- The Women - Kristin Hannah - What's not to love about this book? It was everyone's favorite this year and Kristin Hannah does such an exceptional job of telling the story of a female nurse in the Vietnam war.
- The Paper Bracelet - Rachael English - Fascinating of a nurse's life in a Ireland Mother and Baby home. Unwed women who were pregnant were sent here to have babies, and then those babies were sent off for adoption. This woman saved the little bracelets from many and with the help of her granddaughter track down some of those babies. Such an incredible story.
- The Guest List - Lucy Foley - My new favorite author this year. This book blew me away. It's a mystery and up until the "whodunit" was revealed I had no idea. I immediately read The Paris Apartment right after this book. And while that was a decent book, I was aware of her recipe for writing and I was a bit more a ware of whodunit. Still good, but not as good.
- The Tattoo Artist of Auschwitz - Heather Morris - wow. This one was heavy. Like most WWII stories it has some serious stuff that as a human you just don't want to read about. It's brilliantly written and such a beautiful story of survival, but the going's ons in this camp was heartbreaking. I cried and cried reading this one.
- The Lost Letters of Aisling - Cynthia Ellingsen - A grandmother requests to return to her home in Ireland before she dies. Letters are found and the granddaughter helps uncoil some tragic events in her grandmother's past. Gorgeous story of love. And I loved the setting in Ireland.
- The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society - Mary Ann Shaffer, Annie Barrows - Another WWII era book, this one post war. A writer looking for her next book topic. She receives a letter from a guy in Guernsey and it starts a correspondence with the writer and people from Guernsey. The literary club was set up as an alibi when members were breaking curfew. As the writer corresponds with residents she starts to understand and learn what they dealt with during the war.
Sunday, January 05, 2025
EOY Wrap Up
Tuesday, December 10, 2024
Where did my fun go?
Where did my fun go? It was here one day and gone the next, at least that’s how it feels. I used to be fun. I used to go out and do things. Fun, different things.
Once upon a time, I had a fun life, I swear.
I did things. I went out and did a lot of things. I went on random adventures. I was always down for going and doing something, anything, spontaneously. I was rarely home. There were so many options for doing things with friends and spending time outside my house. I feel like I was always going and doing something with someone – no end in sight.
But then it stopped.
When was that? Did it happen all at once? Or was it gradual?
Did the opportunities to go out slow down, or I did? Having fun now seems like
a genuine struggle. Going out for me is always met with some resistance from,
well, me. Here’s how it goes:
- Someone askes if I want to do something.
- I want to say yes. If I say “no thanks” they’ll ask why.
- So I say yes.
- Then as the day approaches, I get more and more “itchy” about going. So many thoughts run through my mind like, “Will it be fun? Can I even have fun? Will there be a lot of walking? Could I manage that? Will we eat? Or will I starve?”
- Ridiculous thoughts. Nothing “tangible” yet, there they are.
- Sometimes it ends with me grudgingly going, and sometimes I find a valid excuse and pass on the experience.
I can blame Covid. And I do think that has a lot to do with it. It forced me to enjoy being home, and by myself. Turns out I really like that set up. Maybe too much.
All this to say, that I’m going to embark on a frightening journey for 2025. I’m going to try saying Yes more often. I’m going to stop making excuses for myself and whatever the adventure is. As much as I belly ache about going out, 9 times out of 10 I enjoy myself and it’s never as bad as I think it will be.
So saying yes. That’s going to be hard. But the option is to
continue to stay at home watching all the fun go on around me, without me.
Adobe Stock Photo |
Saturday, November 02, 2024
Politics and Friends
Thursday, September 12, 2024
Poppies
Grandma loved seeing them. Grandpa loved seeing them because Grandma loved seeing them.
Friday, September 06, 2024
What's In a Number?
Friday, August 09, 2024
My New Hardware
Saturday, July 20, 2024
Travel: Yay or Nay?
It should be no surprise to anyone that I'm questioning travel. This last trip was not so great and it has me wondering if I want to wander ever again. (The "wonder" and "wander" is a shout out to mom. She pointed out years ago that I used "wonder" for both).
Monday, June 24, 2024
Crabby Girl Weekend 2024
Friday night we just hung out and did a lot of jibber-jabbering. We all spent times on our phones and then discussed nothing important. It's fun to just hang out. Kathy and Janet made tacos that were delicious. We had cheese and crackers for an appetizer and ice cream for dessert. Really a great evening.
Crab Table Cloth...duh |
Sherrie and I had dinner for Saturday. I made a low carb appetizer that didn't turn out quite as I planned. Which is fine since we had more than enough food for dinner. Sherrie and I made Asian Beef Salad and roasted potatoes.
Thursday, May 30, 2024
The Long Trip Home
Monday, May 27, 2024
Port 9: Venice; and we're done
Grand Canal chaos |
Rush hour! |