Reading. Finished Today Will be Different and Salvage the Bones. Started But What if We’re Wrong? and Private Citizens (I’m trying to only read one book at a time but But What if We’re Wrong is way too intense and thought-provoking to read before bed). Picked up Blood Men, Imagine Me Gone, and Nearly Gone. Show Us Your Books is this Tuesday! Our first one in 2017!

Writing. If you guys don’t know, I currently have a books column over at my friends’ site, Adulting. This week I introduced my Adulting reading challenge. If you wouldn’t mind, please go check it out, share it as you see fit, and if you’d like, join the challenge (it’s pretty low stress, averages to one book per month, and I’m allowing doubling up on categories. Like, I’m reading My Antonia for classic book and one written before 1950). Since I created the challenge, I’m participating in it so we can work through it together (I’m also doing one with my library and Erin peer pressured me into the Aussie Authors one, too. I’m only aiming for 3 books in that one, though. And two are authors I planned to read anyway).

Watching. On a whim, I started River on Netflix. It’s this weird British crime drama about a detective named River who is basically going crazy, hearing voices and being followed around by dead people while he’s still trying to function in reality. The main guy is the guy who was Professor Lambeau in Good Will Hunting and one of the brothers from Ray Donovan is in it, too. It’s only 6 episodes, I’m halfway through, and I really like it. Of course I do.

Not joining. One of the moms at the child’s cheer gym invited me to join her DietBet. I’m politely ignoring declining. It’s not that I don’t like the idea, and the thought of earning money for continuing to do something I’m doing anyway is appealing, but I’m so uncompetitive that I don’t want to be bothered. Also, I don’t want to take selfies of myself in tight clothing and post it for people to see and I can’t understand why people are actually okay with doing that. I don’t even like taking selfies when I’m in regular clothing.

Listening. No new podcasts to speak of as I’m still trying to catch up from not listening to anything over the 10 or so days the family was on vacation but I have been compulsively listening to Spotify. Specifically, Shinedown radio. For some reason, when I pick this station, Spotify insists I like Nickelback (I don’t) and Daughtry (I do) by putting dozens of their songs in the queue (thank god for the remove from playlist option). When that happens, I sometimes get to hear songs I’ve never heard before including this one from Daughtry that I *might* put on repeat. (I’ve also been listening to a lot of Phil Collins because, you know, balance)

Laughing. 

 

That’s all for this first (back to school and work) week of 2017. Preparing for relatively low-key weekend with lots of cold weather (or, as I call it, the perfect reason to not leave the house). Hope you all have a great weekend and I’ll see you on Tuesday for Show Us Your Books!

 

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What a week. Dr. Seaver died. Aleppo. The uncontained dumpster fire that is our government. Ohio. North Carolina. My daughter turned 10 and got a phone. My grandma turned 90. Emotions are all over the place. Some things I can’t talk about because they’re not for me to discuss but have affected me in all the ways. It seems ridiculous to do a weekly recap of all the mundane amidst all of this but like Alyssa mentioned, there’s grounding in the average. It gives us something to cling to when everything else is spiraling away. So, in that vein, here’s my average:

Reading. Finished We’re All Damaged and started Tell the Truth, Shame the Devil. Nothing added to the library holds list. Thanks to everyone who participated in Show Us  Your Books and I apologize for my lack of participation this time around. I was a shitty host.

Watching. American Housewife. GUYS. I watched it for the first time this past week and I was all HOW DO THEY KNOW MY LIFE?! Especially when she said this about Santa: “We have the same body type. We both have lists of people who pissed us off.” Seriously. Does not get more accurate.

Eating. I made bruschetta zoodles for dinner the other night. Well, I mean I made it for me. The husband refuses to eat zoodles (FINE. MORE FOR ME) so he had pasta instead and the child ate pizza because clearly I win at encouraging healthy eating but if you’re so inclined to try this, it’s super easy. Make zoodles using a spiralizer. Then combine either chopped fresh tomatoes or a can of diced tomatoes, chopped garlic to your liking (I like a lot of garlic), some salt, pepper, basil, and lemon juice in a bowl. Let that hang out for a bit. Then mix it all together. I heated it but you can probably eat it cold as well. P.S. I also found this article on Lifehacker about expanding your cooking repertoire. It’s way easier than you think!

