5 Fun Things
1. They’re here!!! Could there be anything more fun than the Starbucks holiday cups? Every year I’m excited to see the new designs. The crazy thing is… I don’t even get the fancy drinks. I just keep drinking my Earl Grey tea- but out of a festive cup. Speaking of which… 2. Hello, Christmas mugs! My fall mugs at home suddenly looked so blah… so I got out the Christmas mugs! So bright and cheery. 3. I ordered a planner! My At-A-Glance planner was perfectly adequate this year, but I wanted something a little more luxurious for 2026. I think I’m really going to like this one- I’ll report back when it arrives! 4. This podcast… On the Currently Reading podcast, Meredith and Roxana are doing a series of deep dives into Louise Penny’s books. This month they discussed The Long Way Home, which happens to be the last one I read. I like Louise Penny but don’t LOVE her like a lot of people do. Interestingly, it seems this book was not a favorite for many people, but I liked it. Meredith and Roxana’s discussion was so thoughtful and interesting, it’s giving me a new and different appreciation for Louise Penny! Now I want to read the next book in the series, so I’m ready for the next episode. Speaking of books… 5. This book is fun! Phew- I was worried it would be TOO light and frivolous- but so far it’s just right. Not great literature, but well-written enough, with lots of fun plot lines to keep me reading. It’s exactly what I needed right now. Do you like the Starbucks seasonal drinks? What do you think of the cups this year? Are you reading or listening to anything fun right now?
Thoughts on Recent Posts
You guys, I’m REALLY enjoying NaBloPoMo so far! I’m reading as many posts as I can every day (my apologies- I don’t get to every single one of them, but I am trying to hit them all as the month goes on) and the posting/responding to comments doesn’t feel as overwhelming this year. Kae has written a couple posts recently that I keep thinking about. The first was this one about finding the time to work out. She has ambitious goals of strength training 5x a week and doing cardio as well, and was wondering why it was so hard to fit that in on top of her full time job and caring for her family. I don’t remember who originally said it, but this is true: “You can have it all, but not all at the same time.” Kae has two teen boys who are heavily involved in school and extracurricular activities. In her comment section I pointed out that in a few years, her boys will be off to college, and at that point she will probably have all the time she wants to spend on her workouts. This is something I have to remind myself. My son is in grad school right now, and my daughter is a junior in high school. There are days when I seem to spend SO MUCH TIME shuttling her from one thing to another, or listening to her practice flute, or talking about her latest school dramas. At the end of the day I’ll think “hey, how come I didn’t have time for yoga today?” Then I have to remind myself that this phase will end- and I’ll miss having her at home. i want to soak it all up while I can. In another post, Kae talked about the pressures to volunteer for school/sports events. Does it seem like a lot more is expected of parents these days? I don’t remember my own parents driving me all over the place and spending hours and hours volunteering at various band events… because they, um, WORKED. Now it seems like all these activities are heavily dependent on parental involvement. Here’s a perfect example- my daughter made the all state band, hooray! And here’s what that means for me: I have to take three (unpaid) days off of work to go with her to Tampa as her chaperone, and pay for a hotel. I’m not complaining! I enjoy this trip. But when I went to all state in high school, the school provided our transportation and chaperone. . My parents stayed home (again, because they worked!) This is just one of many, many examples of where the parents are expected to drive and/or accompany the kids to events. AND- we pay a “fair share” payment every year of $550 for our kids to be in the band. This goes to cover… expenses? Again- I’m not complaining. I’m just pointing out that it seems very different from when I was in high school. I’m wondering if this is a sign of the times? Or is it different in different parts of the country? In Florida we pay no state income tax, so maybe we get less from the schools? I guess that’s fair enough, but I don’t think this is just a Florida thing. By the way, I know I get off easy having kids in band. From what I hear, the financial and time commitments for travel sports teams (and competitive dance, EEK) are absolutely insane. If you have kids, do you think things are very different from when you were growing up? Did your parents spend a lot of time at school events? Top photo by Markus Winkler on Unsplash
Let the Joy Begin!
