Reading
My reading year has started off slower than I would have liked. I mean, I have been reading and enjoying it, but I’m behind on my numbers if I want to hit my goal of 75 books for the year. Not to worry- on this episode of SHU’s podcast she gives a February pep talk about not getting discouraged if the year is off to a slow start. Phew. First, I read this: I read Lily King’s Writers and Lovers years ago, and really liked it. I liked this one as well- my only complaint was that I wished there were more to it. Don’t get me wrong- the book is really well-written, I just wanted more of the story. I also felt like the main character was vaguely familiar, and I put that down to a similar writing style to Writers and Lovers. But then, guess what! Julie texted me that the two books are companions! The story line of Writers and Lovers takes place in between parts 1 and 2 of Heart the Lover. It’s the same character, which I didn’t realize. I LOVE THIS! I love that I didn’t realize it was the same main character, and that I had to fit it together afterwards like pieces of a puzzle. Next up… I’ve been wanting to read this for a while, and was excited to get it from the library: I forgot two things: 1) I don’t like political thrillers, and 2) Louise Penny’s writing style can annoy me. Let’s look at an example: “Instead of diminishing with time, that sense had grown, the chasm widening. She increasingly felt the need to do more. To help more. To not report on the pain but do something to ease it. To give back…” All those fragmented sentences! And she’s just saying the same thing over and over again with different words! She does this constantly, and it distracts me from the story. Another thing I didn’t like was the fast pace. I like a book where I get to see what the characters do in their spare time, what they eat for breakfast, and what their houses look like. We don’t get that here, because the story takes place in less than 48 hours. If I am going to read a book with such a short timeline, I would like it to be shorter so I can read the entire thing in one or two sittings. This book was almost 500 pages, which was too long (for me, for this style of storytelling). However, in spite of all my complaining, I’m glad I finally read this book written by two great women. If you like political thrillers and Louise Penny’s writing, you will love this. And now… In spite of the fact that Birchie highly recommended this, I was hesitant to pick it up because of the extremely weird premise- a woman believes it’s her destiny to “marry” an airplane, i.e. die in a plane crash. WHAT. But here’s the thing- it actually works. Somehow you accept that premise and are rooting for this odd person. I’m only about 1/3 of the way through… I’ll report back when I’ve finished. Have you read any of these? What are you reading now? Top photo by Ugur Akdemir on Unsplash
FIGS!
It’s time for Tuesday Topics, which I host with Jenn from Runs With Pugs. This week I’m going off-topic and joining Elisabeth in her FIG Collective. FIG= Finding Joy in Gratitude, and Elisabeth (and her trusty band of bloggers) are looking for FIGs throughout the month of February. I’ve got some!!! First of all- if anyone needs an infusion of joy, I’ll arrange to have a kitten sent to you ASAP! Sylvie is just the cutest thing, and we’re constantly laughing at her antics. Here I was, watching the livestream of my son’s concert with my little friend. Muffin is slowly but surely coming around. She and Sylvie don’t interact much, but they tolerate each other. Another FIG has been our weather. I know- I complained a bit about our “cold” spell, but we still have the best weather in the country right now. That is NOT true for most of the year, so during these couple months I make sure to appreciate it. The Super Bowl! We didn’t go all out this year like we sometimes do, but we still made nachos for the big game: … and we were rooting for the Seahawks! I still say the Super Bowl should be moved to Saturday (OR make Super Bowl Monday a holiday) because it’s hard to feel festive on a Sunday night. We did our best, but by the fourth quarter I was scooping the litterbox, putting laundry in the dryer, and getting dishes in the dishwasher. Once it was clear the Seahawks were going to win, I brushed my teeth and got into bed. That alarm goes off early on Monday morning! How about the Olympics? I love that there’s something to look forward to every night. On the Girl Next Door podcast, Kelsey said that she likes the winter Olympics more than summer because of the scenery. It’s true- the scenery for the summer games is a track, swimming pool, or gymnastics arena. It’s fun to see mountains and snow! One last thing, and it might seem silly to consider this a FIG… I love the green cups! The white cups look SO blah after Christmas, so I was delighted to see green cups at Starbucks today. Little things can bring joy, too! Next week’s topic: What habit(s) are you trying to strengthen right now? Link Up With Tuesday Topics Welcome back to Tuesday Topics, as Jenny, from Runners Fly joins Jenn at Runs With Pugs to co-host this link-up! Please join us every week for a new topic! Write on our weekly prompt or choose your own topic! Make sure to add your post to the link up, link back to your hosts, and comment on the other shared posts! You are invited to the Inlinkz link party! Click here to enter Top photo by Tijana Drndarski on Unsplash
Weekly Rundown- Going Long
