WEEKLY UPDATES: MOVING FORWARD…

Good morning! Today’s post will link up to The Sunday Salon, The Sunday Post and Stacking the Shelves, for weekly updates.

**Mailbox Monday is hosted at the home site: Mailbox Monday.

And let’s join Kathryn, our leader in It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?, at Book Date.

 

Another week has flown by, with only two books read and reviewed.  But…my interior world is growing cozier, with the help of family, like my granddaughter Fiona who came by on Tuesday to unpack boxes and shred things…and then hung favorites on the wall, like this banner in my entry way. 

On Thursday, we ran errands (which means I sat in the car while she drove)…and one of these errands was for a mani-pedi…and lunch at CPK.

 

 

 

 

 

My routines are becoming more relaxed…and I am enjoying shows on Netflix (Dead to Me)  and on Prime: Big Little Lies Season II.

Let’s grab some coffee…and take a closer look at my reading/blogging week.

MY BLOGGING WEEK:

Coffee Chat: Finding My Groove…

Bookish Friday:  “After the End”

Little Beach Bungalow, by Joanne DeMaio –After the End, by Clare Mackintosh – (NG-6/25)

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INCOMING BOOKS:

Empty mailbox!

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CURRENTLY READING:

Little Darlings, by Melanie Golding

I have no ARCs to read and review before July…so I will happily relax for a bit and read from my TBR.  Then I have SIX  ARCs coming in August!

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That was my week.  Moving along slowly and rediscovering my feet…literally.  I have graduated to a cane.  Who knows what could happen next.  Exercise classes?

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What was your week like?  Enjoy your reading, blogging, and adventures.

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COFFEE CHAT: FINDING MY GROOVE…

Welcome to another Coffee Chat, in which we share bookish and not so bookish thoughts.  Head on over to Bookishly Boisterous to add your link.

One of these days I hope to blog three or four times a week!  I am not sure why I can’t seem to find my groove…but it probably has something to do with the whole moving/transitioning thing.  LOL.  My best day this week was time I spent with my granddaughter Fiona.  She helped sort through boxes, hang things on the wall, and shred things!

• I hadn’t had a mani-pedi since my Big Awful Event…so today Fiona is taking me to the salon.  Yay, Fiona!  Her schedule has just lightened,  now that she has finished massage therapy certification.
• Even in the midst of all the adjustments and changes, we need to pamper ourselves.
• I finished Little Beach Bungalow, by Joanne DeMaio (click for review), and I’m already loving my NetGalley ARC After the End, by Claire Mackintosh (NG-6/25).
• Today is the 24th birthday of my eldest grandson, Alec.  He has grown up so fast!  He is the handsome young man on the far right…next to his dad, my #2 son.

• It is 6:00 in the morning, and I’ve been awake for two hours!  I try to stay up late to avoid waking up so early…but it isn’t working so far.
• My surgery has been scheduled for July 22…and while I want it to be over, I had hoped to be more settled before the Big Event.
• I loved watching the first episode of Big Little Lies, Season II.  It felt too short, though.  Hmm.

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How is your week unfolding?  Enjoy!

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WEEKLY UPDATES: THOUGHTS FROM MY TINY SPACE…

Good morning! Today’s post will link up to The Sunday Salon, The Sunday Post and Stacking the Shelves, for weekly updates.

**Mailbox Monday is hosted at the home site: Mailbox Monday.

And let’s join Kathryn, our leader in It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?, at Book Date.

 

A month has passed since my life changed drastically.  In the past two weeks, I have slowly transitioned to my new living arrangements, and while my reading is still slow…I did finish Emily, Gone, by Bette Lee Crosby, a five star read. (Click title for my review).

Currently, I am enjoying Little Beach Bungalow, by Joanne DeMaio.  Our summer friends are back in Stony Point, and new layers of the story are unfolding.

I am finally loving coffee again:

In my tiny apartment, I am adding a few of my quirky favorites from my former place, and I even brought a few books and family photos:

 

 

 

 

 

My “home theater” (TV/Blu-Ray combo) is all set for watching Big Little Lies this week!

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BLOGGING:

My First Hump Day in June

Coffee Chat:  Redesigning My Life…

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INCOMING BOOKS:

Empty mailbox.  I did download one e-book.

