bhayling

Holy moly, I finally finished a book! A combination of reading/writing fic, watching tv shows/movies, and my fun bout of sciatica meant I didn’t pick up a book for weeks! October 1st was the last time I posted a reading meme! That’s six weeks! Yikes. I had even requested three books from the library, two of which I had to return because I ran out of renewals.


What I Just Finished Reading: Since my last Wednesday Reading Meme post I have read/finished reading: Winging It with You by Chip Pons.


What I am Currently Reading: Guardian of the Horizon (An Amelia Peabody Mystery) by Elizabeth Peters.


What I Plan to Read Next: Despite my track record, I have requested three more books from the library. o_O One has been shipped, so I will hopefully have that one soon.

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Book 105 of 2025: Winging It with You (Chip Pons)

I enjoyed this book, though you wouldn't know it by how long it took me to read it. ( spoilers )

I was feeling so good about this book by the end that I looked up the author to see what else he'd written. I'm giving this book four hearts and may yet read another of his books.

♥♥♥♥


(If anyone is interested in reading this book, please let me know, I’m happy to send it to you. USA only, sorry.)

9-1-1: Good ep! ( spoilers )


Matlock: Good ep! ( spoilers )


Tracker: Good ep! ( spoilers )

holiday_wishes is now open for sign-ups!

Here’s the mod post.

And here’s my sign-up if you’re interested in checking it out.

I'll be going through the wishes, but please let me know if you make a post to ensure I don't miss it. Thanks!

I did two loads of laundry, hand-washed dishes, ran a load in the dishwasher, went for a couple walks with Pip and the dogs, clipped Pip’s hair, cut up chicken for the dogs' meals, changed kitty litter, and showered.

I finally finished a book! It’s been so long since I’ve managed this feat. It feels like quite an accomplishment. I watched a Hallmark Christmas movie. I had the Bills game on background in the afternoon and Zoo Tampa in the evening. (The Bills game was nerve-wracking as the teams alternately scored, but exciting when it became clear that the Bills were going to pull out the win, lol!)

Temps started out at 48.7(F) and dropped to 38.5 over the next few hours. During the middle of the day temps hovered around 40 while the weather itself was volatile and weird: rain, hail, snow, sun, hail again, more snow, more sun, more snow and through it all windy like crazy! Each time the snow moved in again, Pip would say, here comes another wall of snow! Temps started dropping again mid-afternoon.


Mom Update:

I don't have much. Mom sounded good today. Sister S stopped in to see her. She didn’t have any issues with eating (that she told me about). She watched some Hallmark.

I hit Price Chopper and the bakery while I was downtown. I did a load of laundry, hand-washed dishes, made egg salad, went for several walks with Pip and the dogs, baked chicken for the dogs’ meals, cut up chicken for the dogs' meals, and scooped kitty litter.

For funsies, I watched Matlock, Mistletoe Mysteries, and some HGTV programs. Dr. Pol was once again my background tv later in the evening.

Temps started out at 32.5 when we got up, but had reached 24.8(F) before I left the house. (Temps dropped over 7 degrees in an hour and a half!) Just watching the temp drop made me cold. It eventually reached 44.8 that I saw before going down to visit mom, but Pip said it hit 50. Rain came in late afternoon, it got really heavy (Pip said there was an inch in the rain gauge, but given how hard it was coming down I thought there’d be more) and there was thunder and lightning, which we didn’t expect.

There was one blast of thunder that must’ve been right above us because it was so loud it sent Midnight, who’d been sleeping in his bed under a blanket, shooting out of there like a bullet. He stood on the bed (his bed is on our bed during the day) looking all confused and wary, like, wtf was that?!! It was followed by the brightest bolt of lightning, which lit up the bedroom through the drawn shades. Thankfully it moved away after that.


Mom Update:

Mom looked good today, which was nice. ( more back here )

Another day I chose not to go downtown. I drove mom to her treatment, did two loads of laundry, hand-washed dishes, went for a couple walks with Pip and the dogs, cut up chicken for the dogs' meals, scooped kitty litter, and showered. I shake ‘n baked pork chops for supper.

