TGIF!

It's been awhile since I was able to post one of these!  I tend to remember them on Monday's or Tuesdays ha.

The high of my week was painting part of the outside of our house.  Our house was built in two parts a decade or so apart.  So the bottom have has a concrete look and above is siding.  The concrete part REALLY needed a paint fix up so we painted it on Tuesday after about a week of postponing due to weather.  Hopefully weather permitting this weekend we can do the floor of our porch and the tops of our steps! It looks so good now and starts the slippery slope of now our siding looks like it needs a touch up! New siding is a wish list, but first comes our central air (being installed NEXT FRIDAY), then new windows.. then dealing with siding and or an addition.

we also took a trip to one of our favorite local places after school this week

The low of my week was the slow process after you've gone so long neglecting yourself via eating/working out and no immediate improvements.  

my mug after a walk this week

The book I am reading is The Last Town on Earth by Thomas Mullen.  I went to start this last week but had to finish another book for the library first.  So far I really like it.  It's about a closed off town in Washington State during the flu epidemic of 1918.  

A Recipe I made was Chicken pesto sandwich! I took canned chicken and mixed with with pesto.  I cut up radishes and onions to put it on and then ate it on bread.  It was delicious! I can't wait to make it again this summer and add some mozzarella and tomatoes!

The best money I spent was a new hat for the beach/boat this summer.  I've wanted this hat since I saw it last summer on Zulily and they had it in stock again this year in the color combo I wanted.  I'm excited for it to get here!

My plans this weekend include probably putting up our pool.  We were supposed to have a day date tomorrow going kayaking down the river but the weather is not looking good so we may go downtown and have a few drinks instead.  This is probably one of the last few non-crazy weekends for awhile.  My husband got poison ivy this week so I'm not sure how much more yard work we will get done but we have to finish pulling out a bush/tree for the ac to go next week.  A bonfire if it's not too rainy.  And possibly just having a night sitting on the porch listening to the police scanner and talking.  A lot of this is weather dependent.  If all else fails we may just clean and watch movies ha.

What are you reading? Any fun weekend plans?

Finally!!!

Last June, there was a very sudden rainstorm that drenched our local area.  I forget the specifics but inches of rain fell over night.  We luckily slept through the ENTIRE thing.  We woke up and nothing seemed abnormal to us until we looked out the south side windows of our house.  We were 'lakefront' and we live in farm country ha.  At the corner which is a house away from us the road was under water.  Further down our road it was washed out.  The way I took to get to the main road had lawns covered in water.  We actually had gotten water in the very corner of our basement but wouldn't notice it until later.  Luckily, nothing was damaged.  We were lucky.

In my town, many roads were under water.  Neighborhoods had were full of ruined basements.  Because there was also a sewer backup.  For months, you could be in some neighborhoods and contents would be on lawns.  It was horrific.  Our mall and supermarket parking lots were underwater.  It was just incredibly crazy.  Roads would be open one minute and closed the next.  Our HIGHWAY closed.  It was also the weekend my SIL was getting married and our route was okay on the way there, but coming home we got trapped on a dirt road off a dirt road and powered through because we were looking at MILES of back tracking.  When we got home after her rehearsal our road was closed because water was over a bridge  and THANK GOODNESS we lived on the south side of it or we'd have been out of lock for 48 hours and no wedding clothes. 

this is supposed to be a ditch and then a farm field

This is a lot of backstory to lead up to one of the most devastating community wide losses.  Our local library's lower floor had extensive damage.  The lower level is all of the amazing kids and teens area.  It happened right at the beginning of the summer reading program.  It was over $1.5 million dollars in damage and no insurance covered it at all.  For the past year, we've had a very subdued kids area in an underused room of the library.

this is supposed to be a park/ball field next to the road..

Until this week... It FINALLY RE-OPENED!!! It's not 100 percent finished and books are still being moved in but it's back in business.  You can bet we were there the very next day after school to check it out.

We love the new floors and the new set up.  They reconfigured a few things that just make sense and the teen area looks really neat now too. 

We spent about 40 minutes playing with toys and looking at books.  Also, can I say how much I LOVE our library? My daughter and I are greeted with smiles and even know a few of the employees who greet her by name.  LOVE IT!

The kiddos library selections yesterday

I'm so glad it's back just in time for the summer reading program to start next week!!

Do you utilize your public library? Did you use the library as a child?

Monday Rambles

- Why do people water their sidewalks? Like what a waste.  In the neighborhoods I've been in lately the owners are basically watering the sidewalk and the yard.  Also, WHO CARES SO MUCH ABOUT A LAWN THEY WATER IT??? This is just one of the many reasons I probably cannot live in a neighborhood.

