Best Books of 2024

Wow, 2024 has been a year, and not one that I want to repeat! I think it turned into a year of comfort reading and I like that. Comfort is one of the great things about reading. Looking back at my goals from last year, this year was supposed to be a “free for all” year so I guess I succeeded. I think I had hoped to read a few more of the books I already own and I’m not sure I did that, but whatever. 

I read a respectable 80 books. My top genres are Fantasy/Sci-Fi, Historical Romance, Romantic, and Historical Mystery. Then a tie for 5th place between Contemporary Romance and Nonfiction. I read 9 nonfiction books this year, which is a record for me. And 15 books by Georgette Heyer, which is why historical romance is so high. I definitely found comfort in her books this year. They are just so charming and feel-good. I’m a big fan. Other stats: 68% of the books were paper vs 32% electronic, and 60% were purchased vs 40% borrowed.

So here are my favorites for the year in the order I read them. 

Jane & Edward - Melodie Edwards

This retelling of Jane Eyre really hit the spot.

Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands - Heather Fawcett

Emily drives me a little crazy but I found this series this year and really loved it. Bought the first 2 books and am waiting for the final early next year. 

The Talisman Ring - Georgette Heyer

A hilarious farce. Heyer does the comedy of manners so well. 

The Blond Identity - Ally Carter

This one may not be great literature but it was light and funny and I read it when I really needed that. 

When Among Crows - Veronica Roth

A very interesting urban fantasy. It’s a novella with a completely fleshed out world and I would love to read more of. 

The Toll-Gate - Georgette Heyer

Another really fun book. I’ve already re-read it as well. 

The Spellshop - Sarah Beth Durst

Cozy, low angst and just a feel good book all the way around. It has cottages, mer-people, unicorns and magic in it. 

One Dark Window, Two Twisted Crowns - Rachel Gillig

I don’t follow booktok and generally stay away from books hyped that way, but saw them on GR and downloaded them from Kindle Unlimited and read them on vacation. Not without flaws, but I haven’t been so sucked into a fantasy for a long time. 

The Witchwood Knot - Olivia Atwater

A delicious dark fairy tale. I read 2 of Atwater’s fairy tales this year and can’t wait for more. 

Life on Svalbard - Cecilia Blomdahl

This one is such a fun look at life in a small remote northern city. The pictures are fantastic and you can tell the author really loves it there. Makes me want to pack up my life and move there as well….or at least travel somewhere fun. 

Full Speed to a Crash Landing - Beth Revis

I do love a good space romp and this one delivered. I’m making myself borrow the series from the library, but I may cave and buy them when book 3 comes out next year.

I’ve decided to have fun with my reading goal for 2025. I have 8 bookshelves in my library and on every single one of them I see books I haven’t read. So the goal is to pick a book I haven’t read from every bookshelf. If I get really ambitious, I’m going to try for every single shelf on the 8, but we’ll see. There are actually individual shelves where I have read all the books. LOL

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas! 

I didn’t mean to be up early, but I’ve had this cough that makes sleeping hard. Some mornings are worth getting up for. I watched it rain for a minute then went to take a shower. Then I opened my blinds to find the snow coming down. It’s one of my favorite things. It’s turned into a “wintery mix” so probably won’t lay much more, but I’ll take it. 

I turned on my Christmas tree lights and put a fireplace on the tv and opened my presents. I don’t truly mind being alone and had fun with my family last night. It’s going to be a rest day watching movies and reading. Truly I’m grateful for my blessings, including this beautiful Christmas day. 

Christmas Eve

It's hard to believe that we're to the end of the year again. I had my family over on Sunday for cookies and we played games. Later today we will be getting together for our family Christmas celebration. I'm looking forward to it. Tomorrow I plan to spend the day in my pajamas, watching movies and reading. My brother invited me to his house and I thanked him because it was nice of him, but the being alone part doesn't bother me. Christmas has been quiet for years with just me and mom and Amy, and then me and mom after the twins came. I even have a couple presents under the tree (and I don't know what all of them are!) so I'll get to open a present or two. Funny how that isn't important to me as I'm getting older. But on the other hand, I wanted something for myself under the tree since mom isn't around to give me things I don't need. :) I found another silly kitchen timer in the back of a kitchen drawer. I'm keeping it, even though I never use the things. 

My sister made popcorn cake this year. She didn't have the Bundt pan so she put them in muffin tins, which is a fantastic idea. They didn't taste quite like mom's but the flavor is definitely there and eating one kind of made the day for me. I have 2 more wrapped up waiting for tomorrow. 

I miss mom and it's still going to be a good holiday with the family. 

It's Coming Fast

One more full week of work until Christmas and New Year’s and the year winds to a close. It’s not a year I want to repeat so I hope that next year will be a little better. It will be different of course, but hopefully I continue to heal and grow. 

I ended up having a really nice weekend, all things considered. I spent some time with my brother’s kids and at home I read and baked and made caramel. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to bother with neighbor gifts this year, but something a guy said in church made me think I should do it. So I did. 

