Best Books 2021

I felt like my reading last year was not normal and pretty much expected it to go back to normal, or closer to normal this year. It didn’t, so now I think this is the new normal. Web comics took over a big chunk of my reading time so my book count is much lower than it has been in previous years. Not that I’m trying to read a certain amount of books, but the web comics reading is not going to go away. At least not until a few of them finish.

 

I read 74 books this year. For the first time since I’ve been tracking, I borrowed more books than I bought. That’s a crazy change.  As with last year, I read more ebooks than paper. The #1 genre this year was Sci-Fi Romance followed by Fantasy/Sci-Fi. Then I have a 2 way tie for spots 3 and 4 with Contemporary Romance and Historical Mystery, followed by Urban Fantasy/PNR for the top 5. Outside of my favorite genres, I read 1 children’s book, 1 classic, and 5 non-fiction. Not too bad.

 

What a sad little stack

Here are my best books of 2021. Ten books-it’s not very long this year. I feel like I didn’t get wowed by many at all. But these are some good ones.

 

The Third Pole – Mark Synnott

This Everest expedition from the Tibetan side was fascinating to me having only read about expeditions from the Nepal side. Plus, they were looking for Sandy Irvine’s remains in addition to summiting. I loved it.

 

A Stranger in Town – Kelley Armstrong

I love this series so much and some good stuff happened in this one. I’m happy/sad that the final book comes out next year.

 

Paladin’s Strength and Paladin’s Hope – T. Kingfisher

Two Kingfisher books made the list this year. I love the world she’s created and the humor in these books is the best.

 

Murder on Cold Street – Sherry Thomas

Another great book in the series. LOL at this point I’m hazy on the details but I know I loved it and I have the last book waiting on my shelf.

 

Murderbot – Martha Wells

I read Exit Strategy, Network Effect, and Fugitive Telemetry this year (books 4-6 of the series) and I’m putting them all on the list. I love Murderbot.

 

Delivering Evil for Experts, and Hunting Fiends for the Ill-Equipped – Marie Annette

Marie Anette is a new to me author this year. I loved this series and world she has built and am so happy she has a nice backlist for me to dig into.

 

 

The top 3 webcomics were super easy to pick out. After that, I absolutely cannot do it. There are so many good ones I’m reading, so I’m sticking with top 3 and then a huge list of honorable mentions.

 

The Gentle Way – by True

I am such a fangirl of this one. I love it so much! The characters are so fun, the art is amazing, and the humor and story just get me. Plus, I’m learning a little bit about judo. A shy girl is trying to get better at judo and she meets a handsome stranger who helps her out but won’t teach her, for reasons. But he likes her and she’s breaking down his walls. It’s sooooooo good.

 

Midnight Poppyland – by Lilydusk

I still love this one so much. I really hope she gets some deals to get this in paper one day. A small town girl meets a mafia bad boy. Season 2 has had so many good parts and so many parts where crap hit the ceiling. Again, the story and art here is amazing.

 

A Business Proposal –  by Guava Farm, Perilla, NARAK, and Haehwa

This is like one of those old romantic comedies. I laughed so hard and have read it over and over again. A girl accidently goes on a blind date with the CEO of her company and he decides to marry her. Hijinks galore. It’s so much fun. This one is complete too so I can read the finished story over without waiting for updates. It’s a definitely plus.

 

Honorable Mentions (aka others I really like, but don’t get me started on all of the ones I actually like and read):

 

Webtoon:

The Empress Remarried

Purple Hyacinth

Covenant

Suitor Armor

Unholy Blood

Everything is Fine

Swamp & Sea

Like Wind on a Dry Branch

The Kiss Bet

Lore Olympus

 

Tapas:

Painful, but Desirable

Positively Yours

All the Things I like About You

One More Try

I’m the Tyrant’s Secretary

 

Manta:

Under the Oak Tree

 

According to my Webtoons stats (so not including all the apps I read on), my top genres were Romance, Fantasy, and Drama. They say I read 296 episodes from 70 romance series. That seems like a lot, but I did binge a few and I have done a lot of re-reading of favorite episodes. LOL it still seems like a lot more than I really did, but who knows.

