Friday: Random Bits

This week has been a blur. In one sense, it has gone quickly but in another… slow as molasses! The Boy is still causing me grief and I have a patch of gray hair to prove it. Seriously, this patch showed up overnight. You can’t see it unless I pull my hair back but The Girl was kind enough to point it out to me. God love her.

As we roll into May, things do not die down. Instead, they pick up. The Girl was asked to join honors chorus. The only downside is that rehearsals are from 4-5pm, which makes it difficult for a working parent. The challenges never end but it’s just six rehearsals and a final show so it’s a short-term thing. I think we can make it work.

Beauty and the Beast is coming along. The Boy is becoming, ahem, transforming into Lumiere as I type. The French accent, the walking around with forearms help upward, the singing, the dancing…it’s all coming together. We haven’t seen the costume yet but it’s rented and apparently has the torches and everything built in. However, I don’t think the theatre will allow the use of propane so we’ll see how they handle the effect. Plus, The Boy wears glasses so we need to get him some contacts for the show. Wouldn’t it be funny if Lumiere wore some cool, hipster eyeglasses? Okay, I guess not.

Bryan Batt

Bryan Batt as Lumiere
Photo Credit: bryanbatt.com

In addition to the show coming up, The Boy is wrapping up track season with a few more races and the banquet. Then there is his choir banquet, then they both have a cast party for the last show (Music Man), May and June will be very busy before it begins to slow down again. The Girl had wanted to try out for swim team this summer, but it conflicts with her summer camp field trips, which are both offered through the city. You’d think they’d consider this when scheduling.

As for me, I’ve been feeling a little down. The events in Boston, followed by the tragedy in Texas and the fact that I am a complete and utter news junkie, meant that I was glued to the TV and/or computer while the entire thing unfolded. I can’t tell you how sad it made me to see Boston fall off the trend list on Twitter after just TWO days. Terrible things happen, people move on. Sigh.

On a happier note, and probably what’s kept me somewhat grounded through all this crazy, is the #winditup2013 read-along. The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle continues to be a very interesting read and reading it with others has been an enjoyable experience. We are about to roll into book three, the final book, and right now the story could go anywhere. One of the participants described it as being Twin Peaks-y and I agree. It’s a little bit of everything for sure.

We had some plans for this weekend but they’ve been nixed since The Boy is helping someone with a video shoot and I stupidly scheduled eye appointments right smack, in the middle of the day. Doesn’t leave enough time for a road trip so I’ll spend the weekend reading. I am not joining Dewey’s Read-a-Thon officially since I never have enough time to dedicate to it, but for my reading buddies who DO participate, enjoy!

The Sunday Salon: Feeling A Little Off and a Little Bit Dreamy

Sunday Salon

This past week was pretty much like any other week, except I’ve been feeling a little off. I think my body is telling me to get back into the swing of things as far as exercise goes. Since the hand injury, the routine that I worked so hard to establish went right out the window. I was okay for a really long time, but this past week I’ve been feeling pretty lousy. I think the lack of movement is why so this week I am going to start adding activity back into my morning routine. It will kill me at first because I really do not have ANY extra energy but it has to be done.

On a happier note, the #winditup2013 read-along is in full swing and I couldn’t be happier. Reading The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle is an experience in and of itself, but reading the book with others makes it even more special. We’ve been having a good time discussing the book. Little tidbits here and there, a Tweet, a FB post and emails going back and forth. This week we begin book two!

Reading the book has put me in a very relaxed, dreamy mood. I like it. I like feeling as if the only thing that exists is the book in front of me. I haven’t felt like this in a really long time and it’s made me want to re-read the Murakami books I’ve already read.

Plus…

Have you heard all the fuss about Murakami’s new book? I didn’t even know he had a new book in the works so when it released in Japan last week, I couldn’t help thinking that #winditup2013 hit at the perfect time. All the bookish buzz over his new one makes reading Wind-Up even more exciting, If you want to read about his new book, check out this article. No word on how long it will take for the English translation to come out, but it took over two years for 1Q84 to hit US shelves. I hope we don’t have to wait that long this time.

Other than that, I woke up really late today and what did I do? I shampooed the carpet, My wiring is seriously off. What are you doing today?

The End of Break, The Otter Pup and the Wind-Up World That Swallowed Me Up

What a week. We took a short road trip and spent a few days in Palm Springs, Ca. It was lovely and all but the drive… Oh! Have you ever traveled with a pet that does not like to travel?

