Saturday Reading Wrap-up - 11/12/22

It wasn't a banner week for reading for me.  :shrug:  It goes like that sometimes.  

I didn't get any new books this week.  Maybe today, I'll do something about that.  I am down to one unread ebook, after all.  

Books Read:

Nope.  I didn't finish a single damn book this week.

DNFs:

11/12/22 - 99c - supernatural mystery.  The writing was fine and the characters / plot were interesting.  Then the author had to go making it an 'issues' book, trotting out the same ol' tired crap - you know the old song and dance... 'all conservatives are racist and all racists are conservative'.  :eyeroll:  And yes, I did dump this one first thing this morning.  

11/9/22 - free - fantasy.  I thought it was the first book, but it was the first book in a spin-off series to another series that I hadn't read, so that left me lost right from the start.  (Even though it did say it would stand alone.  Right.)  Plus, some of the stylistic choices left me flat.  

Currently reading... Since I DNF'd that thing already today, I haven't started anything else.  Maybe I'll read the one unread e-book.  Maybe I'll just go pick up another paperback.  We'll see.  Tune in next week.  ;o)

Thursday This n That

I just realized it's Thursday.  Blerg.  

I got an attaboy from the boss for thinking outside the box.  Unfortunately, my thinking didn't apply to the situation. But go me yay.

Ages ago, in another life, my boss set me to the task of finding out why our shipping bills were so high.  I researched all the shipping and discovered the sales department was overnighting damn near everything.  Flyers, postcards, marketing materials of every sort.  Stuff that would get where it was going next day using plain ol' UPS ground.  And stuff that didn't even need to be there next day.  It was just easier and they weren't the ones who had to think about the costs.  But the VP of Operations was thinking about it and since I was his admin asst I was thinking about it.  I saved the company hundreds of dollars a month.  That's a 'Go, me. Yay!"

If you ever you wonder why CEOs and VPs make the big bucks, remember they have to think about everything to make certain a company thrives and all the employees get to keep their jobs.  Just sayin'.

Since the time has changed, I now get to drive home after sunset on Mondays and Tuesdays.  I discovered that in the dark, I can't see the end of our driveway to turn in.  Hubs is putting a solar powered light out there this morning. LOL   Oh, and Tuesday night, I saw a bat.  Cool.

FedEx sucks. Jus' sayin'.

And that's all I've got today because I dinked around too much and now I have to get ready for work.  But hey, I made an effort and got it on the right day, so that's gotta count for something.  Have a good one, everybody!

Apple Cranberry Crisp

Since a friend of mine asked, I thought I'd post this recipe today.  Enjoy!

Apple Cranberry Crisp

6 medium apples

1.5 cups whole fresh cranberries

1/3 cup brown sugar

2 T white sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp Apple Cider mix

---

1 cup brown sugar

2 T white sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

1 cup quick oats

1/2 cup flour

1 tsp Apple Cider mix

6 T butter (cold)

 

Preheat oven to 350F.  Peel, core, and slice apples to about 1/4" slices.  In large bowl, stir together apples, cranberries, both sugars, cinnamon, and cider mix.  Set aside.  In medium bowl, stir together both sugars, cinnamon, oats, flour and drink mix until well combined.  Cut in butter with pastry cutter until mixture is crumbly.  Pour fruit mixture into 9x13" pan, spreading it out so it's evenly distributed.  Sprinkle topping liberally over fruit, making sure you get it into the corners and along the sides.  No fruit should be visible.  Bake in preheated oven for 35-40 minutes or until topping is browned along the edges and the fruit is fork tender.  Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.

Finding My Zen Place

I started the weekend off in a funk.  Oh, not so much of a funk that I couldn't function (funk-tion... lol), but I was definitely in a funked-up place.  

I talked to Mom on Saturday morning, which always helps.  She's seen and done so much in her life, she always has a wise word or an understanding ear or just finds a way to commiserate.  And, of course, Hubs is always supportive.  But this was something I needed to find a way out of from within myself. To get zen*.

Yesterday morning, Hubs and I went for a walk.  We did the loop, wandering the leaf-covered roads, looking at the lake, and enjoying the quiet of our neighborhood on a Sunday morning.  

After lunch, I did some baking.  Peeling and slicing apples, adding them to cranberries and sugars and cinnamon to make the base.  Cutting together flour and sugars and oats and butter to make the crumbly topping.  Throw it in the oven and 40 minutes later, out pops heaven.  What could be more zen than that?

While it was cooling, Hubs and I went fishing.  It was a gorgeous fall day.  The lake was like glass.  The site was devoid of other people.  Just us and our bobbers, basically feeding the little fishies who were too small to catch but were happily devouring our worms.  Total zen.

By the time we got home, I didn't feel like cooking dinner.  Hubs made himself a bowl of fruits and granola.  I had apple cranberry crisp with ice cream.  (Hubs had that, too, but it was dessert for him. LOL)

Despite the time change, we stayed up and watched our Sunday night shows - Miss Scarlet and the Duke, followed by Magpie Murders.  (I'm pretty sure I figured out the whodunnit on that last one, but I won't say what it is in case anyone else is watching. We'll find out if I'm right next week, I think.)  

This morning, I'm feeling pretty zen.  We'll see if that holds up.  I'm gonna try and make it hold up.   I am centered.  I am calm.  I am wearing my Teflon force field - nothing sticks and nothing penetrates. Ohmmmm.

And if I keep telling myself that, maybe it'll be true. LOL

*I'm probably using that word wrong.  I don't care.  That's how zen I am.  =op 

Sunday Update - Week 44

It was a week, lemme tell ya.  Mostly work related and mostly stuff I can't talk about online.  Wednesday was weird.  Friday sucked.  Details will not be forthcoming.

