Sunday Post and Sunday Salon are blog news memes hosted at Caffeinated Reviewer and Reader Buzz, respectively. It’s a chance to share news, recap the past week on your blog, andshowcase books and other things.
Feeling
I’m feeling excited because I’m FINALLY done with my blog redesign that I started back in September. I’ve had most of it done for a while. I just needed to update my images to match and I had a lot of them to do. I’m feeling really happy with how it all looks.
Blogging
I had a really good blogging week. I still have a couple of year end posts scheduled to drop this coming week. Here’s what I posted this week:
I started reading THE HUNDREDTH QUEEN by Emily R King. I’m also still listening to the ECLIPSE audiobook and I’m about halfway through now.
Listening
I’ve been listening to a few new-to-me K-pop songs that my friend Suey (It’s All About Books) introduced me to. My favorite’s “ILLELLA” by Mamamoo.
Watching
Corey and I are still making progress with DEXTER. We made it through season 3 and started season 4. I’m still enjoying it a lot. It’s getting even more compelling than it already was.
Loving
I love getting ready for school. I’m anticipating the first day of classes, which is next Monday (January 9). I have all my books ordered. I just need to wait for them to ship. My university doesn’t have a physical bookstore anymore so all book buying’s done online. It’s really convenient AND you have to do it ahead of time so everything arrives by the start of the new semester.
Wanting
I want to wish everyone a happy new year! I hope 2023 is a great year for us all!
Needing
I need to contact my doctor again. Friday morning was my last dose of steroids and my hives are already back.
Sunday Post and Sunday Salon are blog news memes hosted at Caffeinated Reviewer and Reader Buzz, respectively. It’s a chance to share news, recap the past week on your blog, andshowcase books and other things.
Feeling
I’m feeling hopeful. I wrote an update on my health earlier this week. The Reader’s Digest version is my arm is much better, not completely healed but manageable. I’m also on a second round of steroids that will hopefully keep my hives at bay. Unfortunately, they came back after the first round of steroids. This round’s stronger and longer. I’ve decided that even if my hives come back, I still want to get back into blogging. I miss the community and reading how everyone’s doing. Bear with me as I try to get back into the flow of things.
We found out in November that Luci had an upper respiratory infection along with feline herpes. She was put on some antibiotics for the infection and the only thing we can do for the herpes is to help her stay calm. She’s vaccinated, but her mom probably passed the disease on during the birthing process. Our vet said she probably had a flare up because of how traumatic being adopted can be (moving from a place they know to the unknown).
Izzy was as sick as she was because of pancreatitis. The vet moved her to a low-fat prescription diet and, thankfully, she’s much better. She’s been on a prescription diet her whole life; the last one just had more fat in it than Izzy’s body could process. We also think she may have feline herpes. We’ve always thought her symptoms were due to seasonal allergies, but since they’re similar to a herpes flare up she’s being tested for herpes in January when she goes in for her pancreatitis checkup. If she does has herpes, it’s not because she got it from Luci. And, if she doesn’t have herpes, then she most likely won’t get it since we vaccinate our cats.
Here’s a picture of Luci and Izzy being their-goofy-selves this week:
I actually read a book this week! Woot woot! I read IN A HOLIDAZE by Christina Lauren for my December book club. I’ll post my review tomorrow. Look at me go, lol.
I also started reading THE HUNDREDTH QUEEN by Emily R. King. It’s the final book of the year for one of my challenges.
Listening
I’m not a huge Christmas music fan, mostly because Corey’s not. I’m not saying he tells me what to listen to; I just don’t care enough to listen to it on my own. I do have a few favorite songs, though, so I thought I’d share one. It’s “Greensleeves” or “What Child is This” for Christmas. I prefer the instrumental version and I love this arrangement by Michael Dowdle.
Watching
Right now, Corey and I are bingeing DEXTER. He’s seen it before, but I haven’t and he wants to watch the limited series reboot from last year with me. We’re currently on Season 3 and it’s very compelling.
I also watched LEGO MASTERS’ Celebrity Holiday Bricktacular this week. It was one of Leslie Jordan’s last appearances before his passing earlier this year. I had fun watching the challenges, especially the snowmobiles and snow globes.
Loving
I love my IRL book club’s December meeting. I look forward to it every year. It’s so much fun because a lot of the stragglers come and we share treats and do a book exchange. This year’s was especially fun because I hadn’t been to a book club meeting since September. I’ll be posting about it in more detail this coming week.
Wanting
I want to wish a merry Christmas to those who celebrate! Happy holidays to all! And, have a fun and safe New Year’s celebration this coming weekend.
Needing
I need to get my end of year posts ready for this upcoming week. It’s one of my favorite times of year to blog.
