Best Books 2022

This year’s reading feels a little underwhelming. Still, I did read some good stuff which is listed here, but overall it isn’t the best year for books. Hopefully, I can read more books next year that I really love. I’m wanting that book hangover feeling.  

I read 64 new to me books in 2022. I tried tracking my re-reading and it just didn’t happen. I re-read way too often and rarely a full book. As for stats… My top 5 genres are: Sci-fi romance, Other (which is where I put the Emma Lion books as they didn’t seem to fit my normal genres), Fantasy/Sci-Fi, Historical Romance, and Historical Fiction. A lot of books cross over genres so this is the best I could do to categorize. Mystery, both historical and contemporary (usually a genre I love), was way down this year. I read 5 non-fiction books as well. That’s not bad at all for me.

 

If you combine library and KU to count as borrowed, I borrowed 43 books and purchased 21. That’s a major switch up for me. I did purchase more than 21 books this year; just haven’t read them. And no surprise but I read 27 paper books and 37 ebooks.

 

My Favorites:

The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion Volumes 1-6 -  Beth Brower. Hands down this is the best thing I read all year and I’m a huge fan. I’ve read them all twice and can’t wait for more.

 

The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy – Megan Bannen. A You’ve Got Mail type of book which just really hit the spot for me.

 

A Swift and Savage Tide – Chloe Neill. The first book made the list last year. Just a super entertaining story. Can’t wait for more.

Other Birds – Sarah Addison Allen – this one snuck in at the end. I read it in one day and it fit my mood exactly.

 

Half a Soul – Olivia Atwater – this one also snuck in at the end but it was a nice mix of fantasy/regency romance which seemed lighted hearted on the surface but also had depth.

 

So it seems like a short list, although there are series listed. I do have some notable mentions though.

 

Last Light – Claire Kent - This post-apocalyptic romance hit the spot and I read it twice this year.

 

Crow Bones – Anne Bishop - I really loved being back in the world of the Others. Fun, fun book.

 

The Hollow Places – T. Kingfisher - This was creepy and what she created is really creative. It even inspired me to read The Willows (which was interesting but not one I really can say I liked) to see where her inspiration came from.

 

Hunt the Stars and Eclipse the Moon – Jesse Mihalik - She writes SFR just the way I like it. Light on the science.

 

The Spare Man – Mary Robinette Knowal - This was inspired by The Thin Man and while I had some issues with the FMC, it has really stuck with me as a fun read.

 

 

As for web comics, I’ve really scaled back on what I’m reading. I still love a lot of them but just decided I didn’t want to spend an hour every day catching up with all the new episodes. I let a lot of them on Webtoons go back to the free, regular release (saves me money!) and dropped a few on Tapas as well. Part of the scaling back is because my all time favorite has been on hiatus for half of the year for personal reasons. Other favorites have also recently gone on hiatus. I’m totally fine with that but the excitement of new episodes is just missing right now. I’m still avidly following my other all time favorite and periodically, I do catch up on some series. I actually enjoy reading multiple episodes at a time so it feels like a more complete story. Here are some I’m still having a great time with:

 

Webtoon

The Gentle Way – I support the artist on Patreon and absolutely love this one. It gets regular re-reads.

Lore Olympus

Daytime Star

Long After the Ending

The Runway

 

Tapas

The Stormy Inn

My Boss is My Biggest Fan

Beatrice

The Tyrant’s Secret Secretary

I’m the Tyrant’s Secretary

I Confessed to the Boss

Ha ha lot’s of boss/office romance at Tapas. I have no idea what 2023 will bring. I’ve got shelves full of books and have started my annual list of books I’m planning on buying when they are released. It’s not too big yet. Hopefully, that will change. So happy new year and let’s see what 2023 brings. 

Merry Christmas

Just a nice relaxing day for me. Going to church with my mom and sister and the twins and then hanging out at mom’s house. 

My Gift

I get myself a Christmas present every year. I mean, who else will give me gifts if I don't? I don't really need more stuff though so I wasn't really sure if I even wanted a gift. I did end up with more stuff but I think it will be good. 

I had been thinking about a new chair for my home office since I'm at home about 2 days a week and I had an old hand me down chair. But then I looked at my whole set up at home. My desk is from IKEA and is quite a few years old but still in excellent condition so I couldn't really justify a new one. But it was made for a desk computer with a pull out shelf for keyboard and long hours with my laptop were putting me in an uncomfortable position. So I decided to see what I could do about it. 

