Bookish (and not so Bookish) Thoughts

Howdy! Link up below.

1. I arrive at the babysitter's house at least five minutes early every day,  no matter how hard I try to leave early. Given the fact that it's her home, and her and her family are getting ready to start the day, I feel bad, so I either wait out front or circle the block once or twice. 

2. Lena's dress at the Emmy's was... something. She said it "looks like cake and feels like sweatpants." 

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3. Love these composition totes from Out of Print:

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4. I found this lemon poppy-seed recipe last weekend and was pretty jazzed that I actually had all the ingredients, including the ripe lemons my husband assured me had on the tree. Fast-forward a few hours later- he's out with a friend, Sawyer's fast asleep and I'm in the baking mood. I go out to pick a few lemons and THEY'RE GONE! Who steals lemons? My theory: the guy who does the lawns. He sees month after month of our lemons staying on the tree and he figures we won't miss them. Any other time he'd be completely right. Sadly, there has yet to be any lemon poppyseed bread.

5. Having to decide on a little boy hair cut in the future scares me. Albeit, we are putting the cart before the horse, since my baby is basically bald.

6. We were watching Parenthood (so good, so depressing) the other night on Netflix and the song Transatlanticism by Death Cab came on, and I instantly fell in love. And then Julie realized that she wasn't getting the baby she wanted to adopt and, if it weren't for my husband being in the room, I would have lost my shit. So now I'm facing a serious conundrum: download the song and bawl my eyes out every time I hear it, since I now associate it with all things sad, or go without.

7. I haven't been able to exercise as regularly as I am used to and feel like I am on the cusp of losing my shit. No joke. If anything, I am downplaying the severity of the situation. 

8. I added a "currently reading" line to my email signature at work last week. Number of people that have noticed: 0. Fucks I give: 0.

9. I've been doing my best to influence my students' reading habits, and I'm feeling relatively successful so far. I have two tackling The Goldfinch, two reading Five Days at Memorial, and two starting Let the Great World Spin (so many pairs... it's like the literary Noah's Ark).

10. My mom and other sister are coming into town this weekend! This sister hasn't met the baby, so I'm excited. She likes dogs more than people, so she'll probably play with him for five seconds before lavishing the dogs with attention.

The Gimmies

Whenever I want something I think of this book:

I have enough books. I have enough stuff. But of course, as soon as I say that I'm "cutting back" or am on a "financial diet" I turn into freaking Sister Bear at the grocery store pitching a fit because I can't have my favorite candy. 

So, we'll window show. Here's some of the books I'm currently coveting: 

The Roundhouse by Louise Erdrich- For book club.

Seriously Delish by Jessica Merchant- I love her blog and have never disliked a recipe I've made from it.

How to Pray When You're Pissed at God by Ian Punnett- I have a really complicated relationship with God, and I am exceptionally pissed at him/her/it right now. 

One and Only: The Freedom of Having an Only Child, and the Joy of Being One by Lauren Sandler- It's important to be informed.

Sous Chef: 24 Hours on the Line by Michael Gibney- I've had my eyes on this one for months.

The Children Act by Ian McEwan- One of my favorites!

The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell- My husband and I may suck it up and go halvsies on this one. We're both huge fans.

The Book of Unknown Americans by Cristina Henriquez- This book about immigration in the US seems like it may be another Tortilla Curtain.

A Secret History by Donna Tartt- I really enjoyed The Goldfinch and have heard great things about this one too.

Skippyjon Jones Cirque de Ole by Judy Schachner- This one's for Sawyer- I love little Kitty Boy!

What are you throwing a fit for right now? 

 

Bookish (and not so Bookish) Thoughts

Link up below! (And hello and welcome to some of those that have just been starting to participate! I'm trying to find the time to jump over and visit your blogs, but I have a 4 month old and just went back to work- to say things are crazy is an understatement!)

1. I'm so conflicted about the ice bucket challenge. It's for such a great cause, and is so entertaining, but here in California we're in drought crisis mode. Being from the Central Valley I'm pretty sensitive to this stuff, since so many family friends are farmers and depend on irrigation for their lively-hood. Plus, don't we feel a little bad for the people in third-world countries who don't even have access to clean water? But still, so much money for ALS. 

