So Cal has been dry for several weeks so when rain was predicted for this weekend, I planned my weekend around it. Comfort food, books, cozy jammies, etc. What we got though was a downpour at 6am on Saturday which lasted for 30 minutes. That’s it! Why was I up at 6am on a Saturday? The Boy had an early morning basketball game so unfortunately, I had the fun of dragging him out of bed.
Today, there is no rain in sight. That’s okay though, I still have a roast cooking away in the crock pot and I might throw a gluten-free lasagna together for later this week. I just love to cook on Sunday. I am still reading The Stranger’s Child. It’s slow going for me. It started off great but then took a very weird turn. I felt as if I missed a huge plot point so I reread several pages and I still don’t understand what is going on. I am about halfway through but it might be a DNF for me as I have a lot of other books to get to and this one is holding me back.
Remember my post about the new, snazzy rec center that they built at the university where I work? And how they wanted to charge staff a ridiculous amount of money ($163 per academic term)? Well, I went to the test run last Friday and because I was a grad and technically enrolled as a student, I got a discount of 60% off. Of course, I signed-up on the spot and then worked out for the first time in I don’t know how long. The foot injury which I never even mentioned here and all my auto-immune stuff kept me from working out, but now I am back. And sore. And limping around, but it feels good. My membership begins on Jan. 27th because that is when the Spring semester begins. Stay tuned for some humorous posts because I will be working out at 6am (before work) and I expect my body to rebel in a big way.
One more update regarding my book club. My suggestion of We Need to Talk about Kevin got shot down in a big way. I was sort of saddened by it, but not surprised. “Depressing” does not go over well with the group, but I felt it would be a really good discussion book. However, when someone else pitched my 2nd choice I threw in Norwegian Wood (which I really did not expect them to choose) and it ended up getting chosen. I will post the entire list here soon.
Right now, I am about to enjoy my second cup of coffee for the morning. Later, rehearsal for The Boy and then I must run out to buy more coffee because we are totally out. Happy Sunday to you!
Book Chatter 
My book club doesn’t go for depressing either… or long, or difficult, or classic…sigh. Good luck with the new workout routine. We finally replaced our broken treadmill, so I’m ready to get moving again, too. Not much outdoor walking for me this time of year!
My book club can’t get look past the length of a book either. Although, there is a whopper of a book that made it onto the list so well see how many people finish it.
Great news about the rec center! Half price is awesome! And good for you signing up right away despite being away from the gym for a while. I think the rec center will be a great experience especially since your membership begins on my B-day (and Mozart’s!). I used to swim laps early in the morning before work. I admit it was tough getting up & out while it was so quiet outside & other people were still conked out. But I felt great afterwards…wide awake & energized for work. It also felt great at the end of the day when I didn’t have to drag myself to the pool or feel guilty for not working out!
I’m kind of disappointed about The Stranger’s Child & I’m not even reading it! The summary sounded very good, I had high hopes for it & I read some good reviews but if you’re thinking DNF, tht’s not good! Maybe I’ll read one of Hollinghurst’s other books some of which are intriguing.
How cool that your book club chose Norwegian Wood. I’ll be interested in what they think about it. But that surprises me about We Need to Talk About Kevin but if they don’t read depressing or what sounds depressing…that’s can be a broad category and knocks out some amazing books.
Have a great day even though it didn’t rain!
I gave it another few pages but nope, it flat lined and it screams “do not resuscitate!” I am going to follow that command and return it to the library.
Good for your book club. Why do book club reads always have to be depressing? 🙂 Even though I’m not in it, the ones at our library’s book clubs are always downers and I think to myself I’d shoot myself I were in that book club. Luckily, I’m not. I’d pick all comedies if I had a book club. All super hilarious books…no downers.
There’s not much to discuss with funny books though. I don’t like really depressing reads either, but I am usually okay with them if the outcome is good or the characters have grown.
I understand. I was just partially being a smart ass. 🙂
Of course 😉
Oh, have I mentioned that I like playing the devil’s advocate? 😉
I’m glad the fitness center worked out for you!!
We got slammed with rain for a few hours on Saturday night. The storm must have been moving East too fast for you all to get the brunt of it. I am just glad that it warmed up a bit, was tired of dumping out the ice in the dog’s water bowl every morning:)
Good news on the Rec Center!
