I’m definitely feeling better! Yay. But it’s a busy week…more on that Friday.

So while I was in prison, um, I mean willingly resting as Wizard suggested after he decided that cleaning the floors somehow made me sicker…because that’s a thing, right? Anyhow, I needed a book. And I found one, LOVE MOM by Ilana Xander. It’s a psychological thriller and very easy reading (perfect for being on cold meds!) and I’m enjoying it. But I realized something — the heroine’s mom she was a bestselling author who either died in an accident or was murdered.

I’ll confess, the author part got my attention and helped me hit that buy now button. I guess we like what we know. Or probably more accurately, I wanted to see how something I know pretty well is portrayed and how accurate I think it is? I’m not sure, but I am liking the book so far.

So what are you reading?

I hope everyone else is staying healthy!

Well we had plans, then I ruined them by getting sick. Or sicker. Or something Either my cold turned worse, or I picked up a second virus at jury duty where we were packed into a room like sardines. Anyway, we skipped Turbo’s baseball game, which was a bummer. Then we had planned to have Middle, his wife and Baby Girl out Sunday, and cancelled that. Instead, Wizard went out there, which I was happy about since he hasn’t seen them in a while.

On the upside, I bought a book that I really enjoying to help pass the time!

How was your weekend?

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

1. It’s been weirdly hot here this week, but it’s supposed to drop in temp over the weekend and possible rain on Sunday.
2. I went for Jury Duty on Wednesday. It was the third day of my cold, but I powered through to get it done. It was packed with 290 jurors called in for at least two very big cases. I was called up for a murder trial that was going to be at least a month long. I was excused because Wizard has some limitations and I have followup screenings this month to make sure I’m still doing fine after last year’s skirmish with cancer (yeah, yeah, I said the word, LOL). But anyhow…that and Wizard’s issues excused me from being a juror on the trial. I bet it would have been 70% tedious and 30% very interesting. And now my jury duty is done for at least a year.
3. It’s been a crazy flurry of medical stuff this week. So as I mentioned, I have a follow up with my surgeon at the beginning of the month and one with my endocrinologist at the end month. In prep, I did a blood test last week. The two doctors must have woke up yesterday and said, “We must think about Jen and do stuff!” And in about 24 hours time, I have an ultrasound scheduled for this Wednesday afternoon, my thyroid hormone has been lowered again and I have new sodium pills to deal with my chronically low sodium levels. Even my pharmacy filled those new scripts in record time. I mean it was stunning how fast everything got done and seemingly organized. In all seriousness, this is what good healthcare looks like. I really don’t like thinking about have had cancer,  but it’s reassuring to feel like my medical team is closely monitoring for anything signs of trouble.
4. While my cold is mild, the fatigue, fuzzy head and nagging Wizard had me “resting.” I nearly lost my mind from boredom! I couldn’t concentrate on reading, didn’t want to watch anything…I didn’t want to be around me Yesterday, I ignored the cold symptoms and did stuff. Later in the afternoon I rested a bit, but it was a much better day and I was no longer irritated by my own breathing.
5. We are planning to to to Turbo’s baseball game tomorrow and looking forward to it. Otherwise, we’ll see what the weekend brings.

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

I’m listening to an utterly stupid book, a dystopian sci fi, and frankly it’s the perfect distraction for me right now. Sci Fi has never been my go-to reading, so that’s been an interesting twist. I do like dystopian though. Ah well, we like what we like, when we like it

I also started reading a hardback, Running With Purpose by Jim Weber (CEO of Brooks shoes) because Wizard read the book and liked it. So I’m reading it. Also, I like Brooks shoes.

In other news, my cold is a mild and annoying cold. Nothing like what Wizard has had. Fortunately, I didn’t have to go in for jury duty Monday and Tuesday, and that’s been helpful to give me a couple days to improve. If I get called in now, I can likely get through the day with meds and patience. Plus I’m probably not as contagious by now. Since they make it hard to contact anyone to tell them I’m sick, I’m not stressing about being contagious because this virus is currently running amok in our area.

And now back to reading…what’s on your reading list this week?

And just like that, it’s Monday again!

So Friday was amazing for me. Wizard stayed home, and I had a nice day with my granddaughter, her mom and the pups. We just hung out, played and talked, and finally Baby Girl fell asleep in my arms from all that fun. She was such a sweetie, the first thing I do when I walk in is say hi and gibe love to the dogs. I started doing that when the baby was born just to give them extra attention. Now they demand it, LOL. And I don’t mind. But I looked up from the dogs and there was baby girl in her mom’s arms smiling at me. My heart just melted. It was the day out of the house I needed. One fun thing, she loves Jett, one of their two dogs. She likes Hazel too, but Jett is the one she focuses on and babbles to anytime she seems him. It’s the cutest thing the way she’s just connected with him.