Merry Christmas, 2021

I’ve had a nice (and pretty quiet) Christmas holiday. The Saturday before Christmas, I went with my mom and sister and a bunch of nieces and nephews to SL. We went to breakfast and then to the giving machines in the City Creek shopping center. I bought school supplies, clean water, diapers, and chickens to give to others in need. I think the kids had fun. I know I did.

My actual Christmas was low key. My sister got covid earlier this month and it’s been going around her family. We only had a few of them (that had tested negative that day) at dinner on Christmas Eve. Then for actual Christmas, I slept in and then didn’t do much. A little cooking and laundry and movies later in the evening. LOL I have decided that maybe I should leave something to be unwrapped so it actually feels like Christmas. Especially, since I didn’t put up a tree this year. 

Today it’s been snowing so I’ve had another “at home” day. I streamed my church service and then have been doing one of my favorite after-Christmas activities from my childhood: reading and eating mom’s leftover rolls. The only thing missing is that old heater vent in the kitchen. 

Merry Christmas

Another One

So I finally joined the cool kids and caught up with the Lore Olympus webtoon. I tried it once or twice before and didn’t really love it right off. I wasn’t sure about the art because my personal preference is more realistic looking characters, but it really grew on me and I can really appreciate how well drawn they are and how realistic their expressions are. Her version the underworld/Olympus/mortal realm came alive in the artwork. Plus, a big part of the story is dealing with trauma and I probably wasn’t ready to read about that when I tried it earlier.

One of the reasons I had a hard time getting back to it is because there are so many episodes out and I figured I was way behind on the story, like starting a series with 10 books already out. But I forgot this is a webtoon and even though it’s been years since episode 1, it hasn’t been that long in the story. Reading it all at once (most of it anyway) was actually really nice because the story is really tight and when the scenes jump around, they always come back together and it was fun to be able to see that. In other webtoons I read, I sometimes have to re-read to put a story arc together.  

 

Yep, I guess I’m a fan now. It’s a very good comic and deserves the praise it’s getting. Plus, with it becoming more mainstream now, it can only be good for other webtoons that I love. I’m really hoping a few of my other favorites get printed.

Lights

 Yesterday I got out to see some Christmas lights with my brother and sister and their kids. It was kind of nice. It was the last warm-ish day we are having according to the forecast so it was a great time to go. 

I haven’t put up a tree this year and so far have no plans to do so, but I did get some lights hung up in a window.  Lights and my nativities will be my decorations this year, unless I get super motivated about a tree. 

Now I’m having a little bit of a lazy Sunday after church, sitting in my library with a blanket and book and Christmas music playing. It’s a good day. 

Happy Late Thanksgiving

Last week I had my annual staycation and it was lovely. Shopping, eating, hanging out with the family, and doing a few (very few) things around the house. I rarely thought about work. I didn’t check the news at all and didn’t have that much time on social media. By Sunday night, I was ready to get back into the normal workday schedule. It would have been a great Monday morning, but I’m completely off my regular sleeping schedule. Ha ha…

 

I’m really grateful for the time I had off. It helps me rest and reset and feel like I can make it to the end of the year. I’m also grateful that I have a regular schedule most of the time. It’s nice to get back to it.

Hello November

Did I think October was my favorite month? I'm rethinking this because so far I'm loving November. I tried to take a picture of the leaves on my tree but I couldn't do them justice. I am loving the gold and red leaves and especially the piles of leaves that are underneath the trees and in the roads.  The piles won't be there long since the lawn care company is here. But my tree still has plenty left to fall and create a new pile.

Other than that life is the same. I'm not that exciting. I've done a few puzzles and I've been reading my Webtoons. 

My pretzel ghosts did turn out super cute!

Mushrooms

So I noticed the other day that I have mushrooms growing in a few places in my lawn. I mean they are just mushrooms and it's not a big deal, but my lawn doesn't normally have the conditions for mushroom growing. It's been a wet October and I've loved it. 

The huge mushrooms made me happy. Also, it made me consider garden gnomes for just a minute. Something about that picture just needs a gnome. The mushrooms won't last and neither will this month or season but I'm enjoying myself in the moment. 

