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.
Don’t forget to look at my giveaways on the right sidebar.
Sunday, I did laundry and put more kitchen stuff away. I started packing for our short trip to Florida to see my Mom for the first time in over 2 years. I joined in with the COYER book club chat. Then Lulu and I went for a shorter chilly walk. I visited blogs and wrote my last review for the upcoming week. I downloaded all the review audios to my phone yesterday. We are eating leftovers all day to clean out the fridge.
Monday, I got up a bit earlier and began the load up of the car. We had a pretty good day in the car and found some places to get gluten free food. Lulu was excited to look out the window. The weather was good. Traffic was ok until we hit Pooler GA (near Savannah) around rush hour and were trying to get gas and food. Our LaQuinta doesn’t charge extra for pets and has a nice pet area. You have to check because some places charge a lot.
Tuesday, we have a shorter drive but unfortunately were kind of slow getting started. We finally got to town and got something to eat. Then we went over to the nursing home to see Mom briefly. For some reason, she recognizes my daughter but not me. She asks a lot of questions which don’t quite make sense. She has lost a lot in the past 2 years since we saw her last.
Wednesday, we went to the Tampa Lowry Zoo. They did honor our reciprocal zoo pas which was great. There were a lot of things block off and under construction, also sadly the stringray pool was closed for the day. But we did enjoy all the different exhibits we saw. The walking was not too much but it was mid-80s (25C) and somewhat humid. We were only there about 2 hours. Then I dropped my daughter at the hotel to take care of Lulu and I went to pick up some lunch. After eating, we went a couple places to buy her a new suitcase because hers fell apart. Then it was time to go over to my brother’s to have dinner with everyone. I thought it was a lot of running around on the only day I wouldn’t be driving for hours. It was great to see everyone. Mom really seemed to enjoy being part of it even if she didn’t know everything. He showed me the house and gave me 3 quilts from Mom’s house. One I remember from my bed there for a few years when I was young.
Thursday, we packed up and headed to Bok Towers in 2 Teslas and my Volt. Lulu was allowed to go in the park which was perfect. She loved walking around and meeting lots of people. We got there in time for the 1pm concert. Then we had lunch and walked more in the park. In the late afternoon, we headed on to Jacksonville, FL for the night. Unfortunately we hit huge Orlando traffic and arrived about 10:30pm. My daughter did find a really great gluten free pizza place in Daytona which we ate in the car, on the road.
Then the motel, I had to wait to check in, we got 2nd floor, no elevator. When I got to the room, the smoke alarm was chirping. I went back, and the front desk called maintenance no answer. So I went back to the room, which seemed clean, even though there was lots of trash outside and men loitering smoking all over, and went back to the car and left. I was done. We drove another half hour to the nice place we stayed Monday night and luckily they had a room for us. So I paid for 2 places that night but at least we ended up in a good place. We had planned to go to the zoo there but they are not honoring the reciprocal zoos.
Friday, we just headed home. Somehow it took a long time with stops and then a huge accident right at the exit we wanted to take for home. We didn’t make it until about 9:30pm. I hauled things in and started a load of laundry, unpacked the cooler and food. I had to finish up a post for Saturday.
Saturday, I slept a little late and then continued with laundry and got to work on emails and posts. I’m glad we went even with having 4 of 5 days with 7-9 hours in the car. I noticed another iris blooming and another broccoli rabe is ready. I got onto the Zoom for Fangs for Christmas with Ilona Andrews, Jeaniene Frost and Scarlett St. Clair. Today managed to get up to 70, which felt fine after the mid 80s in Florida, but this next week looks to be in the 50s. Lulu and I had a nice walk. I got an Instacart order from Food Lion since we needed milk and eggs.
How do I do it?
So my laptop is wanting me to install Windows 11. Has anyone installed it or used it? I never did do Vista or Windows 8. Some of these versions are just horrid.
If you have any tips for me, please comment.
Stacking the Shelves is hosted by 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):
I want to thank PICT Tours, and Penguin Audio.
(If you click on the cover, it will take you to the Goodreads entry)
NOTHING.
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
I read all types of books but my favorites are urban fantasy and romantic suspense.I like some romance and some action / adventure / mystery in everything.I like sex in my books but please, only between TWO people.Intimate conversation is equally important to the sex in a book.It lets me see the characters.The other thing I enjoy is humor.