The Friends We Keep, by Jane Green

Gradually I am making myself at home.  I do hope to read and blog more in the coming weeks.

What did your week look like?

No delightful food to share this week, except this coffee and a sweet roll one early morning.  Maybe next week?

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COFFEE CHAT: REDESIGNING MY LIFE…

Welcome to another Coffee Chat, in which we share bookish and not so bookish thoughts.  Head on over to Bookishly Boisterous to add your link.

 

My blogging and reading have been very slow for the past few weeks, but I’m gradually finding my way again. I have spent more time on transitioning to my new living space…and adjusting to how things work around here.  Today I finally got my little “home theater” up and running (My Blu-Ray player is connected to the TV and the Internet at last).  Today I started watching Season 3 of The Handmaid’s Tale.

• I’m reading (and loving) Emily, Gone, by Bette Lee Crosby.
• Next I hope to subscribe to HBO through Prime, so that I can watch Season II of Big Little Lies!
• I am determined to continue enjoying my favorite things, whenever that is possible.
• Tomorrow I am going to my former residence to gather a few more things…especially some of my favorite books.  Right now my new space has only a short stack of current reads…and my Kindle.  I hope to add a few bookish elements to my favorite Jelly Cupboard, below, where I have inserted a few quirky trinkets…

• The cupboard resides in a nook that was designed as a closet…which meant that I had to find a way to hang some clothes, too (above).  Below, the entry way spotlights my hall tree…another place to hang clothes.  In small spaces, we do have to reinvent ways to store things.

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So…now I’m off to the dining room, which I’m starting to look forward to, surprisingly.  At first I resisted.  But now I’m actually finding compatible residents with whom to chat. 

Enjoy your week!

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MY FIRST HUMP DAY IN JUNE…

Today I’m participating in WWW Wednesdays, at Taking on a World of Words.  Here’s how it works:

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next, and/or what are you eagerly awaiting?

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CURRENTLY READING:  Emily, Gone, by Bette Lee Crosby:

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BOOKS FINISHED SINCE MY LAST POST:

I’ve been unplugged for most of May due to illness.  Now I am eager to share the few books I read during the month:

Dreams of Falling, by Karen White

I Know Who You Are, by Alice Feeney

The Mother-in-Law, by Sally Hepworth

Those People, by Louise Candlisch

Mrs. Everything, by Jennifer Weiner

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EAGERLY ANTICIPATING:

The Friends We Keep, by Jane Green:  I just downloaded this book, and I’m eager to dive into it.

Synopsis:  Evvie, Maggie, and Topher have known one another since college. Their friendship was something they swore would last forever. Now years have passed, the friends have drifted apart, and they never found the lives they wanted—the lives they dreamed of when they were young and everything seemed possible. 

Evvie starved herself to become a supermodel but derailed her career by sleeping with a married man. 

Maggie married Ben, the boy she fell in love with in college, never imagining the heartbreak his drinking would cause. 

Topher became a successful actor, but the shame of a childhood secret shut him off from real intimacy. 

By their thirtieth reunion, these old friends have lost touch with one another and with the people they dreamed of becoming. Together again, they have a second chance at happiness…until a dark secret is revealed that changes everything. 

The Friends We Keep is about how despite disappointments we’ve had or mistakes we’ve made, it’s never too late to find a place to call home.

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As I settle into my “new normal,” a senior living apartment, I am realizing that moving into a new way of being and finding new connections can enhance our experiences.  This is my “spin” on the big changes in my life…and how I hope to carve out something positive.

Enjoy the week!

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WEEKLY UPDATES: MOVING ON…

Good morning! Today’s post will link up to The Sunday Salon, The Sunday Post and Stacking the Shelves, for weekly updates.

**Mailbox Monday is hosted at the home site: Mailbox Monday.

And let’s join Kathryn, our leader in It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?, at Book Date.

 

Good morning!  Here I am again, finally, after missing last week’s updates.  This week has been one of settling into my new space and visiting with my eldest son from Prague.  Last Sunday, family members met at Yard House for lunch…and then I moved into my new little apartment.

Midweek, Craig and I enjoyed an outing to one of my old favorite places:  California Pizza Kitchen.

