Weekly Refresh

~currently involved with~ school. I am officially going back to school to get my teaching credential. It is super exciting but also causing me to suddenly be crazy busy since it was kind of last minute that I was able to work out the classes. I thought I was going to have to wait until next semester. This is happening at the same time that my second job is picking up and it's all good busy but it is still busy.

~taking with me~ books of course. I picked up a few books this week, some for school and some for fun. One was a complete surprise (you can read about that here, thanks Jenny for making me feel a little less guilty)

~moving on from~ being a procrastinator? Yeah right. My goal in life is to move on from this...we will see.

~quote of the week~

I have two this week from kids at high school I work.

"Sorry I called the school an oppressive fascist system. I was having a bad day."
Apologies are nice.

"I read and read so long my head hurts. Dude, it's like The Wolf of Wall Street."
I overheard this kid raving to his friend about a book he was reading. I never thought I would be so pleased about such an inappropriate book comparison. He was holding a copy of The Great Gatsby.

Weekly Refresh

Loving the vineyards while driving around with the husband

~currently involved with~ house cleaning...aren't I always? My friend is coming to stay the night with her family and I'm getting the house ready. I have been slacking off for the past few days because the husband is about to start a new job and we have had a few days off together, which is rare. I have been running around with him to help get him ready. It has been fun, it's just delaying the other things I need to do.

~taking with me~ a few new theme songs for my life. I can't get enough of "Tough Love" by Sailor & I also, "Paranoia, Ghosts & Other Sounds" by SAFIA.  I went to see Gone Girl with the husband last night. It was good but we both agreed that it was a little to soon after just recently reading the book. There were some differences but having exactly what is going to happen so fresh in your mind doesn't work for that kind of movie. It was exactly the exact opposite of what happened with Harry Potter but I still should have known better. When HP came out, I reread the books right before going to see the first three movies. For the first two it was fine but Prisoner of Azkaban came out and there were so many differences that I spent every scene being angry about everything that was left out. I'm still not over SPEW.

~moving on from~ a busy week. I barely read last week and the only thing getting me through was knowing that I had an entire week off for Thanksgiving during which I could read to my heart's desire. That week is quickly filling but I'll still find time...I'll force it if I have to.

~quote of the week~

A teenage boy in one of my classes as he runs his hand through his Bieber Bangs:
"I hate when I wake up in the morning and look in the mirror and my hair is going in the opposite direction.  

Weekly Refresh

~currently involved with~ cleaning, organizing, reading. Recuperating from a few fun weekends away from home. Back to the real world where the work week is longer than three days.

~taking with me~ some fun bookish craft ideas that I got from a friend I was talking to at a birthday party. I think I am going to try them out in a few weeks and report back. But then the age old question: keep it for yourself or gift it to someone else?

I also acquired a copy of My True Love Gave to Me which I am stoked to now own. I even ordered from the UK because I couldn't pass up all that amazing pinkness. While I love reading within the holiday theme for Halloween, I can't say the same for Christmas. I think Little Women is the closest I've come to reading a book that I enjoyed that actually had a little Christmas mood. So I am extremely excited to have My True Love Gave to Me as a December read to jump into after Nonficion November.

~moving on from~ busy weekends? Oh no wait, we are just rolling into the holidays. More busy to come. I need to really my reading time during the week because it never seems to happen in the great amounts over the weekend that I expect.


~quote of the week~ 

"We are deathly afraid that you and your brother are going to be make fun of, to an extent that not only dulls your sparkle but ruins your life forever."
-page 136 Raising My Rainbow by Lori Duron

I loved this book and this quote is a good hint at the vibe throughout. Review will be up this week.

Weekly Refresh

~currently involved with~ hanging out with my family. I'm in San Diego for a family reunion and I haven't done any reading since we arrived (despite packing half a bookshelf) but I took advantage of my time on the plane. 

~taking with me~ photos. Memories. Probably a few extra pounds by the time the weekend is over. 

~moving on from~ fiction. I'm loving Nonfiction November. My list is exploding and so is my bookshelf. It's amazing. 

~quote of the week~

Students arguing who is better, Batman or Superman.

First Student: "If you take away Batman's power, he's just a billionaire." (emphasis mine)
Second Student: "If you take away Superman's power, he just an alien."
First Student: "Batman is just whining about his parents being dead. Superman gets over it."

Whiny billionaire or alien who moves on? Which would you choose?

Weekly Refresh

~currently involved with~ pretty much filling my shelves with library books for Nonfiction November. What can I say...I tend to be a last-minute joiner on most things. I'll be reading doing some light cleaning today but mostly taking it easy while my stupid broken toe heals.

~taking with me~ The sky looked amazing on Halloween so I grabbed my camera and took some photos. I'm still learning how to use it (one year later) and I want to take a class but for now I'm having fun playing around with it.

