Sunday, February 27, 2011

Sunday Salon: Fantasies


Good morning all! I'm coming to you presently from our balcony overlooking the Gulf of Mexico, in Treasure Island, FL. My son had a double-header football game yesterday in St. Petersburg, so we very efficiently turned the two hour haul into a mini-vacation. You'd normally say that you can't get enough of these mini trips but right now, my prevailing fantasy is of sleep and peace and normalcy, something that wasn't present this week.

Not that it was a bad week...it was full of fun! The kids had Monday off for President's Day, so we took in a few hours of Universal. When we hopped over to the Harry Potter side of the park, it got ugly. You couldn't even get in to that part of the park it was so busy. So being the most wonderful mother ever, I took my daughter (with my unhappy son in tow) to see Justin Bieber 3D. As much as the kid makes me crazy, the movie wasn't really all that bad. I always feel like it is my duty to at least keep up with pop culture.

Our weather has been gorgeous, so I did some yard work, and some walking. Then on Wednesday night, Heather (Raging Bibliomania) and I hoofed it down to Disney to spend the evening with Dawn (She Is Too Fond of Books). After a 3 1/2 hour dinner, wine, talk of family, books, corn nuts and food, we declared the evening to be a huge success. Dawn has got it all going on! I'm so glad to have finally met her in person.

Wash, rinse, repeat. Thursday night I saw Heather again at our Books, Babes and Bordeaux meeting, where we discussed the most dreadful "Housekeeping" by Marilynne Robinson. To our credit, we did discuss the book quite a bit, even though only two of the nine of us actually finished it. The most exciting news of the night, besides the excellent wine our host Helen served, was that we decided to read "The Weird Sisters" for next month!

Now comes Friday night, and at this point I feel like I might turn into a pumpkin if I don't get my 8 hours of sleep. Not in the cards yet, however. We had a huge Mardi Gras Gala fundraiser at the school, which involved dressing up, drinking Hurricanes and jello shots, eating Cajun food, and bidding on silent and live auction items. As per my normal behavior, we walked away with a tidy pile of cool things...a round of golf, some spa facials for my wrinkles, various restaurant gift cards, and some movie tickets. It was great fun, but getting to bed at 1:30am was not good for moose and squirrel, since we had to get up at the crack to get to St. Pete.

Sheesh, I'm long-winded today. Sorry. So what of reading you ask? I finished "Year of Wonders" on audio, and it packed quite the emotional punch. I also started listening to "You Know When the Men Are Gone" in the car, an incredible collection of short stories about the men who serve in Iraq and the wives they leave behind. Amazing stuff so far. I'm also in the middle of "Gods Behaving Badly", which is a spoof on Apollo and company in the modern day. It may be my mood, but it is really annoying me it is so goofy. I've considered setting it aside. We'll see.

In print I've been a little bit of a slacker, having only finished "Made From Scratch", a book about a young woman who decides to homestead, raising chickens, bees, rabbits, a garden, and stuff like that. I have a fantasy of living off the land and making sheep and goat cheese, so I was totally into the whole story. Then I have just put a tiny dent in "The Improper Life of Bezillia Grove", a highlight for the UCF Book Fest.

Are things letting up next week? Nada. In fact the whole month of March is going to be a whirlwind I am thinking. Maybe April will be gentle and calm.


22 comments:

Susan said...

Lordy, Woman! You should forever strike the word "slacker" from your vocabulary, at least in reference to yourself! Now, on the other hand, if you look up the word in the dictionary, it will have my name beside it. :)

Your day planner must bulge with everything you have on your schedule. I don't know how you keep up...must be your youthful age. I guess I did the same things back then.

I actually kind of like Justin Bieber, especially since he got his hair cut. He's a real cutie. I can see why your daughter is in love with him. :)

Unknown said...

It is good to know that the audio version of Year of Wonder still packed an emotional punch - I look forward to seeing your review.

I agree with Susan - your schedule is always packed! It is amazing how many things you pack into one week. You are a superwoman :-)

bermudaonion said...

The dinner with Dawn and Heather sounds like so much fun! I know how smart and funny the three of you are! I understand how you feel - as much as I love to go, I have been really happy that I didn't go out of town at all in February - it was the first time I was home for a whole month in over a year.

Yvann said...

Re Gods Behaving Badly - it starts slowly but once I got about 1/3 in I loved it - the story really picked up. If you're not enjoying it now, maybe set it aside and come back to it later, because it is a fun read.

