Reading and Eating on the Road
On Saturday I had a mini road trip! I drove my daughter to USF in Tampa for a flute clinic. Originally we planned to stay overnight with friends, but since I was still a little sick, we canceled those plans and drove four hours there, and then four hours back at night. For me, it was a reading-themed trip and I loved it. (Well- most of it). To start with, you know how when someone is coughing and sneezing you secretly find it really annoying, even though you know it’s not their fault that they’re sick? Well, my daughter was SUPER annoyed with me, and the only difference is she didn’t feel the need to keep it a secret. She told me “I don’t want to talk to you because your voice sounds so horrible.” She sat in the backseat and put her headphones in. Well, that was just fine with me! I happily put on this episode of the Currently Reading podcast, where Meredith and Kaytee discussed their top ten books of 2024. Even though I don’t usually like Kaytee’s selections, I still enjoy hearing her talk about them. And Meredith and I have more similar reading tastes, so I was intrigued by several of her picks. When we got to Tampa, I dropped my daughter off at the workshop and found a nearby Barnes and Noble! I was surrounded by books, reading about books. I looked up the books from the podcast episode, decided I did want two of them on my TBR, and checked to see if they’re at my library. They are! I browsed a little, but didn’t buy anything. Then I found a nearby Starbucks, got a green tea, and pulled out my book: I finished it! This book had a slow start for me, but by the end I was very glad I read it. It’s kind of like everything you find confusing about quantum physics, made even more mysterious by a fictional spin. In the afterward Cixin Liu says “It’s the seemingly unlikeliest of possibilities in science fiction stories that tend to become reality, so in the end, who knows?” AND, he makes a small tie-in to the Remembrance of Earth’s Past trilogy, which I loved. This one was not as good as the trilogy, but still worth a read. The only thing that was a little sad about this trip was the food situation. Road trips are supposed to have fun snacks and a Coke Zero… right??? Well, not this time. I packed up all my own food: Lunch, snacks, and veggies and hummus for dinner. The only thing I missed was a nice, big fountain drink. But guess what- I did purchase a cup, filled it with ice, and poured in my own green tea, so I still had a beverage! I had a moment of sadness when I was getting the ice, because I could see the Coke Zero just inches away from my cup. But, that sadness quickly went away. Once I was on the road again, sipping my iced green tea, it was fine. So that’s my “hack of the day.” Pay $2.89 for a cup of ice and add your own healthier beverage. It was fun! If you listen to the Currently Reading podcast, do you identify more with Meredith or Kaytee? What’s your favorite road trip snack- Subway sandwich (or, Publix sub), Fritos and Coke Zero. But now right now.
Weekly Rundown- Not the Week I Wanted…
If you read my post on Friday, you know I hit a little bump in the road this week. If you didn’t, then read on! You will hear all about it. Thanks as always to Kim and Deborah for hosting the Weekly Rundown. Here’s how it all went wrong… ER, I mean, how it all went DOWN. That’s what I meant. Sunday THIS was a normal day! I opted to sleep in a little, which meant I ran on the treadmill at the gym. 4 lovely, air conditioned miles! Monday I had planned to go to the gym with my daughter later in the day, but I just wasn’t feeling great. I mean, I rarely get sick, so I didn’t think it could possibly be that. But I just felt kind of… off, and my left eye was super irritated. That’s weird. I ended up making this a day off. Tuesday ARRRRRRRG! I have pink eye! And, a nasty cold to go with it. WHO did this to me??? I demand an explanation! And an apology! After sputtering angrily for a while, I accepted my fate and settled down to read and sleep. Later in the day I started to feel restless though, and I thought of Woody Allen’s line from Annie Hall- “If I get too mellow, I start to ripen and rot.” I needed to do SOMETHING, so I did all my hip stability exercises. That felt good, but I didn’t feel up to much more. Wednesday Okay. Let’s try running. I’m a firm believer that if you CAN run, it will make you feel better. I didn’t have a sore throat and all my symptoms seemed to be from the neck up. I always walk for a five minutes before I start my run, and during that walk my Garmin gave me a “relax” notification- “Your stress levels seem higher than normal.” Wait, I haven’t even started running yet! I’m happy to say, this run was fine. Not amazing, but my breathing felt good- nothing in my lungs. I think overall it helped to get things circulating through (and out of) my body. Thursday Sigh. My eye is still red and irritated, but no longer swollen and weepy. My cold is in that phase where I feel better but sound worse (lots of coughing and nose blowing). Obviously I can’t go to the gym, so I did a lower body workout at home. Friday Still waiting for that eye to get better so I can put in my contacts again! I hate wearing glasses. Another run, this time 4 miles. I have to admit it was tiring- but I was still glad I did it. Saturday After so much sitting around this week, I spent the day… sitting in the car. I took my daughter to USF (in Tampa) to attend a flute workshop. She’ll be a junior next year so we have to start thinking about colleges! I wanted her to meet the flute teacher at USF and see if they like each other. The drive is four hours each way (ack) so the original plan was to stay overnight with friends. Under the circumstances, that didn’t seem like a good idea (I’m better, but probably not well enough to sleep in someone else’s house). So we drove there and back the same day. Sunday On tap for today- well, I have to do SOMETHING after all that sitting! The question is… am I ready for the gym? Is the gym ready for me? Or will it be a hot outdoor run? A workout will happen. How was your week? Have you ever had pink eye? Do you like road trips? – I do! Driving eight hours was a lot, but I still enjoyed it. Top photo by Marija Zaric on Unsplash
