Random Bits Of My Life Happening Right About...NOW!

Borrowing and adapting an idea from another blogger's website:Sasha at Lemonade Makin’ Mama.

Random bits of my life happening right about....NOW!

loving: 

That my job right now is not what I would consider stressful, the majority of the time.

reading: 

There's a (Slight) Chance I Might Be Going to Hell: A Novel of Sewer Pipes, Pageant Queens, and Big Trouble by Laurie Notaro, and The Book of Useless Information by Noel Botham

waiting for: 

Some mystery flower seeds to bloom on my patio, and my squash plant from a friend to start making squash!

excited about: 

Getting together with an old college friend for makeovers and occasional shops round 2 (?) this weekend!

missing: 

Friends that I have gotten out of touch with - but am rallying to try to reconnect with them!

trying to:  

Plan out important events

enjoying: 

Hot weather nights, comfortable inside, relaxing with the air conditioner with my hubby and dog

using: 

My design skills to help a community theater - design and layout their Program this year, and a friend design her wedding save the date's, invitations, RSVP cards and programs!

wearing: 

 My work outfit still...khakis, light blue tank top with darker blue lightweight long jacket over it.

planning: 

Some important dates into my summer calendar

singing: 

Some top 100 song played on the radio or a sitcom theme song from all the Netflix I have been watching lately

needing: 

A mani/pedi, and a bigger house . Okay, need is not the right word. But wanting, yes.

learning:

 To stop babysitting coworkers and let them sink or swim more on their own to realize their full potential.

wishing:

For a drama-free family life and the chance to get ahead in debt payments and my career, among other things, in the near future

doing: 

lots and lots of list-making and hoping for the future. 

dreaming of: 

Being able to take a vacation somewhere I have never been before, or experiencing new things at somewhere I have been before.

Want to play along? What are you currently up to?

Book Review: Bitter is the New Black : Confessions of a Condescending, Egomaniacal, Self-Centered Smartass,Or, Why You Should Never Carry A Prada Bag to the Unemployment Office

Book Review time once again folks!
This time, another one of my Paperback Swap book arrivals: 

Bitter is the New Black : Confessions of a Condescending, Egomaniacal, Self-Centered Smartass, Or, Why You Should Never Carry A Prada Bag to the Unemployment Office

This one looked interesting to me right when I read the back cover online. There was something about the book cover and the title that totally gripped me right away. I wanted to see if the sassiness continued throughout, and so far, just a couple dozen pages in, it does not disappoint!

The description on the back of the book sums it up quite nicely, in her own words:

This is the story of how a haughty former sorority girl went from having a household income of almost a quarter million dollars to being evicted from a ghetto apartment...

It's a modern Greek tragedy, as defined by Roger Dunkle in The Classical Origins of Western Culture: a story  in which "the central character, called the tragic protagonist or hero, suffers some serious misfortune which is not accidental and therefore meaningless, but is significant in that the misfortune is logically connected."

In other words? The bitch had it coming. 

Right away, you know it is going to be a fun read when the book starts out just like the title and summary, and there are footnotes of her wit on almost every page, lying there in wait.

So I finished the book this weekend and it was every bit as good as I thought it was going to be by my initial read. I ALSO found out that she has written a bunch of other books:


 

So, of course, I will be needing to read them ALL!

-Happy Reading!
LD

Drumroll Please...

I HAVE KITCHEN STORAGE IN A TOWNHOUSE!!!!

Yes ladies and (if there are any following) gentlemen, after last weekend, 4 trips to Fleet Farm and 2 trips to Menards later, I have more custom shelving in my kitchen pantry. Organizational geeks like me, eat your heart out!

These were the first shelves - the first four from the bottom up. We added one more on top to make 5.

All of my shelves are in!!! There is SO much room in there! Yay!

My baking pans and stuff have a shelf of their own (very top) and ingredients take up almost the entire second shelf from the top. Be still my beating heart-shaped-cookie!

Living in a townhouse always is challenging my space-saving and tetris skills with the things we have, and wish to store. Check that one off the summer to-do list! Next on the organizational list is re-organizing the spice cabinet. With Derick's new-found and active grilling hobby, the spice cabinet never stays too clean and organized for long! haha. You should have seen the look he gave me when I suggested we keep everything in there alphabetized by spice! But that is also something that he says that he wants to do - get that organized more too, so to Bed, Bath and Beyond we go! 

