sunday stealing

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Just Another Manic Monday:

1. What is something you should throw away, but just can't bring yourself to part with? lots of old paperwork

2. When you make yourself a sandwich, do you cut it on the diagonal, straight up the middle, or not at all? diagonal, I’m not a heathen 

3. What song or sound brings back memories of childhood? Up, up and away in my beautiful balloon 

4. Who is the first person you call when you have good news? my parents

5. Have you ever set out on a walk in the rain? yes

saturday 9

Consider Me Gone

Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here. 

 

1) In this song, poor Reba McEntire confronts a lover who makes her feel like she's not good enough. Let's go in a more positive direction: Who in your life makes you feel happy and secure?my sisters and parents

 

2) Reba hopes her lover will look back on her as someone who used to make him laugh. Who did you most recently laugh with?  my youngest Virginia niece

 

3) She was director James Cameron's first choice to play Molly Brown in the 1997  blockbuster Titanic, but she had to turn down the role because she was committed to a concert tour. Think of the last invitation you received. Did you say yes or no? I said yes

4) Reba comes from a rodeo family: both her father and grandfather were champion steer ropers and her mother was a barrel racer. Have you ever been to a rodeo? no

5) She loves game nights with family and friends because she says she's "a competitive person." When you play friendly board or card games, do you always play to win? Yes!  I’ve been playing cards with my sister—our forty-year grudge match of Spite & Malice

 

6) Reba wears tall boots all the time, even in summer, and has more than 100 pairs. Do you often wear boots? no

 

7) In 2009, when this song was popular, Mark Zuckerberg tried unsuccessfully to buy Twitter. Elon Musk acquired it in 2022 and renamed it X. Do you often post to Twitter/X? not anymore. It used to be fun 

 
8) Back in 2009, DuPont announced that silver and black were the most popular vehicle colors, accounting for half the cars the world over. What color is your ride? silver

 

9) Random question: Have you ever had a job that required you to wear a hairnet? no

wordless wednesday

currently (on thursday)

I am...

Reading: Heartwood by Amity Grace

Listening to:  my Virginia sister’s coffee maker

Loving:  our laidback, go with the flow week 

Feeling:  starting to relax 

Celebrating: sister time!

Grateful for:  the means and opportunity to be here in Virginia

Enjoying:  very thankful for central air conditioning!

Weather:  91° and pouring rain on one side of the house but sunny on the other

A quote I want to share: 

“It’s hot. I want ice cream.”

sunday stealing

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What Would You Say At This Moment To:

1) Someone you have hurt? I hope you can forgive me

2) Someone who has hurt you? fool me once, shame on you--fool me twice, shame on me!

3) Your favorite teacher from grade school? oh--I loved Mrs. Nichols, my fourth-grade teacher--I would thank her for making learning fun (I actually ran into her recently and I got to tell her that in person!)

4) Your most hated teacher from high school? it's inappropriate for you to look down teenage girls' shirts--stop staring at my boobs!

5) Your best friend from college? she's still my bestie 😊and I'd say let's get pedicures tomorrow!

6) Your favorite recording artist? you are the soundtrack to my summer!

7) Your favorite author?  keep me in suspense!  I love your books, and looking forward to them every year is fun!

8) Your first boss? I still remember how you stressed making sure that money faced the same way: "Let George look out the window."

9) Your first love? I loved you

10) Your true love? what took you so long?

postsecret

 PostSecret is an ongoing community art project where people mail in their secrets anonymously on one side of a postcard. I like to post one that speaks to me each week.

finished reading

This is the fifth installment of the series, and Finlay and her nanny/bestie Vero are sleuthing's Lucy & Ethel.  They get into some far-fetched shenanigans, but what I like is that the resolutions aren't obvious.  This book picks up where the fourth left off.  I especially enjoyed the editor's visit.  And curmudgeonly Mrs. Haggerty will play in future books, I'm sure.

From the publisher:

Finlay Donovan may have skeletons in her closet . . . but at least there's not a body in her backyard.

Finlay Donovan and her nanny/partner-in-crime, Vero, have not always gotten along with Finlay’s elderly neighbor, Mrs. Haggerty, the community busybody and president of the neighborhood watch. But when a dead body is discovered in her backyard, Mrs. Haggerty needs their help. At first a suspect, Mrs. Haggerty is cleared by the police, but her house remains an active crime scene. She has nowhere to go . . . except Finlay’s house, right across the street.

Finlay and Vero have no interest in getting involved in another murder case—or sacrificing either of their bedrooms. After all, they’ve dealt with enough murders over the last four months to last a lifetime and they both would much rather share their beds with someone else.

saturday 9

I Fall In Love Too Easily

Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.