~moving on from~ Umm...warm weather? Not so much. I was hoping we were finally getting our fall weather after some rain on Halloween. It even cooled down enough that I turned on the space heater in my bedroom for an hour last night. Sadly, the forecast shows that we will be getting back to 80 again.

~quote of the week~

"Do you have turkey?"

-little ninja on Halloween who thought my purple lights meant I was ccelebrating Christmas with Halloween and he didn't want Thanksgivig to be left out.

Weekly Refresh

~currently involved with~ sitting in the car so this is a photo edition of Weekly Refresh. The husband and I are taking a quick trip to celebrate our anniversary today.

~taking with me~ 

~moving on from~

Uggh...I-5

~ quote of the week~

Source

Weekly Refresh

~currently involved with~ life. This post is coming a day late because yesterday I was all wrapped up in hanging out at a beautiful pool at a friend's house. The temp got close to 100 so it was the perfect day to have a little water fun.

~tanking with me~ a nice tan (maybe even a bit of a burn) and I'm a bit worn out today but we have a mellow Memorial Day planned so I'm happy. Also I'm taking some muscle aches into the coming week after finding the giant trampoline. Man those things are fun...and a workout.

My sis and a friend's kid

~moving on from~ not much really. I'm having trouble finishing any books. Part of it is that I haven't had as much reading time as usual but I also can't stick to just one book. I keep book bouncing and it is killing me. 

Awesome view from the pool

~quote of the week~

"If we love our country, we should also love our countrymen." -- Ronald Reagan

Have a good Memorial Day. 

Weekly Refresh

Killing time with one of my boys.

~currently involved with~ pretty much the same thing as last time. Reading and killing a bunch of weeds. The weed killing thing is going fairly well...however, with the drought I also have a knack for grass killing as well. :(

~taking with me~ a lot of new clothing items because that is what happens when you wake up early on a Sunday to go to brunch for your friends 30th birthday and have a mimosa with lunch and then think it's a good idea to stop at Target for "just a couple necessities." My pocketbook took quite a hit due to my lack of inhibition. Apparently my virtue isn't the only things that gets loose with champagne...

~moving on from~opening my closet and saying "I have nothing to wear." Thank you mimosa!**

~quote of the week~ I had a lot of fun with one of my work boys yesterday making a random mini story (see above photo). I was the green pen and we traded back an forth. He was having a rough day so it made me laugh even harder when I read his last line. For ease of reading:

There once was a monkey named Fred
and her liked hot cheetos
but he only ate them on Monday mornings
but there's an exception on Tuesdays when he's in a good mood
and when he was in a good mood on Tuesdays he liked to eat them with chocolate and rainbow sprinkles
...yea that was a one time thing for Fred.

**please note that while I did in fact have one mimosa, a desire for new clothes for the coming heat was more to blame for my poor inhibition than booze. However, when I tell my husband about the credit card bill, the mimosa with take the fall. Please drink and shop safely.

Weekly Refresh

 

Went out for a walk and found a bench to hang out on

~currently involved with~I'm currently reading Time and Again by Jack Finney and finding it enjoyable but I wish I had more time to really sit down and get into the story. I'm hoping to make that happen over the next couple days.

~moving on from~ Weeds...I am so over weeds. They have taken over my backyard and my husband really wants to spray them but they are all around raised beds where I'm growing delicious veggies so I am holding him back from that. We have a bocce ball court in our backyard (there when we moved in, it makes me feel old but I've actually had a ton of fun with it) and the rock chip crap that makes up the court is around the beds too, making this really weird weed growing situation that looks awful and is really high maintenance. Hoping to find a solution soon.

~taking with me~ I went for a hike on Wednesday with my work boys. Since a hike through the forest in 90 degree weather didn't sound too appealing, we decided to take them out to the ocean. We had a nice 20 minute hike down to the beach and then played some football. Now, those of you not from CA may imagine beautiful, always hot and always packed So Cal beaches. You know, the ones from The O.C. and Baywatch (I'm a bit ashamed those are the only two shows I can come up with right now) but up here in Northern California the ocean tends to be foggy and the water is freezing and can be a bit dangerous. Well we got so lucky and it was about 85 while we were there. We had a blast (even if it was almost too hot for some of my boys) and we even saw a whale as we were hiking down! It was my first whale spotting and man was it cool.

~quote of the week~  

Sandwich gone, back to bed.....THE END

The last line of the longest text my husband ever sent me after he found a sandwich in the fridge and couldn't remember if I had made it for him or my lunch the next day. I told him it was for him while he was half asleep and he apparently wasn't certain he wasn't dreaming.  The entire text was hilarious and included things like "the symphony of sounds echoing from my empty stomach" and "There is no note claiming ownership...I'm pretty sure it's safe and I'm not making this up."
 

