New treadmill! Our old one finally broke down a couple of months ago. We got it for free from my sister when she moved out of her apartment, I wanna say about 10 years ago. I cannot complain. It was a very nice Reebok model and lasted forever. So we finally broke down and bought a new one. It came this week and with the combined skills of all three of us we were able to put it together! It works!
The real trick was getting the old beast out of our basement...two flights of stairs...and out onto the curb so the metal man could take it away the next day. DH rigged up a lever system so we didn't actually have to lift it out. It was genius actually. My son called it a "big brain" idea. That's the hubster. Cuz there was no way I was doing any sort of lifting with the beast.
We got more Halloween decor up outside. Lights and chains and a few scary skeleton head coming out of our garden!
Friday we attended the Fall Fair at our CSA farm. We went earlier in the day to avoid crowds. They required masks on premise. We got in a few fun rides and picked out our pumpkins for carving. Then we headed up the canyon to drop of some dinner for a friend and her family who've been sick recently. We said and enjoyed the beautiful drive through the canyon.
Things I'm Grateful For this week:
1. We got a new treadmill just in time for cooler weather.
2. DH's big brain. So we could get the beast out of our house!
3. Attending the Fall Fair as a family and getting our pumpkins.
4. All the horror that has dropped on TV this week!
5. Got my haircut!
I started Charlie and the Grandmothers by Katy Towell and The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennet.
I'm trying to read about a chapter a week from Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong by James W. Loewen. And I'll be reading the second section in Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America by Ibram X. Kendi. Our book club will be meeting (online) next Saturday to discuss.
I also started The Self-Driven Child: The Science and Sense of Giving Your Kids More Control Over Their Lives by William Stixrud and Ned Johnson. Anything to help my DS get through this year of online learning and pandemic anxiety!
Classics I'm reading Emma by Jane Austen. I'm at about the 320 mark. I'm getting close to the end. I think the next chapter or two will have the scene where Emma makes fun of Miss Bates. It's such a cruel scene in all the movies.
I'm still reading The Magnus Chase series Hammer of Thor by Rick Riordan.Philosophy: At the Existentialist Cafe: Freedom, Being, and Apricot Cocktails with Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir, Albert Camus, Martin Heidegger, Maurice Merleau-Ponty, and Others by Sarah Bakewell.
Yes, I read a million books all at once. I can't help it!
I need to start Hood Feminism: Notes from the Women that a Movement Forgot by Mikki Kendell from the library. It's due next week so I need to binge-listen. Ha! Actually I just listened to two hours yesterday while crocheting. It's amazing and a must-read so far.
Books of Blood on Hulu. It's an anthology based on the Clive Barker Book of Blood. Clive Barker did the Hellraiser series. Twisted but good. It looks like I didn't quite live up to Barker's fans' expectations but it was good enough for me!
Marrowbone (2017) on Hulu. I've had this one on my list forever but finally watched it this weekend and it was fantastic. Lots of plot holes but a great and haunting story full of grief and pain and how it haunts us.
Also, catching up on Schitt's Creek on Netflix. G and I are watching Freakish on Hulu together. He loves it and is into more than I am but I'm loving the time together. And now that we're done with His Dark Materials series, we're going to start watching the show on HBO together! Very excited about that too.
The Haunting of Bly Manor just dropped on Netflix so I've dropped everything and started watching it. It's very good. I've been getting my crocheting in this weekend!
One of the things I was impressed with in reading Michelle Obama's memoir, Becoming, was her parents. They relinquished control over their teens beautifully, I thought. (Or maybe they just had good kids!) I would have benefited from a book like The Self-Driven Child. That sounds very helpful.
ReplyDeleteI read exactly like you read. People always ask me how I do it. I tell them the truth: I don't know!
I see one of your books is Vanishing Half. Curious to see what you think of that one.
I hope you get to enjoy some time together soon. Hiking sounds especially good. We are planning a trip for early November. We'll be doing a lot of hiking on it.
You've got lots of suggestions for tv and movies, and I need those, but I'm too scaredy-cattish to watch any of these. I need some comedies.
I hope your week goes well. Enjoy that new treadmill.
My favorite comedies for Halloween time that aren't bloody are Clue and The Burbs.
DeleteI hope you enjoy your trip in November and get some pretty hikes in!
I'm really liking Vanishing Half.
I hope you have a lovely week as well!
I just finished watching Schitt's Creek and loved it. Now we started The Haunting of Bly Manor. Good so far. Hope you have a great week!
ReplyDeleteSchitt's Creek is great to just throw on whenever. I hope you enjoy the Haunting of Bly Manor as much as I did! Have a great week too and thanks for stopping by.
DeleteGot me curious about The Haunting of Brynn Wilder. Have to catchup with the last season of Schitt's Creek too :-) The Apple Cider Donut Bundt sounds fabulous. Have a good week.
ReplyDeleteI definitely want to give Brynn Wilder a shot this month! Hope it's good. The cake was delicious!
DeleteI'm one of those very rare people who just couldn't get into His Dark Materials at all. I've tried the first one twice, and nope. Didn't enjoy it at all. But I've heard about the tv series and will try that.
ReplyDeleteHope you will have a good week and enjoy all your Halloween decorations!
I was thinking you must have gotten a great workout in hauling the treadmill up the stairs but it sounds like your husband saved you from that. Yay!
ReplyDeleteCharlie and the Grandmothers looks so creepy! I love the cover!
One of my friends has been frantically finishing up The Turn of the Screw so she would be ready when The Haunting of Bly Manor came out. I need to ask if she finished and what she thought of it. She knows I'm a horror movie wimp so she'll steer me in the right direction.
Enjoy your week!
I hope you enjoy your new treadmill! It sounds like you had a nice time at the Fall Fair. My daughter is going to miss going to the pumpkin patch we always go to each year. Halloween won't be quite the same this year, sadly, but I do have a plan to make it a good day for my daughter just the same.
ReplyDeleteI picked up The Testaments when I found it on sale recently. I look forward to reading it. The Haunting of Brynn Wilder sounds good too! I hope you enjoy all your current reads and new books.
Have a great week!
I don't even know what to do for Halloween with the kiddo. He's a bit older but I don't know. It's definitely tough this year. I hope you guys still have a fun time despite the pandemic breaking all our plans!
DeleteHave a great week too and thanks for stopping by!
I have a broken treadmill in my basement that nobody can get up the stairs, so I admire your innovation. The Fall Fair looks fun. We went to our town fair last Halloween, but I don’t think we’ll be going this year. I hope you have a great week!
ReplyDeleteAj @ Read All The Things!
Oh no! I'm so sorry. I hope you guys can get it out one day...they are beasts!
DeleteWe only went cuz we knew we could avoid large crowds...So far so good. But it's risky no matter what. Hopefully next year is better. Fingers crossed. Have a great week too!
Those are some great pics out at the Farm. I like the looks of the HW Brands history read -- I'll put my name on the library list for that. The Atwood novel is good. I enjoyed The Testaments. Hope your week has been great.
ReplyDelete