BLOGGING:

No blogging this week.  But I did read and review two books:

Those People, by Louise Candlisch – Mrs. Everything, by Jennifer Weiner

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INCOMING BOOKS:

Empty mailbox.  I purchased one new e-book…

I’ll Never Tell, by Catherine McKenzie

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What’s next?  More settling in…and adjusting to the new normal.  Here is the dining room adjacent to our apartments.  I like eating lunch in my apartment, but dinners in the dining room feel festive.

Here is my favorite section of the apartment….my office space:

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REVIEW: MRS. EVERYTHING, BY JENNIFER WEINER

 

Do we change or does the world change us?

Jo and Bethie Kaufman were born into a world full of promise.

Growing up in 1950s Detroit, they live in a perfect “Dick and Jane” house, where their roles in the family are clearly defined. Jo is the tomboy, the bookish rebel with a passion to make the world more fair; Bethie is the pretty, feminine good girl, a would-be star who enjoys the power her beauty confers and dreams of a traditional life.

But the truth ends up looking different from what the girls imagined. Jo and Bethie survive traumas and tragedies. As their lives unfold against the background of free love and Vietnam, Woodstock and women’s lib, Bethie becomes an adventure-loving wild child who dives headlong into the counterculture and is up for anything (except settling down). Meanwhile, Jo becomes a proper young mother in Connecticut, a witness to the changing world instead of a participant. Neither woman inhabits the world she dreams of, nor has a life that feels authentic or brings her joy. Is it too late for the women to finally stake a claim on happily ever after?

 

My Thoughts: Mrs. Everything launches the reader into the present moments in the life of Jo, and then swings back to growing-up years in Detroit, in the 1950s. We alternate between Jo and Bethie’s stories, from their sisterhood, their relationship with their mother Sarah, and their college years. The era resonated with me, since I also came of age during those times. The story is layered with the civil rights movements, the Vietnam War, the feminist and consciousness-raising groups…and how time and personal experiences changed each of the women as they moved beyond their early years.

I found myself relating to each of them in various ways, and I looked forward to each time I picked up the book to continue the family saga. A memorable story that earned five stars for me.

***My e-ARC came from the publisher via NetGalley.

COFFEE CHAT: NEW WAYS TO ENJOY OLD ROUTINES…

Welcome to another Coffee Chat, in which we share bookish and not so bookish thoughts.  Head on over to Bookishly Boisterous to add your link.

 

It is early morning here in the Central Valley of California, and I am doing something unusual.  For me.  I’m writing my Coffee Chat blog post a day early…and while the night is slowly dying around me, I am feeling hopeful about the day.  A friend is coming by later to take me for coffee.  The very same friend whose call came just when I needed to be rescued…and the 911 shout out she made for me changed my life.  For the past two-and-a-half weeks, I have been  hibernating, in a way.  Healing, making changes, and staying in a house that is not my own.

• My daughter has set up a little desk for me in her guest room, and it is here that I write book reviews and the occasional blog post.  And watch live streaming shows, since I don’t have any of my TVs here!
• She has set up her FB page with photos of many of my collectibles, which she is selling for me.  I’m sure some of the items are familiar to those who read my blogs…I tend to spotlight them regularly.  When they have all gone to their new homes, I hope to have a few remaining treasures around me.  Like this favorite Jelly Cupboard that has followed me from place to place.

• Another old favorite from the 1970s: an antique ice cream table that I’ve used for book stacks, photos, or sometimes even as a game table.  (Below) I used it as a side table in my former home in the foothills.

• The best part of moving is how a new space with old favorites can become a completely revamped environment.  And the view from my back window is a gorgeous garden space to enjoy as I savor my new world.
• A little bit optimistic?  Well, yes, as I slowly heal and learn how to navigate while mixing the old with the new…I can continue favorite routines like reading, blogging, and connecting with others who are doing the same.
• This week, I finished reading and reviewing The First Mistake, by Sandie Jones (click for review).  It is a NetGalley ARC releasing on June 11.
• Then I started another one with the same release date:  Those People, by Louise Candlisch: From the author of the international bestseller Our House, a new novel of twisty domestic suspense asks, “Could you hate your neighbor enough to plot to kill him?”
• I’m already caught up in all the drama of it.  As if I need any more of that in my life right now!

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So…as I wake early and begin to find new ways to fit old routines into my new “normal,” I am grateful for the opportunity to do the things I love, surrounded by a few of my favorite things.

How is your day shaping up?