Well, this week felt long! Not in a bad way- I just have to keep reminding myself that all these things happened in the same week. We had an epic cold snap- I had an epic long run- and my daughter had several events and concerts. It was a lot, but all good. I’m linking up as always with Kim and Deborah for this Weekly Rundown. Here we go… Monday Okay seriously. This was our second morning in a row where the windchill was in the 20s. We’re just not set up for that kind of cold (this was the morning my windshield was iced over and I didn’t know what to do). In the morning I did Caroline Girvan’s deadbug workout, and saved my run for later in the day. I wore a tank top, but that was pushing it. Even in the warm sunshine, it was chilly. 4 happy miles though! Tuesday Third day in a row down to the 30s (once again- this NEVER HAPPENS!) Luckily I had no outdoor plans. I did my hip stability exercises, and an upper body strength workout. Wednesday Long run!!! It was 50 degrees when I started (which I used to think was “cold”, ha! Now I have a whole new perspective). I started in a jacket, but after a couple hours was down to a tank. In Friday’s Coffee Date, I indulged in a little bragging that I ran a marathon. Yes I did- but a 26.2 mile training run on the trail is quite different from running a road marathon. I went slowly, and had several stops at the “aid station” (aka my car) to refill water bottles. I had a rough couple of miles around 23-24, but finished feeling pretty good. There were some sore muscles, but my calf- and all other body parts- held up just fine. Thursday I went to the gym before work and got on the bike. Nothing crazy, just some easy-moderate pedaling to flush out sore muscles. I would have loved to do yoga, but right after work I had to drive my daughter to a jazz band concert. It was a fun event, but we didn’t get home until 10 pm. Oof, that was a long day. Friday First thing in the morning- YOGA, finally. I did Adriene’s yoga for lower back pain. My back really isn’t hurting much, but this is a great release for low back, hamstrings, and hip flexors. Later in the afternoon I got out for a run. My legs weren’t that sore, so I was surprised to find that they were very heavy and tired once I started running. I kept it slow and short- 3 miles. Saturday Once again, I opted for a little more sleep and saved the workouts for later in the day. I did my hip stability exercises, and then, finally, got out for a 4 mile run. Everything felt back to normal, and as I finished the sun was setting and there was a chill in the air. I love it! At night I watched…. the Olympics!!! I think I got in a core workout while watching the downhill skiing. I found myself clenching my abs and leaning from side to side as I watched them barrel down the mountain, ha ha. I always think I’m not going to be interested in the winter sports (compared to the summer) and I’m always wrong. Sunday On tap- sleeping in! Olympics! SUPER BOWL!!! And- a lower body strength workout. It’s hard to figure out where to fit it in when I do a long run in the middle of the week. How was your week? Do you prefer winter or summer Olympics? – I definitely have to go with summer (running! swimming! gymnastics!) but I enjoy the winter games as well. Patriots or Seahawks?- I’m rooting for the Seahawks, but I don’t have a strong opinion either way.
February Coffee Date
It’s the first Friday of the month, which means it’s time to join Coco and Deborah for the Ultimate Coffee Date! Ugh, February- I might have mentioned (oh, a few times), that I’m a Valentine’s Day scrooge. The latest annoyance is that this month’s episode of the Indie Press List from Currently Reading podcast is all romance novels. Grr. Let’s just get past this pink and red heart holiday and on with regular life. The first thing I would share over coffee is that I ran a marathon! Well- not officially, but according to my Garmin. I had a 26 mile run on my schedule, and you better believe I added that extra .2! More details coming up in the Weekly Rundown on Sunday, but for the most part it was a successful run. Let’s move on to the big topic- the weather. We survived our cold snap! We had three nights in a row where we got down in the 30s (the first two nights hitting 32 with windchill temps in the 20s). This is COLD for South Florida! While we’re set up really well for heat, we don’t know what to do with cold weather. Let me give you a couple examples. The first morning, our house was pretty cold so we turned on the heat. At first it blew hot air, but after a few minutes the air coming out was cool. I asked my husband “Does it seem like this isn’t working?” He said “Oh yeah- the last time the AC guy was here he said not to turn the heat on. I forgot about that.” WHAT. I mean- windchill temps in the 20s require a heated house, RIGHT? I grimly got myself prepared for a chilly couple of days, but then we hit on a formula- turn the heat on for a little, then turn it off again, etc. Every time we turned it on it blew hot for a while, enough to take the chill off. Sheesh. The second day of our cold front was Monday. When I went to take my daughter to school, I discovered that my windshield was iced over. This has never, EVER happened to me in South Florida! I was baffled. My daughter said “Can’t you just scrape it off?” Um- with WHAT? It’s not like we own an ice scraper. My husband came out to help. We turned on the wiper fluid and rubbed at the ice vigorously with cloths until it was cleared. Meanwhile, my daughter’s friends were texting that their windshields were iced as well. One of them just turned on the defroster, but had to wait 20 minutes and was late to school. At least we were on time! What would you tell me over coffee? Do you like Valentine’s Day? Romance novels? Do you own an ice scraper?