Sunday Salon: Demolition and Dust

Good morning everyone! I always thought of myself as a multi-tasker, but I'm quickly learning that I have a hard time efficiently focusing on more than one major project at a time. A month ago it was the Game On Diet...that was all I could think about. Now it is my bathroom renovation. The guys stormed in on Tuesday with saws, jackhammers and sledge hammers and demolished everything in our master bath. (It actually looked like a great form of stress relief!) My husband and I spent one day picking out granite, tile, paint colors and plumbing fixtures. I had to be fairly close at hand to answer questions and make sure they didn't put things in the wrong places. And then there is the DUST. But in another two weeks (ish), I should have my dream bathroom, so it is going to all be worth it!

Because of all the workers boys swarming around my house, I had some issues with the exercise. I did still log in 21 miles, but it wasn't easy, grabbing time early in the morning and at night. I'm still persevering with a modified Game On Diet, with my eye on the prize - a slightly more svelte figure for Hawaii next month.

I feel like I was distracted with reading, but as I look back over the week, I did make some headway. I finished "My Cousin Rachel", which was just a delicious package of suspense and intrigue. I really do love Du Maurier! I also finished another Jacqueline Woodson book, "If You Come Softly", and was, as usual, blown away by this woman. I swear, she is climbing up to that pedestal with Connie May Fowler and Sarah Waters. I started reading "Black Tie Affair" by Sherrill Bodine, who is not only an accomplished author but my mom's high school classmate. I finished David Sedaris' "When You Are Engulfed in Flames" on audio (where has he been all my life?) and have sworn to myself that I will listen to every audio they have of his at my library. I am about halfway through the audio "Sarah's Key", our next book club selection. Not a bad week, I'd say, for all the chaos.

I continue to work hard at getting my hands on author-signed books for our annual "Reading Between the Wines" fund-raising event for the Adult Literacy League. I have been overwhelmed at the generosity of all the authors and bloggers that have kindly donated books for our cause. If any of you are in contact with authors or publishers, I would love it if you could ask them to donate a signed book. I have yet to find one that refuses - who can deny that adult literacy is a worthy cause? Can you imagine a life without reading? I can accept donations until about mid-March, so there is still plenty of time. Just e-mail me at rnawrot@cfl.rr.com and I can give you my address.

So what's up for next week? More dust. Meetings to kick-start planning on the spring book fair. Yard mulching (didn't get to that this week because of rain!). Wood staining on our little foot-bridge outside. A four day school week for the kids. And blogging of course!