Bookish and Not-So-Bookish Thoughts

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Bookish and Not-So-Bookish Thoughts is a weekly blogging event hosted by Bookishly Boisterous. It allows book bloggers (and non-book bloggers) to write about pretty much anything, bookish or otherwise (i.e. share exciting plans for the weekend, rants on things encountered during the week. **************************************************************************************
1. Today in history: According to my prior years FB posts, this has been a crappy day- both in 2009 and 2015. Bracing myself that today doesn't follow that pattern.

2. Still enjoying the BookNerd Podcast when I can...and of course, they are no longer making episodes...so there's my luck with podcasts.


3. If I'm not listening to a podcast, I'm most definitely listening to the Hamilton Broadway Soundtrack. I'm a little late to the party, but I'm ALL IN now...completely obsessed. Maybe when they come to Atlanta (2017?) tickets will be in my price range...lol. A girl can hope (dream), right? 

4. This motherhood gig is hard. Ugh! Will I ever stop second-guessing my decision on this job change? I can't seem to get to a place where I am "ok" with the longer work day and the loss of summer. What was I thinking? I know I was miserable and so I have to keep reminding myself of that. It IS better here for many reasons, but I'm so STUCK on schedule. Oh yeah and the sedentary manner of the job has helped me gain 8 (freakin') lbs too! Super NOT happy about that. 

5. So answering phone calls from employees is a big part of my job...even though we don't get many calls (emails mostly). I worked from home yesterday and while it was nice, it also made it harder to get away for a bathroom break...the phone is through the computer (neat!) and the ringer isn't very loud, even with the volume all the way up. Add to that that my team members don't typically log into the phones (as backup), so it's mostly me and one other person. Kind of a pain to announce my restroom needs but we have to do it every day so that *someone* is covering the phones. Note: See #4.


6. Going to make some delicious Rainbow Sprinkle Pudding cookies for a Halloween party we are going to on Saturday but instead of rainbow sprinkles, I'm going to use only black & orange sprinkles. Fun!! These cookies are so soft and yummy too - a new favorite of mine for sure.

7. Right now we have plans to go on a hike on Sunday. I'm excited as I've been wanting to go for a while and I love taking pictures in the mountains with the beautiful scenery etc. Here's hoping my husband doesn't derail the plans with his crazy side work jobs. 

8. Looking forward to walking my entire neighborhood on Halloween...it'll be an awesome Fitbit day for sure...you know, since I sit all.freakin.day.long nowadays.

9. Not excited about Ethan's costume choice...I don't even know the real name of it, but basically it's a creepy death-like guy, creepy mask, top hat, supposed to carry a scythe (sp?) but we talked him out of buying that piece since it's something ELSE to carry all over the neighborhood. The costume is creepy enough.

Bookish and Not-So-Bookish Thoughts

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Bookish and Not-So-Bookish Thoughts is a weekly blogging event hosted by Bookishly Boisterous. It allows book bloggers (and non-book bloggers) to write about pretty much anything, bookish or otherwise (i.e. share exciting plans for the weekend, rants on things encountered during the week. **************************************************************************************

1. It's a miracle...I may have found a Podcast that I can actually listen to...The Book Nerd...so far I have only listened to 2 episodes, but so far, so good. 

2. It's late October and we are in the mid/high 80s, unusually high for TN. Add to that, the AC died for the 2nd time this summer Tuesday. Nothing like running on the treadmill when your house is 80 degrees. So happy the AC fixer-man came yesterday and it was a nice cool 74 in the house when I got home.

3. I'm glad the cooler weather will roll in on Friday as we will finally have time this weekend to make it to the pumpkin patch, though  it will only be me and Ethan since Oscar has to head back to VA for work. Can I say that I'm really "over" his 6 hour work commutes and they better get him a job site closer this next time around. #Overit  There is a chance that a friend from my previous job will join us at the pumpkin patch, which would be nice. 

