Monday Mortification

Yesterday during the announcements at church I was talking about a new homeless shelter that’s in the works in our community. I asked one of our members where it was located and she said that the Republican headquarters is currently in that space, and that it was near the cemetery. And because my filter is somewhat lacking, I said, “Oh, near the liquor store!” Everyone cracked up. There are three levels of mortification here:

1. I don’t actually drink, and my mother would be mortified that I know where the liquor store is (especially since I don’t make Kentucky Bourbon Fruitcake like she did – she used to try to sneak into the store at the other end of town so she wouldn’t run into anyone she knew).
2. It’s pretty darned funny that the Republican headquarters is near the liquor store, but is it in poor taste to mention that in church?
3. It’s actually not at all funny, and kind of a concern that they’re putting a homeless shelter that close to a liquor store (although we’ve prayed fervently for a shelter for this winter, so I’m just going to be glad that there will be one at all!).

I’m sure my church members wonder what will come out of my mouth next. I wonder that myself sometimes!

Sunny Saturday...

Ms. Pinky's Sunflowers have been putting on a show. Enjoy!

Book Review Tuesday

First and foremost, go here to read Dr. M’s post about how George Washington started the French & Indian War!

The last time I did a book post was March!! I’ve read 23 new books since then (this doesn’t count the 37 books I reread). So I’m not going to go into as much detail as usual. In fact I’ll do a whole new format. Woo hoo!

Series Books (unless it’s a new series for me, I’ll skip a description)

• Blood Salt Water (Alex Morrow #5), by Denise Mina (3 stars)
• The Gambit With Perfection (The Phantom of the Earth #2), by Raeden Zen (3 stars)
• Brotherhood in Death (In Death #42), by J.D. Robb (4 stars). Reading this latest “in death” book is what made me want to start rereading the whole series – I wanted a refresher course on all the characters. I’m up to book #33 - almost to the point where I can remember the plot and the bad guy (or guy-ess). Yay me!
• The Mezzo Wore Mink, The Diva Wore Diamonds, The Organist Wore Pumps, and The Countertenor Wore Garlic (The Liturgical Mystery, books 6-10), by Mark Schweizer (4 stars for everyone!)
• The Catch (Vanessa Michael Munroe #4), by Taylor Stevens (4 stars)
•  The Girl in the Spider's Web (Millennium Trilogy #4), by David Lagercrantz, Stieg Larsson (Creator), George Goulding (Translator) (3 stars)
• The Hidden Child  (Fjällbacka #5), by Camilla Läckberg (4 stars)
•  Leave the Grave Green (Duncan Kincaid & Gemma James #3), by Deborah Crombie (4 stars)
•  The Guardians Trilogy, books 1 & 2 (Stars of Fortune, Bay of Sighs), Nora Roberts. This is Nora’s newest trilogy, about good & evil, gods, magical beings, mortals – you know, the usual. I liked the first one better than the second one. (4 stars, 3 stars)
• Open and Shut (Andy Carpenter #1), by David Rosenfelt. This series is about a defense attorney, so there’s a lot of courtroom drama. But Andy is hilarious. I thoroughly enjoyed this first book in the series. (4 stars)

The Rest of Them

• Shadow Woman, by Linda Howard. This one was an accident. I was looking for this book, and got the Linda Howard book instead. Her books are romances tarted up as thrillers. The plot was pretty interesting – a woman involved in a top secret mission has her memory wiped, but then it starts coming back. But meh. It didn’t help that I made Dr. M listen to the book on one of our trips. You know it’s bad when you’re cringing & apologizing for the book. Ha! (2 stars)
• 11/22/63, by Stephen King. Oh Stephen, just shut up for a minute please! This is his ginormous novel about what would have happened if someone could go back in time to stop the JFK assassination. He’s such a good writer, and the plot was interesting, but it needed about 400 fewer pages. (3 stars)
•  The Song Remains the Same, by Allison Winn Scotch. This was a book from my 2014 book a day calendar. The plot is interesting – a woman is one of only two survivors of a plane crash, but she has amnesia & can’t remember anything prior to waking up in the hospital. It was just ok. (3 stars)
• Ashley Bell (Ashley Bell #1), by Dean Koontz. “At twenty-two, Bibi Blair’s doctors tell her that she’s dying. Two days later, she’s impossibly cured. Fierce, funny, dauntless, she becomes obsessed with the idea that she was spared because she is meant to save someone else. Someone named Ashley Bell. ...Searching for Ashley Bell, ricocheting through a southern California landscape that proves strange and malevolent in the extreme, Bibi is plunged into a world of crime and conspiracy....” I ordinarily like Dean Koontz a lot, but this one started getting annoying toward the end. I enjoyed it, and love the twist in it, the by the end I just wanted everyone to shut up. Ha! (3 stars)
• The Liar, by Nora Roberts. “Shelby Foxworth lost her husband. Then she lost her illusions… The man who took her from Tennessee to an exclusive Philadelphia suburb left her in crippling debt. He was an adulterer and a liar, and when Shelby tracks down his safe-deposit box, she finds multiple IDs. The man she loved wasn’t just dead. He never really existed. Shelby takes her three-year-old daughter and heads south to seek comfort in her hometown…” Just another Nora Roberts “I’m more powerful than I thought I was” woman book. (4 stars)
• The Obsession, by Nora Roberts. “Naomi Bowes lost her innocence the night she followed her father into the woods. In freeing the girl trapped in the root cellar, Naomi revealed the horrible extent of her father’s crimes and made him infamous. Now a successful photographer living under the name Naomi Carson…” This one was another Nora Roberts “I Am Woman Hear Me Roar” book. (4 stars)
•  Holding Smoke, by Elle Cosimano. I read this one for book club. The plot was interesting – a young man is in a juvenile detention center for committing two murders, but he has the ability to leave his body behind & explore the outside world. It was a great read, with an interesting twist. (4 stars)
• The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry, by Gabrielle Zevin. This was also for book club. It’s about a curmudgeonly man who owns a book store on a small island. The book spans about 18 years or so, following A. J. Fikry’s life as it turns in unexpected directions. It was totally charming – or at least I was totally charmed. (5 stars)
•  Searching for Sunday: Loving, Leaving, and Finding the Church, by Rachel Held Evans. This was one of only a few nonfiction books I read, and the only one I’m including here because I FREAKING LOVED THIS BOOK!! She was speaking my language throughout the whole thing – raised in an evangelical tradition, the “good girl” who finally because so disillusioned by church that she left, who is now trying to find her way back to a life lived in a faith community. Yes, yes, and yes. (5 stars)

