Hello everyone! I am already on my second cup of coffee, it has been that sort of a morning.

We have been going hard at life these days. We have so much going on, on top of our regular life things, and we have been constantly working or cleaning or planning or organizing or making life fun for the littles in our life (NEVER a chore but sometimes it is work lol) and we haven’t had a lot of down time for ourselves. So we need to rectify that. I plan on calling my mother-in-law today and setting up a time for her to watch Wyatt so Billy and I can get out for a bit together.

We had Mermaid Girl over the night to celebrate the Pink Moon, and we had so much fun! We had pink pancakes with whipped cream and twisty bacon for dinner – and the two kids ate so much bacon it was crazy! They barely touched their pancakes, but devoured a pound of bacon between the two of them. I guess they both really liked it! Then for dessert we of course had pink cupcakes, and they also really liked those.

Mermaid Girl loves the stories that are part of the Kids Moon Club. Every month there is a different adventure story, and it has places where you insert the names of your children into the story. I started making peg people for the story, and Mermaid Girl loves them. When she comes in, she instantly scopes out the table to look for the new character. This time I had the new character done, plus a Wyatt and Mermaid Girl peg doll. We usually read the story after dinner, and the kids color. This time Mermaid Girl played with the dolls while I read, which brought a smile to my face. I make them because I know they make her happy, which in turn makes me happy.

After the story, it was time to pull out the big project of the night, the fairy houses! The day before Wyatt and I had gone shopping for the houses and for the items to decorate the houses which we found either at the dollar store or at Michael’s, and Wyatt chose everything for their creation. When I pulled them out to paint and decorate the kids were very excited. Wyatt had been asking for two days to paint his, so I knew he was happy. They did such a nice job, and took it very seriously. I also had other little things for them to paint while I used the hair dryer to dry the paint of the houses, since that had to dry before they could decorate. No sense in sitting around waiting for paint to dry when a hair dryer can do the work for you!

Devin, Chrissy, and baby girl came over a little early to pick up Mermaid Girl so we could hang out a bit with them as well. Baby girl is walking so good and getting into all the mischief. It was such a fun night and Wyatt had so much fun with his cousin.

The last few days I have been spending an absurd amount of time reading about skin cycling, which sounds like it is out of a futuristic sci-fi novel but really just means switching up your skin care routine at night, and what should be done each night. For those who are curious – it is exfoliate night 1, retinol night 2, then nights 3 and 4 hyaluronic acid. And of course on all of the nights cleanse and moisturize. I never really had a skin care routine before so this is so complicated for me. I even had to purchase a few of these items. Oh! I also had to buy toner, as I didn’t have that either, and apparently that is necessary in the mornings. (mornings – cleanse, vitamin c, hyaluronic acid, moisturizer, and SPF) I am going to give this a whirl – I am going all in! If I find something I don’t like or my skin doesn’t like I will add or subtract here or there, but for now, this is what I am going to do. It will be so different for me! I will probably switch up my moisturizer soon, but this is what I am using currently and have been for a while. I have also used Mad Hippie and Good Molecules brands in the past and I stuck with them for now. If I like this routine I might search around for something different but for now, I am staying with these brands. I would love to hear about any products you love, or what your skin care routine is. Until now, my routine has been very minimalistic!

Amazon Affiliate Links

Derma-E || Hyaluronic Acid || Retinol Night Oil || Sheer Tint Sun Serum || Toner with Vitamin C || Cleanser

And now, some randoms from the camera roll!

And that is it from me today! I hope you all have a wonderful day, and that no matter what you do, you do something that makes you smile.

I am so behind on book reviews! I probably will not go back and write reviews for all of the books that I have read in the past few months, but I did want to write a few short (some very short!) reviews for more recent reads.

