Tag: Life

It is officially Autumn…somewhere

Hell yeah we are ready for a little cool down. With Autumn officially here it is still 90 degrees.

I have seen so much pumpkin spice crap I want to throw up. Popcorn, Oreos (seriously leave Oreos alone). Personally I’d like to see more cider donuts. Buckle up y’all, things are about to get weirder.

I haven’t been able to type for a bit. I had second degree burns and blisters on my left hand. I would love to say it was a welding accident or I rescued a puppy from a fire, but no if you are a crafter you already know. The dreaded hot glue gun. And while I’m running to the faucet screaming I ran into the wall. A picture fell down and broke two of my toes. I knew they were broken because one looked like the letter C and they turned black. Days later OU Boy rolled his ankle. So we’re just gonna sit on the sofa and not move for a bit.

Obviously we are trying to do too much. OU Boy got a huge promotion which also means different schedules and fixing up his office. I stopped by and he has two loungers, a 70 inch flat screen on the wall, an air fryer, and a fridge. That is the outer office. His new schedule is 8 to 4 and Monday through Friday. I don’t remember when we didn’t work Saturdays. So we are adjusting to each other’s schedules and I am trying hard to be a wife. So far it’s just having dinner ready. I’ve made it twice this week.

I realized that I have no idea what a wife does. Iron? I work full time myself. We sat down and talked about my lack of wifery skills. He is fine with just carrying on as we are with me being understanding of his odd hours at first. And sex. The good thing is he is a garbage eater. Meat, potatoes,pasta, casseroles and the good old sandwich with Kraft cheese. I can make dinner of two olives and a triscuit. I’m great at taking things out for dinner but by the time it rolls around I just don’t care.

It’s still hot here so we have been kayaking and visiting the Grands. Grandpa is in hospital now. If you are on the fence about this Covid thing, well, get off. My Grandpa had pleurisy and a mini-stroke. There were no hospital beds at all. Nowhere. We were told a bed may open up at Yukon Community and it did after 8 hours. We are sending folks to other states now and still these idiots refuse to get a shot. If you have to be hospitalized you wait for someone else to die. That’s brutal.

I am grateful for a never ending stack of books and a tea supply that will never run out. So, how are things in your neck of the woods?

I’m gonna go take something out for dinner. “And she laughed and laughed”.

P

Somewhere Between Bitter and Sweet by LAEKAN ZEA KEMP

Somewhere Between Bitter and Sweet

Meet Penelope Prado who works like crazy at her father’s restaurant. Nacho’s Tacos. It’s a mix between a bar and a great Mexican food place. The entire family works insane hours to support themselves and a lot of people in the community.

Her parents don’t want that life for her. They want her to be a nurse or something stable. So she enrolls in college and pretends to go. Because Pen has her own plans. To take over the restaurant and make it more. Specifically a bakery. She already is known for her food and especially her baking. She adds that secret ingredient only people who love baking can add. Love.

Pen has had demons in her past that have left her feeling unsure of herself and what she controls. When she finally works up the nerve to tell her parents that she hasn’t actually been going to classes. Not once. Because she wants to have the restaurant that her brother is managing.

Pen’s parents are not happy and she doesn’t get the restaurant and she doesn’t get to keep her job. She’s on her own.

Xander came to this country at nine years old. His mother left, his father left and all he has is his grandfather. And fear. Lots of fear. He is undocumented and lives in the shadows, constantly afraid someone will find out.

When he comes to work at the restaurant, he and Pen are instantly interested in each other. They share their deepest secrets and fears. Together they just may be able to save themselves and a lot of other people they love.

This is a YA book and I cried and was saddened by the treatment of immigrants in this story. It’s all true. We see it everyday on the news. This was a beautiful and timely book that I enjoyed very much.

Little, Brown, And Company

CHAMELEON GIRL by LIZ FERRO

Chameleon Girl

Adapt and Thrive. This is the way of the chameleon.

And so we are introduced to Nora Horvath. A woman who is fighting demons from her past and yet still creates a life she loves. A life that she can manage. A life with enough. She loves her job and she is good at it. But she is also haunted by something just out of her grasp.

Her life is going as well as it can and she is okay with that.

As a firefighter, Nora is good at her job. Until one day when a horrifying rescue leaves her with brutal memories of an abusive past. Are these real memories? It would explain so much about the voices in her head. And she is one tough lady so she faces them head-on.

While Nora struggles to remember all of the horrible things she has endured, she is questioning her own sanity at points. But these things almost broke her. Almost.

And when everything comes out it is so horrible I don’t see how she stood it. This was such a small book but such large emotions. It doesn’t really have a genre. This feminine narrative is brilliant and heartbreaking and full of hope and courage.

Very well done debut novel!

The Beauty of Spring and New Life

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Spring is popping up all over today! Birds chirping, sun burning off the haze and should be in the 70’s today.

Today I’m finishing up    Humor and sorrow join together in Jamie Weisman’s captivating debut novel—the story of an interfaith wedding from the perspectives of its (adoring, envious, resentful, hilarious) guests!

