I’m slowly reading Nikki R Haley’s biography, “WITH ALL DUE RESPECT.” I’m a hair under half way through.  My next biography that I plan to read sometime this year is on the other side of the aisle because I read widely depending on what catches my interest. I don’t have to agree with people to learn about them and how they think. It’s interesting to see how people’s opinions are formed, and how flexible and adaptable they are in their thinking and decision making. I especially like seeing how women navigate some of the areas like politics where men traditionally dominated.

I have set aside the book I was listening to on Gulags. It’s not bad, it’s just dry and requires a level of focus that I don’t usually give audiobooks. I really wish I’d bought it in a hardcopy. Next up on my audio listening lineup is “THE GUILTY ONE” by Kiersten Modglin. I don’t think I’ve ever read this author, so we’ll see. I listen to so many podcasts now, it’s seriously cutting into my audiobook time!

What are you reading or listening to?

I hope everyone had a Happy Easter!

We had a grandkids weekend!

Saturday, Turbo and his mom came out. We had a great time! We went to lunch, Wizard began teaching Turbo to drive RC racecars (it’s different than his RC truck). After that we went to the park to play baseball and soccer, and Maggie was thrilled to go too. Everyone but Turbo was worn out after that, LOL! Still charged up, Turbo was examining Wizards Lego Ship he’s building and discovered the solution to a problem Wizard was having. Turbo is something of a Lego’s expert, and also, he has younger eyes that could distinguish between red and orange on the directions We really appreciated Special K bringing Turbo out, and we loved spending the day with her too! I love that she will go out of her way to support our bond with Turbo.

We also got regular updates from Turbo’s Dad and Uncle Youngest — they are having a blast on their trip. I’m quite sure they are decompressing after surviving another tax season. Although, Oldest did send out an alert that the hotel is charging $25.00 per person to use their gym (all my son are obsessed about committed to working out.)

Sunday, we didn’t do a big thing celebrating Easter. Instead, we went out in the morning to visit CeeGee (granddaughter) and her parents.  She was wearing her very first Easter outfit her other Grandma got her and she looked so cute.  CeeGee is just getting more and more fun now. She sits, plays, smiles and chats. She also loves to bounce and is getting super busy– that’ll girl is going to be on the go soon! Wizard and I were playing with her on the floor in her room, and I knew the second her dad came in behind me. CeeGee’s entire face lights up and she gets super happy when she see him. It’s so sweet to see as Middle’s mom. The only bummer is my daughter in law is battling a cold, which they had told us beforehand. Although even while sick, my daughter in law found an Inn for us to hopefully stay at over the 4th of July at a much better price than anything my two days of searching hotels could find! I just need to verify we can get a downstairs room for Wizard and I’ll book it!  Then we beat the worst of the traffic. By the time we got home, the other side of the freeway and the road out of our city were gridlock. That also gave us the rest of the day to relax a little.

How was your weekend and Easter?

TGIF!! Time to share five random things about our week. Here’s mine:

1. Maggie has quite suddenly become an outside dog. She just wants to be out back and resists when I tell her to come in. Maggie resisting any of my commands is a little weird, but right now I’m chalking it up to age-induced stubbornness. She also has a new thing of wanting to hang out with Wizard in the garage — that I’m very happy about. He has always wanted her to hang with him outside. Maggie is fine otherwise. And after dinner, she only goes out to potty then stays in the rest of the night. So…as far as we can tell, she’s good, just deciding to live the outdoor dog life for awhile. I’m assuming the summer temps with change her mind
2. And speaking of summer…we finally hired a place to make and install a motorized outdoor shade for one side of our patio that is large, like a 16 foot width. We looked into it last year and were a bit shellshocked at the price and we didn’t find the solution we wanted. This year we did and at an acceptable price. It’ll be weeks before it’s installed, but Wizard especially is happy about this. He BBQs out there and needs the shade!
3. Speaking of expenses, I guess the Shelby was feeling neglected. We went out to dinner last night, then came home and…the power seat broke. Unfortunately it broke in the pushed all the way back position that Wizard uses to get out of the car, so now he can’t drive it. As I’m writing this yesterday afternoon, he’s on his way to the specialty car shop to see if there’s a power seat replacement available, or maybe even a manual seat. Wizard knew the power seat was breaking and has been searching for a replacement for a while, but I guess they are hard to come by.
4. This kind of stuff is the cost of having a car like the Shelby, which we both knew when his brother left it to him. So last night, I was trying to make sure Wizard didn’t think I was upset over the cost of this car, and I jokingly said, “The Shelby is your expensive hobby and Maggie is mine.” I really should have known better than to open that can of worms with an accountant — Wizard then told me the exact figure it cost us for Maggie’s food, medicine and vet bills for last year. Sigh…yeah, Wizard keeps spreadsheets on all this stuff, and obviously, remembers the exact numbers just in case he wants to make a point. Fine, point taken. Maggie is expensive but she’s worth every penny! For the record, he never truly complains. I mentioned that at the end of this year I want to get her teeth cleaned again, and all he said was, “Get an estimate next time you’re at the vet’s office so I can plan it.” Totally reasonable.
5. Turbo and his mom our coming over tomorrow. Turbo’s dad and Youngest son will be out of town, and Special K asked if it was okay for her and Turbo to come over and hang out. Of course it is!! I’m not sure what Sunday will bring.

