Monday Musings

Highlight of the week: We've spent another week living out of a hotel and we are most definitely ready to move into our new house later this week (even though our stuff won't be delivered for three more weeks)! Since this is our second time living in Hawaii, it's been a little tough for us to come up with things to do to get us out of our room. We've already done the luaus and Pearl Harbor and the Dole Plantation and the Aloha Swap Meet and all the easy touristy things several times. And we don't have our beach towels and chairs or our snorkel gear or our hiking shoes (you need special hiking shoes -- your oldest, filthiest pair of sneakers -- for all the dirt trails in Hawaii since they are guaranteed to get covered in red mud) to do all the stuff we do want to do.

But we did have some fun this week. On Saturday we headed over to Kaena Point, the westernmost point you can drive to on Oahu. It's a one of my favorite landscapes here in Hawaii; it's a stunning, rugged coastline made up of lava rock and it's constantly battered by waves. I put a few pictures on Instagram if you're interested!

Reading: I finished "Lily and the Octopus" by Steven Rowley (review). It was a lovely, funny, heartwarming -- and sad -- book about a man and his beloved dachshund, Lily. It's a great book for dog-lovers and everyone else, but beware: you might need a tissue or two.

Now I'm absolutely enthralled by my ARC of "The Wolf Road" by Beth Lewis (which comes out in July). It's part post-apocalyptic tale, part thriller and mostly a character study of the fascinating Elka, a 17-year-old who was raised in a hut in the woods by Trapper, whom she has just discovered is most likely a serial killer. On the run from Trapper and the authorities looking or him -- and her -- Elka must navigate not only the wilds but something she has no experience with: human nature. Elka isn't particularly likeable, but she is one tough cookie and I couldn't help falling in love with her! I'm a little over halfway done and I can't put this one down!

Up next will be another advance-read book, "The Last One" by Alexandra Oliva. I'm glad I have all these ARCs to keep me busy until I can get my Hawaii library card!

Knitting: I actually made a little bit of progress on my Cap Sleeve Lattice Top this week! I'm done with the back and ready to make the switch over to the front. I'm planning to finally do a Yarn Along post again this week and I'll post a photo then!

Watching: Since we had absolutely nothing better to do, I talked Jarrod into seeing "Me Before You" the other day. It was soooo good! I read the book a while back so I don't remember every detail, but I felt it stayed pretty true to the wonderful novel. The subplot about the Traynors' marriage was cut out entirely, but I was fine with that. I wonder if they'll turn "After You" into a movie too? I absolutely loved Emilia Clarke in the role of Lou and I want to see more! (P.S. I was so proud of myself -- no crying!)

Listening to: "Don't Forget About Me" by Cloves. (Coincidentally, it's on the "Me Before You" soundtrack, but I discovered it before we saw the movie.)

Eating: One of our favorite Hawaii restaurants, a gourmet hot dog place called Hank's Haute Dogs. It would not be at all healthy, but I'm pretty sure I could eat here every day! My usual order is the Fat Boy, a hot dog wrapped in bacon and fried, topped with mayo, lettuce and tomato, along with fries (that come with a variety of dipping sauces; that's curry ketchup in the photo) and a pineapple ice. YUM.

Looking forward to: Sounding like a broken record here, but I'm looking forward to July 1 when all our household goods will be delivered! It's frustrating knowing our stuff is sitting in a warehouse a few miles away and we have to wait and wait and wait for delivery. On a more positive note, I'm looking forward to picking out and ordering some address labels for our new house! (I do so love mail!)

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