Recent events also had me meditating and taking a good look at my life and I have to admit I’ve grown complacent about a lot of things and I’m letting more things happen to me and passively accepting them. It’s time to make a course correction. I know myself and I know I will probably fall back into some old habits but maybe I can continue to make small changes and see it faster when I get off course. 

I’m hopeful. I think that’s a good way to celebrate Christmas and start the new year. 

 

Foggy Night

It’s pretty foggy (or should I say misty?) out there. We actually have a fog warning for low visibility. The past 2 days driving into work in the morning were very foggy driving by Willard Bay. I do have to admit I don’t love to drive in it. But tonight I went outside and just stood there so soak it in, in the dark. My neighborhood is quiet and while it’s not super thick here, it’s just enough to be a cozy winter night. I really wish we would get some snow or even rain. We need the water.  

I’ve one Christmas present left to buy. And I bought myself some stuff and some of it is even under the tree. I figured I needed something to look forward to. I also decided to get myself a stack of books with my bonus. Books that I either wanted or have read and loved and want to own. There are 2 more books I’m debating buying. Then I need to be done. 

I also signed myself up for another trip next year. This time it will be in December and I’ll be going to some Christmas markets in counties I’ve never been to. I was debating but then I saw the trip was almost full so I hurried and signed up. I definitely want to go. One of the countries is Luxembourg, which I’ve never truly considered but now think it will be so much fun. This tour also has some chocolate making on the agenda. 

So I have things to look forward to next year. For now I’m going to just enjoy this foggy night. 

Done!

It’s 2:20 on Saturday afternoon and my house is clean and all back together and all my Christmas decorations are out. The tree is up. I’m finished. And I’m tired. LOL I cleaned last night and mopped my floors right before I went to bed. It was so nice to sleep in and get up to a clean house. So today I’ve decorated and done laundry. 

I was debating even putting up the tree this year, but then decided that the lights make me happy and I don’t need to make myself feel worse than I already do. I even hung lights in my front window. I’ve got another string of lights on my bakers rack. Basically, I went all out this year. I’m all light up for the holiday. 

I’m going to read for a while and then I’ll make some dinner. The first of my leftover turkey recipes. I might even make up a batch of homemade hot chocolate a little later. I feel like being cozy for the rest of the day.

Happy Thanksgiving 2024

It has been a really nice week. I definitely needed the break from work. I had thought I would check my email once but I haven’t so far. It’s been so relaxing.

I survived Thanksgiving and even had fun with the family in my space. It wasn’t fancy and was kind of weird though. The turkey was done early, but it actually tasted really good and wasn’t dry. My brother ended up with some kind of food poisoning before the actual Thanksgiving dinner so he stayed in the car for an hour or so just sleeping, I guess. We made him up a plate, but he didn’t eat anything at my house. And I had made sure we had plenty of mashed potatoes because he can really put them away. So lots of those leftover. Plus, the turkey came from work so I didn’t get to choose the size and it was 19 lbs. Even dividing it up, I have a lot of turkey meat. I’ve got 3 recipes I’m going to use it in fairly quickly, I think. 

Plus my niece and nephew and one of their friends showed up after they ate dinner at the other grandma’s house and ate some more here. It’s fun to have them old enough to do that and I love having them here. 

I’ve got most of my Christmas shopping done. Just have 2 boys left to do. Today we made candy at my sister’s house so by the time I got everybody back home and made it home myself, it was 4:00. The day went fast. I took a little nap because I had a headache and I’ve been cleaning and putting stuff back and making room for the Christmas tree, which I’ll put up tomorrow. 

So we managed Thanksgiving and candy making without mom but I think she’d be proud of how we did. She taught us well and I’m really blessed that we all live close and more importantly, that we all get along and enjoy spending time with each other. For all our faults and imperfections, my parents did an excellent job and really did create a forever family. 

Another One

Today was another rough day, brought on by getting frustrated at work. I’ve been feeling a little bit like I needed a good cry, so maybe it’s not that bad. But I’ve been weepy all day. By the time Thanksgiving actually comes, I’ll be fine. I will miss mom of course, but we’ll get through it. Anyway, I’ve been missing mom and staring at this turkey in my fridge and realizing I have to figure out how to cook it. Ha ha it’s fine. Everything is fine. Thanksgiving is actually going to be at my house this year, because it’s only going to be 8 of us. Anna’s family will be with the in-laws this year. I think I’ve got a pretty good plan in place to keep my sanity, but also enjoy the time with family.

There are some good things. I managed to straighten my hair without frizz today. It’s not quite as sleek as when it gets done professionally, but looks a lot better than the last time I tried it and the ends weren’t all nasty frizzed. Yay!

We did solve our problem at work. Well, we got the test to work. It’s still a lot of work to get everything resolved, but we’ll get there. 

I have all next week off and now that we got that test to work, I don’t feel bad about actually taking it off. I’ll be able to relax and enjoy it a bit, I hope, in spite of everything. 

I had to work late last night so I actually took off early and got a walk in before it got dark, and noticed this thing on the parkway that I have never seen before. My sister and I have been trying to figure out how long it’s been there. LOL  Crunching through all the leaves felt fantastic. Walking is a sanity saver, for sure.

Made It!

