Saturday Farmers Market! 5/18/13

Saturday Farmers Market is a weekly event originally created by the beautiful and nature loving, Heather at Capricious Reader. It's a weekly event that celebrates gardening, be it your own garden or gardens around you; local food, be that at your local farmers market or at a restaurant or festival that celebrates eating locally; a recipe that you've created using fresh ingredients or a whole cookbook; and veggies, flowers, herbs and farm goods galore. Anyone and everyone can participate. It was originally started within the book blogging community but I'd love to see it expand beyond as well. You don't have to have a garden or grow veggies to participate, just post about how veggies, flowers, local farms, etc. have impacted your life this week. You'd be surprised! It may be too cold to grow things and it may be too hot to grow things, but you may just want to post about the plans you have for when the ground thaws. Or maybe even share with us how your community aims to keep things more sustainable or even about the local trails and nature offerings around you! This will also connect really well with Mrs. Beth Fish's Weekend Cooking ;) Thanks Heather for letting me take over the reigns for this wonderful idea that spawned from your creative brain :) Feel free to leave the link to your post in the Mr. Linky below, spread the word, and come back to read everyone else's posts as well! 

Hey lovelies! Hope you've all had a wonderful week! Mine's been crazy and hectic, but I'm not here to talk about that! I'm here to talk about veggies and flowers and herbs :) The things that give me a little bit of happiness every time I'm around them. And there's only one more day of work and then my weekend is here finally! Lots of growth going on in the garden! It's getting to really be grow time down here in Southern Louisiana!

In flower news, the lilies have grown as tall as me! And that's about five feet nine inches tall. They're getting to the point where they're about to open and I can't WAIT to see what they look like :) These are a giant teaser :p It's been about two to three months of gradual growth to get to this point so it better be a big pay off :p The freesias that are surrounding them in the planter are all dying off now, so they will be the new star of the pot that they're in.

There are plenty of other stars in the garden too when it comes to flowers right now :) The african daisies are continuing to come back now that I've moved them to a sunnier spot. In the middle is a pink cosmo that has come up! I keep a jar of wildflower seeds. I like to buy random packets of wildflowers every now and then and dump the seeds in the jar and shake it up so I don't know what's in there and then sprinkle them on some soil and be surprised by what comes up :D So I sprinkled some in a pot and this is the first flower to bloom. I can see that there will be some zinnias and black eyed susans by the leaves too...but don't know how well they'll do all crowded in the pot. We'll see! And the last picture are the pretty purple flowers that I forgot the name of along with some nasturtium leaves that haven't flowered yet. I do love their leaves though :)

The herbs are continuing to do super fantastic!! I cut them back a few weeks ago which reminds me that I have to check on those herbs that I have drying out right now! Still have tons of basil, the mint is growing like crazy, the parsley and oregano have come back with a vengeance and the chives are just out of control :p The little seeds I planted are not doing so well though...may have to restart those and start them inside first instead of direct sowing them outdoors. The seeds that haven't come up are chamomile, feverfew and stevia.

I'm SO happy with my pepper plants this year!!! They're all doing really good! But especially these bell peppers which are the giant bells. I think this may be the first year that I ever have bell peppers which are ACTUALLY big enough to use for stuffing! I'm so excited about these and they look gorgeous :D I've also been picking jalapenos daily already! I've just been freezing them until I decide what I want to do with them. I usually stuff a bunch of them and last year I pickled and canned a bunch too.

Here is just a very small sampling of the many tomatoes I have growing right now :D They're always the pride and joy of my garden and I'm so happy with how well they're doing this year! Last year for some reason I had really bad luck with tomatoes. It was also my first year patio gardening though so I have another year experience under my belt. I'm looking at the tomatoes and the jalapenos and picturing the salsa that will be made already :D

 

And finally, the fruit trees :) I have five fruit trees actually! Not picture here are a dwarf meyer lemon and a dwarf key lime which are both looking awesome! The first two trees here are ones I've grown from seed. And they'll probably never produce great tasting fruit because I didn't graft them, but I still love them :p The problem is I don't know which is which :p I know that one of them is a lemon tree (which usually has spikes but they BOTH have spikes) and the other is the "Max tree", grown from a fruit pit that Debi's son Max gave me. I have no clue what kind of fruit that tree is though, lol. So it's just going to be a mystery fruite :p The last tree is my orange tree! Which looks gorgeous and as you can see in this picture I'm going to get a few oranges this year :D Some of the little flowers left behind baby oranges that are teeny tiny but slowly getting bigger. So come October/November, I should have some oranges from my tree :D Yay!!

So what's going on in your garden right now? What's going on at your farmer's market or in your neighborhood? Have you visited your local nursery recently and want to tell us all about it? Read a good book about gardening or nature? Tell us all about it and feel free to leave a link in the Mr. Linky below and come back to see what others are talking about :) And have a great weekend!!