-LD

On the Summer Reading List

I told you earlier that I would be taking and submitting a photo of the books (so far) that are on my stack to read...and without further ado, my stack:

Funny thing is, just before I took this photo, I put through an order to get one more book by Jen Lancaster (Bitter is the New Black author I am reading now) I have a feeling that I am really going to enjoy all of her books. She way she writes makes me laugh out loud!!!

So those are the next on the list - in no particular order. Though, if I was going to play by some made-up rules for the stack, I would start reading from the bottom-up. That was, after all, how I piled them there in the first place.

Happy Reading!

LD

Book Review: The Amazing Book of Useless Information

Book Review!

As you now know (from my last post), I am weeding my way through the books in my shelf (I will take a picture of my leaning tower and post it next). Well, in the midst of my pile-shortening of re-reading that has been taking place, a few of the books of my Paperback Swap site have become available and have also shipped to me. Partner that with my frequent Goodwill-ing, and I have added more books to the stack. *sigh. Not a bad deal for the reader in me though - riding the bus gives me plenty of downtime to dive into my latest book:

This is one fun book! It is written just like the title would let on - just useless facts, although this book is broken out by similar items throughout the book. There was a chapter on wine for instance, another about movies, etc. After the first couple of pages, I wished that I could Tweet all of the really neat things I found out about - but alas, most of them were above the character limit. I think this would be a great book for a road trip, plane trip, any type of travel really - you can start and stop pretty much anywhere, unless you are one of those sticklers for the I must stop at the ENDs only of chapters! Heaven forbid stopping mid-chapters of you out there.There are a bunch more of these books in the collection. This was one of my Swap books - and I have the original at home that just arrived yesterday! Joy!

-LD

Book Review - Act Like A Lady, Think Like A Man

A friend gave me the following book, which I just finished reading:

This book made me laugh, nod my head and think more than most books have in awhile. As most of you know, it is very unlike me to pick up, much less pick up and read a self-help type book. This one was given to me by a friend with the advice, "Give it to your sister to read, it's a good read." It has been sitting on my nightstand for too long now, and in an effort to reduce the numbers of books I own, I am re-reading the ones I have and deciding if they are in fact keepers, or if they are the next to be listed on Paperback Swap.

The book, in essence, is everything that women want to know, straight from Steve Harvey's mouth. His take on the male perspective - why they do the things they do in the way in which they do them, what they need to stay in a committed relationship and much much more...Even if you are in a solid, good, relationship, I still recommend the book - it is an entertaining read. Chances are, when you are done reading the book, or even part way through it, you will know instantly, another person to pass it down to next! I passed it off to a coworker of mine and she also found herself nodding, smiling, and "Oh DANG-ing" her way through it.

I think of this book in just that way - not a keeper really, but one to be handed off to a girlfriend, coworker or family member who might just need an extra bit of insight. Some of the things in the book I wished I had known more even before I dated or thought of dating people!

Happy Reading!
LD

Book Review: The Memory Keeper's Daughter

My latest read was The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards.

The Memory Keeper's Daughter tells the story of a man who gives away his newborn baby, who has Down syndrome to one of the nurses who helped deliver the baby and who has worked with the father, the doctor, at the clinic. For years, the father keeps the secret of his daughter - whom he tells his wife - the daughter died in birth. years and years later, the father dies and the nurse comes forward and tells the mother about the daughter who she has been taking care of all this time.


Honestly, this book was really hard for me to keep picking back up and reading. I am not sure really why that is. I had seen the book in bookstores and it had interested me - just the title and the cover image that was chosen for the book. I had not read a book by Kim Edwards before. The book's writing seemed detached for me. Not sure if it is because of the subject matter, that is just seemed too far out for me to be able to connect with it, or what. But then again, I think of the Twilight books, and other more outlandish books, and I had no trouble reading them and coming back for more. I would not read this book again. Though, after completing an image search for the book cover to show here, I saw that there was a movie made based on the book. I might have to check it out to see if it could offer me any more insight, or if I like it more than I did the book. 


Well, they can't all be winners. So, that's my take!
-LD