Halloween is coming up and my family is having a "spooky" dinner together. I'm going to attempt a cheeseball that looks like a pumpkin and ghost pretzels. I'm kind of excited. I bought the white chocolate and candy eye balls for the pretzels yesterday and I'm just waiting for the weekend. 

Great Rainy Weekend

 I took Friday off work and gave myself a 3 day weekend. It was so wonderful. I even got out of bed 15 minutes early this morning without being grumpy and got to leave for work without feeling super rushed.

I was going to do a lot of things on Friday but it was trying to rain so I slept in and then got up and ran some errands. Once the rain started for real, I made homemade applesauce and then went into my library and made myself comfortable with a book or two. I read all afternoon and it was so nice and relaxing.

On Saturday I went to the farmer’s market in the rain. I was dressed in layers with my waterproof hiking shoes and rain jacket. I was wet but it was so nice to have the water. My mom and I went to breakfast after the market and then I went home and spent the afternoon and evening cooking and reading.

The sun finally came out on Sunday and when the clouds left, I could see the tops of the mountains have a dusting of snow. My only real plan for the weekend was to enjoy October and I think I can say I did. Even if I wasn’t outside quite as much as I had planned, it was a great weekend.

October is Here!

Yay! Not that’s it’s really any different from September, so far. But the possibilities just make me happy. I got up early to go to the grocery store and get some stuff done. The sun hadn’t come over the mountains yet and most of the valley was still in shadow, but the sun was shining through the breaks in the mountains and it was so beautiful.  I truly love this time of year so much. My mom and I drove a little loop through the mountains last week and the fall colors were really stunning. 

It’s conference weekend and I’m working on craft projects and trying to listen to everything I can. I do love church in my pajamas. Or at least yoga pants. 

Random September

Spent the weekend doing random things. First was the Peach Days parade. My niece and nephew were both in it this year with the marching band and school play so I had to go. It was actually pretty fun. I got a bunch of cucumbers and peaches from my mom. I’m really thankful to live in a place where I can get so much fresh garden produce, either from family or the orchards and farms nearby and a nice farmer’s market.

Went for a walk yesterday on my favorite trail. It’s quick and super easy but also is so pretty to walk through the trees. It was still a little warm but the weather is definitely cooling down. I was able to open my window a bit last night and could sleep under my blankets. It was nice and cozy. I love this time of year.

It's September. Finally!

I’m ready. So ready for fall. The temps are in the 80’s this week and I’m waiting for them to go lower and lower. I’m ready to wear long sleeve shirts, walk in the leaves, and drink copious amounts of hot chocolate. I made a list of books and webtoons that seem great for the darker nights and cooler weather. I want to eat soup and bread. In short, I’m going to hibernate like I always try to do. It’s a good year to hibernate seeing how we aren’t over the pandemic by a long shot.

Summer Rain

We had a wonderful rain storm on Saturday night. We had rain earlier in the week also which caused some flooding in places. It was too much in to short a time. But on Saturday, it felt like a typical summer thunderstorm. Exactly what I think of when I hear Vivaldi’s Summer. The thunder and lightening passed quickly and left us with a nice rain. I opened my windows upstairs and read in my library. It was perfect. I really hope the hot, hot days of summer are behind us. I’m ready for fall. Once again, I’m going to try and be present and live in the day and enjoy it. Time passes so quickly it will be gone before I know it.

I thought the drops on the window screen were cool in the light.

Theater

I spent a few days last week in Cedar City for the Utah Shakespeare Festival. This year I went with both my mom and my niece. We saw The Comedy of Errors and Pirates of Penzance. Both were excellent, although Errors might have been my favorite. I’ve seen Pirates twice before but decided if my niece is going to do theater, she needs some exposure to Gilbert and Sullivan. In the play orientation before Errors started, the guy had said something about you won’t have any problems understanding what’s going on because they speak English. He was correct. I didn’t have any problems understanding it at all although I feel that’s partly due to the great acting. I borrowed the ebook before we left but didn’t get past the first page. LOL I just wasn’t in the mood to fight my way through the text. It’s much more assessable in the spoken form for some reason. It was nice to get out and it was so nice to be back at the theater. I didn’t mind wearing the mask at all if it meant I was back.  We already plan to go back next year for sure.