I watched another Hallmark Christmas movie and some HGTV programs. Zoo Tampa was my background tv in the evening. I dropped by the library to return books and asked about them ordering a book. (The latest J.D. Robb; it’s odd that they haven’t already ordered it because they usually order that series.) And I made sure I was on the hold list for the new Louise Penny.

In the annoying story of sciatica redux, I am starting to feel some 'pain' (mild, more like a twinge, feels sort of like a muscle pull) in the middle of my buttock again. My chiropractor had said to keep track of anything like that happening and to keep icing, just in case it was not as fully gone as I thought. And here we are. I really hope it's just the last vestiges and not starting up again. Or planning to hang on forever. o_O *fingers crossed*

Temps started out at 38.1(F) and reached 40.8. Today was a combination of rain, snow, sun, wind, more rain . . . I did not appreciate the variety, tbh.


Mom Update:

Mom seemed to be more tired than usual today. ( more back here )

This was another off-duty day for me, as sister S was once again taking mom to her appointment. I hit the Pharmacy while I was downtown and dropped off a car insurance payment to State Farm. (Convenient, as they’re located in the same ‘mall’.) I stopped at the bank drive-thru on the way home and Stewart’s (for gas and milk) on the way to pick up the dogs. At home I did a load of laundry, hand-washed dishes, went for several walks with Pip and the dogs, cut up chicken for the dogs' meals, and scooped kitty litter. We had hot dogs for supper. I have a feeling there won't be very much grilling going on from here on out (although the temps are supposed to hit the 40s next week, so maybe . . .)

I had breakfast at Burger King this morning. I was talking to myself as if explaining the process as I was opening the ketchup packets because I often get ketchup on my fingers. So I’m on the last one and I’m like, push the ketchup away from the arrow thingy so when you rip it open you don’t get ketchup all over your fingers. Yes, success! And then I immediately dropped the ketchup packet into the pile of ketchup already on the tray. I clean up the mess that results from me having to pick up the ketchup-covered packet and then shake my OJ, only to get it all over because I hadn’t put the cap back on tightly. I was like, what even is this morning?!!

I typed in all of the transcript notes I’d taken for Top Gun: Maverick, and watched a Hallmark Christmas movie and some HGTV programs.

Temps started out at 32.4(F) and reached 41.2. Both temps again higher than forecasted by a few degrees; it’s not much, but I’ll take it. At one point we even had a little sun.


Mom Update:

Mom sounded good when I talked to her. ( more )

9-1-1: My eyeballs are still popping. ( spoilers )


Matlock: This ep made me uncomfortable. ( spoilers )


Tracker: Good ep! ( spoilers )

I’m sorry for subjecting you to this topic for a second week, but I’ve really been going down rabbit holes and just ~thinking about them a lot, and so I need to share. Today is going to basically cover three topics. The first two could go under the heading “How to create nostalgia”.


1. Parallels between Top Gun: Maverick and Top Gun (1986)

A. Maverick’s leather jacket
B. Maverick’s motorcycle
C. Maverick racing the plane
D. Maverick’s love interest drives a Porsche
E. The game on the beach (volleyball vs dogfight football)
F. Maverick defies orders
G. The MUSIC
H. The tower fly-by


( more back here )

I hit Price Chopper, the Pharmacy, and the Bakery while I was downtown.

I did a load of laundry, hand-washed dishes, went for several walks with Pip and the dogs, cut up chicken for the dogs' meals, scooped kitty litter, and showered. We had battered fish and fries for supper; because Pip has GF batter and he likes curly fries, our meals go on two separate trays in the oven.

I read-through what I’ve typed in so far (and typed in those edits) and added ~400 words. It wasn’t as much as I wanted to write, but I decided to give myself a break after writing and typing all those words. I watched Matlock and Mistletoe Murders.

Temps started out at 50.2(F) (we were not expecting it to be so warm in the morning!) and reached ~50.2. It went down then back up to the morning low. I never saw it go higher. There was some sun, but still a breeze that cooled things down a bit.


Mom Update:

Mom was doing pretty well today. ( more back here )