The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimberly @ Caffeinated Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news~ A post to recap the past week, and showcase books and things we have received.
Stacking The Shelves is also a weekly meme hosted by Tynga’s Reviews and Marlene from Reading Reality. It’s all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks!
Don’t forget to look at my giveaways on the right sidebar.
Last Friday, we set off on our first trip away from home since COVID. I was a bit worried about doing the trip with my pain, Lulu and our gluten-free needs. It was a bit exhausting but went quite well. I was unable to find my Sam’s Club card and at our first overnight stop, went to Sam’s Club in Asheville, NC to get a new card. Luckily I did have images of the card in Key Ring. Lulu was so excited and wanted to look out the window all day. She could hardly be bothered to eat. And at night she just got on the bed and slept from the time we got to the hotel until we left, other than when we took her out at bedtime and first thing in the morning.
I do a LOT of research in advance of trips and make up a whole list of addresses of restaurants with GF menus and create a big Word doc with all their addresses and phone number in sections by city. I also list the Sam’s Clubs which have gas. Bonus points if the Sam’s Club is near a restaurant! We got takeout mostly. We tried a Carrabba’s Italian Grill in Winston-Salem, a local Thai place in Asheville, Bonefish Grill in Lexington KY, Fazoli’s in Clarksville IN. But we ate a lot of stuff I packed from home, especially for breakfast.
Why did we leave home? (We wore masks) My niece graduated from optometry school on Saturday and got married on Monday. The wedding was lovely. She has her own Winston-esque groom. The bride’s dress, bridesmaid dresses, and Mom’s dresses had POCKETS! He took her last name! Also the food was mostly vegetarian and gluten-free. Our plates were delivered without the one gluten item. So it was all very cool. Everyone was vaccinated and there were less than 40 people there. I also like that her train/skirt unhooked to have a shorter dress for dancing; she is a swing dancer. Here is a photo of her dancing with my brother.
Lulu was absolutely great on the trip and totally exhausted after each day in the car. I was tired too with finding all the GF places to eat and get gas, and carrying in all the luggage and food and dog stuff, doing my PT and cleaning everything when we got to each hotel. I did manage to leave my laptop power cord in Lexington KY but thankfully we were able to pick it up on the way back home But I’m still glad we went. I listened to a LOT of audiobooks. But I am thrilled to be home.
Thursday, I’m now trying to catch up on posts and visits. It’s going slowly. I found a whole bunch of things which came onto Netgalley over the past week since I looked last. I took my daughter to a med appt. We have a real flurry of appts over the next week; things we have put off. My garden is doing very well The chard and basil are bigger. The snow peas are climbing the netting. And the daylilies are getting ready to bloom. I need to mow the lawn soon.
Friday, today is all about catchup, pickup, cleanup. I’ve been doing chores, putting things away after the trip and assessing what we need for groceries. I’ve also been trying to visit blogs, read emails, handle review requests and write / setup posts.
Saturday, I stayed up reading until 3 am so I didn’t get up until 9am and then read a bit more. Then there was the usual kitchen and email cleanup. Then I got out and mowed the lawn and watered the gardens. I looked at the Audible sale, and the pile of Chirp emails I had saved. The 3 Chirp ones I want are all available at my library, so I will think about whether I really want to buy them for a bit.
Things I Learned This Week:
OK if I’m asking for help, I’m also going to share the cool things I learn. You may already know them but hopefully it will help someone.
Dell laptop power cords can NOT be used on HP laptops Even if the voltage is the same, they have smart chips to only accept their own cords.
Stacking the Shelves is hosted by Tynga’s Reviews and Reading Reality. These are the exciting ARCs I received this week (If you click on the cover, it will take you to the Goodreads entry):
Special thanks to SocialButterflyPR, Amazon Publishing UK, Abbie Roads Recorded Books, Tantor Audio, and Harper Audio.
(If you click on the cover, it will take you to the Goodreads entry)
I looked at the Audible 2-1 sale. It was all wonky but I found these 2. I know I saw a lot more I planned to buy when I previewed it earlier in the week. Hopefully they will fix it by tomorrow when the sale ends.
Now the really scary one. This is all the Kindle and Audible freebies I grabbed this past week. You can see why I need to do Thrifty Thursday to be sure I read a few at least one each month.
I really meant to cut back on freebies BUT they are free so I guess that won’t be happening.
I’m not including things like reviews posted or upcoming as they are always in the right sidebar. And, my challenge status is also there.
Anne
- 🎧 A Killing on the Hill by Robert Dugoni @robertdugoni #BrillianceAudio #LoveAudiobooks #KindleUnlimited🎧 - April 25, 2024
- Murder in Rose Hill by Victoria Thompson @gaslightvt @BerkleyPub - April 23, 2024
- Sunday Series: Joe Pickett by CJ Box @cjboxauthor #DavidChandler @RecordedBooks#SundaySeries #LoveAudiobooks - April 21, 2024
Anne, your niece and her new husband seem like really great people! That wedding looks like it was a lot of fun. They obviously put a lot of thought and care into it. Thanks for sharing it and the trip.
Oh, I’m so hooked on those Lulu pics? I could look at sleeping pooches all day.
Have a great week!
I’m so proud of my niece. The wedding was lovely even if traveling is tiring. Lulu is the best!
Abbie Roads is fantastic. I love her Dark Paranormal Romances. Looking forward to your review. Happy reading busy bee!
