Exciting News!
Meet our new family member!!! He is the PERFECT CAT FOR US! I absolutely love orange tabbies. He’s six months old, so not a tiny kitten, but not big enough to be too threatening to our other cats. The rescue organization named him “Dude”, but we’re planning to change that. Here’s a tip- letting your kids choose a pet’s name can backfire on you. You might remember that we had to talk our daughter out of naming our older, black cat “Beyonce” (luckily we landed on Charlotte). Now that my daughter is a teenager, she wants to name our pets after video game characters, and the names make no sense to me. So far her suggestions have been Tenna, Captain Spaceboy, and Virovirocun. Arrrrrg! My choice would be “Hobbes” but Angie has vetoed that (SIGH!) So the name is TBD at this point. Cross you fingers for me that we don’t end up with anything too bizarre. So far Muffin and Charlotte are… not thrilled. “Dude” is sequestered in my son’s (now vacant) room while we’re not home. While I’m home he’s roaming the house, and there has been some hissing on the part of the girls- but nothing too aggressive, so I’m hopeful everyone will settle down soon. After that, all other news will be anticlimactic, but I will report I bought the plane tickets for my Chicago trip! I’m be there in mid-October, and let’s see some great fall weather, okay, Illinois??? I’m flying in on a Friday morning and back on Sunday- so it will be quick. But just enough time to see my son’s house and hang out with him (and my sister) a little. I’m excited! The third piece of news is that I got a fun package in the mail from Julie. She sent a card and some EARL GREY TEA. All Earl Grey is not created equal! Some has a disappointing lack of bergamot flavor. As soon as I opened this package, I could smell bergamot wafting out at me, so I knew this tea would be good… AND IT IS! I’ve been enjoying it very much. What should we name the cat?-Don’t try to suggest “Pumpkin”- my husband already tried that and my daughter shot it down.
Books! (I Have a Great One…)
I read three books last week. The first two were mysteries. First up: This was good! Two detectives are called to investigate a murder that has taken place in a house on a private island. A major storm is underway, and various other plot points make this a “locked island” mystery- i.e., you know the killer has to be one of the seven or eight people in the house that night. I mean- this wasn’t a literary masterpiece. But I liked the character of the main detective, a woman working through some of her own past trauma, and I liked the fact that it was truly a mystery. You don’t know who the killer was until the end. Fun read. Next up was this one… You know, I really have to be more discerning in my book choices. This book was… okay. It’s a police procedural that takes place in New Zealand. There’s a lot of backstory about the main detective (again, a woman) which I like. But there were two things I didn’t like about it. One- it wasn’t a mystery. By the middle of the book, we know who the killer is, the detectives know who the killer is, and it’s just a question of whether they’ll catch him before he kills again. I started to feel a little bored- I was PRETTY SURE the killer wasn’t going to murder a zillion people and then get away, so I felt like I knew the ending- I didn’t know all the details, but I had the basic idea. Second… this is tricky because I don’t want to come off as a spoiled, superficial woman steeped in white privilege, but here we go. The plot is VERY heavy on Maori history- the lead detective is Maori, and the motivation of the killer ties in with the way the indigenous people were screwed over. I kind of just wanted a mystery… and the fact that indigenous people were treated terribly wasn’t exactly a shocking discovery to me. Get ready for this next one: It was kind of like the universe heard me complaining about predictable endings, and sent this one my way. IT IS SO SO SO SO SO SO GOOD! The basic plot is this: A plane flying from Paris to JFK hits a bizarre patch of turbulence, emerges unscathed, only to land and discover that… this exact planeload of people already landed 100 days ago. It’s a mystery (as in, what the heck is going on?) and fantasy (as in, this can’t happen in real life!) There are philosophical and theological questions, as well as practical (what are we going to do with 200 people who now have an exact duplicate?) The writing is incredible. The book starts with introducing about 10 characters, which isn’t normally something I like. Each character has a short chapter. By the end of the chapter I was totally immersed in each person’s life and felt like I knew them so well. Later on when they all started interacting with each other (because, they were all on the same flight) I had that feeling you get when you see your kid’s teacher at the grocery store. Wait- Victor is talking to Lucie? Oh, David is the pilot! In spite of the bizarre setup, every person felt real to me. The ending… in a million years, you would not be able to predict this ending. I actually had to google “What happened at the end of The Anomaly?” I had my own idea, but wanted to see what other people had to say. But don’t let that put you off- the ending was ambiguous, but also perfect. What are you reading now? Who has read The Anomaly? Top photo by Abinash Jothimani on Unsplash
