Sunday, March 20, 2011

Sunday Salon:


It's Sunday again, and I'm back! Barely! In past weeks, you know that I usually meet myself coming and going. Not so this week. I can boil it down to just a couple activities. Taking piggy to the vet, and feeding piggy. It became my mission this week to keep my sweet little pet alive, so I ran him to the vet to get fluids, and to get various tests and procedures. And I hand-fed him every four hours. We've explored every possible reason why he is not eating, and haven't gotten real positive answers. The vet recommended one more week on antibiotics, then she started blurting out phrases like "quality of life" and "should have bounced back by now". So I guess we will see. This whole scenario is not cool with me, but may need to make some tough calls. *gloom*

We did also have relatives in town, I did my normal yard/house/pool stuff, attended a fundraising luncheon for a community that houses adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities, went to a friend's Pampered Chef party, and went to our last football game of the spring season! But all of this took a backseat to my piggy.

Because I have been spending most of my day pig-nursing, most of my blogging time has been consumed. I now am six reviews in arrears, and am behind on printed books I should be reading. And I was almost completely absent with my comments this week...I am sorry! I will be back someday I promise.

So what of reading? Well, on the bright side, I've been spending some serious time with my headphones in my ears, and was able to complete an 18-disc audio, "The Distant Hours" almost entirely in one week. I've now started Joe Hill's "Heart-Shaped Box", which is really seriously creepy!

I struggled with print however. I did just finish "Amaryillis in Blueberry", a book club pick that I THOUGHT was for April, but actually was for May. I'm so dense sometimes, I think my brain resides in my butt sometimes. This book was a real struggle for me. I think it was a really good book with great writing, but it failed to engage me. I was so relieved to finally finish it after two weeks of slogging. Now I am working on books for the UCF Book Festival and fearing that I might not finish them in time...perhaps I will just have to spotlight them with the publisher's synopsis. It's going to come down to the wire!

I am planning on participating in Dewey's 24 Hour Read-a-thon on April 9th. This should help me a little I hope. Not only do I have books to read for the Book Festival, but I also have a pile of review copies and stuff that have been patiently waiting for April 1st to come and the TBR Dare to be over. I've decided that this time around, I'm going to leave my computer alone and focus on reading (last time I spent way too much time blogging.) I'm so excited about this event. Are any of you out there going to be participating?

Here is to a wonderful relaxing Sunday for all of you. What are you reading these days? Anything I can't live without?






28 comments:

Anonymous said...

I am so sorry to hear about your piggy, I hope he/she bounces back soon.

I won't be participating in the readathon tis time, I think. I hopefully will be celebrating being together with my boyfriend for 5 years that weekend. So I will have a happy weekend nonetheless.

I very much admire the way you manage to get through so many audiobooks! I am trying again to listen to one, but I am not used to it yet.

And I wanted to thank you for your very kind comment on my blog 2 weeks ago. Really, very nice.

Harvee/Book Dilettante said...

I sympathize with the piggy pet sitting and worry. Hope your pet comes through in fine form, soon.

Gotta get my sleep; can't do readathons very well :) Have fun though!

Susan said...

Oh, poor piggy. I'm sorry that it isn't going well. I know you will make the right decision if that time comes. :(

I'm just starting The Postmistress and can't wait to get into it. Just picked up four new books yesterday at Goodwill to add to the daunting collection. I sent home a huge box of books with my MIL last weekend and while they were here, I sent two huge boxes and a bag of books that both of us had already read to her sister who lives in an assisted living facility (David took them to visit). She said her sis was very excited to get them. She's going to share them with their communal library.

I also ordered Fingersmith and The Night Watch from thriftbooks.com after watching Fingersmith that I got from Netflix. OMG, was it ever good. My eyes and ears were GLUED to the TV screen! Then I went back and read your review of them both and could hardly wait to get my "fingers" on the books. I'm really glad hubby wasn't home while I was watching. I would have been a little uncomfortable watching the, uh, romantic scenes with him. Not that he would ever watch a BBC drama with me. LOL

rhapsodyinbooks said...

Sounds like you went from Creepy to Seriously Creepy. What could be next?!!!

bermudaonion said...

I'm sorry your guinea pig is not doing any better. It's so tough when a pet's not healthy since they can't communicate with you.

Teacher/Learner said...

So sorry to hear that your piggy is still on the mend. As for your bookish news, I can't wait to hear your thoughts on The Distant Hours--Kate Morton has been a new author (to me) who I've heard so much about. Heart-Shaped Box is waiting patiently on my shelf. Hope it's a good scare ;)

Unknown said...