A very old poster from the festival on display at SUMA. 

I’m super tired of the news and COVID and problems this morning. I guess that means I’m taking a break from some online stuff for at least today. I was listening to an online Sunday school lesson yesterday and the guy talked about how there were sunflowers everywhere he didn’t see, even in his own backyard. So this week I’m going to try and focus on how God is already in my life, I just have to see Him. I know that will help me get my balance back.

Olympics

I am not a sports fan at all. I hate watching on tv, although I have enjoyed live hockey games before. In most cases if you name a team, I can’t tell which sport they play and I’m perfectly happy this way. The exception to this is the olympics. When it comes to the olympics I will watch any sport. Needless to say, I’ve been glued to my computer for the last however many days watching all kinds of sports and crying with them over wins, losses, and upsets.  Yes, my favorite moments are always when the underdogs come up first. To me, that is the olympics, not the politics and other crap that is always there. I have to say some commentators can’t be bothered to report on the actual race, just the person they think is going to win. I mean they are right a lot of the time, but still. I can’t really complain since I’m not paying for any of it. Anyway, this is one of the few times where I am a sports fan. I’ll enjoy it for a few more days and then go back to my old ways. 

Out With the Old, In With the New

So a little over a month ago I made the decision to put a new fuel pump in my car because I didn’t want to buy a new one right now. Two weeks after that my check engine light came on while I was at Bear Lake with my family. Since the car was still running, I drove it home but I was a nervous mess driving it through the canyon. I don’t ever want to do that again. LOL my brother followed me home but he just said at least it was mostly downhill so I could coast if I needed too. Yeah, never again. By the time I got it to the mechanic the light had gone off and they couldn’t tell me what was wrong. So I kept driving it and the light came back on. And then it did this little stutter thing on the way home from my mom’s and I was done. Just done.  I didn’t care what was wrong or what it cost to fix it. I worked from home so I didn’t have to drive it much and did a lot of research and then last Saturday bought a new (to me) car. I got a 2019 Rav4. I was pretty excited on Saturday.

 

Then the anxiety kicked in. LOL I had done my homework and I knew what I could afford and while this is on the high end of it, it is by no means too much. I just haven’t had a car payment for over 10 years and I used my entire car savings account for the down payment. I mean that’s what it was for. But I’m used to having that cushion. Now I have to save up again. And I will. It’s totally fine. It wasn’t my only savings. Just with my brand of anxiety I have to get used to my new normal. I do really like what I got but getting used to it is a little harder that I thought it would be. I feel HUGE in it and I’m not used to driving something bigger yet. And I got rid of my old little Mazda yesterday. One last drive and it was gone. It was a good little car most of the time and now I’m in a monster. I remember when I got my new phone and I hated it at first because it was too big and now it’s just normal. That will happen again. Maybe when it's dirty and smeared with bugs it will feel like mine. :)

I Bought What?!

I was laughing with some coworkers over bad Covid decisions that we’ve made over the past year. I must admit that I’ve made a few, mostly in the form of purchases. LOL There were those scratch off travel maps that I thought would be fun and then they just took up space and were actually not easy to scratch and just annoyed me. The giant outdoor connect four game that was fun once or twice and now sits in my garage and takes up space.  The little shade tent that I absolutely didn’t need and will be lucky if I use once a year. The Hallmark movie channel. I hate Hallmark Christmas movies and Covid didn’t change that. I watched most of the good mystery movies the first week during the trial. It was a total waste. I could go on…

 

"plant animals" I didn't need

Not all of the purchases have been bad. Early on in the pandemic I decided I suddenly couldn’t live without a stand mixer and bought myself a compact Bosch mixer. Mostly, it takes up space on the counter (especially now when it’s too hot to bake), but I have used it and will use it in the future. I definitely didn’t need it but I’m glad I have it. I now have 4 air plants in my house. Didn’t need those either but they are kind of fun to have.