The Kamogawa Food Detectives by Hisashi Kashiwai, trans. Jesse Kirkwood

Genre: Cozy Mystery

This was a fun quick read, but a thoughtful one. I thought the premise was so unique, and it was such a combination of so many things – nostalgia, memory, foodways, research and detective work, logic, all wrapped up in each meal. It was beautiful and poignant, and gave me a lot to think about. Have I had a meal that meant so much to me, that it could remind me of one moment in time so completely, that it could take me back to that moment if I ate it again, if it were prepared in the exact same way? Maybe? I am not sure! I did enjoy this book, but it did get a little repetitive. That is my only complaint! I am definitely glad that I read it. I also finished the book wanting to eat Japanese food so badly, so we might be doing that soon. It was more cozy than mystery and it felt perfect to read on rainy days.

The Love Remedy by Elizabeth Everett

Genre: Historical Romance

So I was thinking this would be just a simple historical type romance, and it was. It did however touch on much deeper topics more political and religious in nature, so I do not think this book is for everyone. When I was done reading it, I wasn’t sure how I felt. It wasn’t what I was expecting, and I think had I known, I would not have read it, simply because I didn’t want to visit those topics in what I had anticipated to be a fun read. It also sort of detracted from the actual story, or distracted from it. I am going to list the trigger warnings below in the next paragraph, because I want more sensitive readers to know before reading that this is something they will encounter should the choose to read it. It was not a poorly written book or a bad story, it was just not what I was expecting, and I probably would have liked it more without that storyline. A fellow book blogger said that other books by this author also delve heavily into the political realm.

Trigger warnings: off-page sexual assault of a 15 year old, off-page abortions by means of bringing on menses

Flowerheart by Catherine Bakewell

Genre: Cozy Fantasy, YA

Oh, this was such a delightful read! I read it so quickly, and it was just so refreshing and easy, which was exactly what I needed after reading The Love Remedy. Clara Lucas has a wild magic, one that gets out of control most of the time. After accidentally cursing her father, she needs to find be able to harness her magic and cure him. However, most of the witch council is ready to take her magic from her, just when she needs it most. She finds a teacher in her old friend Xavier, who has a mystery of his own that he is struggling with. Despite sounding like this will be a tense read, it really isn’t. It is a YA book and a fast read, one that is pure escapism, and full of flowers and love. Clara has a very strong and kind spirit, and I just enjoyed her relationship with her father so much.

My Sunday Post is hosted by Kimba the Caffeinated Book Reviewer

Sunday Salon is hosted by Deb at Readerbuzz

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is hosted by Kathryn at Book Date

Hello everyone! This past week was full of just normal day to day activities – school, housework, appointments… you know how it is. I do feel like I got a lot accomplished and caught up on some things which was nice, as we have some big projects in the works!

Read Last Week:

I finished The Love Remedy which was a bit more political/religious than I had anticipated. I enjoyed it but it is probably not the book for everyone. I am hoping to do some mini-reviews this week and I will include the trigger warnings for those who might be more sensitive to certain topics.

I also read a bit of Watership Down for my annual reread. I never get tired of Hazel and the gang. I will be finishing it up this week and I will be saying goodbye to the bunnies for another year.

Reading This Week:

This one has been on my TBR for a year and I am excited to read it. I need a little magical realism and spring cozy vibes right now!

Posted Last Week:

Top Ten Tuesday – What Book Characters Would You Like to Vacation With

Coffee Catch Up

Watching:

We are watching lots of Billy picks these days! We usually watch about an hour of television a night and our nighttime viewing has gotten a bit more action packed.

We watched the new Road House movie starring Jake Gyllenhaal last Sunday. Billy loved the original that starred Patrick Swayze and has been wanting to watch this remake. My brother scoffed at the idea that Jake could ever take Patrick’s place, and we had to evaluate it for him. I don’t think I was the best judge but Billy said that Gyllenhaal did a great job of stepping into Swayze’s shoes. I have to admit, I enjoyed the movie way more than I thought I would, although I do not believe it needed to be 2 hours long. It was obvious though that Gyllenhaal put a lot of time into readying himself for this role!