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Return of the Mini Reviews

I really didn't want to go the mini review route, but the books awaiting review are sadly getting out of control :( So mini reviews it is. Mostly, I didn't want to do mini reviews because I've really LOVED everything I've read lately! And I want to write 5,000 word posts about all of these books. But sometimes a mini review gets read more than those long posts so I'll look on the bright side and hope that these catch your eye ;)

Let's start with Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell which I cannot BELIEVE I'm mini reviewing. Because it really does deserve a novel sized review. But if I don't tell you something about it I'll never tell you anything about it. Heather did an awesome job of summarizing this one if you want to read her summary. A VERY brief summary of this one is that it's an amazingly beautiful, honest, heartwarming and heartbreaking story of love in the 80's between two teens who both bear the weight of the world on their shoulders for their own reason but attempt to find safety and love in each other. And they do, genuinely which is why I loved this book so damn much. I loved it because Eleanor listening to The Smiths for the first time ever when Park gave her his headphones made me cry. I loved it because Eleanor was not skinny and blonde (not that there's anything wrong with that...my sister is skinny and blonde, but I mean she wasn't perfect and full of sunshine...word choice Chris..word choice) and because Park was not white and the star athlete (not that there's anything wrong with that either). I loved it because it showed perseverance in the face of horrors and it also showed that sometimes you really just cannot persevere anymore. I loved it because it showed a true first love and acknowledged that that love can be and is real for so many people...and just how special that love can be. You need to read this book. I need to read Attachments, her previously published book and I cannot WAIT for Fangirl which comes out in September!

Second up is Let's Explore Diabetes With Owls by David Sedaris. I was going to say that there's not

much else I can say about David Sedaris' books that I haven't already said in the past, but that's not true. This book is much like his previous books...it's filled with essays that will make you blow snot out of your nose in public. I assure you that's a true statement >> I read this during the readathon and had to go inside five pages in because I was assured that once again, I would not make it through a Sedaris book in public. With this book he does throw in some completely fictional "essays" as well. They're told from the point of view of people completely different from Sedaris....and I should warn you that because of that, if you're a strong Conservative or offended by someone who strongly disagrees with Conservative values, you may want to veer away from this one. Like far away. What IS different about this collection though is that Sedaris surprised me with these moments of clarity. There I was reading an essay and laughing my ass off and then all of a sudden I'd find myself stopped in my tracks thinking "hmm..that was quite beautiful." There's quite a bit of wisdom to be had in this collection mixed in with Sedaris' typical wit and I'm glad to have picked up this gem :)

And lastly, I FINALLY read Bird by Rita Murphy which I should've read long long ago since I've had it for awhile now and since it's such a short book. This book was absolutely nothing like what I thought it would be! I don't even know what I thought it would be exactly, but not this! It's a completely gothic tale that would be perfect for Carl's RIP challenge that tells the story of a young girl who's extremely tiny who one day comes upon the door of a giant and mysterious house and becomes the caretaker for the woman who owns the house, mending nets for the fisherman who live nearby. The house is full of mysteries and Miranda, the small girl, must wear special boots to keep herself from being carried away from it by the wind. That is until she learns that she may want to be carried away by the wind with the help of some mysterious things she finds at the house and a friend that she makes who one day visits after she loses a red kite. I enjoyed this one so much more than I thought I would! I think it was actually because it was so different than what I thought it would be.

And that's it for the mini reviews today. As of right now, there are TWO more books to review, but I have a feeling there will be a couple more added to that pile in the next day or so :p

Turning 32

As I get older, I find that birthdays become less of a big event and more about just a special day. And that's what I had today. I got to spend the day with my mom, my sister and my little brother for the first half of the day and my dad joined us for dinner.

It was a nice, laid back day, spent doing all of the things that I love to do! We started off by going to my local indie book store, Octavia Books, where I picked up a signed copy of David Levithan and Andrea Cremer's new book, Invisibility and Audrey Niffenegger's new book, Raven Girl, which I will be reading tonight! After that, we went to Scriptura which is one of my favorite local stores. It sells stationery, specialty notebooks, fountain pens, writing pads, and all sorts of other goods. I ended up only leaving with three ink refills for my favorite pen, but lots added to my wish list ;) From there we went and got coffee at my favorite coffee shop where the pictures above were taken and then went to a different part of the city.

After hitting up a modern furniture store, we crossed the street to go to a neat little local thrift shop. A guy passed us riding his bike and my little brother, Austin, says "that's the guy that played Gollum!" To which I responded, "no, Austin, that is not Andy Serkis." So, the guy ends up in the thrift store with us and at closer view I begin thinking that IS Andy Serkis! But I told Austin to leave him alone. But of course that didn't stop him and he went up to him anyway and asked him if he was indeed Andy Serkis. And he was. He's down here filming the next Planet of the Apes movie and it's the first time he's ever been in New Orleans. He was so super friendly and super approachable. Austin wanted a picture with him and I took one with him too especially for Pat, because I know how much she loves him which I told him and he said to tell Pat hello :)

Definitely not something that happens every birthday! So after a few more stops around the city, we finally headed back home and then went out to eat at buffalo wildwings with my dad which was fun :) Then came home for cake and presents and I got some really awesome stuff :)

Tomorrow will be a fun day too! We're spending the day with my mom and her mom (my gram) going out to eat and going to the casino! Happy mothers day to all of you amazing mom's out there too!!!! Hope you all have an especially wonderful day!

