Bookish (and not so Bookish) Thoughts

Link up below (by the way, I try so, so hard to get over to all of your blogs to visit, but some weeks are insane... like last week)

1. I'm so excited to be taking part in another virtual book club through the Book Wheel. This time we're reading A Short History of Tractors in Ukranian by Marina Lewycka and I'm really enjoying it. Participating online in a much different experience than in-person; we read a section a week for a month and then discuss via comments on the blog. 


2. I generally wear a pedometer, but I borrowed my husband's Fitbit last weekend for fun. The steps were basically on par with what I was getting, but I really loved the sleep function. It tells you how many times you wake up during the night (usually three) and how long you're restless (one night almost an hour). The only drawback is that I'm not really into the sporty accessory look, but my obsessive nature and need for data might win over in the end. 

3. I figured out what I want my epitaph to say. Under my name and birth/death dates I want it to simple say, "She read good books." That is all. Nothing about being a wife, mom, sister, friend, teacher, etc... Just "She read good books." 

[source; yes, I plan on living to 100]

4. Speaking of dying, I've started researching life insurance a little bit, always a fun topic. When my dad died when I was in high school his policy was pretty meager and my mom was left with four kids, a mortgage, and all the other expenses life likes to doll out. If anything were to happen to my husband or I I'd like to be prepared so that we could at least take care of the mortgage. It's serious, but I really feel like it's important- my goal is to have it taken care of by the end of the year.

5. Heck yes for the new Broken Bells album coming out earlier this week.

6. I've come to the conclusion that I really just can't handle reading two books at once. I'm read the one I mentioned above and have started reading Things Fall Apart for work, and am failing miserably. I just can't juggle books like I do men. Kidding, kidding.

7. I had one of the best cupcakes ever recently at Sprinkles, which I actually don't think necessarily has the best ones in Southern California. Anyway, it was a chocolate chocolate-chip raspberry one for Valentines Day and it was amazing. 



8. Saturday I volunteered at the Surf City Marathon Expo for five and a half hours, handing out race bibs to runners. It was incredibly interesting being on the other side of things, and the people watching was top shelf. Take the man who came with his huge Persian cat on a leash. Or the eighty-four year old man picking up his packet. Or the guy who was in from Switzerland just to run. It did make me very eager to get back out there- I hope that it's my first half marathon back postpartum in a year.



9. Yesterday was my last day of IOCs (the IB tests that I've been doing 1:1 with the students) and I had a least four kids that were really sick. One I almost stopped mid-commentary to send home because I was afraid she was going to die. I appreciate the dedication, but now I'm pretty nervous that I'm going to end up sick- knock on wood. I went straight home after work yesterday, changed my clothes, drank a ton of water and orange juice, showered, and took a walk, all in the hopes that I'd scare away the germs with an abundance of healthiness. Fingers crossed. 

10. Everyone is so in love with the Facebook one-minute movie of their memories since joining, but I was pretty underwhelmed (not with my life... with the "movie"). You'd think that they could have at least gone for higher resolution of the pictures... 


15 comments:

  1. Glad to hear you're enjoying A Short History of Tractors in Ukranian! I read it before I started book blogging regularly and I remember liking it immensely :)

    I keep on hearing about the Facebook movies for the past day or so...I feel like I should look into it but I'm hardly ever on it these days *still sore from the early changes to the set-up/layout way back when lol*

    Not big on cupcakes myself but those look cute! :D Good to hear they were yummy :)

    Seems like the coughs/colds/etc. are still running around. These days when people so much as sniffle in public transit I'm all D= I'm sure you're all good but I'll say it anyway: stay safe/healthy! :)

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  2. Your mentioning life insurance has made me remember for the zillionth time I need to write my will. I've been putting it off for years because I've never felt old enough (or that it was necessary lol) ugh. Adult things. Boo!

    The facebook movies are kind of neat but the worst resolution EVER. They could have made them smaller at least to make up for it!

    Those cupcakes look so good, yum :D

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  3. I was unimpressed by my FB movie too. My top picture was a martini flight. Really doesn't represent my memories very well.