Weekly Refresh

~currently involved with~ cuteness in the form of my best friend's daughter (which is why this post is coming to you late). For confirmation of cuteness please see above photo. She is in love with my eos chapstick and asked for the "ball" everytime she sees it. She saw me put it on so now she rubs the ball over her lips, which is what she is doing in the picture.

I'm loving roses from my garden

~moving on from~ my cold! Which turned into a sinus infection...which I got antibiotics for...which is actually now feeling better. Yay!

~taking with me~ Dreams of Gods and Monsters by Laini Taylor. I am taking that books EVERYWHERE with me. I got a slight sunburn while I was sitting outside reading it yesterday. I was so into it I didn't realize how hot I was getting. I only got little bits of time throughout the week so I'm not finished yet but it's good because I have been able to savor it.

All you tabs tabs that almost made it to the quote of the week

~quote of the week~ 

Apparently Zuzana was feeling the same. "My kingdom for caffeine," she mumbled, making prayer hands up at the ceiling. 

When, however, in the next second, Issa entered with tea, Zuzana was not grateful. "Coffee, I meant coffee," she told the ceiling, as if the universe were a waiter that had gotten her order wrong. 

pg 177

Dreams of Gods and Monsters by Laini Taylor

Weekly Refresh

~currently involved with~ I'm almost finished with Cress by Marissa Meyer, which is a fun series I have been enjoying. The plan is to finish it tomorrow because Tuesday I am rushing out to buy Dreams of Gods and Monsters by Laini Taylor (which I am so excited about I can't stand it) and I plan to spend every moment not at work lost in the final book of a trilogy that I LOVE.

~moving on from~Hopefully this cold that has been with me for 2 weeks now. I am finally able to smell things again.

~taking with me~ I got a new keyboard that I'm hoping will help calm my tendonitis so we will see how that goes. So far I'm still unsure about it but I'm only about a sentence into using it. I'm also not known to do well with change.

~quote of the week~This weeks quote comes from one of my work boys...again. Before meals we give an "appreciation" and this one boy has been known to give the prayer from Talladega Nights (if you haven't seen it or just want to see it again, check out the video above). Well Friday at lunch he decided to mix it up something short and sweet and a little dash of Ricky Bobby.

"Dear tiny baby Jesus. Thank you for the little things. Thank you for forks and spoons so we don't have to eat slimy things with our hands. 

Amen"

Weekly Refresh

 

~currently involved with~ storm clouds in the best kind of way. They are moving on from us right now so we have a cool looking sky but another awesome storm will be here tomorrow. Also, the in-laws are in town and arrived with a lovely bouquet for me. 

Walking around the neighborhood

 ~moving on from~ Hopefully a cold. I have been sick for a week and I think this is going down as the worst cold I have ever had. I will be happy if I can leave it behind me this coming week.

My brother, just something to make me smile.

 ~taking with me~ things that make me smile. Hanging out with my family and taking a random picture of my brother after telling him I don't want to hear him slurp his wine. He works at a winery and I enjoy giving him a hard time about his snooty tasting practices because he is so not a wine snob.

~quote of the week~ Another one from my boys. We were watching March of the Penguins and being teenage boys they couldn't get over the reproduction part. One boys explained it to another who had missed the scene...
"They did a sexual transaction. They did it out in the open. They didn't even use a cover."

Weekly Refresh

This pic is strikingly similar to last week....hmm

~currently involved with~ The sunshine. I am just about to head to my mom's for a BBQ.

~moving on from~ Will I sound too repetitive if I say the negativity of my job again. It has been a crazy week. I was so out of it a few days ago that I poured myself a glass of water and it wasn't until it was at my mouth that I realized I had poured it into a measuring cup.  Sigh. It actually started off pretty awful but yesterday ended on a good note...sort of. While I did have a boy call me a bitch at the end of the night I also had one give me a hug just because he said he knew I had a rough week. From a 16 year old boy that is really sweet. 

Apparently I am also leaving behind my Coldest Girl in Coldtown audiobook for awhile because I ran out of lending time (stupid app deleting my book...just charge me for being late, I'd much rather pay and finish the book) and there are 4 others on the wait list now. Bummer. I am anxiously awaiting my email saying it is my turn again. I have always had trouble sharing *cough* blog title *cough*

~taking with me~ The happiness from finishing a great book....Lost Lake by Sarah Addison Allen. I waqs late getting this post up because I was caught up in the story.

