Bookish Talk | Book Chatter

Sunday Matters

I love to cook but cooking has been a drag lately. I see many of your posts and you are making actual meals. I am making whatever can be thrown together and still resemble a meal. One night we had steak which was great. Another night, toast.

Right Now:

I’m being told that it should be warming up soon. It’s been cold for us here in Southern California. I would gladly welcome a warm day or two. It would lift the spirits.

In a little bit, my high school group is meeting via Zoom.

This Week:

Work. Work. Work. Even though I am working from home, the workload has been steady and just keeps coming. You’d think this would make the day pass quickly but no. It’s just a long slog. Plus, I don’t have my fancy ergonomic office chair and this dining room chair has done a number on my back. My left arm is perpetually numb.

Reading:

I just finished The Woman in the Dark and hope to have the review up soon.

I need to read Just Mercy for my book discussion next month but I’d like to fit someone else in before I jump into that one. I need a quick, page turner. Something really good to take my mind off of all this.

Watching:

Still watching The Crown.

The finale of The Walking Dead won’t air now until fall because they could not complete the post production work. We still have an episode or two to watch before that but waiting until fall for the last show will be strange.

Unable to watch any movies. Cannot concentrate for that long.

New Things I’ve Tried:

Earnest Oatmeal

Long before any of this hit the fan, I made a grocery run for staples and picked up these oatmeal cups at Walmart, of all places. These Earnest oatmeal cups are like a buck a piece and have 16+ grams of protein AND are gluten free. They are super filling and healthy with very low sugar. I picked up a half a dozen and now I wish I had gotten more.

Grateful for:

Wi-Fi. Can you imagine doing this without it?
All the streaming concerts and theatrical productions.
That my son is still doing okay on campus

The one thing I try to remind myself of, is that for some, nothing has changed. I look at the birds outside and they are happy as can be. It’s like that Bible verse about how the birds don’t worry so why should we? These are strange times but clearly, we put too much emphasis on some things. I mean, I wanted to clear my schedule so badly and guess what? My calendar ruled me for so long and now I am left feeling the withdrawals of that. It’s a good thing. At least that part is good.

What good thing can you take away from all of this?

Sunday Matters

This is challenging time for many of us. I just keep telling people how weird I feel. It feels good to be home and to live a simple life. It does. I think it’s hysterically funny that my word for 2020 is GATHER. I wanted to cut my schedule down to something more manageable and I think I’ve succeeded but I certainly didn’t expect it to go to this extreme. Some think we will be living this way for months.

Right Now:

We watched online church earlier in the week. Later, I meet with my high school group in a Zoom room. They wanted to try video this time. That means I need to actually do my hair.

The rest of the day will be doing much of what you are doing. I was wondering if taking my daughter for driving practice would be okay if we don’t stop anywhere. We are under a “safe at home” order.

This Week:

I am working from home but online classes start at the university this week so I suspect it will be very busy. I’ve actually been swamped so I’m anticipating it getting much busier.

Reading:

For the past two weeks, my reading has suffered and you know how well I was doing in that area. It was the combination of work craziness, a book I could not get into, and my need to keep checking news feeds. I simply could not focus, but I finally finished the one book and just picked up The Woman in the Dark. One of the students in my group dropped it off for me!

Watching:

Oh man, The Walking Dead got really good.

The Crown, still good but kind of dark. Not as light and amusing.

New Things I’ve Tried:

On a supply run, I picked this up. Notice how it’s mostly gone. It’s so yummy.