Stuff and Things

 

I really like this photo and I hate all photos with me in them.  If only I could go back in time and tell 2017 Brianna how good things were... what is wrong with the world right now?  Seriously.  

This post was supposed to be about a different subject but I changed my mind... 

I haven't been reading much this week but the word count is 👍 so I'll take it. 4,964 words since June 22nd.  I think some of that is miscalculated by Y-writer counting moving things around as new words but most of it was not.  

Go me.  

Tomorrow is the last day of June.  What? What do I plan on reading in July?  Anything I want.  I'm not going to assign myself anything because then I won't want to read it.  

If the writing keeps up, it might only take me six years instead of seven to finish a book--I can't even remember if I started it in 2014 or 2015, I know when I started I was trying to type with a baby napping on me...  One-handed typing is tight! 

That baby will be nine in August...  I will be... not going to go there, next fall.  

I'm just going to end this post right now... 

  

Useful Things

 I don't want to say Needful Things because I'm not Stephen King...  Things that make my life more lifey? lively? lovely?

My bread machine. Dump stuff in, turn it on, and bread pops out.  So much easier than the complicated way of making bread involving kneading and finding the bread pan.  Mmmmm bread...

Y-writer.  I tried Scrivener but it ate months of my novel once and I'm still bitter. It's also free.  I just "upgraded" to version 7 because the spell check in version 6 wasn't working.  So far so good.

Barkeeper's Friend.  It's like cleaning with baking soda only better.  

I-tunes.  All my music in one place and songs don't "disappear" like some other music service that rhymes with Cramazon.  

My Apple watch.  Not only does it remind me I'm lazy (exercise rings) but I can see who is texting me from anywhere in the house (and yard) so I can ignore them from anywhere.  Plus... it tells time which is very useful in a watch.

Storygraph.  The picture is my reading graph as of this morning.   It's the reading tracker Goodreads never was... I decided to ignore GR for the year (I do occasionally use it to look things up or I'd delete it...) and can't say I miss it. I'm hooked on Storygraph.  

Blogger stats.  In case I was wondering if anyone is reading this blog.  Except for someone in the Virgin Islands two weeks ago (hi!) the answer is no.  It's nice to confirm my unpopularity is not only in my imagination once in a while.    

I don't have a photo to go with this post, I might add one later... I need to find my very useful camera first.  

Mom Life...

Mom brain is real... *

As in, I tried to scan a book at the library on the thing that scans library cards-- books go on the flat thing on the other side of the monitor. A librarian appeared out of nowhere and showed me how to check out books...my teenager thought it was hilarious.

As in, the library has this new check-in thing where a slot opens up and grabs the books and I can't figure out how to get it to turn on...

As in, I tried to use my library card number instead of my Amazon password.

As in, I have to keep paging my phone because I keep misplacing it.

As in, I have missed my turn trying to pick my kid up from school and tried to drive to Target instead.

As in, I put coffee in the coffee maker, forgetting the filter wasn't in there because I was going to rinse it out...

As in, I forgot a side for dinner was in the oven, and found it the next day... yes I turned the oven off, just didn't take the food out.

As in, I've driven off and left the front door wide open.  

As in, I've gone to do my volunteer stuff, and drove our 2nd car, and didn't have the key I needed because it's on my regular car keychain.

As in, I've ordered a book I've already read, or that we already own, more than once.

Should I keep going?

My kids have been preparing for finals (for what seems like decades) and their snarky attitude about me asking them to do things like eat dinner, is getting to me...  I'm not taking any finals, why am I stressing?  Two more days!  

*No these have not all happened recently, but most have.  

Pivot!

 

My [kid is on] summer vacation (still waiting on the other three, Thursday) energy has made an appearance.

Yesterday was a weird puzzle of have to move the fridge to get the chair through the kitchen, can't move the chair until I move the computer, can't move the computer until I move the...  this room is a mess.