This week we also watched Beyond Paradise, Only Murders in the Building (S3), and Fallout. Fallout is…different. I don’t know anything about the video game but Billy has been bouncing off the walls wanting to watch it so we started it. It is pretty darn graphic, but the fifties styling of some of it is pretty awesome. I also love Lucy’s hair – she has the perfect curtain bangs. Because these are the things I apparently think about while watching it. I also really like the soundtrack. So far Lucy is my favorite. I like the vault dwellers, they are like these boy scouts (although there is a bit of allusion to some er.. questionable behaviors) of this world, or at least it seems like it to me so far.

And that is it from me this week! How are you all doing?

Hello everyone!! I debated even posting a catch up this week; we have been so boring! We are in a huge period of transition and upheaval right now, all for good reasons and good stuff but not very exciting to others. Lol.

We have been very focused on getting ready for Wyatt’s wheelchair ramp construction. We have to make room for the materials once they are delivered, I have to empty out part of my office where construction will begin, figure out what to do with my reptiles temporarily that live in there – just so much goes into a big project like this that you don’t even think about at first. It all comes at a time when I am in the middle of redoing Wyatt’s bedroom too. So, I do a bit here and a bit there, since my involvement in the construction of the ramp is fairly minimal. The bulk of that falls to Billy and all the kind hearted people who have volunteered to help him build it.

It is so exciting though. This is going to be a game changer for my kiddo. And me, to tell you the honest truth. For Wyatt, it means more freedom and independence. He can go in and out of the house without being carried by one of us, and that is where it is a game changer for me too! Lol. Wyatt is now a foot shorter than me, and about 65 pounds. I am very strong these days from the lifting I do daily with him, all day long, but his height is actually the harder part! He is almost as long as me when I carry him in and out and it can be tricky. So we are all looking forward to this much needed change. I am busy coming up with play areas that are accessible in the backyard as well. Billy is going to build what looks like a wheel up bar counter on part of the deck landing, where Wyatt can sit and draw, and I can pull up a chair there as well. We are also going to paint wood with chalkboard paint and situate that outside as well, and then a basketball net at an appropriate height that he can practice throwing the ball into. But help! You all are creative! Any other ideas for a kid in the backyard in a wheelchair, that he can do either alone or with other children? He is also getting a gait trainer as well, so he will be doing some walking too.

We went to a few stores the other day to look at doors, and Wyatt and I decided on this door to replace the window in my office. It will be the one that leads to the backyard.

I’ve been toying with the idea of getting those realistic looking stained glass stickers for doors and windows to place on the door, but we will see.

(and whoops! I was talking to Wyatt and published this before I meant to. Lol!)

Wyatt is also all finished with his Lokomat/robot legs therapy! He did fantastic! I can’t wait to hear the evaluations of after compared to before. We are in the process of transitioning back to his regular PT and speech therapies, which means new evaluations and a new schedule! We are back to mornings rather than afternoons twice a week, and on different days than Lokomat and I am all in a kerfuffle over it. I am so thrown off, like what day is this? We went from Tuesdays and Thursdays in the afternoon to Mondays and Wednesdays in the morning. We will adjust but right now I am a mess!

Wyatt did have some fun last week! We went to his cousin Penguin Girl’s birthday party, which was a bowling party. It was his first time bowling and he had a blast! Penguin Girl’s mom and I are in the midst of planning family bowling nights in the future as all the kids like it.

We do have some stuff on the horizon too! I am also planning for our Pink Moon party which is on Saturday. Mermaid Girl is coming over and we are looking forward to it. We are having our party before the actual full moon because school and stuff, but it is the spirit of the thing. And pink moon is such a fun theme!

In between all of this, we managed to find time to have school and paint and bake cookies and read. It’s been busy, but fun as well!

Random pics from the camera roll!

Have a great one everybody!

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This is my first time participating!

This week’s prompt is :

Characters I’d Like to go on Vacation With (Pretend you’re going on vacation and can bring 10 of your closest friends with you. Pick your vacation spot and tell us who you’d like to bring! Bonus point if you tell us why. Or maybe you like the idea of traveling in small groups, so plan 10 trips or 5 trips!)