4. My 5k on Sunday was mediocre. I watched the 1/2 marathoners take off and was glad I wasn't with them, but then on the other hand, after I finished the 5k, I felt like I hardly did anything. There were a few fairly steep hills and my time was slower than I had hoped, but that seems to be par for the course lately. Also, the course measured 3.04 on my watch so it wasn't actually a full 5k as normally my watch will read more than the course length due to zig-zagging etc. Oscar and Ethan dropped me at the start and went back to the hotel to sleep since Oscar is struggling with major Plantar Fascitis right now. It stinks not having someone at the finish line to cheer you on. :(  I did enjoy a leisurely and peaceful walk back to the hotel however and had my 10k steps completed by 9am. #winning

5. Ethan is really taking off with the drums. I think we have (finally) found "his thing"...he wants to quit baseball but I'm making him finish the season on the premise of teaching him the value of "commitment"....I think that's the right thing to do...he only has 5 games left and he has a good friend on the team....he STILL wants to quit. Ugh. He has a drum performance on Saturday night at a local elementary school Fall Festival. He is both excited and nervous. I am excited for him. He has also started voice lessons with his former music teacher who we love love love!! He wants to sing Motley Crue and Maroon 5 songs. :)

6. I think I'll go cast my vote for the lesser of two evils today and get that over with. The end result will be complete crap no matter the outcome.

7. Give me all the candy corn. Only the real candy corn though, none of those candy corn cookies or candy corn flavored whatever. Just the real deal please. I love it!! I eat too much of it! But I still want more of it!

8. Maybe I'm off here, but when someone arrives to work, they typically greet others with "good morning" or other friendly gesture....so there is a person I work with who doesn't "get" that philosophy as he says nothing. And when others come in and say "good morning"...he doesn't respond....and yet he told another co-worker that he had a reputation of being "bossy" and "arrogant" at his former employer and to let him know if he was ever acting that way here....um....I hope she lets him know soon. #jerk

Currently

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Watching: while I'm not a big TV watcher, I have whole-heartedly jumped on the THIS IS US bandwagon and I'm loving the ride!!


Reading: Be Frank With Me -for my November book club. It's really good already...with some quirky characters too!

Eating: Still with my Dannon Green Yogurt Black Cherry flavor. I'm also known to frequently consume tacos. Hoping to try some new tacos this weekend. 

Wearing: Having to dress up a bit more for this job than the school gig...which is just about killing me...I have NO shoes it seems...that are "fit" for the new job...even though it's business casual, it's more business than casual when compared to the school. I'm not planning to go out and buy any heels though, but have been struggling to find shoes and even clothing that I'm both comfortable in and will "work" for work. Ha!

Looking forward to: Thanksgiving weekend. We are FINALLY heading to the beach...as long as no hurricanes decide to pop up. SC, here we come!! At last!

Listening to: a lot of "Home Sweet Home" by Motley Crue and "Billie Jean" by Michael Jackson as Ethan practices his drums for performing these two songs in December. Love it!!

Wishing: for a lot....that my knee wouldn't hurt when I run. that I could work less and be around for Ethan more. that I could wear jeans and sperrys every day. that Saturdays lasted forever. 

Bookish and Not-So-Bookish Thoughts

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Bookish and Not-So-Bookish Thoughts is a weekly blogging event hosted by Bookishly Boisterous. It allows book bloggers (and non-book bloggers) to write about pretty much anything, bookish or otherwise (i.e. share exciting plans for the weekend, rants on things encountered during the week. **************************************************************************************

1. I'm just finished reading The Cherry Harvest and it's a great book!! My typical genre - WWII historical fiction, though this one is set in Wisconsin, so that has been a very different perspective. Most of my reading time lately has occurred ON the treadmill. #NotEnoughTimeEver

2. I think I am hanging up the 1/2 Marathon running shoes for the year. I'll still do 5k races, but the 13.1s are killing me (and my knee) so I'm resigning from them (until April 2017). I have mixed feelings about this. I set a goal to do 10 this year and I REALLY wanted to accomplish that. The narcissist in me was really looking forward to that Facebook post where I would brag (a little) about meeting this goal *sigh*...anywho...I've done 6 this year. I am/was registered for 2 others, but changed one (this Sunday) to a 5k and the other one is in Charleston, SC and we decided that we aren't going to travel there for me to "just" do a 5k, so we are skipping the whole thing. My husband is happy that we won't be spending the money to travel so it's a win/win, right? Well, I did lose the $ from that race but oh well. 