I still need to move the treadmill so I can move the guinea pigs and some other stuff so I can move my craft desk and then summer vacation can begin.  Think of all the extra exercise the husband is going to get having to walk an extra 15 feet to read over my shoulder ;)  

Yes, there was a lot of yelling pivot! to get the small couch through the dining room-kitchen doorway.  At least we didn't have to carry it up the stairs.

We also go an inch of rain yesterday, so that's fun and depressing.  I'm starting to forget what the sun looks like...  

But now that the computer is now not in front of a window, and I have a reading chair, under a window where the computer was, I know how I'm spending my weekend!  

To Everything There is a Season: Summer

We've had a really really cold wet rainy spring.  Like for every day of nice weather we get six days of epic rain (usually on the weekend...)  Most of my garden is way behind where it usually is at this time of year, but the peas (see picture) are loving it. So is the stupid lawn, which needs to be mowed way more than usual right now but if I mow both the front and back on the same day it takes about 1/2 an hour and it counts (according to my fitness tracker) as exercise so yay jungle-lawn.

The above photo is not the greatest but we had to rabbit proof the garden this year and it's also Brianna-proof...  I'm going to have to come up with something different next year.  The slugs are out-of-control this year too :(  

Anyway, no it's not officially summer yet, but in my brain June is summer so...

Reading: Yes.  All the things.  Or wanting to read all the things.  Actually reading all the things not so much. The last two weeks of school are crazy...Soon, I will have all the time in the world and no excuses.  Currently reading: Midnight at the Blackbird Cafe for one of my book clubs. 

Writing: Yes, at least I did yesterday.  

Eating: It's almost watermelon season (my favorite fruit) otherwise whatever is easiest.  These sorbet things from Costco that come in a fruit husk... I don't like the coconut ones as much, but the pink ones in the lemon peel are delicious.

Wearing:  Layers.  It's still not warm enough to ditch the hoodies, and too wet for flip flops.  

Creating:  I checked out a book from the library on knitting cables... I also want to finally learn to crochet and then the yarn-craft universe will be mine mine mine.  

I hope, once the kids are out of school and I'm not their personal taxi-service, I can unbury my craft table and get some stuff done.

Listening: Not much, maybe not having music going is why my creativity has vanished...

Watching:  Bluebloods.  It's something to watch.  I was also watching Bridgerton but got distracted by the dude from New Kids on the Block ;) 

Playing:  Mariokart!  I finally got the husband to put the Wii on the upstairs TV so I can play it again--all the upconverting [to whatever complicated mess, why can't we just have a normal TV without seventeen different things attached to it?] --on the downstairs TV was making the screen super bright and hard to see.  

We also played about six games of Lost Ruins of Arnak before taking it back to the library.  I actually won twice, go me.

Waiting: For summer vacation.  One kid is done with school today, the other three are done next Thursday. The district is taking all the i-pads, laptops, and Chromebooks back for the summer (starting today) so I'm not sure what they're going to do for the last week of school.  Finals on paper?  What is this 1996?

We're supposed to go see the in-laws in July.

Looking forward to warm(er) weather (not 110 degrees like last summer), not having to get up at 5:45 (I probably will anyway...) not seeing the high school parking lot for three months, all the summer stuff... like the sun, the pool, the beach, raspberries... 

That I've already had Covid so (for now) I'm immune.

Dreading: listening to my neighbor's creepy drunk son who lives in his RV in the driveway, and his screechy woodworking tools, whenever I go outside.

One of my kids is having foot surgery and will not very mobile for six weeks.

The price of gas, I think it was $5.50 the last time I was at the gas station :(

Kids with a million choices of things to do, complaining they're bored.

The fall, because I'm not ready to have a high school senior!

Adulting:  Yes, unfortunately, I need to do something about that...

The End(ing):  until fall anyway.

Bingo Summer

It's the summer of Reading Bingo.  

From my book club

From a Booktube channel I watch.