 

The thing I’ve probably spent the most money on is subscription boxes. I used to look at them and think they might be fun but included a lot of junk and were a waste of money. I wasn’t wrong but not exactly right either. There are pretty much subscription boxes for anything you can think of. I’m kind of amazed. I’ve come to realize that yes, they are a waste of money, but they are still fun, and I can usually give away any of the stuff I won’t actually use. The trick is to get a box that you like and will use.

 

My first and still my favorite is the quarterly box from Margot Elena. It’s full of bath and body items, make up, perfume, and candles. Yes, there is always something I probably won’t use at all, but for the most part I love it. The products are so much fun to try and I can usually give the few things I don’t want to my nieces and they are happy to have it.

 

My second favorite is probably the chocolate subscription box I got from Jackie’s Chocolate. I did 3 months of that one for a birthday present to myself. It was so much fun getting chocolates in the mail. They were tasty! I will probably do that one again for a few more months in the winter. They say they pack for every weather but I’m not going to find out how well they pack for the summer heat.

 

I finally broke down and did the famous FabFitFun box. I’ve only had 1 so far and I got the annual subscription so that I could customize everything. It turned out to be a fun box and because I could choose what I wanted, there was very little I got rid of or won’t use. I probably won’t continue it after my year, but it should be fun while it lasts.

 

Let’s see, I did one from Cloth & Paper and that was a bust. Mostly because of me. I love paper products/notebooks, etc. but don’t have their brand of planners or anything and the pens from foreign countries were just ok, nothing to get excited about. That was canceled early.

 

I did the Candy Club box for 3 months and overall, I’d say that was not worth it because I don’t enjoy the types of candy they sell. It’s mostly gummy types in both sweet and sour flavors. I hate sour candy and am not a fan of licorice laces. I shared this box with my family and it was fun to try everything and pass around the little containers, but not worth the money.

 

And finally, the last one is the TokyoTreat box and I have nothing to say about it because I haven’t received it yet. My nephew really wants to go to Japan and we sometimes go to the local Asian market to buy fun things so I thought this would be fun for the family to try for a couple months. We’ll see.

 

There are other boxes I’ve looked at and said no, but I’m sure I will find others I decide to try. Anyway, that’s what I’ve been spending money on over the past 12 months. 

Summer Odds and Ends

It's the hot, hot days of summer. Can’t say this is my favorite time of year, but I will say sometimes the evenings can be nice. I walked to get my mail the other evening and it was still warm, but a little breeze had the air smelling like the canyon and camping and that was nice. Trying to look on the bright side and not wish away my days to cooler weather. I have some time off this week so I’m going to take advantage of the cooler mornings to get outside a bit. I have vacation to use up so I don’t lose it so I’ve spread it out to use up over the rest of the year. 

Not much else going on. I’m still reading a bunch of web comics and my actual book count is probably going to end up low this year. I’ve finished 39 books so far, which is still more than 1 per week (so far) and the caveat applies that I’m doing a lot of re-reading that isn’t counted, which is normal. I’ve haven’t checked so I don’t know for sure, but I feel like my book buying has fallen drastically this year. I’ve still purchased half of the books I’ve read but most of those have been ebooks. I’ve read some good stuff this year, but it’s still a struggle to find books that really keep my interest so I usually fall back on web comics. I’m realizing that even my book reading goes in cycles though so I’m not worried about it. I still love to read and my home library still makes me happy.

 

I made myself finish up a bunch of perfume samples so I could buy more. LOL I’ve been gravitating towards more retro/cologne smelling things lately. That is strange for me. I still like the fresh/floral stuff, but the slightly spicy/woody is also appealing to me now. And I just found one that ends in a very pretty rose, and I’ve never really liked rose before. It felt old fashioned somehow but I’m really liking some old fashioned things now. I’m sure that will also change and next year I’ll be into something else. I still have way too much perfume (regular bottles and samples) but I don’t care. I can’t wear all of it in every season and I like having new stuff to try. 

I’ve been spending tons of money… too much, really, so I think I’ll stop for a while and start saving instead. I don’t need to buy things and probably need to talk myself into doing another purge of all kinds of things I’m not using or wearing any longer. So yeah, it’s just normal life. 