I’m sorry this is so very long, but I wanted to get everything out there. I would promise to post these more often in the future, but we know how that goes. Ha!

My #OrdinaryLife

It's been almost 3 weeks since my last post - eep! I've been busy, but really I have no excuse. A couple of weeks ago Dr. M officiated at another wedding, and last week we both traveled to Delaware for my work. We meandered home again & visited some battlefields (ah, it's like we're newlyweds again!). But I'm not going to post about any of that. I might post some pictures from the wedding later, but Dr. M is posting about our trip and tour along the footsteps of G. Washington. Go here to read his first post.

Last Monday I had a friend on Facebook challenge me to post a picture each day of my ordinary life. Why it was almost like doing Project 365 again! I actually enjoyed it - and I'm thinking that I might start doing P365 again next year. (Although why I have to start on January 1 I do not know.) Anyway, here is my week, with my captions from Facebook.

1. Last year our ten year old geranium grew petunias & verbena. This year, it's sunflowers. What next, Miss Pinky?

2. My #ordinarylife day #2. Sigh. — feeling aggravated.

(Bonus picture - That tire was too flat for a pump, so I had to call AAA. I found a nice port in the storm while I waited. Would you believe that White Castle has grilled chicken sliders and veggie burger sliders? It was almost a healthy dinner!)

3. My #ordinarylife day #3. I was SUPPOSED to put my new phone cable in my car. Instead, I put it on the roof & it got a ride around town. Thank goodness it slid down the rear window & nestled in the corner there!

4. My #ordinarylife day 4: when you're supposed to be cleaning the house & your puzzle won't let you go.— feeling trapped. (Note: this is an app I downloaded onto my iPad - it is entirely TOO EASY to lose hours with this. In other words, it's just like having a real puzzle on the kitchen table.)

5. My #ordinarylife day 5. Colored my hair the other day. It looks JUST LIKE the box, right?#brunetteproblems

6. My #ordinarylife day 6. Altar guild setup & emergency orange yarn run. Why yes I AM about to start using my FOURTH shade of orange yarn.

(Bonus picture - just to show myself that this monster isn't ENTIRELY orange.)

7. My #ordinarylife day 7. On my way to take communion to a parishioner in the hospital.#ourOhio

Have a great week everyone!

It Wasn't Really a Contest, But...

Since Shoreacres (go here to read her latest post - well worth the trip!) was the only person to guess correctly which square had the wrong yarn, I've decided that she gets a prize! What, you would have tried harder if you'd known it was a contest? Well, I'll have to see if I can create a new contest at some future date. Stay tuned!

Anyway, this should more clearly show what was wrong. The flower petal next to the gray is sapphire blue instead of teal. You can see the teal sandwiched between the two black rows in the other square.

The difference is a little more glaring in person, but I'm not sure that the recipient of the blanket will notice until I point it out (and point it out I must because that's who I am as a person).

Here's another little crochet project I worked on - a dishcloth & some pot scrubbies as a housewarming gift for a coworker. I made myself a pot scrubby & it works really well! (OK, I made it for her, but it was a misshapen mess so I kept it for myself & made a different one for her.)

Finally, our neighbor gave us a hibiscus last year. Frankly, I forgot what kind of flower it was since we received it after flowering season. What a lovely surprise!