And I'm pretty sure my library has a summer reading Bingo, although "summer" according to the library is only June 15th-August 15th.  The other two I have all of June- August to complete.  

Update: that's a no on the library summer reading Bingo.  It's full of things like "hug someone," and "sing," and not very book related. If you heard me sing you'd be thanking me for opting out.  I'll just stick to the other two Bingos.  

Other summer goals (besides reading):

Painting my dining room.  I painted it with flat paint (bad advice from someone) and it looks horrid after nine years.  Currently it is light gray, but I think I want a color in there...but which one? The dining room is also the husband's office.  Don't worry I'll just paint around him while he's working... 

Repaint my kitchen cabinet doors from what was supposed to be light aqua but looks like seasick green.  Long story... don't use oil-based polyurethane!  

Decluttering, especially the boys' bedroom.  We have way too much crap... seriously where does it all come from?

Move my craft desk , or maybe I'll just buy a lamp.  The lighting is horrible where it's currently located.

Move my computer, currently it's in front of a south facing window and my eyes hate it.  

Lots of walks, exploring, and working on the yard.

Learn to can.  I have the equipment, but never grow enough of any one food to use it... maybe this will be the year.  

Going to the beach.  My spirit ocean (that would be the Pacific) misses me.

At least one trip to the sno-cone stand near our house.

Many trips to the library...of course.  

May 2022 Read List

What I read in May, in reverse order:

 It's Kind of a Funny Story by Ned Vizzini 

format: physical 
pages: 444
genre:YA contemporary
rating: 4 stars

one sentence summary: Craig is a depressed teenager who gets accepted into an elite school in New York and ends up checking  himself into a mental hospital from the stress.

thoughts: I have many but how to put them into words?  I am glad I read this. It was a quick read considering the length and subject matter.  I have questions about the main character, Craig, being able to check himself into a mental hospital, and being able to walk out in five days (which is true, based on the author's own life) because he declared himself well.  I liked how Craig found a talent/passion while he was there though.  There is a romance thread in the story that was weird... 

Depend on Katie John by Mary Calhoun 

format: physical
pages: 190
genre: middle grade fiction?  1960s contemporary?  unknown
rating: 4 stars

one sentence summary: We return to Barton's Bluff Missouri for more adventures with Katie John and her boarding house friends.

thoughts:  This was the hardest Katie John book to get a hold of (and due to a shipping error, I have two copies, anyone want one?) so I have not read this one since I checked it out of my hometown library when I was 10-12 years old.  It's considered YA, but in today's world, and the shelf I found it on in the 80s, I'd say it's middle grade. 

I don't think know if I realized when I originally read this that when Katie John was complaining about doing laundry, it was on one of those hand cranked washing machines.  Also, I don't dust my house nearly as much as the Tucker's at their boarding house.  

I enjoyed the book, the adventures, and Katie John is still one of my favorite characters.  I wish I could find this book in hardcover, but since I could barely find it in paperback... where are all the hardcovers hiding?

Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay, and a Mother's Will to Survive by Stephanie Land

format: audio 
length: 8 hours 34 minutes
genre: adult, non- fiction, memoir
rating: 4.25 stars 

one sentence summary: Stephanie documents life as a single mom, and an underpaid maid on seven types of government/state assistance, in Washington in the late 90s, early 2000s.

thoughts: I enjoyed this audiobook (read by the author).  I recognized a lot of the place names because it takes place in my current state of residence which was nice. 

I never want to be a maid (I'm a terrible housekeeper), will never hire a maid because I'd feel bad and end up cleaning everything myself before they got here anyway.  

I'd probably be nicknamed the Lego house because they are in every drawer, cabinet, box, and under every piece of furniture...

I read this from my privileged, I don't know how to spell that word...life so that might alter my perspective. I once had to pay taxes (considering my income at the time it was completely ridiculous that I owed anything) with my financial aid money... so maybe I wasn't that poor, but it sure hurt at the time.  Anyway, it was a good book, very enlightening about how things work, or don't work.  