I ended up with a new chair, foot rest, wireless keyboard and mouse combo, monitor, and a standing desk platform. 

The old chair:

And the new set up:

I set it all up last night after my monitor arrived and today is my first day using it. So far I really love it. I stood for an hour this morning during a meeting. I am not used to that and it's going to be weird at first but I will adjust. The keyboard can go on my pull out shelf when I'm sitting and it's much more ergonomic and feels a lot better already. The chair is comfy and I love having a monitor. It's only 21.5 in. screen, so small as monitors go, but still bigger than my laptop screen. I still need to figure out what to do about the cords to get them in some kind of order. And I've lost desk space for actual writing. It's not like I do a ton of that and so far that's the only con I've come up with. Well, it looks a little odd even when the desk is lowered. But I'm very happy with everything so far. The chair was the most expensive thing I bought and none of it is top of the line but it seems to be working just fine. In the long run this will be a lot nicer for my work from home days. 

 

Let it Snow!

Yes! We finally got a good snow storm in the valley. The mountains have been getting some but I wanted it at my house for Christmas. I'm guessing I'll still have a little bit by the 25th since it's going to be cold this week and the storms aren't over yet.  

Last night I woke up around 4 am and looked out my window. I knew it was supposed to snow and it was raining when I went to sleep. It was absolutely beautiful to see the snow coming down and there were no tracks of any kind in it yet. It was pristine. All white and pretty falling down from the sky. 

Needless to say, I'm in a great mood. I do love newly fallen snow. 

Happy Late Thanksgiving 2022

Well, my “staycation” week is almost over. I was off work and didn’t really even think about it, which is really nice. I had a low key and uneventful Thanksgiving day, which is probably something else to be grateful for. LOL I did a little shopping and am almost finished, and we even made a little candy yesterday. That day was probably the most stressful and chaotic with kids running around and making messes and that kind of stuff. But we survived that also. 

I put up my Christmas tree and decorated a little bit this week as well. And it’s finally trying to snow again. It’s just making everything wet and not sticking but I’ll take it. It put me in the mood for soup so I’m currently making leftover turkey soup that I will eat with some leftover rolls. Can’t wait! 

So happy thanksgiving and here comes Christmas right around the corner. Can’t believe it’s the holidays again already. 

November 2022

And now it's November. I'm "working" from home today. I say "working" because I'm really staring out the window watching it snow! It is a winter wonderland out there. I'm pretty sure it won't stay very long, although we have another storm forecast for the weekend. But it's here now and I'm loving it. That's really all I have to say. 

Book Update

I’m looking at the books I’ve read this year and I really feel it’s been a lackluster year. I mean, I have read some good and great books, and I have a new series to fan girl over, but it’s a feeling overall. I have only read 50 books so far this year and I checked and last year at this time it was 65. I’ve still been reading web comics but I’ve fallen behind on a lot of those as well. I haven’t gotten above 4 books in a month since May. And finding a new book to start has been hard. Not that I don’t have tons of books I want to read sitting around. I just can’t settle on any of them.  What I have been doing is re-reading, both books and web comics. The past few months I’ve just enjoyed returning to old favorites rather than starting something new. I’m trying to be fine with it but it’s funny how I feel like I’m behind or something. It’s not like I have an actual reading goal and I will still average over a book a week, which is pretty good. Maybe those stacks of books sitting around are getting to me. Might be time to find a place for them on a shelf. Ha ha I googled what the average books read in a year is and it’s 12. Only reading 1 book a month would be so hard for me. I read constantly, just not always new stuff. Sometimes cereal boxes if a book isn’t handy. Maybe now that it's getting colder I will be more in the mood to start new stuff. I guess we'll see. 

Fall Break

I took 2 days off work this week. I needed to use up some vacation and had thought that having a fall break would be nice. I had plans, part of which were to get out and enjoy the beautiful weather we were having. Wednesday at work though I started getting a scratchy throat. I was in denial but stopped by the grocery story on my way home to pick up anything I might need if I got sick. Turned out to be a good thing because I’ve been sick for the past 2.5 days. So long to my plans. I’m even missing a wedding today, but my sinuses are still a mess and I don’t want to get anyone sick, even with just a cold. 

Thursday I mostly just had a sore throat so I did take myself over to the parkway and enjoyed a slow stroll through the botanical garden and down by the river. It was very nice. I sat for a while and watched the ducks. 

