June Is Here

First week of June is gone! I really wanted to get this off over the weekend but we spent it at the local carnival and then things get busy. It's the first time we've been to the carnival since G was a wee one. He also had his first sleepover since the pandemic began. Lots of first this weekend!

We even got out for a little hike this morning. I wanted to start acclimating him so he can go on more arduous hikes as the summer waxes.

Grateful For:

1. G getting his second dose this week!

2. Enjoying some sun and community over the weekend.

3. Vaccines: it's just been nice enjoying things normally once again. I've had two friends over for a couple of movie nights. I went to my first movie (still masked) since February of 2020...(it was Emma, BTW).

I really love June. It's still slightly cooler than the rest of the summer. School's out and it's nice to enjoy some lazier days as a family. My mint is in full bloom so mojitos on the weekends are always a must. It's my birthday month, too. But the older I get the less I enjoy the birthdays...but I try to embrace it even though I can get a bit depressed as it rolls around each year. And the sunsets! We get some great sunsets in the summer.

Posts this last week:

Memorial Day Weekend

Sci-fi Readathon

Cat Thursday--Cats and Boxes

Reading Life:

I finally finished Jane Austen: A Life by Claire Tomalin! I really enjoyed getting to know more about Austen and her family and her inspiration for her novels. So many things I did not know. Fantastic bio of the great novelist. She died too soon.

I also finished The Name of the Rose by Eco Umberto. So interesting. It wasn't quite a page turner but it had some interesting historical tidbits and the mystery was interesting as well. Overall, I enjoyed the read, even though it was a bit slow from time to time. Glad I read it, though.

G and I finished up The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. We cried the whole last 100 pages. Tear-jerker. But it was so good and we were able to talk about a lot of things like anti-Semitism and how it's on the rise.

I've got a couple of self-help books going that I switch between Mindset: The New Psychology of Success: How We Can Learn to Fulfill Our Potential by Carol Dweck and Parenting from the Inside Out by Daniel J. Siegel and Mary Hartzell.

All Things Cease to Appear by Elizabeth Brundage. I started this one after I heard about the Netflix movie adaptation...I'm about halfway through. I'm hoping to finish it up by the end of the month. But it's a bit slow. The movie looked like a horror and the book is more philosophical with some supernatural elements. But I shall not give up!

I'm also reading sparingly but enjoying it whenever I can get a chapter in The Trespasser by Tana French (#6 in the Dublin Murder Squad series).

Reading Challenges:

For my Sci-fi Readathon: 

Adulthood Rites by Octavia Butler (book #2 in the Xenogenesis series) and Abaddon's Gate by James S.A. Corey (book #3 in the Expanse series).

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). I will be done by the end of the month!!! July will begin the unabridged Les Miserables by Victor Hugo! And Dust Tracks on a Road by Zora Neale Hurston (classic by a woman 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 have two others I am going to try and finish before the end of the month but I have not started them yet. I need to get moving. I'm so behind...

Watching Life:

More NBA Playoffs and some WNBA games as well.

LEGO Masters on Fox with DH and G. G and I also started up Sweet Tooth on Netflix. It's fantastically dark, sweet, and funny. I don't know how they get that balance but it works and G loves it. It kind of reminds me of A Series of Unfortunate Events series. Silly and dark all at the same time but I like Sweet Tooth a lot better.

G and I went to the movie theater for the first time in forever last week! We saw A Quiet Place II. Really well done and scary. We both enjoyed it highly. That was the movie to go back to the theater for!

I also watched Conjuring 3: The Devil Made Me Do It on HBO with my friend for our horror movie night. Not great. I don't recommend it.

Making and Doing:

Lots of grilling the last week or so. Trying to keep that oven and stove off. 

We've also made plans for some house repairs and upgrades. New blinds and screens, painting our door, staining our little deck, basement organizing and cleaning. We have a two-year plan to move so we gotta keep on our list!

Looking forward to:

G gets his second jab this week!

My birthday is this weekend and we're planning a little night out up at the big city(not super big just Salt Lake, but hey I'll take what I can get). The restaurant actually requires vaccination cards so everyone can feel comfortable at their restaurant. Looking forward to getting out with DH. It's been a very long time since we've done this!