April Inventory

Reading not enough.  I have several stacks all around the house and a few waiting at the library, but in the past month I only made it through The Ramblers and Yes Please.  The Ramblers sort of annoyed me, but then I'm not the biggest fan of chick lit or stories that revolve around rich people problems.  It had potential to move out of that category and beyond the waspy world, but it never did. I was annoyed because it was well, almost gushingly, reviewed by people (readers, writers, bloggers) I usually agree with and respect so it made me question both their sincerity and my propensity to criticize. In other words, if a friend asks me to write a review of her recently published novel, am I going to admit it lacked substance?  And why can I not just realize that not every book I read is going to be riveting? Poehler's book was interesting. It's not all that funny and that's OK. It's witty, at times, but the biggest takeaway for me is that Amy is just an average girl who had the guts and tenacity to pursue her dreams.  The last section of the book was my favorite.  The stand out was My Boys. I laughed and cried through that vignette. Time Travel also resonated strongly with me. I'm still on track to read at least 100 books this year even after this recent drought which I blame on Showtime. See Watching below.

Wondering what to do with this monkey mind of mine.  I'm all over the place these days, which usually results in me getting nowhere.  I have a stack of lists an inch thick and growing by the day.

Watching too much television.  It started with Homeland and then The Affair and then Billions. Yesterday I was searching for my next show when I realized that we have to cancel Showtime. Lily and I went to see to Legally Blond at the high school over the weekend.  It was better than television that's for sure. Mike and I watched The Big Short recently. It was well done, but it made me angry. The amount of greed was gross. How is it that no one was punished except homeowners and taxpayers?

Listening to my quiet house. It's so quiet I just heard Tigger walk down the stairs. It's rare to sit in complete silence, and it's refreshing. 

Eating too much sugar since Easter. It makes me realize how even just small amounts set us up to crave it more regularly. It's in everything too from Greek yogurt to salad dressings so I'm passing on the yogurt and back to making my own dressing again. Truthfully, I've felt uninspired in the kitchen lately.  Cooking feels more like a chore than a passion these days and that's a problem for me so I'm ready to hand off the entree to the grill master.  This week we enjoyed the first brats of the season.

Wanting my new pillows and sheets to arrive today. I don't know that we've ever splurged on a really good set of sheets before.  I recently ordered a pair that caught my eye because they were a refreshing aqua color and then while I was shopping with Lily this weekend, I found a perfect sea glass linen quilt and shams.

Hoping to get summer camps and activities scheduled soon so I can breathe easy knowing my two will be entertained and engaged. 

Thinking that there is no such thing as too much kindness or too much gratitude.

Enjoying SNL especially during this election year. There's certainly an abundance of material although I will say that the skits start out funny, and then fall flat at the end. Also Nyle DiMarco on the dance floor, spring baseball, kitchen dance parties and open windows.

Loving this excerpt from Amy Poehler's My Boys that is anything, but funny:

"When your children arrive, the best you can hope for is that they break open everything about you. Your mind floods with oxygen. Your heart becomes a room with wide open windows. You laugh hard every day. You think about the future and read about global warming. You realize how nice it feels to care about someone more than yourself. And gradually, through this heart-heavy openness and these fresh eyes, you start to care a teeny tiny bit more about what happens to everyone in it."