I was up really early this morning because I couldn’t breathe to sleep well. Then I took a nap. In spite of missing out on a family thing, it’s not too bad of a day to stay home. We have a storm coming in and it’s blustery and raining off and on. Our first taste of winter is coming. We are forecasted to get a rain/snow mix in the valleys overnight. I’m ready for it. 

Yay October!

Ah, my annual Autumn Love post! LOL Yes, my favorite time of the year is back. The mountains are starting to turn colors and the other day I noticed a few yellow leaves on my tree. We’ve still got some time before they actually start to turn, but I’m here for it. The mornings have been cool and it’s been so nice for sleeping. My bedroom is so much cooler and I was able to put away my fan.

 

As usual, I have plans for fall. I have a few unfinished craft projects sitting around and I’d really like to get at least one of them completed. Plus, I have a new project to start: my office setup. Since I’m regularly working from home, I’ve decided that a good chair is in order and I need to change my setup a bit to be more ergonomic and comfortable. It’s partly going to be my Christmas present to myself. 

 

I’d like to get outside a bit and enjoy the weather and get some walks in. Of course, I have stacks of books to read. That’s a given. My cocoa stash is replenished and I have plenty of blankets and throws to use. I saved some vacations days for October and November so I can even take time off work. Yep, I think I’m ready.

Eye Update

I had my follow up appointment with the eye doctor to see if all the maintenance and Opti-light treatments I did have helped my eyes at all. Before the appointment, I would have said yes because they do feel pretty good most days. I can now usually make it through work without the burning/dry/redness feelings.  

The good news is that yes, they are doing well. The water test that they did was better than the first time and the oil from my glands is mostly olive oil consistency in one eye and not quite in the other. But it's not solid butter or toothpaste consistency like it was before. So my doctor was happy and so was I. 

The goal is to keep up on what I'm doing to keep feeling this way. We will do another Opti-light next year for maintenance and I'm going to increase the number of days I do the warm eye mask and keep up on everything else. My missing glands are never going to grow back so all I can do is try and make sure I don't lose more of them. 

So yes, I have constant upkeep on my eyes, but I mean, I floss and brush every day too. It's just something that has to be done. I'm feeling pretty positive about it though. More good days than bad days is a great feeling. 

FanX Experience

Last Friday I took a vacation day and went to the FanX convention with my nephew. I have never been to a con before and generally would have avoided this one but one of my favorite web comic artists was going to be there and I’m subscribed to her Patreon so I wanted to go. I found a discount code on IG and bought 2 general admission passes. I really wasn’t sure what to expect at all but ended up having a great time. 

The first thing I did wrong was massively underestimate how popular this con is. We didn’t leave for Salt Lake until around 10:45 and when we got down there, the parking garage I had planned on using was full. So was the only other parking lot that I’m very familiar with. We had to drive around for a bit to find a parking lot that was about 3 blocks south of the convention center. By the time we parked and got back to the Salt Palace there was a huge line to get in. I was hungry and getting a little bit impatient with my nephew so we decided to go eat at the food court at City Creek. This was an excellent decision. By the time we finished and walked back, not only was my blood sugar back up and I was happy, the line had died down and we basically walked right in. We picked up our wristbands and headed inside.

 

Artist Alley was the first thing we saw and I found my web comic artist right away. It was fun to meet her in person and talk to her for a few minutes. I bought a keychain from her to hang from my car rear-view mirror. I have a variety of fun things hanging there from other trips.

 

Then we basically wandered around for a few hours. The convention center is huge and there was so much to see. I did not dress up or take pictures of anyone dressed up, but there were some great costumes. My nephew did dress up as Crazy Dave from the Plants vs Zombies video game (it’s been his Halloween costume for a few years). I didn’t think it would be a big deal and bet him $10.00 no one would ask for his picture. We weren’t even there for 10 minutes when he got asked the 1^st time. It was funny how many people stopped him and recognized who he was dressed as. He had so much fun and is already thinking about what he could dress up as for next year.

 

We went near the booths set up for pictures and autographs of the celebrities but didn’t actually go into that section because frankly, I’m not going to pay money for a picture or autograph. Most of the names I don’t recognize anyway. So that part was skipped and not missed by either of us.

 

After walking around for a while, I was tired and thirsty so we got overpriced drinks and found a place to sit. I decided that it might be a good idea to download the app so we could see what all was going on. 😊 We found out there was 20 minutes before… LOL I forget the guy’s name… was scheduled to do a panel. It’s the guy who voices Mario and Luigi and all the sounds for the Mario games. My nephew really wanted to go to that panel so we did. It was fun. The guy was so nice and friendly and even I recognized the voices and sounds he made.

