Bookish (and not so Bookish) Thoughts

My life is currently being consumed by:

- giving finals

- grades

- students

- holiday baking

- a toddler that is teething and won't eat and laughs in my face when I express profound distress and frustration regarding said food strike

- avoiding the Internet for fear of Star Wars spoilers (we're going Sunday! I'm so proud that we're going to see a movie opening weekend)

- losing Fitbit challenges

- wanting to sleep

Grades are due in less than forty-eight hours and I will be back. So back.

Until then, thanks for stopping by and once my sixteen days of sweet, sweet freedom kick in I will be stopping by your posts to say hi. Until then I will simultaneously be picking effing mandarin oranges off the floor, making peanut butter balls, and grading essays. 

Bookish (and not so Bookish) Thoughts

Link up, link back, say hi! 

1. I think this is the third year (or second?) I've done a "ohtackynights" hashtag on Instagram featuring the awful lawn decorations my neighbors insist on putting up. My account is private, so I don't feel bad, but here was today's gem (Camo Santa standing was the other day... the horror):

2. Our solar panels are up and running! Apparently there's an app I can get to track their... absorption? I'm a real lover of charts and data (and hater of math, go figure), so I'll probably become obsessed. 

3. I've been doing outside-reading interviews with my students this whole week and while I love the opportunity to meet with them one-on-one, it can make for a long day. So today was day three, and just so happened to also be a day where my one-nap-a-day toddler didn't really get the snooze he needed at day care. All I wanted when I got home was ten minutes to myself in absolute quiet. Spoiler alert: it's after six and I probably won't have it for at least two more hours. Patience. Patience. Patience. So many deep breaths. 

4. I'm going to donate blood for the first time since high school on Friday. I decided that with everything that happened at the local shooting, in San Bernardino, it's something I could actually do, as opposed to taking to social media to run my mouth (like everyone else). It really is something I should be doing regularly, since I'm the ever-rare B+. I'm pretty nervous that I'll pass out, but pretty excited to be able to lay in one spot and not do anything for like forty-five minutes.

5. This past weekend I accomplished every single item of my to-do list for the first time in months.

6. Yesterday I took Sawyer to see Santa at the mall and it went as expected. He seemed pretty willing, and even walked toward him, but once I plopped him down in the guy's lap he got pretty sad. He tried to fight it, but just couldn't hold back. I'm taking the money for the pictures out of his college fund.

7. Every night after Sawyer's bath we sit by the Christmas tree and I read him his story, and then we sit for another fifteen or twenty minutes and just hang out together. He LOVES it. In fact, if I take a small detour to throw in a load of laundry or something shit hits the fan. Most days it's the best part, so I'm a little scared of how sad he's going to be when the tree comes down (he's obsessed).

8. I made intentionally made dinner reservations at a place that was listed as not being good for children on Yelp when we go away for a quick night later this month. I also made it for like eight, which is way past when we're able to go to eat with Sawyer. It's also a place that has been actually written about in guides and reviews and isn't a chain. I'm way too excited about this.

9. 'Tis the season for way too many cardboard boxes and the need to make some room in the house for new gifts. This is the solution to both, while doing some good. I'm going to try it out this weekend.

10. Next Wednesday I'll be so excited I won't be able to contain myself. Next Thursday is our last day of finals. 

November Reviews (a little late)

It's the fourth? Already? Oops. The last few days have been a bit busy.. and slow... and fast... but still, better late than ever. I'm a bit disappointed with only having read three books, but considering the five billion student assignments I've gone through I guess it's not bad:

The Man Who Refused to Stand Up by Jacob Appel 

384 pages

I read this novel because I'm advising a student project that incorporates it and it sounded interesting. The premise is a man who wouldn't stand up during God Bless America at a baseball game and is roasted by the media. He subsequently finds himself in a troubled marriage and eventually on the run.

Verdict: While the man's reason for not standing up was misunderstood, I appreciated this because I think that pledging allegiance to a flag, singing song lyrics, and other empty professions of patriotism are incredibly automatic and obligatory. Personally, when The Pledge is said each morning on announcements I stand, along with my students, but I don't make them say, nor do I. Anyway, I'm getting off topic. As a whole I thought this book was only averagely written and got a bit ridiculous at the end. I do think that it is quite thought-provoking, though.

Like Family by Paolo Giordano

160 pages

I reviewed this book here.

Verdict: This novella cemented my appreciation for Giordano. Plus he's Italian and good looking. I didn't mention this in the review I did for Penguin, but I had to get it in now. 

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This is You Life, Harriet Chance by Jonathan Evison

304 pages

Harriet Chance's husband has died and she decides to embark on the Alaskan cruise he had apparently arranged for the two of them before he lost his memories and control of his body. Meanwhile, he's back to sort of but not really, haunt her as she relives memories from the distant past. She learns a shocking secret and also must come to terms with her relationships with her middle-aged daughter.

Verdict: I was a big fan of The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving, and while I think I still may like that book better, this one was still a great read and reminded me a bit of Where'd You Go Bernadette when it comes to quirkiness and fun. 

848 pages

Bookish (and not so Bookish) Thoughts

Link up, link back, say hello! Today will be brief... you're welcome? 

1. So I'd feel like a jackass if I didn't mention the shooting in San Bernardino this afternoon. This one was a little too close to home; the location was about thirty or forty miles away from where I live. There is a lot to be said on the issue, but I'll leave it simple tonight: my thoughts are with all victims, families of victims, law enforcement agents, and community. The whole thing is tragic, senseless, and infuriating.

