Sunday Salon: New Year, New Dog, New Routine

Good evening friends!  I actually missed last Sunday...first time in so long.  The day just got away from me!  Holidays are a tough business.  I need a vacation from the holidays.  But I'm back in business now.  The kids go back to school tomorrow (woo hoo!) and I can go about starting my new year.

The first major change is that Andre the Trainer...you know, the one I've been going to for over three years...has shut his doors, as his building is being sold. He doesn't seem to have any plan of when or if he will be back in business, so I'm going to have to find an alternative plan.  This is equivalent to finding a new OB-Gyn or hairdresser, and it is distressing.  I'm on a mad search.

And I better search quickly because my Lord, the eating and drinking that has been happening lately.  None of my clothes fit.  Something must be done soon.

We DID have a nice Christmas and New Year celebration.  It was dialed down a bit from earlier years but that didn't really seem to bother anyone.  Just having the time off (except from the cooking!) and spending it with family and friends was all that was needed.

And the new puppy!  The highlight of my life at the moment.  We are naming him Brody and have selected him from the litter of four.  Here he is at four weeks: 

We will pick him up on January 31st in North Carolina.  For those that weren't around when I originally talked about him, he is a Polish Lowland Sheepdog.  Prepare to be barraged with pictures forever.

Reading was pretty slow.  I'm not sure why I think I'll get all this reading done when everyone is underfoot!  I did finally finish the true crime novel "Monster" by Steve Jackson, and it was really what true crime should be.  Horrifying, fascinating stuff.  I'm now about halfway through "Amy & Roger's Epic Detour" by Morgan Matson, a YA recommendation from Jill.  A little sneak peek on my opinion of this one...simply wonderful.  Maybe not totally groundbreaking material, but a balm for the soul.

Audio!  Not sure where I left off two weeks ago (and I'm too lazy to look) but I finished "Empty Mansions" by Bill Dedman for a February book club meeting, and I enjoyed it.  This is a true story about a very wealthy, eccentric heiress and her disappearing millions.  I also blew through a quick one called "Detroit: An American Autopsy" by Charlie LeDuff.  Again, more good non-fiction from a investigative journalist who sets out to poke around the ashes of a once-great city to learn where it all went wrong.  I decided it was time for something not-real so I'm listening to installment three of the amazing Raven Cycle series by Maggie Stiefvater called "Blue Lily, Lily Blue".  Such an escape for me, with incredible narration.

This upcoming week will bring the start of new Polish classes, as well as a book club meeting on "Orphan Train".  Back to the damned doctor appointments.  And to golf or not to golf?  I'll have to see how everything works out.  Happy Sunday, what's left of it!