Hello again! In my last post I talked about a few things going on this week- why not have a quick update? One thing I talked about was…
St Patrick’s Day Dinner
I planned to make soda bread and a vegan Irish stew. I had my grocery list made, and I was looking it over dubiously. I needed one bottle of Guiness- I hope the store sells single bottles. I don’t want a six pack. Seitan… does my grocery store carry it? And vegan worsteshire sauce… hmmm. At that moment my husband said, “by the way, we have three ripe avocados.”
Oh, screw it… let’s just have enchiladas.
As my husband said, “We’re not Irish.” Well, we’re not Mexican either. But that’s beside the point! The point is, we had a delicious dinner, and I had my “pop” instead of a beer. Yum!
The Trip to El Paso
Ha… the odds of this actually happening are slim to none. There’s a chance we’ll be in San Antonio at the beginning of June (there’s a trumpet conference my son would like to attend) but the drive from San Antonio to El Paso is over seven hours. I can just imagine herding my confused family into the car for that trip- “Wait, WHY are we going to El Paso again, Mom?”
However, I’m still enjoying fantasizing about it. I went to Barnes and Noble and sat in the cafe for a while, reading a Texas travel book. Yeah… summer probably isn’t the ideal time to go, but I still find it fascinating that the same state contains drastically different cities- Austin, Waco, Dallas, El Paso… there’s a small possibility that my Mexican-themed St. Patrick’s Day dinner was subconsciously inspired by dreams of Texas.
Reading
The reason I was at Barnes and Noble was to get this book.
Although we have different tastes in fiction, I’m starting to think that for nonfiction, Nicole should just assign me a reading list. She wrote about this book in her last post and I knew I had to read it! I read another book by Pema Chodron a while ago and loved it- this is her latest.
Has anyone else noticed that it’s IMPOSSIBLE to find what you’re looking for at Barnes and Noble? I knew from their website that a copy of this book was available at my store, but finding it was an adventure.
You have to know what category the book fits into- religion? personal growth?- and then there are subsections in each category. I put on my sleuthing cap, but eventually needed a bookseller to help me find it, in the “Eastern religion” section. Someday I will complete my quest to actually find a book on my own in this store!
In other reading news, my library hold of The Maid came in, finally! I have a fun weekend of reading ahead of me.
My left hip continues to be a little wonky this week. It doesn’t hurt while I run, but it’s uncomfortable other times during the day, and it’s hard to find a good sleeping position. In addition to running I’ve been doing lots of yoga this week, which I’m enjoying.
So that’s it! How’s your week going?
Do you get your books from the library? Amazon? A bookstore? – I get most of mine from the library, sometimes Amazon, but I love going to Barnes and Noble every once in a while.
Did you celebrate St. Patrick’s Day?
23 Responses
My books are all audiobooks from the library. I’ve got a few queued up on hold so those will keep me entertained on my long runs! Sorry about your hip. That is super annoying and frustrating when it messes with your sleep!
We just made a 2 hour drive for a keyboard convention for my son (mechanical keyboards). It was kind of like the trumpet event you mentioned!
Yes, that sounds similar! Was the convention of any interest to you at all, or was it purely for your son?
I never listen to audiobooks! I should though- I could get so much listening done on my runs.
Only my son went to the “meetup” – which was a bit odd feeling just dropping off a 16 year old at some place in a strange town! There was a Goodwill Outlet that I knew my daughter would want to go to, so I talked the whole family into going. You know, road trip bonding 😉
I so some audible books for walking and then just order regular books from Amazon. I like the feel of a real book and do not like reading on an E-reader. Enchiladas sound way yummier to me, I do like tempeh and tofu more than seitan for veggie protein. I make batches of tofu in the air fryer and use them all week.
We don’t have an air fryer, although my family is begging me to get one. Air fried tofu sounds so good!
I also like the feel of a real book- I’ve never even tried an e-reader.
The weather was beautiful at the beginning of the week – low 50s and sunny – and all the ice and snow melted! So yesterday I laced up and went for a verrrry slow run outside for the first time all year! Woot! It looks like there’s snow in the forecast for Saturday, so it a temporary feeling of spring, but I’m excited that running outside regularly is going to be an option soon enough.