I like the idea of small groups, or ten individual trips. Going on vacation with ten big personalities might be too much for me!

Most of these consider to be trips with just that character, unless otherwise stated. I am obviously taking this quite seriously! Lol. Billy and I had a huge discussion about this. We realized that just because we have favorite characters in books, they wouldn’t necessarily be that fun to travel with. So that realization made it tough. And some of them might be problematic. Like I love Roland from Stephen King’s The Gunslinger, but he would probably be hard to travel with. Daenerys Targaryen is super cool but a little crazy too and might have her dragons incinerate you on a whim, Arya is too intense, Cersei would be a total Karen. That all being said, these are my ten!

First, the greatest traveling companion of all time, who is invited on all of my trips – Samwise Gamgee. He is the ultimate trip partner, is he not?

I would also choose Jay Gatsby. I mean, he would more than likely foot the bill, would be up for anything, and would be a lot of fun. It would be even better if I could travel back to the twenties for this vacation – I have always thought it would be the cat’s meow to be a flapper.

My first pairing! Miss Marple and Anne Shirley. This duo would be so fun to travel with. Anne would be so enthusiastic and just love everything that we did, romanticizing the entire journey which would be very refreshing, while Miss Marple would be an intelligent, clever companion, who would know all the tea regarding the other people vacationing around us.

I of course had to include Woodrow Call and Augustus McCrae. You really can’t have one without the other. If you had one, it would be just too much. Too much Gus or too much Woodrow would not be fun. Together though, they balance each other out! Gus is around for the good times and Call for when you feel like being quiet.

Anna Pigeon. I know she is flawed and maybe not super duper fun, but can you imagine traveling to a National Park with her? There would be no one better. She is a very knowledgeable park ranger, and when you inevitably stumble onto a murder, she could not only solve the mystery but she could defend you as well. Since she is rather anti-social you would also have a lot of personal space when you wanted to just hang out at the campsite or cabin and read. Also, she would be a nice companion around a campfire too. I bet she would have some good stories to tell!

Davos Seaworth. He would be an awesome travel companion, especially if you decided to take trip by boat. I am sure he has a ton of cool stories, he is good natured and non-judgmental, he is smart, he is brave. He wasn’t a flashy character and I think often overlooked, but I really liked him. And since I have decided this trip is on a boat, we may as well bring Tress. She is adventurous and likes dishware as much as I do.

This is probably my favorite on the whole list! Wendell Bambleby! His character is so much fun! He has become one of my all time favorite characters, ever. Charming and funny and can talk to anyone and anything, is magical, likes cake which is always a plus, and he is tidy. I mean I could go on and on, but I think this is enough said. He is also invited on all of my trips!

And phew, I made it through my first top ten Tuesday! What about you? Which book characters would you like to go on vacation with?

My Sunday Post is hosted by Kimba the Caffeinated Book Reviewer

Sunday Salon is hosted by Deb at Readerbuzz

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is hosted by Kathryn at Book Date

Hello everyone! We had a pretty good week! We had a fun eclipse day, celebrated my niece’s birthday at a bowling alley where Wyatt bowled for the first time, and had a lot of lazy days for our spring break. Saturday we went to a used book sale at a local library and this was my haul for $8.00! I think I did pretty good. They had mystery bags for $1.00 each, and each bag had ten books. They were marked with different genres. I grabbed two bags labeled Mystery (so I had a mystery bag full of mystery books!). It was very exciting for me. Lol.

I plan to read and divvy up between a few other readers I know…

Reading:

I didn’t find as much time to read as I had planned! I only made it through one of my books. It was a short book, but a very thoughtful book. I took a lot of time to read it and “digest” each one of the individuals stories. I did enjoy it. I thought the premise was so unique, and it was such a combination of so many things – nostalgia, memory, foodways, research and detective work, logic, all wrapped up in each meal. It was beautiful and poignant, and gave me a lot to think about. Have I had a meal that meant so much to me, that it could remind me of one moment in time so completely, that it could take me back to that moment if I ate it again, if it were prepared in the exact same way? I did enjoy this book, but it did get a little repetitive. That is my only complaint! I am definitely glad that I read it. I also finished wanting to eat Japanese food so badly, so we might be doing that soon.