When does the Christmas season start for you? I used to be a stickler about not starting Christmas until after Thanksgiving. I think that was good when the kids were little- the months of November and December seem so long to them, it would be confusing to take out Christmas decorations on November 1st. But now, I’ve realized waiting until after Thanksgiving makes no sense for me. Thanksgiving is so late- by the time it’s over, it’s practically December, and then I’m trying to cram everything in. Instead of truly enjoying my favorite season, I feel rushed and frantic. I’m not saying I’ve decorated the house or anything like that. But I’m taking a page from Nicole and her Tiny Secret Festive Season. I no longer resist Christmas in November! I’m embracing it. Today I had a very fun trip to the mall. Every year I love browsing through The Container Store’s “Giftwrap Wonderland.” I didn’t buy anything (for reasons which are coming up) but just looking made me very happy. Then, it was on to Bath and Bodyworks! This time, I did buy things! The one-wick candles and the hand soap were on sale. According to my daughter, it just wouldn’t be Christmas without the Twisted Peppermint foaming hand soap, and I got two candles: The soap and candy cane candle will be put away for a couple weeks (we’re still using up our pumpkin soap) but I’ll light the “Leaves” candle right away! Then I stopped at Sprouts, where I spotted these: I didn’t get any, because we still have a pumpkin spice creamer in the fridge (note to self- chug that ASAP so I can get the peppermint mocha!) One thing I’m determined to do this month- and I wrote it in my planner way back in January- is to GO THROUGH THE CHRISTMAS BINS. Last January, I was disgruntled and depressed (I hate when I have to put the Christmas things away) and I just threw things in haphazardly, knowing that I would regret it later. If I can find the time this month, I want to go through them and get more organized, possibly getting rid of some things we don’t use anymore. I may not get to all of them, but at least I’m going to go through my wrapping paper. I know I bought some last year after Christmas. I CANNOT buy anything new until I see what I have- I can just picture paying full price for something I got on clearance last January. Also, Christmas cards- last week I was looking at cards in Barnes and Noble, picked up a box thinking “Oh, these are cute!” and then had the nagging suspicion that I ALREADY OWN THEM. I distinctly remember buying cards after Christmas last year. A big thanks to San for hosting NaBloPoMo! Check out this page for a list of participants. If you celebrate Christmas, are you getting excited yet? Or is it too early? If you don’t celebrate Christmas, is it SUPER ANNOYING to see Christmas things in all the stores before Halloween? Top photo by Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash
Reading!
I finally finished this book: It was SO GOOD. The main character, Alex, has been recruited to join Lethe, an organization that monitors eight secret societies at Yale. These eight “houses” are able to employ some sinister magic, and Lethe is supposed to ensure that things don’t get out of control. But then there’s a murder, and a coverup, and Alex takes it upon herself to find out what happened. It’s a mystery, with lots and lots of magic woven into the story. I really, really loved that part of it. And I loved the writing except for one thing. Alex constantly communicates with people via quippy comebacks, which seemed out of place and took me out of the story a little. It just didn’t seem to fit in with the tone of the rest of the book. I liked the book enough to want to read more by this author- I hope the jokey one-liner isn’t a thing in all her books. But I’m willing to find out. (I just realized Hell Bent is a sequel to Ninth House! I want to find out what happens! But then I have to deal with more of Alex’s one-liners… sigh). I also finished… I read this for Engie’s book club, which meant I read one section per week, interspersed with the other books I was reading at the same time. I’m wondering if it would have been better to read it continuously, rather than putting it down for a week at a time and then coming back to it. I was a little confused about which daughter went to which mother, and kept forgetting their backstories. But! I eventually gave up on that, and read it more as a collection of short stories that were loosely connected, and I really enjoyed it that way. The writing is beautiful, and I got engrossed in each story as I read it. I’m really glad we read it for book club (although I didn’t vote for this one) because I wouldn’t have picked it up otherwise. Now I have a conundrum! My plan was to start The Hallmarked Man by Robert Galbraith. I LOVE the whole series, and have been looking forward to reading this one. But, my mind was so scattered while reading Ninth House- I was frustrated that I couldn’t spend more time reading, and that took away a little enjoyment of the book. I don’t want the same thing to happen with The Hallmarked Man! Maybe I need to save it for January? Or, I could save it for Christmas Day- that would be fun. Instead I picked up this one: One of the books on my holiday TBR. I’m guessing this will be an easy, fun read that won’t take a lot of brainpower, and if I’m distracted by NaBloPoMo and can’t dedicate all my attention to it… that’s okay. What are you reading? Have you read Ninth House? Should I read the sequel? Top photo by Sincerely Media on Unsplash