Friend or follow me at Goodreads.
- 🎧 All The Sinners Bleed by SA Crosby @blacklionking73 @alazarrewhite @MacmillanAudio #LoveAudiobooks #JIAM - June 6, 2023
- Sunday Post –4 June 2023 @kimbacaffeinate @readingreality - June 4, 2023
- 🎧 Series review: A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson @HoJay92 @BaileyCarrVOICE @LLAudiobooks @PRHAudio #LoveAudiobooks #JIAM #COYER #ReadASeriesinaMonth - June 3, 2023
Covid has taken so much. I see why you slept late on Saturday. You have to be exhausted!
Yes all the driving and a different hotel all but one, we stayed in Tampa 2 nights so loading up and unloading the car. Tampa and Orlando have a lot of traffic.
Enjoy your trip! I’m crossing my fingers that I’ll get to go to Florida and see my grandpa next year. I haven’t seen him since before COVID.
Thanks AJ. We’re home and it was a good trip. We sore our masks even at the 2 things we visited which were both outdoor venues, except for eating. I’m not liking the news today on Omicron.
Wow, what a trip! But it must have been nice to see your mother and other family members too. And how nice that you got to take Lulu!
We really had to take Lulu. She enjoyed it. We have a soft sided crate but we didn’t set it up since the little smarty has figured out how to get out of it. She is always good. She never barks and has not ever had an accident in a hotel or the car or anything. It was great to see family but the Omicron news today is bad. We wore masks everywhere though.
It seems that you had such a great time away from home Anne!
Yes we tried to keep it short, wear masks and do outdoor things like the zoo and park. It was good to see family.
I’ve only been in my friend’s Tesla, and I was blown away(this was before I found out what Teslas were) Sounds like You had fun.
It was tiring but fun. I was glad to see family. We were careful and wore masks even outdoors. My brother is a big fan of electric cars. I have a hybrid but only use gas on long trips like this.
AW I’m so sorry to hear that about your mom and remembering. That’s gotta be tough. Glad you were able to get there though and see her. Be safe in your travels…
The Tampa zoo sounds nice. Oh, to have 80’s. But humidity is not my friend haha.
Oh I read further and see you’re home now. 🙂 Glad you had a nice trip. Hope your Christmas is wonderful as well next weekend…
Eggnog & Alligators looks cute. 🙂
Thank you Greg. It is hard. We write letters and talk on the phone, even Facetime but she is losing the connections. She does remember my brother which is part of why she lives just 5 miles from him so he sees her 1-2 times a week. The 80s were just odd and humid. We did a very fast trip, only outdoor things, zoo and park, and wore our masks even outdoors. I like Erin Nicholas – she’s from Iowa where I grew up – but she does a good job with her characters and is usually not too unrealistic. I’m fussy about romance. If it’s all billionaires and virgins I roll my eyes.
I can relate to that re: the romances. 🙂 And glad you had a nice trip.
Sounds like a good trip, even for Miss Lulu. lol Too bad about the traffic and long drives, but not much you can do to avoid those, I guess. Beats flying! (I’m terrified of flying)
Glad you got to see your mom and that she enjoyed herself.
Hopefully this next week you can relax a bit?
It was as good a trip as it could be. I’m a little worried about being out so much though. Lulu loves it and we can’t imagine traveling without her. I like to fly but not these days.
I’m glad you got to see your mom and that your trip was (mostly) good. I hate windows and every time my work computer pops up with the update notification I want to cry. I know it is gonna break things.
Exactly! The updates are always a hassle.
Nice that the trip could take place and you returned safe and sound especially with some of what went on during the trip. I love the zoo pics. I always wanted to go see the Manatee park near where my husband’s family are living.
Looks like you’ve settled in and gotten caught up with daily stuff. Hopefully you can catch up on rest this week.
Happy Holidays, Anne!
I’m working on catching up. It’s slow. But this week has less scheduled, so I hope I can get caught up and relax more.
Thank you for sharing your family pictures with us. You both look happy at the zoo. Have a great new week and hopefully some wonderful and festive x-mas days.
Thank you Vi! We had a good trip but I worry about being out even though we were masked.
