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, it’s cooled down a bit today. I planned to get started with blog visiting but instead got distracted by reorganizing my papers / tasks on my desk. It didn’t take long and it’s great having it more organized. I did some blog visiting and then veered off course again to do the menu plan for this week. I’m finally caught up enough now a week ahead on ARCs and really want to stay ahead. Lulu and I did a short walk. I updated my links for the Library Love Challenge and COYER for mid month.
Monday, I did typical computer stuff, wrote a review, and made a new todo list. I changed sheets on my bed. I ran the dishwasher. I vacuumed both floors of the house, doubled up with swiffer wet on the kitchen and hardwood floors, washed the rugs. We went to the chiropractor for adjustments. Then my daughter went to nap. I scrubbed out the main bath shower. I made a batch of food for Lulu with chicken thighs. I loaded the donations (clothes) in the car for tomorrow. This week I have been sharing posts to Mastodon even if the original blog poster isn’t on Mastodon. I might try that with Threads another week, or Bluesky. It’s about half and half manual sharing to Mastodon because some WordPress blogs have a button but Threads or Bluesky would both be all manual.
Tuesday, it’s raining lightly so I took a towel for walking the dogs. I wanted to wipe off their paws so they wouldn’t track all over her kitchen. But the neighbor was home and won’t need us this week and forgot to tell us. We chatted a bit. I finished prepping my lists for all the errands. We got to the appt and they told us it was the wrong day, it’s tomorrow. So I dropped off the donations and bought a couple items at Aldi and Trader Joes, and we went home.
Wednesday, I tried to get things done before leaving for medical appt 2.0. This was hampered by a run to pick up my plants at the nursery which I had ordered, then a stop at Harris Teeter for 3 items. Worse, my phone didn’t charge overnight and wouldn’t charge this morning no matter what cord I used or where I plugged it in. I tried cleaning the connection. Finally I turned it off at 15%, then I made an appt to have it fixed. Apparently, Best Buy is now authorized Apple repair center. So off we went again using my daughter’s phone for GPS. I took the car for inspection, then got 1 item at Trader Joe’s I forgot yesterday and 4 items at Aldi’s, then I went to Best Buy. I was a little worried because no one greeted me for 10 minutes. The guy came over I told him the story and he held out his hand for the phone, and disappeared into the back room for 5-10 minutes. When he came back he told me he cleaned the port and it had some yellow sticky substance (???) and now it was working. Yay! He didn’t charge me (more yay!). I can’t recall ever having spilled anything on my phone.
Then I went to the Asia market to find a couple things for my daughter for Christmas. They also had really good looking bean sprouts compared to the ones I got at Harris Teeter. Bigger package, better looking and less expensive. If only we lived close to this place. Then I went to pick up my daughter, but the appt lasted another hour, 4 hours total. Then we picked up some of our favorite Thai takeout and went home. I was so glad to be home finally after 2 days of running around in the car. It was much more crowded on Tuesday than Wednesday.
Thursday, I went to sleep early and didn’t set my alarm for this morning. Lulu made sure I didn’t sleep too late. The sun is shining. I’m not sure if I will do the leaves and the planting today or tomorrow. It’s tempting to just stay inside. But Lulu needs a walk after two days of rainy weather. We did the medium route and although it seems cold it was fine with a jacket. We had our pumpkin tortellini with pesto and I made an apple pie with crumble topping.
Friday, things are totally out of hand. I went on a tangent of sorts collecting all the information about the plants to prepare for planting. I got a bunch of family phone calls which were good but a distraction. I ordered a few things online for Black Friday sales. I have a lot more I want to do the next couple days but I think I am prepared now. I’d be happier if I had written some reviews or got the plants in the ground, etc. I did get Lulu out for a short walk. Here’s the new perennials. Hopefully, they look like this next spring / summer.
Saturday, I did get some things done finally. I wrote reviews and worked on posts. I’m thrilled to be a couple weeks ahead on blog posts and hope to stay that way. I planted my new perennials in the front bed. I was ready to take Lulu for a walk and we ran into the neighbor and Abby, so they went with us on a short walk. This next week we will have mostly freezing nights but around 50F / 10 C days, getting back to 60s next weekend.
