My mind is overflowing with tiny blips of info so to clear my head, I will just share them here so I can move on with my Sunday.
- The Sound of Music is behind us and I have no photos to share because photos are not allowed backstage.
- The early morning registration for Peter Pan was a success. She’s in. Auditions are in September.
- Slowly trying to piece together a beach inspired bedroom for The Girl. It’s her graduation gift and has been a long time coming.
- Seriously thinking about going vegan again after numerous food reactions this past week. Do I have the patience for it? I lasted three years the last time I tried.
- My closet. Still trying to figure out the whole “clothes should bring you joy” thing. Because honestly, they don’t.
Right Now:
Do you hear that? Birds. I love the sound of birds. I’ve been rushing around these past few weeks and so I haven’t been able to sit down long enough to hear them but I hear them today. Our yard is full of them even though the yard itself is struggling from the drought. Twenty minutes of watering a week in this dry climate is not nearly enough to keep things alive.
At the moment, I am downing coffee and then we are off to church. According to the website I do not need to volunteer tonight so I get to hang out at home. Cook a nice meal and watch a movie perhaps?
This Week:
My focus this week is to do something each day that reminds me of summer. My weeks blend into one another and it’s kind of hard lately to come up with stuff to share here. You know what I mean? That whole auto-pilot thing that I put myself on. I want each day to stand out so I am going to do something each day that will make each day unique. Wish me luck.
Reading:
I finished A Little Life. It. Destroyed. Me. Wow. What a book. I encourage you to read it but know going in, that it is a tough subject matter to read about.
I also finished Luckiest Girl Alive. Hmmm. I have to write my thoughts up but it wasn’t what I expected at all.
I started Finders Keepers and Nantucket but I also have to read my book club selection Other Voices, Other Rooms by Capote so I am not that far into any of them.
I’ve decided to really pick up the pace for July because… the Atlas Shrugged read along (#AtlasRAL) begins on July 1st. I’ve got all sorts of fun folks reading it with me and because it’s such a brick of a book I really need to stay on top of my other reading too or I will become the reading slug I was in June.
Watching:
Not a good time for TV but Chrisley Knows Best started up again and somehow I got sucked into it for another season. It’s very repetitive. Rich man trying to instill morals into his rich kids while they all live it up in the South. It’s fun though.
I want to watch a movie. A really good one, preferably available on Netflix instant view. Any suggestions?
Making:
Not sure what I’ll make tonight.
Grateful for:
A weekend of rest.
Book Chatter 
I’ve wanted to read A Little Life for a while but think I need to be in the right mood.
I hope you figure out some great summer things to do!
Yay that your daughter made it in for the Peter Pan auditions!
I hope that your something unique every day works. I’m really curious about how you will do this each day, so please keep me posted. I may have to incorporate some of this into my own life.
Movies . . . My husband received The Kingsman for Father’s Day and we watched it last night. It’s a completely weird, violent movie, but I really liked it. We actually saw it in the theaters, and it was just as good the second time around. Other than that, I haven’t seen a lot of movies lately. I need to change that. I do adore a good movie!
I was very disappointed in The Kingsman. First half was OK then it became crass and tasteless. If you read the reviews on imdb, it is either 10 stars or 1 star.
Congratulations to the Girl!! So happy for her. I cannot wait to see the beach-themed bedroom – that’s one of my favorite interior decoration themes. The colors are always so relaxing and pretty.
I want a beach themed room as well but this kid has expensive tastes!! LOL. The first comforter we ordered was cancelled before shipment and she was not happy since we had started to buy stuff to match it. Now another option has been ordered but it has yet to ship. We kind of need to see the color of the comforter before we go with the rest of it but she doesn’t want to understand this.
Good news about Peter Pan!
Disappointed in no photos even if off-stage. 😦 But that’s OK. I know there will be plenty more opportunities with other productions. 🙂
Good luck with making each day unique. I do know a little of what you mean of being on auto-pilot and just going through the motions. It can be difficult to find the joy in life. Hope you find it each day this coming month.
As for Netflix recs, I know that I have in the queue, Nightcrawler and A Most Wanted Man (with Phillip Seymour Hoffman) that I haven’t seen yet but have heard good things about it, and also two favorites: Unbreakable and Fried Green Tomatoes.
I will take a photo of her headshot and share. She won’t allow me to take pics anymore either, which is the other half of it.
