Thursday 13 – What J’s been up to
In an effort to get motivated and back to blogging from my unintentional hiatus, here are 13 things I’ve been up to lately.
- Reading books. I found a book on my nightstand, The Midnight Library, and for the life of me I can’t remember where I got it. Was it a gift? Did I buy it? Did I find it in a Little Free Library? I don’t think so. I suspect I bought it at a bookstore and put it on my little shelf and forgot about it. Anyway, I mentioned it in a prior post, when I started reading it. I liked it a lot. I liked it so much, I read it again. I sometimes do that with audio books, but I don’t often finish a physical book and turn around and read it again, but for some reason this one was just what I needed, so I re-read it. It’s about regret and learning to be kind to yourself. I think we could all use that lesson sometimes. The picture above is a very short chapter that I liked a lot.
- After I finished The Midnight Library, I decided to listen to another book by the same author, Matt Haig. So I went through the Libby app and listened to How to Stop Time. I liked this one a lot as well. This is the story of Tom Hazard, who has an extremely rare condition that means he ages extremely slowly. He was born in the late 1500s, and as of perhaps 2015, he appears to be in his early 40s. I won’t tell too much more, except to say that I really liked this book as well. I think I need to listen to another book of his, The Humans.
- While down with COVID (we’re all testing negative now and feeling fine, yay!) I watched a few movies. I watched Sleepless in Seattle, which is one of those movies that I can watch any time, but gosh I don’t know why I like it so much. Annie is just a horrible person, and I suspect the reason Walter is perfectly OK that she breaks up with him at an incredibly romantic restaurant, with a bottle of Dom Perignon on the table, right after he gives her his mother’s engagement ring, on Valentine’s Day…he is OK with all of this bullshit because he realizes he has just dodged a bullet. What an ass she is. I also watched Pretty Woman and Footloose. Why? Because I like stupid ass movies with problematic plots, I guess. Well, Footloose doesn’t really have a problematic plot. It’s just fun. Then I redeemed myself, to myself, by watching Out of Africa, which is another movie I could watch any time, I love it so much. So lyrical. I considered watching Babbette’s Feast and The Company, because I have them on DVD and I love them, but I wasn’t feeling up to digging around for DVDs I guess.
- This last Sunday, I was feeling well and finally tested negative, so I celebrated by going out and spending a bunch of money. Recovering from COVID can be expensive, I guess. I bought some flowers for my tiny yard, and a trellis for my clematis to grow up. It had one last year, but I moved that one this winter to another plant, and now that the clematis is sprouting it needed a new one. I bought some fancy shampoo and conditioner at Ulta. I went to the Indian grocery store and bought my favorite tea (Tetley). I can’t really find it anywhere else. I bought some cute outfits for Ted’s cousin’s daughter, who just turned 1, and who will have a joint birthday party with my daughter on Saturday. I bought a couple of things for Maya’s birthday too.
- Oh, in the ‘wow, isn’t this fun’ category, I got an MRI on Monday. My balance issue comes and goes, and is MUCH better, but I had to wait 2 months for this appointment, so it made sense to keep it. Have you ever had an MRI? Here is a video about the process, and if you want to hear the crazy sounds that go on, they start at about 2:53. Happily, my MRI results were normal, nothing to worry about. I have an appointment in a couple of weeks with a neurologist, and after that, back to my ENT. My suspicion, after talking to a few people, is that this is just something fun that I get to deal with sometimes for the rest of my life, and it is most likely related to my sinuses and (very) occasional migraines.
- Also on Monday was Mulder’s next follow up visit. Again, happily, all is well, he is still in remission. He is much more of his normal self, since he finished his chemo about 2 1/2 months ago. Yay! What a sweet boy he is.
- I’m sure you’ve seen on the news that California is having a wild winter. I think I am ready to say ‘enough rain’. Long time readers know it takes a LOT to get that out of me, but at this point I’m worried about levy failures as the record snow pack melts. And the wind…we’ve had a couple of really crazy windy days, with lots of trees down everywhere you go. We’re just not used to this much wind, especially with saturated ground, and our trees can’t handle it. It’s sad. Of course even more sad is the people who have died or lost their homes due to trees falling.