I read the first book in this series about 3 years ago and now there is a 2nd book! I really enjoyed the author and her first book in this series.
Glad your trip was successful! Traveling with pets can be tricky so I’m glad to hear Lulu did great. Good luck with the flurry of appointments!
Thank you Samantha! I am really happy to be home, even with appts ahead.
Nice to get out and have a mini-trip. Your niece looked lovely in her dress. Nice book haul this week. Happy Reading!
Thanks Angela. I thought the wedding was very nice but I am glad to be home.
OMG Anne her dress is so beautiful! And he took her last name? That’s amazing! Also even if that travel took lots of preparation I bet it was great to go out of the house! I can’t wait to travel again!
IKR?!?! I am just so proud of my niece. It is weird to leave the house and travel.
Beautiful Pictures! Congrats to her and him! It looks like you had a great time, even if it was exhausting. Lulu looks like she had a good time and lots of naps. So cute!
I hope you have a wonderful week, Anne! Happy Reading!
It was a beautiful wedding and I’m glad we went and also to be home. Lulu is the best.
Glad your trip went well even though the cord got lost. We took a trip last fall and I planned ahead and took our own supplies. Yay for your niece’s graduation and wedding all going well and being a special time. Still, it probably felt like a relief to get back home to your garden, chores and routine.
Nice haul of books. Have a good week, Anne!
You summarized it very well. Great to be there and wonderful to be home. Home is so convenient and comfortable.
What a lovely reason to leave home for a few days, Anne! The bride and groom both look lovely, and I’m definitely jealous of the dresses with real pockets in them! That should just be the norm (as should big pockets in pants and jeans for women!).
I hope you’ll have a wonderful week ahead, enjoy your new books.
I am so proud of my niece. Pockets are a must. It’s also great to be home.
I’m glad to read you’ve been able to go on a trip. Your niece looks beautiful!
Have a great week and happy reading.
It was a beautiful wedding and now it’s great to be home.
I’m so happy the trip went well and that you had a lovely time with your family. Your niece and your new nephew sound like thoughtful people, that’s wonderful! My friend who has to have GF food uses an app to locate restaurants with GF menus while traveling in case you have not heard of it, it’s called: “Find Me Gluten Free”
Yes thank you Victoria. We use the Find Me GF app and on the computer all the time. These days we have to check even more closely to see if they are open or only for takeout or whatever.
What a beautiful wedding! It is fun going on vacation, but it’s tiring as well. I just got back from the Lake Tahoe area: Truckee, California, and I’m beat. I just unpacked, but I have a lot of catching up to do. Sounds like your trip was a nice one. I’ve always wanted to visit Ashville, NC to see The Biltmore there. I’ll get there someday.
Your garden is doing well! Our basil is doing really well, too. It’s so convenient to have in the garden and I’ve used it a few times now.
Thank you Rachel. I am glad we went as it was a beautiful wedding. I’m thrilled to be home with my garden and regular stuff now tho.
I wish I could enlarge the photos and get a better look at the beautiful dress! That’s so cool that HE took her name
Aww that tuckered out little pup is too cute!
Also glad that everything worked out for you food-wise. Thanks to my BFF not being able to eat cheese, mushrooms, and a bunch of other stuff, I know what a pain it can be sometimes to hunt down food.
Thank you. I think you can right-click on the photo(in Windows) and open the image in a new tab to see it larger. The dress was lovely. We enjoyed seeing the family and now being home.
Ha! I love that she had a “Winston-esque” groom! Perfect! I’m still looking for mine. Looks like your Lulu had a nice time as well. I wish my dogs did better in the car. I’m looking forward to a trip in two weeks myself. Have a good week!
Thanks Lisa. He has the beard and reddish hair anyway. It was a lovely wedding. Lulu was great because so exciting she was exhausted. But Lulu is always the best.
Love that you had a great time at the wedding! I love the pic of them in the field—it’s gorgeous!
Thank you Nicole. It was a lovely event. It was great to see everyone.
Sounds like such a lovely wedding and I LOVE that the dresses had pockets. That’s so cool. Yay for your daylilies opening up. Those are one of my favorite flowers and I can’t wait for mine to bloom this year. They’re always so pretty.
IKR? All women’s clothing should have pockets. Daylilies are a great perennial because they are easy care, not so fussy about the sun/shade and can be reblooming. In MN they didn’t bloom until July but here they start in May, at least this year.
Have you tried the Find Me Gluten Free App? We have used it both locally and anytime we are out of town and it has been great. You can read reviews of the restaurant so that you can decide if it is a safe choice and then use your phone’s GPS to take you there. It sounds like it was a lovely wedding! My daughter always seemed to be able to find dresses for her dances with pockets. I am glad that is a thing now!
Yes we are fans of Find Me GF. It has helped us a lot. I used that on the computer in advance to narrow it down to 3-5 per town for my daughter to look at when we got there. I love having pockets in everything.
Wow, I can’t believe you were able to recover your laptop charger! what a relief! Sounds like quite a busy trip, but well planned. I’m sure you’re glad to be home, but I’m sure your niece appreciated the effort to support her like that.
I hope you’re week is going well and your getting in some relaxation after that busy week! I’m enjoying our readalong 🙂
I was so happy to be home but I’m glad I went. I’m really enjoying the book too.