Monday Musings

Highlight(s) of the week: We were still on vacation in the Smoky Mountains the first part of last week and it was absolutely amazing! We've never had a bad trip there, but this one was especially great as we got to see two black bears! (Our first encounter was almost a little too close! We were hiking back down from a waterfall and turned a curve in the trail -- and there he was, right smack in the middle of the trail! He even gave us a small hiss/growl warning. Eek! I was kinda nervous, but luckily I have a husband who never gets frazzled and knew exactly what to do!) The first bear is the one we saw on our Rainbow Falls hike, the second we glimpsed while driving through beautiful Cades Cove.

Reading: I finally finished "The Little Paris Bookshop" (it seemed to take me for-ev-er to read this little book) and started "The Book of Speculation" by Erica Swyler. By page 5 I was already way more interested in this book than I ever was in "Little Paris." The book itself is beautiful, the writing is great and the plot is intriguing so far! I'm also continuing to listen to the audiobook of "Storm Front," the first Harry Dresden novel by Jim Butcher. I'm a little over halfway done and enjoying it.

Knitting: I haven't made much progress on my sweater lately since we were on vacation, but the other day I had a chance to finish the i-cord bind-off along the front and bottom. I'm hoping to star the first sleeve today! It's coming along. :)

Watching: Hardly anything! We took a couple movies along on our trip and we didn't have a chance to watch any of them. My guilty pleasure, "Switched at Birth" on ABC Family, started back last week and I'm excited to watch it on the DVR soon.

Eating: Homemade refrigerator pickles. Jarrod and I turned some of our cucumber bounty into some quick and delicious pickles!

Looking forward to: My trip home to Colorado to visit my family and take in some Rocky Mountain air! Just a few more days. How lucky am I that I get to experience two stunning and very different mountain ranges in less than two weeks?!

Not looking forward to: My dentist appointment this afternoon. Ugh!!!

Quotes of the week: "If you want to be worshipped, go to India and moo!" -- Herbie Stempel to his wife in the 1994 movie "Quiz Show," which I just finally got around to watching. I thought that was a pretty good zinger!