Recent Reads
Oof. October was a rough reading month. At the end of September I finished a very long book that I loved (The Ink Black Heart by Robert Galbraith) and was having an issue with my library card. It had to be renewed, in person, and in the meantime the library was not allowing me to place any holds. As I finished The Ink Black Heart I realized I had NOTHING TO READ. It was an emergency! I rushed to the library, renewed my card (phew! life can continue!) and grabbed these two books: I read somewhere that Liane Moriarty’s favorite author is Elizabeth Berg. This kind of surprises me. I mean, if I’m going to say someone’s my favorite author, then I want to be gasping with surprise at plot twists and/or crying because I’m so moved (hello, J.K. Rowling.) Like all Elizabeth Berg books, this one was fun. I got immediately engrossed in the character’s lives and wanted to know what would happen in the end. And, a couple months from now I probably won’t remember anything about it (it’s about a group of people going to their 40th high school reunion.) It was an enjoyable read, but nothing life-changing. Binti. I really wanted to love this one, and there were things I did love. The world-building is incredible and there were fascinating aspects to it. I just… I guess I wanted a more intricate plot. I was reading this during a stressful time and I think I needed a book that was more un-put-downable, if you know what I mean. NGS highly recommends this book, and I trust her recommendations. But she also said the first book in the trilogy was the best, so I ended up only reading that part. At that point, a library hold came in, and I switched over to this: I first saw this book on Modern Mrs. Darcy, and it sounded intriguing. When I looked on Amazon, one of the reviewers said it was the best book he’s ever read in his life. Well! I take Amazon reviews with a grain of salt, but that’s quite a recommendation. Babel is described as “historical fantasy.” It reads so much like real historical fiction, with magical elements that are woven so seamlessly into the story that you have to remind yourself, “No- that part couldn’t really happen.” I can’t say it’s the best book I’ve ever read in my life, but then, I’m not finished yet. The ending could possibly be incredible, and shoot it right up there. I’ll let you know. So, last month was really a reading slump. Between the problem with my library card and everything else going on in my life, I didn’t even get through three books- honestly, I can’t even think of what I was doing other than reading, so I’m not really sure how that happened. But I’m ready to kick things into gear for November! What’s the best book you’ve read lately?
November Coffee Date- THEY’RE HERE!!!
You guys, I’ve been spending a little too much time at Starbucks lately. My daughter has had some evening rehearsals that are far enough away that it doesn’t make sense to drive back and forth- so I drop her off and find a nearby Starbucks where I can sit and work on NaBloPoMo. Anyway, Wednesday evening at 8 pm I was the only customer left in Starbucks- I looked up from my computer and saw the employees UNWRAPPING THE HOLIDAY CUPS, GASP! Imagine my excitement! As always, there are several different designs, and each year I have a favorite (too early to tell which is my favorite this year though.) So, obviously you have to run immediately to your nearest Starbucks, get yourself a festive beverage in a holiday cup (or you can be like me and just get tea in the holiday cup) and join Coco and Deborah for our monthly coffee date. If we were having coffee (tea) together, I would remind you that I’ve been having a rocky time with my daughter. Back in September she auditioned on flute for the Florida All-State band, and has been on pins and needles ever since. This is a really important event for these kids, and as an eighth grader it was her first time auditioning. She had self-imposed added pressure, because my son was a little superstar at that age, and made All-State five years in a row, starting in eighth grade. I don’t think a day has gone by since the audition that she hasn’t reminded me, “PAUL made it in eighth grade.” Yes, the last month has been extra-stressful but on Tuesday we found out she not only made All-State, but was selected to be the only piccolo player! We’re elated and so proud of her- but mostly we’re RELIEVED. The tension has reduced dramatically in our house, and I’m riding this wave of euphoria as long as I can… until the next crisis. In other news, remember my car accident? Well, I had to do traffic school in order to avoid getting points on my license. OBVIOUSLY, I chose the online option, and it was actually pretty entertaining. I would love to meet the person who put this course together. At the start we’re informed, “Driving each day will give you hours and hours of boredom, with a few seconds of sheer horror.” Um… okay. Then there was a video about a teenager who got drunk, got behind the wheel of his car, caused an accident and now has permanent brain damage. This was followed by a little quiz: “Jared made some poor choices regarding drinking and driving: true, or false?” Ah. Well, I’m a very good test taker, so I had no problem with these “tricky” questions. Here’s another little gem: “Let’s say the car you are driving is a compact and you are driving 40 mph. Let’s say the other vehicle is an 18-wheel tractor-trailor, with 300 overweight pigs on board, coming in the opposite direction at the same speed…” Wait a minute! 300 overweight pigs??? You really have to wonder if the person who wrote this was just extremely bored, or if they truly thought this was the best way to get their point across. While it was amusing, I can’t say I learned much from traffic school, other than DON’T GET INTO ANY MORE STUPID ACCIDENTS. Believe me… I’m the most careful driver on the roads these days. The last thing I would share if we were having coffee together is how much I’m looking forward to the weekend. Sunday is the NYC Marathon AND we finally turn the clocks back, woohoo! And there will be plenty of football- Baylor game on Saturday, and Sunday the Dolphins play the Bears. The icing on the cake is, Sunday is National Nachos Day. My sister and I will be rivals on Sunday (she lives in Chicago) but we’re both going to make nachos for the big game. Fun stuff! If we were having coffee together I would ask if you’ve ever gone to traffic school? Do you like watching football? What are you looking forward to this weekend? Don’t forget to make nachos on Sunday!
