#3045 not much going on, but also a lot

You know, I've had kind of a weird week. Last Sunday, I took a long nap during the daytime hours, then I stayed up until 2 AM (re)watching the first season of Ted Lasso with my son who has never seen the show. I don't know if I can tell you the last time I stayed up until 2 AM on purpose. I felt like I was behind on my sleep all week.

I had to take two dogs to the vet this week. I took Harley to her regular vet on Wednesday to get some vaccinations, although I think there was a mistake and she got all her shots already, but I'll double check that. It doesn't matter though because she didn't get vaxxed anyway. Harley is a bit underweight, and the vet is concerned that she might be sickly and she told me she doesn't vaccinate sick dogs. I was actually pleased because Harley has gained three pounds since I took her to the emergency vet in February. She has been having diarrhea fairly often, though, and that's the concern. She eats very well and is hungry all the time. I am monitoring the situation and giving her a pro-biotic supplement, and she is doing better. In the meantime, I'll recheck my records on those vaccinations we went in for.

Stella had to go to the emergency vet today. Yesterday afternoon, I noticed she was being very quiet and not moving around much. Her nose was dry and she was panting rapidly. She shook her head a lot, and when I tried to look at her ear, she yipped really loudly. She didn't eat her kibbles last night or this morning, although she took a few from my hand. (Harley happily ate them for her.) I noticed that Stella seemed to be stepping very gingerly, and she didn't want to play frisbee. Something was definitely wrong. The vet examined her and told me that her little paws have foxtail weeds in between the pads, so Stella needed to be sedated, her paws shaved, and the foxtails extracted. Poor baby. 'Tis the season for foxtails. At the vet's office on Wednesday, there was a woman picking up her dog who had foxtail removed from his feet, too. It's easy to get the weeds out of Harley and Mac's fur and feet because their fur is so different from Stella's. Now it is 5:45 PM and Stella is still at the vet. We went there at 11:30 this morning. I called a couple of hours ago, and was told that an emergency came in, so Stella's treatment was delayed. The guy said she was resting in the kennel and that she's okay, but I'm getting anxious for her. More to come...

Speaking of our back yard/weed patch, we are having some work done on it. One of our tenants, Sandino, has a crew of guys who do work on yards. They dug up part of the yard and prepped it for sod. They also replaced the pavers that we put down 20 years ago or so. They are also working on the sprinkler system. They are doing a good job, and it will be nice. We have a big backyard, and every inch of it needs some love.

T and I have been going to the movies on Friday afternoons the past couple of weeks. We have seen Michael and The Devil Wears Prada 2. It's a nice way to spend a couple of hours, in a cool, dark theater, having some popcorn and watching a movie with my son. Yesterday I watched the movie Remarkably Bright Creatures on Netflix. I loved it. I wept. It was one of those stories where you kind of know what's going to happen, but you get caught up in the acting - Sally Field! - and the way the story unfolds. So good. I still want to read the book.

One more thing: on Thursday before I recorded blooms at RBGA, I stopped for breakfast at All Purpose Bakehouse.  I'd stopped there a couple of times for to go items, but I wanted to sit there for a bit. It was nice. The place was pretty crowded. I sat up at a counter by the window and read while I enjoyed a cappuccino and a pain suisse. 

breakfast at APB

The pain suisse is made of croissant dough and filled with a light vanilla custard and chocolate. It is really delicious and really rich. I think next time I'll just have a regular croissant. The baker does a wonderful job on the croissants. They are crispy and flaky outside, tender and buttery inside. Perfect for dipping into the foamy cappuccino.

Looking forward:

We are now at 20 days until The Trip. This week I'm planning to do some Trip Admin, like ordering euros, scheduling the mail to be held, and arranging for international phone plans. I'll probably also take a closer look at the EES stuff and the State Department's STEP program.

On the Dixon front, I need to follow up with the bank to make sure they got the paperwork I sent to claim the funds in the account there. I also want to make the arrangements with the cemetery and the funeral home to inter the ashes of my aunt and uncle in the family plot. I've already started that process, and I want to get all the arrangements made. 

Stella is going to the groomer tomorrow, at least that's the plan. I am going to the dentist on Wednesday for a cleaning. I'll record blooms at RBGA on Thursday, probably, and I've got my regular docent shift on Sunday.

Stella update! The vet just called. They are done with her feet. The vet didn't see anything in her ear, but did see a lot of black icky stuff, so she might have an ear infection. They are testing that now. I'll be going to get her in 30 to 40 minutes. 

That gets you all caught up on my activities. Have a great week!

#3042 weekend wrap-up

spring snow

It has been a quiet and relaxing weekend at my house. The photo above was taken on Thursday afternoon after a quick but fairly generous snow storm. It is said that April 16 is the average last day of snow for the season in SLC, which would be fine with me. We had a really dry winter, so any water helps. I'd be fine if the water coming from the sky isn't white, though.

Friday was clear, cool, and sunny. MT went for a hike then left for Pocatello. He is painting the outside of the new property, and he'll be back tomorrow afternoon. I decided to go see a movie because why not? I went to see You, Me, and Tuscany. It was exactly the eye and mind candy I needed. The people and the setting were pretty, the premise is a little sketchy about how the woman gets to Tuscany and the shenanigans involved, but it's total chick-lit-rom-com shenanigans. Along with popcorn and a soda, it was a nice way to spend a couple of hours.

T and I have spent the weekend watching the NBA playoffs. I don't really have a favorite team in the playoffs overall. The Utah Jazz are not in the playoffs. They were terrible this year and actually got in trouble for "tanking" - losing on purpose to try to get a higher lottery pick. Disgraceful. This is not the Jazz front office of old, and Larry Miller is probably turning over in his grave. I am a long-time Jazz fan and I could barely stand to watch the team play this year. Sad.

Yesterday I swapped out my winter clothes for my summer clothes. While I was at it, I culled the wardrobe, but truly, I still have a boatload of clothes, way more than I need or wear, especially now that I am not working. (Although, if I'm being honest, I usually wore the same few things all the time.) I have a dream of putting together a smaller capsule-type wardrobe, but I'm afraid (or something) of getting rid of too much and of keeping too much. I know I'm being ridiculous, and all I really have to do is remember the vast amount of clothing and stuff that came out of the house in Dixon to encourage me to purge my own clothing and stuff, but it seems to be much harder to do that to my own things. <<sigh>>

Let's see what's on the agenda for next week. The 22nd is Earth Day, and the 24th is Arbor Day. Friday the 24th, I've got a volunteer assignment at The Garden because they are having Arbor Day festivities. I haven't been able to do daytime assignments in the past, so I'm happy to be able to do this! It's supposed to be a nice day on Friday, too. I'll also go up on Tuesday to record blooms. The 23rd is World Book Day, which doesn't really mean anything special to me because every day is Book Day in my world.  

