Buckle-up because I think the next few days will be trying, to say the least. However, I am back at work and trying to establish routines again and that includes not burying myself in the news. I do what I can to distract myself, whether it be walking, digging around on my hillside or purging and organizing. Of course, work is keeping me busy as well as we prepare for the new semester.
I am also trying to focus on health. Moving more, changing my diet up so that it’s mostly plant-based. I had THE most amazing veggie burger at Fatburger the other day, on a gluten-free bun and then almost killed myself later in the evening because I had a horrible reaction to it. You guessed it. WHEAT. I had checked their ingredients before but not recently. My own fault but I felt like someone punched me in the throat and then my tongue kept swelling. Lots of Benadryl did the trick but it was a little scary.
How are you all doing? It’s hard to find something new to talk about when your days feel pretty much the same, huh? On my walk this morning I was hit with the delightful smell of laundry being done. I don’t know about you but the smell of fabric softener is so comforting to me. We no longer use it due to what it does to the environment but I love that comforting smell!
I have been browsing review copies that are available and there are a lot of good books coming out. I just requested Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid. It comes out June 1st and looks so good! You may remember her previous book Daisy Jones and the Six!
That’s all I have. No auditions this weekend so maybe we can venture outside of these four walls and take a drive somewhere. Hope you all have a good week.
Book Chatter 
Sounds like you’re doing well with returning to work, and hurrah for no auditions this week. Your daughter probably wants a break from that. She’s been busy with those.
I have been deep in poetry books and reading them for the selection process of my local book festival, which will again be virtual. I am still waiting on word from the committee about some of the books as well.
I sent out my poetry chapbook with some tweaks to a contest, but I won’t hear anything about it until April. I am debating on whether I submit it to other places at the same time, too. But this contest has great range and $ associated with it, so I’m not sure I want to simultaneously submit until after April. I’m on the fence.
In the meantime, I’ve been working on some new poems and I have to send out some this week that I think might be ready.
Sorry about your allergic reaction — ugh that’s awful! So glad you’re all right. I liked Daisy Jones … so Malibu Rising looks good to me. Hope your week gets better.
My week is going well as long as I stay away from too much news. I can’t help but look at the headlines rolling in but stay away, stay away. That’s my plan.
How awful about your Veggie Burger’s bun and the reaction which followed:( Glad your return to work wasn’t too bad.
I also have Malibu Tasing but, will wait several months to read it. I just finished Sue Miller’s Monogamy (audio) and wow, did I love it. I won’t expect everyone to have the same reaction but, I know Laurel loved it as well. Hope to get up my review tomorrow or Friday.
Hope the rest of your week goes well.
I have heard wonderful things about Monogamy. The week went by pretty quickly, actually. I am glad. I was dreading it!
Glad to hear that your return to work has gone pretty well and keeping you healthy busy. We need that for next several days because reading isn’t helping me get out of the news. I’ve realized what my problem is – to be able to read, I need to feel safe, secure, content if not happy, and not feel like there are problems in the horizon. Since last Wednesday, I have not felt relaxed. I keep checking the news homepage (just the homepage – I don’t even read the items). It would be nice, so so nice, not to have to think of the capital on a daily basis. It’s stressful and I hope in some ways, Biden brings in a culture where we do our thing, he does his, and we occasionally checkin, but aren’t bombarded every day. It takes its toll.
So sorry about that burger. Did they still call it gluten free bun? I’m aghast.
Hang in there! Hopefully, another week of potential drama is all that may happen and then it’s done, but part of me thinks that’s just wishful thinking.
I think I may have written it funny but the bun WAS gluten free. The veggie patty was not. It wasn’t advertised to be but I’ve checked the nutritional info before and it was always fine but they changed the brand they use. So now if I go there I need to get their Impossible Burger on a gluten free bun. I haven’t tried that brand yet but it’s certified gluten free.
The news. I mostly check the headlines and if it’s something interesting I will click but I’ve found recently they change the headlines a lot but the drill downs are the same. No new info. We won’t be able to relax until after the inauguration.
I’ve decided to step away from news (at least the perpetual doomscrolling that I’ve been engaging in lately) for a while. I will continue to speak up against lies and wickedness as I face them but (hopefully) I am going to try to speak from a place of love.
I read the new book by Pope Francis yesterday, and that gave me new hope. It reminded me that there are people, lots of them, who are thinking about new ways of living in our world.
I love the term doomscrolling because it’s just so accurate.
Yes. I have been more vocal too and won’t stop now.
Today is an unseasonably warm day and the warm breeze has given me hope and a feeling of renewal. Feels like spring.
You would love what I just had for lunch: I had roasted a sugar pumpkin last week thinking I would make a pumpkin pie but I forgot that when I salted it during the roasting process (oops) and so we just pureed it and put it in the fridge. SO, just now I took some leftover rice, plopped a scoop of it AND a scoop of pumpkin on top of baby spinach and other baby power greens and microwaved it to a yummy satisfying lunch! I sprinkled Stacy’s chips crumbs – you might want to add your own gf crunch…. Happy New Year
That sounds amazing. My mouth is literally watering.
Wow, that allergic reaction sounds so scary! Glad the Benadryl worked!
Yes, it is hard to find things to talk about when every day is the same. Will things EVER go back to normal? I’m praying they will, I want to get out and do stuff!
I miss very specific things but don’t want all of it back. I was so crazed from busy-ness and I don’t miss my long work commute but I do miss my weekly lunches with my co-workers and coffee chats in the morning. I miss restaurants a lot too. And church. Online church just doesn’t work long term for me.
We have to all be so careful of ingredients when we have allergies. I hate it. Glad you are okay. Enjoy Malibu Rising, it looks like a really good read.