And it is set in Atlanta, Georgia. How could I say no? Georgia girls stick together! So far I’m laughing a lot.

What are you doing this Palm Sunday? Anyone march for life yesterday? I would love to hear about that if you did!

Good Reading and Warm Breezes!

xx Patricia

AND GREEN IS MY FAVORITE TODAY

greenthoughts

Since I don’t have a Book Review due today, I thought I would just take all those Blog Awards and mush them together and answer the questions!

How did this Blog begin? Because people get annoyed when you are constantly giving them your opinion on what they are reading while in public.

How many books do you read? A lot. And most of them don’t even make it to the blog for one reason or another. Good or Bad, the ones I’m obligated to do go on the Blog.

Things about me:

I hate cats. Horrible allergies but I really just don’t like them although people compare me to one.

I don’t eat meat.

My closet is organized by color/fabric/function. I am compulsively neat.

I despise Romance Books. Same man with the same abs on every cover.

I have a very morbid sense of humor.

I have no patience with pretentious people. Or as my Momma calls it people who put on airs. Favorite saying to those people? You’re pretty uppity for someone who doesn’t even have a job.

I love tea! Shocking, I know.

I play the piano. 

I ride horses.

I do not do reviews through the author. Don’t ask.

I own 23 formals. I have a life at night that I know nothing about it would seem.

My favorite color is pink. And Green.

Favorite Movies….Resident Evil, Any Avengers, Gone With The Wind, The Secret of Roan Inish, and Saving Grace ( the UK one) the original Paren Trap

Favorite Music….Halestorm,Paramour, Post Malone, Imagine Dragons, Grunge, Celtic. Basically anything except Country.

So there you go. All of them rolled into one. Now I’m off to review the new LSAT Study Guide. Exciting stuff here! And if anyone needs any study guides for tests, let me know! They need to go to a new home.

xx Patricia

 

 

 

No Time To Spare by Ursula K. Le Guin

Thinking about what matters (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)

No Time to Spare: Thinking About What Matters

From acclaimed author Ursula K. Le Guin, and with an introduction by Karen Joy Fowler, a collection of thoughts—always adroit, often acerbic—on aging, belief, the state of literature, and the state of the nation.

Ursula K. Le Guin has taken readers to imaginary worlds for decades. Now she’s in the last great frontier of life, old age, and exploring new literary territory: the blog, a forum where her voice—sharp, witty, as compassionate as it is critical—shines. No Time to Spare collects the best of Ursula’s blog, presenting perfectly crystallized dispatches on what matters to her now, her concerns with this world, and her wonder at it.

On the absurdity of denying your age, she says, “If I’m ninety and believe I’m forty-five, I’m headed for a very bad time trying to get out of the bathtub.” On cultural perceptions of fantasy: “The direction of escape is toward freedom. So what is ‘escapism’ an accusation of?” On her new cat: “He still won’t sit on a lap…I don’t know if he ever will. He just doesn’t accept the lap hypothesis.” On breakfast: “Eating an egg from the shell takes not only practice, but resolution, even courage, possibly willingness to commit crime.” And on all that is unknown, all that we discover as we muddle through life: “How rich we are in knowledge, and in all that lies around us yet to learn. Billionaires, all of us.”

 

If you are familiar with her blog then you have a head start. The book is easily read.

Each section talks about a topic and how that topic affects us. Such as Aging, The Literary World, And generally trying to make sense out of everything. Interrupted by sections on her cat Pard and his oddities.

It reads like a blog. And that is really what it is. All of her blog posts re-set in a book form. She is a very interesting lady and I laughed a lot during this book.

We will miss you greatly!

Netgalley/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

 

 

 

 

The Ice House by Laura Lee Smith

The Ice House

From a writer who’s been praised for her “intelligence, heart, wit” (Richard Russo, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Empire Falls), The Ice House follows the beleaguered MacKinnons as they weather the possible loss of the family business, a serious medical diagnosis, and the slings and arrows of familial discord.

Johnny MacKinnon might be on the verge of losing it all. The ice factory he married into, which he’s run for decades, is facing devastating OSHA fines following a mysterious accident and may have to close. The only hope for Johnny’s livelihood is that someone in the community saw something, but no one seems to be coming forward. He hasn’t spoken to his son Corran back in Scotland since Corran’s heroin addiction finally drove Johnny to the breaking point. And now, after a collapse on the factory floor, it appears Johnny may have a brain tumor. Johnny’s been ordered to take it easy, but in some ways, he thinks, what’s left to lose? This may be his last chance to bridge the gap with Corran–and to have any sort of relationship with the baby granddaughter he’s never met.

Witty and heartbreaking by turns, The Ice House is a vibrant portrait of multifaceted, exquisitely human characters that readers will not soon forget. It firmly establishes Laura Lee Smith as a gifted voice in American fiction

I have to admit there were a few times I put this one down. Although the story was a good one. With themes of family, forgiveness, second chances and more, the characters were real and flawed. To be honest the only one I cared about was Chemal.

