Hello friends! The above photo is a quick shot I grabbed on my walk with the pup. If you look closely you can see her ears in the lower right corner. This photo doesn’t do this planter justice. It’s drought-tolerant and filled with fiery reds and oranges. We call this the “long” walk because it’s up a hill and longer than our normal walk around the neighborhood. Sometimes the pup is not in the mood for this walk but on this day, she was in her element and happily sniffing at everything.

As you might recall, my first vaccine appointment isn’t until 4/6 but my work has been encouraging employees to get it so I think pretty soon there will be discussions about returning to campus. I am a little nervous about it if I am being honest. I’ve been home for so long and with my daughter heading back to school on 3/29, I’m feeling a tad anxious.

The flip side to all of this is the ability to do some of the things I love again. We went to dinner as a family the other night. It was outside but with heat lamps and it was just nice to enjoy a meal in a normal way and not from the inside of a car. Although, I am the queen of car eating. Ha!

Movies will be nice again, too. We have a brand new theatre that finished construction right before the shutdown and it never had a chance to open. I hope it still will. Watching a movie on our big screen is fun, and I like not having to deal with talking people and cell phone users but for big blockbuster films only a theatre will do.

Remember how I mentioned towels last week and how I needed to shop for some? I didn’t but we bought new couches for the family room! They should arrive tomorrow! I’ve never purchased something so quickly. We walked in, they were what we wanted, they were on sale and then when they weren’t in stock we bought the floor model for a discount. Done.

Now, on the reading front. My review of Brat: An 80’s Story posted this past Monday. This Friday, I have a review posting for a book that I want everyone to read, The Beauty of What Remains.  I finished When the Stars Go Dark by Paula McLain so that review will be up soon too. What to read next? Possibly Outlawed by Anna North.

That’s all I have. I hope you are having a good week and that you have something really good to read.

It’s in the shadows but what I circled there is the Little Library that is in my neighborhood. The one that I walk by daily. It doesn’t appear that the new owners of that house have any interest in it but the neighborhood continues to add books to it. The books I’ve added seem to go quickly. That gives me great satisfaction. I would like to own one of my own. I have a great location for it. Maybe, someday.

Don’t let the bright blue sky fool you. It’s chilly and crisp. Very nice by mid-afternoon. I had to get out of the house for some filming, not for auditions but for school and so I sat on a wall out back with my book for a little bit and it was so nice! I’ve been doing my best to up my vitamin D levels naturally because supplements do not work for me. I think I am doing pretty well because I’ve been sleeping a lot better.

Spring break. What’s that? Between my son’s schedule, my daughter’s and my own campus, I can’t even tell you when it is. I know it’s not in sync which is probably why I didn’t bother to pay much attention to it. My son is going to meet us at a halfway point one day soon. We will bring the pup and grab food somewhere and just spend part of the day with him. With his work schedule he can’t do much more than that. So, no break plans but maybe we will try to do something for Memorial Day. It will be here before we know it!

This past Monday I reviewed Murakami’s new collection of stories, First Person Singular so check it out if you have any interest. I just finished Watching You by Lisa Jewell. That woman does not disappoint. The review will be up very soon. Now, I am picking up Andrew McCarthy’s memoir, Brat: An 80’s Story. I am an 80’s kid but who doesn’t remember all of those brat pack movies like Sixteen Candles or Pretty in Pink? SO iconic. Funny, when I mentioned the review copy on Facebook everyone gushed about Mannequin! I love that movie too. My favorite McCarthy movie is Less Than Zero. SO dark but so good with Robert Downey Jr., Jami Gertz and James Spader.

Hope the rest of the week is good for you. Hopefully I will have another review for you this Friday. See you then.