Not gonna lie, it was a rough week. We finally have a solution for our problems at work even though we can’t implement them until Monday. 

I took a walk during the day on Wednesday and snapped this picture. I feel like the universe was talking to me. 

And in other news I logged on to FB for the first time in a long time and found out that my favorite webtoon is on indefinite hiatus and I’m guessing it will never be finished. I guess it hasn’t been my favorite for quite a while now, but it was really one of the things that got me through 2020 and 2021 and I’ll always be fond of it for that. Maybe I’ll go do a re-read of it before the episodes disappear just because I can. I’ve moved on with my life now though so I’m not sure it would have stayed a favorite. No way to know now. I do still read web comics, just not that many and I don’t spend nearly the amount of money on them that I did back then. Probably a good thing. 

Now that I made it to Friday, I’m looking forward to the weekend. I don’t have to work and it’s supposed to rain/snow for a bit tonight and tomorrow morning. Can’t wait!

Odds and Ends

I love lazy Sundays! Oh, wait, this hasn’t been a lazy Sunday. Ha ha oh well. 

I was in Charlotte last week for work and struggled to sleep all week in the hotel. I got home late Thursday night and these last 3 nights I have slept so well in my own bed. It’s been glorious. 

We had a problem come up at work last week and I had to get some support help from our software company and while I was at the airport waiting for my flight, they told us what happened and it’s a really, really big mess. One of the members of my team was doing a relatively normal purge process to delete some data and I don’t know what happened, but she chose the wrong option or something and instead deleted over 300,000 applicants from our recruiting system. And since that’s my part of the system, I get to help fix it. I’m not even a little bit mad at the person. I feel terrible for her. And I feel relief that I didn’t make that mistake and I’m not her supervisor or manager. We are trying to reload some of the data and since I’m not much of a data person, it’s been a bit of a struggle but I’m getting through it. I worked 10 hours on Friday and almost 7 on Saturday.  On Friday afternoon I sent the person a message basically telling her to hang in there and I’m glad she’s part of our team. I just felt I needed to say something because I really am not mad at her. I told the people helping to load the data that I was offline today. I do need a break and I’m taking it today. We have a paid holiday for Veteran’s Day tomorrow and I’ll be working it, so I’m not working today.

We had our primary program in church today. I had taken a break from work yesterday to go to the practice and we did the thing today. The kids did so well. It was my day to play the organ and since I’m the primary pianist, I had double duty today. All my mistakes were minor and the kids remembered words and the places where the melodies changed and they just did really good. They didn’t need me for second hour so I came home. LOL I’m sure it should have stayed and gone with the adults but that took a lot out of me. It’s relief to be done with it, even though playing music for the primary is one of my favorite things. 

And now I’m going to go cuddle in a warm blanket in my library for an hour and then get ready to go to family dinner. I made pumpkin pie bars for dessert. Never made them before so hopefully they turned out ok. 

Rough

Today has been a rough day for me. All I really think about the election results are bad words. Since I still can't let some of my emotional things roll off as easy as I used to, I have been struggling. I went for a walk after work and it has helped a lot. I'm going to sit back and probably feel sad and angry for a few days as I process everything. I'm staying completely off social media and the news for the rest of the week. And after that I'll figure out what I can do about it. There's a lot I can't do, but I can do some things. 

Happy Halloween

It's kind of gloomy and cold outside so it's kind of a great day for Halloween. It's not my favorite holiday, but I don't mind it. I stay away from the scary parts and have fun with the cozy parts. I think tonight I'm going to bake something with pumpkin while I read and watch old movies. I don't get tons of trick or treaters but I do get some and I don't mind giving out candy either. I have a pumpkin on my t-shirt and come candy corn earrings in and that's as dressed up as I ever get. We carved pumpkins the other night. Mine is the skeleton in jail. I kept it simple this year. LOL  I'm ready for the cozy part of fall and so happy that it's finally here. 

Election Anxiety

This is so crazy but the election and news about the election is giving me major anxiety. I fully realize that people on both sides of the candidates are probably feeling the same things, even though it's unreal to me how that happens. In the grand scheme of things, this election probably doesn't matter much at all. And at the risk of sounding like the older generation that drives me crazy when they say things like this, I can definitely see some parallels from this time to the scriptures.  But I have already voted and have received the notification that my vote was received and counted. And I'm going to look around me and do what I can in my actual sphere of influence. And that has to be good enough right now. I am very carefully picking what kind of news I'm getting and what kind of social media I'm consuming. I figure if I don't know what's happening in the world the next 8 days, it will be ok. 

Last night at family dinner we all put our phones on the table to see who would crack first and need to pick up their phone. We ended up putting them in a box (the 5 year old did it so we didn't touch them) and used the table to play card games. I had a really fun time. And those who weren't playing cards were running around outside with the younger kids. It was really good for us. The 20 year old cracked first, but all of us were having the impulses to check the phones, either to google something, or if notifications came through. We really ought to do that every family dinner. 

Tonight we are carving pumpkins to get ready for Halloween. Then the rest of the week when I'm not at work, I think it's going to be self care week. Do things around my home or neighborhood that feel good. Smile at people at the grocery store, that kind of thing. And I'm going to read books that make me happy. It supposed to get cold, so I'm going to get cozy. 