The Top 10 lists for 2023 where you can link up to one or all, so we can see your favorites! Grab the #Top10of2023 button. Here is the plan:
Monday, December 25th– Top 10 Books of 2023
Tuesday, December 26th– Top 10 Audiobooks of 2023
Wednesday, December 27th – Top 10 Book Covers of 2023
Thursday, December 28th – Top 10 Book Characters of 2023
Friday, December 29th – Top 10 Your Choice Category ( Narrators, New to Me, Couples, Series, Books I Meant to Read This Year, etc)
Saturday, December 30th – Top 10 Books I Want in 2024
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):
Many thanks to Elizabeth Hunter, Brilliance Audio.
(If you click on the cover, it will take you to the Goodreads entry)
NONE.
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.
- 🎧 The Ornithologist’s Field Guide to Love by India Holton @IndiaHolton @EKNOWELDEN @BerkleyPub @PRHAudio #LoveAudiobooks - July 25, 2024
- 🎧 Primal Mirror by Nalini Singh @NaliniSingh#AngelaDawe @BerkleyPub @TantorAudio #LoveAudiobooks #Favorite - July 23, 2024
- Sunday Post – 21 July 2024 @kimbacaffeinate @readingreality - July 21, 2024
I didn’t know that about Best Buy. And Thai take out sounds good. It’s been cold around here 28 right now and we’re supposed to get SNOW this week. Argh 🙂
I used to rejoice when it snowed, grabbing my skis and heading out. It’s the Geek Squad in Best Buy, at least in this metro area.
Oh that’s good to know!!
I really need some apple pie. Lol.
We are supposed to get snow! I am so excited! (I also live in the same state as Greg up there) We have a tradition to always get Chinese takeout on the first snow…so fingers crossed it snows!
Have a good one!
Thanks Erin. I wanted snow for skiing! I used to ski some at Iron Mountain isn’t it, in Michigan?
Are you in a place where it will be spring soon? We are prepping for a cold wet winter and I miss our walks in the park.
Enjoy planting those spring flowers!
Harvee at https://bookdilettante.blogspot.com/
Sadly we are just starting winter here in North Carolina, usually December – February. But our winters are mild. It is late to plant bulbs / plants for spring. The plants are mostly dormant. Our winter here is short and not too cold. My broccoli grows all winter and I’ve had it in November and January to eat. The plants are from a local nursery and I can’t think they would sell them now if they didn’t expect them to live.
Oh, pretty flowers.
I love to have flowers in the spring. But there’s a bit of work involved year round.
Sounds like a very busy week, but congrats on being ahead with your blogging! I’m hoping the Black Friday sales are still going on, I need to buy more gifts today. Hope you have a good week, Anne!
Thanks Tammy. I am sure there will be plenty of options through Cyber Monday.
Cleaning isn’t fun, but I sure do love making lists and reorganizing!!!
Food looks delicious! Flowers look beautiful.
Than you Jinjer. I love cleaning after it is complete. I enjoy the lists and organizing too.
Whew, you did have a ton of running around in those two days, but way to go getting ahead on your ARC stack. Your perennials are a great variety and hopefully will settle into the new bed for them. Glad your Thanksgiving was a quiet and restful one with good food. We had a lovely time at my sister in law’s.
Have a good week, Anne!
Thank you Sophia. I’m glad you had a nice Thanksgiving. I am still working to get tasks off my long list but feeling better with the things which I finished now.
That was a really hectic week, Anne! And go you for getting ahead with your blog posts – I’m hoping to do so in the next few weeks as I’ve been playing catchup alllll year and I’m a bit fed up with it! I hope the coming week is more relaxing:)).
Thank you Sarah. Somehow I don’t seem to be the relaxing type exactly. lol But I really do like the feeling of having things finished or completed. Then my mind just works into new projects. I’ve read all my December ARCs and want to get a start on January now. It’s harder with audio as I don’t always get them until very close or even on release date from the publishers.
Thanks for my sweet Lulu fix💜 Your pie and tortellini look delicious! I’d never try to make a pie…beyond my skills😏
I got Fall, too, and I hope we both enjoy. Have a great week, Anne!
Thanks Jonetta. I didn’t completely make the pie; I bought the gluten-free crust but I did make the filling and topping from scratch. I finished Fall already and I really LOVED it. I hope you do and look forward to your thoughts.
We got snow last night! I will be participating in the Top 10, but I had it off by a week on my calendar, so moved it to the correct days. And I always have one other topic I want to do, so I’ll do one extra day too. Sounds like a crazy busy week for you! The food looks yummy in your pictures. Hope you have a good week!
Thank you Lisa! I am so glad to hear you will join us for the Top 10. It’s so fun to see everyone’s picks. We do have the Friday for Your Choice but is it you want 2 of your own choices? I can’t believe you had snow – you are too far south for that to stick, right?