Of course, it’s raining today… just enough to make my commute treacherous. I work in a basement office so I can’t even enjoy it. I just listen to the squeaky shoes of students walking back and forth and that tells me that there is water on the ground.
If you ever want to complain about sore muscles, just swing by my way. I will have all kinds of empathy for you, with three days a week with my little Angel of Death. There are days when I can barely walk. But it is all good really. Nice to feel like I’m doing something productive with my body besides getting a bigger butt. I think it is too bad about Kevin. Depressing doesn’t ever cover it, but it is also very evocative. It would make for some extremely interesting discussion.
Your little Angel of Death has helped you lose 9 lbs though. I love that nickname for him, btw. Hey, in 6 months time, we’ll be the best looking reader/bloggers out there. We’ll hoist our books with confidence.
New workout regimens are always fun.. Among other things LOL! Have a great week!
I bought a new, hot pink and black gym bag to go along with my new membership. Should motivate me every time I look at it, right? LOL.
Well they are in for a shock as I found Norwegian Wood kind of depressing too.
And yay for 60% discounts!! That is awesome. Glad you have a nice new place to work out. And I wish you rain (though that sounds wrong as most people don’t want it.)
I’ve read about 7 or 8 Murakami books now but not Norwegian Wood. I really can’t believe they went for that but as you said, they may be in for a shocker. I was caught off guard though when they shot the one book down and then my 2nd choice was pitched by someone else. I had others with me, but if they shot Kevin down they would have shot the others down too.
That is very cool that you got the student discount! There’s an aquatic center in a neighboring town that I would love to join but the rates are outrageous for non-residents, so I just enjoy my treadmill at home. Good luck with your workouts!
I had Stranger’s Child checked out from the library and had to turn it back in after just a couple of chapters because it was due. I’m not feeling so sad about that now. 🙂
The Stranger’s Child might be wonderful to some because I did see that glimmer of greatness right at the beginning but then it flat lined. Don’t feel bad about taking it back. It’s not the type of book you’d like, even if the pacing was better.
I hope you enjoy all the books you selected with book club. We’ve got our selections through August. We have a few members who were unable to come last night, so we’ll plug in one of their nominations for the rest of the months I guess. It was interesting to see how this group is going to work, and I think this one will last and be fun…at least that’s why I have my fingers crossed.
So what did you end up picking? I am going to post my list by the end of the week. I just want to make sure they don’t switch the months around like they did last year.
What a bummer that your rainy day didn’t turn out so very rainy after all. I had a great Saturday this week because we finally stopped being snowless. We had a nice but not crippling snow storm on a Saturday when I didn’t have to go anywhere and could actually enjoy it. It’s so nice curling up in your comfy clothes and taking refuge inside with a good book and a good computer on bad weather day.
I hate when you’re reading a book you feel like you should finish, but mostly you just feel like it’s keeping you from all the other tempting books you’re meaning to get to. I just finished one like that. It wasn’t *bad* but it felt like it took me about an eternity to read, and I started to resent it for keeping me from all the other good reading I have lined up!
Your snow day sounds lovely. I didn’t do any reading and I blame it on that book. I officially ditched it last night after seeking feedback on Facebook. Now… some Anita Brookner.
60% off is terrific. I hope you body is forgiving of the shock treatment:0 have a great week.
So…a lot of good things happened…I love that you are getting a deal on working out…I can’t wait to find out how the first week went…are you going to work out every day?
Every other day?
Hmmmm…
I am shooting for MWF, but I may go M-F if I am really liking it. This place is just so nice…huge…so many machines, so many types too. Plus, I am there so early anyway.
I am looking forward to your workout posts..maybe they’ll inspire me to get my big butt into gear!!! You can’t beat that price!! 😀
Hope you had a great Sunday!
We got some rain here, and are supposed to get more tonight. I’m ready for it to rain like hell.
When I drove to work this morning it was coming down quite a bit in one spot and then petered out again. I don’t want it to rain like hell (lol) but a nice, steady rain a couple of times a week would be good. It’s just too dry here with all of the wind. I dread what our summer will be like this year.