Time to sign off here to do some art. I read a lot today and took a little nap, so I didn't do the art I was planning to do earlier. Have a great week!
 

#3039 three things: trips and a movie

my three dancing squirrels

Hi! It's been awhile since I've written here. I was visiting Mama and Lizzie for a couple of the writing days, then I was busy adulting and time just slipped by. I'm ready to get back to it, though, so here are three random things.

1. The trip to CA. As I mentioned above, I went to southern California to visit Mama and Lizzie for six nights at the end of March. T came with me, and we had a nice time! Lizzie and I went for walks in the mornings and then to get coffee. The four of us went on a couple of adventures: to Sunset Beach to dip our toes in the ocean and have some lunch, and to the Fullerton Arboretum to look at trees and flowers. It was, once again, a good combination of chilling at home and doing stuff. The weather was really nice, and I think it was a perfect amount of time to be there. We weren't there long enough to be too annoying, but not long enough to be tired of each other. Does that make sense?

2. Easter in Pocatello. On Easter Sunday, MT, T, and I drove to Pocatello to spend Easter with MT's side of the family. I remember some of my childhood Easters when we had to look for eggs inside the house because it was raining or snowing. Not a problem this year, though. The weather in Poky was excellent on Sunday. Linda had tables set out on her back deck so all 19 of us could sit outside. She smoked a pork butt, and we had pulled pork sandwiches and every type of salad. Three of the great-grandkids were there, all under five, (I think) and it was cute to watch them look for the Easter eggs. We came back to SLC late in the afternoon because we had our tax appointment on Monday morning. It's a long way to go for a meal, but it was nice to see the family. 

3. The Drama. No, no family drama; The Drama is a movie starring Robert Pattinson and Zendaya. T is a Robert Pattinson fan, and who doesn't like Zendaya? T and I went to see the film this afternoon. I had no idea what it was about, but I like hanging out with my son, so why not? The movie starts out cute and sweet: Charlie (RP) and Emma (Z) are going to be married and Charlie is writing his wedding speech with the help of his best friend Mike. Through the speech writing, we learn how Charlie and Emma met and fell in love. Wedding plans are moving along until the night Charlie and Emma go with Mike and his wife Rachel (who is Emma's matron of honor) to dinner to choose the wedding dinner items. Over drinks, the question, "What is the worst thing you've ever done?" is asked, and each of them has to respond. Turns out, Emma had a doozy, and the relationships were put to the test after the revelation. The last half of the movie is uncomfortable to watch, to say the least. No spoilers from me, but damn.   

Enjoy the rest of the week!

#3038 family movie night: Project Hail Mary

 

Back in February 2022, I read the book Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir. I gave it four stars. Science fiction can be kinda stressful for me to read because situations get precarious, life and death hangs in the balance: is the hero going to figure a way out of this terrifying situation?  That being said, I did enjoy the book, and I have often thought about Grace and Rocky and how it all turned out.

Strangely, my husband didn't even finish this book; he just couldn't get into it, and he loves sci fi. He can talk for a long time about the whole Dune situation - he has read all of those books and seen all the movies. I couldn't get through Dune.

Imagine my delight when I learned that the book Project Hail Mary had been made into a movie starring Ryan Gosling! I was eager to see it. I knew T would come with me because he likes movies, and even MT wanted to see it, so we had family movie matinee this afternoon. 

I loved it. It was pretty long, about two and half hours, but that wasn't a problem for me because watching Ryan Gosling for two and half hours is not a hardship, and I had popcorn and a Diet Coke. Also, the story is good. There's a lot of action. There's science and problem-solving. There's a lot of emotion, too. I cried more than twice. I giggled several times, too. And yes, I clapped at the end. The menfolk liked it, too. 

It might not be for everyone (I'm looking at you, Mamacita), but for a fun adventure, this is a good one.

#3037 Oscar night

 

Have you ever heard the theory that people's interests change about every seven years?  I don't know about the time-frame, for sure, but I do think it's true that things you used to enjoy change over time. When I was a kid, I loved listening to American Top 40 and obsessively writing the complete Top 40 in a notebook every week. I grew out of that although I still love a good list. I used to listen to sports radio all the time and watch The Dan Patrick Show as much as I could. I haven't watched Dan in years now. There was a time when I would not dream of missing a Utah Jazz or Utah football game on TV. I still enjoy watching games, but it isn't something I make a point to do anymore. 

I used to look forward to Oscar night. I would try to watch all the films nominated for Best Picture back when there were just five or six movies on the list. I would plan my day so I knew I could sit on the couch for three or four hours and watch the show from the Red Carpet arrivals and interviews through the award for Best Picture. (I still like the Red Carpet but it's not as much fun without Joan Rivers!) I don't watch as many movies as I used to, though, and I've sort of lost interest in the pop culture of it all. I recognize the big name movie stars, but there are plenty of famous people I see on magazine covers and occasionally on Entertainment Tonight that I have no idea who they are. It's the same with the Grammys. I used to know most of the nominees, and now, not so many. 

Anyway, tonight is Oscar night, and there are ten movies nominated for Best Picture. I have seen three of them: Sinners, Hamnet, and F1. Actually, I have seen Sinners twice. It was good, and I am rooting for that movie to take home the statue. Hamnet was quietly wonderful; the actress who played Agnes, Jessie Buckley, is nominated for Best Actress in a Leading Role, and I hope she wins. She was fantastic. The last scene when she is seeing the play Hamlet in the Globe Theater is incredible. She made me feel all the feelings. I was surprised F1 was nominated for Best Picture. I enjoyed the movie, because Brad Pitt, and it's kind of a sports movie and I don't think you can go wrong with a sports movie, but Best Picture? It's kinda like when Maverick was nominated a year or two ago. I just didn't get it. Fun movies, but they don't seem to be in the same level as some of the other nominees. 

I'm planning to watch the last hour or so of the telecast so I can see the awards for Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Picture. 

Speaking of movies, there is a film coming out that I will see on the big screen: Project Hail Mary. I totally loved the book, and I'm excited to see the movie. I think we'll be having family movie night next weekend because all of us want to see it!

I do really like to go to the movies. I love seeing a film on a big screen, having some popcorn, and feeling the vibe in the theater with other people. It's just so expensive to go to the theater and I'm already paying for streaming services. Also, I don't go to the movies just to go (anymore.) I have to be really excited about the the film, otherwise, I'll wait for it to stream, although I might not watch it anyway. 