Next week on actual election day/night, I won't be home and I have plans for the evening so I will tune it out even longer. No matter what happens, it's not the end of the world, no matter what my anxiety is telling me. 

Rollercoaster

I got frustrated at work this week and it kind of dumped me back down to the bottom of the roller coaster with my emotions and now I’m kind of in the dumps again and tiny things are making me tear up. I write it here to process through my feelings. It wasn’t just work; I could kind of tell it was coming. Maybe I was just a little bit moodier than normal? I don’t know for sure. 

It’s ok. I’m giving myself space but also trying not to just sit around feeling bad. We have 2 funerals in my ward this weekend so I signed up to make funeral potatoes for one of them. Then I checked the list yesterday and they still needed some cakes so I signed up for a cake as well. I’ll be running them over to the church in about an hour. It does feel good to do some service. I learned a new song for primary. We have the primary program coming up in a few weeks and playing the piano for them is something I love. 

So I’m ok, I really am. And it’s ok if I want to take a day to feel down in the dumps. Right now, I can’t decide if I want to sit around and read or watch movies tonight or if I’d rather clean my bathroom. Both would probably make me feel good. Tomorrow is supposed to be a beautiful day so I’ve promised myself I will make an effort to get out and walk. Enjoy some nature and this beautiful fall season. 

This is the right way for me to deal with everything and if it starts to feel wrong or not working, I'll move on to something else until I finally get to a point where it doesn't derail me. 

 

Finally, October

Our cold front came in and it finally feels like fall. It’s 66 degrees in my house so I’m baking a frozen pot pie for dinner. LOL I don’t know why but the first time it gets cold in the house, I don’t like to turn the heat on. I’m wrapped up in blankets and having the oven on will warm it up. I slept really well last night with the window cracked and I was buried under the blankets. I love it. 

I went to my uncle’s funeral on Wednesday and it just got me sad again. So I’ve been feeling a little bit down and getting teary at odd moments. Today was a good day though. My sister and I took the twins to the Treehouse Museum to play for a couple hours this morning. Then we went to lunch. We tried a new Thai place on 25th street that serves pho. It was a good pho so now we have a good place in town to get it again.  Then we drove out to a fruit stand on the highway to buy pumpkins. I figured it was kind of like going to a pumpkin patch? LOL But the kids had fun and got to choose their own this year. So now I’ve got my pumpkin. 

So all in all a good fall break and I’ve still got the weekend ahead. And now it’s starting to get dark so I’ve got some comfort lighting on and a fake fireplace on the tv. I’m just going to have a cozy night tonight. I’ve been waiting for this weather all month so I’m going to enjoy all I can. 

Random Life

I took time off this week to have “fall break” with my sister and the twins and then we decided not to go anywhere. I’m still taking the time off and we’ll go have fun around town. I’m happy with that decision. It’s actually supposed to get cold and rainy on my 2 days off so I’m finally getting what I’ve been asking for. Ha ha  I will make sure I have some time for 1 or 2 of my rainy day projects as well. Last night after family dinner we walked to a park and enjoyed being outdoors. It was a really glorious evening. I’ve nothing to complain about. I was happy with the way my dessert turned out. The kids thought it was fun.

After years of streaming tv and just paying the subscriptions, I’m finally taking a look at the money I’m spending for the value. The channel I watch the most is YouTube because I stream a lot of ambient noise/music. Most of the time, the ads there don’t annoy me enough to stop. So I’ve canceled or will be canceling most of my subscriptions. 

I decided to keep Amazon prime because I do use it and so far their ads are doable and not super annoying. I donated enough money to PBS to get their full streaming services. I feel like that’s doing a good thing and will satisfy my documentary wants. 

I canceled CrunchyRoll and AppleTV (it was a free couple months from my new phone which I then forgot to cancel). And in November I will be canceling Disney+ and Netflix when those expire. I watched a movie the other night on Netflix and they showed an ad every 13 minutes. It was way too much for me and I don’t get enough value to bump up to the non-ad version. 

Who knows, with the money I’m saving, maybe I’ll bump up my YouTube to premium and have the place I stream most be ad free? Something to consider.

 

Busy Week

I did have a nice, relaxing weekend. I barely left my house and listened to every session of general conference while I cleaned, cooked, or did puzzles. I also finished a craft and pulled weeds in my flower bed and started to get it ready for winter. 

Winter....ha ha it doesn't even feel that much like fall. We are still hitting the 80s. It is quite cool some mornings, and it's definitely getting dark much earlier. I really enjoyed being home to watch the shadows from the sun in my backyard. They come earlier and are just so much softer than in the summer. 

I've been waiting for a nice rainy day to read something for Fall/Halloween and do a reshelving project in my library on a day when I want to be inside. I've read like 5 non-fiction books in a row now. That's not exactly normal for me, but it's what I've been in the mood for, I guess. I also haven't really had any Halloween movies on. Ha ha I'm not that far into October so I don't know why it's getting to me. I guess what I really want to do is hibernate, and instead I've been doing other things. I have a busy 2 weeks ahead of me and will be getting out and about a lot. I guess that's good as well. I know the dark days are coming so I should get out while I can enjoy the nice weather. 

