Every time I see the number 37, I think of the movie Clerks. I’m not the only one, right? RIGHT?!

Anyway. Weekly recap stuff.

• Didn’t finish any books not for work but currently reading You Too Can Have a Body Like Mine. Picked up Infinite Home, Ready Player One, the new Nickolas Butler, and an eBook (Brene Brown’s Daring Greatly). Hopefully all will be read in time for the next Show Us Your Books on November 10th. And congrats to Kate and Kristen for winning the one year anniversary giveaway!
• Started volunteering in the library at the child’s school. Told the other volunteer I like books more than people. She was not amused. #sorrynotsorry But guys, if you have a kid and you have the time, offer to go in and help the librarian. School libraries are so crucial and the librarians work really hard. No, it’s not the most glamorous or fun job like chaperoning a field trip, but I can guarantee you it’ll be appreciated.
• NATIONAL LEAGUE CHAMPIONS, BITCHES!!! #LGM
• Also currently dogsitting for a little dachshund I’ve named Houseguest (not her real name). Freaked out a litte behind her owners’ backs because when they dropped her off, the brought her and her food. No dish, no bed, no toys (no leash because she’s always off leash. Her legs are so small and she’s old so it’s not like she’s going anywhere). I mean, who does that?? Here, watch my dog but I’m going to give you absolutely nothing she needs for you to take care of her for 5 days. Made me mad.
• Speaking of dogs, Barkley went to the vet for his yearly appointment. The growth on his leg that forced him into the cone of shame (if you follow me on Instagram, you saw the pathetic picture)? Easily removable through a little minor surgery. YAY!!
• Created my own personal online scheduler for appointments and phone calls. Because obviously I’m important now.
• Worked through an unexpected pantry challenge because getting to the supermarket has been near impossible. It’s amazing what you can come up with to eat when you have to use what’s in the house. Makes you realize that sometimes, maybe we have too much.
• Made my friend Mackenzie’s pumpkin dip but subsituted honey for maple syrup since we had none on hand. SO EASY. Here’s the recipe: 1 cup canned pumpkin, 1 package cream cheese (softened), 3 tbsp honey or syrup, 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon. Mix (I used my electric hand mixer). We used apples as the dipper but you can really use anything you want.
• Read some fun internet things: This list is filled with some of my all-time favorites: 5 films that turned 30 this year (and why you should care). An amazing story, actually written in April but discovered by me this week, on how a Mets fan turned his pain as a fan (and trust me, it is painful to be a Mets fan) into a lucrative business. All the truths in this one: 10 reasons your house will never look like a home goods catalog. Malls: one of the staples of my teenage years. This is a cool photo projects about what malls looked like in 1989 and how they haven’t changed all that much. Major props to the chick rocking the Skid Row t-shirt.
• We’re supposed to go pumpkin picking this weeked but this about sums it up:

Hope you guys have a great weekend! I’ll be catching up on sleep and reading since no baseball and no cheerleading competitions. See you Tuesday!