Are you planning to watch The Oscars?

xo

#3011 pdin 30 (!) first and last

me this morning

There was snow on the ground when I woke up this morning - the first snow of the season at my house! It was just a dusting, but it was sticking to the grass and actual snowflakes could be spotted falling from the sky. The snow didn't last very long, but the sky remained the perfect shade of November grey all day long, I liked it. It felt cozy and quiet.

Most of my morning was spent right here at my computer doing the bookkeeping. So many accounts to keep track of! This afternoon, T and I went to see Wicked for Good at the movie theater. I liked it, but I liked Part 1 better. The song "For Good" made me weep. The harmonies from Erivo and Grande are so lovely.

I've got a lot of stuff coming up next week. Monday and Tuesday will be busy at work because it is month-end close and I will be training DM, my replacement, on the processes. Wednesday T has a dentist appointment and Thursday he has his final follow-up with the back surgeon. I have a doctor appointment on Friday, which was scheduled awhile ago. I think MT will be home on Friday. I would like to do some Christmas shopping this week or at least on the weekend. Plus, I still need to set up my new laptop, and I feel like it must be done this weekend.

Today is November 30, and I have completed my personal challenge of posting here every day this month! I don't think I had too many dud or throwaway posts, and I had fun doing it, so that's what is most important to me. 

Cheers to the first snowfall of the season and the last post of my Post Daily in November challenge!

Have a great week!

xo

 

#2995 pdin 14 just hanging out

The menfolk left for Idaho this morning. The dogs were extra happy when I got home tonight. They've been accustomed to having us around, so I think they were a bit lonely.

I stopped by Trader Joe's on my way home. Since I'll just be making food for myself, I'm keeping it simple this week. I'll be training my replacement at work, so I'll be in the office four days a week for a the next few weeks. It will be good to pack a lunch and to eat light when I get home. I have been feeling a little chonky lately. 

Guess what? I watched a movie tonight! It was called French Lover  (Netflix). I actually had to watch, too, because it is in French with English subtitles. I caught a few words here and there, but they spoke so fast I couldn't follow the French much at all.  It was not great and not terrible, just a nice way to spend an evening. 

My big plans for the weekend include:

• cleaning the house
• doing the bookkeeping
• playing around with the travel journal
• going for a walk to Red Butte Garden
• getting the oil changed in my car
• art time / reading time / writing time

Maybe I'll watch a bit of football. Maybe I'll watch another movie. Ideally, I'll stay home on Sunday and just chill and putter around the house. There's a chance of rain on Sunday, so being home sounds great.

I hope you had a good week and have something to look forward to this weekend.

Ciao!

#2960 good times this weekend

There has been a lot happening at my house in the past few days. Let me tell you about it.

On Friday, I worked at the office in the morning, then came home at 1:00 to finish up my workday, and to have a chance to say good-bye to MT as he set off for his through-hike on the Colorado Trail. I felt emotional when he left - like, I actually cried. I wasn't expecting that, and I was puzzled by this reaction. Hang on to that thought, because we'll circle back to it in a bit.

That night, T and I went to see the new Superman movie on an IMAX screen. I didn't really want to see it, but I did really want to hang out with my son. I didn't really particularly like or dislike the movie. T really liked it, and I think I was the only person in the theater with a meh response. There was a lot of cheering and clapping at the end of the show.

Yesterday (Saturday), I was up fairly early to play with the dogs, water the plants, and feed the birds; it's my usual morning routine. I also cleaned up the kitchen and made some nice coffee, then did the bookkeeping. T's friend Jordyn came over and they were day drinking. It sounded fun, but I had other things to do.

I'd decided earlier in the week that I was going to fulfill a wish that I'd had for years, and that was to have a picnic in a cutaway at RBG. There are two cutaways on the main trail; basically, they are little patios in the trees along the northeast part of the trail. I stopped by Delice, a French bakery/cafe for a baguette with ham, cheese, and butter. There were also cornichons, but I swiped them off quickly. Of course I also got a kouign amman for later. For a drink, I stopped at Starbucks for a green tea lemonade. I felt like it was a very nice meal.  Since it was around 2:00, I had no problem getting a table in a cutaway, and it was everything I wanted it to be. I was truly delighted by the whole event! Here are some photos:

ham & cheese baguette, chips, and green tea lemonade

nom nom nom

livin' the dream!

After the meal, I recorded blooms in the Children's Garden. It was glorious. I want to show you this pic of a blooming yucca plant. She's not in the Children's Garden, but you can see her from there. 

blooming yucca in the Water Conservation Garden

She's gotta be 15 - 20 feet tall! I love it!!

When the blooms were recorded, I stopped at bougie Harmon's for a salad and some good German pilsner. I sat out on the back deck at home. The dogs ran around while I ate my salad, drank some beer, and read a book. It was truly pleasant. I kinda feel like having a meal outside is one of the simple pleasures of life. 

With a slight buzz, I came inside the house, ate my kouign amman, and turned on Netflix to watch the movie Nonnas. It was cute. Then I put clean, fresh sheets on my bed and went to sleep. It was a good day.

This morning I slept a bit late until the dogs wouldn't let me sleep anymore. I actually appreciated them getting me up since I slept through my alarm. Just as I was about to leave the house to go back up to the Garden, my SIL Janet sent me this photo of MT:

MT's first day on the Colorado Trail

Again, I teared up and I think I know why: I should have taken him to Denver. I should have driven him to Pocatello, then rode along with them to Denver to drop him off at the trailhead. What I was feeling was guilt and selfishness. I also feel worry, and concern, and sadness that he is doing this adventure alone. Not that I would hike 500 miles in the Colorado mountains, but it's a bummer that he doesn't have a trail buddy. He is not a solitary individual like I am. I know he'll be okay and that he will get a bunch of new stories to tell from this trip. I'll miss him, though. When he was in Pocatello for the past six months, I knew that he could come home just about any time, and I could talk to him every day, which we mostly did. It's much more difficult to come home now since he'll be out in the wilderness, and we probably won't get to talk as much.  He did call me this morning as he was walking, and he said he has some butterflies about the whole thing, and he is excited and happy that he is doing it. Anyway, I'll keep you updated as I hear from him.

The docent shift was uneventful. It was pretty slow early, then picked up quite a bit after 11:00. I stopped at Raising Cane's for lunch, and now I'll be getting ready to go back up to the Garden to work at a concert. Tonight's performers are Watchhouse, a duo from North Carolina that I saw play RBG when they were known as Mandolin Orange. Their music is folky/Americana. Very on-brand for RBG and it will be a good show. I am working the recycling station.

I guess that's all I've got to say for now. Have a great week! Please keep MT in your thoughts, and send good vibes for his safety and health.

XOXO

#2947 Sinners

This morning T asked if I wanted to see the movie Sinners.

I said, "No."

He said, "But it has Michael B. Jordan! Don't you have a crush on him?"