I did get my split bead wreath finished. I'm very happy with the way it turned out, even though I spent waaaayyyyy too much money on it. I started out with a different set of floral items to put on it. And they would have looked really good as well, but I soon found that they were very bulky and the dried stems broke off very easily and made a mess. I wasn't sure how I'd be able to store it. So it was back to the store to find something else. Now to work on all the other craft/projects I've already paid for. LOL

October 4th

It would have been my mom's birthday today. 76 years. I'm a little weepy today, that's for sure. And it's ok, I'm allowed to have my feelings today. I think I've been having them all week actually, because I have bought so many things: new shirts, more air plants, perfume, and a puzzle. I most definitely did not need any of that and now it has to stop!

I've got a list of things I need to get done for work, and then I think I'm signing off. I have vacation available and if I get my job done, nobody cares if I leave early.

I got my Halloween decorations out. All 4 of them. Ha ha...  The 4th is this cat on a wooden plate. My mom made it when I was young and it's been part of Halloween my whole life. When we cleaned out her house, I just couldn't see it going to a thrift store, even though I have no use for it. So it's sitting on my table. If I decide to put candy on it, it will have to be the kind I don't like, otherwise I will eat it. 

It's conference weekend and I'm looking forward to a more relaxed few days to be at home and just enjoy this time of year. I've got some projects and things to work on while I listen to conference. I'll get through today and things will be fine. 

Maybe it’s Fall?

I spent the last week in North Carolina for work. They got hit with the remnants of a hurricane right after I was leaving. Well, we had rain all that day but the biggest rain came after my flight left. The same thing happened when I was in NC in August. Hurricane hit around go-home day. I’m very grateful that both times I was able to get home. I have one more trip later this year and I’m really hoping it doesn’t happen a 3rd time. 

Of course it’s been 90 degrees here at home. Weird. The funny thing is that it’s cooler at night and so my house cools off more and the air conditioning is rarely on. Funny how this 90 feels cooler than 90 in July. 

It’s my turn to host family dinner and since it’s so nice and sunny outside, we are going to a park. My family really doesn’t fit in my house very well so I’m actually glad we have more time outside. Of course the kids don’t really eat when they are playing outside so today we are doing “finger foods” and will have sandwiches on rolls along with fruits and veggies and cheese and that kind of thing. Keep it easy. 

Yesterday would have been my dad’s 80th birthday. And mom’s 76th would have been next Friday. We are going to Maddox as a family for dinner next week to celebrate. I guess I’m back on one of the “hills” of this crazy roller coaster because I’m feeling ok. I miss both of them, but more in the happy memories way instead of the sad grieving way. 

Beautiful Day

It’s been such nice weather. My sister and I and the twins got out for a short walk the other evening. The leaves on the mountain trees are starting to change colors. 

Today I went with sisters and some of the kids to Vintage Market Days in Cache Valley. We’ve been a few times before. It’s kind of fun to look around. I bought some cinnamon and sugar dried apples which are very tasty. I also found some cute tea cups and I bought 2 of them. On the way home I got a few new succulents to put in them. If they die, I’ll replace them with air plants. But for now, I have some new additions to my library shelves. 

It was a really nice day to drive through Sardine canyon. The leaves are definitely changing up at that elevation. Plus it was a great temperature for walking around outside. That’s a good thing because I have 2 more miles to go to hit my 75 mile walking challenge and my time period ends tomorrow. I was going to wait until a little later this evening but I think I might put a little sunscreen on and go right now. I only have to walk a mile one way and then back home. I’ve got this!

Here it Comes!

I absolutely love that I can tell that the sun is setting earlier. The shadows outside my kitchen window are in a different place as I eat dinner. We’ve had our first taste of fall temperatures this week when it dropped into the 70s. My nephew and I volunteered to pick peaches at the church orchard yesterday evening and I could wear a long sleeve shirt for peach fuzz protection and I didn’t sweat. It was so nice. Today, I got home from work and my house was cool enough that the air conditioning hasn’t been on at all. 

I’ve got a lot I want to get done this weekend, plus laundry and all that fun stuff around the house. It’s been a long week but I’m feeling pretty good mentally and emotionally. 

Peach Days Weekend

It was Peach Days this weekend and my last big summer weekend of the year. I know I said I was going to try to not wish my life away, but I’m tired of the heat and want it to be dark and cold. LOL 

I did have a good weekend. I met up with some family on Friday right after work and we managed to snag an outdoor table at the Maddox drive in so I got a turkey burger, fries and a Dr. Pepper - my go to meal at the drive in. I haven’t had one since mom died because that was something we liked to do together. So it was fun to do with family. Then we went to the carnival and the kids got to go on rides. I didn’t stay long but I got my bag of cotton candy to share. That stuff is kind of gross, but I love to have a couple bites of it every year anyway. 

