Potpourri
Time for odds and ends:
I just finished reading Susan Minot's book Evening. It is going to go up to that special shelf reserved for my favorite books. The ones that I no sooner finish reading than I want to turn right back to the front and start over again. The kind of book that stays on my mind for days afterwards. The kind of book that I will read wherever and whenever I can snatch five minutes. I seriously found myself making bogus trips to the bathroom just so I could read for another few minutes without interruption. If you get a chance, dear readers, take a look at it. It chronicles the end of a woman's life and her remembrances of a weekend wedding in her past. It's hard for me to describe how Susan Minot unfolds this story.
Evening was recently made into a movie. I went to the theater in Newport all by myself (a first) to see it. The movie had gained some notoriety because a great deal of it was shot in and around Newport. I did enjoy the movie. It has an absolutely stellar cast and it was fun to see places in Newport that I've seen. It was a beautiful movie that left me sniffling in the end. The movie, however, is nothing like the book. I mean, the premise is the same, but it is almost completely different. Another case of the book is better than the movie.
If my blogging seems half-hearted it's because I made the switch over to Coke Zero yesterday. It tastes terrible, but I'm determined to make a go of it. I've been feeling some guilt over drinking regular Coke for awhile, even though I only was drinking two or three per day. That's still a lot of calories and a lot of carbs. Anyway, I already miss my regular Coke, sigh. I think I'm feeling sluggish from lack of sweet, sweet sugar. I'm definitely having the fidgets. I'm determined to switch over and keep comparing it to running. I never thought I'd be a runner, but here I am, and yeah, it was tough at first, but now I do it and I like it and I don't see myself going back. Eventually, through repeated use of Zero, I will begin to love it and then regular Coke will taste like kerosene. Kerosene with 68 tablespoons of sugar in it.
I'm running every other day, around 2 or 2-1/2 miles, I think. I'm not very good with distance measurements and probably err on the high side, but I know it's definitely over 2 miles. I'm still surprised by this development. Most running nights, I have to grit my teeth and force myself out and there's always a point mid-run where I think I can't run another step. I have found that if I just push myself over that hump, I can run so much further. Past that point. You get what I mean.
The best part of running is the look of panic on my husband's face...will I catch up with him? Will I leave him in the dust? My husband who used to run so sporadically is suddenly running every other day too. Hmmm, funny how that works. So, I guess me getting my butt in gear is good for everyone.
Gave Annika her first haircut the other day. She had developed the Lily bang--Lily had these super-long bangs that were constantly in her eyes until one day I just couldn't take it and suggested to Mariska that we trim them. Annika was getting those bangs. Always in her eyes. Make no mistake, it didn't detract from her (or Lily's) cuteness, it's just the OCD in me that can't stand disorder. And I know I hate having my bangs in my eyes. So now Annika is sporting pixie bangs. When I do something, I do it all the way!
Yay! We have a post office box in Germany! And it was sooooo much less painful than getting a post office box in Yokosuka. We'll send out a mass e-mail to everyone soon to pass that information along. No more news to report. I have a review with my doctor tomorrow and then we're all done with our overseas medical screenings. That's a big step done.
Went to the zoo with the kids yesterday, just the three of us. It was absolutely dead. There were seriously about 30 people in the entire place. It was so very nice. I just kind of turned the kids loose and let them run ahead of the stroller. They did pretty well. I wish that Annika would develop a little healthy fear...every time I turn around for a second, she's climbing up or onto something. Most of the animals were up and about yesterday, too. Most of the time when we go on a weekend, it's packed and the animals are all hiding somewhere out of sight, but yesterday, they were up and playing. It was fun.
That's it.
I just finished reading Susan Minot's book Evening. It is going to go up to that special shelf reserved for my favorite books. The ones that I no sooner finish reading than I want to turn right back to the front and start over again. The kind of book that stays on my mind for days afterwards. The kind of book that I will read wherever and whenever I can snatch five minutes. I seriously found myself making bogus trips to the bathroom just so I could read for another few minutes without interruption. If you get a chance, dear readers, take a look at it. It chronicles the end of a woman's life and her remembrances of a weekend wedding in her past. It's hard for me to describe how Susan Minot unfolds this story.
Evening was recently made into a movie. I went to the theater in Newport all by myself (a first) to see it. The movie had gained some notoriety because a great deal of it was shot in and around Newport. I did enjoy the movie. It has an absolutely stellar cast and it was fun to see places in Newport that I've seen. It was a beautiful movie that left me sniffling in the end. The movie, however, is nothing like the book. I mean, the premise is the same, but it is almost completely different. Another case of the book is better than the movie.
If my blogging seems half-hearted it's because I made the switch over to Coke Zero yesterday. It tastes terrible, but I'm determined to make a go of it. I've been feeling some guilt over drinking regular Coke for awhile, even though I only was drinking two or three per day. That's still a lot of calories and a lot of carbs. Anyway, I already miss my regular Coke, sigh. I think I'm feeling sluggish from lack of sweet, sweet sugar. I'm definitely having the fidgets. I'm determined to switch over and keep comparing it to running. I never thought I'd be a runner, but here I am, and yeah, it was tough at first, but now I do it and I like it and I don't see myself going back. Eventually, through repeated use of Zero, I will begin to love it and then regular Coke will taste like kerosene. Kerosene with 68 tablespoons of sugar in it.
I'm running every other day, around 2 or 2-1/2 miles, I think. I'm not very good with distance measurements and probably err on the high side, but I know it's definitely over 2 miles. I'm still surprised by this development. Most running nights, I have to grit my teeth and force myself out and there's always a point mid-run where I think I can't run another step. I have found that if I just push myself over that hump, I can run so much further. Past that point. You get what I mean.
The best part of running is the look of panic on my husband's face...will I catch up with him? Will I leave him in the dust? My husband who used to run so sporadically is suddenly running every other day too. Hmmm, funny how that works. So, I guess me getting my butt in gear is good for everyone.
Gave Annika her first haircut the other day. She had developed the Lily bang--Lily had these super-long bangs that were constantly in her eyes until one day I just couldn't take it and suggested to Mariska that we trim them. Annika was getting those bangs. Always in her eyes. Make no mistake, it didn't detract from her (or Lily's) cuteness, it's just the OCD in me that can't stand disorder. And I know I hate having my bangs in my eyes. So now Annika is sporting pixie bangs. When I do something, I do it all the way!
Yay! We have a post office box in Germany! And it was sooooo much less painful than getting a post office box in Yokosuka. We'll send out a mass e-mail to everyone soon to pass that information along. No more news to report. I have a review with my doctor tomorrow and then we're all done with our overseas medical screenings. That's a big step done.
Went to the zoo with the kids yesterday, just the three of us. It was absolutely dead. There were seriously about 30 people in the entire place. It was so very nice. I just kind of turned the kids loose and let them run ahead of the stroller. They did pretty well. I wish that Annika would develop a little healthy fear...every time I turn around for a second, she's climbing up or onto something. Most of the animals were up and about yesterday, too. Most of the time when we go on a weekend, it's packed and the animals are all hiding somewhere out of sight, but yesterday, they were up and playing. It was fun.
That's it.
Comments
I'm proud of you for running, and also enjoyed your book review. I will have to look for that book - not that I have nothing else to read. Plus, I am a sloooooooow reader - I read and sound out in my head E V E R Y S I N G L E
W O R D. I never learned to speed read as my kids and you probably did.