Cars and Decisions

I read this thing in a book, that said something like the coin toss doesn’t lie. Used to make decisions, you have a split second of either Yes! That’s what I want or Oh! I don’t think so types of feelings and then you know what to do.

I had one of those moments last week. I’ve been laughing for a year now that the next big thing to break would be the last straw and I’d be getting a new car. Then my car died on the way home from work. I realized right there that I absolutely did not want to make my car buying decision on the spur of the moment and I actually wasn’t ready to get a new car. My sis and bro-in-law helped me get it towed to a mechanic so they could tell me what was wrong. As I was waiting, the amount I was willing to spend to get it fixed kept increasing. Turns out, I needed a new fuel pump and $1297.00 later my car is up and running again with just the normal weird sounds its been making for a year. It’s not really a good time to buy a car right now; there are still problems lingering from the pandemic. Plus, I’d like to get one more year out of it if I can.  I have a plan in place now for when I do buy a new car. Hopefully, it doesn’t have to happen at a moment’s notice. I already have money saved up for a nice down payment on something fairly new, so that will keep increasing while I wait. I have a few ideas of what I want to test drive, and I have a payment calculator app on my phone. LOL I’m ready now. I still don’t want to do it yet, but this experience showed me how I really feel. That little Mazda and I have been through a lot over the years. 

Nice Weekend

I had a very nice 3 day weekend. My flowers are looking fantastic. A few of them didn’t make it so Saturday morning my sister and I went to another nursery. That was a good mistake. I bought more flowers and even a new houseplant.

 

Sunday, we had family dinner at a park. We had a good time even though a storm was coming in. After we ate and the kids played we went back to mom’s house and then the storm hit. It was raining and blowing crazy hard and then the hail started. A few of the drains in the street got backed up and as soon as the lightening stopped, we took our shoes and socks off and got in the puddles. It was sooooo cold! 

I’m not sure how much hail I got at my house, but only one of my flowers on my back porch had any damage. They sure got lots of water though. I love spring/summer storms!

Poke in the Arm

Just got my second COVID vaccine shot. Yay! It feels so good to have it. 

Right now feels like there might be a light at the end of the tunnel. I sure hope so. 

Cedar City

Had a fun little trip to southern Utah last week. It was really nice to get out. LOL It snowed on us Thursday and Friday. That’s Utah in April for you. Sometimes 4 seasons in 1 day. We did have to switch the day we went to Bryce but other than that, the snow didn’t bother us. I was really glad I packed my winter coat at the last minute though. I definitely used it. 

We stayed in Cedar City and then just drove a few places. I’m definitely going to try and get back down there for the Shakespeare festival this summer. I’m itching to get back to the theater and they are back on this year.

We did a quick little hike to Mossy Cave. It's too late to see the icicles hanging from the top of the cave, but still was fun to see the melting ice and tiny bit of moss. 

I don't think I'd ever get tired of this view at Bryce Canyon. It was cold, but worth it. 

The weather couldn't decide what it was doing. Sunshine and clouds. Sometimes rain or snow.

Found out about the Parowan Gap petroglyphs by the internet and it was a short drive and kind of fun to see. 

I need to remind myself not to have my mom take pictures, but I actually loved this drive in the snow. It wasn't coming down enough to make the roads a mess and ended up being just a really pretty drive over the pass from 89 to Cedar City. 

A Business Proposal

Since I started down the road of web comics full time last year, I have probably spent between $150.00 -$200.00 on “money” for episodes. I started on Webtoons where I still read the most. Then, after debating with myself for a while, I decided to start using Tapas. And recently, I subscribed to Manta comics after getting sucked into one of theirs. I mean, I could read the free stuff or wait for free episodes but I don’t want to. I’m not worried about the money and I feel like it’s going to support the creators that I’ve really enjoyed. I am still deep down the rabbit hole with web comics and have no plans to come out. There are just so many stories that I’ve loved so much so they’re basically like books in that regard. In fact, I really wish some of them could be published traditionally so I could have a physical copy. I even joined Patreon so I could support some of my favorites. I spend less than $10.00 a month on Patreon so it’s not much at all but it’s something.