Saturday I stopped at a new donut place in town and got a dozen donuts to take up to my sister’s house. We met up there to go to the parade. Since none of us live in Brigham any more, hers is the closest to park and carpool. The parade was fine and was only just over an hour, I think. My niece was in it this year so we had to cheer for her when she passed by and she pretended she didn’t hear us. Ha ha.

Then we wandered around a bit before we had to get back to Anna’s so we could go to a family reunion. My aunt June missed mom’s funeral because of a surgery and her and my uncle Sonny were out here. It was nice to see family when we were not at a funeral. 

So a long day, even though it was fun. I was thoroughly hot and sweaty most of the day and felt nasty when I finally made it home. I took a shower and watched movies on my couch last night. And today it’s just been church and maybe later some food prep and dishes. Taking it easy for the most part. 

So a really good weekend with some family time. I’m just really ready for some cooler temperatures and to start feeling like it’s fall. And this year I’ve kind of said whatever and I think I’m just going to do fall earlier than normal. I’ve seen people with pumpkins and fall decorations up and I might be getting some of mine out early as well. I’m going to start my fall reading and movie watching as well. I’ll just have an extra couple weeks of it and there’s nothing wrong with that. It’s not like I have that many decorations to begin with. 

Labor Day 2024

I had a really nice Labor Day weekend. I spent some time with my sister and the twins on Saturday. We went to the park and the the little zoo in Logan and then to Gossner's cheese factory. I like to buy some discount cheese for soups for the winter.  

We moved our family dinner to Monday and had a BBQ for lunch. Amy and I did Dutch oven cobber and cherry chocolate cake and they turned out very yummy. The kids played outside on a blow up water slide and it was just a really nice day. Too hot, but otherwise very nice. Very summery. :)

The Next Day

I worked late yesterday and on my way home stopped by the grocery store for some flowers, which I took to the cemetery. They are probably dead today, but whatever. I had a few tears and put the flowers in the vases on both sides of the headstone and left. Got fast food on the drive home and came home and did nothing again. Except clean my kitchen floor, and that's only because I dropped a glass and it broke. 

I didn't sleep well last night, but oddly enough, except for being tired I feel better than I did yesterday. I got up and got to work and my dentist appointment on time and then had a bunch of meetings and worked from home. I ate a healthy dinner and that alone is making me feel tons better. It really is true that good eating and some exercise really help both mental and physical health. Too bad I don't do them more often. 

When the temperatures dipped into the 70s on Sunday, I started wanting soup. So today I made 3 bean chili. I added bell peppers to it. It was ok, not sure if I'd make it again, but I have leftovers I will finish up. So soup making started early this year, but that's my favorite thing to make so why not? 

Anyway, I'm feeling better today. Able to cope and know I'm ok. I didn't have any caffeine either so hopefully I'll sleep tonight. It seems like letting myself have a few days to have some feelings and be late for work worked out ok. I know it won't be the last time because it comes in waves and that's ok too. 

Dealing with Grief

So all my summer fun is over. And to be sure, I am very much looking forward to fall, even though I’m a bit unsure about the holidays this year. But last week was very unproductive and I was definitely calling myself lazy. But I consoled myself that I was still getting up for work. And then today happened. I was almost 30 minutes late for work because I didn’t want to get out of bed. I mean, sure I could have worked from home. But I wanted to be in the office for the work I had to do and that was what I had planned on.

I’m pretty sure I’m just dealing with grief or depression caused by grief. I’m just feeling kind of sad. I don’t feel like it’s bad enough to have to get help yet. But I’m also not sure if I’ll know how to recognize if/when that time comes. I’m just typing out my feelings because I know it helps, and I don’t want to write them longhand in my paper journal. 😊

I’m still getting out a bit. I went to the library book sale on Saturday. My sister and I and the twins had a nice walk on Sunday. I guess today I just need to let myself feel all the things. Start again tomorrow. Tomorrow I do have to get out of bed because I go to the dentist first thing. So there’s that.

I think I will try and get another walk in. I still have 11 miles to go to finish my walking goal for the summer and 3 weeks left to do it, so I’m still on track. So walking will help.

I should find something besides just “fall” to look forward to. I’ll have to think about that for a bit.

Reading Update

I remember last year at the end of the year I was excited for a smaller reading goal and I was ready to tackle some of the books that have been sitting on my shelves for years. Then February happened. Now the year is more than halfway over, and I’m looking at my reading. It’s no surprise but this has turned into a year of comfort reading. Lots and lots of re-reading favorite parts of books. No surprise there. What has been a little surprising is that my comfort reading has turned into a Georgette Heyer binge.

I have always enjoyed the Heyer books I had read in the past so it was no surprise to me to enjoy Venetia in January. It had been sitting on my shelf for a while and it seemed like a good time to read it. But that started my interest and I bought a few more of her books in old editions. Then I proceeded to re-read some of my favorites from years past and started reading the ones I had recently purchased. Then I purchased more. And read more. I’ve finished 55 books this year and 14 of them are Heyer. That’s 25% devoted to one author this year. And it doesn’t even include the re-reading.

