 School is closed today but we got the kiddo into her art camp. I can't wait to see what she's made when I pick her up. The recent projects have been outstanding.
Here's what else made me happy this week:
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 The Spellshop
Sarah Beth Durst I'm happily flying through this cozy fantasy. One write-up compared it to a Hallmark movie. I agree with that in all the best ways. The characters all have their quirks without being over the top. The creatures build the world without being twee. And there's just enough drama to make things interesting. Also, our heroine is a librarian. Best of all, the writing is descriptive enough to paint scene in your head that leaves you smiling. *Books shared here are affiliate links for Bookshop.org  We had a cleaning team come over this week. It's an expense I find valuable because I loathe scrubbing the shower. But I laugh because we always clean for the cleaners. It seems silly, but if we want the cleaners to be able to do their best work, we need to straighten up our space before they arrive. At first, I was frustrated that I had to go through every room in our home and neaten things up. After a few sessions, I realized this was a great way to stay on top of things. Now, I look forward to tackling piles I've been ignoring or tossing things that have been sitting out. The cleaners arrival is a hard deadline that forces us to just do stuff already. It also gives me a chance to reconsider where we keep things. For example, we line the bottom of our countertop compost bin with gently used paper towels. (It makes it easier to dump out the contents.) Previously, we kept these paper towels folded underneath the compost bin itself. During one cleaner visit, they thought the paper towels were meant to go out with the compost and tossed everything. For future cleaning visits, I moved our paper towel pile into a cabinet. Turns out, that was a better place for it! Now they live there permanently. Also, I'm slower to put to stuff back out after the cleaners are done. This has helped me realize we need less "stuff" visible on a normal day. It's a way to calm the space and allows us to reconsider what we need readily available. 
 Yesterday, DC was socked in with heavy fog. It was spooky. But through the fog there was an abundance of bird calls. Even the kiddo was quieter on our walk to school as we listened. It was a sweet moment with nature.
Here's what else was good this week:
I read a lot of books with my kiddo. Kid Reads is a biweekly look at what we've enjoyed recently.
*Books shared here are affiliate links for Bookshop.org
I’m kicking myself right now. About two months ago, I made a tiny change I should have made years ago. My skin is generally dry, but my hands have it the worst. Between handling paper and books all day and constantly washing my hands, the skin gets so dry it can crack and bleed. I’ve always known the solution: use lotion more often, ideally at a time when I won’t immediately wash it off. But I could never seem to find the right moment. Then I made one small change. We have a cabinet in the bathroom where I keep lip balm. Every night before bed, I grab one and swipe my lips. One night, I remembered the hand lotions buried in the drawer and used one. Instead of putting it back - where I’d surely forget it again - I left it out on the shelf. That tiny act did the trick. Simply moving a tube of lotion six inches changed everything. Now, every night before bed, my hands get a good layer of lotion, and after a couple of months they look far less like the Gobi Desert. Now I’m looking around wondering what other small changes might make just as big a difference.
On my walk to school with the kiddo, it was foggy. Not dense pea soup fog - just the misty hazy fog that makes everything feel mystical. It was also quieter than usual. The kiddo was a chatty Cathy on the way in, but I got to enjoy the calm vibes on my trip home. Both legs of my trip were a nice way to start my Friday.
Here's what else made me smile:
 The Primal of Blood and Bone
Jennifer L. Armentrout If I say focused, I should finish this book soon. The end can't come soon enough. I am so ready to be done with this novel. It was nothing but lore dropping and unnecessary repetition. *Books shared here are affiliate links for Bookshop.org  I have many flaws as a human being, but one that really only affects me (well - sometimes my husband, when I complain about it) is that I cannot put down a book once I’ve started it. No matter how rough it gets, I feel compelled to finish the whole thing.
And it’s not just standalone books. If I start a series, I will - eventually - read every last installment. This leads to some pretty frustrating weeks when a book just isn’t working for me. Instead of taking a break or setting it aside, I force myself to push through. What should be a few enjoyable evenings turns into a nightly slog where I’m struggling to read five pages before giving up. Worse, I procrastinate by scrolling my phone, which only drags the whole experience out even more. This is on my mind because I'm struggling with my current book. It's a series that started out with a bang and, now, it's a complete mess. Instead of doing the smart thing and putting it down, I keep chugging away one chapter at a time. What makes it worse is knowing there’s at least one more book coming. And I already know myself well enough to admit that I’ll read that one too. I’m already dreading it, which feels ridiculous. Reading shouldn’t be a chore you suffer through out of obligation. This is exactly why I’m always telling people to read what they want. There are so many books in the world - lyrical books, weird books, emotional books, comforting books - books that will speak directly to you. Pick those. Pick the ones that light you up at that moment of your life. I’m not totally sure why I’m like this. The closest explanation I have is that I’m a completionist at heart. I like finishing the whole of a thing. My brain gets itchy when there are loose ends. Even if a book isn’t resonating with me, I can’t shake the feeling of “but what if…” until I see it through. Those dangling threads take up way too much mental space - space I could absolutely be using elsewhere. I wish I were better at letting books go. Maybe one day I’ll get there. For now, though, if I start it… I’m finishing it. Will I ever read all of the items I'm putting on my TBR list? I will not. Do I care? I do not.    You can see my complete TBR list on Pinterest.
*Items featured here are Bookshop.org affiliate links. |
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