Sunday, June 1, 2014

Sunday Salon: In Transition

 Don't think that by this week's post title that you will be reading a wearisome, "I'm finding myself" post where I'm turning from a caterpillar into a butterfly or some such crap.  By transition, I mean that this week was simply the in-between from school to summer.

As I told you all last week, the boy is done.  The girl had her finals this week, which is always...interesting.  Glass half-full, nothing is more important to my daughter than her grades.  Which is why there was more than one fight in the house, dare the rest of us disturb her focus.  Yes, I know she is taking the hardest classes they offer her, but she is a bit high-strung.  It works for her I guess, because she not only got A's in every one of her classes but aced all the finals as well.  I'm pretty proud of her.

My parents flew back to Indiana on Tuesday and my husband went out of town on business on Wednesday, so I had the little darlings all to myself.  I like the summer, the relaxed schedule...it is a nice change of pace.  This summer the girl has an obnoxiously huge amount of summer work to do for her 3 AP classes next year, she is going to try to pack in some serious volunteer hours at the shelter, do some running with her cross country team, and is going to get more hours of driving experience before she gets her license in August.  The boy will have some reading to do, and will need to decide if he is playing football in high school (if he does, there will be conditioning starting in another week or so).  Just enough to keep them from being too lazy.

I signed up for a 30 day Ab challenge on Facebook that goes for the entire month of June.  Did anyone see that?  I figure it can't hurt.

I started watching the TV Series "Bates Motel", per the encouragement of my daughter.  She and I are also (slowly, maddeningly) finishing up the last four or five episodes of "The Walking Dead", in preparation for Season 5 in October.  And this Friday, we get a new season of "Orange is the New Black"!!! I am SO excited.  We have just a few more weeks of "Game of Thrones".  Never in a million years did I think I'd watch so much damned TV.  My son and I watched "Prisoners" on HBO this past week, starring Hugh Jackman but also many other A-list actors, and it was fantastic.  Way better than any of my expectations.  If you get a chance to watch it, definitely do that.

Anyway, for all of THIS going on this past week, my focus is slightly off with reading and reading blogs.  Since I always seem to have a kid in my car or a kid walking with me these days, I have had little time with audio, but I'm within a half hour of finishing "Five Days at Memorial", which is phenomenal.  It is about the five days at Memorial Hospital in NOLA after Katrina, the conditions, and the choices made by the doctors to care for the critically ill patients.  This is what non-fiction is all about, guys.  And in the hands of narrator Kirsten Potter, who is a favorite, it is a complete package.

I finished Anne Carter's (Pam Ripling) "Unmasking Paulie Bingham", a love story...sort of...about a bi-sexual glam rocker and the love of his life, Kate.  But it is so much more.  It almost defies description, and is unlike anything else I've ever read, so.  Check out my review.  Anyway, there is a sequel to this book called "For the love of Katrina Bingham", so I quickly downloaded that one and will finish that one soon.  I'm pretty attached to these characters.  In between these two books I read "Blankets" by Craig Thompson, the graphic novel I've been hearing about forever.  Wonderful book.  Now I know why everyone loved it.

Not sure what is on the agenda today.  It is just as hot and humid as it could be down here, so I'm not really anxious to get out in it, but I may have to appease my husband and golf with him.  Whatever happens, I know it will end with "Game of Thrones" and that is good enough for me.  



12 comments:

rhapsodyinbooks said...

Ab challenge? I don't even have a one of them....

JoAnn said...

I was planning to start Five Days at Memorial on audio this week, then realized I probably wouldn't finish Empty Mansions in time for book club if I didn't start listening. Hope you get into full summer mode this week... I'm going to look for that ab challenge!

bermudaonion said...

Congratulations to your daughter. I always liked the slower pace of the summer as well.

Anonymous said...

I saw the ab challenge pass by on facebook. I am glad I have an excuse not to sign up. Wow, it looks tough! But best of luck :)

Ti said...

I saw the Ab challenge. It looks doable. Good luck with it. I am still in a sluggish state and not fighting it until the legs heal. I know abs have nothing to do with legs but my brain is not in it.

The teen ends school this friday and he has one last push to get the grades up. I am on pins and needles until I have the final result. Summer school starts the week after so he doesn't get much of a break.

My work is still all over the place with this re-org. I don't talk about it much on FB or my blog because prying eyes may see it but they changed my job duties, my title and now I report to someone else. A transition like that is always a little rough and when you have a busy personal life to boot, you can't decompress the way you need to in order to deal with it.

Kim (Sophisticated Dorkiness) said...

I came home to hot and humid weather in Minnesota, too. It's kind of strange after it was so cool in NYC this week!

Anonymous said...

Your summer sounds almost as busy as the rest of your year! Glad you do get a little downtime - and good for your daughter - those are awesome grades.

Literary Feline said...

Congratulations to your daughter! I bet you're glad finals are over for her. :-)

Good luck with the 30 day Ab Challenge. I hadn't seen that. Only the nap one, which, obviously, isn't real. I am starting a new exercise routine, however--started this morning. I always do good in the beginning, but I so quickly lose my motivation. :-S

I'm looking forward to seeing the new season of Orange is the New Black. My husband was finally able to watch season one, so it'll be a race to see who gets to season two first. I'm pretty sure at this point it will be him.

I am glad you were able to read Blankets! I liked that one too.

I hope you have a great week, Sandy.

Trisha said...

Ab challenge? Oh, I think it could hurt. Definitely hurt.

Natalie~Coffee and a Book Chick said...

Darn! I wanted to see you morph into that butterfly! :) I'm making a note of the NOLA audio. I'm in the mood for some non-fiction after my most recent annoyance and disappointment with the last audio.

Congrats to the girl! Way to go!!

Florinda said...

By now you've probably finished FIVE DAYS AT MEMORIAL. It was one if my Books of the Year for 2013, and a great audio. I met Sheri Fink at the LA Times Festival of Books in April, and she said she personally chose Kristin Potter as the reader--an excellent pick!

Melissa (Avid Reader) said...

So much fantastic TV!!! In glad you read Blankets too. I wasn't expecting to love it as much as I did.