I said, "Not really. He's a little too jowly for me."

He said, "That's what makes him have a great smile."

I said, "His dimples and his teeth are what make him have a great smile." 

I paused for a second, thinking that T doesn't really ask me for much or to do stuff with him, so I changed my mind and said that I would go to the movie, but he had to buy me some popcorn. He agreed, and we figured out where and what time, and I bought the tickets.

Fast forward to this afternoon at 4pm, sitting in a big theater with an IMAX screen watching this story unfold. It was a good movie. The music was wonderful, and there are two scenes that stand out for me. One was where Sammy sings for the first time at the juke joint, and people are dancing, then dancers and musicians from the past and future come in. I'm not describing it well at all. It is a feast for the ears and the eyes. T and I both wondered if it was a single take, and it kind of was, and it was also a live performance. Fantastic. The other scene is when the vampires have their musical moment. Again, it sounds weird, but it was freaking cool. 

There is just something about seeing a movie in a theater on a big screen, or in this case, a ginormous screen, that is just terrific. I'm glad I went to see this movie.

#2939 what I've been up to

As I look back on this past week, what I think about the most is that I was willing to give myself some grace and recognize that when my body felt like it needed to rest, that's what I did. It seems that I often want to go to bed around 8:30 pm, but then I scoff and tell myself it's too early for bed. On  Monday, I didn't scoff. I went to bed! I had to set an alarm so I could pick T up from work. I was able to get back to sleep pretty quickly when we got home, and I felt good on Tuesday. 

Not every day went like that, of course.

On Wednesday, I went to see Beautiful: The Carole King Musical at Pioneer Theater Company here in SLC. The theater is on the campus of the University of Utah, so I was a bit concerned about the parking situation, but it ended up not being a problem at all. The theater provides free parking in a lot within steps of the venue. Parking was also easy due to the fact that the performance was a dress rehearsal of the play which opened to the public on Friday night. I really liked being in the smaller audience. I had an excellent seat in the fourth row near center stage and the show was great. Carole King's music is so familiar - I remember listening to Tapestry when I was a kid because my mom had the album. It's amazing how many well-known hits Carole King wrote. 

Friday was Valentine's Day. MT came back from Pocatello for the weekend. He and I went out for dinner to our favorite neighborhood pub, Copper Creek. I think it was the first time we've been out for dinner on Valentine's Day in years. Usually we just have a nice dinner at home. We watched a cute, easy movie when we got home - La Dolce Villa on Netflix. 

Yesterday I went to get my hairs cut. It had been about three months since my last visit with Lanna, and the hairs needed some attention. She just trimmed and shaped and snipped some life back into the curls. It feels good.

feeling sassy

MT went back to Pocatello this morning. He witnessed a bad accident right in front of him on the freeway near the Idaho border. A pick-up ran into the back of a semi and the semi dragged the truck along until it came loose. MT actually pulled the driver out of the pick-up with a highway patrol officer standing by. MT said the roads were wet, and it wasn't snowing hard, just flurries, but the pick-up was following the semi too close and there was a wreck up ahead, so when the semi slowed down, the guy in the pick-up did not. MT said the guy in the truck was alive but badly injured. So scary!!

This afternoon, I met my Red Butte Garden friends Wendy and Tracy for lunch at a restaurant in Sugarhouse called The Dodo. Wendy and Tracy each drive a tram and give complimentary tours on Sundays, and I am the docent. I love these two people. They are both kind and good, and I feel fortunate to get to hang out with them. We've met for lunch a couple of times this winter, and both times have been fun.

Since I'd never been to this restaurant before, I did a bit of research. The place is known for their desserts, so I knew I wanted to have some Toll House pie. I got a cup of one of their soups of the day, chipotle chorizo potato, which came with a very delicious roll. 

chipotle chorizo potato soup and a roll

The soup was really good, very flavorful, and just the right portion for me. I don't usually eat a lot of soup. It's not that I don't like it, necessarily, but it just doesn't hit the spot for me. In this case, though, it was perfect choice because holy gumballs, that slice of Toll House pie...

Toll House pie with whipped cream and chocolate chips

This slab of a warm chocolate chip cookie on a flaky, tender pie cruse was so very good! I didn't finish it all, so I brought it home and I've been nibbling on it this evening. The cookie was buttery and tender with a good amount of chocolate chips and walnuts. I'd absolutely have it again, and I don't know that I would share; MT would have to get his own slice. Wendy had the banana cream cheese pie with warm, homemade caramel topping, and she thought it was outstanding. Tracy didn't have dessert; he said he had a big breakfast and he had soup and a sandwich, so he was full. I did offer him a bite of mine, but he didn't take me up on it.

When I got home I decided to watch a movie, so I settled in for Bridget Jones: Mad about the Boy. I'm not ashamed to tell you it made me cry a few times. My dog Mac is a sympathetic creature, and when I cry, she is the dog who comes to comfort me. She snuggled next to me and put her head on my lap. Sweet girl.

Tomorrow is a holiday, President's Day, so I don't have to work. HOORAY! Harley has an appointment at the vet at noon. I will have to give her a doggie downer at breakfast so she won't be as hyper at the appointment. She is the most mellow dog at home, but she sort of goes a little bonkers when we are around people. She gets really excited and it's hard for the vet to examine her. I give her a mild sedative - prescribed by that vet! - and it helps her and all of the humans. 

I work on Tuesday and Wednesday, then Wednesday night I will fly to Long Beach to spend a few days with Mom and Lizzie. I'm looking forward to seeing them!

So there is a recap of the best parts of the week. Now I'll finish up a wee art project and get ready for bed.

xo

#2936 weekend wrap-up

And here it is, Sunday night at 9:30 already. The weekends whoosh by, it seems.  Here's a peek at my days.

I woke up on Friday feeling awful. My stomach was cramping, my head was stuffy, all my joints ached, and I was kind of miserable overall. There has been a bug going around the office that has given folks similar symptoms, so I decided to stay home and try to sleep it off. I slept until about 1:30 in the afternoon, then I laid on the couch wrapped in a blanket for a couple more hours. I drank peppermint tea and ate toast to soothe my tummy and warm myself up. I took T to work, and lucky for me, he got off work early that night. More sleeping ensued.

Saturday morning I slept in until about 10:00, then I had to get up and get moving because I had a volunteer meeting at the Garden at 1:00. Yes, I know it seems like that is plenty of time to get ready, and it is, but I was moving pretty slowly. The day was cold, windy, gray, and there were snow flurries, so it was pretty yucky. The meeting was interesting, then I braved the weather to take a quick stroll around the place. I was dressed warmly enough that my core wasn't cold, but my face was, of course.

brrr

The waterfall was extra interesting. It is frozen, but water is still flowing behind the ice. The pond is frozen, too, except down by the little falls, though the creek on the other side is also frozen over.

