In So Many Words

July 7, 2020July 6, 2020

What I’m Reading – July 7th

What I’m Reading Now:

Fierce, Free, and Full of Fire: The Guide to Being Glorious You by Jen Hatmaker – I’m not sure what to expect from this book. It makes me a bit nervous, to be honest, but I’m going to read it with an open mind and evaluate what she has to say as objectively as possible.

To See the Moon Again by Jamie Langston Turner – Still in pending mode, but I will read it once the library books slow down.

What I Recently Finished:

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins – The story of Coriolanus Snow from The Hunger Games. I loved this book! Highly recommended!!

Joy at Work: Organizing Your Professional Life by Marie Kondo and Scott Sonenshein – This was a good book, but nothing earth shattering. My job is pretty routine, and I am pretty organized already, so there wasn’t much here that I found helpful. The only area I think I need to work on is going through my files and purging excess paper. But my files fit comfortably in two drawers, so I’m not really motivated right now to do it.

The Sorcerer of the North by John Flanagan – Book Five in the Ranger’s Apprentice series. This was one of my favorites so far. I really enjoyed it and am looking forward to the next book.

What I’ve Added to my TBR list:

Midnight Sun by Stephenie Meyer – the story of Twilight told from Edward’s point of view

The Siege of Macindaw by John Flanagan – Book Six in the Ranger’s Apprentice series.

Did Not Finish:

The Winemaker’s Wife by Kristin Harmel – My foray back into the world of WWII novels. I had to stop reading this one. I didn’t enjoy the characters or the story, and I just didn’t want to read anymore.

If you’re on Goodreads, feel free to add me as a friend. I’m always looking for new recommendations!

July 4, 2020May 21, 2025

Happy 4th of July

It is Saturday, July 4th, and today we are going to our first family gathering in several months. Since my father-in-law is currently undergoing chemo, it will just be the kids and not the grandkids attending this time. I got Michael some extra snacks to enjoy at home while he watches Baxter for us.

Joe’s job is winding down, and he starts his new job on the 13th. He will be working at a cabinet manufacturer. It’s first shift, but they are currently working extra long days plus every other Saturday. Once he gets through training, the hours will be 5:30-3:00. I would hate to get up that early; starting at 7:30 is plenty early enough for me!

His current job had their annual raffle, and he won a bunch of stuff, including a new laptop and a Dell all-in-one computer. I am using the Dell for work now instead of my old laptop. It has a huge screen, which I love. He was also able to get a graphics card that they were going to throw out, and he put that in Michael’s desktop computer. The only computer issue we are having now is that since we moved Michael’s computer up to the office, he occasionally gets disconnected from his games. So I bought an inexpensive wifi extender, and we are going to try that to see if it gives him a better signal up here. I do lose the connection occasionally as well, so it will help me too if it works.

Things with Baxter are doing much better. Since I cut back his wet food to a tablespoon per meal mixed with his dry food, he is settling more and we are getting back into a good rhythm with going potty. It’s still not perfect, but at least we gained back the ground we had lost for those few weeks. We are still meeting with the trainer and working on leave it and greeting people at the door and walking on the leash. It is slow going but I am still hopeful we can get there. I am also going to be taking him for a trial day at a doggy daycare this coming Tuesday. If it works out, I plan to take him there 1-2 times per week. I think it will be good for him.

The sunroom floor is in now, so that room is just about ready for the furniture that’s arriving on Wednesday. I am so excited to finally be able to use this room! I will post pictures once we get the furniture. We still need blinds and possibly other furniture, since we just got a recliner and a two-piece sectional with a chaise lounge.

So that’s my news for today. Enjoy your holiday!

June 30, 2020June 29, 2020

What I’m Reading – June 30th

What I’m Reading Now:

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins – The story of Coriolanus Snow from The Hunger Games. I’m about a third of the way through and I am loving it!

Joy at Work: Organizing Your Professional Life by Marie Kondo and Scott Sonenshein – I enjoyed Kondo’s books on decluttering and used them to go through my whole house and get it organized. I need to do some touch ups here and there, but I am interested in what she has to say about work. I feel pretty organized there, but she may have some good ideas that will make it even better.

The Winemaker’s Wife by Kristin Harmel – My foray back into the world of WWII novels.

To See the Moon Again by Jamie Langston Turner – This is her eighth book and the last one she has published so far. It has gotten pushed to the side by the influx of library books coming off hold.

What I Recently Finished:

A Week at the Shore by Barbara Delinsky – I have always enjoyed this author’s books, and this one was pretty good.

The Battle for Skandia by John Flanagan – Book Four in the Ranger’s Apprentice series. It was action-packed and very satisfying to read.

Spy, Spy Again by Mercedes Lackey – Book Three in the Family Spies series and who knows how many in the entire Valdemaran world. I have read her books since I was a teenager and still enjoy them. I loved this one!

What I’ve Added to my TBR list:

The Sorcerer of the North by John Flanagan – Book Five in the Ranger’s Apprentice series.

If you’re on Goodreads, feel free to add me as a friend. I’m always looking for new recommendations!

June 23, 2020June 22, 2020

What I’m Reading – June 23rd

What I’m Reading Now:

To See the Moon Again by Jamie Langston Turner – This is her eighth book and the last one she has published so far.

What I Recently Finished:

When We Were Young by Karen Kingsbury – One of the Baxter Family books that I missed somehow. It was cute – sort of Fireproof meets A Christmas Carol. A quick read.