- In the ‘isn’t it fun to get older’ category, I hurt my rib by stretching to get a back scratcher. I mean, how does one even do that? I was sitting on the couch watching TV, and it was in a little basket on the floor, and I reached over the arm of the couch, and couldn’t quite reach, so pushed into the arm, and suddenly felt a sharp pain. Did I crack it? Tiny little hairline fracture? I don’t know. It’s been a couple of days now and it still hurts, but not nearly as much as it did at the beginning. Years ago I cracked a rib falling off of a horse, and my doctor said the only way to treat it is with time, so I’m mostly ignoring it.
- We just finished watching Invasion on Apple TV+. That was REALLY intense. I guess it came out in 2021, so we’re behind on that one. Which isn’t bad actually, because it means we got to binge it. I’m ready for season 2 though.
- Did you watch ‘The Last of Us‘? The third episode was some beautiful TV, and I loved it so much I had to watch it twice. The final episode just broke my heart and made me wish I had never watched any of it. Except perhaps episode 3. Apparently that final episode is pretty true to the game on which it is based, and fans of the game are very divided on the whole thing. I can see why.
- What else are we watching…we’re currently enjoying Star Trek, Picard. If you’re a fan at all, this season (supposed to be the final season) is really good. We’re still enjoying Shrinking. We’re watching old episodes of Parks and Recreation. We seem to have stopped watching Poker Face, but I think we’ll get back into that soon.
- Not doing yoga. I stopped when I got sick with COVID, and then the following week was the beginning of the idiocy that is Daylight Saving, and I haven’t gotten back to it yet. I think I’m going to give it a go next week, though I’ll be careful and make sure I don’t aggravate my rib.
- Not reading blogs. Something about not writing here means I’m not really reading either. I hope to turn that around in the next day or so. I was supposed to get together with my friend Neva earlier this month, which was pushed back to tomorrow due to our COVID. Then a couple of hours ago she sent me a text to say her sister is sick and can’t watch her son, so we are postponing again. So tomorrow we’ll probably have a Facetime or phone chat, and we’ll try again to get together for pasta and wine in a couple of weeks. But I should have some time to pop around to your blogs I hope. You would think I could do that in the evening while watching TV, but I have trouble commenting on so many of your blogs using my iPad, so it means I have to use another computer, which is only upstairs, blah blah blah. Hang in there. I miss you.
20 Comments
Margaret
I’ve thought about reading “The Midnight Library.” Some people love it and others dislike it so I should order it from the library in case I’m one of the haters. 🙂 I watched a couple episodes of Shrinking but I don’t have Apple TV except on my laptop through my Cloud ID so it’s a procedure. (I’m lazy!) I’m not watching The Last of Us, but I would love to see Picard, being a huge ST fan. However, once again, I don’t have that streaming platform. It’s so frustrating that much of what I want to watch is on Paramount +, Apple TV, Britbox or Acorn!! I injured my ribs once leaning over my bathtub to clean it. I leaned hard and heard something pop. I was miserable for quite some time.
J
Margaret, yes, I heard (and felt) something pop with my rib. Bah!
It’s annoying how many services one has to subscribe to in order to watch all of the good shows nowadays! I just hope they will eventually become available on another service. Sigh.
Beckett @ Birchwood Pie
I kinda wanna see Sleepless in Seattle again. I don’t think I’ve seen it since it came out. I just started watching White Lotus and after that’s done I’m pretty sure that I’ll check out The Last of Us. I’ve been through a period of being really cheap with subscriptions but my credit card was offering a rebate for HBO so I snapped up a year’s subscription.
Look I love the bloggos but…sometimes I need a break. And sometimes I need to just read and enjoy without leaving a comment. It’s all good!
J
Are you watching season 1 or 2 of White Lotus? I loved them both. I kind of want to watch season 1 again, actually.
If you watch Sleepless in Seattle, please report back about what you think about Annie and her crappy behavior.