Nature is amazing. 

Unsurprisingly, I basically had the Garden to myself. I did see four people out when I started, but that was the only time I saw them. It was cold! I'm thankful for heated seats in my car! After the walk, I ran a few errands, then came home for the rest of the day. I wrapped myself in my favorite snuggly quilt and watched a movie, The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry. I read the book many years ago and really liked it. The movie was sweet, too. I cried. 

I planned to stay home all day today, but then I realized I didn't have milk. I have to have milk in my coffee. Today the weather was still cold, but the sky was blue and there wasn't any wind and it was a pretty nice day. I took the dogs for their walk and played frisbee with Stella, bought some milk, had a late breakfast, then did my bookkeeping. After that, I swept and swiffered, as I must do each week to keep some kind of dominance over the dirt and dog hair. I potted a couple of plants I've been rooting (I hope they do okay. I'm not very good at potting.) Then I flopped down on the couch and watched football. The outcomes were predictable, and that's okay with me. 

I didn't do any art today :( Maybe I'll scribble a quick doodle to make myself smile. 

Let's see...what's coming up this last week of January? Not much, to be honest. I'm looking forward to creating my zine and wee calendar. MT will be home for the weekend. On Thursday at the office, we are planning to have a big clean-out day as we prepare for remodeling the admin department. I didn't think I'd ever see that happen. It will be office-y cubicles, but it will be shiny and new. I don't know what the time frame is, but we will be ready for it. 

Have a good week!

xo

#2923 three things: Thanksgiving weekend edition

 I'll take a small break from writing about Italy to tell you what I've got going on this weekend.

1. Wicked. I got off work at noon yesterday (Wednesday), so I went to the 12:10 showing of Wicked at the movie place close to my house. I read the book about a jillion years ago, and I thought it was weird. I saw the play here in SLC several years ago and wept because it was so good. I was looking forward to seeing the movie, although I'm not a big Ariana Grande fan.

The theater was pretty full. I had empty seats on either side of me, so that was nice. I love that feeling of anticipation when there is a movie everyone is excited to see, and I could feel that excitement in the auditorium as the lights went down. 

I'll just get this out of the way: Ariana Grande was excellent. The woman can sing. She was funny, she looked pretty, and she more than held her own. Cynthia Erivo was phenomenal. That voice, the poise, the fearlessness. She made green look GOOD. 

My eyes leaked and my throat got tight several times. It's a long movie, over two and a half hours, and it is just the first act of the play. I am pumped for part two which will come out sometime in 2025. I actually can't wait to watch part one again when it is streaming. Of course I say that now, but will I actually do it when it becomes available?

2. Swap my clothes. I think I mentioned early in November that I was going to swap out my warm weather clothes of the cold weather clothes. I haven't, but I think tomorrow is the day! It takes a few hours because I Marie-Kondo that business. I take everything out of the drawers and off the hangers and get serious about winnowing. I hope I have it in my\e to winnow severely tomorrow. I may have mentioned that I have A LOT of clothes, and I want to have less. Thoughts and prayers, please.

3. Art time! On Saturday I am planning to be creative. I'll take the time to create the December zine as well as paint the wee calendar. I have a plan for the calendar, but not for the zine quite yet. Still kicking around some ideas. I'll also write in my journal. I think it will be a pretty great day for all of that.

BONUS THING: On Sunday T and I are going to the Jazz game! I got tickets from work. We haven't been for awhile, and I think it will be fun.

Here's hoping you all have a great weekend!

xo

#2886 about the dermatologist, the Oscars, and tax prep

On Friday afternoon, I had an appointment with my dermatologist. It's been six months since I had that basal cell cut out of my chest, so he wanted to have a follow up appointment to make sure it was healing well, and to look at any other things I was concerned about.

The chest scar is kinda gnarly. It is in an awkward spot, and it's pretty fleshy there, so the stitches were a little uneven. Griffin the Dermatologist recommended that I get some scar gel to use on it. I bought Scar Away silicone scar gel at Target, and I will use it faithfully in hopes of lessening the scar. 

While I was there, I had him look at my hands. There are some spots there, particularly one spot on my right pointer finger, that didn't seem right. He agreed that the spots I pointed out were not right; he called them pre-cancerous cells. Using liquid nitrogen, he "burned" the spots. The burning was unpleasant but brief. The worst thing about it is the blisters. I have five blisters on my left hand, including an ugly-looking blood blister, and three blisters on my right had, including that particular spot on my pointer finger. It is on the front side of the finger, and it seems to always brush up against things. On Friday night, I covered most of the blisters with band-aids because they were so tender. Even brushing up against the sheets was uncomfortable. They are okay now, although ugly. 

Griffin said my arms, face, and scalp looked good, and a little mole-like thing I have on my chest is just a new freckle and it's fine too. As a pale redhead, I am relieved. I do have another follow up with Griffin in six months, so I hope everything goes okay with that, then I can just have yearly exams with him. 

Today MT and I spent time preparing for our tax appointment on the 22nd. Since we'll be in Dixon next weekend, we wanted to get most of the information gathered this weekend. I have a an appointment with our CPA tomorrow for my aunt and uncle's taxes. I have gathered up everything I have received  for them. I have their IDs, and all the Trust documents, so we'll see what happens. 

What else? It is Oscar night. I used to make sure I watched every movie nominated for Best Picture. It was a lot easier when there were just five nominees. This year there are ten nominees, and I have seen one of them: Barbie. I've never even heard of most of the nominated films. I suppose I'm just interested in other stuff nowadays. I do like to go to the movie theater, if there is something I really want to see. I saw Barbie in the theater. Mostly I like to have popcorn there. It's so expensive to go to the movies anymore, and most movies come to streaming platforms pretty quickly. I think there are a few of the Best Picture nominees currently available to stream, but I wasn't interested enough to  watch them. Oh well. It's weird to say that I might not even watch the Oscars broadcast.

Next week, the eleventh week of the year, I am looking forward to getting the taxes for the estate done, getting a new windshield, book club discussion, and, of course, going to Dixon again. I am looking forward to being in Dixon because I will get to see both Lizzie and Mama! I am hopeful that we will have a good turnout for the estate sale. I'd much rather sell stuff than donate it or throw it away. 

It's feeling like spring here in SLC this weekend. The temperature right now is around 60 degrees F, but the breeze is cool. I have a couple of windows open to let in the fresh air and release some of the winter staleness. It has been a mild winter, and although spring is just a few days away, I'm pretty sure we will get at least one more snow. It seems there is always an early spring snow right around Easter. It feels nice to know that the season is changing. The maple trees in my back yard already have little leaf buds popping out. I can see the green coming on the globe willow trees around the neighborhood. I want to get up to Red Butte Garden to walk around, but haven't done it yet this year, which is unusual. I normally get up there once a month, even in winter. Well, the month isn't over, so I still have a chance in March. 