After the panel was over, we walked around for a bit more but it was after 4 pm by then and I swear the number of people doubled. So. Many. People! So we decided to call it a day.  I did have a great time and I would definitely go again. Lots of fun, it was.

Don’t Blink

How did September get half-way over already? I can’t believe it! We started out with a crazy heat wave so my sister and I took the twins and my mom back up to the Uintahs for Labor Day. 

It was such a great day. The weather up in the mountains dropped to the 70’s. I almost needed a jacket when the sun went behind the clouds. 

My mom and I hit the summer farmer’s market up for one last time and I also went to the Peach Days Parade. This year my niece was in it. I love spending time with my family. Work has been crazy busy and I’ve another busy week ahead of me. Then I talked my nephew into going to the FanX con with me later this month. I’ve never been so we’ll see how it is. I truly only want to check out the artist alley because some of my favorite webcomic artists will be there. 

Today I’m hanging out and doing things around the house. It’s raining so the weather is perfect and I’m just enjoying my day off. 

Happy Dance

It's September!!! I was so happy to move the calendar over to the next month. I mean, we are having record heat this week so it's not like summer is actually over, but it's getting there. This year has truly gone by so fast. The sun is even setting about 8 pm. Earlier this week, I knew summer was coming to a close because I was in my sister's garden picking blackberries. Yep, it's that time of year. Plus, the peaches are on and I'm hoping to pick some up at the farmer's market on Saturday. 

So I'm enjoying this time of year. Not wishing it away (even though 100 degree temps are not my favorite thing) but looking forward to darker, cooler days and nights to come. 

Work Travel

I spent this week in North Carolina for team meetings at the corporate office. It was the first in-person meeting I’ve had since I got my new job and joined this team 2 years ago. I had a great time even though it was days full of meetings and having to do some work at night at the hotel to try and keep up. 

I was dreading the actual travel but it wasn’t so bad. The flights were direct and I didn’t have any delays. I’ve still got TSA Pre-Check so getting through security is only mildly annoying. So not as bad as it could have been, for sure. 

I think we will normally have team meetings together every quarter and that much travel is actually something I kind of enjoy. It’s not really often, but when it does come, it makes work different and mixes things up a bit. 

I work on a great team with great people and while we work well together remotely, there are definitely some advantages to being in the same room. It was really nice to be back together. I won’t be dreading the next time so much. I have to go again in September for the big company wide HR meeting and there is talk of October or maybe just early next year for the next team meeting. 

And now I happily await the end of August and end of summer. It’s been a good one but I’m ready for my favorite time of year. 

Theater

I spent half of last week down in Cedar City going to the Utah Shakespeare Festival. This was my 4th year in a row. I really love going to the theater there. This year I went with my mom and a niece (but a different niece than the previous 2 years). We had a good time. The shows were fantastic. We saw four: 

The Sound of Music

I must admit I only bought tickets to this one because my niece wanted to see it. I might have skipped it and I’m so glad I didn’t. I just figured I’ve been exposed to it so much, even though I knew the theater production is different than the movie. It was fantastic. The actress who played Maria brought so much joy and exuberance to the role. All of them did so well with their parts. My least favorite was Captain Von Trapp and I figured out to myself why. I was expecting a slightly deeper voice. He sang beautifully but the timbre of his voice was just higher than I liked. I saw him in another play also and it’s just his voice, there’s nothing wrong with it at all. It’s just a personal preference. 

Clue

I was so looking forward to this one and it did not disappoint. I love the movie so much and this stage version was very similar. They hit the comedy right on and the characters were also spot on. It was so good. I had so many laughs. A favorite part was when they were searching the manor for other people and two of the characters were using a Clue board game for the “map” of the house. So funny. 

Sweeney Todd

This is one of my favorite musicals. It’s one of the rare instances where I love the dark themes and not happy ending. I love the music and the cleverness in the lyrics and how the harmonies all work together. This was my mom and nieces’ least favorite and I can see why. I think you need more exposure to it to really appreciate it. Making meat pies out of people is not for everyone! But it is for me and they did a great job.

The Tempest

Our last play was finally some Shakespeare. This one was in the smaller theater that I had never been in before. They set it in the 1990’s and Prospero and Antonio were played by women. Oh my gosh, it was good. I had some good laughs and really enjoyed seeing what they did on a small stage with very few props. I would love to see it again. Plus, I had forgotten it is the play that Mary Stewart used in her book This Rough Magic and I’ve been re-reading it since I got home.

