Sunday, November 4, 2012

Sunday Salon: Found time

 What a great morning it is!  It is always good to gain an hour of time.  The only thing that would be better, in my mind, would be cloning myself.  What am I going to do with this extra hour?  I haven't decided.  I SHOULD use it to sleep, but most likely I will use it on a nice walk in this wonderful weather, or attempting to read.

Before I start my weekly yammering, I just want to apologize on behalf of that wench Sandy for the trouble she has caused.  My thoughts are with everyone in the Northeast that has been affected, and I truly hope all of you up there have gotten your power and are able to get back to your lives soon, complete with hair dryers and hot water.  We Floridians understand.   

So, what's new?  I did my normal grunt work...house, yard and extra stuff on the pool, what with all the flipping WIND over the last week.  I voted early, stood in line for an hour.  I think it is great that humanity has taken an interest.  I brought my iPod and listened to my audiobook, happily, while waiting.  I worked out and ran.  My daughter's cross country team competed in Districts on Friday afternoon, and they have been practicing after school instead of 5:30am this week, so that added an extra wrinkle in the chauffeuring activities, between that and football practice.  (Her team won 2nd, so they advance to Regionals next weekend.  Yay!)  

I had an evening meeting to coordinate the field trip to Boston next week, on which I will be attending Wednesday through Friday.  One hundred 6th, 7th and 8th graders and parents, 100 mph for three days.  Fun, in a sick and twisted kind of way.  It is supposed to be low 40's and rainy.  Hmmm.  Anyway, head's up.  You won't be hearing from me for most of next week.

Halloween consisted of pizza and scary movies at home.  Everyone seemed content with that arrangement.  I don't know, people say that Halloween becomes cool in high school but not with my 9th grader.

My son had another football game this weekend, a continuation of the Southeastern playoffs.  And they won!  Again!  Just to give you some perspective, they have three more games to win (one each weekend this month), and then could advance to the National Super Bowl at Disney in December.  But these competing teams are getting better and better, so I'm not counting any chickens, or footballs, or whatever.  One game at a time.  But the season started on August 1st.  The season without end...

So for a week now, I've been reading "The Man in the Blue Moon", which is this month's pick for She Reads.  We actually met this author at SIBA, and it is a wonderfully Southern book that takes place in one of my favorite places in the world - Apalachicola.  And let's see...I'm on page...126.  After a week.  LAME THY NAME IS SANDY.  Yep.  Well, I'll be happily posting a review for this lovely book whenever I get it finished.  I'm trying.  Maybe flight and bus time on this field trip next week will give me a leg up.  Not!

On audio, I finished "City of Women" and then blew through the AMAZING "The Language of Flowers" by Vanessa Diffenbaugh.  Just a thoroughly beautiful book.  You all told me so, but I didn't appreciate how in love with it I would be.  Then I got through one disc of "Last Man in Tower" by Aravind Adiga and I had to stop.  Accents that were making my ears strain, and a rocky start to the plot.  I won't delete the audio.  I may give it another try later.  Now I am close to four discs into "The Forgotten Garden" by Kate Morton.  Kate Morton's books, well, they take their time don't they?  But whenever I listen to her audios, I just want to sink down into them like a hot bubble bath.  I want to go for long walks.  I simply adore them.  This is going to be fun.

So with nothing planned today but church, I shall be interested to see what actually happens.  Will I get my long walk with Kate Morton?  Will I get sucked into a winter clothing shopping spree with my daughter?  Will I take a nap?  Will I write a review?  Oooh, the suspense and drama!



17 comments:

bermudaonion said...

Woo hoo! Congratulations to your son and his team.

It never occurred to me to take ear buds to listen to my audio book while I stand in line to vote, but you've just inspired me!!

Megan said...

It's amazing the difference an hour makes, isn't it? It makes the day seems more restful and full of possibility! I wish we could get a free bonus hour every day, but then I suppose we'd all just want *another* bonus hour every day and on and on... ;-)

Boston's one of my very favorite cities - hope you have fun amid the chaos!

Ana S. said...

Enjoy your extra hour! Last weekend I used mine to sleep but now of course I wish I had done something more memorable. Enjoy the trip next week!

JoAnn said...

Can't tell you how many times I've thought of you this week... it figures that if a storm carries your name it would have all sorts of energy!!

Peppermint Ph.D. said...

I just love this day!! Even though it's just an extra hour, it feels like so much more, doesn't it?

Julie P. said...

No long run today? Just kidding! Sounds like you are going 100 mph all of the time!

Jenners said...

Your down weeks still sound crazy to me! And how exciting for your son's football team. It must be so thrilling for them to get so close to the "big game."

I am getting ready to try the same Kate Morton book. I've not read one of hers yet but keep hearing how wonderful she is. A book that reads like a nice hot bath sounds good.

Have fun in Boston ... if that is even possible!

Unknown said...

I loved the audio of THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS, such a great listen. I actually abandoned CITY OF WOMEN. I could not get into the audio.
Good job to both your kids athletics!!
Hope you had a good day.

Michelle said...

I am so glad you enjoyed THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS. It was just a beautiful book, wasn't it? And the audio was superb.

I agree with you about Kate Morton's books. I've listened to three of hers on audio and have enjoyed them all. They do make you want to keep listening, but even better, they have a way of keeping you focused, making it easy to multitask without having to constantly back up the audio to find out what you missed when your mind wandered.

Congrats to both your kids and their respective teams! It isn't easy for you with the extended season, but I'm sure they are enjoying their success which makes it all worth it!

Enjoy your extra hour and have fun on your field trip. You are a better woman than me to take that upon yourself!!

Carrie K. said...

I knew you would love Language of Flowers on audio! It is one of my favorites from this year.

Alice said...

Sandy, your "friend" Sandy had certainly done something mighty incredible there. ;-)

Have a wonderful week ahead!

Beth F said...

I guess I'd better read Language of Flowers! And unlike Kathy, I always have my audiobook with me when I head off to vote.

The Novel Sphere (melissa) said...

Lol nice cliffhanger, there better be a "to be continued ..." =) Have a good week everyone!

Zibilee said...

Oh, I want to read that book too! I almost downloaded it on Audible, but then they didn't have it. I am so glad to hear that your son is kicking butt over there, and that Halloween was good for you. We have A LOT of leftover candy which is not a good thing, but I am being a good girl and not snacking on it. I hope this week brings you wonderful things.

Alyce said...

Fabulous news about your son's football team! We vote by mail here in Oregon, so no lines to stand in. I got some odd looks in the grocery store yesterday though when I wore my headphones while shopping (listening to Harry Potter). It was chaos in the store and the audio kept me from getting too cranky.

I hope your field trip goes well!

I've heard great things about the Language of Flowers book too and have avoided jumping on the bandwagon. I really should give it a try at some point. I also need to load up the City of Women into my mp3 player soon.

Ti said...

Kudos to you for even getting a Sunday Salon post up. I never got that far.

I liked the extra hour of course, but I should feel more rested and I feel exhausted. I kept waking up to check the clock. My internal alarm was out of kilter.

Unknown said...

I have a copy of The Language of Flowers, but so far no one has managed to persuade me to put it to the top of the pile. Hopefully you'll be the one to change that! Have a wonderful week!