From:”Book Chatter” Date:Sun, Jun 28, 2015 at 9:57 AM Subject:[Book Chatter] Comment: “Sunday Matters: What’s On Your Mind?”
Yeah for Peter Pan…yeah for summer…yeah for slowing down…
Not sure about vegan ism…no eggs? When it turns into summer…I put out hand carved sailboats and bottles of shells and a huge conch shell…and summery throws and rocks…I love the look of bottles of shells everywhere! Have fun!
Veganism is a plant based diet. If it came from an animal, then it’s off limits.
From:”Book Chatter” Date:Sun, Jun 28, 2015 at 11:00 AM Subject:[Book Chatter] Comment: “Sunday Matters: What’s On Your Mind?”
Three years is impressive! I couldn’t do it for the life of me. Hubs is the chef in the house and he and my son both love meat 🙂 The beach-inspired bedroom sounds like fun! Yes to birdies 😀 We’ve been dozing in the afternoon to the sound of their chirping! And crickets at night 🙂 What’s on my mind? My birthday is up next Friday – so I’m thinking cake, cake, cake ❤
Cake is a good thing to have on the mind. What will you do to celebrate the big day? My daughter told me what kind of cake she wants me to bake for her birthday but hers is not until October. She is a planner. I am not sure I will do the vegan thing. I really have no problem doing it. It’s the rest of the fam and the extra work involved having to cook two separate meals every time we sit down. I just feel like I need a food intervention. Too many reactions lately.
I like planners. And clear instructions. You can’t go wrong 🙂 I do feel like a food intervention is in order for me too. I’ve been upping my exercising routine, but I’m still putting on weight… It’s especially annoying, since it’s summer
I just had to order a new swimming suit, because my rear end has got too big for my old ones, lol.
Meh, I don’t know about my birthday. I stopped wanting to make a big deal out of it about 10 ys ago, but the family won’t let me. My mom comes over every year, and she bakes a cake (of her own choosing, mind you). Then, my son usually buys me a cake (of HIS own choosing). And I end up making brownies anyway, because I’m not big on any cakes but brownies (and pies!). And usually there’s a BBQ. And a lot of Mom’s food. Overall, lots and lots of calories… Sigh.
Sounds like a lot of treats but it’s your birthday!! You should enjoy every crumb 😉 We haven’t even BBQ’d anything yet this summer. It’s been too hot outside. Ugh.
I just saw that Cake with Jennifer Aniston is on Netflix streaming. I heard good things about her in that and am excited to watch that. Have you seen Nightcrawler with Jake Gylenhaal? It’s sort of a dark movie and his character is creepy, but it was good and he is so good in it.
The Teen and I have been trying to find the right time to see Nightcrawler. It’s difficult with The Girl around. I saw that Cake was on there. I really have no clue what that one is about but I did hear Aniston was pretty good in it.
I’ve checked out A Little Life twice so far, and both times I returned it before starting it. Not sure I’m ready for this one right now….
readerbuzz.blogspot.com
I like heavier reads this time of year so A Little Life worked for me but I can see most people reading a book like this during fall, maybe right before the holidays. If that helps.
I’m glad to hear it was good.
I definitely want to read A Little Life, but the warning have convinced me to choose the right time… thinking it might not be this summer after all. Hope you enjoy every last second of this weekend of rest!
I went into A Little Life knowing nothing about it which I almost think is the best way to go. It takes awhile to know what it’s even about but once you are into it, you are into it and there is no turning back. That said, yes… carve out some time to read it and reflect on it afterward because you will need to.
So glad u had the same reaction I did when I turned the last page of A Little Life— incredible story.
BTW-My closets are chucked full of nice things which bring me very little joy as well😹😹
I guess “nice” doesn’t necessarily equate to joy. As a kid, we all had that one piece of clothing.. red rain boots or a denim jumper we loved. I want something like that and more of it. I hate nearly everything I own as far as clothing.
So what movie did you watch? BEST to you on diet plan. We keep saying “Next week we will eat better!” ha.
Well, I ended up in urgent care on Sunday because my throat started to swell again. I thought it was food related but they said I had a throat infection ?? No fever. I am on meds now and still feel cruddy. At some point, I do have to look at what I am eating again because I just feel like crud about 70% of the time. I watched Planes, Trains and Automobiles. I’ve seen it before but The Girl had now so we settled on that.