I thought four plays might be a bit much but it was not. I loved them all and really could have gone to 1 or 2 more without any problems. 

So it was a great time. Right now I’m actually not planning to go next year because I’ve already seen the only play that actually appeals to me but I may change my mind later on. You never know. 

No Service

Drove up to the Uintah mountains with my sister and her twins this past weekend. It was absolutely wonderful. The temperature was in the high 60s and it was overcast and we got a little rain. I want to go back. It was kind of a little sad when we got back to cell phone service and my phone started dinging with notifications. It's the kind of break everybody needs once in a while. 

Long, Hot Summer

It’s so hot!!!! I know I just had some nice summer days, but this is the part I really don’t enjoy. It’s hot and dry and on fire. Once it’s past 9 am I just don’t want to be outside at all and getting in and out of a car for errands is so awful. Guess I shouldn’t complain since where I live, we are set up to have this kind of weather and I have a great 1 year old air conditioner. Other places with record heat are truly feeling it. 

Still, this summer has been flying by. I can’t believe it’s almost August. I’m heading to Cedar City again this year for the Utah Shakespeare Festival. It’s going to be even hotter there! And then I have to go to Charlotte for work. Not really looking forward to it. From the news, flying sounds like not a lot of fun and dealing with airports and then humidity is not something I would choose to do right now. At least the flights are direct. Flight delays won’t result in other missed flights. I’m trying to appreciate the now and not long for Fall. I think I manage most of the time. 

So lately I’ve been indoors in my air conditioning, doing puzzles and chilling. I’m sure my power bill will be outrageous this month. 

July 4th Weekend

These last few days have really felt like summer. I had a few days off from work and spent the first one on shopping and errands and lunch with a friend. Yesterday, I met my sisters and mom and all the younger kids (i.e. the ones without summer jobs) at the river to play in the water. We probably looked crazy sitting there under the trees in our camp chairs but I don’t even care. It feels good to sit next to the water and we can eat our snacks or get in and play and cool off. 

After we got tired of the river, we went for snow cones. After the snow cones, we decided to stop at the new Asian grocery store not far from my house. The kids had eaten all of the Pocky Sticks and we needed more. Plus that store is just fun and I see tons of things from Korean web comics in there. LOL Then we decided we needed Chinese for dinner so we all went to my mom’s house. We had food from the grocery store to cook up and then ordered a small amount of takeout to supplement what we cooked. I took my giant outdoor connect four game (covid purchase) and we played outside some more and had dinner. We were trying to wait for it to get dark to get out the glow sticks but instead around 7:30 we shut the blinds in a room and got them out anyway. 

This morning we met up at the farmer’s market. I got fresh cherries and peas. Plus, we have been wanting to try the donut truck and it did not disappoint. Fresh (and still warm!) glazed sourdough donuts that were the perfect mix of doughy but completely cooked. So, so good! No wonder I’ve been seeing a line at that truck. 

Now I’m finally home relaxing with a cold drink and my air conditioning. It’s hot and dry and a bit windy outside. It’s been a great couple of days and the holiday weekend is just getting started. It’s crazy how fast the days go by when I’m not at work. Happy 4th of July. 

June

Well, summer is in full swing. I’ve been looking ahead at my calendar to plan some things and it’s really going to be over before I know it. That’s fine because it’s not my favorite season. Hot and dry. However for all that, we’ve had some really beautiful mornings lately and everything is still green. The wind coming from the canyon smells like camping and I’ve been taking pictures of wildflowers on my walks. I’m trying to enjoy this part of summer before everything dries out. 

I’ve been feeling extra tired lately so I’m trying to not drink caffeine, especially later in the day so I can sleep, along with making sure I get some exercise.  I win some days and lose some days. I’ve also cut down on my web comics reading. I’m still following all my stories, but I haven’t been getting on every day and I’m letting some of the series I read go back to regular release instead of fast passing. I was spending too much money there and it’s actually been a nice thing to consume less of. Well, maybe not less because I’m staying caught up, but I’m taking breaks. Life is just cycles and I’ve cycled to fewer days of webtoons at the moment. I’ve been in a bit of a reading slump anyway and that is normal too. Anyway looking forward to the July 4th holiday in a couple weeks. I’ve got some time off and I need to plan what to do with it. 

Happy Memorial Day 2022

It has been a cool and wet holiday weekend. I am not complaining. I love it. The mountains are so green and the clouds are down so you can’t see the top. When the clouds move, the parts you can see have snow on them again. It’s just been so pretty. 