That’s my five, now I’d love to hear yours! I hope everyone has a great weekend!

Wow, so I haven’t had so much fun reading a book in a long time. We all know humor is subjective, but for me, STORY OF MY LIFE by Lucy Score, was a just what I needed. Fun, sexy and it played a bit with tropes in romance since the heroine is a romance author. This book is written in first person so that will be a nonstarter for some readers. For myself, first person is an “It usually depends on the author’s skill” for me.

Right now, I’m hesitating starting another book to let that hangover feeling subside. But next, I’ll probably read the nonfiction, politically-adjacent books Wizard just finished. It involves first hand experience with the UN, and that’s something I’m happy to learn more about from someone who is has been on the ground there.

So what are you reading?

Yep the weekend happened

Saturday we went to Turbo’s game, where he got two hits and scored two runs. He also scooped up a ground ball and threw it to first. His aim was slightly off, but I was proud of the play! After that, we went to his house and where I gave him his Easter basket, then he and Wizard played with his RC truck while I had fun looking at kitchen makeover plans with Special K. My son emerged from the dungeon CPA’s live in this time of year, and told me that his clients have shared with him that they like giving their kids their inheritance while the parents were still there to watch the kids enjoy the money. I laughed and told him nice try trying trying to soak his elderly, retired parents for the kitchen renovation. Then I went right back to finding way to make my daughter in law’s new kitchen as expensive as possible.

Going back to the baseball game, I was the blazing idiot who forgot to put sunscreen on my arms before I went to the game and burned my arms burned. I’m so irritated at myself over this. I’ve been trying hard to protect my skin, and this was just dumb. Also not fun. On the upside I had a great sunscreen on my face and neck that I wear daily so I guess it could have been worse.

Just for fun, CeeGee’s mom sent me a pic of CeeGee  wearing the outfit I got her. She’s with her dad, my middle son, in this pic.  Personally, I think she pulls off that outfit fabulously, but I could be a tad biased

Sunday, I was so tired. That is also my fault because I was reading and forgot to go to sleep It’s been a long time since I lost track of time while reading, so I didn’t mind that. Anyhow, I stayed home Sunday to avoid the sun until the burn calms down. Well I did run to Target to get some aloe vera gel, which does help. Otherwise, I spent the day cleaning my pantry and searching for possible pet friendly hotels if we go on a 4th of July trip with Middle son. I’m annoyed, but not surprised, already by the prices. We’ll see what we decide to do.

That’s my weekend, how was yours?

TGIF!! Time to share random things about our week. Here’s mine:

1. It’s hot this week. But I am not complaining given what other states (like Kentucky and Tennessee) are going through. I feel for all the people suffering from the flooding.
2. We all know Maggie hates having her picture taken and always looks like a goofball. And to prove it, here’s one I took yesterday. I can’t explain why she makes these weird expressions. Maggie is just gonna be Maggie!
3. This week, I’ve been into pretending I’m a gardener. For the record, I’ve been known in the plant world as a serial killer, so this faze won’t last. But I’m trying! We’ve gone through six large bags of potting soil, filled four barrels with plants and flowers, plus some assorted pots I had (because I’d murdered the last residence of those pots). And I lost count of the trips to Home Depot and Lowes. But I feel we’re making some progress on the paver patio. So called, because it’s has cement squares that are sort of pavers. Our regular patio is normal poured cement and therefore called “the patio” or sometimes if I’m feeling fancy, “the wine patio.”  There’s no real reason to call it a wine anything, except that once in a while we’ve had a glass of wine out there Back to the paver patio, it’s a bit of an odd space, but we’re tackling the challenge.
4. Speaking of the paver patio, I was showing Wizard a couple patio chairs on my phone and asking if he liked them. He responded, “We’ll need to have someone out to build a gazebo to make it usable for more than a couple hours a day.” Then he frowned and asked me why I was blinking like a hostage under a bright light. Umm…because I had a two hundred dollar idea that he just turned into several thousand dollars!!! He laughed when I point that out. What I didn’t say is that the a couple of the palms we planted in barrels will give us some shade there in a couple years.
5. We are planning to go to Turbos game Saturday if it works out. It will be hot, so we may go for the last half the game then go to Turbo’s house afterward for a while. Today I told Wizard I’d make pizza for him and he’s pretty excited about that He’s not hard to please.

That’s my five, now I’d love to hear yours! I hope everyone has a great weekend!

I needed something light and funny, and this fits the bill for me: STORY OF MY LIFE by Lucy Score. Humor is so very subjective. Stuff one person finds funny another can find stupid, insulting, annoying or plain boring. But I find this book funny in this moment where I’ve been listening and reading way too serious stuff lately.

And a Wizard update, he went to Barnes and Noble alone and bought three books. I mean…weird. But I love it for him! And this slew of books looks interesting to me so it’s also a win for me But I will wait until he’s done. He bought the books so he gets first dibs on reading them.

Still…if you’d asked me years ago if Wizard would turn into a “real reader” I’d have said no — not like me. And then, like a good husband, he proved me wrong!

So what are you reading or listening to?