Listening. There’s a brand new podcast called The Hilarious World of Depression. YES. I also encourage you to check out the website they mention, Make It Ok. It’s about breaking the stigma of mental illness, with resources and stories and action you can take.

Raging and thinking. I agree 100% with everything Steph mentioned in her post yesterday. I’m appalled and horrified that more people aren’t outraged about Russia’s interference in our election. This is not a fucking joke. It’s fucking serious. And it’s up to people like you and me to rage and discuss it. Because if there’s one thing, ONE THING, I’m optimistic about with this impending administration is that we’re going to see a whole new level of activism. We’re going to see more people speaking up and fighting for what’s right and railing against this oppressive nightmare. We’re going to see our kids taking a more active role in their communities and their country. We’re fostering a greater understanding of what exactly the president can do (and what he can’t). We’re going to see more vigilance in finding truth rather than just accepting whatever information is thrown at us. The next 4 years are pivotal for the future and survival of this country the way we know it and I hope with every fiber of my being that those who voted for him recognize what’s happening and join the fight for what’s right instead of continuing to accept what’s wrong.

Laughing. My gym posted this picture on IG. Oh, yeah. I go to the gym now.

We’ll be finishing up celebrating the child’s birthday this weekend, along with our family Christmas prep day. Think cookies, fudge, visiting Santa, decorating a gingerbread house but done lazy style because there are also naps to take and books to read. Hope you all have a great weekend as well!

 

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Trying a new format. I might keep playing with it until I figure out one I like. Please bear with me. 

Now that Thanksgiving is in the rear window and we’re focusing on the holidays, let’s not also forgot about the mundane parts of life. Like this stuff:

Reading. Almost finished with Tig Notaro’s book, I’m Just a Person. Then I’ll work on Chuck Klosterman’s new one along with All is Not Forgotten. Picked up Kissing in America and Darktown. Completed my Goodreads goal of 75 books but reading is the one area of my life I’m overly ambitious so we’ll keep going until the year ends.

Watching. The Affair. I put off watching it until recently because I don’t like infidelity as entertainment but this show is so much more that I can let that part of the premise go. I kind of hate them all but I love the way it all works and I really want to know what the fuck happened.

Listening. Besides my current obsession with the Volbeat song “Battleship Chains”, I also started a new podcast, Crimetown. It’s a true crime show (clearly) but rather than focused on one specific crime or murder, it focuses on organized crime in Providence, RI. It’s like the show Brotherhood but real life. 

Eating. I had a craving for stuffed peppers this week so I made taco stuffed peppers. It was ridiculously easy and I really like recipes that cook in the oven because not only does it give me time to clean the kitchen while the food cooks, I feel like I get a few extra minutes to read or, in the case of baked potatoes, nap. If you’re interested, here’s what I did:

• Cooked ground turkey, then added taco seasoning, rice (roughly one cup of leftover rice but you can skip this part if you want), a can of diced tomatoes with chilies, 2 tbsp chili powder, and an 8 oz can of tomato sauce. I let that all simmer and blend together while I cut the tops off the peppers (and cleaned out the seeds and shit). Note: you can also make this vegetarian but using TVP or beans.
• Spooned taco mixture into the peppers, about halfway full. Then I added 2 cubes of cheese, put more mixture over that, and added one more cube of cheese on the very top. Repeat for as many peppers as you’re cooking. I used 4.
• Bake at 350 for approximately 20 minutes in a Pyrex pan filled with about 1/4 water.

Giving. I had wanted to rant about Trump but I cannot right now. I’m at an absolute loss for words with what is happening. Please don’t mistake my silence for compliance or acceptance. Far from it. I’m enraged. And when I get my thoughts together, I’ll unleash the fury but for now, I’d rather focus on something positive.  Like the fact that Giving Tuesday raised a record amount of money this year. It warmed my heart that despite the direction this country is probably headed, there are still more people who want to do good. As for me, I gave to Forgotten Cats, which is a local cat rescue and TNR program that helped us with our cat; the Philadelphia chapter of the Hebrew Free Loan Association (we don’t have one in Delaware and thanks to my friend Brynne, I now know this organization exists and I am in love with their mission); and Toys for Tots.

Laughing. This gave me all the giggles.

Thanks for sticking around this week! My weekend involves a quick trip to Long Island to celebrate my awesome grandma’s 90th birthday and then spending Sunday recovering. Hope you all have a great weekend and I’ll see you back here on Tuesday!

 

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