2. I love writing tests sometimes:

3. Today was our fifth day with students and out eighth overall. Getting into the swing of things has been really tough- I'm exhausted, I hate taking Sawyer to daycare (despite being totally comfortable with the provider... I just miss him), and I'm still getting over losing my beloved senior class. 

4. Speaking of the seniors, several came to visit me today, so that was nice. 

5. How do we feel about kombucha? I'm scared to try it, but it's all the rage right now, and we know how important it is to be trendy.

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6. Yesterday while at the grocery store an employee was checking out and wanted to buy a pack of cigarettes. The checker straight-up refused to get them for her, saying, "Nope, we take care of our own here." The employee gave in, admitting that she did have an electric one she was trying to use more. It was great.

7. The school year our district gave each teacher $500 to spend in their classrooms- and astronomical amount for our area (profession?). I went to the teacher supply store, which is mostly geared towards elementary teachers, and piled my cart full of random (but useful) crap, thinking I had spent a lot. Nope, not even a third. I'm not used to this luxurious lifestyle.

8. A campus supervisor asked me, and my very pregnant friend, when we were due. Come again? Say the fuck what? I admit it- I have five pounds to lose still, but they're hanging out around my ass, not my belly. 

9. I need to devote some serious time to looking at books that have come out in the last few months and ones that are on their way. Not that I'm buying them, thanks to a self-imposed financial diet, but I still feel out of the loop.

10. I made this two weeks ago. It was was so easy and so delicious- I need to make more tarts. Plus pretty, an important quality in food (see above- blogger was being weird).

Six Degrees of Seperation: Gone Girl

While I didn't love Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn, I did think that using it as the jumping off point for this month's Six Degrees of Separation (Annabel and Emma's meme) might be fun. 

Gone Girl --> Girl With the Dragon Tattoo

Why: Why, yes they do both have "girl" in their title! But that's not why I chose to connect them. Both are contemporary fiction that was much buzzed about that I thought was overrated. 

Girl With the Dragon Tattoo --> The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared

Why: Both are set in Sweden.

The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared --> The Unlikley Pilgrimage of Harold Fry

Why: Both include old men who walk a lot.

The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry --> Bridget Jones' Diary

Why: Both set in England... I can't help it- anything British reminds be of her.

Bridget Jones' Diary --> Ann Frank's Diary

Why: Both diaries. Duh. 

 

Bookish (and not so Bookish) Thoughts

Link up below!

1. This is my view right now, as a I simultaneously finish tomorrow's powerpoint and write this post. I know I should put him down, but he's just so cuddly. 

2. Today was day three of full-time working and daycare. The good news is that Sawyer is doing awesome during the day- he's there for eight hours and has been sleeping for half of the time. He comes home happy and I don't feel quite as bad. We're home by 3 or 3:30 in time to eat, play, and rest a bit before the whole dinner-bath-bed routine. I'm still sad because I love being around him all day, but I am happy he's adjusting so well (and sleeping from 11:30 to 5:45 when I have to wake him up to eat and leave). It looks like we'll survive.

3. Tomorrow is our first day with students- dun dun dun. I'm hoping each day speeds by.

4. I wish splash pads were popular when we were young. They look so fun and I'm sure our parents would have appreciated an additional option for exhausting us during the summer.

5. I want to create some sort of on-going Scrabble game in my classroom. Besides putting magnets on the back of letters I've got nothing in terms of the logistics.

6. Things I feel a little out of the loop on: ISIS and Sinjar Monutain, current immigration reform steps, types of life insurance, Israel and Palestine developments (did the cease fire end up happening), and all this crap that's happening in Missouri with the racist police officers.

7. Things I know too much about: torticollis, ebola, hot-car deaths, Fit Bit battery issues, and vaccination schedules.

8. I'm always torn about celebrity deaths- I have trouble getting truly upset over people I don't personally know. I can appreciate that they sometimes draw attention to controversial issues that people have trouble talking about, though, like addiction and depression. 

9. Boris is still sitting in my garage, waiting for his forever-mother to come pick him up.

[messy garage FTW]

10. I love these fruit hacks- the strawberry one is great, and I had no idea that pineapple juice was so effective for coughs.