Sunday Salon: How to Save a Life

 Good morning Saloners!  It was a nice shorter week because my kids didn't have school on Monday.  It was like a mini-vacation!  We used the day off to do an early workout (I thought it was fun to work out side-by-side with my kids, although they may not agree), then catch a movie.   We were all pretty excited to see "The Secret World of Arrietty", which is a Japanese anime film written by Hayao Miyazaki.  If you've never seen a Miyazaki film, I might even dare to say you've not lived.  His most famous of movies is "Spirited Away", which won an Oscar, but they are all magical.  We've seen them all.


My daughter and I finished our training at the animal shelter.  Now we will be turned loose from here on out to do our thing.  After spending five hours there yesterday, and four hours there earlier in the week, I have nothing but good things to say about the place.  It is clean, the animals are treated with care and respect, and they have a great volunteer program for families (for kids between 12 and 18 and their parent).  It is hard for me to find words to express the emotion I experienced when my daughter and I were able to match up three dogs and one cat with families that would adopt them, take them home, and love them.  Like this pretty girl here: 

We also started volleyball practice for both of the kids.  I lost a couple hours of sleep one night trying to figure out how, once my parents go back home to Indiana, I am going to juggle the volleyball, personal training, horseback lessons, and animal shelter volunteerism schedules.  But I did figure it out, I just had to get creative.  The end of April can't come soon enough.  


We had our Books, Babes and Bordeaux book club meeting on Thursday night to discuss "This Beautiful Life" by Helen Schulman.  A couple of people liked the book well enough, but the majority experienced emotions ranging from dislike to disgust.  It made for good discussion!  Next month we will be reading "Finding Salvation at the Dairy Queen" by Susan Gregg Gilmore, who is an adorable and talented author.


This week it became apparent to me that until the current schedule changes, I'm going to get a majority of my books completed via audio, because of all the driving around and not enough sitting.  I did finish "The Dovekeepers" by Alice Hoffman on audio this week, and while it took some effort to get through, it was worth it.  It may have been a tad "smart" for me, but I am still sharp enough to recognize a masterpiece when I see one.  I then jumped right into "Cold Sassy Tree" by Olive Ann Burnes, which is the March selection for the Heathrow Literary Society.  I can't say I'm in love with it, but it has been entertaining so far.  I have a feeling this is one that may sneak up on me.  Has anyone read this?  What do you think?


In print, I am still reading Sarah Pekkanen's "Opposite Of Me".  I'm actually only 25% through the book after a week.  Pekkanen is very easy to read, so this is just an indication of the type of week I'm having.  Actually, let me back step and tell you that I did sneak in there and read "The Orchard" by Theresa Weir, which was a wonderful memoir and took only a day for me to get through.  My husband is out of town now for five days, so I may get more traction by reading at night.  


Next week's Sunday Salon should be a doozy.  On top of the weekly stuff, I've got my Adult Literacy League event on Thursday, I am sitting on a panel at Sleuthfest on Friday, and my daughter's birthday is on Saturday.  Bring on the energy drinks!