Masked Prey by John Sandford – This is book 30 in his Prey series featuring Lucas Davenport.

Sometimes a Light Surprises by Jamie Langston Turner – I’m rereading her books in the order they were published, and this is the seventh one.

The Lending Library by Aliza Fogelson – Light hearted novel about a woman who opens a small library in her home when her local library closes for repairs. Kind of cute, but there’s something about it that’s a little too cheesy.

What I’ve Added to my TBR list:

Shadows in Death by J.D. Robb – Book #51 in the In Death series, this is due out in September.

The Christmas Swap by Melody Carlson – Also due out in September, this should be a cute holiday read.

If you’re on Goodreads, feel free to add me as a friend. I’m always looking for new recommendations!

June 16, 2020June 15, 2020

What I’m Reading – June 16th

What I’m Reading Now:

The Jane Austen Society by Natalie Jenner – My library only has this in audiobook, so I’m trying to listen to it. I’m not very far into it. I have trouble finding time when I can really focus on listening to the story. I may have to put this back on my TBR list until I can find a print copy.

Sometimes a Light Surprises by Jamie Langston Turner – I’m rereading her books in the order they were published, and this is the seventh one.

When We Were Young by Karen Kingsbury – One of the Baxter Family books that I missed somehow.

What I Recently Finished:

No Dark Valley by Jamie Langston Turner – I’m rereading her books in the order they were published, and this is number five.

Winter Birds by Jamie Langston Turner – Her sixth book. It actually is set in Mississippi instead of South Carolina, although there are a few characters from her other books who show up in this one a little bit.

What I’ve Added to my TBR list:

Molly Fyde and the Parsona Rescue by Hugh Howey – I absolutely loved his Wool series and am going to give the Bern Saga a try – this is book one.

If you’re on Goodreads, feel free to add me as a friend. I’m always looking for new recommendations!

June 9, 2020June 8, 2020

What I’m Reading – June 9th

What I’m Reading Now:

No Dark Valley by Jamie Langston Turner – I’m rereading her books in the order they were published, and this is number five.

The Jane Austen Society by Natalie Jenner – My library only has this in audiobook, so I’m trying to listen to it. We’ll see how it goes.

What I Recently Finished:

A Garden to Keep by Jamie Langston Turner – Her fourth book, this is an extremely thought-provoking story.

What I’ve Added to my TBR list:

The Lending Library by Aliza Fogelson – This was one of the Amazon Prime First Reads for June, and it sounded good.

The Winemaker’s Wife by Kristin Harmel – I know I said I didn’t like books set in WWII, but this one just sounded interesting and I thought I would give it a try.

If you’re on Goodreads, feel free to add me as a friend. I’m always looking for new recommendations!

June 7, 2020June 9, 2020

One Year Old

Baxter will be one year old this Tuesday. Since I’m getting a dental implant that day and wasn’t sure I’d feel up to celebrating, we decided to celebrate over the weekend.

To start, I baked him a dog-friendly cake with ingredients like applesauce and pumpkin, complete with a frosting made from peanut butter and Greek yogurt. For the humans, I made cake mix chocolate chip cookie bars. We sang Happy Birthday and ate our respective treats, which everyone enjoyed. Then I gave him his presents. He got a split elk antler and a birthday balloon toy with rope.

I have to admit I have been struggling lately, vacillating between great affection for Baxter and incredible frustration with him. Now that we are not under a stay-at-home order anymore, I reached out to a few dog trainers and found one that is willing to do positive behavior training for a very reasonable price. So I have her starting this week.

If we can get to a point where I can take him for walks without being pulled every which way, that would go a long way towards helping the situation. If we can get him to stop bothering the cat, that would be amazing. Those are my top two complaints right now.

Hopefully I will be feeling better about things by the time we hit one year since the day we got him, which was September 7th. Until then, I’ll keep trying to take one day at a time. 🙂

June 2, 2020June 1, 2020

What I’m Reading – June 2nd

What I’m Reading Now:

A Garden to Keep by Jamie Langston Turner – I’m rereading her books in the order they were published, and this is book four.

What I Recently Finished:

The Burning Bridge by John Flanagan – Book 2 in the Ranger’s Apprentice series. I am enjoying this series. It’s not totally realistic because the 15 year olds save the day on more than one occasion, but they are still a lot of fun to read.

The Icebound Land by John Flanagan – Book 3 in the Ranger’s Apprentice series. Another good book, although the way it shifted between the two storylines every other chapter was disconcerting. I would just be getting into it and the chapter would end, and I would have to switch gears to the other characters.

Someone Like You by Karen Kingsbury – This novel is part of her Baxter Family series. It was a sweet story and a quick afternoon read.

By the Light of a Thousand Stars by Jamie Langston Turner – I’m rereading her books in the order they were published, and this is her third one. I got so engrossed in it that I finished it in one day.

What I’ve Added to my TBR list:

The Jane Austen Society by Natalie Jenner – A few weeks ago, I shared a blog post about things that make me not want to read a book, and one of those things was a WWII setting. Well, this book is set just after WWII plus it’s about one of my favorite authors, so I am going to take a chance on it. My library only has it available as an audiobook. I have enjoyed audiobooks in the past, so I think that will be okay.

The Battle for Skandia by John Flanagan – Book 4 in the Ranger’s Apprentice series

Truly, Madly, Deeply by Karen Kingsbury – the next book in the Baxter Family series due out in October (no image available yet)

If you’re on Goodreads, feel free to add me as a friend. I’m always looking for new recommendations!