 

I just finished A Business Proposal on Tapas and I have to say it might have beat Midnight Poppy Land for #1 favorite. I’m calling it a tie for now. If MLP were not on hiatus, it’s possible it would still be ahead. A Business Proposal is finished and I absolutely love that I have a complete story to re-read. And I have definitely been re-reading it. It is a rom com that made me laugh out loud and just feel good. A girl goes on a blind date for a friend and pretends to be a femme fatale to get rid of him. Unfortunately for her, he’s decided to marry the blind date to get his grandfather off his back and he’s also the CEO of her company. Hijinks ensue. The comedy reminds me so much of silly comedy in old movies like The Glass Bottom Boat. The misunderstandings get cleared up before too many episodes and there’s not a ton of extra drama. Ha-ri, the main female character is funny, but she’s also smart and has a lot going for her. Taemu, the main male character is the good looking, rich boss. The thing I love the most about their relationship is that he’s all in from the beginning. He doesn’t even question why. And while it may seem like he has the upper hand, she really does have him wrapped around her little finger even if she doesn’t realize it. Besides the story, the art is fantastic. I don’t always love when web comics use the chibi style, even for comedic relief, but it is so funny here. There’s a lot of understated humor that just gets me. Anyway, A Business Proposal has joined MPL on the list of favorites and it will most definitely show up on my "best of" list for 2021. 

Hello April

I'm working from home today because of an early meeting so I'm sitting in my chair looking out the window, watching it snow. Yes, it's snowing. I actually love snow in April. For one thing, you know it will be gone soon after it stops. But also, it's so pretty. The grass is green and there are green buds on the trees and white flakes floating in the air.  It's not coming down in buckets, just lightly snowing and making the everything wet. We had a beautiful, sunny weekend and now we have have a beautiful, wet weekday. I love it!

Easter Weekend 2021

Easter weekend was great. I had Friday off work because my company gives Good Friday as a paid holiday. My mom and sister took some of my nieces and nephews to the duck pond. The kids had a blast. We had a picnic on the grass and then walked around the pond. I had some bread and we threw it to the ducks. It’s funny how when you feed 1 or 2 they all come over. 

Saturday and Sunday were both spend mostly with family and listening to General Conference. What you can hear anyway with family. Ha ha...I’m probably going to have to listen to a couple sessions over again but I still have some puzzles I haven’t done so that would be a good thing to do together. It was a beautiful spring weekend.

Taking Care of the Crazy

I’m almost afraid to say anything for fear I’ll jinx myself, but I’ve been getting regular exercise for the past 4 months and I feel so good. I don’t plan on stopping. Thinking about my life, I’ve only ever had pockets of exercise. I’ve done really well for a period of time and then stopped. Like my friend and I used to go run at the track at the high school (ha ha ok it was walk/run stuff), I completed 12 weeks of the PiYo program and actually saw results, I walked and hiked a ton to get ready for the trek to Machu Picchu. Then for whatever reason, I stopped. I live in a great place to walk so I always got some exercise, but not regular or consistent.

Last November I think the pandemic finally got to me. I couldn’t deal with the stress and sleepless nights any more. The anxiety was killing me. So I dug out my old DVDs of Leslie Sansone’s Walk at Home program and started walking at home. They aren’t hard and I do sweat but they aren’t super sweat inducers or super high intensity. For the first time in my life I didn’t start exercising to lose weight. I did it to get rid of the crazy. And you know what? My anxiety dropped almost overnight. My sleepless nights took a bit longer to get rid of and sometimes I still have problems falling asleep, which honestly, could just be because of age. I feel so much better. It hasn’t been perfect and there are days when I just don’t care but one bad day doesn’t make a bad week. I started where I was and didn’t make any demands on myself except that I try because it was helping with the anxiety. Now I actually signed up for Walk at Home streaming to my tv and one other program to my iPad. With spring coming, I’ve even gotten outside to walk a few times. I still don’t really love exercise and I’m probably never going to be an early morning exerciser and I’m letting myself be ok with that. What I do love is that I feel better and I’m dealing with my anxiety in a healthy way. 