1) In this song, Dinah Shore admits that her impetuous romances don't work out. Do you consider yourself impulsive? there are times I lack impulse control, especially when shopping

2) The songwriting team of Sammy Cahn and Jule Styne composed this in a single evening. Since the song is rather short Sammy considered adding another verse, but Jule thought better of it, saying, "No. That's it." Are you more like Sammy and keep revising, tinkering and tweaking? Or, like Jule, do you find it easy to leave well enough alone? definitely like Jule

 

3) The song was introduced in Anchors Aweigh, a movie about two sailors who find love during a two-day leave in New York. Have you ever enjoyed a romance while on holiday? yes

 

4) Though Frank Sinatra sang the song in the movie, Dinah's version was also popular. Her record sales in the 1940s were boosted by concerts, radio appearances and performances for the troops. What singer who is no longer with us do you wish you could have seen in concert? John Denver or Amy Winehouse

5) Dinah was shy with new people, but discovered as a high school cheerleader that she was good in front of a crowd. Give us one of your high school cheers. '84 For-Ever-More!

6) She loved golf and was so good at it, she became the first woman admitted as a member to the prestigious Hillcrest Country Club in Los Angeles. What's your best sport? competitive napping

7) Dinah found her greatest success in television. She was so popular for so long that she was able to afford a luxury home, built to her specifications, in Palm Springs. Leonardo DiCaprio now owns it. Do you know who lived in your home before you moved in? only by name since mail is regularly delivered for her--I keep putting post-its with Return to Sender/Wrong address

 
8) In 1945, when this song was popular, Abbott and Costello appeared in the movie The Naughty Nineties, which featured their famous "Who's On First" routine. Do you know it? bits and parts

 

9) Random question – Fill in the blank: After all these years, I still ____________. still love teaching!

finished reading

The catchy title and premise of this book hooked me; unfortunately, the lopsided nature of the story left me hanging.  I liked Phoebe's work on her dissertation about the cultural aspects of serial killer stories.  That left room for numerous interesting references to both the dissertation process and serial killer lore.  I liked the relationships between Phoebe and her brother, her childhood best friend, and her soon-to-be-sister-in-law.  I loved Sam as the main male character--I mean, who doesn't love a shy, nerdy, elementary music teacher!  So with all of these pieces that I liked, the book was lopsided--focusing too much on Phoebe's stalled journey through her parents' divorce.  I thought the cat took away from the story.

From the publisher:

Turns out that reading nothing but true crime isn’t exactly conducive to modern dating—and one woman is going to have to learn how to give love a chance when she’s used to suspecting the worst.

PhD candidate Phoebe Walsh has always been obsessed with true crime. She’s even analyzing the genre in her dissertation—if she can manage to finish writing it. It’s hard to find the time while she spends the summer in Florida, cleaning out her childhood home, dealing with her obnoxiously good-natured younger brother, and grappling with the complicated feelings of mourning a father she hadn’t had a relationship with for years.

It doesn’t help that she’s low-key convinced that her new neighbor, Sam Dennings, is a serial killer (he may dress business casual by day, but at night he’s clearly up to something). It’s not long before Phoebe realizes that Sam might be something much scarier—a genuinely nice guy who can pierce her armor to reach her vulnerable heart.

finished reading

This collection of stories left me flat--I wish they were connected somehow or that it was one novel.  I appreciated the traditional storytelling and the beautiful writing; I wanted more.

From the publisher:

In her debut collection of short fiction, Amanda Peters describes the Indigenous experience from an astonishingly wide spectrum in time and place—from contact with the first European settlers, to the forced removal of Indigenous children, to the present-day fight for the right to clean water.

In this intimate collection, Amanda Peters melds traditional storytelling with beautiful, spare prose to describe the dignity of the traditional way of life, the humiliations of systemic racism and the resilient power to endure. A young man returns from residential school only to realize he can no longer communicate with his own parents. A grieving mother finds purpose and healing on the front lines as a water protector. And a nervous child dances in her first Mawi’omi. The collection also includes the Indigenous Voices Award–winning and title story “Waiting for the Long Night Moon.”

At times sad, sometimes disturbing but always redemptive, the stories in Waiting for the Long Night Moon will remind you that where there is grief there is also joy, where there is trauma there is resilience and, most importantly, there is power.

three on thursday

Three things:

1)  It's been a banner reading week! I have read six books!  I love lazy vacation days!

2)  Although I shouldn't call them lazy--they have been productive but not busy.

3)  I will be starting my trip in four days!!!