The Blizzard of 2017
Category: Uncategorized
No Rain in the Forecast, huh…
SC has been in the “extreme drought” category for months now. At the beginning of November we were down 10 inches of rain and it was only getting worse.
We need rain. Badly. Except….
Maybe, just maybe, it could hold off until February?
You know…until after we get all the outside work that needs done before we can move the horses home finished.
Christmas weekend, we spent Saturday raking leaves and cleaning out the gutters. We had planned to return Monday while we were both off work, but it rained. New Year’s weekend also saw rain, but we went out any way on Saturday to plant T posts in the ground and rake some more leaves. Then it down poured all day Sunday.
We have one weekend between now and the move and still have to finish the fence, build a shelter and rake more damn leaves.
Good thing we are expected to get…SNOW…this weekend. SNOW! In SC, which rarely happens unless you have major outdoor projects on a time schedule to get done.
Growing Pains
If anyone is reading along…please hang in there. This site is acting a little crazy tonight as I try to figure it all out.
The thing is that I really, really like the scratchpad theme. A lot. It is playful enough without being childish and with so many post format options, it should end up being fairly pleasing to the eye once more content is added.
There is just one thing I don’t like about it….the comments. In order to write a comment, you have to open up the actual blog link by clicking on the title, even though you can read the entire post without doing so. I ADORE comments and I am a bit hesitant that people won’t know that they can in fact leave a comment by doing the above.
So….I am playing around with the themes and trying to figure out what to do.
2017 Popsugar Reading Challenge. Book #1.
40 regular and 12 advanced books. 52 weeks to complete them all. Doable? I am about to find out.
When I was younger my nose was always in a book. On the bus to/from school, before classes started, during study hall, up late at night in bed. I remember one summer, probably around 2001 or so, I worked full time at a convenience store – 7a to 3p, M to F. Each day I would come home, shower, grab my best dog Hero and a book and sit outside in the sunny yard until my mom called for dinner. I would wriggle my shoes off and enjoy the touch of grass on my toes, the sun warming my skin and the breeze rustling my hair. It was bliss.
When medical school happened there was no time for pleasure reading. You could still find my nose buried in a book, but these were heavy books, both in content and size.
Now a days it’s rare to see me with a book in hand. Too little time is my excuse but that’s not really true. Like so many, my phone has replaced a good book. Not any longer.
My mom and I are doing this together. I chose the first book, she will do the next.
Book #1: A book recommended by a librarian.
I don’t have a library card and will have to wait a while before I can acquire one, so this topic was a bit hard. Thankfully there is always The Google and it didn’t take long to find a list of books recommended by librarians.
I’m Thinking of Ending Things by Iain Reid
My first attempt at taking a picture of the book. Thanks cats.
This book. I couldn’t put it down. Seriously, I read it in one sitting. It was that captivating.
The book begins with an unnamed girl stating that she is thinking of ending things. She is in the car with her boyfriend as he drives out to his family farm to introduce her to his parents. She questions the timing, but goes along hoping to find an answer by the end of the trip. Would meeting his parents make their relationship any better?
I won’t ruin the plot for anyone wanting to read it, and everyone should read it, but I will talk about the book in general.
The writing style is easy to follow and consume. With modern day topics and language, the book puts you right at ease from the beginning in terms of accessibility of the character and plot.
Straight away though you get a sense of eeriness. The first half only has two characters: the girlfriend and boyfriend (Jake). While they converse, a lot of the book is spent inside the internal musings of the girlfriend as she tries to wrap her head around the value of relationships and if she is happy in her current one.
This feeling of something being a bit off continues throughout the meeting of his parents and the return drive home until it reaches a crescendo in an ending that left me reeling.
5 stars from me. Go read it. It won’t be a waste of your time.
The Roaming Rider 