Sounds like you had a nice trip/visit! The pictures are beautiful. I would’ve left that motel, too! I don’t like men loitering about, it makes me feel unsafe, especially when you can’t get ahold of anyone at the front desk. I’d try to get my money back.
yes Rachel, it was worth it to just leave.
It sounds like a nice trip despite all the driving. My laptop want to update too, and I haven’t let it yet either. Although I’m sure at some point it might just make me. I’m going to put it off as long as possible. Hope you have a great week!
I’m glad we went but I was uncomfortable even while masked. Thank you! I will be happy to ignore the update as long as possible.
I had been using Windows 7 for the past few years when my laptop stopped working this week. Now I’m using Windows 10 and I’m getting the hang of it but I don’t know anything about Windows 11.
Sounds like you had a good trip.
I liked Windows 7 and Windows 10 are both fine. But I’m not ready to change just now.
Ugh, sorry that the drive home wasn’t great, but it sounds like it was a nice time with family and worth the drive. I do love to go to zoos, so that is neat that you guys did that. I love Emma Hart, so hope you enjoy that freebie! Have a good holiday week!
Thank you Lisa! We love zoos and outdoor attractions are better options right now.
Hope you have a nice trip for the holidays.
Merry Christmas
It was a nice trip but we are glad to be at home.
It sounds like you had a nice trip, although somewhat exhausting. I am so glad that you got to see your mom. I hope that you are able to get some rest this week.
Thank you Carole. We will try to go to Florida again later this year if things are not too bad. We will see. After tomorrow, this week should be relaxed.
I’m sorry about your mother. My grandmother was starting to show signs of dementia when the pandemic started and has slid so much since then. She knows I’m important to her but can’t figure out exactly who I am and how I’m connected to her. It’s heart breaking. I hope you have a wonderful week!
Thank you Katherine. That’s it exactly. She’s happy to see us and enjoys the outings, so that’s what is important.
That feel’s like a fantastic but very tiring visit. Such a shame about the motel and second zoo but it’s wonderful that you got to spend time with family.
Yes it was a great trip in spite of small difficulties. ( I noticed you subscribed to the Northwoman blog on WordPress but I don’t really post there, it’s all Books of My Heart these days. I don’t know exactly how to set up that in WordPress but I also have email daily or weekly, Feedly and Bloglovin if any of those work for you. Something else for me to figure out for people. )
Sounds like it was a great trip despite some of the issues and all that driving. It must have been great seeing your Mom in person, even though it’s hard to experience the memory declines. I’ve been there.
My laptop prompted me to install Windows 11, too, but I’m ignoring it. 10 works just fine…for now.
Have a great week, Anne, and welcome back💜
Thanks so much Jonetta. I’m glad we went but now I’ve got to pick up the slack at home. lol Have a happy holiday and New Year!
I’m glad to read your trip went well. But I’m sorry your mother didn’t recognice you though. That must be hard.
Have a great Christmas! Happy reading.
It is hard but she is 94 and getting confused more easily these days. At least we all had a good time. She enjoyed her outings. Thank you Maureen.
What a busy week on the road! Sounds like you got to see some fun stuff and at the zoo, and I’m glad you got to see your family. Sorry to hear your mom has lost a lot of her cognitive functions. That’s always tough. Hugs.
Thank you Stephanie! All true. I’m glad we went but now I’m diving back into the hole worrying about Omicron.
Well, it sounds like a good trip overall, even with the headaches. I’m glad you got to see your mom. It’s tough in situations like this. That Erin Nichols book looks cute – let me know if you end up reading it.
My week was good – although at this point, I don’t remember much. Except we celebrated Christmas with my in laws since we will be gone to my family for the holiday. We had a lot of fun with matching outfits and eating tons of good food.
I hope you have a wonderful week ahead and a lovely Christmas.
Thank you Jen! I hope you have a wonderful and happy holiday. I’m glad we went but it was an exhausting blur. I’m trying to catch up this week.
Sounds like a (mostly) good trip, Anne. So glad you got to visit with family, though it has to be bittersweet with your mom. I’m surprised that first hotel didn’t refund your money!
Thanks Tanya. It was a pretty good trip and we will probably go again for a little extra time in 2022.
Sounds like you had a wonderful trip. I hope you have a merry Christmas.
Thank you Wendy! I was rather worried about omicron but I think we squeaked by before the biggest wave. We’ve been home a week and no illness so I hope we managed it.