~quote of the week~ I'm pulling one from a book this week. 
"Magic is what we invent when we want something we think we can't have. It makes her happy to think she's a femme fatale. We go along with it."
pg 66, Lost Lake by Sarah Addison Allen

Weekly Refresh

~currently involved with~ I'm deeply involved with The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black on audiobook right now. It has been a nice treat on my commute but I have found myself listening to it more when I am off at night because the mood it better in the dark (that and I have been rocking out to my jams during the day in the beautiful weather we have been having). Then, I play it while I am getting ready for bed and it has kept me up late like I only thought "real" books could.

~moving on from~ Uggh....work. This week would have been difficult even if one of my boys hadn't vandalized something with "f*** you Jessica." Charming. But it was really sweet to see the caring and protective way many of them reacted when it was found. So I'm moving on from the negativity.

~taking with me~ Well first of all this gorgeous weather. Love! I am also taking a new book home with me. My local bookstore didn't have Lost Lake by Sarah Addison Allen in stock so I had them order it and it arrived. I am usually at the bookstore on release day for Sarah but for some reason that didn't happen this time. Her books remind me of warm days in NC and really good memories of being there. We will see if it feels the same reading her books in CA but the weather today is really working for me. I may have snatched an additional book on impulse while at the bookstore. What? I'm trying to support local businesses. More is better. 

~quote of the week~ The quote this week is actually a conversation I had with one of my boys that cracked me up. Maybe it won't make sense out of context but at my job it is encouraged that we show emotion. Timing is everything and it can be a good tool. Well it has been difficult lately and I have found myself expressing myself in tears more than usual...I'm emotional, what can I say. So talking to one of my teen boys this is how it went.

Boy: How are you doing?
Me: Good. How are you?
B: How come every time I ask you how you are, you say good?
M: (shrugs) You ask me when I am good.
B: No I think you just say you're good.
M: Well maybe you only ask me how I'm doing when I'm in a good mood. Did you ever think about that?
B: Yeah, well all the other times you're crying.

Oh these boys!

Weekly Refresh

Muffin: on the table, among books, in the sun. She totally takes after me

~currently involved with~  I have been loving the fact that I can get audiobooks from the library to listen to on the way to work lately and I just started One Day by David Nicholls. I also checked out Reconciliation by Benazir Bhutto, which I started reading right after it was released but stopped (I can't remember if it was a casualty of my move or I just got sidetracked) and never picked back up.

~moving on from~  Hopefully the scariest drought possibility ever. It has been raining all week and I LOVE it, not to mention we need it badly. We need a lot more to get us anywhere close to comfortable but hopefully we haven't seen the end of our wet season. 

~taking with me~ Some sweet ass rain boots and I am excited to have weather that actually permits me to wear them.

~quote of the week~  I was at a birthday party for my niece and someone commented on my brother's lack of hair (he is 27 and has been balding since 23ish). His response was "I'm not losing them, they're just getting lazy and falling down to my back." Love this guy!!

Weekly Reset

I am trying something new today. I have been thinking about how I feel the need to reconnect with my blog and the blogging community and with my reading time being cut back since I started here by...life, my reviews have also been cut back but I still love talking about books. I also have been trying to adjust since my work schedule is so absurd (I work 45 hours from Wednesday - Saturday and have Sun, Mon, Tues off...random right?) I have had to adjust my post schedule and the memes I participated in. Since Sunday is the first day of MY weekend and also the first day of the week have decided to try what I am calling my Weekly Reset. It is a time for me to look back on my week and share a little piece of it with you--in a focused manner--because my Sunday exhaustion typically leads to either minimal brain function or excessive rambling...I'm sure you can't tell. And then move on to the next adventure. I love reading Kim's "Currently" posts over at Sophisticated Dorkiness and they gave me inspiration for my own format (thanks Kim, I hope you don't mind) so we'll see where this takes me.

~currently involved with~  I am reading Stillwater by Nicole Helget for a blog tour that I will be participating in soon. I also have Cleopatra's Daughter by Michelle Moran as a standby to pick up and get a few pages in while I eat my breakfast. 

~moving on from~  Work last week was especially crazy I managed to leave last night with only 2 extra hours added to my normal 15 hour Saturday, rounding it to a painfully lovely 17 hour work day. I'm happy to move on to my 3 days off. 

~taking with me~  Apparently I am taking a mug with me today (temporarily). I was at my fave local coffee shop just sitting outside, listening to music, and lost in what I was writing when I decided it was time to go. I got up and was going to return my "for here" mug but the door was locked. They had closed 15 min earlier and I didn't even notice. I don't know if the lady working forgot that I had a mug or knew that I visited enough it would be returned. Either way, it will have a home with me tonight and I will have just one more reason to get coffee tomorrow when I return it. 

~quote of the week~  "Mom." So simple, not even a sentence, just a word. This was what one of my boys called me this week before throwing his hands over his mouth, mortified. We were cleaning the kitchen with one other boy and it was just an innocent slip but coming from one of the teenagers I work with it was hilarious and sweet.