Anyway, I read some stuff.  I'm only one book behind schedule now.  I still have to read 13 books between now and the end of the year to reach my goal, though, so I'm not sure that's possible.  We'll see.

I made zucchini bread last Sunday.  I might make cranberry apple something today, because cranberries were on sale at Wallyworld, so I couldn't pass those suckers up.

Not really much activity this week.  I swept the office again.  The other half this time.  Woohoo.  Still lost 1.8 pounds since last Sunday.  Weight: 164.6.  I'd like to stop at like 150 or thereabouts, but we'll see if it's possible to stop.  I worked a job in FL that got me down to 110.  I was ugly-skinny at that point, trust me.  I might have to switch off diet dew (Wallyworld brand, of course) and start eating breakfast.

On the upside, the two pairs of pants I bought last month that were a little tight fit now.  I look smashing in the red pants with a sheer red shirt and a tank top underneath that.  The pinstripe pants are yet to be worn because I can't quite figure out the best tops to go with them.  Maybe tomorrow.

Oh oh oh, my sleeveless turtleneck tops arrived!  Took them long enough.  I love them.  They look and feel awesome on me.  We'll see how they fare after they're washed.  One is black and the other is purple like deep amethyst.  I do love me some gem colors.

Last weekend, I bought worms in a spate of optimism.  I still haven't gone fishing.  Maybe today.  We really should put new line on all the reels, though.  And we need to rake the yard.  There are too many things to do on my days off to spare a few hours for fishing.  Of course, my weekends now typically consist of sitting and reading and watching TV.  After a week of work, I don't really want to do anything else.  :shrug:

Of course, last night was the time change.  As always, we didn't change the clocks before we went to bed, so right now half the clocks are right and the other half are an hour ahead.  I'll go change those in a while.  Every clock thing in the kitchen and the one in the bedroom don't change themselves.  On the upside, it'll be light when I go to work.  On the downside, it'll be dark when I come home.  Turds.

Everything else is fine.  The family is fine.  The critters are fine.  The world isn't fine, but there's nothing I can do about that.  We'll vote on Tuesday before I have to head to work.  I'm not sure it'll do any good, but not voting definitely won't.  So go vote.

And on that note, I'll let you get back to your day.  Have a great one!  And drop a note to tell me how your week went.  =o)

Saturday Reading Wrap-up - 11/5/22

Good morning.  I hope everyone out there is having an awesome morning and the coffee is flowing for you all.

No new books this week, but that's okay.  I still have plenty to read. =o)

Books Read:

62) Last Pen Standing by Vivian Conroy (11/4/22) - Cozy Mystery - 5 stars. New to me but not underappreciated.  Picked up for a quarter at a thrift store.
Review: "Super cute, loads of fun, and plenty of potential killers to keep you guessing in this snappy little whodunnit."

61) The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare (10/30/22) - YA Historical Romance - 5 stars. New to me but not underappreciated.  10c at a thrift store.
No Review.

60) Cop Out by Ellery Queen (10/29/22) - Mystery - 5 stars. Neither new to me nor underappreciated.  50c at a thrift store.
Review: "This is a most excellent read. It bills itself as 'Different from any detective story Ellery Queen has ever written' and it's totally true. Except for the fact that like Queen's other stories, it's a page-turner. I inhaled this in a day, flipping pages like mad to find out what would happen next. The resolution was brilliant. The characters were true. The writing was amazing. Overall, an awesome book."

No DNFs this week.

Currently reading... I finished that cozy mystery close enough to bedtime last night to not start anything else.  No clue what I'll feel like reading next.  

What reading type things did you do this week?

Thursday This n That

Yeah, I realize this isn't Thursday.  Unfortunately, I didn't think yesterday was Thursday, so you're getting this today.  

Yesterday, I was listening to music on my lunch break and this one video started out with an attack ad against both the Republican and the Libertarian candidates for Senate.  Everything 'bad' they were saying about the R turned out to be lies.  Everything 'bad' they said about the L made me want to vote for him.  I wish I could find the ad and share it, but alas, I cannot.  I'm still voting for the R on Tuesday, though, because if the conservatives here split their votes between R & L, we'll get the damn D again.  Maybe that was the point of the commercial.  She knows she can't win if the conservative voters don't split their vote, so she's making the L look more attractive than the R.  

Sometimes it's hard to not talk about things going on at work.  

I've been screwing around taking these 'list challenge' things I see on FB.  One of them was 'so you think you're well read'.  It had like 1460 titles on it.  I've read like 175 or so and I shared it on FB.  Someone commented pointing to Sturgeon's Law on Wikipedia.  Back in the '50s, science fiction writer Theodore Sturgeon postulated that 90% of everything is crap.  Yep, that seems about right.

Speaking of crap, I saw another challenge on there of 'woke' books.  It said something about the average # of those books that participants have read.  It was 3.  LOL

One thing I hate about book challenges on there is that they list a whole series of which I read only one or two, so I can't claim it.  Harshes my groove, man.

I've already bought a 2023 date book for work.  I haven't written in it yet, but I need to plan some stuff out for next year already, so I should probably get crackin' on that.  I am not one for planning that far ahead.

I think we're having leftovers for dinner tonight.  Or burgers.  We need to eat the leftovers, but I'll probably want a burger by the time I get home.  :wanders into the kitchen to take burger out to defrost:

Yesterday morning, I was on my way to work and not far from the house when a chipmunk darted across the road in front of me.  Lucky for Chester, I was paying attention and hit the brakes.  I would've had a sad if I'd squashed the little dude.  Probably not as sad as he would've been, though.

Okay, I've probably bored you enough for now.  Have a great day and an awesome weekend. :hugs: