Apr 11, 2018

Whinesday

Today is just one of those when I can't get it together.  I woke up early to work so I could get to jazz, but I was still late.  Then some lady had taken over my spot (and in fact, all the surrounding spots), yet was completely off and didn't move around the floor much, causing me to constantly trip over fear of running her over.

Waaaaaaahhhhh.

Then, I called the pediatrician because T has been fussy and not eating much, plus had white poops.  This is day 3, and I made the tremendous mistake of googling it.  So off to the pediatrician we go this afternoon.  BUT, they asked me to get a diaper with some of stool in question.  I emptied the diaper pail, so I had to go digging through the trash (and mountains of DISGUSTING diapers) to find one with the said white poop.  It was awesome.

It's a good thing that he is a precious doll baby.

In positive news, yesterday I worked early and late in order to work in my yard during the day.  It was sunny, and I had new loppers.  It was time to go to town on the privet that invades everything, my rosebushes, and my yew.

 It's hard to tell but this pile comes up past my waist.

I finally came to a stopping point, scratched, sweaty and exhausted.  Just then, the BRUSH TRUCK pulled up!
I was just thrilled to pieces.  Especially, since I managed to get a photo to show Morgan (and the world), how much I had accomplished before it was swept away!

Also, I am reading a fun read from the library.  "The Windfall"  by Diksha Basu

Here's the blurb-

"For the past thirty years, Mr. and Mrs. Jha’s lives have been defined by cramped spaces, cut corners, gossipy neighbors, and the small dramas of stolen yoga pants and stale marriages. They thought they’d settled comfortably into their golden years, pleased with their son’s acceptance into an American business school. But then Mr. Jha comes into an enormous and unexpected sum of money, and moves his wife from their housing complex in East Delhi to the super-rich side of town, where he becomes eager to fit in as a man of status: skinny ties, hired guards, shoe-polishing machines, and all.

The move sets off a chain of events that rock their neighbors, their marriage, and their son, who is struggling to keep a lid on his romantic dilemmas and slipping grades, and brings unintended consequences, ultimately forcing the Jha family to reckon with what really matters."

I just want to go back to bed or take a hot bath and read my book.  Instead I'm off to the doctor with 3 kids in tow and some dirty diapers.

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Mar 22, 2018

Thoughts on Thursday- Spring Break Reads


I was at the beach last week for SPRING BREAK (whoop, whoop!).  It was pretty cold, but the last couple days I got to put on a bathing suit.  The children, of course, were unbothered by the cold.




Not gonna lie, we were pretty cute in matching suits.

I didn't get any sun, but I did get some excellent reading in- two thrillers and a great magazine.

 The Dry-   I'd heard about this book ad nauseum, but never picked it up.  Grave mistake!  It's fantastic- I was glued to my seat.  This is a more "literary" mystery- loved the Australian setting.  The book follows a policeman from Melbourne as he investigates the death of his childhood best friend in his rural hometown.  One reviewer describes the book as having a secret on every page.  So true!  I loved it, and can't wait to devour the author's latest.

 The Plea- a classic legal thriller, it follows the story of a con-man turned defense attorney as he attempts to exonerate a billionaire tech founder while under enormous pressure to make him plead guilty.  It's twisty, fast and a fantastic beach read.

Country Gardens-   I don't recall subscribing to this, but I'm so glad I did!  Flower arranging, planting, recipes and beautiful garden inspiration!  If you enjoy gardening or just daydreaming about gardens, subscribe now!  I am so impressed!

Okay, off to work and unpack and clean my house!

Mar 7, 2018

Pop In Post- Quick Book Recommendation

I'm just covered up in work this week, but I wanted to tell y'all about a wonderful book that I just devoured the last couple of days-



Everything Happens For a Reason: and Other Lies I've Loved by Kate Bowler.  It's a memoir of her experience living with terminal cancer, and reconciliation of that diagnosis with her faith.  That sounds depressing, but I promise it's not!

Here's the blurb-

A divinity professor and young mother with a Stage IV cancer diagnosis explores the pain and joy of living without certainty.

Thirty-five-year-old Kate Bowler was a professor at the school of divinity at Duke, and had finally had a baby with her childhood sweetheart after years of trying, when she began to feel jabbing pains in her stomach. She lost thirty pounds, chugged antacid, and visited doctors for three months before she was finally diagnosed with Stage IV colon cancer.

As she navigates the aftermath of her diagnosis, Kate pulls the reader deeply into her life, which is populated with a colorful, often hilarious collection of friends, pastors, parents, and doctors, and shares her laser-sharp reflections on faith, friendship, love, and death. She wonders why suffering makes her feel like a loser and explores the burden of positivity. Trying to relish the time she still has with her son and husband, she realizes she must change her habit of skipping to the end and planning the next move. A historian of the "American prosperity gospel"--the creed of the mega-churches that promises believers a cure for tragedy, if they just want it badly enough--Bowler finds that, in the wake of her diagnosis, she craves these same "outrageous certainties." She wants to know why it's so hard to surrender control over that which you have no control. She contends with the terrifying fact that, even for her husband and child, she is not the lynchpin of existence, and that even without her, life will go on.

On the page, Kate Bowler is warm, witty, and ruthless, and, like Paul Kalanithi, one of the talented, courageous few who can articulate the grief she feels as she contemplates her own mortality.

Go read it!!