There was a point in the story where all of the bad blood between father and son could have been mended with apologies, but Pauline never mentions it. No one was really talking to anyone on a deep level. And I can’t count how many words were a mile long and left one looking for a thesaurus!

For me these characters and the story were rather surface deep. But I will definitely try another of the authors works.

Netgalley/Grove Press   Dec. 05, 20017

When All Else Fails, Get In The Tub!

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It is Friday. And Lord knows I’m trying to keep calm, but yesterday was one of those days when I just wanted to mute the entire world.

Whether it was listening to the carpenter next door installing new cabinets, the man in the driveway honking the horn for his kid or listening to the orange man spew nonsense, I had reached the end of my patience.

I admit I love to argue. I love nothing more than a good debate. And yesterday was one of those days when my poor husband almost took to wearing a disguise.

First I commented on someones post about a friend coming out in public. A supportive comment. Then this happened:

Idiot:  Oh, so you believe in lesbianism?

Me: Uh What?

Idiot: God made an Adam and an Eve. Did you ever ask yourself why he didn’t create two Adams?

Me: Uh Noooooo….no I did not. *uses Block Button*

Later in the afternoon said patient husband reminded me we had no food in the house that wasn’t liquid and we needed to go shopping. Just go ahead and picture the worst 2-year-old tantrum ever and that was me. The entire time I complained it was cold while he was saying things like “This is way cheaper at the other market” which I took to mean we were going to multiple markets, and immediately began to whine again. So I made him stop at the library where I proceeded to check out 20 books from the children’s department.

Even though it wasn’t a Yoga day, I figured I had better do something before he tossed a Xanax in my mouth. I even got pissy with the yoga lady. I mean she doesn’t even sweat. Ever. Or fart. Who never farts in yoga??  Well it didn’t work so the husband tossed the Xanax and I became a kinder, gentler human until Big Brother came on.

The events of the past couple of weeks have had my anxiety at that level where you feel like you’re holding a live electrical cable. And I realize that it’s going to take a few days to come down from living at that extreme. So I picked up #TheBlogess’s book, Let’s Pretend This Never Happened so I could laugh and not feel alone in my craziness!

Now I’m going to go lounge in a bubble bath and pretend I’m in Bali with a Saudi Prince.

xx Patricia

Broken…

Image result for broken angel

I came to you broken
A million jagged pieces
asking you to give me back what I was.

Raging against the storm
the rain stinging my face
I demand this

Give me back my self
I need to know myself
I need to see myself

I beg, I plead, I cajole
but there is only the wind and the rain
the wildness of the storm

It is the same storm
that lives inside of my soul
It is the same storm that has ripped out my heart
and left me in this broken, empty state

I am angry, beyond angry
I don’t want to be here anymore,
I don’t want to do this
although I am not even sure what this is

By dawn, the storm and I  have both exhausted our fury
The sky is clearing and I am left in a heap
on the wet grass
Spent, empty, cleansed

As I open my eyes I see one tiny shard
Sparkling on the ground
Written on it is the word Peace

I pick it up and smile
Nothing is what I thought
Nothing is in my control
I can only collect the tiny pieces of my soul
one at a time and put myself back together

Today would have been my father’s birthday. I wrote this after a week of over 100 degree heat and finally a storm blew in. I’ve put myself back together again, but the pieces will never be the same. One day I shall see you in Valhalla and we will drink and dance and tell stories again.

xx P

La vie est belle!

I don’t have a book review for today and since I’m all caught up, today I’m reading Don Winslow’s The Force. 

This past week has been a rough one. Just as we get out of one hospital, I go in another hospital. A couple of days before OU Boy had his issues, I got bit by something while at the lake. On my back. Not sure what but didn’t give it a thought as I never get bit by mosquitos or bugs. Ever. And I certainly didn’t give it any thought when I was sitting in CICU. But yesterday I just felt awful and my back hurt in that area right below your scapula.

I called the doctor and the doctor said (nothing about monkeys on the bed!) get thyself here!  Well the dang thing had gotten infected and know he was using words like cut, pack, and that awful three-letter p word. So now I can’t sleep on my left side still because of the corneal transplant and now I can’t sleep on my back.

By this time I think I was just numb. Sleep deprived and sluggish. As we both lay on different sofas last night I said, “Man I really hope this isn’t the night the Zombies come because we would just have to lay there and take it!”

I wanted to take a second here to say that yes, we have been through hell and back since last Thursday, but along the way we have met the most amazing people! People who could relate to what had happened and we don’t feel alone. Everytime we have needed anything, it just mysteriously appears. People show up with juicy summer fruits and all types of greens and tea that are healing and comforting. And of course everyone at OKCGCC have been exceptional. We love them all!

And y’all…well y’all are just flat-out amazing. You are all busy people I know. But the thoughts and comments have really lifted me up and for that I can never say Thank You enough!

jan122    Patricia