One of them is a mystery and the rest are the “romances” which is a term I use loosely. Many of them seem to be very short on the romance and turn into a comedy of errors. I’ve enjoyed them immensely. There’s just something really comforting about the polite society manners and carriage rides and all the crazy situations and funny dialogue that has had me returning over and over again.

Now, I have succeeded in reading other things: the other 41 books on my list. However, many times I’ve been staring at my bookshelves and taking down other books just to turn around and put them back and reach for a Heyer. I think with this 14^th book (also 3 in a row) I am ready to reach for something else for a bit. I’m not ruling out another Heyer this year, but maybe not for a couple weeks. Ha ha 

Another Fun Vacation

This week I did a quick trip to Cedar City and the Utah Shakespeare Festival. I didn’t go last year so it was fun to go back. It was a little bit different this year because mom wasn't with us. The day we left I did let myself have my moment to feel sad. She would have had fun with all of us. This year my sisters wanted to come so I had Anna and her girls and my other niece Katya for the theater. My other sister came with her 5 year old twins as well. They just did other things while we were in the theater but they had fun sitting on the grass with us to watch the Greenshow.

This year we went to The Winter’s Tale, Much Ado About Nothing, and The 39 Steps. I didn’t know much about The Winter’s Tale, but they did a great job and I understood what was going on. It’s kind of a crazy story and it’s labeled as a “Romance” but you wouldn’t know it from the first act. I knew I would love Much Ado About Nothing, and I did. It was fun to see it on stage. The 39 Steps just sounded fun and it was probably my favorite because I laughed almost all the way through.  

All 3 of my nieces want to go back next year and the season has been announced and they are doing some good ones, so I will probably be planning out that trip as well. 

While I have been on some really great trips, this is probably my favorite vacation. I get to spend time with my favorite people and go to the theater. 

And now, I'm out of things to look forward to. Except for autumn coming. But all this year during the hard stuff, I've had my Canada trip, this trip, and a day at the Uintah's with family as the things that I was looking forward to this summer. I still have some time off coming, but nothing planned for it. I'm not sure how I'm going to feel about the holidays this year, but I do love autumn and now that school is back it's the one thing I'm anticipating...even as it's still 90 degrees outside. Ah well...

Trip to Canada

I just spent a fantastic week in Canada. It’s a trip I reserved and booked early in the year, probably January. I had wanted to go somewhere this year and nothing was coming to me. Then I saw this trip listed on the WTT website. It’s the same company I used to go to Egypt. It is always a little bit anxiety-inducing to go on a trip with people I don’t know, but once again we had a great group of women and I was not the youngest (I was second youngest ha ha) person on the trip. My tour leader was really great as well. 

We started in Vancouver. I got there on Friday night and stayed in a hotel near the airport and then took an Uber the next morning to the hotel where we were all staying. I spent the afternoon wandering around the city. Then we met up as a group for the first time and had dinner together. Sunday, we took a tour of the city and then went to the Capilano suspension bridge, which was on my list of things I had wanted to do if I ever got to Vancouver.  After that, it was free time and I went to the Fly Over Canada attraction with another lady. It was so fun. I’ve heard of those kinds of rides, but never been on one. It’s the thing where you sit in the seat and it moves and the screen shows you a bunch of scenes you feel like you are flying over.  

Monday morning we boarded the Rocky Mountaineer train for a 2 day trip across the rocky mountains. It got a little long on the second day, but I had a really good time on the train and the scenery was so beautiful. 

On Wednesday we were in Banff and it was amazing. Mountains, rivers, trees, resort town: I loved all of it. I floated down the Bow river, did a few little hikes and walks and did some shopping in my free time. 

I did get to go to Lake Louise and Lake Moraine. It was raining and cloudy that day and I loved the way the mountains looked and the smell of the rain and pine trees. Unfortunately, since the sun was not shining, you couldn’t see the blue color the lakes are famous for. But whatever, it was still stunning. 

On our final day, we did a quick hike to the lower falls in Johnston canyon. Again, I loved it. I want to go back. I really need to get back up there with my sister. She’d be in heaven up there. 

So all in all a very good trip and I’m glad I got to go. It was the first of two trips I’ve been looking forward to for the summer. And when both trips are over, summer will almost be over and I’ll be looking forward again to fall and cooler temperatures and winter hibernation. Ha ha ha… but not yet. As much as I dislike the heat, I’m trying to live in the moment and enjoy the long days and sun.

More Summer Stuff

Yes, I’m complaining about the heat. But tonight I walked over to pick up my mail and started getting dripped on. It was finally raining. Then it started really coming down and I stood on my porch and just watched. It was so, so nice. 

We haven’t seen water like that for months.

I did get out for a hike with my sister and the kids on Sunday. It was still too hot in the mountains but slightly cooler in the shade and there was a nice breeze.

And on one of my morning walks, I got to enjoy the flowers at the botanical gardens. I guess summer is ok if it looks like this. 

Happy 4th!

I have nothing much planned for the holiday but it’s nice to have the break. Since it falls on a Thursday, like most of my coworkers, I took the 5th off as well so it’s a 4 day weekend. I walked 2.5 miles this morning and did a quick trip to the grocery store. I was in the mood for watermelon and potato salad to celebrate. I think I’ll spend the rest of the day reading or doing some puzzles, maybe some light cleaning. Tomorrow I’m taking some nieces and nephews to the river to play. We’re having a family bbq on Sunday. 

