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. Don’t forget the Read-along Chat today.
Sunday, I’m a blur of activity, trying to pack, do laundry, get all my posts and reviews organized. Marley and Lulu are finally playing more. They found the Chucky Chicken toy they broke last time and managed to spread the stuffing all over upstairs. I made two batches of Lulu food for the trip. My daughter started helping on the restaurant research to put into our list. We have a shared document. I was working on verifying the stuff from the AAA help. The neighbor walked with us and Marley and Lulu. Itis hot. We were working on the trip research when Marley’s family came home. She could see them in the driveway out the window by our upstairs hall. She barked up a storm. It was fun. We went back to research before dinner. Afterwards I was packing medicines, first aid supplies, laundry supplies, snacks, everything we might need. We even did some more research after dinner. Before bedtime I packed more of my clothes.
Monday, I went to bed later and got up early. I continued packing. I had fueled up last week $3.11/gal. I wrote a review. I did some more laundry. I finished knitting Sophia’s sweater. My niece texted me with photos of her on the quilt I sent last week. My daughter had her therapy appt. Then I loaded up the car. We left one thing behind and went back for it only about 5 miles from home. We got some rain in Mt. Airy and stopped there for sandwiches. Still we didn’t get to the hotel until 9pm.
Tuesday, still raining a bit but I got the car loaded up. We didn’t leave too early. We had to get gas right away, $4.17 in Beckley WV. We drove to Huntington where there was great dedicated GF restaurant, also dog friendly. They gave Lulu a pupcup. We went on and got gas in Lexington KY $3.22/gal. Our hotel was serving free dinner – chicken fajitas and it was good. I just put the chicken & veggies over the mixed lettuces with balsamic dressing and it was delicious. My daughter worked on her homework. I read emails and tried to figure out tomorrow’s route and stops.
Wednesday, I woke early. The beds were much more comfortable. I took Lulu out for a walk and now getting in some computer time while my daughter wakes up. WordPress reader emails worked for the first time in months, no idea what was wrong or what fixed it. We stopped to get gas and right after we filled the tank in Indianapolis, the car gave an error message and wouldn’t run. It also said Engine Unavailable, Service Engine Soon. I had the problem again briefly when we filled the gas take in Normal IL and got down to 4 miles left of electric, full gas tank. But we made it to Peoria where it could be plugged in to fully charge overnight.
Thursday, I decided when I got up that I didn’t want to stress over the charging and error messages or get stranded so I tried to rent a car. It was crazy difficult but I did finally get one. We moved everything over and drove on to Waverly IA where we will be now for some days for the funeral. The hotel is really nice. As you can see Lulu takes over 2/3 of the bed and leaves me a narrow lane.
Friday, I slept latish. I walked Lulu and there is a bakery next door so I got gluten free scones and peanut butter cookies. My daughter worked today to finish up her homework for her class ending this week. I have been catching up on blog emails, other emails and visiting. I made an appt in Peoria and they will check out the Volt next week. At 5 we ate dinner with the family who came from Seattle, Denver, and Tampa. I got to meet Sophia for the first time. She’s very alert and was not afraid of me holding her. After dinner, my brother and his wife came to the hotel and we all folded the memorial cards for the funeral. Then after we fed Lulu, we went to Nashua to the park and listened to the band.
Saturday, some of the family when to the 5 or 10K race, we chose to sleep in and relax here at the hotel. I took Lulu for a short morning walk. We went to the bakery for more scones and cookies. This afternoon we went to Nashua for the library book sale and another band, maybe see some people I know. We spent most of the time with our relatives but then were going to leave and ran into someone. We had just got back to the car and I saw I had a text from my neighbor in high school Jayne. She’s a year older than me and this weekend is her class 50th reunion. My daughter and I decided to go to the next town over where I went to college as they have more options for dinner. We also picked up a sandwich for my daughter for lunch tomorrow as she won’t eat the tacos at the funeral lunch. My ex took my car to have the codes read at an auto store before he takes it to the dealer on Monday for diagnostics.
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):
Huge thanks to Del Rey, Minotaur Books, Viking Penguin.
(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.
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- Sunday Post –4 October 2026 @caffeinatedreviewer.com @readingreality.bsky.social @kimbacaffeinate @readingreality - October 4, 2026
- Dive Bar at the End of the Road by Kelley Armstrong @kelleyarmstrong.bsky.social @KelleyArmstrong #SpeccyFicChal - October 3, 2026
- 🎧 The Vanished Sister by Sherry Thomas @[email protected] @penguinaudio.bsky.social @berkleypub.bsky.social @sherrythomas @BerkleyPub @KateReadingVO @PRHAudio #LoveAudiobooks - October 1, 2026
Sweet Lulu💜
Glad you made it safely to Iowa. It must have been wonderful seeing Sophia for the first time. I hope your Mom’s funeral turns out nicely.
Thank you Jonetta. It’s been stressful but things have gone well enough.
I’m glad the trip is going mostly smoothly, except for the car. It sounds like you’re getting to see lots of friends and relatives! And I just ran over to NetGalley to request Roundabout. Good luck with the rest of your trip.