The Otter Pup, who is normally a complete couch potato, is a nervous Nellie when she leaves the house. She works herself up into such a state! It makes all of us crazy. It’s not the first time that we’ve taken her to Palm Springs either. We have relatives there and the last time we went, she seemed to do better in the car. This time though, she was all over the place and so nervous. But on the flip side, once there, she seemed to handle the change in environment better than she did the first time. Needless to say, her routine was off so she never slept which meant that “I” never slept. Plus, I didn’t trust her to be good in the house so I was constantly walking her to avoid any accidents. I mean really, no one wants to clean up poo while on vacation so yeah, I took her for extra walks. In that regard, she did very well.

Otter Pup aka Nervous Nellie

Otter Pup (Chloe) – Me? A nervous Nellie?

However, because I never got to fully relax, I never did hit “vacation mode” which translates to no photos. I think I snapped one photo which turned out to be a dud because some twit stood right behind my family while I was taking the shot. Every time after that I’d position myself to take a photo and then the pup would get to sniffing and then out the door I’d go to ward off disaster. Plus, The Boy is still grounded so I was sort of grouchy. I guess you can tell that from this post, huh? It was still quite nice to get away though. I just wish I had a few more days to really relax. It took the pup the entire four days to be somewhat normal.

In between the pup antics and everything else going on, I was reading The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle for #winditup2013. I actually brought an entire bag of books with me but once you start a Murakami, it’s sort of hard to read other books at the same time. You find yourself totally immersed in his world and that was the case this past week. Of those that have weighed in, nearly everyone has said that it’s a lot easier to read than they thought it would be. The book is broken into three books and so many of you have zipped through book one even though I gave everyone two weeks for each book. That’s okay though. The guidelines I gave are just guidelines. Read at your own pace. Whatever works for you, certainly works for me. Now I sound like Toru. If you want to read some of the comments, just go to Twitter and search for #winditup2013. If you don’t use Twitter and want to say something, add a comment to this post. I read every comment. I will say this, I am enjoying it quite a bit. I’ve loved many of his books but this one seems to really click with me.

Today, I am back at work and the kids are back in school and I am sure the Otter Pup (Chloe) is at home, sleeping the week off.

The Sunday Salon: Happy Easter!

The Girl w/Easter Eggs

Happy Easter! We attended Easter service last night, so today I am cooking up some ham, scalloped potatoes and fresh asparagus. Yum! I am trying a new recipe for the potatoes. You can check it out here.

Sunday Salon

The kids are off from school and things are beginning to relax a little from last week. Gosh, what a stressful week! So glad it’s behind us now.

A lot of you have sent me messages on Facebook letting me know that you’ve started The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle for #winditup2013.  Yay! Keep up the reading! We officially start on Monday so you are ahead of the game.

Okay, off I go to finish up a short story collection and then maybe watch a little TV. What are you up to today?

The Sunday Salon: Pulling Back the Reins

Sunday Salon

This past week has been challenging. Without going into too much detail, The Boy found himself in a pickle and then could not dig his way out of it. When a fourteen-year-old boy, a busy one at that, thinks he can do it all and then doesn’t, it’s an alarming realization to both him and those around him who are used to seeing him succeed.

This week proved to me that no matter how mature your kid THINKS he is, as a parent, you still have to reel him in, take the situation apart and then figure out a game plan to set it all right again. That is pretty much what happened these past few days. I had to pull those reins… yank them really.

Now, the house is quiet but the “setting it all right” part is going to keep me busy for weeks! And the events of the past week have taken the shine off of some good things, like The Boy landing the part of Lumiere in Beauty and the Beast and his solo for Jazz\Pop (choir). I hate when you want to revel in the good, yet you keep having to remind yourself that the kid in the dog house.

But at the moment, the house is quiet and everyone is asleep except me and the Otter Pup. I am enjoying my first cup of coffee of the morning and plan to do some thrift store browsing later with the hopes of finding some costume pieces for The Girl’s ensemble costume. After errands, I will finish one book and begin another and then The Girl and I will settle in to watch Thunderball as our Bond movie marathon continues. Not sure what we’ll do for dinner. I usually like to make something really good on Sundays but I am not really in the mood!

This week should be more even and calm. Rehearsals and Open House at the school. More writing and more reading. That’s all I need to perk me up. Plus, I am gearing up for #winditup2013 which begins next week. Over seventy readers from all over the world will be joining me. Can’t wait.

What about you? Doing anything fun today? Reading anything really good?

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