A Little Reset
Hey, how’s your summer going? Mine is CRAPPY. I’ve been sick all week with a cold and pinkeye (arrrrg!) The universe is definitely trying to tell me something. Possibly, “I hate you,” OR, it could be “Slow down and rest.” Since I had no choice- pinkeye isn’t really something I can power through, given my job- I’ve been resting. And reading! On Tuesday I finished Gone With the Wind, and then Wednesday I read an entire Agatha Christie book, Lord Edgware Dies. There’s something so fun about reading an entire book in one day. I don’t usually get to do it, so it was a treat. THEN, on Wednesday night I was presented with a BOOKISH DILEMMA. I saw that my library hold of Anthony Horowitz’s Marble Hall Murders was ready for me. Hooray! I’ve been eagerly waiting for that one. The problem was- I had finished my Agatha Christie earlier in the day, and I couldn’t get the Anthony Horowitz until the next day. That left me an entire evening to either a) start a different book, or b) read nothing at all. Well, option B was unacceptable, so I reluctantly started Ball Lightning. This is one of the books my son “assigned” me to read before our road trip in July. I wasn’t really in the mood for it (I really wanted that Anthony Horowitz!) but it turns out to be an easy read, much easier than the Remembrance of Earth’s Past trilogy (which I did absolutely love- it was just some dense reading at times). I’ll finish it, and then dive into the Anthony Horowitz. So, I’ve been enjoying my extra reading time. Other than that, there’s something supremely irritating about just loafing around the house. Especially since everyone else has also been home- this coincided with my husband having several days off, and my daughter’s best friend is in camp this week, so she’s also just hanging out. This COULD be fun, if we were a different family, and if I weren’t highly contagious. As it is I’m trying not to infect anyone else with this. My daughter is probably pretty safe, since she refuses to touch anything I’ve touched, including the cats. My diet is still going strong. I was amused to see that sneaky, undermining part of my brain snap into action. “Oh, you poor thing. This doesn’t seem fair- you’ve been sticking so closely to this diet, you deserve to feel good and instead you feel so awful! Maybe you should have a little treat…” OH NO YOU DON’T, Sneaky Brain! I’m not falling for that. The diet continues. Every time I get sick, I’m struck by how great my normal, everyday life actually is. Maybe I just need a little reset every once in a while to remind myself of that. I’m definitely hoping to start next week with a clean bill of health and a positive attitude. How would you spend your time if you were stuck at home for several days? – Besides reading, I did plenty of sleeping and a little bit of cleaning. Just a little.
READING!
I finished it!!! Birchie and I did a buddy read of Gone With the Wind– we both started it June 1st. Instead of setting any page-per-day goals, we just decided to start reading and see what happened. Well, we both loved it so much we whipped through it, finishing this 1000 page book in a little over a week- within hours of each other! I got a text from her- “DONE” as I was sitting on my couch reading the last 20 pages. I had no idea I would love it so much. I guess I thought it was a romance novel set in the Confederate South, and, well- yuck. I was so, so wrong. Yes, there was romance- and drama, and so much history. So much I didn’t know about the Civil War, plantation life, slavery, and Reconstruction. Of course- this is all through the eyes of Margaret Mitchell. Mitchell was born in Georgia in 1900. Both her grandfathers fought for the Confederate army in the war. Gone With the Wind is not a history book, but I assume she based it on the history of her area as her parents and grandparents saw it. Obviously it’s not the whole truth, but I wouldn’t trust an actual history book to give me the whole truth either. I loved Scarlett’s heartless, scheming ways- the only way a smart, ambitious woman could get ahead and take care of herself at that time. If I had read this book 16 years ago, my daughter’s name might now be Scarlett. Two shoutouts- first to Engie, who read this book a few months ago and talked about it in a way that made me realize I was missing out. And… to Elisabeth’s father, who always reads the last page of a book first. Even though I had never read this or seen the movie, I knew how it ended. Has anyone NOT heard Rhett’s iconic last line of Gone With the Wind? Moving on! I have a Summer TBR. None of these books has anything to do with summer- they’re just books that have come to my attention right now for one reason or another: The last three are library holds, and I’m waiting with bated breath, because I’m #2 on the list for the Anthony Horowitz! In the meantime… I needed a palette cleanser after Gone With the Wind, something quick and easy. On the Currently Reading podcast, Meredith is going through all the Hercule Poirot Agatha Christies. She recently read this one: She said it was one of Christie’s personal favorites, and considered by Christie experts to be one of her best. WELL! I couldn’t resist. I know I read it (a long time ago) but I don’t remember the plot, so I’m hoping it won’t come back to me as I read. Even if it does, I’ll still enjoy the reread. Do you know how Gone With the Wind ends?- There’s a famous last line by Rhett, and another by Scarlett- somehow I knew both of them. Do you have a summer TBR?