Ally Bean
I’ve been wondering about you. I’m glad you’re over Covid and had to laugh about how recovering from it can be expensive. I don’t think I’ve heard anyone else say that. I haven’t seen any of those older movies in years. I haven’t watched any of Star Trek Picard, but like you have read that this current season is good. I’ve had a few MRIs and I’m almost scared to click on your link to experience one again. Sorry about your rib but like they say, getting old ain’t for sissies.
J
Ally, I went to a party yesterday and was talking to Ted’s cousin, who is a physical therapist, about the rib. She said that happens to her husband sometimes, and he’s in his early 30s. That made me feel a lot better!
nance
Glad you’re back to feeling well. It does take time.
Rick and I ended up watching all of the episodes of The Last of Us and enjoyed most of them. The actress who played Ellie was extremely good. We’ve kind of blown through all of our priority streaming shows now and are searching for something really good to watch.
Such good news about Mulder! Isn’t it wonderful to know that you made the best decision after all?
J
Thanks Nance,
Yes, that actress was amazing! And we are so thrilled with Mulder’s progress, and hope that cancer never comes back!
Elisabeth
I’m so glad you’re feeling better post COVID and that the MRI results came back clear and that Mulder has shown so much improvement and responded well to treatment!
I was one of the few humans on the planet that did NOT like The Midnight Library.
J
Thanks Elisabeth, it feels good to feel good, if you know what I mean.
Not every book is everyone’s cup of tea, but it always surprised me when people rave about a book, and then I read it and either go, “meh”, or truly hate it.
NGS
I feel like The Midnight Library is quite divisive. I’ve heard raves and pans and nothing in the middle. Maybe I’ll add it to my list, but I try to avoid reading too many books written by men. Ha.
I’m happy to hear you’re doing better after COVID. It can take awhile to get back to 100%, so I hope you listen to your body to give it what it needs!
What great news about Mulder, too. He was such a good-natured guy during treatment and I’m happy to hear that it’s paying off with more quality time with him.
J
Thanks NGS! Yes, Mulder was very good natured about the whole chemo thing. He didn’t do as well for the last several months, so I doubt we would put him through this protocol again. Hopefully there will be no need to even consider it!
Tobia | craftaliciousme
Glad you are feeling better again. That sucks that Covid happened to you.
I also. struggle reading blogs if I don’t write much. I guess there will be a time for reading more blogs again.
I read the Midnight Library with my book club and ever since wanting to read more of the author. I hear humans is really really good. I have “the comfort book” on my requested pile in the libby app and it should be available any time now.
Oh and we are currently watching “Manifesto” which is a fun show. Mysterious, sci-fi with puzzle solving.
J
Hey Tobia, I haven’t heard of Manifesto, is it in German?
I’m glad to hear you liked The Midnight Library, I was so taken by it.
Tobia | craftaliciousme
No it is not a German show. I think it’s on Netflix.
J
Thank you!
Sarah
Ugh. My husband just had COVID, and it’s just the pits. He took Paxlovid and felt better almost immediately, so thank goodness for anti-virals. Happy to hear you’ve recovered and are re-acclimating. Glad your MRI was normal– I am claustrophobic and would be SO SCARED, but you make it sound like a breeze.
J
Sarah, I think an MRI would be really hard if you are claustrophobic. I hope you never have to have one! I don’t have that particular issue, so it was fine for me, just loud.
We thought about asking for Paxlovid, but our symptoms were mild enough that we didn’t ask our doctors. Actually, we didn’t even report it to them.
Stephany
Glad you’re recovering after your bout with Covid – it’s really crazy how differently it can affect people. When I got Covid, it felt like a really terrible cold but sleep was IMPOSSIBLE for me. It was so annoying! When my mom got it, all she did was sleep!
Hooray for a great report on Mulder! That is so great to hear.
J
Thanks Stephany! Yeah, funny how COVID hits people differently. At least it hit us all pretty much the same in this house, though my sore throat was the worst for me, while Ted and Maya had more fever. Glad we’re all finished with THAT.