3. On a brighter note, I'm super excited about this weekend's 5k because all year I've been working as a Race Ambassador (7 Bridges Chattanooga) and in exchange I am getting a free hotel room #bigwin and so we will head down on Saturday afternoon to enjoy the Expo and the day, Sunday morning I will run the 5k and we will have the rest of the day to enjoy the city. A 35ish minute race seems a whole lot better than a 150-minute race. #truth

4. Did you know you can order a FREE (and really awesome) calendar from Shutterfly right now? Hurry though, offer ends Sunday.  Disclaimer: You do have to pay shipping, which for the easel calendar I ordered was $8.73 - still totally worth it as it's super cute! Who doesn't love calendars?

5. Totally addicted to these easy-to-make and delicious cookies!! Pudding Sprinkle Cookies. Yummy!

6. You know what drives me nuts...ppl who quit talking to me for reasons unknown to me. It's one thing to know why someone is pissed at you, but when you are totally clueless (and you're not an idiot) about why someone is no longer speaking to you, that's just ridiculous. Note: I'm not even an out-spoken person on any issues of great controversy...so I'm really baffled by this...and there are currently 2 people acting this way towards me. #Lovely

7. So Ethan is at the age now where he wants to use my computer to play some of his games. I have gradually allowed it. As I'm typing on a sticky, crusty keyboard, I'm thinking I need to revoke these privileges. #Ick

8. Back to the grind Thursday, where I will put in 20 hours over the two days. Life as a (measly) hourly worker. *sigh*

9. I really want this adorable night light. I have NO need for it. I still want it.  

10. Is this election over with yet? Ugh...can't even enjoy Facebook anymore with everyone's ridiculous posts. 

Random Thoughts

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It's Fall Break!!!

I'm excited about it, but not quite as excited as I've been in the past, when I've worked in a school.

I took Mon, Tues & Wed off this week to hang out with Ethan and so far we've enjoyed our time together.

Let me back up though...this is after we both came to terms with our Myrtle Beach vacation being cancelled, courtesy of Hurricane Matthew. Bastard!

Since we were supposed to travel there with my dad, we decided to head up to see him on Monday and went out to lunch and enjoyed the day together. It was a great day and we didn't get home until 8:30pm. Phew. Day one was a success!

Today, we headed to Pigeon Forge for some fun. Some of our friends went with us which made it even more fun. Yay! The kids played at Magic Quest and we enjoyed lunch at Mellow Mushroom - yum!!!!

Tomorrow will be insane amounts of fun....taking my car in for service!! We sure do live it up during Fall Break huh? I'm glad to have the time to get this taken care of though. We've had our car now for 1 year and the rear air vents have never worked. We will grab lunch with my mom and probably do a little shopping. I'll even attempt to cut the grass in the evening. See! Exciting!!

Thursday I go back to work for the rest of the week and will work two 10-hour days. Meh. Not a big deal really and since I'm hourly, it works to my advantage because I don't have to take as much PTO for this week. #score

Speaking of being hourly...what a strange thing...I've been "salary" for the past 10 years and it is so bizarre to have to track my hours and such. Oh well.

Also, let me just say that being OFF of work when you know NOTHING is happening (school), is WAY better and more calming than being OFF work but knowing things are happening and things could go wrong while you are out. This is exactly what happened on Monday. It was not my fault, but there was an attempt to throw me under the bus (yet again). Seriously, I feel like I've returned to high school in this new job sometimes. Can't everyone just do what they are supposed to do?!?! 

I need to win the freakin' lottery.