Yeah, I have two separate choices I like to do, Top 10 New to Me Authors, and Top 10 I wish I’d read in 2023. lol Nope, I’m right in the area it could stick. I’m just at the north side of the Kansas City area. South of Kansas City area, where my school that I work at is, they didn’t get as much as we did. But it will warm up this week and melt it away I think.
I love whatever the top left flower/plant is! There are almost no best buys around here any more, but there is an apple store about 25 min from my house. But, its nice that there are options. Apple stores aren’t located in every city. Have a great week!
Thank you Samantha. It’s astilbe Delft Lace. This is my second plant. I bought one last year and I want more of it in the garden. We had lots of Best Buy in MN so I’m familiar with them anyway.
Thanks for the tip that Best Buy is now an Apple repair place. I dropped my phone a couple of months back and the bottom display always has a strip of green that sometimes flashes. We’re not close to Apple stores and they’re so crowded, probably especially now. Sounds like you’re having similar weather. We are in the upper 50s up to 60 and then freezing at night. We had a low of 27 degrees last night and there was frost on the grass this morning. I’m jealous you’re ahead with blogging! I wish I was. I’ve been so busy lately with work and company. Love your new plants!
Thank you Rachel. I’ve worked very hard the past week to get a bit ahead because I was feeling so overwhelmed. Also I had too many eARCs and less audio which contributed to the feeling. Now it’s good. I’m going to get ahead on those eARCs for 2024 after I read a couple things I just want to read, like the buddy read starting tomorrow. I didn’t want to go to the Apple store so I was glad to see it. The Apple store is GREAT every time I have been but hard to get into and I can’t go days without my phone.
It seems that this was a weird and week Anne! I hope next week is better for you!
Thanks Sophie. It was weird but I did accomplish a lot so I’m happy with it.
Lulu is such a cutie and your flowers look beautiful, Anne. And yay for being ahead on your blog posts.
Thank you. We just love Lulu so much; she brings joy to our life.
We don’t often get snow here but I love your flowers.
Thank you Mary. I learned a lot about perennials over the years but that was in Minnesota. I’m still figuring out what works best here. I started with daylilies when we moved to this home because I think they work almost anywhere.
You sound like you’ve had a very busy week. Your gardens are going to look lovely next spring! Have a great week ahead.
Thank you Jodie. It was busy but I feel really good about the progress I made. I hope the flowers all survive and do well next year. It may take a bit for some to get established.
I like Bluesky, but I’m terrible about checking social media. That apple pie sounds amazing 🙂
Bluesky is alright, maybe too chatty for me. I like Threads better I get more News + people there? All the new socials for me Bluesky, Threads, and even Mastodon I don’t follow enough people yet to get the info I want.
I haven’t been sharing much to social media these days. I’m finding I just spend less and less time there. Once and a while, I remember to share my own posts on Bluesky and Threads (goes to do that now!).
We had a nice Thanksgiving holiday. My son was home from school and we just did a lot of hanging out. It was relaxing, but now I’m feeling overwhelmed with my to do list!
I certainly don’t have a handle on social media yet. I’m sharing to Mastodon and Threads this week (manually) for friends posts. I haven’t got my posts set up to go to Threads or Bluesky yet. I took a different approach and used the holiday to get ahead on stuff so I’m feeling much more relaxed this week but still plenty I want to do.
Great books! The food photos have made me hungry!
Thank you Laurel. We enjoyed our non traditional food. But the pie is more traditional.
Lulu looks mighty comfy. 🙂 I love all the colorful plants.
We make sure Lulu has the best of everything. lol She’s our best girl and deserves it. I hope all the plants do well and bloom next year.
Happy belated Turkey Day!
Your pics of food are making me hungry 😉
Thank you . Well it was tasty!
I love the plants you picked. Are they native to your area?
Jill
http://www.allthebooksihaventread.com/
I’d say mostly no. Astilbe are in Asia and N America, the Ground Orchid is from China, the Wild Ginger is from China, primroses are from west and southern Europe, the Toad Lily is Japanese, and the Zephyranthes are rain lilies from Mexico
Looks like a busy week! We have a good Asian market here that is just enough out of the way that I never think to go to it. I really need to fix it. Great looking new books! I really want to pick up the Sheila Lowe book. I used to love that series. Have a great week!
Thank you Katherine. I’ve already read and written reviews for the two ARCs I got last week. I’m really on a roll.