Sunday Post and Sunday Salon are blog news memes hosted at Caffeinated Reviewer and Reader Buzz, respectively. It’s a chance to share news, recap the past week on your blog, andshowcase books and other things.
Feeling
I’m feeling much better. Someone recommended I take turmeric to help with the inflammation in my arm. I bought some pills on Monday and my pain lessened about 80% of what it was by Tuesday evening. Honestly, I don’t know if turmeric’s the cause or if it’s just coincidence. I’ll take it, though!
Because I’m feeling a lot better, I’m going to start my NaNo month on Tuesday. By starting on Tuesday, I’ll be two weeks behind the original commencement and go two weeks into December, ending on the 14th. I think that’s doable!
I started reading my book club’s pick for November this week. It’s THE MAID by Nita Prose. I’m still not really sure what I think about it as I’m not very far into it yet. I’m also still listening to the ECLIPSE audiobook. I’m about a third of the way in.
Listening
This week, I listened to an interesting cover of “We are Young” by Fun. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find it on YouTube so I’m sharing the original instead. The cover I’m talking about is part of the soundtrack for the Netflix movie LOOK BOTH WAYS.
Watching
As I mentioned above, I watched LOOK BOTH WAYS, a Netflix movie starring Lili Reinhart, Danny Ramirez, David Corenswet, and Luke Wilson. I really enjoyed the idea of looking at how one decision could impact your life. I also loved the message of life being what you make of it (i.e., happy, fulfilling) even if it doesn’t turn out how planned it to.
Corey and I binged CELEBRITY JEOPARDY and got caught up this week. It was a lot of fun. Some of the actors / comedians are so quick-witted. They play off each other so well. I loved Wil Wheaton’s wager for Final Jeopardy. It was $1701, which references the number on the Enterprise’s hull on Star Trek.
We also saw BLACK PANTHER: WAKANDA FOREVER on Thursday. We were very pleased with it. I thought it honored Chadwick Boseman’s memory nicely while still moving forward into a new era. I got teary a few times. I’m excited to see what happens now.
Loving
I love watching Luci play, discovering the world around her, and interacting with Izzy. (For those who didn’t see the change I made to last week’s post, Corey and I decided that “Luci” fit our new kitten better. Her new official name is Luci McGonagall.) Luci’s fearless whereas Izzy’s a scaredy cat. Luci’s also a jumper whereas Izzy has a mental block and thinks she can’t jump. She can; she just chooses not to jump any higher than the couch or bed. Luci’s already getting on top of things Izzy “couldn’t” at 4 months old.
Wanting
Both Izzy and Luci are sick. Luci has a cold and Izzy has been vomiting and acting lethargic. Izzy seems to be doing a bit better today. We think she may be constipated, but we’re not positive. And, poor Luci can hardly breathe because she’s so stuffed up. They have an appointment scheduled with our vet Monday morning, but I want them to feel better now. I always feel so helpless when my furbabies are sick.
Needing
Even though the turmeric pills have been helping with the pain in my arm, it’s still tingling like it’s asleep whenever I do menial tasks. I need to talk to my primary care physician and figure out what’s causing the problem. Hopefully, it can be fixed without surgery. Corey thinks I’ll probably get a cortisone shot.
Sunday Post and Sunday Salon are blog news memes hosted at Caffeinated Reviewer and Reader Buzz, respectively. It’s a chance to share news, recap the past week on your blog, andshowcase books and other things.
Feeling
I’m feeling a little disappointed. My arm has been hurting something awful this week so I haven’t been able to participate in NaNoWriMo. I’m okay, though. I’ve decided to postpone my participation until December. I know the official NaNoWriMo won’t still be in full swing, but I can still have fun and write.
I finished reading the NEW MOON audiobook this week and I started listening to the ECLIPSE audiobook. Since I’m not participating in NaNo right now, I’m going to try to read a physical book too.
Listening
I’ve mostly been listening to audiobooks. However, while I was driving to a restaurant to celebrate my older sister’s birthday this week, I listened to Weezer. My favorite song by Weezer is “Undone (The Sweater Song).” I’m sure almost everyone knows this song. Just in case you don’t, though, here it is.
Watching
Corey and I watched the last three HALLOWEEN movies. I loved them, especially the ending of the third movie. It was fun to watch them during Halloween.
The CHRISTMAS COOKIE CHALLENGE and HOLIDAY WARS started this week. The HOLIDAY BAKING CHAMPIONSHIP starts tomorrow. I’m really excited. This part of the year’s my favorite because of all the awesome food competitions.
