Monday Musings

My week(s): It's been a rough couple of weeks around here. My grandma passed away just over a week ago, only a few days after she was diagnosed with stage IV bladder cancer. We were pretty close -- we e-mailed each other every single day (well, I may have missed a few but she never did) -- and it was very tough being so far away that week. She lived in Indiana, and I'm so very grateful for the three years we spent in Ohio when she was just a two-hour drive away. I'm also thankful that the entire rest of my family was there at the end, and that I was able to say goodbye via Facetime. Oh, but I do miss her!

In addition to all that, Alohi was spayed a little over a week ago (which is kind of a major procedure!) and our "bouncy" puppy (the vet's kind way of describing our insane little Energizer Bunny) was almost completely immune to the sedatives we were given. Keeping her quiet and still for 10 days proved a total impossibility. And while we were struggling with that, she managed to get a bee sting in her mouth and her face swelled up horribly.

Too, I had some frustrating, hectic days at work, Jarrod has been working absolutely insane 12 to 13+-hour days for the past few weeks, and he had to work at least part of every day over the holiday weekend. And the 4th was bittersweet this year, because it would've been my grandma's 80th birthday.

Things will not get better anytime soon because Jarrod's work is about to start another exercise, and he'll be working 12-hour days for 14 straight days (including the next two weekends). We are all looking forward to August in my house!

On the plus side, we did take Alohi to an old baseball field to run to her heart's content on Saturday, and we spent a few hours at the beach on Sunday.

Reading: It took me several attempts to read more than a handful of pages of "News of the World" at a time, but when I finally got into it, this charming little Western flew by (it's readable in a day if you don't dilly-dally with it like I did). I also finally finished "Bring Back the King: The New Science of De-Extinction," which was a fascinating, quick non-fiction book and I have no excuse for the insane amount of time it too me to read it. Next I read "Vision in Silver," the third book in The Others urban fantasy series. I was craving something light and fluffy, and it fit the bill! I just finished "Silent in the Grave," the first in Deanna Raybourn's Lady Julia Grey historical mystery series and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It's just over 500 pages, but I blew through it in just over two days! I'm looking forward to reading book 2 soon, though my track record with continuing series is not so good...

I also read "Walk Two Moons" by Sharon Creech, and I'm currently reading "Three Times Lucky" by Sheila Turnage, for the 4th and 5th grade book club I'll be helping out with at work. I have to come up with discussion questions and brainstorm an appropriate craft for two books each month. I have to say, coming up with the crafts is harder than I thought it would be!

Watching: "Grantchester," "The White Queen," "World of Dance," "Deadliest Catch," "Turn." Movie-wise, we watched "Hell or High Water," which for some reason I thought was a Western but was actually a movie about two brothers who rob a string of banks in West Texas. Not bad, but not fabulous either. "Patriots Day," about the Boston Marathon bombing, was better than I expected, and we FINALLY got to watch "Beauty and the Beast"! It was cute, though a little more musical-y than I thought it would be.

Listening to: "Attention" by Charlie Puth.

Blogging:
Monday Musings
The Best Books I've Read So Far in 2017
10 Intriguing July 2017 Book Releases
My July 2017 Reading List
5 Mini Reviews: My Last Continent, The Queen of Blood, The Likeness, News of the World, and Bring Back the King: The New Science of De-Extinction
This or That Book Tag

Looking forward to: "Game of Thrones" starting back! And, as mentioned, August!

I'm linking up with Kathryn of Book Date for It's Monday! What Are You Reading?