- Why can I not focus on reading lately? I was kicking butt at the start of this year and the last 2 months I can barely get through a book. I keep finding books I want to read though! And I want to be reading the books I've read too.  Why brain, why?

books read in May

- We've been watching old movies lately and trying to incorporate kid friendly movies for the kiddo too.  We've seen Stagecoach, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Hugo, and a few more old westerns.

- What is the appeal of unicorns? Why is my child obsessed?

- I wish campfires did not attach their smoky smell to your hair.  Like I just bathed and now I reek again.  So annoying.

- Lemon in water really is magical.  I can drink so much more water and drink it quicker than if it's just plain.  Though, I will drink warm plain water just as easy as cold flavored.

New books I added to my list after my library visit today ---
The Immortalists by Chloe Benajamin
Sing Unburied Sing by Jesmyn  Ward
Sunburn by Laura Lippman
Manhattan Beach by Jennifer Egan

What randomness do you have to share? Did you read any books this weekend that you'd recommend?

Currently

Here's what's up with me currently..

Reading Flight of Dreams by Ariel Lawhon.. it's due at the library Friday so I'm hurrying!!

Loving the weather!!

Feeling so much better now that I quit my job.  I feel like I'm a bit of failure in that aspect because I just quit, but I need to take care of myself and taking care of myself is NOT working full-time busting my ass.  I always wanted to be a boss, and I was.  And now I'm not.  And I'm happier for it.

Thinking about how to revamp my eating to make it healthier but still yummy.

Anticipating the summer with my kiddo! I have big plans for us.

Watching Southern Charm, S.W.A.T. and lots of old movies.

Working on clearing out a bunch of clutter in our house and selling stuff we no longer use.

Grateful for a husband who as much as he can't understand me, allowed me to quit my job to be happier.  He's the best!!!

Listening to an abundance of podcasts! Current faves are The Girl Next Door , Oprah's Super Soul Conversations, and Annotated.

Wishing that our quest to get central air installed this month goes off without a hitch!

What are you reading? 

What are you watching?

What are you loving? 

Living in a Book World

Am I the only one that puts themselves into a cast of characters in a book? When I fall in LOVE with a book, I put myself into the setting, maybe as a player in the book or as a character.

I LOVED Wednesday Sisters by Meg Waite Clayton.  I read this about 10 years ago, but I still think about it and envision a certain neighborhood in my town as where the book would have taken place if it was HERE at the time. 

Summer makes me nostalgic for the book and I honestly think I may need to re-read it this summer, but I'm afraid it will break the spell the book has on me.

But as I walk through this neighborhood looking at the well-kept lawns of the older homes, situated on shaded lots near the local park I just imagine what this neighborhood was like in the 1960s and wonder about the women who probably walked their little ones down to this park and the friendships they forged.  The secrets they kept even from the closest of friends as they watched their babies waddle around and get dirty in the sad. The lives behind those beautiful homes --- who had a drinking problem, a wandering husband, a secret of some sort.  It probably wasn't perfect and ideal, but I'm the voyeur who wants to tour the old homes and think of the people who lived there before.

throw back photo of a visit to said park that puts me into my dream world

Please tell me I'm not alone in this weirdness.

Summer TBR List

Ahhh, Summer! We had 80-90 degree weather all weekend long and so now I'm firmly in the WOOHOO it's Summer state of mind.  

I thought I'd share what is on my radar for reading this summer.  It's my current stack from the library/what I'm keeping my eye out for at the library.

Flight of Dreams by Ariel Lawhon - Recommended to me by Lisa and I just had finished The Wife, The Maid and The Mistress by the same author, which was super good! Hits my favorite topics, history and fiction! It's about the people on the final flight of the Hindenburg!

The Last Town on Earth by Thomas Mullen - My friend Allie, suggested Darktown by this author and when I went to the library I found two other books by him.  I finished The Many Deaths of the Firefly brothers which was really good.  It was set in the 1930s about brothers who robbed banks.  So I'm excited to check out more by this author!

Still Life by Louise Penny - Lisa also introduced me to the Armand Gamache series.  And I have not read them in order, so this is the first one and I'll be trying to hit up as many as my library has this summer.

Almost Sisters by Joshilyn Jackson - Because it's summer and I love Joshilyn's books! Excited to try this one.

A Scot in the Dark by Sarah MacLean - Because what is summer without a little romance? :)

We're Going to Need More Wine  by Gabrielle Union - I've heard great recommendations on various podcasts so I felt summer is a great time to check this one out.

American Lion by Jon Meacham - I've been reading books about presidents and/or their wives recently and this looked like a good one!

I'm also hoping to finally read The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas, Commonwealth by Ann Patchett, Love and Ruin by Paula McLain, and probably more mystery/thrillers.

What is on your Summer Reading List? What should I add to mine?