I did start my yearly reread of Watership Down but had to set it aside so I could get to The Kamogawa Food Detectives and The Love Remedy, which were 14 day loans from the library. I started with The Kamogawa Food Detectives because I checked it out a week before The Love Remedy, so now I need to move on the that one. Then, it will be back to Watership and my bunnies.

Posted Last Week:

April 10 on the 10th

Friday Morning Coffee Catch Up

Watching:

We are finishing up Dirk Gently, which is super weird but good. I read though that they cancelled it, so I am apprehensive about the last episode. Are they going to leave us hanging forever, or will they wrap up the storyline? Eek! I will find out in two episodes whether they do or not! As soon as we wrap up Dirk Gently, Billy wants me to watch one episode of Fallout. He says if I don’t like it after an episode then he will watch it on his own. I have a feeling that is what will be happening.

We are also watching Murdoch Mysteries and Death in Paradise, both of which made me sad! It was a rough week of tv watching! We are also watching Beyond Paradise, which I really like.

Hello everyone! It is a super rainy day here today – and I had to get up and out of the house early this morning for a mammogram, of all things! I was there at the office at 7:45 am, before I even had a cup of coffee. But now I am back home, my coffee and my kid are next to me, and we are going to be pretty lazy today. We have a late night birthday party for his little cousin Penguin girl. We don’t get to see Penguin girl or her sister as much as we would like, just conflicting schedules etc but we are excited to help celebrate her birthday tonight.

We took this past week off and it was a much needed refresh. Wyatt has been working so hard at both school and therapy and I felt he deserved some time off. We celebrated the eclipse in our own little way last Monday, with painting and snacks and a special playlist. Wyatt is not a fan of things on his face and I knew he would not want to keep his glasses on, so rather than chance it, we stayed around here. At peak I did take him out and we both viewed it for a few minutes before going back in. Wyatt absolutely loved having a whole afternoon to paint and craft so it was a good plan. That bunny painting is mine – he did not get his artistic abilities from me!

Tuesday and Thursday are spent pretty much completely at therapy, and Wyatt did awesome both days! We only have one week left of this special therapy, then we are right back at his regular therapy the following week.

Wednesday I had big plans to take Wyatt to the Toledo Zoo to see the baby elephant. Everything was on our side, including the weather. However halfway there Wyatt just burst out into tears which is very unlike him and I did not know why. Wyatt has a speech delay and there are somethings he just doesn’t express to us, and one of those is anything that is bothering him. He just can’t express it. I think it was a combo of a few things, with one being that Billy was working from home that day and Wyatt wanted his dad to be with us. Anyway, I turned around and headed back home just in case something was going on with him. The zoo will be there for us another day. We ended up reading and staying around the house, even though once we got home he perked back up and was acting normally the rest of the day.

Today it is raining again, an all day and night kind of rain. I am sure we will spend the day reading and playing board games, probably with a nap in there too. I have also been working on his room here and there, donating things he no longer uses or needs or fits. We are upgrading his room now that he is older, and it is coming along slowly but surely. The other day I packed up a ton of books to put aside until Billy builds Wyatt some new bookshelves, as his collection is outgrowing shelf space, and swapped all of his clothes out of his old dresser into a new dresser that is easier for Wyatt to access himself.

