Bookish (and not so Bookish) Thoughts

1. In the next few days I will be writing a post on how I plan to take actionable steps to be a better ally. It's one thing to say things, but we have to do more as well. I already have a few things in the work, but I want to be more deliberate and consider the SMART Goal approach. I am so tired of all of these brands and social media influencers (neither of which am I) making these sweeping gestures. 

2. There is SO MUCH controversy in California regarding what it will look like when schools open in a few months and I would be lying it I said it didn't stress me out. I am trying to breathe through it, recognize and respect all opinions, and remember everyone is going to have a lot to logistically handle. No one is going to be happy, end of story. I hope to whoever that we can get a viable vaccine by the end of the first semester so we can feel a little bit better (but that's a conversation for a different day...) 

3. I am currently reading The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander and The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. They're both challenges in their own way, which I'll discuss when finished.

4. Are you on Goodreads? Is there an option to record books secretly, so that they count towards your challenge but aren't broadcasted for everyone to see? I'm reading a self-help sort of book that I don't want everyone to necessarily see, but I want to count, dammit. If there isn't a way, I'll just say I've reread something already on my "read" shelf, I guess. 

5. I miss having a dog, but I don't miss taking care of one, nor do I want to train a puppy. But DAMN, every time my son starts talking about Huckleberry, which apparently it will be called, I start feeling guilty and a tiny bit wistful. He's all locked up without a sibling, I could get a dog... but I also don't feel like having something constantly watch... cords... toys... furniture... all that peeing and chewing. I know we could get an older dog, but we are partial to getting them as puppies so we can train them (we have had two amazing dogs that we got around three months and both passed away in 2018).

6. As I write, Half Baked Harvest's Southern Double Crusted Cinnamon Sugar Peach Cobbler is cooling on my counter and Samin Nosrat's Buttermilk Chicken, from her cookbook, is roasting in my oven. We'll be eating well tonight! 

7. Sawyer and I have slowly started reentering society, by way of parks. Basically, that's going to be the story of the summer- how many parks and wilderness areas can we go to? I am also going to slowly start social distancing dates with my friends again- thank goodness! I have been cooped up with two males for nearly three months... I need some girl time. I have been fortunate enough to have some amazing happy hours with a few friends quite often, but nothing replaces in-person bonding. 

8. What I really want is to go to Yosemite. It's not happening this summer, and I get a little teary when I think that it's opening soon and I won't get to be there, but maybe in late October or November, before the snow, Sawyer and I will be able to sneak up for a long weekend (we have gone every spring break for the past four years, three of those trips just he and I, so canceling this year's was very sad for me). 

9. I went to the downtown area in nearby Riverside and walked around by myself the other afternoon (in the 96 degree heat) to see the artwork left behind on the preventative plywood businesses put up before the protests. I think there is talk of saving everything for a local museum, which I hope happens (see one picture above).

10. A friend and I are putting together some fun activities to do with our kids via Zoom this summer. They've at three sharing days a week (jokes, toys, etc...) but we're going next level now. This week my friend is teaching the kids how to make slim tomorrow! We're doing some stuff with empathy, science, and art too.