sleep well for two consecutive nights. I am still looking for a job. It is still winter.
• I rarely use my blog to complain, and I never call people out on Facebook. I haven't ever complained about a job or a coworker in a public arena. I especially think it's the tackiest thing in the world to talk smack about your spouse in a public place. I have recently been shocked again by a family member who repeatedly uses Facebook to criticize their spouse. Every single time, I am shocked anew. 
• That said, there are two people who I would mention here, because I find them so shockingly thoughtless. First, there's a firefighter who lives on my street (a one block dead end!) who drives WAY too fast down our street. I like to cut him slack when he's leaving because there might be a fire, but when he drives home at top speed I find it a little more annoying. The second is also a driver. I've run into this person several times in town, and while she's never cut me off, I've witnessed her cut other people off on more than one occasion. I've seen her dodge in front of people for parking spots. I've seen her drive the wrong way through open drive thrus in order to cut a corner and not drive around. You'd think this person was a teenager, but no, she's a middle aged woman. The reason I remember her so clearly is because she drives an orange pickup with the name of her business all over it. (I sure hope it's her business, it would be awful to have an employee making such a bad impression all over town!) You can bet I will never call on her, if I can help it.

What I Read This Week:

• A Good American by Alex George, for BlogHer Book Club. I didn't love it. Reviewed here.
• Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder for the Little House on the Prairie Read-a-Long. The discussion starts here, please join us!
• All He Ever Desiredby Shannon Stacey for NetGalley. I enjoyed this tremendously. Review to come. 
• Back to the Good Fortune Diner (Harlequin Superromance) by Vicki Essex, also for NetGalley. I've barely started this one.

Random again? Must be Friday.

• The Little House on the Prairie Read-a-long is official! Join us here- it's very laid back, no pressure, one book a month.
•  Hands down the best Harry Potter video I've seen. Makes me want to sit down and watch the whole series back to back. This is seriously well done, don't skip it if you are at all a Potter fan.
•  
• Mike brought home a little flower for his baby girl for Valentine's. She carried it around with her, in it's vase, until it was time to go to the sitter (not a hot date, sadly, parent teacher conference) and then took it with her in the car. It's not clutched to her person this morning, but neither is it still in it's safe location. Sweet little girl.
• Parent teacher conferences were last night. The Pirate is doing great academically, but could be doing better if he paid slightly better attention. He gets bored, and then he gets lazy, and skips lines and writes messily. I'm not sure how to convince him to focus on things he doesn't enjoy.

What I Read This Week:

• South Dakota Outlaws & Scofflaws. Review here.
• Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder. For the Read-a-Long! I'm not done yet, but will be soon. You can look forward to that on Tuesday. 
• A Good American by Alex George for BlogHer Book Club. I've already been warned that this will be a freezer book, I'm 140 pages in and so far it's only mildly sad.
• The Lady Most Willing...: A Novel in Three Parts by Julia Quinn, Eloisa James, and Connie Brockway. It was ok. Brief review already written, to be posted... sometime soon?
• Following the lead of Ti, I made up a lovely spreadsheet of due dates and publication dates of books I have coming up soon. At least now when I stray from the book I'm supposed to be reading, I can see exactly how much extra work I'm making for myself.  (What was that I just said about the Pirate and focus?) I really need to lock myself in a room with a stack of books for a week. Also, Mike is kicking my butt in the books read competition this year. Dang new job that only makes him work 40 hours a week.