Great news on the gym membership! You don’t want to know how much we pay… monthly… close you your $163 for 4/5 months. Yikes! I wonder if we will keep it since we are building a gym in the house over the next month/two. More on that later…
It’s raining somewhere in CA… I’m waiting the Giants/San Fran game and it looks to be pouring out there. Go Giants!!!
I really don’t have a problem paying for a gym membership as long as it has most of the things I want and has good hours. The staff gym I joined before didn’t open until 7:30am so I was forced to go at lunch and that didn’t always work for me. Now that this place is open from 6am to Midnight, I can go before work and just be done with it.
That is awesome, and appropriate, that you get a major discount. What a coup! I really need to start working out as my stomach and hips keep expanding
I hear you on the expansion. LOL. I figure that I have my food in order now, with the gluten free diet and all so now I just need to add the activity back to the mix and I will be good.
Awesome that you got a discount for joining the center! I’ve gone so long without a workout that I’ll kiss the first treadmill I hop on. Sad about Kevin, but I’m sure quite a few book bloggers will be happy to join you on reading and discussing.
Btw, that photo on you blog – the one under ‘Hi There’ is awesome!
Thank you! After the bad party photo I posted I wanted to be sure to post a normal photo of me before people begin to think that that is how I normally look. Ha! It felt good to hit the elliptical machine. My foot has been screwed up for almost 5 months. That is a long time to be sitting around doing nothing. I’m glad it finally healed though because I was beginning to think surgery would be the only way to fix it. Those two weeks off of work gave me time to stay off of it.
Wow go you on the new gym and workout front! That sounds really good. I will be cheering you on in spirit as 6am and me do NOT mix. 7am is the earliest I could get up without feeling sincerely deprived for the rest of the day 😉
Ah yes, book club resistance to really awesome books. It’s happened before at our book club but not that often which is good. Last year Dave Eggers’ “What is the What” got deleted from the list, but this year his “Zeitoun” made it on… Let’s hope that doesn’t get deleted too! (In the interests of being fair, What is the What got deleted as it followed A Fine Balance which was rough going for a lot of folks and we needed a month of something a little lighter than despair.)
Haven’t heard of Norwegian Wood, I will go and check it out. Oops there goes the TBR pile…
And it only takes one outspoken member to sway the entire group. Sigh. Oh, you must check out Norwegian Wood or any book by Haruki Murakami. Plus, Norwegian Wood is in theaters right now. Although, I probably won’t see the movie until I’ve read the book.
I had trouble with THE STRANGER’S CHILD. Ended up putting it down a bit more than halfway through. Sad. I wanted to love it. Had heard all good about it. But, the lovely prose did not outweigh the plodding story.
We have the same problem with NO rain here in sunny SW Fl.
I really liked Cecil and when time moved forward and he was no longer in the picture, I was bored out of my mind with all the little things happening that had little if anything to do with the story. I ditched it. Too many other books calling me like The Orphan Master’s Son.
From what you told me, I sort of suspected that Kevin would go over like a lead balloon, but at least you tried, and I am glad that they chose a Murakami! I am also glad that you got a membership to the gym! It seems like it’s a lot more affordable now, and I can’t wait to see the ensuing progress! I am coming to this late on the scene, but I hope that you had a wonderful Sunday, and that your week ahead is great too!
Well, we got a semi-rainy Saturday here in San Diego and hurray, for a rainy Monday (I work from home so it works for me-no travel). You’ll have to give me a list of the books you suggested to your book club, too (too bad about the Kevin book-it sounds like such a good book). Hope you have a great week and good luck with the new work out plan.
On the the list… sure thing. I plan to post it soon but I’ll make sure you don’t miss it.
Sorry I’m so late getting here this week. You know as for the book if I can’t figure out what’s going on I get discouraged and don’t want to read it. Life is too short to read something I’m not at least enjoying a bit.
As for working out, good luck with it! I hope it goes well for you. With the RA I’m limited in what I do but I seem to be doing fairly well with just my two daily walks with Sam and stretching exercises.
Well, I was limited too with joint stuff but since going gluten free. That is no longer an issue. At least THAT has gotten better. LOL. My foot injury is what did me in and how a person could tear a tendon while lifting a laptop is beyond me. It WAS a big laptop (work dinosaur).