2. I downloaded this Star Wars Christmas cross stitch patterns, because it was less than $4.00 and I need another thing to not get done and feel like a failure about:

[source]

3. Today my car charger for my phone was being a total jackass and I think fried the charger itself and possibly my cigarette lighter (TBD). Things like this are what it takes to motivate me to come home and back up my phone and computer. Done and done. I always say that I'm going to do it once a week, but, as it turns out, it hasn't been done since July. Oops.

4. I picked up my orthotics and have strict instructions to run in them a ton over the next three weeks to see if they help my feet. I don't want to get too optimistic, but I'm so desperate right now. Considering how much they cost, since I haven't met my deductible this year, they better be downright magical.

5. I'm reading Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life by Amy Krouse Rosenthal, which I've had my seniors do an end-of-year project on in the past, finally. I'm really enjoying it and it's actually making me want to do my own list for myself. I love the point she raises about how when we're young our go-to answer is "nothing" (how was your day?) to "busy" as an adult. 

6. I just downloaded two yoga apps on my phone the other day. The first is just a Sun Salutation cueing audio, with a log, and the other is called Down Dog and puts together "classes" for you, based on how much time you have, your level, and what music you want. I haven't tried it yet but am excited at the prospect. 

7. Someone shared or liked this picture on Facebook this morning and it irrationally made me angry. Excuse me? Did his wife keep tabs of every time he emptied the dishwasher? Made dinner? Went grocery shopping? Ran an errand? Made sure the sex was actually good? What an idiot. Disgusting. 

8. I think I'm over owning cookbooks, as sad as it is. They're so beautiful and fun to look at, but if I'm being honest most of my recipes come from the internet. Plus cookbooks take up a ton of room. I don't plan on getting rid of the ones I do have, I just don't plan on necessarily getting more (although I'm sure there will be exceptions). 

9. This morning when I weighed myself I was at an all-time-low (for me). I have also been eating a ridiculous amount of Dark Chocolate Stars from Trader Joe's since Sunday. Coincidence? I THINK NOT. I just found the best diet plan ever. Good thing I have two unopened boxes in the pantry. 

10. I feel like I've been (barely) fighting off a cold for three of four weeks. I religiously take vitamin C in the morning and at night, wash my hands, exercise, and whatever healthy things I can squeak in, but I think the lack of good sleep and stress is going to catch up with me and I'm going to be down for the count. Things to look forward to. Until then, I'll keep fighting the good fight. 

November, Revisited, Plus December

The last few months I've set some goals and have recapped how I've done on them at the end of the month. I was having a bit of a hard time at the beginning of the school year for various reasons, and it helped give me some direction. Plus, I love a good list and respond well to public accountability. And, like I've said before, this is more for me than anyone, but oh well. 

What I had planned for November:

1. Read five books- Nope! I only read three, and I'm quite upset about this. Grading, life, and exhaustion have been cramping my style in a bad way. 

2. Eat an new restaurant- Yup! A friend and our kids went to a place called Afters in Chino Hills and I ate this lovely concoction that consisted of peanut butter s'mores ice cream shoved inside a hot donut.

3. Less Diet Coke, more water- Sorta! I have been drinking more water, lots of tea, fair amounts of coffee, but still quite a bit of Diet Coke. 

4. Make a new recipe a week- Yes! I made a chocolate cake in my Deep Covered Baker, a crock pot chicken and stuffing casserole, a few new things for Thanksgiving, and enchilada chicken soup last night. 

5. Start (lightly) training- Yes! I've been piling on the miles this month because of Fitbit competitions, both walking and running. Two weeks this month I averaged over ten miles a day- hey there, cardiovascular endurance! I've also started truly running- last Friday I did four miles straight, at a respectable speed, so I'm feeling motivated. I did 2.5 yesterday afternoon, as well, between grading and dinner. Unfortunately, I'm paying for it in extreme foot pain (they don't typically bother me too much while running, but later... wow).

6. Really try to finish NaNoWriMo- No! I'm really, really bitter about this. I wrote two short stories at the beginning of the month and nothing since. I'm not giving up, though.

7. Blog 17 times- Nope! Almost... Honestly, I'm surprised that I've posted as much as I have. 

8. Make a non-lame Christmas craft to make- Yes! Maybe it was a little lame, but I made this for Sawyer:

9. Reevaluate my fall/winter wardrobe- Sorta! I have definitely started buying things for colder weather... I still need to clean things out a bit, though.

10. Go out without Sawyer- Yes! My husband and I left Sawyer with a sitter and went to lunch for our anniversary. 

For December....

1. Not gain any weight- I bake a lot this month. A lot.

2. Go to yoga three times- This is pathetic, but it was more than last month. Once upon a time I went three times a week. 

3. Work on my 2015 book- I created a yearly book for 2013 (last year was Sawyer's baby book) and want to start doing it again. 

4. Read a graphic novel- I have read zero this year and it's an area I'd like to be better versed in.  

5. Pay more attention to the dogs- I used to walk my dogs for an hour a day... not so much now. While I can't commit to that, I'd like to walk them more, get Cordie groomed, and start brushing their teeth twice a week.

6. Salute the sun- I'd like to do some sort of sun salutation challenge, at home. The repetition is calming and it can be a really great work out. 

7. Make appointments- This one is SO boring (because the others are so terribly fascinating), but I need to get into the optometrist, dentist, podiatrist, and doctor in the new month or two.

8. Cards and thank you notes- I'd like to be good about actual paper correspondence this year, meaning holiday cards soon and thank you notes for gifts before New Year's.

9. Clean out every cabinet and drawer in the kitchen- There are thirty. This should obviously be great fun. 

10. Get out and have fun- I know this one is pretty generic, but I have high hopes for some outings planned with Sawyer, a quick getaway to Ojai with Scott, and seeing family and friends.