And speaking of accessibility! My cousin set up a GoFundMe for Wyatt, for a whole wheelchair ramp project. We have been wanting to get a ramp for Wyatt for a while now, and despite spending all last year trying to find assistance with this, nothing panned out. We want Wyatt to be able to go outside and play, under his own power, so that he can have more independence and freedom of movement. We will have to put in a back door where there is now a window, construct the deck/landing area, and then the ramp. The door will also be an accessible emergency exit in the back of the house, where we all sleep, and one day I will swap my office with his room and he can sleep there too. But we won’t do that for a long while. It’s a pretty big project! We have been so blessed – within 10 days we had raised all the money we needed for this! Billy and I are overwhelmed by the amount of generosity and just love we have encountered every step of the way, with people donating and sharing and contacting us with messages of support or different ways they could help. It has been amazing and we are beyond grateful. Construction will start pretty soon so we will be very busy around here very soon! I can’t wait for the day we can say to Wyatt, “Go outside and play!” and he will be able to do just that!

And that is about it from around here! Do something today that makes you smile, be it big or small.

10 on the 10th is hosted by Marsha over at Marsha in the Middle!

I am very excited about the questions for April!

My favorite pink item:

I love pink but this question made me realize that I don’t have many pink items of significance. I need to remedy that. Anyway, I do have one that I absolutely treasure. It is not entirely pink, but pink enough. It is an old vintage quilt that my bestie Kelly’s grandmother made. I ended up with because Kelly had a full house and I absolutely love it. It needs to be repaired, and I don’t know how to do it though. I still love it and I am very careful with it. It is the quilt I usually wrap up with in the mornings – it is that perfect blend of warm and soft.

Birthstone:

My birthstone is the citrine/yellow topaz. My mother gave me a beautiful topaz ring on my sixteenth birthday. I never used to like my birthstone when I was younger, I wanted a flashier color, like a green emerald, or a purple amethyst. Once my mom gave me that ring though, I fell in love with the ring and my birthstone.

Favorite thing to plant:

This changes all the time. Sometimes it is vegetables, sometimes trees, sometimes roses. This year I am looking forward to planting a few trees. I also am dreaming of planting a huge patch of sunflowers! Sunflowers are always so cheerful, and I love how they follow the sun.

Shakespeare:

“Lord, what fools these mortals be!”

My favorite Shakespeare play is A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Fairies, an enchanted moonlit wood, a comedy filled with misunderstandings, who could ask for anything more? I love the idea of fairies and humans mixing it all up in the woods, with love spells gone wrong and then of course, a happy ending. I love Shakespeare’s comedies far more than his tragedies.

“And though she be but little, she is fierce!”

Earth Day:

For Earth Day, we are attending the Detroit Zoo Greenfest, hopefully. It is the weekend before Earth Day, and there will be live music, hands on activities, green food trucks, a sustainable marketplace, and animal engagements. Also, if you are in the first 250 groups to arrive, you get…a 2 gallon bucket of “zoo poo”, which is compost created from waste collected at the Zoo, including manure, bedding and food waste. I guess it is unique, and if we used we can always say, that garden grew from tiger poo!

The Eclipse:

We were *almost* in the path of 100% totality! We were at 99%, and it was still pretty cool. I knew Wyatt wasn’t going to leave his glasses on very long, so I planned a different day. We spent the afternoon painting night and day paintings, and Wyatt also made a solar eclipse picture. Of course we had a solar eclipse playlist, with songs like Moonshadow, Blinded by the Light, Dancing in the Moonlight, etc. And snacks! I did run him out for a minute to look at it, and then I bopped out alone to check it out at peak. It was an amazing wonder of nature and science, right in our own backyard! (sky?)

The Beatles:

My absolute favorite Beatles song is “Blackbird”. I think it is haunting and beautiful and it can make me cry on the right day. I read that Paul McCartney was inspired by two things when he wrote it. The song of a blackbird, and by the Little Rock Nine, and the racial tension in the American South. Wyatt’s favorite Beatles song is “Here Comes the Sun”, which is also a really great song, especially this time of year.

