A couple bits of good news
So far I've had a good staycation- a good combo of R&R and getting stuff done.
As I mentioned earlier, I got my car Echecked. But when I went to try to renew my sticker, I got a message that it was too early for me to do so. I was puzzled by this until I remembered that the last time I renewed everything was 2019- when my car would have been less than years old. Sure enough- I need to renew by NEXT April, in 2022. Still, as long as I get my stickers next year before March 20, the test I have is still valid, so it wasn't a wasted trip. Score!
I finished my tax stuff yesterday, didn't take long at all. Best of all, I'm getting money back this year! Got rather hosed last year. I'm getting $2 from the federal government! Woohoo! (Seriously, better than the couple hundred I owed last year). Also getting some money back from the state. Yay! Kind of makes up for the car tune-up being more than three times what I expected- ouch.
Oh, another bit of good news- Scott Westerfeld has returned to the Uglies universe for more books; the first two came out a couple years ago and a third is coming out next month! Eeeeeeee!!!!!
Can't get over how gorgeous the weather has been- wow did I pick a good week to be off! Supposed to stay warm, too- 50s and 60s, into April. There are a couple days I'll have to watch the evening temps, might have to bring in my new aloe plant. The really selfish part of me loves this balmy weather, so early, and with no sign of ending. Still, does make me wonder what the summer will be like. Looking at the long-term forecast, and April 1 (April Fool's go figure) is the day to really watch, the only day in the (high) 40s, MIGHT get a little snow (43% chance of precipitation). My observations is the temps keep getting warmer. April 7 is showing mid-60s. Wow. The way things are shaping up, we might not get a March or April blast of snow. Definitely not in March, according to these forecasts. We generally don't get anything major the week after my birthday (even significant snow around my birthday is uncommon, although certainly not unheard of- I have photos of me with a snow shovel and snow up to my knees when I was in gradeschool).
If there is no snow in March or April, that ... I don't recall a time when that has ever happened. Even in the winter of 1997/98, which is the mildest I can recall ever, there was a winter blast in March (I think there were three(?) significant snows that winter- once on New Year's eve, I think one other in January, then in March). Again, selfishly I love the thought of no more snow for this year. But pragmatically I do wonder about how hot summer is going to get- not to mention the overall implications.
At any rate, I also finished a book- woohoo!
7. Parable of the Sower, by Octavia E. Spencer. A choice by my book club. I've read a lot of dystopian fiction. This is the most haunting and chilling, mostly because I can see it happening, can see glimpses of a future like this even now. The main protagonist is Lauren, who lives in a "safe" walled neighborhood with her family. Life in the neighborhood is a constant struggle, but far better than life outside the walls. The country has been broken by water loss, climate change, rampant corruption and lack of true leadership. When Lauren is forced to flee with two others to the north, for what they hope will be a better life, the confront the ugliness they had been more or less sheltered from. However, they also grow closer and unite with others along their journey, and Lauren shares her personal philosophies in the growing hope of spreading the seeds of growth and change. The ending is a little bittersweet but not entirely unexpected. I do want to read the second book in this series. Fair warning: this is not an easy read, it's an emotional challenge. Have a comic chaser for after. But it's worth it. Yes, there's a lot of darkness and despair, but there are seeds of hope, even amid the chaos.
Currently reading: Literary Journalism, edited by Norman Sims and Mark Kramer.