YAY! That must have been an incredible feeling. I’ll look forward to hearing about your runs!
Lol, that’s totally true – we do have the same non-fiction tastes! I read a fiction book I didn’t enjoy this week, so maybe you’ll like it! Ha!
Hope the hip is okay – hip pain is brutal, I know from experience!
My hip pain is just annoying, although I have had the brutal kind in the past.
Ha ha… I’ll be interested to see what fiction book you didn’t like : )
I’m old fashioned. I still love the library and books.
Enjoy The Maid. I did.
I’ve been to San Antonio for a conference before I was a runner. And it was HOT!!!!
Hope your pain is short lived
Thanks Darlene! You know what’s funny about library books- every time I take one out to read it somewhere (like in the waiting room at my podiatrist) I feel like it screams out “middle-aged woman!” Young people don’t seem to read real books (especially library books) anymore.
I get 95% of my books from the library and borrow 2.5% from friends and buy the final 2.5%. I am just not a “buyer.” Some of it is me being cheap (sad, but true), but the other part is I really only want to buy books I’m going to re-read. Buying books becomes this very special event to me. On the other hand I have a friend who once set a very strict budget with her husband when she was going through law school but they had one exception: there was no limit on what they could spend on books each month!
Oh – and I am all about paper books. I haven’t read a book on a digital device in at least 5 years. Call me old-fashioned, I just love having a tangible book in my hand.
Also – that food looks SO good.
And I hope the hip clears up soon!
I think we are old fashioned, but I agree with you- I want a real book I can hold in my hands. I specifically bought this book because I suspected I might want to highlight parts, and possibly re-read it. Buying books is SO expensive!
Like some off the others,I have to have a real book. I’ve never gotten them”thing” with digital readers, though I do appreciate the impact (or lack there of) they have on the environment. I maybe have 5-10% Irish in me, but I love celebrating St. Patrick’s Day (though the food & beer are not the least appealing,LOL)…I definitely wear all kinds of green, though!
Yes, I can picture you wearing a green outfit for the day! I do like beer, but not as much as I did in my youth. That’s a good point about digital readers having a low impact on the environment- but I still would rather have a real book.
Well now I want to go to El Paso! Oddly my favorite time to go to FL is August, so I’ve got your back on the summer trip. Enchiladas for St. Patty’s sounds fabulous. Enjoy The Maid! I know that I gripped that I felt that the main character was a bit too similar to Eleanor Oliphant but it was still a really good book.
I get almost all of my books from the library via Libby since I prefer to read on the Kindle. Once in a while I’ll bust out my hard earned cash and buy the kindle version if it’s not on LIbby or the wait is too long. I can’t remember the last time that I bought a physical book or went to a bookstore.
We’re opposites in that respect- I ALWAYS read a physical book. Other than that, we have a lot in common. You can join me in my trip to El Paso this summer!
I don’t even think about St. Patrick’s Day!
San Antonio is a fun city. I think your family will enjoy it. We always wanted to go to Big Bend but never made it happen, which makes me sad now. But that’s how TX is . . . there’s a whole lotta nothing between cities. We also had a great time in South Padre (NOT during Spring Break) but that was another long drive.
Definitely an Amazon girl.
Amazon really wins for prices, selection, convenience… hmm, I guess that means they win. The library is free of course, but they don’t always have what I want.
Yes, I would love to go to San Antonio!
We did not celebrate St. Patrick’s Day – never have – although I wouldn’t mind an Irish dinner… but I am also good with enchiladas LOL
I get all my books from the library (digitally) these days, but I do enjoy a nice stroll through Barnes and Noble every once in a while for a book that I’d like to own “physically” .
Yes, i love browsing around the bookstore. But books are so expensive- it’s hard to pay so much when they’re free from the library.
I alwayssss struggle finding the book I’m looking for at Barnes & Noble. Their shelving habits do not make sense to me! I usually just go there to browse but then I find myself with a stack of 10 books and having a hard time deciding which ones to put down – ahh! I read a mix of library books and books I own (which are usually purchased from Amazon, blah. I know I should be buying from indie booksellers but those Amazon prices get me every time!)
Yes, I agree- it’s hard to pay full price when there’s Amazon. Sigh.