After I was done listening to this book, I binge watched the ten episode mini-TV show (while I was sick with Covid) and really enjoyed it, but it was much different than the book.  I liked both, for different reasons... The mom character (not in the book) played by Andie MacDowell was a nice addition. 

I recommend both the book and the show.
  
The Lost Man by Jane Harper 

format: physical
pages: 352 
genre: adult crime mystery
rating:4.5 stars

one sentence summary:  In the very dry vast Australian outback, one of three cattle ranching brother's is found dead.

thoughts: This is my third Jane Harper book, and probably my second favorite so far.  The atmosphere of her books...  This is classified as a thriller, but I thought it was more of a mystery.

I enjoyed the story, and the unraveling layers to solve the crime.  This takes place at Christmas and it was fun to read about Christmas in the middle of summer.  Also, all the prep that goes into living in an area that is so scorching hot-- I probably wouldn't enjoy living that way.  I am part hermit, but 3 hours from anyone/anywhere is too much, even for me.  

Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid 

format: physical
pages: 384 pages 
genre: adult historical?  
rating: 4.5 stars

one sentence summary: It's California in the 1980's, a family of four siblings with a famous musician father grow up along the coast of Malibu.

thoughts: I resent that a story set in the 1980s is classified as historical! This is my second Taylor Jenkins Reid book, as I mentioned on Instagram, I have not read Daisy Jones and the Six which this is a spin-off of.  I started Daisy Jones once, but think I need to listen to it on audio (tons of characters.)  

Anyway, for being a spin-off, I enjoyed spending time with the Riva family, and their party prep, and the format of the book (the events of one day, rotating with chapters on the backstory).   The ending was... too brief.  I wanted a little more... I overall enjoyed this one and flew through it.

In Five Years by Rebecca Serle 

format: physical (library book)
pages: 272 
genre: adult contemporary/sci fi
rating: 4.25 stars

one sentence summary: Dannie Kohan wakes up and spends a very short time in the future where she discovers she is not married to, or living, where/to who she expected in five years.  

thoughts: This kind of reminded me of The Time Traveler's Wife in it's writing style.  The story did not go where I thought it was going to go.  I really liked it... It was not as time travelly as I expected (really only one tiny part) but I enjoyed it.  I have another book by the author on my shelf, I should read it...

The Passengers by John Marrs

format: physical (library book)
pages 352 
genre: adult sci- fi thriller
rating: 4 stars

one sentence summary: in the future, all cars in England are driverless, then the AI develops a mind of it's own and takes people hostage.

thoughts:  John Marrs is on my author's to try in 2022 list... checkmark.  I'm not adding the author to my favorite author's list, but it was an OK book.  There were A LOT of characters to keep track of (and I didn't do a very good job, maybe I should have taken notes), and the ending was confusing.  Still, I read it and enjoyed most of it.  I can't say much more without giving away stuff.
 

May statistics:

books read: 7
fiction: 6, non-fiction: 1
middle grade: 1 adult: 5, YA: 1
owned: 4,  borrowed:3
physical: 6, audio:1, ebook: 0
pages read: 2570 (includes dnf books), hours listened: 8 hours, 34 minutes
dnf: 1

average rating: 4.21

new books acquired this month: 5 

dnf: I did not end up finishing The Guncle like I planned on May 31st.  I spent my doctor appointment waiting time finding a parking space (seriously it took about half an hour), and having a coughing fit in the waiting room, and finding out all the water fountains were turned off for "safety," whatever that means.  So long story short, I finished The Guncle on June 1st.  My review will therefore be in my June Reading post.  

If I had any other dnf books in May, I don't remember them.  May was a weird weird month...  

Considering how crazy the month ended up being I had a pretty good reading month.  I expect with school ending soon,  June is going to be the best reading month ever (and I've already finished a book).  Knock on wood.

These posts are very annoying to put together, I need to find an easier way...