Bookish (and not so Bookish) Thoughts

Link up below! I love seeing my blogging "friends" and new people participate! 

1. I seriously don't understand why the Newtown 911 tapes, or any for that matter, needed to be released. People call 911 in moments of terrible panic- why does that personal moment need to be publicized?

2. My sister-in-law got me this necklace for my birthday (oh, and the cake ended up being a simple chocolate devil's food with the best peanut butter frosting ever, both from scratch):

[I wore it with my typewriter shirt- can you get any dorkier?]

3. I sat down a few days ago and made a list of posts for the month, instead of just posting haphazardly like normal. I felt so organized. Plus I have a feeling I forget a lot of post ideas, so hopefully having a place to put them from now on will help with the content in terms of quality and quantity. 

4. Thanksgiving for 21 at my house went fine- no one was late, everyone brought what the said they would, nothing was spilled on the carpet (this is a serious, legitimate fear that I have whenever people eat at my house... I ran around after my grandma trying to take her cup and put it back on the counter, WHERE IT BELONGED!!!!), and nothing was broken. This is the second year we've done it and I'm on the fence about whether or not it will be our last- it's great to not have to decide where to go or to travel, but it's not exactly cheap and does require a lot of cleaning and prep work.

5. I've been back at yoga now at least once a week for a bit, and I must say it is so very humbling to practice as a pregnant person. There's a lot I have to modify (the classes I go to are really tough- they're not the kind where you sit there, gently stretch, and say "omm" occasionally, but instead the  kind where you sweat buckets, are constantly moving, and wake up sore the next day), and it's incredibly frustrating. I always shot for the tougher moves and I worked hard over the summer on my headstands, which are no longer allowed. I'm trying to work through the frustration, though, knowing if I quit going back after the baby is born will be that much harder (in terms of motivation and ability).

6. I'm excited that my stupid time-suck Christmas wreath is done and I can refocus my free time on reading. I'm a few books shy of my goal of 61 this year and want to get back on track by reading short books that fly by quickly.

7. One of my students found out that she won the prestigious Questbridge scholarship for Stanford, meaning she has a free ride for the next four years. She is incredibly smart and deserving (and a female wrestler!) and I know that it will be put to good use. And as selfish as it sounds, it makes the hours and hours I spend writing letters of recommendation worth it. 

8. I've ordered a few things of Etsy before and have had absolutely no issues, but recently had a bit of a problem with a shop. I ordered a beautiful print and it was supposed to ship on a certain day (and I was charged). A week went by. I contacted the shop owner and heard nothing. Five days went by. I contacted her again. Still, nothing. Two days went by and I contacted her again. Nada. I opened a case with Etsy and still wasn't acknowledged by the woman. I finally had the bright idea of digging around and found her Facebook page- I wrote a polite, but direct, post on her wall and BOOM! I had a response in two hours. Hopefully the issue is resolved now, but we'll see....

9. My husband discovered last night that when I check my AOL email (I think we've talked about this- I've had it forever plus I truly believe it's a totally retro move) through the actual AOL site. The laughter that ensued... yeah. Apparently I'm supposed to use the mail program on my MacBook? No one ever told me that! Whatever. Someday it will be cool again, just like turn tables and flannel.

10. I'm listening to Gone Girl on audiobook right now while I walk and I am so very thankful I didn't actually read it. The story is semi-interesting, but the writing is definitely not impressive.