It’s been a pretty low key weekend. We waited to do our cemetery stuff today. My sister had covid again and today was her officially over it day. It was a bit cold and slightly rainy off and on while we were at the cemetery. We didn’t stay super long and there did seem to be less people out. I’m guessing a lot of people went on Saturday morning before the rain really set in. We did get to hear/see the gun salute and Taps played for our armed forces veterans. My mom cleaned up dad’s headstone a bit and there is a big bush next to him that she cut back. And the kids ran all over and had fun. We aren’t a very sentimental family. 

On Friday after work I had made a quick trip to the Wellsville cemetery and there were two men sitting there enjoying the nice weather and the peaceful atmosphere. They told me they were from Colorado and they drove here just to enjoy the cemeteries. In their experience there aren’t a lot of places that decorate graves like we do in Utah. I wouldn’t know, of course. It’s just what we do on Memorial Day and what my mom expects us to continue when she’s gone. It does make me think though that these were real people with real lives and while I have memories of many of them, some of the older family I didn’t know at all. 

Not long ago I watched something about family history work on the church website and one girl said she’s been uploading pictures. It occurred to me that maybe that is something I could do. I never know where to start but I could start looking at my pictures and working back. I know I have some pictures of some of my grandparents. At least it’s something. 

Weekend

For sure the weekend went by too fast! Friday night I went to see my 2 nieces in a local community theater production of James and the Giant Peach. They both did a great job and even though that’s not my favorite production by a long way, it didn’t drag and was fun to see. 

Saturday my sister and I took 5 of my nieces and nephews (including the 2-year old twins) to the Treehouse Museum. We had planned on being there for 3 hours and I was exhausted after 1. The twins had so much fun, but they ran everywhere they went. The older kids had a blast too. We made it 2.5 hours before we packed up and went for ice cream. The 5 year old even fell asleep afterwards on the way to his soccer game. I’m glad they had fun. I spent Saturday evening in my pjs with a book. LOL

Yesterday I went to church with my mom since it was Mother’s Day and then we left and went for a drive to Park City. We took the back way and it was a really nice drive. It was cloudy and even tried to snow on us in Park City, but this is the time of year everything is green and it was so pretty.  I woke up in the middle of the night and it was raining and this morning when I opened my blinds, we had snow on the mountains and rooftops. It won’t last, but I did put on a long sleeve shirt this morning. I was late for work and it’s definitely a Monday but I’m telling myself now: It’s going to be a good week. 

Mascara

To date, mascara is the one makeup item that I always wear no matter what from the time I started wearing any makeup in 7th grade (the year I went to Jr. High and mom let me start wearing makeup at all). It truly became a bit of a security blanket for me and except for rare instances of outdoors activities, I always wore it. Didn’t even matter how early I had to get up to make sure I at least had that on. I do feel more confident with make up on. Funny though because I don’t wear that much makeup in general. Eye liner and mascara, either some liquid or powder type on my face to even the skin tone but not caked on, and concealer. I’ve never gotten the hang of eye shadow and my eye lids are so oily it is gone by mid-day. 

So in my un-scientific endeavors to try and make my eyes feel better, I’ve been experimenting with how I wear eye makeup. I just feel like mascara exacerbates the issue when I’m having “bad eye” days. So I’ve been trying to do without it sometimes. On my work from home days I don’t wear eye make up at all and have been running errands that way. I went to the theater in SL without eye makeup on one night when my eyes were killing me. I already knew that nobody else cares. I’m only the center of attention in my own world and mind. When running errands nobody knows the difference. And my friend with me at the theater certainly didn’t care. 

My eyes were killing me this morning so I didn’t put any mascara on. I used a little bit of eye liner and a new type of eye shadow stick I recently bought. It’s a neutral color and doesn’t have to blend with anything else. Then I went to work. And I’ve been fine. I have to wear my glasses to read the screens and it’s not like I get out of my office all that much anyway. I’m the only one that actually cares. But regardless of what I tell myself, I’m a little bit proud that I did it. I’ve been telling myself one thing for most of my life even though it wasn’t true and now I’m doing something different. It’s not that I’m never going to wear mascara again. I might wear it to work tomorrow. But I am dealing with and changing a lie I told myself for years: I have to wear mascara to look (nice, like I tried, like myself?). 

This morning my eyes were dry and burning and they are still dry and burning. What they are not is swollen and I think it’s because they are mascara free. This is just one day and I’m not done experimenting but I feel I’m making progress. My goal is to feel comfortable with whatever my eyes are going to do any given day and just roll with it. 