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• Finished Did You Ever Have a Family and Thirteen Ways of Looking. Picked up Jesse Eisenberg’s book of short stories and also started Who Do You Love. Thanks to everyone who joined us for the one year anniversary of Show Us Your Books and there’s still time left to enter the giveaway! Next linkup is November 10. Second Tuesday of the month, per usual.
• Completed 1 of 10 fall projects, the TBR Jar. Because of course I started with the one about reading. I made some modifications to Heather’s version. For instance, instead of a Mason jar, I used an old pencil cup I had on hand as well as popsicle sticks for the titles rather than scraps of paper. I took to ye old Goodreads list for what to add, and it’s color coded only for nonfiction. I used different Sharpie colors for the rest mostly because it was pretty.
• Watched almost nothing because my TV time has been exclusively devoted to baseball. First of all, fuck you, Chase Utley. Second of all, the Mets are making me crazy. I’m used to a certain level of frustration being a lifelong Mets fan, but this is ridiculous. As of this writing (Thursday morning), we’re going into a game 5 that shouldn’t even exist. And they need to win because I don’t want staying up WAY past my bedtime to be for nothing. Edited on Friday AM–THEY WON!! Daniel Murphy, I heart you.
• Watched the child land her back handspring. I can’t even express what a victory that was (no joke. She’s been working on it for months. MONTHS. Many tears have been shed from not being able to do it). Now we just need her to stick the landing every time so she doesn’t look like a big heap of cheerleading mess. Or get hurt or break something.
• Stopped keeping track of my cat’s body count. It’s too high and also, it’s gross. My cat is a serial killer.
• Went all fangirl crazy when I saw that Dean Bakopoulos left a comment on one of my posts. Yes. That guy. The one whose books I am always cramming down your throats because they’re just that good. #authorsaremyrockstars And since he followed me back on Twitter a few weeks ago, we’re clearly besties now.
• Downloaded The List App. I know that no one NEEDS another app in their life but trust me, get this one. Especially if you love lists. Also, it’s BJ Novak’s project. So that’s cool.
• Read some pretty interesting stories around the interwebs. This one about a guy who lives in his car (it’s not what you think). Two stories on gun violence, the first an open letter to Congress from a mass shooting survivor, the second is an analysis by Malcolm Gladwell of how school shootings have spread. And also this list of 18 academic papers about 90s TV shows (why didn’t I think of this in grad school?!)
• Laughed at this

That’s all for this week. Busy weekend ahead, between cheerleading and the husband’s birthday. I mean how can you not celebrate the man behind this:

You know, if I opened a hot dog restaurant, I would just tell people to go home, cook a hot dog, take $10, set it on fire, and then eat the hot dog.

Have a great weekend everyone! See you on Tuesday!

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• Finished Undermajordomo Minor. Started Dumplin’ and Thirteen Ways of Looking. Picked up a book for the husband and Hate List for me. Show Us Your Books on Tuesday with extra surprises because it’s the one year anniversary.
• The Martian. It’s been a week since I’ve seen it and guys, it was so, so good. They did give it the Hollywood treatment but for the most part, it was a pretty faithful adaptation of the book. There was still all the math and all the science (you can’t tell the story without it) but it was extremely well done. And manageable and understandable for people like me who can’t math. Matt Damon was perfect casting. Sadly, though, I don’t think it was his butt they showed.
• Started using the Nike Training app on my phone. I think Nadine and Kathy have mentioned it and another friend of mine, Tonya, who is also crazy fit, recommended it. So my fat ass listened to those without fat asses. So far, so good. My one first world gripe is that it doesn’t sync with my FitBIt. So even though I’m exercising, it’s not registering it and not counting towards my steps.
• Did a bunch of laundry. Folded none of it.
• Binge watched all of the first season of How to Get Away with Murder last weekend. Will work through the first few episodes of this season on Saturday night because that’s what old married couples do. Then we’ll watch Amy Schumer on SNL. Which actually isn’t terrible. I mean, the skits are but the cast right now is ridiculously talented.
• Tore it up in the kitchen. I made lemon and garlic chicken with red potatoes and green beans, mushroom gnocchi (with store bought gnocchi ’cause ain’t nobody got time to make that shit from scratch), and something else I know was delicious but I can’t remember right now what it was.
• Debated with the child if The Flash or Billy Thunderman would win in a race. It was our equivalent of “could Mighty Mouse beat up Superman”. If you know who Billy Thunderman is, feel free to weigh in. If you don’t, consider yourself lucky.
• Internet reading. Didn’t really do much. Saved a whole bunch of links but didn’t read through any of them. I apologize to those who use the links to waste pass the time at work on Fridays.
• Got these funnies from the husband:

Outdoor cheer competition this weekend. Send me all your warmth. Hope your weekend is great and fun and relaxing and productive. Or filled with naps and books and puppy/kitty hugs.

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