King Henry and His Wives:

I don’t know about you all, but I remember his wives by the rhyme, “Divorced, beheaded, died; Divorced, beheaded, died.” Catherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn, Jane Seymour, Anne of Cleves, Catherine Howard, Catherine Parr. So many Catherines! It is hard maybe to pick a favorite? I have a soft spot for them all I guess. Hmm. I am going to say Anne of Cleves, and Catherine Parr, both who made out pretty well in the grand scheme of things. Anne of Cleves, the “ugly” wife, got to divorce her the King after just 6 months and live out her life peacefully, which is not a bad fate for a wife of King Henry VIII. I also like the smart and mature Catherine Parr. She was quick-witted and clever, and managed to keep alive and even outlive the old King. She also was pretty integral to the court and exerted some influence over the court. She also managed to have the King restore his poor daughters, Mary and Elizabeth, to the order of succession. Without her, the history of England would be very different! (Also just throwing it out there, Catherine is my middle name)

Flower:

My birth month flower is the chrysanthemum. I always think of them as the last colorful blooms before the winter, that splash of autumnal color that blends so perfectly with the changing leaves. But we also have a variety that has totally taken over a corner of our yard. I had no idea when we planted one lone chrysanthemum plant that it would go rogue. I find them popping up all over! I just leave them where they bloom, and work around them. Billy’s birth month flower (the secondary one) is the poppy, which is his favorite flower ever. Wyatt’s birth month flower is the daffodil, which is absolutely perfect for my happy, sunny boy.

First Car:

My very first car was a surprise! My mom, a single mom who never made much money, worked as the bookkeeper and office manager at a small auto body repair shop – it is actually where she met my stepdad, Jerry, who was a very talented auto painter. Anyway, a totaled maroon thunderbird came in, and somehow my mom, the shop owner who is the nicest man, and the other employees, including Jerry, worked on this car for free. My mom paid for the car and the materials, which probably took her a long time. I was away at Central Michigan the whole time, unaware that this was happening for me. Then, near the end of the school year, my mom sent me a photo – snail mail because there were no cell phones – of the car, and told me it was mine. It was a fantastic car, and took me all over. I used it for commuting to Eastern Michigan that year, because I left CMU to live back at home. I drove it to Mackinaw City and the Upper Peninsula a few times with my friends, I drove it to work, I took my brother to concerts, to Cedar Point, the zoo – it was the car that went everywhere with me and I loved it so much until it finally died. That was a sad day for me, and when the shop called to tell me that it needed a whole new transmission, I cried because of how sentimental that car was for me. So many memories and emotions wrapped up in it, knowing how hard my mom worked for it for me, and the people that she worked with as well.

My Sunday Post is hosted by Kimba the Caffeinated Book Reviewer

Sunday Salon is hosted by Deb at Readerbuzz

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is hosted by Kathryn at Book Date

Hello everyone!! Yesterday was a beautiful day here in Metro Detroit, and we spent the whole day tooling around. We had a good time but we were all ready to get in our comfy clothes and have some down time when we finally got home.

Reading:

I have been to the library too many times and have an enormous book stack – which is great because Wyatt and I are on our spring break this week! He had a great week of school and therapy last week and I felt he needed a break. We didn’t do a spring break when his cousins were off of public school, so I thought, why not? I am looking forward to our week!

Anyway, this is what I have on deck for right now.

I’ll be slow boating my way through this reread of Watership Down. I reread it every year and I settled in with it earlier this week. I am also going to start reading The Love Remedy and The Kamogawa Food Detectives as well. I checked them both out from the library and they are both only 14 day loans, so I have to get a move on!

Posted Last Week:

Hello, April!

Books that Feel like Spring

Currently…April

Thursday Morning Coffee Catch Up: Easter and Other Things

Watching:

We have been watching a few different things. Murdoch Mysteries, Death in Paradise, Beyond Paradise, and Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency. Dirk Gently really grew on me. I wasn’t sure about it at first but now I really like it. And I am super excited because the new season of When Calls the Heart starts tomorrow night!!! Yay!!! I am a total heartie. I have to see what happens because I was really unhappy at the end of last season!! I felt so betrayed. So we will see where this new season leads us!

And that is it from me today! I hope all is well in your neighborhood!