Sounds like a crazy week, hope you get a chance to relax a bit!

rhapsodyinbooks said...

I imagine that dinner was just so fun! I just finished Weird Sisters by the way. Can't wait to hear what you think of the narrative style (first person plural)!

Book Bird Dog said...

I think I'll have to move to Florida. We have had the snowiest February in history here!!

Alice said...

Hey Sandy, I like your long-windedness so all is good! LOL! I'm currently reading Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and only passed page 104 of the book. I hope to finish it by the end of the month if work is not already killing me...

caite said...

wait...did someone say Disney?! I love Disney....

Melissa said...

My daughter has the "Bieber fever" too, I'm sorry to say. So far we've been able to resist the movie, but we'll see how long that can last.

I've been wondering about "Housekeeping," as I tried to read "Gilead" awhile back and declared it a DNF. Might be one that I give away at some point.

Looks like you all had a great time at the blogger dinner! That's always fun to meet up with other blogging friends.

Trisha said...

You are my hero.

Melody said...

Sandy, not only I admire your super multi-tasking skills but also your energy and zest in doing things!

Your meeting up with Heather and Dawn sounds so much fun! It's always great to meet fellow bookbloggers in person!

Iliana said...

How fun that you got to meet Dawn! Looks like you guys had a great time - just a bit jealous here :)

I'm actually quite impressed that you guys still had a good discussion about a book hardly anyone finished! haha... I haven't read Housekeeping but didn't it win awards? Not that that is a guarantee of a good book right.

Here's to some calm days during March!

Peppermint Ph.D. said...

I am so thankful to have a young college aged friend who loves to play with my youngest. She picks the youngest up from school on Tuesdays and Thursdays and at least once a week they do something really special while I get two afternoons to catch up at work. This week they're going to see the Beiber movie...WHEW! You're a better woman than I am bc I don't think I could sit through it.

I have Made from Scratch on my TBR list and have that same dream of living off the land...I threaten my husband every couple of months about buying some laying hens...I don't think there's anything in our neighborhood covenents about having chickens :/

Jenners said...

I so wished I could have been at that dinner! I hope to meet you and Heather some day!

And your life just boggles my mind. You pack more into your weeks than I do into 6 months! Tell the truth ... you are a cyborg right? How else can you fit all this stuff in!

And I really like "Gods Behaving Badly." It is quite silly but it tickled my funny bone.

Kathleen said...

I can really relate to the frantic pace you are experiencing! You are good to fit so much reading in. Today I spent all day cleaning house, arranging my bookshelves, and doing laundry. It is 5:30PM out here in California and I've yet to crack open a book! I hope March will be calmer but I somehow don't think so either.

Zibilee said...

I do have Made From Scratch, and after hearing of your love for it over dinner, I am determined to read it soon! I also have Gods Behaving Badly as well, but am less enthused about that one. My husband read it and said it was weird. I also read year of Wonders a long time ago, and it remains one of my favorite plague books of all time(I have a weird fetish for plague books) I had such a great time hanging out with you on Wednesday and Thursday nights, and really felt like I got all the book talk that has been missing from my life for awhile. I am also really looking forward to next month's meeting because I know the book is going to be wonderful!

It also sounds like the event Friday was a lot of fun and it's so cool that you got to come home with so many goodies!

Have a great week, and take some time to relax a bit! Your schedule makes my head spin!

Alyce said...

I hope you have a chance to get some rest this week! I'm glad you had so much fun in the midst of all of those activities though!

I hadn't realized what "You Know When the Men Are Gone" was about. I'm iffy about short stories, but it looks very interesting.

The Bumbles said...

Well, if you are going to be busy at least be busy with fun stuff like this. Never complain about a balcony overlooking the Gulf - unless an hurricane is approaching of course ;0)

Glad you have been able to incorporate your blogging buddies into your real world. How fun!

Natalie~Coffee and a Book Chick said...

Looks like so much fun and what a great picture! :) I can't wait to see your review on Year of Wonders as well!

Ti said...

Sometimes I don't realize how much I do until I write it all down in a post. Is that how it is with you? Good lord! You are a busy lady but you're right, most of the time it sounds as if you are having a blast. Wine helps, too :)

Melissa said...

Dinner with Dawn and Heather sounds amazing!!

Tales of Whimsy said...

OMG how fun!