Wednesday Wanderings
Welcome to NaBloPoMo Day #3! I know… today is Thursday. But Wednesday is my favorite day of the week because it’s my day off. I do grumble when I have to go to work on Saturdays, but it’s a fair trade-off. I love having a day to myself in the middle of the week! Here’s how yesterday played out… with a couple short rants thrown in for the fun of it. I dropped my daughter off at school at 7:45 and continued on to a park with a cross country trail where I ran five miles. This is a real luxury for me in the middle of the week- all my other weekday runs are done in the semi-darkness near my house. After a quick stop at home to shower and change, I went to Starbucks and sat for a couple hours drinking tea and appreciating the free wifi. Anyone who’s doing NaBloPoMo knows that it’s actually a lot of work! It’s not just publishing a post every day, but also reading everyone else’s and commenting. Luckily this is “work” that I love so I enjoyed this time. Then I went to Walgreens to pick up my thyroid medication. I’ve been taking meds for hypothyroidism for the past sixteen years. It is insanely expensive- for a long time I paid around $50 a month, while my insurance kicked in $6. Ahem. THEN I discovered GoodRx. It’s a free app- you just put in your prescription and it pulls up a coupon for you. I now get a three month supply for what I used to pay for ONE month. Yay for GoodRx! Here comes the first rant… I’ve been wanting to get the shingles vaccine so I asked the pharmacist about it. I’m over 55 so insurance pays for it… right? She explained that it varies from one insurance to another. There can be a co-pay. Oh, okay- could you run it through MY insurance and tell me what I would have to pay? After several attempts, the answer to that was no- she couldn’t seem to get that pulled up for me at the moment. WHY. WHY is it that no one can ever tell me how much a medical procedure/shot/office visit is actually going to cost? The answer always seems to be, they’ll run it through insurance and let me know what my payment is afterwards. Would you drive your car to the gas station without knowing the price per gallon and just fill up your tank? “Oh, we’ll run it through your auto insurance and then let you know how much it is later.” No! You wouldn’t. For everything else it seems reasonable to know how much it costs beforehand- but not healthcare. I left Walgreens without scheduling a shot, and let me tell you, if I get shingles now I’m blaming them. Next up- voting! Early voting was conveniently held at my library, so I returned a couple books first… Voting was quick and easy, and now I don’t have to worry about it next Tuesday, when I have to work. With a glow of accomplishment, I headed home for a nap. I’m a big napper, and my favorite thing to do on a day off is take a nap on the couch with my cat. Not Charlotte (er, Beyonce) who I wrote about yesterday. This is my extra-snuggly calico cat. As soon as she sees me lie down on the couch she runs towards me, meowing excitedly. It’s the cutest thing in the entire world- and there’s nothing more soothing than a nap with a cat curled up next to you. After that refreshing nap, I had to clean the house. I’ve had evening activities the last few nights (more about that next, second rant coming up!) and that’s all it takes for the house to fall apart. I did laundry, ran the dishwasher, and generally tidied. The Halloween decorations are still up, but that’s going to have to be a job for another day. I picked my daughter up from school and we had to rush off to an evening rehearsal. I’m always astonished by how much the parents are expected to do nowadays for school activities. You’ll get a notification like “Congratulations! Your child has been selected for the all-county jazz band!” and then there will be a list of rehearsals and performances, and it’s your responsibility to provide transportation. It’s always far away, and some of them are during the day. I mean… what if you WORK? Don’t get me wrong- I’m grateful for these opportunities for my kids, but it seems like when we were in school, if there was an extra event, the school provided a bus. My parents certainly didn’t change their work schedules to chauffeur us around in the middle of the day. In this case, I had to get off work early one day, and the other rehearsals are in the evening or, next week, during the day on Wednesday. I think the answer to this conundrum is that the schools don’t have enough funding now to provide things like extra transportation. And luckily my kids are into music- my friends with kids who do travel soccer tell me that’s much, much worse. It’s hard to be a parent these days! So last night found me at another Starbucks, again taking advantage of the wifi while I waited for my daughter. While I was there they started unboxing something VERY EXCITING, which I will reveal in tomorrow’s coffee date… can you guess what it is?
Halloween 2022… aka “Charlotte’s Big Day.”
Welcome to #NaBloPoMo2022! Thanks as always to our fearless leader, San. Check out her page for a list of bloggers participating! I’m a little sad Halloween is over. I love holidays, and this is my favorite time of year. I love Thanksgiving and Christmas too, but time slips by so quickly this time of year. I hate that one holiday is already over. We have a beautiful black cat, Charlotte, and we always joke that Halloween is her “big day.” In reality, she has no idea what’s going on and actually probably hates Halloween because of all the knocking at the door. But we persist! We like to call this one her terrifying Halloween pose: We have a black cat theme going on with our decorations. As a matter of fact I’m not allowed to buy any more Halloween decorations, unless it involves a black cat- then I can buy whatever I want. We adopted Charlotte about five years ago. Her foster mom named her “Selene” but my daughter had a friend with that name which seemed kind of awkward. So I told the kids they could choose whatever name they wanted…. and my daughter really, REALLY wanted to name her “Beyonce.” LUCKILY, my son absolutely refused to name our cat Beyonce. They argued about it for a while but he was adamant, and they eventually agreed on Charlotte. PHEW. You know how when you go to the vet, they call you in by your pet’s name? Every time that happens I imagine them calling out “Beyonce?” and how I would cringe as everyone looked on in amusement. Nowadays my son is in college and my daughter goes trick-or-treating with friends, and doesn’t want her picture on the internet. My days of cute costume photos are over! But here’s a flashback to second grade. At her school, instead of a “Halloween” party, they had a “Vocabulary Parade,” where everyone picked a vocabulary word and dressed accordingly. Time to put away the Halloween decorations and get ready for Thanksgiving! Do you celebrate Halloween? Do you decorate your house? Are you a cat person or a dog person? – We’ve always had cats.