Bookish (and not so Bookish) Thoughts

I am off until next Tuesday, a week from tomorrow, and couldn't be more thankful. Before anyone gets EVEN MORE suspicious of teachers, our district does go back on August 1st to make up for it. My son has two days off for the various presidents, so I get a nice mix of extra time with him and also some time with him at school so I can get things done faster (and with less noise). I also have some time with friends scheduled, some appointments, and a TON of work (both grading and house stuff). Needless to say, the to-do list is a mile long (which we know I love). 

Yesterday we went to a little mountain town called Idyllwild, which I had never been to before. It was a lot higher up than I realized- a mile! It was super pretty and we hiked for a few hours and followed it up with some amazing ice cream. It was a great day! 

I have been a subscriber to In Style magazine since I was in high school, maybe even before, so when I heard the recent news that they are going to stop print publication I was so sad. I admittedly have probably six or seven back issues to get through right now, but it seems like the end of an era. 

My husband and I don't typically acknowledge Valentine's Day when it comes to one another, but for some reason we each got each other a little something this year. Clearly we are living in strange times, haha. Sawyer took some of the snacks and treats he got from school and gave them to me, with little stapled post-its attached, some of them suggesting I take them to work, some with cute little messages. He loves holidays so much. 

I finished How High We Go in the Dark by Sequoia Nagamatsu and will share my thoughts this week- I have lots of them. Basically, the first half made me cry under my sunglasses while reading at Starbucks, the second half had me raising some eyebrows. I am almost done with Crying in H Mart for book club this week, and it's just as great as everyone says. 

We are getting our taxes done this weekend, and despite running the numbers, I feel like this year will hold a lot of... surprises? We both claim zero/single, so we never owe, but my husband started a new job and stopped freelancing, we changed childcare, we denied the extra child credit so we didn't get punished, I paid off my student loans, and a whole bunch of other different things. I don't know.... I just usually feel like I know what the return will be and this year I feel totally clueless. A MYSTERY.