Five on Friday -

A last minute addition- I just got an energy audit scheduled for this coming Tuesday and I am hoping it enables us to make cost effective improvements that will make the downstairs more comfortable!

1. It is fun having a granddaughter old enough to write and send us messages. Our son had checked if we wanted to do this and then asked her if she wanted to invite us to her school Grandfriends Day at the end of the month. She sent us each invitations via email. This is how the school describes the event (with identifying info removed).

Grandfriends' Day at Z is a chance for students to show their grandparents and/or other important elders (great uncles/aunts, family friends, or neighbors) their school. The event will start just before school begins, with check-in at 8:45 a.m. Grandfriends will be invited to their students' classrooms, given a school tour, and hear from Principal R. A reception will follow to honor our guests. Please let the important Grandfriends in your life know.

I find this inclusive approach wonderful as it provides each student with many options for having someone attend with them. Another event to be looking forward to this month. 

2. We were able to help out by picking up the 8 year old granddaughter from after school care and taking her to swim lesson. Since our son mistakenly told us the lesson was earlier than it was, we got a nice visit with her too. Our son was out of town for work and DIL had a very very busy work day plus the toddler to schlep around. The 8 year old is on the waiting list for swim team so their life is going to get even busier with 3 practices a week for that and we will pitch in when asked. 

3. My Pilates instructor is back from a 3 week holiday break so my weekly sessions are on again.

4. Trader Joe's was out of eggs when hubby shopped in the afternoon so I went back first thing in the morning and got 2 dozen for $3.49 each. He was going to go to an other store where they were sure to be twice as much. Hope this round of bird flu quiets down very soon. We were down to 1 egg.

5. We are in the process of switching internet providers and the cost will be cut by just under 50%. We have had to wait for the new provider to start servicing our neighborhood but they hung the intial cable yesterday and the installers are scheduled.

What I’m Reading Wednesday

Another book for the challenge - Prompt 50: Set in the 1940’s. 

One of those plots that shifts from present day to the 1940s and back repeatedly. The sisters in their 90’s now who were spies/served in WWII for Britain along with their nephew who is middle aged. I enjoyed it even though it truly stretched believability in many places.

And for Prompt 41: Cover font in a primary color I read a Little Free Library 1997 cozy mystery find that I knew would be light reading but it was well written and the characters well developed if a again bit unbelievable. 

Menu Monday on Tuesday

The grocery list is done just in time and here is what we have planned.

- Shrimp stir fry

- Bean & cheese tostados

- Pasta with sausage, mushrooms and peppers

- Pork chop, sweet potato, beans, mushrooms and onions

- Purchased cooked whole chicken: chicken and veggies

- Chicken noodle soup made with leftover chicken and homemade broth

Last week's menu plan worked well although we did not go out to eat as planned. Instead I thawed a thin slicked chicken breast piece and we had that with veggies that needed to be used up (cauliflower and spinach). 

Camellias in bloom

The camellias we planted are blooming gorgeously. The one in the front has small dainty blossoms while the one in the backyard is the more common larger blooms. They both seem very happy where they are and have a lot of height left to gain. 

I’m really enjoy seeing them and am glad we picked a variety of flowering shrubs to plant as well as different foliage ones. The landscaping has turned out to be kind of a Bay Area cottage garden feel with minimal plants due to the water and climate situations.

It is nice to see the plants settling in and starting to grow to fill their allotted spaces.

Five on Friday

1. Lots of progress on the office refresh with project spending at just a bit over $100 so far. I bought a metal 3  drawer file cabinet on sale and file folder tabs. I had enough good condition file folders and hanging files to set it up like I want and to make it easy for others to find things. We will have to pay to have the old computer hard drive shredded and I may buy a desk mat and a colorful picture for the wall as with the old computer is gone wall space has opened up.

2. Started using the reading journal I requested and was given for Christmas. I’m going to try to stick with it although it is a bit more duplicative than I prefer.

3. Bought on sale a pair of shoes I wear regularly (and need to replace routinely) and an a pair of Smartwool socks for cold feet days. We also replaced our TV as it could no longer be updated for streaming which we use along with an antenna. And I trekked to a nursery and got a new plant for the pot I got for my birthday. In a very different location on a dining room hutch shelf. Fingers crossed it grows well and trails down the shelves. 

4. I made plans with our DIL for us all to go to a Lunar New Year celebration that is child oriented. Invited her Mom to join us to. That is a “something to look forward to” for later in the month.

5. Received a loving thank you note from my DIL.

Devastating fires in LA area

We are so familiar with the areas that are affected that it is hurting to watch the devastation and to know over 90,000 people have been evacuated. Our older son and DIL live just south of the evacuation area in Pasadena and said list night was really crazy with the fire spreading so fast and changing the situation quickly. 

I’m not worried about them because they are very good at risk assessment, being prepared and taking action. However I have found myself spending too much time focused on what is happening even though it is far away.

Does anyone else do that?

It has been a gorgeous sunny and warmer day here so I took a long walk to the library before lunch and went out for coffee mid afternoon. As always, trying to focus on what is happening can control or seriously influence.

What I’m reading Wednesday

So far this month I’ve read or am in the midst of reading 3 books for The 52 Book Club Challenge. I also stopped reading 2 a few pages in.

Humble Pi fit nicely in the challenge Prompt 1: A Pun in the Title. Amazon classifies it as Applied Mathematics in Nonfiction. I found it interesting, scary and amusing in turn, but then I really like math and science real world applications. I didn’t fully grasp the math when he was talking about glitches in computer codes but the key points are clear and help me understand more about the thinking challenges involved in software engineering. I suspect the author is a great lecturer. Rating: 4 out of 5

Before the Coffee Gets Cold is Time Travel Fiction and has sold over a million copies (Prompt 26). I finished it but didn’t like it as I found the characters unlikable and the storyline didn’t grab me. I have like other time travel books especially the Thursday Next novels by Jasper Fforde so it wasn’t the genre as a whole that made it get a low rating. Rating: 1 out of 5. 

The Lost Art of Mixing by Erica Bauermeister fits Prompt 22: Found family trope. It was a quick gentle read. Although I won’t be pursuing other books by her, I rate it 3 out of 5. It is listed as Friendship Fiction.

The 2 books I put down quickly were The Weight of Ink and Christmas Crimes at the Mysterious Bookshop. In the first case I really disliked the main and other characters and the storyline wasn’t of enough interest to me to get past that. In the second case it was extremely dark and depressing.