It's Hot!

June is not supposed to be this hot but it is this year. We're in the 90s and 100s almost every day right now. That usually doesn't happen til July. So hot! We are beating the heat with some early morning hikes...ok, not really but it's still pretty. Weekend cocktails and evening fire pits with friends definitely helps us all cool off!

Enjoyed a lovely birthday weekend last week. DH and I finally went out for some fantastic dinner and drinks. We have not done that in 14 months. It was so nice! The restaurant we went to had a vaccination card only policy. So we knew everyone in that restaurant was fully vaccinated. It was a very relaxing evening. We later learned that the restaurant has received death threats from anti-vaxers and threats of being Nazis...I mean, wow. We were very happy to support them!

This summer is full of house projects, work, and getting out into nature when it's cool enough.

We got good news on our kitty Nala. She is still seizure free and we've got about 4 months left before she'll be completely weaned off her meds as long as she continues to be seizure-free! We have a couple of trips we want to plan so this is very good news!

Here's a couple of pics from my latest hike. So hot so we didn't quite make it to the top but we still got some great exercise in the mountains.

Reading Life:

I just started up Written in Bone: Hidden Stories in What We Leave Behind by Sue Black. I loved her first book All That Remains. True-crime from a forensic anthropologist. G and I also started The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer. Disturbing but also very intriguing. It also goes along nicely with my sci-fi challenge this month...but it's mostly dystopia.

Reading Challenges:

For my Sci-fi Readathon: 

Abaddon's Gate James S.A. Corey (Expanse #3) and The Ones We're Meant to Find by Joan He.

I finished Adulthood Rites and Imago, the last two books in the Xenogenesis series by Octavia Butler and an ARC from the publisher for Dare to Know by James Kennedy.

I Read Horror Year All Year Round: 

The Upstairs Wife by Rachel Hawkins (psychological thriller prompt). Listening to this one. It's interesting and I'm looking forward to the end but it hasn't been as good as I was hoping.

Back to the Classics challenge:

The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas (19th Century prompt and also for my 1000 Books Project: French classics edition). So close to finishing now! Just a few more chapters.

And Dust Tracks on a Road by Zora Neale Hurston (classic by a woman prompt).

The Second Sex by Simone De Beauvoir...I am no over halfway done and should be done with it by December to earn my 20 century classic prompt!

Nonfiction Reading challenge:

World Travel: An Irreverent Guide by Anthony Bourdain and Laurie Woolever (food prompt). I'm listening to this one and it still makes me want to cry. I'm hoping to finish by the end of the month.

I'm pretty behind this month with some of these challenges. Hopefully I can catch up soon!

Watching Life:

Mostly the NBA Playoffs.

I added in the Crime Scene Kitchen which is weirdly entertaining though I wished they'd called it Mystery Kitchen...since no crimes were committed in the kitchen real or otherwise. I guess it's more catchy but not what I was expecting when I went to watch.

I also finished off Love, Victor on Hulu. Really good show, especially the second season where they try to deal with all the life stuff they kind of blew off in the first season.

Last weekend we watched Raya and the Last Dragon and In the Heights together. I wanted to like Raya better. It was cute and funny but didn't quite have that complex punch their movies usually have. It felt a little trite. In the Heights was really fun. Really enjoyed that one.

Come True was my horror movie for the week. Really trippy but that ending was a bit off...overall quite a cerebral sci-fi horror.

Making and Doing:

I'm hoping to get to my painting of my door soon. If not this weekend then next.

I've been enjoying no-bake cookies and raspberry mojitos on the weekends.

I've been sticking to sandwiches and grilling foods recently.

Looking forward to:

Cooler temps for a few days this week. I think we will hit a hi of 75 on Wednesday. It goes back up over the weekend but it'll be nice to have such a cool day or two even for a bit.

I've got a little friend get-together on Saturday with DH and Sunday I'm hiking with a friend! Loving getting out a bit this summer.

Joining in with Deb from Readerbuzz's Sunday Salon