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WEEKLY UPDATES: A WORK IN PROGRESS…

Good morning! Today’s post will link up to The Sunday Salon, The Sunday Post and Stacking the Shelves, for weekly updates.

**Mailbox Monday is hosted at the home site: Mailbox Monday.

And let’s join Kathryn, our leader in It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?, at Book Date.

 

Another week has trudged by, with progress on all fronts…except reading and blogging are a bit tepid.  I have written no blog posts since last weekend…but I did read and review two books.  I am (physically) a work-in-progress, and I can happily report that my navigation skills have improved.  Today we drove across town to complete paperwork for the old condo…and snapped photos of things to sell, while listing (for our purposes) those things I want to keep.  I am hoping to move my things into the new place later this week, but the work in clearing out the condo will continue for a while, since I’m in the bystander role in that task.  Sigh.

I am being tested in several ways.  Learning to voice my needs, while compromising a bit on how and when things will be completed. 

Happy Family News:  Aubrey, one of my two granddaughters, graduated from college today.  Here she is with my #2 son, her proud papa:

She will head to New Zealand for a year.  So many exciting adventures lie ahead.

So….I am still not drinking coffee, but I will continue to  spotlight one of my favorite photos of a beverage I will soon enjoy again!  Antibiotics will be finished on Sunday…and life will be smoother for me.  I think.

BOOKS REVIEWED:

The Mother-in-Law, by Sally HepworthI Know Who You Are, by Alice Feeney

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INCOMING BOOKS:

One review book arrived in my mailbox today! 

The Road She Left Behind, by Christine Nolfi (Author Review Request)

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UP NEXT:

Now that I have a little desk area at my daughter’s house, with my laptop and my notebooks, I can start tackling my June NetGalley review books.  I have four delectable ones to decide between, and I think I’ll start with this one:

The First Mistake, by Sandie Jones

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No restaurant food to show this week…but for old times’ sake, I’ll spotlight this favorite from the past.  I am missing this delicious soup:

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WEEKLY UPDATES: A CONVOLUTED JOURNEY…

jnhp

Good morning! Today’s post will link up to The Sunday Salon, The Sunday Post and Stacking the Shelves, for weekly updates.

**Mailbox Monday is hosted at the home site: Mailbox Monday.

And let’s join Kathryn, our leader in It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?, at Book Date.

 

Last week I planned to write a weekly update post, but it didn’t happen. I had some overwhelming feelings of malaise, so I decided to take a nap. On Monday morning, I found myself on the floor, disoriented and unable to get up off the floor.

Long story short:  24 hours later, after a friend checked on me, EMTs took me to the hospital, and I was admitted.  They did a series of tests, poked and prodded, and eventually I was moved from the ER to a room, where I had a diagnosis. A seriously infected gall bladder that would be too risky to remove right now.  They put me on a course of antibiotics, did more tests, and when I started to stabilize, they discharged me until they could schedule surgery. I have several upcoming appointments and a slew of bitter pills to swallow…including the one about needing to find a new place.  Meanwhile, I’m staying with my daughter temporarily.  She is an excellent cook and well-organized with the meds.  She has set up reminders on my phone.

I hadn’t finished a book at all last week, but when I came home, I posted on Amazon my NetGalley review of Sunset Beach.  Today I read and reviewed Dreams of Falling.

My diet is restricted, of course, but I was allowed  a smidgen of coffee this morning.  Sigh.

BOOKS READ AND REVIEWED IN THE PAST TWO WEEKS:

Someone Knows, by Lisa ScottolineDreams of Falling, by Karen White

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What a convoluted journey!  Tomorrow  we’re heading to my condo with lists, to decide what I can take to the new place and what has to be sold. The weird thing:  I have no feeling about that process, except I wanted to be the one to decide.  My daughter would have taken over…but then I found my voice.  No.  I want to decide these things.

I’m learning to ambulate with a walker, but that wasn’t bad…until my knee developed an infection, swelling up to twice its size, making it almost impossible to learn the process.  But after icing the knee, taking some pain medication, and patience…I was “on the road again.”

Now I’m trying to resume some of my routines.

NEXT WEEK?  I plan to clear out the fridge at the old place and collect the mail.  And find the light at the end of the tunnel.

PERSISTENCE IS THE KEY.

Have a great week!!

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