It’s ALMOST Time…
I mentioned in Sunday’s post that it’s “Pumpkin Preseason.” I almost got out my fall decor, but decided to wait until next weekend. But hey, if you’re like Jenn and already putting up Halloween decs, more power to you! On Saturday we decided to have the first festive football dinner of the season. I made “burgers” from my anti-candida cookbook, and one of the ingredients was pumpkin puree. I made sweet potato fries to go with them, and had my burger on a Hero bun. Not technically on my diet because they have wheat, but they have zero carbs so I felt okay with it. I also had a non-alcoholic beer! We ate while watching the Dolphins game. On Sunday, I had some pumpkin to use up, so I made the first pumpkin pancakes of the season! I used this recipe from Running on Real Food, which uses chickpea flour. I know they look weird, but throw in lot of pumpkin spice, and they tasted good to me. That little bowl contains “pumpkin cream”, a suggested topping from the recipe. I mixed pumpkin puree with some vanilla protein powder and thinned it with a little water. It was good! (I almost got out my “Crazy Pumpkin Lady” mug, but once again decided it was a little too early). While I was eating, I got an email from Bath and Bodyworks alerting me that it was the last day of their candle sale. I have a gift card for that store, so off I went! I LOVE sniffing all the candles! And I love their names. I wanted to get this one, but didn’t really like the way it smelled. I ended up with this one: AND, while I was standing in line, the woman in front of me said “I have a coupon I’m not going to use, do you want it?” It was for a free item- YES I DID. The free item had to be less than $10 so I couldn’t use it for my candle. I went back and picked up this hand soap: I had a fun time, and, thanks to my gift card and coupon, spent zero dollars. Except for the money I spent on an Earl Grey tea from Starbucks, which was obviously worth every cent. Do you like scented candles and soap? – This is the best time of year for them! Do you decorate for fall/Halloween? Top photo by Gabby Orcutt on Unsplash
Weekly Rundown- Preseason Vibes
We’re into football preseason! But it’s also “cozy preseason” and “spooky preseason.” I’m starting to see articles and advertisements advising me to “get ready for cozy/spooky season” and I’m all for it!!! I am READY! When we left off last week I was cautiously nursing a cranky hip… and it was better this week. I kept up my hip exercises and made my runs a little shorter, and it’s going well. I’m linking up as always with Kim and Deborah for this Weekly Rundown. Let’s see how I kicked off the preseason! Monday 3 mile run, EARLY. This was the first run where I needed a headlamp since last May. I don’t mind running in the dark- at least it’s a little cooler. Tuesday I started the day with the Caroline Girvan deadbug workout, then did my hip stability exercises. Coco asked me to share them- I’ll include them in another post, but I focus a lot on the muscles on the side of my hips (glute medius, glute minimus and TFL) because that’s where I feel weak on my left side. Wednesday I don’t work on Wednesdays, so after I dropped my daughter at school I went to a park with a cross country trail. 6 hot miles- but my hip felt good. Thursday Leg day at the gym, and hip stability exercises. Here I am once again at the squat bar. Friday Another early 3 mile run. It’s pitch dark when I start, but the sun rises while I’m out there. Later in the day I did a little bit of upper body strength. I’ve been so focused on my legs and hips, I forget all about upper body. Honestly, it’s hard to make myself care, but I know I need it. Saturday Another 3 mile run before work Yay! I ran two days in a row and my hip did well. Later in the day I did my hip stability exercises again. At night I watched the Dolphins game, woohoo! The first can of pumpkin has also made an appearance… Sunday On tap for today… sleeping in! Pumpkin pancakes! Reading… and if I’m really good, I’ll do some upper body strength. How was your week? Are you excited for football/cozy/spooky preseason?