Never enough time to do it all
As is typical, the day had pluses and neutrals and minuses.
The pluses was a wonderful Holiday Market. Everything was either handcrafted, or if imported, had a connection to the vendor. Like the woman selling native New Zealand jewelry. I didn't buy any of it this time, but I will the next time I see her. I ended up buying a lovely pair of earrings from one vendor, candles from another, and a beautiful Venetian glass bead necklace. That wasn't the necklace I went over to buy but it turned out to be the right choice. The artist had to make it smaller so it would come up higher on my neck but since she was there, it took only seconds. I almost bought a stunning watercolor. I still may. She shows her work at an artist's cooperative so I have another chance to see her.
I also cooked dinner. I had seen a recipe for mustard glazed chicken. It was great. I heated up some frozen veggies. A real meal. At 9pm, but nevertheless. I've been living on yogurt and cheese because it requires no cooking and no effort but this didn't require any effort either! I may whip up a small batch of the glaze to keep in the fridge. It's mustard, maple syrup, thyme and brown sugar. I can't imagine anything would happen to it.
On the neutral side, Sears doesn't carry the Land's End jacket that I wanted to try. Which means it won't be on sale and I'll have to order it from Land's End. There are worse things. I've started filing. Boring project but it needs to be done so I can then weed the files the way I weeded my books.
On the minus side, I took a two hour "nap" which is another way of saying that I ate something that caused my heart to race and a general feeling of lethargy. Despite being fully dressed and my bed had a ton of other stuff on it, I slept like a rock. I suspect it will ruin sleep for this evening, but it may not.
I also didn't make it to the library to donate all the books that I weeded. I did, however, make it to Barnes and Noble where I bought 3 new books and 1 keeper book. Yes, that's right. A book that I've already read and knew that I wanted. It was just sitting there. So I bought it.
I finished a book on audio earlier this week but haven't posted it. #130, Fire Sale by Sara Paretsky. I've had this book on audio for several years, since I met the author and got the MP3 signed at ALA. This is her VI Warshawski series. I like Vic. In fact, when read Anita Blake for the first time, I thought she reminded me of Vic. Tough, independent, prickly and damn good at her job. Like Anita, love has softened her edges. From my Goodreads review: I like VI Warshawski but I had a hard time reconciling the audio book to the character. Though the reader was top-notch, Vic came across as weak in this book and I don't remember thinking of her like that. Like Spenser, she does the right thing because it's in her nature to do so. Vic is in South Chicago to coach a girls high school basketball team. It's her old stomping ground and it's gone from poor to pitiful. When she tries to get corporate sponsorship for the team she runs up against Buysmart and the Bison family who view charity as a sin. When murder and mayhem enter the mix and one of her students goes missing (along with the Bison grandson) Vic can't help but put her neck out there and sure enough, it almost gets chopped off. The biggest problem I had with the story was that I didn't think Vic had a compelling enough reason to really stick out her neck. She didn't like most of the people involved and they really didn't want her involved. It seemed like a lose-lose situation. The fact that it came out all right was more luck than planning. I enjoyed this but it wasn't her best. 3 stars.
The pluses was a wonderful Holiday Market. Everything was either handcrafted, or if imported, had a connection to the vendor. Like the woman selling native New Zealand jewelry. I didn't buy any of it this time, but I will the next time I see her. I ended up buying a lovely pair of earrings from one vendor, candles from another, and a beautiful Venetian glass bead necklace. That wasn't the necklace I went over to buy but it turned out to be the right choice. The artist had to make it smaller so it would come up higher on my neck but since she was there, it took only seconds. I almost bought a stunning watercolor. I still may. She shows her work at an artist's cooperative so I have another chance to see her.
I also cooked dinner. I had seen a recipe for mustard glazed chicken. It was great. I heated up some frozen veggies. A real meal. At 9pm, but nevertheless. I've been living on yogurt and cheese because it requires no cooking and no effort but this didn't require any effort either! I may whip up a small batch of the glaze to keep in the fridge. It's mustard, maple syrup, thyme and brown sugar. I can't imagine anything would happen to it.
On the neutral side, Sears doesn't carry the Land's End jacket that I wanted to try. Which means it won't be on sale and I'll have to order it from Land's End. There are worse things. I've started filing. Boring project but it needs to be done so I can then weed the files the way I weeded my books.
On the minus side, I took a two hour "nap" which is another way of saying that I ate something that caused my heart to race and a general feeling of lethargy. Despite being fully dressed and my bed had a ton of other stuff on it, I slept like a rock. I suspect it will ruin sleep for this evening, but it may not.
I also didn't make it to the library to donate all the books that I weeded. I did, however, make it to Barnes and Noble where I bought 3 new books and 1 keeper book. Yes, that's right. A book that I've already read and knew that I wanted. It was just sitting there. So I bought it.
I finished a book on audio earlier this week but haven't posted it. #130, Fire Sale by Sara Paretsky. I've had this book on audio for several years, since I met the author and got the MP3 signed at ALA. This is her VI Warshawski series. I like Vic. In fact, when read Anita Blake for the first time, I thought she reminded me of Vic. Tough, independent, prickly and damn good at her job. Like Anita, love has softened her edges. From my Goodreads review: I like VI Warshawski but I had a hard time reconciling the audio book to the character. Though the reader was top-notch, Vic came across as weak in this book and I don't remember thinking of her like that. Like Spenser, she does the right thing because it's in her nature to do so. Vic is in South Chicago to coach a girls high school basketball team. It's her old stomping ground and it's gone from poor to pitiful. When she tries to get corporate sponsorship for the team she runs up against Buysmart and the Bison family who view charity as a sin. When murder and mayhem enter the mix and one of her students goes missing (along with the Bison grandson) Vic can't help but put her neck out there and sure enough, it almost gets chopped off. The biggest problem I had with the story was that I didn't think Vic had a compelling enough reason to really stick out her neck. She didn't like most of the people involved and they really didn't want her involved. It seemed like a lose-lose situation. The fact that it came out all right was more luck than planning. I enjoyed this but it wasn't her best. 3 stars.