April Odds and Ends

I had a really nice weekend. It rained Friday and Saturday morning, but it turned out to be really nice. On Saturday I went with my sisters to my local library where they were giving out packets of ladybugs for earth day. The twins love ladybugs and my nephew Owen, went through a huge bug phase one summer and still likes them. A local aquarium brought some exhibits and let the kids touch a snake and see some baby sharks swimming. It was kind of fun.

 

My flowers outside are starting to bloom and I was so pleasantly surprised when I saw that my new succulent already shot up a bloom. I was not expecting that at all. I can't wait for it to open.

I have been borrowing books from the library again which is kind of nice. I felt like I had spent less money on books so far this year, and it’s possible, but I have still bought quite a few. 10 paper books and 12 kindle. Only 3 of the 10 paper books were actually new to me. I had already read and decided to buy the other 7, mostly because the paperback version was released. And a few of the 12 kindle books were free, I picked them up on a deal. So I’m probably really not spending less money on books, it just feels like it. I’m pretty sure I’m not doing as much impulse book buying after reading reviews. I’ve been checking the library first and waiting for sales. And that is because unless I start reading it right then, it will just stay in the pile of unread books and right now I just don’t want that. I have too many of those as it is. Of course, I’m still spending a lot of reading time on Webtoons and Tapas. That’s not going away.

Movie

I went back to the movie theater for the first time in 2 years. Maybe even a little longer since I didn't go at all in 2020 even before the theaters closed. We saw The Lost City, which was dumb, just like I expected from the previews, and gave me some good laughs. I got to sit in a reclining seat with movie theater popcorn - aka too much butter on the top and nothing at the bottom. It needs to be more evenly coated, IMO.

Still it was so nice. I haven't paid attention to what's coming out in a long time but I guess I'll start again. Movies are one thing I like to do by myself. I mean, it's fun with people too, but I don't have to worry about anything when I'm by myself. I sit where I want, eat what I want, and watch what I want. 

Eyes, Part IV

Well…I survived my 4th and final (for now, at least) eye treatment or whatever we’re calling it. My eyes felt great last week, for the most part, but I was on vacation. They’ve been pretty decent this week as well though, so maybe it’s working? It’s definitely gradual but they told me it would be. I’m waiting a couple more weeks to give this last treatment time to work before I decide if it was worth it or not. I mean already, it kind of was because the doctor was able to squeeze oil out of both eyes. It’s still not quite the olive oil consistency it’s supposed to be but it’s a lot better than it was. But then again, if I knew what I was in for when I signed up, I’m pretty sure I would have said no.

Which brings me to the next point. If I’m not feeling all that much relief in a few weeks, I have the option to follow it up with a different treatment. I forget the name of it already. But they basically put these things in your eyes that do some kind of massage/heat thing that gets the same results as the squeezing does. This was originally given to me as treatment option #2 and I said no to it based on the idea that they had to put things in my eyes. I didn’t know at the time that option #1 (which I choose), was also going to put things in my eyes because the brochure doesn’t tell you that! The picture shows goggles! 

Anyway, the idea of putting eyeball caps (I think they called them shields) in my eyes no longer terrifies or grosses me out so I’m not saying flat out no right now. But I’d really like to be done for awhile. So we’ll see. I have already scheduled a 6 month follow up to see how it’s going. 

So now I’m taking it easy tonight. I’m not hot or tense any longer and my face feels fine. My eyes are a little dry and tender, but that’s to be expected. I’m going to watch a movie and maybe sample a few of those chocolates I bought last week. 

Road Trip!

I took a week of vacation this week and it has been so nice to be away from work. I haven’t even thought about it until I just typed that sentence. My mom wanted to go somewhere so I told her ok as long as we went south so it was warmer. 

We drove down to St. George the first day and stayed overnight there. A coworker told me to go to the botanical garden there and it was nice. I liked walking around it. 

The next day we headed into Nevada and stopped at Valley of Fire state park. I’d never been there before so that was a fun side trip. It was windy though and wind kind of aggravates my eyes so we didn’t do so much walking around there.

We spend that night in Pahrump, Nevada. The next day we got up early and drove to Death Valley National Park. The high temperature was supposed to be 92 so we wanted to start before the heat of the day. Usually, I think of Death Valley as somewhere to drive through/past as fast as possible but it was actually fun to go there and see the diversity of the landscapes and vegetation. 

We walked out on the salt flats at Badwater Basin. At 282 feet below sea level, it’s the lowest point in North America. 