I spent much of the weekend traveling to Mass. and back. We celebrated my grandmother’s 90th birthday, and I think the big party did her good — I am just hoping that there is not an emotional crash after such a great time for her.
My daughter told me she loves her vova all the time, and she was happy to show off her swimming skills in my aunt’s pool to anyone and everyone who would watch. She’s even braver with her jumps into the pool, which is good and bad.
A weekend of 9 hrs up and 9 hrs back in a car with a 4 year old is not my idea of a good time, but at least my parents, brother, and I shared that joy! LOL It wasn’t as bad as it could have been.
I read one short story collection between the two drives in the backseat, but it was not a great book. Review to come this week, and I think its the most negative review I have ever written — or at least have written in a very very long time.
Oh long car rides with kids… such fun! I love when kids learn how to swim. I love to see their confidence build but yes, it’s a little scary when they lose the fear and then just jump in when you know they cannot stay afloat. My daughter was a natural fish but the boy.. oh my… terrified and then one day he wasn’t, jumped in and sunk. A reality check for sure.
Clink, clink! That is the sound of us clinking wine glasses to celebrate both of us being done with various productions. However, I only get one week off from dance and none off from marching band.
I like your idea of trying to come up with things to remind you it is summer. Please share any ideas you have on this. With no summer vacation this year, I am in serious danger of not noticing whether it is snowing or blisteringly hot.
Good luck on veganism. I tried vegetarianism, and it just wasn’t for me. I really struggled with not being able to make certain favorite meals, and I never could adapt to meat substitutes or alternatives. However, if it makes you feel better, then I wish you nothing but success!
Have a great week, my dear!
I could live on a vegan diet without any problems, really. It’s the other part of my fam that would cause me grief. Not a fan of cooking separate meals. That is probably why I won’t do it again but I am still not sure. Cheers!! Yes! So nice to be done with rehearsals for a little bit. Rehearsals for Peter Pan begin in Sept. She has an acting camp she is attending for a week in July but it doesn’t include a final show so just fun stuff to keep her busy. Just a week off from dance and no break for marching band?? What kind of hell is that?? Today’s summer thing was eating watermelon. You see how I am starting off small? I wanted tothrow a blanket down on the grass and read but it’s 100 degrees and humid so I opted to slurp watermelon and stay inside with my book. Plus, I ended up at urgent care yesterday for a throat infectionthat I didn’t know I had so I am taking it easy. Still at work but easing into Monday.
I didn’t know much about A Little Life except for seeing a few raves here and there that made me put it on my list, but am only about 70 pages in and have already bookmarked several passages and am loving it. Good luck on making your summer days stand out! I need to try to do that too, or the summer will be gone before I know it.
A Little Life is a gem of a book. Keep reading. I really adored it and I am still thinking about it.
So glad The Girl can now audition for Peter Pan. Although those early hours to sign her up? Can I just say a hurray for you, the mom, for being there and getting her in?
I’m still in a reading slump but hoping that ATLAS SHRUGGED will get me out of it. And oh, I would so love each day to stand out (in a good way). I know what you mean. When they’re all blurred like that, sometimes I think, Hold on a minute! Stop!!! I want to see/know what my days are like.
I’m trying the low-carb thing again. Hoping I don’t get the brain fog again. And if I do, maybe I’ll just feed my brain some rice and potatoes and then go back to low-carb. So I definitely hear you about the vegan diet thing!
I sure hope Atlas is that breath of fresh air we all need. I need a palate cleanser after A Little Life. It wrecked me. I am still teary-eyed over it and I don’t often get emotional while reading. But OH MY GOODNESS it was good. How will I ever write a review for it. I need a sedative to do it. Me thinks.
Ugh the closet. Right now I have a huge pile of clothes on my closet floor (which is very small) of items that don’t bring me joy. I’m afraid to pull everything off the rack and go one by one as I’m not sure I would have a week’s worth of clothing left!! Of course it doesn’t help that in my current state, I likely won’t be able to wear any of these clothes for another 9 months.
Peter Pan!!! How fun!!! And when you get the beach theme going, please share pictures! Sounds like a great idea for a relaxing little bedroom retreat.
I guess I need to find out the tough subject matter of A Little Life — to see if I could stomach or read it. I will look for your review. You’re on a roll with your reading. Enjoy