Sunday, May 18, 2014

Sunday Salon: Waiting to exhale

 I hope I'm not committing any trademark infringements by using that title.  I know it's a movie or whatever, but this is exactly how I feel.  I'm holding my breathe and willing May to be done!  Get through the emotional drama of my daughter and her AP test and finals!  Get my boy child OUT OF THAT SCHOOL before he gets kicked out!  Get past the financial curse we've been under for the last couple of months so my husband will leave me alone about paying for HBO!

The boy's finals are done at this point.  Next week is all fun and games, with graduation on Friday.  My parents are flying in.  It's all good.

The hubby is back from his trip, so luckily there will be no more dead creatures in my pool.  That only happens when he is gone.  I attended a lovely end-of-the-year party for my ladies golf league this week, so our season is done until the fall.

I did have an unfortunate incident this week, where I accidentally hit a car while in carline at my son's school.  It was raining, it was chaos, but still, there you have it.  The guy was less than thrilled with me, but we won't be involving the insurance.  I get to buy him a new bumper.  Remember that curse I mentioned?  Yeah.  It just keeps coming.

I got my Internet fixed this week, which was huge.  It has been really bad for several weeks now.  I know I should have called Bright House sooner, but dealing with them is like having a root canal.  I can't think of any person or organization that irritates me more.

Reading was decent this week.  I finished "Cinder" by Marissa Meyer on audio, and it was just OK for me.  Clever twist on Cinderella, but it never graduated beyond silly and predictable to me, and the narrator was very high-pitched and whiny.  Be that as it may, I am nothing if not dedicated to finishing what I start, so I just kept going with the second installment of the series "Scarlet".  It incorporates the continuing adventures of Cinder, but pulls in another storyline with a twist on Little Red Riding Hood.  Same narrator.  The library doesn't have the third installment, "Cress", on audio yet.  And I see on Goodreads this isn't just a trilogy, because #4 "Winter" is coming next year.  Hmmm.

In print I finished Karen White's "The Girl on Legare Street", the second installment in this series.  Again, I just keep going!  I do enjoy these books, but I've decided they remind me of that TV series "The Ghost Whisperer" that my daughter was obsessed with a number of years ago.  They don't have much depth, and they fall into that trope of "the man and woman who are crazy about each other but can't pull it together" kind of thing.  But they are easy to read, very Southern, and have interesting ghosts.  So.  I'm now very excited to say that I'm reading the latest book from Pam Ripling (who writes under the pen name Anne Carter) called "Angel's Gate".  She writes a series where each novel revolves around a lighthouse and a mystery.  This one is about the Angel's Gate lighthouse in L.A.  Great stuff, and very easy reading.  This is the third book of hers that I've read and loved.

Not sure what is going on today besides church.  The daughter and I have taken a small hiatus from the animal shelter while she gets through her last two weeks of school.  Maybe a round of golf?  Hope everyone has a great day, and don't forget to watch Game of Thrones tonight!

 


18 comments:

bermudaonion said...

Here's hoping the curse is lifted! Things have got to be better in June!

rhapsodyinbooks said...

I'm so disappointed you didn't love Cinder more. But in general, you don't seem to be as enamored with YA and/or retellings as I am. darn.

JoAnn said...

I remember that "holding your breath until the school year is over feeling." You probably don't want to hear this, but it some ways it still happens when they are in college.... only not quite so intensely because you don't live with it every hour of every day. May will be over soon - good luck!

Anonymous said...

I liked Cinder a lot but it wasn't very memorable, and now that I have Scarlet ready to listen to I keep putting it off! You know I love Karen White's Tradd Street series so I'm disappointed you don't love them as much as I do, but at least you aren't hating them. :) Happy Sunday!

Kim (Sophisticated Dorkiness) said...

I'm hope June improves! It's tough when a month just seems to pile on and pile on.

I'm curious about Cinder. I have it as an ebook, but your description makes me think maybe I'd do better in audio (despite the narrator). I tend to enjoy the sort of silly YA stories on audio more than I do in print. Hmm...

Mary (Bookfan) said...

Oh I can relate to getting the boy child through the end of the school year. Funny what the mind allows one to forget...
Hope you get through the next few weeks with some enjoyment. And congrats to the graduate!

Unknown said...

I'm so sorry the curse continues, it's painful when we have to hand over money for things like this. Nick has this week of classes and then 3 days for finals next week. I am so sick of this semester and staying on him to study etc. He is so different than my girls were. Try to enjoy your son's graduation, and your parents visit.
June is only a couple of weeks away..hang in there!

gautami tripathy said...

Sometimes it turns out bad but then that passes too....

Here is my post!!

Athira said...

That week sounds ouch for sure .. hope your next week is a lot better! I get why you would want to hold your breath while you wait for the month to be over. I haven't had one of those lately, but when they come, they come together.

Melody said...

Next day will be better, Sandy!

I have not read Karen White's books for a while; but I did enjoy her first two installments. I agree they're easy read and it's a good thing.

Anonymous said...

Wow - it sounds like not a fun week! I hope that the curse's power is gone..

I can relate, although our bad stuff all happened this weekend. Natalie backed into someone in the parking lot of Ross on Saturday - her first time driving to Spokane, her new (to her) car. Sigh. Then on Sunday, she broke up with her boyfriend of almost a year. It was a wise decision, but still a very difficult one, as she still loves him. Teenage years - you couldn't pay me a million to go back!

Anonymous said...

Seems like a stressful week. Hopefully this week will be much better.

Ti said...

The dreaded curse, huh? That sucks. I missed sending in a Verizon rebate by a couple of days and I could shoot myself in the foot for it. $50 pissed away. Makes me mad but it's done now.

I hope the week goes smoothly for you. I get antsy with graduation stuff because I worry about seats. I think I am a little OCD that way. With all the theatre and other stuff we go to, there is always a big pile of BS politics with people trying to save seats etc. I usually try to volunteer just so I can save seats but it doesn't always work out.

I have some news. The Teen quit ASB to pursue a second theatre class. The director is a bit sad over it. He was the only tech guy who could do it all.

Trisha said...

I keep meaning to pick up Cinder; I let it languish for so long because it was one of those nook freebies which, historically, are not well written. So many bloggers loved it though that I moved it up the to-read list. Now, I'm worried.

On a side note, I read Pilgrim's Wilderness because of you, and I loved it so hard. A review will be up next week.

Literary Feline said...

I am sorry about the accident, Sandy. Glad it wasn't worse.

I am sorry to hear Cinder wasn't better for you. I'm hoping to read that one at some point this year.

I hope you have a great rest of the week and coming weekend!

Kathleen said...

Sounds like you have been so busy and could use a break. I hope after your kids finish school you will be able to take a well-deserved breather.

Alyce said...

I hope you catch a break soon! I liked Cinder, but I think I must have been in just the right mood for it because I tried to read the next book in the series and just couldn't get myself to be interested enough to put forth the effort.

Anonymous said...

I need to read the last of the Tradd Street series and I get what your're saying about the similarity to the tv show, but I enjoyed them enough to finish at some point. Same with Cress. I liked the first two enough to continue on. They at least feel fun, you know?
Sorry about the car accident, but it's great you don't have to involve insurance.