Loving
I love Corey’s and my new kitten. We adopted an almost four-month-old female on Friday. She’s all black, so little, cuddly, and playful. At first, we named her McGonagall and we were going to call her Mags or Maggie (that’s why my Instagram post says what it does). However, we decided she reminds us of our favorite character from DISENCHANTMENT and settled on Luci McGonagall. Luci has the loudest purr I’ve ever heard on a kitten before. (I tried to record it, but it didn’t do it justice so I decided not to share it.) She loves enticing Izzy to play with her and Izzy’s being very patient. Here are a couple of pictures and a video of her playing: (I also included Izzy in my Instagram post because she didn’t want to feel left out.)
I want to my arm to feel better. I can tell that it’s getting better; it’s just so painful sometimes that I forget it is. My chiropractor thinks I might have a small tear in my rotator cuff and that’s why the pain isn’t going completely away. I have an appointment with my primary care doctor, but it isn’t until November 16. I’m just trying to survive until then. Hopefully, it’ll spontaneously heal on its own before then.
Needing
I need to read THE UNDERTAKING OF HART AND MERCY this week as it’s due back to the library on Thursday. I’ve had it for almost 6 weeks now.
Sunday Post and Sunday Salon are blog news memes hosted at Caffeinated Reviewer and Reader Buzz, respectively. It’s a chance to share news, recap the past week on your blog, andshowcase books and other things.
Feeling
I’m feeling a bunch of things this week. First, I’m feeling excited and nervous. NaNoWriMo starts on Tuesday and I’m excited to finally participate. I’m also nervous because I’m not sure I can do this. I’m such a perfectionist that it’s going to be really hard for me to just write and not worry about making it perfect even for the first draft.
I’m also feeling a bit discouraged about blogging and reading in general. Ever since Corey and I decided to sell our townhome back in May, I feel like my blogging and reading haven’t been the same and they’ve slowly been getting worse. Because I’m not reading, I don’t have any new material to talk about and I’m worried I’m going to lose followers due to lackluster posts and not always commenting on other blogs. And, because of NaNoWriMo, I’m going to be blogging and reading even less than I have been for the next month.
I’m a little over halfway through the NEW MOON audiobook. I haven’t read anything else.
Listening
I’ve been listening to my “Songs That Make Me Happy” playlist this week and one of my very favorites is “Party Rock Anthem” by LMFAO. Here it is for anyone unfamiliar with it.
Watching
Corey and I watched a lot of things this week (mostly on Netflix). We started bingeing ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT. We’ve both seen seasons 1 through 3 and part of 4. What we watched of season 4 sucked, but I’ve heard season 5’s better. We’ll see.
We also watched a couple of thrillers and comedies. The first thriller was a limited series called THE WATCHER. It’s very loosely based on a true story. I enjoyed the series even though the ending was a bit ambiguous and confusing.
We next watched THE VAULT. It’s a Spanish-produced English heist movie with Freddie Highmore and Sam Riley. It was a lot of fun and very suspenseful. It reminded me of a non-comedy version OCEAN’S ELEVEN meets NOW YOU SEE ME.
We watched I CAME BY next, a movie about a corrupt judge in London and a couple of graffiti taggers who want to bring him to justice. I don’t want to give anything away so that’s all I’m going to say other than I thought it was really interesting.
We also watched ME TIME, a comedy with Kevin Hart and Mark Wahlberg. It was funny. Hart and Wahlberg had really good chemistry (aromantic), almost as good as Hart and Dwayne Johnson do in their movies.
We tried out an episode of MURDERVILLE with Will Arnett. I thought it was funny, but Corey didn’t so we didn’t continue watching. I’ll probably watch it without him.
I watched a few episodes of EASY-BAKE BATTLE. I’m enjoying it a lot. I think some of the cooking hacks are really ingenious and others are stupid and make cooking for difficult. LOL.
Finally, I watched DEAR EVAN HANSEN. It was the first time I’ve seen it. I loved it. I felt seen.
Loving
I love soaking in epsom salt. I had a massage on Wednesday morning to help with the tightness in my muscles around my pinched nerve. After the massage, my massage therapist recommended I take a bath with epsom salt to help with the pain. It was amazing! Sadly, my pinched nerve was severely inflamed on Thursday due to the massage. I went back to the chiropractor on Friday and the pain mellowed again.
Wanting
I want to confess something. You may have been wondering why I haven’t talked about school very much since August. I decided to take a leave of absence for the semester or longer because I had a hard time doing school while in PTSD therapy. I should be done with therapy in November or December so I registered for next semester.
I’m still going to pursue a BA in Spanish with a certificate of proficiency in Japanese. I also registered for a web development class. Because I love CSS and HTML coding, Corey thinks I’d enjoy being a front-end web designer so I thought I’d take a class and see what I think.
Needing
I still need to prepare for NaNoWriMo. I have a basic outline of my story done. I just need to do a little bit of research and then I’ll be ready … I think.