Some parts of the country are having terrible heat and we are in the 80s. It’s been so nice. This is the type of summer that I won’t complain about. The other day I remembered that I haven’t seen mom all summer and it hit me again she’s gone. It will be 5 months on the 14th. It’s been a lifetime and just a few days ago all at once.  The probate debt period is over after tomorrow. Not much left to do and the estate will be completely settled. 

My “buy less stuff this year” mandate has taken a nosedive over the past 2 weeks. I don’t know what happened but I got into a mood and I wanted a few things and bought them. And I went to a bookstore and bought a few books. I have no excuses but I have made myself purge some stuff in closets and so I’m working on another pile to donate. I also threw away some old stuff that isn’t in good shape and can’t be donated. Still, I need to rein it in. I don’t need more stuff. 

Summer Solstice

The longest day of the year has arrived. I’m glad mostly because that means the days start getting shorter and fall will come. I’m not wishing away my summer yet, I still have fun stuff planned. But looking forward to being in my car without sweating. 

I’ve had 3 days off this week. I took the days so I could go to girl’s camp, but because it was stake camp this year, they didn’t need me except for rides. I already had it on the calendar so I took the time off work anyway. It’s been nice. I did spend a small chunk of yesterday up at the campsite. Then this morning I went to do some volunteer time at the peach orchard. I came home all itchy so I got cleaned up and ate lunch then decided to do some shopping. I know, I’m not supposed to because I’m not supposed to be buying “stuff” this year. But I got a new area rug for my living room and it’s a net zero because the other one is being taken to the D.I. I am really tired of that old rug shedding weird fibers and powdery stuff all over my floor. My new one is made from a different fiber/material so hopefully that problem is gone.

Yesterday, my sister helped me install the new garbage disposal - and by help I mean she did it while I played with her kids. 🥰 We gotta do what we’re best at. It’s nice to have 2 sinks working again. And I finally sprayed WD40 on my deadbolt on my front door so I can turn it again without getting stuck. Just finally getting to the little things is really making me happy. Now I need to borrow a drill to do a few more things on my to-do list.

I miss mom, but life is still good.

Welcome Summer

Well, summer is here and so far it’s been a good one. My sister and I did a mini road trip/vacation this week. Or today.

A favorite food blogger published a cookbook and did a little book signing party in her area: Boise. So my sister thought it would be fun to go to and got us tickets for the event. Yesterday, I took a half day off work and we drove up to Boise. We had just enough time to get there, find something to eat for dinner, and find the venue as it was starting at 6 pm. The venue was some outdoor place that looks like it is probably used for wedding receptions and things like that. It was beautiful and green and had flowers and trees and a small pond/fountain thing. 

We got there early enough that the line for the signing wasn’t so long so we did that first and got to meet her and she was really nice. We had already purchased our cookbooks online and brought them with us. Then we went and got snacks. It was catered and had all kinds of bread with flavored butters. I had blackberry butter on my bread and it was so good. They also had a bunch of different cookies from the cookbook. When the line for the merchandise got shorter we got back in line and I purchased a hoodie that says Homebody on it. LOL it was weird purchasing hoodies in the heat, but it will be nice this winter. 

We left after that and checked into our hotel. It was about 8:30 and we watched HGTV until bedtime. This morning we got up and had breakfast and came back home. So it was a quick trip, but actually a lot of fun and was nice to get out.

It’s going to get hot over the next couple days so summer is really here. This was just the first thing I have planned and I think its a good thing to make time for some fun after what this year has been so far. so I’m actually looking forward to the next couple months this year. 

Walking

My sister talked me into joining a walking challenge for the summer, actually April - September. I have to walk or hike 3 miles a week, 75 miles total. If the weather is bad I can do indoor walking or other exercise but part of the goal is to actually be outside. As of right now I’m caught up and right on target, and 3 miles is not hard, but you have to be making time for it constantly. I got sick one week and got behind for a couple weeks. I’ve completed 26 miles so far. Kind of crazy to think of how they add up. 

I do feel better and am sleeping better. Not every night is great, but I’m having fewer sleepless nights. One thing I’ve really enjoyed though is getting out without my earbuds in. Instead of music or a podcast, I’m listening to the river or the birds and in my own thoughts. I’m not sure I’d want to do that for long distances, but for the mile or so I’ve been walking at a time I kind of like it. 

Now it’s getting warm though. I’m not sure how I’m going to fare through the summer. There will be fewer days walking on my lunch break. My plan is to get up and walk before work on the days I’m working from home. I actually did it this morning. I can’t say I super enjoyed it, but there are positives. The biggest one is that I’m done already and don’t have to worry about walking later. The parkway has fewer people on it and I like that. It’s cooler. With the canyon breeze in the morning, it smells like camping, which is something I love. So maybe it’s not so bad. In June, I want to try turning one of the days of walking into hiking and get out on some of the easy trails near me. Saturday is June 1. I wonder if I can get myself up and out there in the morning?