Well, it's been a while. Happy Monday everyone!
So, a little catch-up is in order. I've been rather busy since the last time I posted.
First, I went on a little vacation to California (April 19-25)
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| Orfila Vineyard Wine-tasting |
What a fun trip this was! I've never been to California before, so Dave and I were excited to go to a town near San Diego to watch two dear friends of ours get married!
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| Ballast Point Brewery |
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| San Diego Zoo |
Because it was a destination wedding, the couple planned some activities for everyone to do, such as a wine tasting, a nature walk, and a beach day. Dave and I were staying at an AirBnB house with three other friends of ours, and we found a whole bunch of stuff to do just the five of us, like visit a whole bunch of breweries with unique beers, visit the San Diego Zoo, and explore Little Italy and the Gas Lamp District of the city. We had a blast!
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| Nature Walk |
Oh, and the wedding was beautiful too. Of course. It took place in a backyard patio area of a brewery and it suited this couple to a tee. High quality beer for the groom, gorgeous outdoor scenery for the bride, it was perfect.
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| The Wedding at Stone Brewery |
Suffice it to say, we were sad to leave the beautiful hills of California.
Next, I had to host a major dance event (April 29)
So when I got back from my trip, I was in full planning mode. My brother and I were going to host our very own dance social. We opened up the parking lot area for outdoor grilling and a game of ladderball. A couple of my students did a little performance. I baked a cake, we had a raffle, there was dancing....it was a good time! We also had a decent crowd, and made a reasonable profit, soooo....yay!
Then I had to catch up on all the bills...(April 30-May 5)
This was the bummer part. I got to see exactly how much I spent during our trip, and I had to pay all the usual bills, and watch all my money go away (*sob*). Yeesh, California was expensive, and it didn't help that we drank all that beer!
Then I had to get used to my husband's new work schedule (May 8-12)
So my husband finally quit his old job. Yay! This past week he started his new job at Middlesex Hospital, which had a rather major schedule change. In his last job, his hours were Monday thru Friday from 1:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.. Now, he's got Monday off, Tuesday and Wednesday he works 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., and Thursday and Friday he works 8 a.m. to 5 p.m..
This new schedule took some getting used to. For one thing I now have to wake up at 6 a.m., which is a little tricky. For another thing, our daily habits have to change; morning gym visits will have to be re-adapted, and we can't chill out in the morning anymore. Ah well. We'll get used to it.
I did read a few books over the past month, not as many as I would have liked, but I did get a few. Here they are (click on the cover for more info):
Genre: Memoir
Date Read: April 19th
My Rating: ★★★ 1/2
My Thoughts: This was for a book club, but I didn't finish this in time for the meeting. I ended up finishing this on the plane on the way over to San Diego.
I don't usually read memoirs, but I'm really glad I read this one. Richard Russo is a talented writer, and he told his story of his relationship with his mother incredibly well. The writing style is what really defines this book; it makes an average tale an extraordinary tale. Try a Russo book if you haven't already!
Genre: Urban fantasy
Date Read: April 28th
My Rating: ★★★★
My Thoughts: Yet another fun installment in the Dresden Files! It had all the usual qualities that this series has, with an additional "Ocean's Eleven"/"Italian Job" feel to it. Looking forward to the next installment!
Genre: Urban Fantasy/Short Stories
Date Read: April 28th
My Rating: ★★★★
My Thoughts: When Harry Dresden of the Dresden files mentions a guy named River Shoulders, your first thought is "who the heck is River Shoulders?!" This short story compilation answers that question! A nice little add-on to the Dresden Files, we get three short stories involving the Bigfoot known as River Shoulders. A very quick read and totally worth it!
Genre: Fairy Tale Retelling
Date Read: May 9th
My Rating: ★★★ 1/2
My Thoughts: This book is exactly what you expect it to be; it's the Disney film, but with a key plot change that affects how the rest of the story plays out. It was entertaining and fast, a very easy read. I can't say it was amazing, but it was definitely fun.
So now, I've got some catching up to do. I'm two books behind schedule on my 80-book reading goal, and I have two BOTM's to finish. I have no goals right now except to finish the books I'm currently reading in a timely manner.
Here are my current books (click on the cover for more):
This is for a library book club that I need to finish by tomorrow at 1 p.m. So far, I've got about 60 pages left, and I'm liking the book. I'm looking forward to the discussion on this one, because I feel like I missed a couple of things.
Yes I'm still working on this one. This is for a family book club, comprised of my grandmother, my mother, and myself. It seemed like a good idea at the time to read this book, but man! This book is depressing! We're all barely a 100 pages in, and we hate reading all the horrible stuff that's happening. Mom and I ended up switching to an annotated edition because the footnotes are making the story a little easier to swallow. We'll have the book club meeting once we all finish this story, although at this rate it'll be a month from now.
This is the non-BOTM read. I needed something to listen to on audiobook, since apparently listening to an audiolecture on famous Romans wasn't doing it for me. I didn't realize it was a sequel (whoops!) but so far it isn't spoiling much from the other story.
Okay, now I have to get ready to meet with a landscaper, who's coming over to check out our yard. I have decided that I have absolutely no clue what I'm supposed to do with the garden, so we hired a landscaper to take a look and advise on what to do next. See ya!
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