I just finished A High Wind in Jamaica by Richard Hughes which may end up on my favorite reads of 2011 list. It's about a group of English children who are sort of kidnapped by pirates. The pirates can't find anyone to take the kids off their hands. The kids all think it's great fun because they didn't have to run away and join pirates, the pirates took them.

In the end, the children turn out to be more amoral than the pirates are, though their amorality looks like childish innocence. I loved it. I think it's just twisted enough to something you'd enjoy, too. ;-)

And I'm hoping you have a better week this week.

Trisha said...

Joe Hill made my to-read list awhile ago, but more and more he's being pushed to the front. I'm interested to hear what you think of his book.

Unknown said...

I hate all those "quality of life" discussions. I really hope things bounce back quickly so that you don't have to make that choice :-(

I'm looking forward to your thoughts on Heart Shaped Box - that book has grabbed my attention in the past, but again I worry it is too scary for me.

Enjoy your readathon planning:-)

Jen - Devourer of Books said...

You think you've been out of touch! I read the thing about your piggy and did a double take! I figured it out going back to last week, though.

Peppermint Ph.D. said...

Aww, Sandy, so sorry Piggy is still not better :(

Anxious to hear more of your thoughts on Amaryllis & Blueberry...it's on my wishlist.

Melissa said...

I've been absent from blog reading for a bit and am sad to hear piggy isn't doing well. Hopefully he turns around soon!

I look forward to your thoughts on Heart Shaped Box. I tried it a couple of years ago (in print) and never got very far.

Alyce said...

It sounds like you've been busy even with all of the nursing and care of piggy. I hope that he feels better soon!

I'm terribly far behind in reviews. I think I'm going to have to resort to mini reviews for those that are books that I read just for me.

ds said...

I am sorry that your piggy is slow to recover. Hope that this week sees improvement, so that you are spared tough decisions :(

Trust that your first official week of Spring will be much better.

Ana S. said...

I'm so sorry to hear Rufus is not doing better, Sandy :( Keeping my fingers crossed for a miracle recovery this week. Those decisions are never easy to make :\

Frances said...

Hope all goes well with Rufus!

Really wanting to participate in my first read-a-thon this time around and am inspired by your past efforts in managing the kids and the events. Maybe if I start planning now...?

Melody said...

I hope Rufus feels better soon!!

I look forward to hearing what you'll think of "Heart-Shaped Box". I read that some time ago and yes, find it creepy!

Jenners said...

You're really going the distance for your little piggy...I hope you have a happy ending. And I'm convinced my brain is in my butt too.

Julie P. said...

hang in there!!! I hope you get back to reading soon!

Zibilee said...

Oh, I am sorry to hear about the continuing piggy problems. I know it's tough having to make those kinds of choices and decisions when it's a pet you love.

I have had one of the worst weeks on record so far, and have been sort of trying to recover a bit the last two days. We are having some serious family illness with my step-father, and scary things are being proposed. I also realized that I missed the Pampered Chef party, and feel so, so bad about that! I am hoping this will be a better week for me, and for you too, my friend.

Carrie K. said...

I hope piggy gets better! Until we got our cat, Sam, I hadn't realized how much pets become a part of the family.

I just started Wither today - good so far. And I'm listening to Unbroken on audio - it's amazing!

Darlene said...

I'm sorry about Rufus Sandy. Reading what you've written takes me back with tears in my eyes. It's a really crappy decision to even have to think about, let alone carry through on. I know exactly how you're feeling and I'm praying Rufus is going to bounce back on his own.

I doubt I'll be doing the readathon officially but I might try on my own. Sam keeps me going up and down too much to be able to really concentrate but either way I'll be out visiting people.

Hope the week goes well Sandy. Hugs to Rufus.

Ti said...

Rufus is still feeling out of sorts? Poor thing. Poor you! I hope this second week on the meds does the trick.

I will be coming back from Spring Break during the read-a-thon so I am going to miss this one. I cannot believe that it's time for another read-a-thon!

Kathleen said...

I hope your sweet little piggy is all better now!

Iliana said...

Sending some good health vibes for Piggy! Have we ever gotten a picture of piggy? I don't remember but would love to see one.

Sandy I'm so behind on book reviews it's not even funny. What can you say - life happens. Hang in there!

Dawn @ sheIsTooFondOfBooks said...

I'm impressed that you could sit down and write a Sunday Salon post with all you have going on!

Two days later ... how is Rufus? What a tough thing to go through, especially with the kids - how are they doing with his illness and lethargy?

The Bumbles said...

I hope writing about all that stress helps you to release some of it! I feel for you on the sick pet progress. I hope it improves for everyone soon.

I just began The Cypress House that you sent - I think Andy is anxious to read it based on my initial summary to him. Now THAT's something!

Alice said...

I hope Rufus will recover fully very, very soon!