The Time for Change
A girl in the world
Thursday, July 03, 2025
My Summer Wardrobe - What I Wore Last Week
Wednesday, July 02, 2025
June 2025 Accountability Buddy
Day off
Monday, June 2
30-minute Werq (dance) class after work - I hadn't worked out since Thursday and I had done very little movement over the weekend outside of some light stretching before bed. I was *shocked Pikachu face* at how much better my bad leg felt during this workout. There are some moves that I just automatically modify because I know my leg can't handle it, but here I was doing them. I wonder if I'm actually not giving my leg enough rest. It's an interesting question. I have a doctor's appointment next week to discuss if my leg is what it is and I need to suck it up or if there's something that can be done.
Tuesday, July 01, 2025
June 2025 Book List
What an excellent reading month for me. Woot woot! Four five-star books!
6/4: The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley (library, 2024) - IRL book club choice. I loved it. 5/5 stars
6/8: How To Read a Book by Monica Wood (library, 2024) - What a sweet book. Maybe too saccharine for some readers, but I liked it. 5/5 stars
6/13: The Favorites by Layne Fargo (library, 2025) - Yes! I'm all in. A sports book that's really a soap opera. 5/5 stars
6/17: Night Film by Marisha Plessl (library, 2013) - So engrossing. 5/5 stars
6/22: What Feasts at Night (Sworn Soldier #2) by T. Kingfisher (library, 2024) - Kingfisher really is a gem in the modern fantasy landscape. 4/5 stars
6/22: Seraphina (Seraphina #1) by Rachel Hartman (library ebook, 2012) - Dragons and humans have had a truce for many years, but that peace is in peril now. Seraphina understands both sides since she is the daughter of a human man and dragon woman. I thought this was a fun premise, but the execution was a bit sluggish. 3/5 stars
6/22: Dungeon Crawler Carl (Dungeon Crawler Carl #1) by Matt Dinniman (audiobook I purchased narrated by Jeff Hays, 2020) - This was our book club book. I will write more after book club meets, but that won't be until August, so I mostly liked this although it took me a bit to get into it. 4/5 stars
6/28: The Most by Jessica Anthony (library, 2024) - Disaffected housewife in the 1950s. Where else have I seen this before? 3/5 stars
Average star rating: 4.25/5 stars
DNF
Too Like the Lightning (Terra Ignota #1) - I'm 30% through this book and I have no idea what's going on. Sometimes you just have to give up. I'm not smart enough for this book.
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Have you ever read four five-star books in a row? Do you think they're really great books or that I'm just an easy grader?
Monday, June 30, 2025
The Most by Jessica Anthony
Friday, June 27, 2025
Tell NGS What To Do: Wedding Edition
Thursday, June 26, 2025
What Feasts at Night by T. Kingfisher
Hat mentions (why hats?):
Wednesday, June 25, 2025
Heat Wave*
This past weekend, I left the house. I KNOW. Big steps. Actually, I'm going to be leaving the house a fair amount in the next month, so be prepared for a lot of these fun updates.
The youngest child of one of my best friend's from high school graduated from high school himself and I trundled myself off to Michigan to go to his open house. Some of you might not be aware, but it's been HOT here in many parts of the United States, including where I live and where I was going.
After a harrowing drive in peak construction season (at one point I texted my husband that I had gone four miles in 45 minutes), I was told to arrive at the house where the open house would take place the next day, which was my friend's parents' house. No one was there despite the dozen cars in the driveway. I started to imagine I was in the middle of a horror movie and was slowly making my way to the barn where I (obviously) assumed I was going to find a massacre when my friend texted that they were doing family pictures and would be there soon and I should make myself at home.
My friend's parents, who I will call Mike and Judy because those are their names, are a delightful couple. And Judy immediately put me to work in the kitchen chopping fruit for a fruit salad and I WROTE DOWN THE RECIPE. You're welcome.
4 cantaloupes
2 honeydew melons
3 big giant containers of strawberries
Red and green grapes (I didn't get exact measurements, but roughly 2-3 pounds of each)
2 pints blueberries
Those big bulk cans (you know the ones? you buy them at restaurant supply places?) of pineapple, pears, and mandarin oranges
Anyway, I did some kitchen stuff and then we went to my friend's house where I slept on the couch like I am twenty-two.
The next morning, it was NINETY DEGREES BEFORE I ATE BREAKFAST. I thought I was going to help do things like chop more fruit and put up photographs, but instead I helped put up a tent and decorate tables and did I mention that it was like a gazillion degrees?
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One of only four photos I took all day. |
By the time the party started, I was a bedraggled mess and while my friends could go home for a quick shower and change, I did not have the wardrobe for that options. Anyway, the graduate was celebrated, food was eaten, and no one passed out from heatstroke.
BUT IT WASN'T OVER because Saturday was also Mike and Judy's 50th wedding anniversary! So later that night a whole new group came over to the house, the grandkids all did funny and/or cringeworthy performances, and more cake was cut.
I went back to my friend's house, took the coldest shower I've ever taken in my life, ate pizza, and slept on their couch again.
The next morning, I stopped at South Haven in Michigan to enjoy an hour on the beach. Unfortunately, it was still eleventy billion degrees out, so my brilliant "go to the beach" idea was not unique to me.
Lake Michigan is amazing. White sand beaches, shells, and all the trappings of an ocean without the annoying salt water.
I took three times as many photos in that one hour than I did the entire day before. Then I drove home.
Monday was actually Hannah's sixth Gotcha Day, but I missed it, so I made Dr. BB take my photo with her yesterday morning. This was the best we got.
Do you want to see some outtakes?
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The tongue! |
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Ears flat, cringing away from me - this looks like I abuse her. |
Then I came home from work to find she is once again in GI distress. Please send good thoughts to me while my husband is at a conference and won't be home again until Friday night. Let me make it through.
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*Look, if you're not singing this song, I don't know what's going on in your life.
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When's the last time you were at a beach? Do you have travel plans this summer?