Looking Forward

Lately, I've been wanting to write more but felt too exhausted with life to come up with too many of my own thoughts.  So, here's too pre-scripted prompts..

This weekend we actually do not have anything planned, but a lot of our winter weekends have turned into extra chapters read in whatever Little House book we are in and extra episodes of the show.  I'm not quite sure what we will do when we come to an end to both!

This month not much.  February is such a blah month for me and after January felt like 2 years, this seems like this month at least has flown by.

In March my birthday! And the beginning of our road trip for Spring Break.  We will be spending the last bit of the month in Morgantown, West Virginia.  I can't wait!

In April I'm looking forward to our site seeing adventures in Washington D.C.  We have been watching you tube videos and talking about people in history and their memorials to get our daughter excited! 

This spring I'm looking forward to my program ending for the school year session in May.  It's been a very trying first year.  I will be glad to see it be done with!

This summer I'm looking forward to the sunshine! And hopefully visiting lakes and beaches in our pretty state!

What are you looking forward to these days?

Currently

Reading : I just finished The Wilder Life: My Adventures in the Lost World of Little House on the Prairie by Wendy McClure.  I'm about to start Longbourn by Jo Baker.

Loving: How obsessed my daughter is with Little House right now.  The books and the TV show.  We have been reading the series as a family read aloud and watching episodes together too!  Also plotting out a road trip to check out the various Laura spots.

Feeling: DONE WITH WINTER.  SO done.

Thinking: about summer and what our plans will be.

Anticipating: spring break and our road trip to Washington D.C.!

Watching: S.WA.T. is my new favorite this year.  I mean Shemar Moore.. :)

Grateful: we've been mostly healthy this winter!

Listening to podcasts.  I just started "My Favorite Murder," and its good!

Wishing: for vacation.  and the sun.

What are you reading, watching and listening to currently?

Because of Winn Dixie

I'm generally not a book after movie person, but I so rarely read middle grade books that I thought it wouldn't matter.  So I recorded the movie and watched it a few years ago.  It's just a glimmer in my memory.  I've owned the book for several years and in December I decided it would be a great last book of the year or a great first book of the year.

First book of the year it was! Such a great quick read.  It would be a great read aloud, which I plan to do with my own daughter after we finish the Little House Series. 

India Opal is a very lonely girl who has just moved to a brand new town with her preacher dad, who she calls, Preacher.  Her mama left and she doesn't really remember her.  Opal lives in a trailer park with no other kids and hasn't made any new friends since she moved.

Enter Winn-Dixie.  Winn-Dixie is a lovable dog that Opal claims one day while shopping in the produce section of the local... Winn-Dixie.  Winn-Dixie brings Opal a bright spot that opens the door to friendships and belonging.

Such a cute tale and I good see glimmers of the movie in the back of my mind as I read.

Definitely recommend!

Are you a book before movie person or does it not matter?

House Plans

I'm participating in Apartment Therapy's January Cure and today's task is to go through the house and find 3-5 big things in each area to attack this year.  I'm using this things that I need to update/organize better too.  Here is my list.

Entry Way
- Empty/clean/organize the closet
- Look into new tile
- Paint if windows/heating gets done

Living Room
- Empty/clean/organize my catch all drawer/cabinet
- Get bins to organize dvds (and/or get rid of them)
- Get bin to organize blanket area

Dining Room
- Clean Walls / add new photos to wall collage
- Get a system for storing homework/mail that doesn't include my kitchen table / possibly a small desk/table
- Look into getting a new overhead light

Kitchen
- Empty/clean/organize gadget cupboards
- Find a new overhead light
- Get new kitchen blinds

Kid's Bedroom
- Organize closet
- Get carpeting
- Paint/if windows/new heating system gets in

Bathroom Upstairs
- Organize Cabinets
- Clean Walls

Office
- Clean closet shelves
- Clean/organize desk
- Go through filing cabinet

My Bedroom
- Clean Out closet
- Get new comforter
- Go Through sheets

Laundry Room
- Donate the donate bin
- Go through closet
- Organize left over items

Downstairs bathroom
- Paint

Bar/Hang out Area
- Organize the toys

Storage Room
- Go through boxes

This seems super overwhelming but I need to get this house under control.  Our new big projects are to get central air and replace the windows.  We also want to get an estimate on an addition for a master bedroom/bath and deck.  Basically, if that's out of our budget/won't be worth it in our neighborhood we may sell.  However, we do need to do the central air and windows.  And carpet in the living room and bedrooms.  And then the entire house needs painted.  After windows are done we will most likely need to get new siding.  So it's a huge mess.  I suggest we just move.  Since we can do none of the things.   I basically need Fixer Upper to come and completely redo my house for me to even like it.  And that's not going to happen.  I'd rather be in a different neighborhood with a house that is all ready.  The end.

What big house projects are on your agenda this year?