I don't have any new art to share, so instead, here is a pic of MT that I took today. He found my sparkly devil headband and wore it around. He'd probably be mortified that I posted this pic, but it's just us, so why not? It's pretty cute:

Have a great week!

#2883 we've got some catching up to do

It's been a minute since the last time I wrote here. I haven't been all that busy, but things happen and something has to give, so it is usually writing here.

Last weekend, I'd planned to be in Southern California, but the weather was iffy and the Superbowl was happening in Las Vegas. I expected traffic delays into and through the city, so we decided to stay home. I spent Saturday cleaning up my home office a bit, and on Sunday we watched the Superbowl at home on our ginormous TV and enjoyed snacks. 

I've been valiantly fighting off a little cold. I took a sick day on Tuesday, and wound up sleeping quite a bit. Usually I try to power through the cold symptoms and the cold always wins and knocks me right on my butt. I was glad to take it easy on Tuesday, and I did feel better for it. 

Wednesday was Valentine's Day. I worked from home that day, and we had Mexican food take-out and cookies from Crumbl to celebrate. MT gave me a nice gift - a Delta gift card. He's generous. 

Really, I have been selfishly doing stuff I like: art, writing in my journal, reading, and even watching movies. I decided that Friday night will be my movie night, and I've made it clear to MT and T that I will watch a movie of my choice that night. They are both okay with it; T usually watches movies and shows in his room with J, and MT has control of the TV all the other nights. Last weekend, I watched two movies: Love in the Villa on Friday night, then Made in Italy on Saturday. Fun fact: each of these movies had actors who were also in the classic Under the Tuscan Sun. This weekend, we watched Cha Cha Real Smooth on Friday, then the three of us watched Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part One on Saturday. 

I'm thankful for this President's Day weekend. Yesterday (Saturday) my body told me to rest, so that's what I did. I took two long, luxurious naps and it was so nice. Today I haven't left the house, although I have been awake. Mostly I've been sitting here at my desk drawing, painting, then paying the bills. Tomorrow I'm taking Harley to the vet to get a vaccination, and T to the dentist for some more fillings. I'll also need to go to the grocery store, but only for a few things. MT and I will be traveling to Dixon to meet up with Lizzie to do some clean up work at the house. 

I said I've been doing some art. Here are a few things I've done in the past couple of weeks:

This is a little sketch I did at work while waiting for a report to generate.

My own little calendar 

Zine cover this month

This little sketch is in my journal.

This was a practice for the valentines I made for work friends.

I made this valentine for my mama.

I made this birthday card for a friendly co-worker.

I've done some cool projects for Jill the Artist's group, too. I will probably share those another time. Mostly I get my inspiration from things I see on Pinterest. The sheet full of hearts idea came from a video I saw on Instagram. Usually I will have an idea about what I'd like to do, then go to Pinterest to see if there is something similar out there. With Mama's valentine and with the birthday card, I looked up "cards" on Pinterest and got these ideas. they look similar to the Pinterest cards, but different, too. I feel a little conflicted because I don't have many original ideas. But really, if I wanted to paint a mountain with a river, it's not like that has never been done by a jillion other artists. So, I mostly think I'm okay with getting inspiration from Pinterest and the internet in general. Right?

That's all for tonight. Have a great week!

#2880 the wrap-up

I am always stunned and a little dismayed about how quickly the weekends pass. I barely remember what I did yesterday (Saturday) because it zipped by so quickly. 

The past week was interesting. I didn't work on Monday since we were driving back from Dixon. We spent Sunday night in Elko, NV. In the morning it was lightly snowing, and as we continued east, the snow turned to a drizzle of rain, then fog and low clouds, and finally partly cloudy skies when we got home. 

Here are some photos of the landscape and weather:

In the office on Tuesday, the Company announced a big reorganization. My job basically stays the same, but there are a lot of changes that will happen in the business as a whole in the next month. It will make for an interesting year. 

Friday night is movie night at my house, and I always get to pick the movie. MT had gone to Pocatello for the day, so when I got home from work, I played with the dogs, ate some dinner, and chose the movie. We have pretty much every streaming platform there is, I think, so picking a movie can be tricky. Usually, I pick a platform, then chose a movie on that platform. This week I picked Peacock, and the film Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris. (Note: If a movie involves Paris or France in general, or Rome or Italy in general, I'll probably watch it.)  I really liked this movie. It's about a widowed house cleaner in London who decides to go to Paris to buy a haute couture dress from Christan Dior. The story takes place in the 1950s, and really, it is just charming and sweet. It doesn't hurt that the gorgeous Lucas Bravo - you may know him as Gabriel in Emily in Paris - is in it, but the story and everything about the movie is great. It was a perfect Friday night movie for me.

Today my favorite thing is that I went to visit my friend Wendy from work. She has Guillain Barre syndrome, and has spent the past two months in the hospital and in acute physical therapy rehab centers. GBS attacks the nerves, and was brought on by a virus (not Covid). Her body's immune system went to work fighting the virus, then overstepped and attacked her nerves. She was unable to feel her hands or feet for most of the time she was hospitalized. Happily, the feeling and use of her hands has come back, and she is able to walk again using a walker. She can't stand up for a long period of time, but at least she is up and more mobile. I was glad to see her and really glad to see her doing so well. She's being discharged from the rehab place tomorrow, and I'm hopeful that with continued physical therapy, she will regain her physical abilities and be able to come back to work. I really miss her.

I made her this little card:

Those little spatters seem to be all the rage in the watercolor videos I watch all the time. My spatters are a bit big, and my leafs are kinda wonky, but it's cute.

MT has spent the weekend washing all the quilts we brought home from Dixon. I was thinking about something my mom said about a quilt my dad had that his mother had made for him. Mom said that Dad never wanted to put the quilt on his bed because he didn't want it to get dirty or ruined. I confess that I feel the same way. I know my dogs will get fur and dirt all over it, and I want the quilts to be pretty. I also feel that the quilts are meant to be used and loved. What good are they in a neat stack, tucked away in a closet or a linen box? The quilts are wonderful and so beautiful and filled with great memories for me. I don't remember every quilt individually, of course, but I certainly remember Grandma quilting. I clearly remember her sewing quilt blocks and putting together the tops in the winter, then doing the actual quilting on the rack in the summer. She was an amazing sewer. She made all the quilts by hand, and the stitches are so tiny. I don't remember her having any patterns, she just picked how she was going to do it and started sewing. 

