whatcha readin'? 2020 {book 7::goal 30}

I absolutely loved this book.

It was the perfect escape.
It made me laugh…and think…and cry just a little bit
both sad & happy tears.

I fell in love with all the characters.
I felt like I could only describe it using words like
lovely and
delightful
which are not my usual words…haha.

I did not want it to end…I want to go to Guernsey…
I want to meet everyone…
I just don’t really want to try potato peel pie…
:)

Note: I was excited to watch the movie which I have seen
floating by on Netflix but I am not sure it
will make me as happy as the book did….

5 ♥’s out of 5 ♥♥♥♥♥’s
NEXT UP:: FAIRY TALES FROM THE BROTHERS GRIMM - PHILLIP PULLMAN

sweet sundays...

I always love Sundays…
especially slow, quiet, sunny sundays.
Blue sky.
No wind.
Birds singing, snow melting..
sounds of spring.

It is a little hard to stay positive right now.
People are stressed out, people are scared.
It’s hard to avoid the news, the fear,
the negativity…
and every time I turn around there is a Facebook post
shaming people for this, judging people for that,
jumping to assumptions, snapping photos of people to shame online
without even knowing their story,
spreading anger, fear, outrage, panic, and hurtful, possibly harmful misinformation.

It’s hard to stay positive right now.

But I went for an hour long walk today
and yes, as I met people, we moved away from each other,
giving a wide berth to pass
but we also called out things like
”Beautiful day, eh?” and “Nice to see that sun!”

and then I came home and saw little purple flowers
growing in the front yard.

There was a bbq happening on the front deck
and the kids across the street played badminton
in the middle of the road. Our neighbors
washed their cars, people waved as they walked by
with their dogs and chickadees landed
right outside my window.

And I reminded myself that I have to stop letting
the manic-panic parts of the pandemic
get to me.
I can’t control how other people respond,
but I can control what I allow in,
what I allow myself to absorb
and I am choosing right now to find
stillness and sweetness in silence,
to sit in the sunny spot on the deck with a book…
to write in a journal, watch a good movie,
start seeds for my garden, check in with friends & family,
to not only find calm for myself but to try to be
a bright spot in someone else’s day if I can…
share a funny story,
talk about books i am loving,
post photos of pugs with snaggletooth smiles…

This is not at all what I meant to write here today.
But, honestly, I feel a little bit better now that I did.
I hope you do, too.
big virtual hugs, you. ♥
we got this.

tuesday truths - the positives of a negative

♥ everyone i know is still safe, still healthy, still happy

♥ seeing people come together while staying apart

♥ spending time with 20…he makes me hot dogs or grilled cheese for lunch
which makes the fact that he got a new video game AND WON’T STOP
YELLING AT THE TV a tiny bit more bearable

♥ being able to rent movies from YouTube and google play

♥ extra time to read

♥ getting out with the dog every day at lunch

♥ yoga stretch breaks don’t look quite so silly in my house
as compared to in the office

♥ music plays all day as i work from home and NO ONE yells
at me from over the cubicle wall for singing :)

♥ i have not run out of jujubes yet

♥ a tension filled game of online scrabble with a worthy component (who
is going to lose but I am not sure she has come to terms with that yet)

♥ my mom calls me every second night, just to check in…

♥ texts and messages from friends

♥ painting bears and new cards and catching up on blogs

♥ planning my garden…there WILL be a garden this year….a garden of epic-ness

♥ texts from my girl and knowing that she is happy right now…which makes me
incredibly happy

♥ started feeding the birds every morning (right after I disinfect all the doorknobs)
and started seeing little teeny tiny birds come EVERY DAY! :)

I know these are tough times…
scary and uncertain…
uncharted waters.
But there are tiny glimmers of good,
you just have to look a little harder for them…

I have cut back drastically on my FB reading
and I never, ever, EVER read the comments…
I get a summary of the news from a good friend
who knows how much I can handle…
i am on a need-to-know basis.

Do what works for you.
But breathe.
Find calm.
Make a puzzle. Watch a movie.
Find something that makes you laugh really hard,
and then watch it again.
Connect. Listen. Be still. It’s ok.
We got this.

xo

whatcha readin'? 2020 {book 6::goal 30}

I really wanted to love this book.

But, I guess, maybe it’s enough
to say that I didn’t
hate it.

It was ok.

Well. Actually….
the notes I wrote on it
as I was reading it were:
a little slow going and kind of
condescending…
haughty…
reserved…
irritating.

I didn’t warm up to any of characters,
I didn’t really get a chance to feel
like I knew any of them really…

But, as I thought about it after,
I thought maybe that’s the tone
the author was going for…
because it is sort of related to
jane austen after all…
so maybe she was looking for a mix
between formal & informal,
then and now…
for me, it just didn’t really work.

I am going to to give the movie a shot though.
I adore emily blunt and, well,
the movie looks really cute & fun…
and less haughty and reserved.

3.5 ♥’s out of 5 ♥♥♥♥♥’s
NEXT UP:: THE GUERNSEY LITERARY AND POTATO PEEL PIE SOCIETY - ANNIE BARROWS

friday i'm in love...on saturday...

forgive me…
the days have become a bit of a blur…
:)

I started the week with
a schedule and a plan
but today
I feel a little detached,
a little lost on what I should do next…
I know I have lots I can do
but there seems to be nothing
I want to do.

So I thought I would distract myself
with the rabbit hole of the internet
for a little bit
and see if I can find some
inspiration.

Wanna come along?
I promise to keep 6 feet away
(I know what 6 feet is now after my
Christmas light debacle…heehee)

♥ gotta wash your hands anyway…look at this SHEEP SOAP!!

♥ got some spare time and looking for something to learn…

♥ a new meaning for book nook

♥ he can make an action figure out of a rubber duckie!!?

♥ drawing is a coping skill

♥ i so love this…

and stay tuned tomorrow…I have a new framed print to share!
:)

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