And because I have two grandkids — I’m looking forward to going to the first weekend game of Turbo’s baseball winter season next Saturday. His parents got Wizard and I team hats, which I’m strangely excited about I hope Turbo continues to love baseball. He has an amazing swing for his age, and this year he’s really improving on grounders. We’ll see how it goes.

Saturday, I looked at the bag of lemons that Daughter in Law thoughtfully sent home with me and thought — I wonder if I can make lemon cookies with cream cheese filling. And if I make them I don’t want to eat them all, so maybe gluten and dairy free to give some to Youngest? So I tried and I don’t hate them. But word to the wise, I’m not a fan of the dairy free cream cheese I used. But a little extra lemon and powdered sugar turned it more into a sweet and tangy lemon cream…so not bad for a first attempt that literally took two days because I had to freeze the cream cheese concoction overnight, and then make the lemon cookie dough and form it around the frozen balls to bake. I took some to Youngest and he seemed excited.

Sunday I started not feeling great. Either I’m tired as I didn’t sleep Saturday night, fighting off Wizard’s cold or actively getting the cold. We’ll know by today. But the good news is Wizard is getting better.

I finished Onyx Storm. I found the ending a bit long in set up, then rushed and chaotic in the execution. I also pretty sure I’m in the extreme minority on that as this series is beloved! It okay though, we’re all allowed to have opinions. Overall, I enjoyed the book and I’ll probably read the next one.

That was my weekend, how was yours?

TGIF!! Let’s get right to sharing five random things about our week. Here’s mine:

1. Wizard is sick with a cold, again. That’s twice in less than two months. I’m not happy with his immune system. Poor Wizard is a little worried what kind of witchcraft, I mean meals, I might conjure up to assist his immune system
2. This week, I did a bunch of small, boring chores around the house. Even Maggie is bored, LOL. But it feels good to get them done because they were bugging me. I have about 10 more I could do, but I don’t want to get carried away, LOL.
3. I’m finally steadily reading Onyx Storm. I’m more than 80% through it and I like it, but for me, some of it is tedious. However, I still love the characters and they pull me back even when I get restless.
4. I have Jury Duty next week. For us in CA, we call in each day of the week to see if we’re needed. Then once we go in, if we’re excused, then we’re done. It’s an okay system. Doesn’t mean I’m super excited, but I’ll do it.
5. I so hope I don’t wake up with Wizard’s cold today (remember I’m writing this on Thursday night to post Friday morning) because I have plans to go to see my granddaughter! Wizard will stay home. My daughter in law is fine with it as long as Wizard isn’t running a fever or seem to have the flu or Covid. We tested him for both, and he’s negative so it’s a cold (it’s acting like a cold). I’m still going to err on the side of caution if I feel “off”. But I really want to see Baby Girl, her mom and their two dogs.

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

Over the weekend, we were talking about books. Youngest son, myself and Wizard were talking about some non-fiction we were all reading and talking about loaning one another, mostly biographies of successful business types. And my daughter-in-law said, “I’ve just been reading fiction.”

I stopped her immediately. “Fiction is important and teaches us a lot. It is not “just fiction.'” And she agreed, because she’s smart and all the things I could hope for in my son’s life partner

Quick story here: Just weeks before my 14th birthday, my dad suddenly died, we moved states, lived with my sister, I started high school where I knew no one, and I was very lost. But I found fiction. In that fiction, I came to believe there was a future for me out there, I just had to work for it. Become the person who would earn and deserve that future. In short, novels saved me. They gave me a safe place to go when I was drowning in the world.

Fiction taught me to value myself and choose a good life partner who would value me too.

Fiction taught me to value that life partner, no matter how hard life gets.

Fiction also taught me that Happily Ever After is fiction, but character, patience and determination will take you through in the real world.

Historical Fiction brought history to life and taught me the human toll of tragedy as well as that the human spirit that can triumph.

I believe Fiction teaches us both the value and the costs of choices we make, so that maybe we can make better choices, or at least, have a better understanding of the cost of the choices we do make.

I believe Fiction has so much to teach me, and to teach all of us.

It’s not “just fiction.”

What do you think?