I have a dozen new quilts, plus probably another half dozen or so that I've had for a long time. I'm going to use the quilts. I will rotate them. There aren't many that will fit my king size bed, but I think there are a couple. The smaller ones will be in the spare room, and a few of the much smaller ones will be in the living room to snuggle with on movie night, or for couch naps. I can fold them and drape them over the couch so the dogs can't lay on them all the time. I've got plenty of other blankets the dogs can lay on. 

Here is a little collage of some of the quilts:

I didn't take all of these quilts; I'll have to take photos of the ones I brought home. I do have the one in the upper left corner, that magnificent blue and white creation. So pretty!

What am I looking forward to in the week ahead? T will be seeing all the doctors this week: GP, dentist, and eye. He's turning 26 in March and will no longer be on my insurance plan, so we are making sure he gets treated before the end of March. He is signed up under the Affordable Care Act and has health insurance coverage that actually goes into effect on Feb. 1, but no dental or vision. 

My book club is back in action. We are reading "The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store," by James McBride. It's been good so far. We will discuss the last third of the book on Thursday. Also on Thursday, one of my favorite things is happening: a new month is starting so I get to flip all the calendars. It's the simple things. I will be creating my wee calendar page tomorrow, I think, so I will likely be ready to show it to you on Wednesday when I write here again.

On Friday, MT and I are going out with some of my work friends to a comedy club downtown. I think that will be fun. 

My weather app says that the high temperature this week will be in the mid 50s. What kind of madness is that? We've had a fairly dry January. There has been some snow and rain, but my yard is just a muddy mess right now. It felt more like mid-March than late January today. 

Have a wonderful week! Do something that makes you forget about time! Lose yourself in something awesome.

#2839 watching the Oscars

It is Academy Award day. I have long enjoyed the Oscars because I like movies. I like movie stars. I like to see the beautiful gowns, and exquisite make-up and hairstyles. I'm interested in learning what movies and performances the Academy will award with an Oscar.

It used to be a goal of mine to watch all of the films nominated for Best Picture. It was a lot easier to do when there was only five nominees. Now there are ten films nominated in that category, and I think it is too many. Of this year's ten nominees, I have only seen three. I may be interested in a couple of the others, but I haven't made the effort to watch them, even though they are streaming. I have seen Top Gun: Maverick, which was a fun movie, but Best Picture - worthy? No. I saw Women Talking, which I didn't care for at all, and regretted spending movie theater money on. Not Best Picture worthy in my opinion. The other nominee I saw was Everything, Everywhere, All at Once which I saw because my sister raved about it. I felt entertained and confused by the movie, to be honest. It was inventive and entertaining and strange. I'm okay with it's nomination. 

This morning I was talking to T. He was going to his girlfriend's house to celebrate a little kid's birthday (her niece or nephew.) I asked if he'd be back home tonight, and he said that he would because they wanted to watch the season finale of The Last of Us with MT. I said, "But it's Oscar night." 

He shrugged and said, "It is the season finale of The Last of Us. Who f-ing cares about the Oscars?"

My response in the moment was that people care, and he asked if I was one of those people. I've been thinking about that all day. Am I one of those people? I certainly used to be, but now the thought of spending three plus hours watching people thank God, their agents and publicists, and oh yeah, their families, just doesn't seem that appealing. Twitter will be full of the hairstyles, gowns, and winners, so maybe I'll re-watch season two of Ted Lasso. Maybe I'll read or draw or write. Maybe I'll go to bed early to fight off the inevitable Daylight Savings Time weirdness and psyche myself up to go to a cycling class early tomorrow morning. 

Speaking of drawing, I combined my Pinterest project with the art group project this week. From Pinterest, I've been fascinated by zentangle art recently. If you don't know about zentangles, GTS (Google That Shit) and look at some of the cool patterns. The art prompt for the group was to do a selfie, but not the usual kind. My take on it was to close my eyes and draw the profile, features and hair. Then I opened my eyes to do my own take on zentangle for the hair. I'm looking at my drawing in my book right now, and from far away, it looks kind of cool  My version might not be as clean and beautiful as what you find online, but I kinda dig it. What do you think?

#2830 weekend roundup

I did a couple of things that were kind of unusual for me these past few days. 

On Thursday, I volunteered at a charter school's book fair. The librarian there is a member of my book club. I think I may have met her once in person, but now I know a bit more about her. During our book club meeting on Wednesday, she mentioned that volunteers - usually parents - were not signing up to help, so I offered to give her a bit of my time. Mostly, I chatted with her (Kathy is her name) about being a school librarian. I straightened up some books and reached the higher ones for the little kids. It was no big deal, and I think Kathy was happy that I showed up when I said I would. 

Yesterday was Saturday. I had an appointment at the spa to get a manicure, a pedicure, and have my eyebrows tamed. All of that was fine, except the eyebrow waxing was a little aggressive and I might be missing a bit of skin in some places along with eyebrow hair. The brows look good, and so does the skin, but yesterday, the skin looked raw and pink. My scary eye area didn't stop me from going over to Old Navy and to Barnes and Noble. People did look at me funny, come to think of it. 

After shopping a little, I decided that since I was at Jordan Landing, I would go to a movie. I had time for lunch first, so I went to Chipotle and had some tacos while I read a book. The movie I saw was Women Talking. It is nominated for Best Picture. I do not see a victory in that category. The women talk. They talk a lot. The premise is that these women live in a colony, like a religious colony. Some of the men drug the women and rape them. The women vote to decide whether to stay, to stay and fight, or to leave. The vote is tied between staying and fighting, and leaving. The women of three of the predominant families (I guess) have to make the final decision on behalf of all the other women. This movie is sort of based on a true story. Men in a colony did rape women, but did the women really talk it out like this? I don't know about that. 

I actually snoozed a bit during the first 15 minutes or so. I was full tacos and guacamole, after all, and those loungers they have the movie places now are really comfortable! I kind of missed the set up. I spent the whole movie wondering where all the men were. I had to read a synopsis after the fact. Some (most) of the men had gone to the town to bail out the rapists, I guess. I actually don't really care because I didn't really care for the movie. 

When I came home, we had some dinner, then I was feeling really tired, so I went to bed. It was 8pm. I was out by 8:30. I did wake up a couple of times during the night to use the potty, then I went right back to sleep. This morning I got up around 6am to feed the dogs, then got back in bed. I decided I was done being in bed, so I went down to the couch, covered up in my weighted blanket, and read for awhile. Then I fell asleep and finally woke up for real at 9:30am. Was it the women and all their talking that wore me out? The incredible foot massage? The loss of eyebrow hair and skin? Who knows, but I was tuckered out!

Today has been pretty normal. I've paid the bills and cleaned the bathroom. I've got a load of laundry going. I'm getting ready to watch the Grammy awards. The prompt for the art group I'm in was self-portrait. This is the photo I drew from:

I had it on my beloved iPhone and turned it upside down...