My car is sitting here in the parking lot and on the mountain behind it is a tiny white sign that says: Sea Level.

We walked up a couple of hills at Artists Palette. The sun was in the wrong spot to see the colors really bright but they are definitely there. 

We made Zabriskie Point our last stop. It was fun to see part of the park. There was still so much more we didn’t see. I would not want to do that in the summer and the heat, but it would be fun to go back during the winter months and see other parts and get some sunshine. 

And before we came home we stopped in Las Vegas and went to Ethel M’s chocolate factory. Yes, I bought way too much chocolate to bring home. I regret nothing. The little cactus garden they have there was also a nice place to walk . 

Of course my mom survived walking around the uneven ground in Death Valley just to walk off the curb at a gas station and do a face plant. She wasn’t hurt, but was bruised so the trip home was a fast one. We left Vegas at 6 am and drove home. We did stop back in St. George to go to the Farmstead Bakery because of a billboard we saw on the side of the road. It was excellent and worth stopping at. 

It was a fast trip but very relaxing. I stayed off social media and the news but then was very happy to sleep in my own bed last night. I like to go places, but I really like to come home. 

Eyes, Part III

So….I had my 3rd eye appointment today. This one only took about 40 minutes so I think we went through everything faster, which is nice. It is still really weird. I think the numbing drops didn’t get quite where they needed to because I felt the eye cap/covers a bit more. I am fine with the face zapping on all parts except around my mouth and forehead. Those areas are more sensitive, I guess so they hurt the worst. The doctor was also able to squeeze some more oil out afterwards. I had mentioned that they were super irritated after the 2nd appointment so he put in more eye drops at the end to help me recover. Right now my eyes are irritated again, but not so much I can’t handle it. 

I had one really great day last week and then the days I work at home are usually pretty decent. I really, really hope this works. It’s supposed to be a gradual improvement but I would love to have some more good days. More good days than bad days would be really nice. 

Eyes, Part II

So I survived my second eye treatment. Leading up to it, I wasn't sure if knowing what was going to happen was good or bad.  I had a bit of anxiety and made sure to get some exercise beforehand (you aren't supposed to exercise after because you don't want blood rushing to your face).  

The treatment was still strange. The light zapping my face still burned and trying to get my glands to express oil was still uncomfortable but it is still definitely do-able. Because they didn't have to explain every little thing to me this time, the appointment overall took a little less time and after it was over I felt less exhausted than the first time. And I feel like I can definitely survive the next 2 appointments. 

There is some good news that the doctor was able to get oil out of both eyes this time. Not much, and it's a terrible consistency so it's really not that great. But I'll take it. My eyes were super irritated the rest of the day and part of the next but I got over that too. Fingers still crossed that this helps me. 

And in other good news my new succulent survived shipping this time and I have it planted in it's little pot. It still looks a bit sad but that will change as it adjusts. 

Birthday Subscription Boxes

My birthday presents to myself this year were mostly subscription boxes. I wanted to try a couple new ones. The first one was a bit of a bust. I got 1 month of Finders Seekers, which is a type of mystery game where you look for clues in the items in the box. I thought it might be fun to play with my family. We’re not that kind of family, I guess. We used the hints on every clue and did solve it, but we did it mostly to just get it over with. It’s similar to the Outfoxed board game, which is more for kids and my family loves, and prefers, to what this box had. Oh well, we tried it and now we know. 

The second box was from Introverts Retreat. I did this one on a whim at the last minute and had very low expectations. Book subscription boxes always look fun, but I am very picky about my books and rarely read mainstream or literary fiction. I absolutely loved this one. I got to choose my drink (hot chocolate) and genre (romance, which I picked because I figured it was a throw away book anyway and mysteries I don't pick myself never work out). The book they sent was a Georgette Heyer that I don’t have and will absolutely read. And the treats and candle are just fun. I was only going to do one month of this one but I’m going to do another one because I liked it so much. A win, for sure.

 

And finally, I got myself a 3 month Succulents Monthly subscription. I get a little plant in the mail along with a pot and soil. The first one came and it looks like it might be a fun little box that I will be happy to get. However, the succulent was frozen and all of the little leaves had fallen off. Are they even called leaves on a succulent? I contacted the company and they are sending me another plant. That’s really great of them. Now that I’ve seen the type of plant I’m supposed to be getting, I really want it. I’m hoping for better weather in March and April so hopefully my next couple months of plants survive the shipping. 

So another great birthday month is over for the year, but the presents will still be coming. Ha ha ha