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  4. Stumbled over here from Sarah's blog and it was meant to be!! I've been on the fence with buying a fitbit for a while now and I think I'm finally pushed over the edge. I used to have an older one, 2 years ago, but the sleep function was a hassle because it was not a bracelet and it didn't upload wirelessly. I think I need to place my order today! Happy Reading too!!!

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  5. I adored my fitbit until it quit working. :( I'd love to get another one, but I'm kind of holding off to see if they come out with a new model as fast as they released the last one.

    100 is a nice round number.

    When we got our home owners insurance on our new house recently, they talked to us about mortgage insurance. It was pretty cheap and basically if something happens to one of you, they pay off your mortgage. That might be a good option for you guys, too.

    My facebook movie was basically just a slideshow of my kids. Lovely for me, but certainly not anything new to share.

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  6. BEST EPITAPH EVER. I may have to steal that idea and do something similar.

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  7. Kind of obsessed with your headstone. We had a heck of a time figuring out what to put for my brother-in-law that would do him justice. It was hard because the words were just words. (And usually words are the best, but this time they just couldn't compare to reality.) I like your approach of totally ditching the "sister, mother, wife, cousin, etc." I'm going to start brainstorming something cool like yours!

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  8. The facebook movies! I agree! I was like, mh, FB, so many more important things have happened to me in seven years... I mean?!
    Like the epitaph idea so much. I'm just not comfortable thinking about that yet though. I have to I suppose but I'm a wuss.
    I really struggle with reading more than one book too. If they're easy reading (YA... or anthologies) I can deal with it, but otherwise not really.

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  9. This is going to be such a boring comment, but it's so good that you're looking into life insurance -- my dad is an insurance agent, so I've been taught "hope for the best, but plan for the worst" pretty much since forever. It's so easy to think it's not important, but God forbid something ever did happened, things would be hard enough as it is without having to worry about the mortgage, etc.

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  10. It's interesting thinking about your epitaph- it's the impression you'll make on people that have never even met you-- I love the one you came up with! And cupcakes sound pretty good right about now... I miss having a CRUMBS right down the street from me :(

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  11. Getting life insurance and other paperwork in order is so important. My father passed away a few years ago, and it was such a disaster. The laws surrounding death and family estates were very different compared to other places in the US, and my mother's accounts were frozen for months. It is a good idea to get all of that stuff squared away.

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  12. I've been hearing a lot about fitbit recently, I'm seriously considering getting one. And life insurance...to me it is the ultimate sign of adulthood! We've been meaning to do it since buying our house 3 years ago, and I'm sad to say that we still didn't do it. I've had health problems which led to a major surgery last year, and it turns out that it isn't easy to get insurance when 1. you have a medical condition or 2. it is now treated but you had surgery less than a year ago. We too have promised each other that we will get it sorted by the end of the year.

    I can't read more than one book at once either. I've tried different genres, different formats, but I just can't do it. I'd rather put all of my time, effort and thoughts into really enjoying one book. I tried the online book club too, but since I can only manage to read one book at a time, I struggle to pace my self with the weekly chapters, and end up reading the whole thing and then getting myself all confused during the discussions.

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  13. I really want to try Fitbit solely for the sleep function. I suspect that I sleep terribly most nights.

    My husband has life insurance. I have accidental death only, which I always figured was fine for now, but when I was looking into donating a kidney a couple years ago, I realized that surgery complications might not count as an "accident." Turns out I won't be having that surgery after all, but getting more coverage is still probably something I should look into. The other big "adult" thing is writing a will. Neither my husband nor I have one.

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  14. The Facebook movies were kind of fun, but I agree that the picture resolution could have been better. Mine also heavily weighted all my goofy group pictures from freshman year of college, making me look like I have way more friends then I actually do anymore. But then I suppose that's what Facebook does on purpose all the time, doesn't it?

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  15. Sooooo great that you're reading Tractors with us! Allison & I just love co-hosting the book club because we both get to meet so many fabulous bloggers! :D

    And those cupcakes look delish!

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