...and started drawing. Here's what it looked like (turned right side up)

I accept the imperfections of my drawings. This one I'm showing you is actually my fourth try! The first two tries were scary as hell because I drew teeth. (Not good.) The third one was fine until I couldn't stop with the paint. Not knowing when to stop and leave it alone is something I'm working on. With this fourth effort, stopped and accepted it as it is, imperfections and all.

I'm off to watch the Grammys! Talk to you on Wednesday!

#2822 Wednesday vibe: horror movies

This week on the Vibe Check podcast, one of the things the guys talked about was the new movie M3GAN. You have probably seen the commercials. A creepy-ass AI doll is created for a little girl, then the creepy-ass AI doll starts to do scary, murderous stuff to protect the girl. The film is doing huge box office, and the Vibe Check point of the story was that horror movies are universal. Comedy might not play the same in another country as it does in the U.S., but scary is scary no matter where you are. The fellas also say that the best, and maybe the only place, to watch a horror movie is in a movie theater where you can share your fear with other movie goers and laugh about the jump scares with the crowd. 

I have never been a big fan of horror movies, or at least the slasher flicks. I don’t know that I’ll trot over to the theater to see M3GAN, even though Sam and Zach totally recommended it. Maybe if I was with Lizzie and she really wanted to go see it, I would go with her. I don’t think MT would be into it. He doesn’t like scary movies, either. 

What’s been keeping my vibe right this week is Emily in Paris, season three. I watched all ten episodes over the course of a couple of days. Let’s be honest - there is nothing intellectual or highbrow about this show. It’s total mind and eye candy. Paris looks incredible in every shot. The people are all beautiful. They wear interesting, over-the-top clothes and do interesting, over-the-top things. It’s total escapism, and I am here for it. I have loved every season. 

With MT being away from home, and T working in the evenings, I have been hanging out with the dogs and taking it easy. Tonight I wasn’t hungry, so I didn’t even fix anything to eat. I’ve been taking the time to lay on the couch and read a book. Sometimes I have a YouTube background on, but like right now, it’s just quiet. Even the doggos are chillin’. Maybe I’ll go to bed early, or maybe I’ll watch a show on Netflix called From Scratch.  The thing about that show is that I read the book and I know it’s a tear-jerker. It’s a limited edition series, and I watched the first episode. Yes, I cried. That’s why I’m not sure if I want to get involved with it. I don’t know if I’m in the mood for crying. I actually feel pretty good and maybe want to keep it that way for awhile. 

The journal prompt today is: If you could live inside any movie, what would it be? For me, the first movie that popped into my head was Something’s Gotta Give. Erica’s beach house is so dreamy, and she’s a playwright, and she goes to Paris. Really, just about any Nancy Meyers movie would be great to live inside, right?

Okay, I’m done here. I’m going to draw something, then I think I’ll go back to the couch and read a little more before I go on to bed. 

Listen to Vibe Check! It’s fantastic!

#2820 Saturday with Sandy

I had a very good night’s sleep on Friday/Saturday. For one thing, I was extremely tired. I took MT to the airport on Friday morning - he was on his way to Florida to go on a cruise with his parents and wanted to be at the airport by around 4AM for his 6AM flight. Neither of us slept very well on Thursday/Friday because we were worried about missing the alarm. Friday was kind of a daze. I took a melatonin to ensure good sleep and went to bed around 9PM. I got up this morning around 8AM. 

Another thing that might have made me feel so tired was that I received a shingles vaccination on Friday afternoon. My arm is still sore!

This morning, I fed the dogs and took them for a walk. They are doing well while we are out walking, but getting out the door is kind of a fiasco because they are so excited to go. Here’s a before-the-walk photo:

Mac is kind of blurry because she had just jumped up, all four feet off the ground. Harley wears a harness to reduce the stress on her throat when she pulls. Stella is excited about the whole thing. She often has this face.

After the walk, they are a bit more calm, and look like this:

Today was nice and mellow for me. After the walk, I made a pot of coffee, had some breakfast, then wrote in my journal for awhile. I cleaned up the kitchen, a fairly quick job, then settled on the couch to finish a book I’ve been reading since November. I liked the book, but I was reading other book club books at the same time. Since the book was my own, I didn’t have to hurry to finish it. I enjoyed the book, even though I thought it was quite long, over 500 pages. 

T had to work this afternoon, so I dropped him off, then decided to go to the library. I hadn’t been there for awhile, since I was reading my own books. I decided I needed a little something new, light, and maybe quick. What book to choose, though? WARNING: nerd alert! I didn’t see anything right off the bat that interested me, so I turned to my Goodreads list. There were so many books on the list, that I decided to sort it in the order I’d put the book on the list, and just pick the oldest one. I’d put it on the list sometime in 2020, so yes, the book was there, but it did not fit the new, light, and quick criteria. I got it anyway. As I was driving to Harmons to buy coffee, I had a stern conversation with myself. Why would I have books on my TBR list from over two years ago? There’s no way I was going to be able to read all the books on my list, so I decided to get rid of all the books I’d put on the list in 2020 and 2021. I went to another library, returned the novel I’d picked up at the first library, then chose another book that was still on the list and fit the criteria. I feel better! Currently, that TBR (to be read) list on Goodreads only has 34 books on it. Some of them I own, so it’s good. 

New book in hand, I decided to try out a coffee place in my neighborhood that I’d read about in the Axios Salt Lake City newsletter called Azúcar. It is a Latina-owned business and I was excited to try the Mexican mocha. I also got myself a pastry, which are locally sourced from Mexican bakeries. 

It was pretty late in the day, around 5PM, so the pastry wasn’t exactly fresh, but it still tasted nice. I think it was pineapple, maybe? The coffee was delicious. There’s the book I picked up at the library! I can see myself going back to Azúcar regularly. It was nice to sit there with my book and my delicious treats of coffee and pastry. 

Back home, I took the dogs for their evening walk. It was pretty dark and there was a lot of activity in the neighborhood for some reason, so we didn’t stay out long. The doggos were okay with it since it was their dinner time, anyway. 

After a nice chat with my mama, I watched a movie I’ve been wanting to see since I got back from Greece, The Two Faces of January. It is filmed almost entirely in Greece, with the first part in Athens, and the biggest part in Crete, including Chania. It was awesome to see familiar sites! I love to watch movies that are filmed in places I have been. 

Now it is bedtime. Mac and Harley are already sound asleep on my bed. Stella sleeps downstairs on any couch she chooses. I’ve invited her to come upstairs, but she rarely does. It’s okay. I don’t really want three dogs on the bed!

Enjoy the rest of the weekend!