Thank you Tammy. The car is a puzzler and we will see how it pans out.
Well I hope everything with the car works out! That is stressful! But, it sounds like you are having a nice time getting to see family and friends. That’s always good for the soul! I think all dogs take up way more bed than necessary. I swear my dogs somehow make themselves bigger when we lay dow!
Thanks Samantha. She also likes to lay perpendicular to me which makes it hard for me to have any room!
Glad you arrived safely – what a nuisance about the car messing around! It’s always an intense time, meeting up with family for a funeral. It’s lovely seeing everyone, just sad that it has to be at a bad time… I hope everything else goes smoothly, Anne. Take care.
Thank you Sarah.
I’m glad you arrived safely, I’m sorry about the car though at least it didn’t seem to delay you too much. I hope the rest of your trip and the funeral goes smoothly.
Thank you. The funeral went really well and was lovely.
So stressful when the car acts up on a long trip. Good idea to switch up and just get there. Sounds like a good visit seeing family, old haunts, and old friends.
Thanks Sophia. We really planned to make the most of our family and friend time.
That picture of Sophia is everything Anne!
Thanks Sophie. It is and she is the most chill baby ever.
It looks like your trip is going well, except for the car issue—that is so stressful! It’s wonderful that you are getting to see so many family members and friends, though. Make sure to take it easy and relax when you can. Thanks for sharing the adorable pictures of your pup and niece!
Thank you Angela. It is going pretty well. The funeral went really well. It was great to see people. I just had to make the decision to rent a car to drop the stress and it was the right decision.,
Lovely pictures!
Thank you bree.
I’m glad you had a safe trip, but I’m sorry about the car. I hope everything works out with it.
Thanks Yvonne. We will see. I got diagnostics run today at a dealer.
I’m glad that you had a safe trip but so sorry to hear about your car. How stressful! I hope it gets resolved quickly.
Thank you Jodie. We’ll figure it out but I don’t think it will be quickly.
Sounds like quite the journey! How annoying about the car and day dealing with a rental car place is not a good day. I don’t know why they’re so difficult. I hope the car issues are dealt with quickly. I hope the trip has gone well and that you have a good week.
Thank you Katherine. We are having a good trip, other than the car and I don’t know the answer there yet.
What a cutie Sophia is! And of course Lulu is as well. I’m sorry you’re having car trouble but glad you seem to be getting it sorted out. I hope it’s nothing too bad.
Thanks Jen. I don’t know how the car issue will be resolved but the trip is going well otherwise.
Oof, sounds stressful re: the car! Hope it’s not a pain to get sorted out.
Well I’m pretty sure it will be a pain because I don’t know enough about what I need to know and I am not sure who I can trust.
So frustrating to have a car issue on a trip. Glad your ex is helping out in that regard. Good that you are getting to see family and catch up. Lulu snuggles right up next to you. Mine does too.
The car issue drags on. I need to verify anything they say because I don’t trust them, any car dealer really. But otherwise we are having a good trip. I’m getting tired to traveling and looking forward to being at home.
I’m careful not to have friends or family who run for fun. LOL Glad you found an enjoyable alternative 😉 I just told my teenaged son that he can find whatever he wants to do for 4th of July, but I’ll be home away from the crowds. Hahaha
Great strategies Becki! I can live with those policies.
Sounds like a nice roadtrip even with the car issues. Yes, I’d probably rent a car too. I hate dealing with car issues on a trip. We rented a car for our trip because our cars are getting older. My Acura is from 2015 and our Volt is newer, but we wanted more room and we got a good deal on an SUV. We just got back from our road trip yesterday and I’m still catching up. It was 13+ hours from Montana to home without our stops and I’m tired. It was neat, though! I’ll talk about it in my upcoming Sunday Post.
It was nice that you were able to have your ex pick up your car for servicing. We had an issue with our Volt a couple of years ago “service high voltage charging system” and we were worried because if it was the battery it would’ve costed thousands but it ended up being a $70 computer issue. Are you still on your trip or back home? I’m so out of things right now!
I’m still traveling. You have a Volt! Mine is blue 2017 LT. What one do you have? It took an SUV to hold all my Volt did; it is pretty large in storage. I’m ready to go home and I hope to find out what happens with the Volt today or the timing of the repair EGR valve. I look forward to hearing about your trip!
It’s crazy the different in gas prices! Sounds like it was an okay drive for the most part. Yay for a gluten free AND dog friendly restaurant! I love the the picture of Lulu hogging the bed, that is my two little dogs as well! So if you got a rental car, where did you leave your car? I hope everything went well this past week. I’ll be sure to check out for an update tomorrow. Looks like you got to see family and catch up with some old friends so far.
Thanks Lisa. yes the car is in Peoria at the dealership. I rented a car from there.
Yummmm scones.
They were good and right next door.
Despite the bump in the road (haha) regarding your travel and the reason for the travel, it sounds like you had a lovely trip. I’m glad you were able to go and see so many friends and family.
yes thank you Jen.