Friday Thoughts about Work

As much as I enjoy travel, I am truly a homebody and do love being at home. You’d think that would have made me happy during the pandemic, but then I discovered I am not a person that loves working from home. I kind of already knew I wouldn’t like it because I do need something to get me out of the house so I don’t feel like a hermit and I like the routine. I never got told I had to stay home, plus, in my job as HR for a manufacturing company, it was better to be where the people were. 

Now, with my new job I don’t actually live or work in the same state as my team so I’m truly remote. I get to go into the office or not as I choose. At first working from home was not enjoyable to me. I had a hard time separating work from home. As I’ve gotten used to it, I’ve found that there are some definite advantages and things I do actually enjoy. One is the very short commute time: walk down the hall. I also like that I can get up and exercise without actually getting up earlier. Again, thanks to that short commute. And then there’s the flexibility I have to take a lunch break whenever I want and run errands in the actual town I live in. Yesterday, I took a late lunch and went for a walk to enjoy the spring weather and sunshine. It was glorious. I can take breaks to walk at work, but it’s not really the same. 

Anyway, things in my state are slowly opening back up. About half the office is back to working in the office most days. I’ve no idea when everybody will come back or what they will do if people want to stay home (ha ha…not my problem any more). Since I don’t actually report to anyone where I physically work, my new job will allow a hybrid schedule and I’m seriously considering it. I just keep thinking how this summer I would be able to walk outside in the morning (when it’s light and cool) before work and still start working on time if I worked from home. I don’t want to do it all week, just maybe 2 days. If I do end up permanently with a bit of both, I’d like to get a new chair. My desk is fine, but the current chair has got to go.

 

One Year Later

So it’s been a year since things closed down as the pandemic truly became a pandemic in my part of the world. A year and 3 days since I got back from my trip to Egypt and got a cold and got told I had to stay home from work and quarantine for 2 weeks since I had left the country. At that time they didn’t know enough about what was going on and when I called the hotline, I didn’t have the right symptoms to be tested. I’m still pretty sure I just had a bad cold. One thing has definitely changed since that time. My boss had to deliver my computer to me and I have not once left it at work since then. It’s not that I work after hours, but I want to have it to be able to work if I can’t get to work. And now with my new job, I have a lot more flexibility of where I work so I just always have it with me.

Things are opening back up and life feels a little more normal, just we all have masks on. I still do my shopping and work and stuff just as I always did. Church has changed for me, but that’s mostly because I’m still doing it online because I’m lazy. It’s going on in person with masks if I want to be there. I figure I’ll probably go back soon. I do miss the theater. That is one thing I can’t wait to be able to go back to. 

I’ve come to the conclusion that we, as a human race, have been pretty arrogant to think some major thing like this pandemic wouldn’t happen. I mean we have major things all the time, they are just usually more localized instead of worldwide. But I don’t think this is the worst thing I’ll ever see. And in fact when I think about my life personally, the pandemic, even the bad days I had during the pandemic, doesn’t even count into the worst days of my life.

So here I am a year later on a beautiful spring day. A year older, and hopefully wiser. I am truly sorry for those that have suffered and I’ve tried to do what I can for some relief. But really, it’s just life. If it’s not one thing, it will be another. At least that's how I feel one year later.

Birthday Month

The kids helped my mom decorate my cake this year, which is why I ended up with eyeballs. :) I'll take it. 

I ended up inadvertently sharing my piece with my 18 month old niece as she crawled on the table and stuck her spoon and then hand in it. Still, it was tasty. 

Another Weekend at Home

I’m not complaining since it was raining or snowing all day Saturday and I loved just staying in. I did a lot of cooking (and dishes after cooking) and a little cleaning and reading. I also finished another puzzle. I am loving the Ravensburger cozy puzzle series. I might have bought myself another one (actually two) for my birthday.

 

On Sunday after lunch I pretty much got back into bed with blankets and pillows and books/webtoons. It was kind of fun to be in bed in the middle of the day. Later that evening my neighbor came over and we exchanged more puzzles and I sent her home with some homemade rolls along with the puzzles. It was a good weekend.