Saturday Farmer's Market will be back next Saturday and hopefully some book reviews will finally be up soon too!

I Have Been... 5/5/13

I have been:

Writing: Apparently, not too much :p Blog wise at least. But I have been writing some things. Lots of emails these days. It's always fun making new connections online that you can see lasting for a long time :) The people who I would consider my absolute best friends in the world are people I've met online. The thing about the internet is, it allows you to meet people that you would've NEVER met otherwise...people who share your passions, your views...it's a wonderful thing :) Aside from emails, I've been writing lots of postcards as usual through Postcrossing and I've also started keeping a handwritten journal again. Funnily enough, the journal was inspired by an essay in David Sedaris' latest book, Let's Explore Diabetes With Owls, which I still need to review. Yep..need to be writing reviews.

Reading: Right now, I'm actually only reading two books! The first is a nonfiction book that fits me and Debi's monthly themed reading. This month we're reading medical/psychological books. The book I'm reading is called Lamby by Nikki Polidori, a book about a mother who refuses to give up after her son is born with a barking cough with further complications who continually just gets passed from doctor to doctor with seemingly no help or hope. It's a great book written in a journal type style. I requested it for review because I can so relate, sadly. I don't have a child, but I've gone through the same thing with my migraines...doctors wanting to give you all these referrals and run different tests and change your meds every month. It's frustrating. The other book I'm reading is Gaiman's new anthology, Unnatural Creatures. Great so far!

Listening: At the current moment, I'm listening to Thom Yorke's "The Eraser" on my record player :) But I've been listening to SO MUCH GOOD NEW MUSIC! After meeting the new friend I was talking about above through Postcrossing, we discovered a common love of music and he sent me so much stuff that I haven't heard of before but I'm loving all of it! This is really good but could be really bad for my wallet in the long run :p

Watching: Too much crap really. Every day there's something new on the DVR to watch. The two things I'm really focused on right now are American Idol and Glee though. Both of which are about to end. I'm kind of pissed that Amber got voted off of Idol, but she'll do just fine going forward. I would LOVE to see Cree win. Damn that girl has a gorgeous voice. Candice too...that girl is going to have a HUGE career! A lot of people have been disappointed with this season of Glee, but personally, I love it. I love the New York story line with a passion. Everything about it! But this week is the finale. BUT! So You Think You Can Dance is starting again soon :D

Looking: Hmmm....for my brain to settle down? I've had this constant anxiety lately. I know that very much has to do with my life changing in a major way lately. Matt moved away less than a week ago. But I feel like I've been keeping constant lists in my head lately of things that I MUST do. Ridiculous really. I just need to chill. Also for time to iron...I'm looking for time to iron. Seriously, I have 19 things that need to be ironed right now.

Learning: To enjoy my time alone again. I was really worried that when Matt left I was going to jump into a huge depression. But I haven't thank god. Yes, of course I miss him. But I've been ok, and I'm trying to just take the solitude and quiet of an empty apartment as a place of peace after a rough day at work. I just need to not get TOO comfortable with it. I do not want to become a person who completely isolates and I know how easy it would be for me to do that.

Feeling: As I said above, anxious. I say I don't know where it's coming from, but I do. Giant life change. I say in my head I know how to deal with it and everything's just fine. Probably not dealing with it completely. Think of 100 things you can do to occupy yourself. Get anxious because you're thinking of all of the 100 things that you now HAVE to do. Truth of the matter is, the world will not end if any of these things don't get done.

Anticipating: Getting back into blogging. I have way too many book reviews to write! I really need to write them. I want to tell you all about these books because I've loved them all!!! I'll get to them soonish. Also anticipating next weekend! Because it's a three day weekend for me AND my birthday AND I'm going to see Wicked with my mom and sister on my birthday :D Yay!!

Wishing: For more hours in the day? A shorter work day? A month off of work? A way to instantaneously travel long distances so I can see people who I care about whenever I want to? You know....all things that can easily happen. I also find myself really wishing that I could somehow go back to my old style of blogging which I know isn't really possible :p I was reading through Dewey's old posts the other day which led me to reading MY old posts from the first readathon I participated in with her and all of the comments she left me and our old conversations and everything was just so much....lighter, then. The comments were happier, I did random giveaways of fun shit, my posts were written awfully, but they were also written like I just didn't give a fuck :p Well lets face it, they're still written like that. I just miss those days...

Loving: My family, my friends, and this community. Despite what I just said, I still love it :) I have some damn good friends in this blogging community. Oh, and the surprise 40 degree weather that we have here in May!

Saturday Farmer's Market - 5/4/13

Saturday Farmers Market is a weekly event originally created by the beautiful and nature loving, Heather at Capricious Reader. It's a weekly event that celebrates gardening, be it your own garden or gardens around you; local food, be that at your local farmers market or at a restaurant or festival that celebrates eating locally; a recipe that you've created using fresh ingredients or a whole cookbook; and veggies, flowers, herbs and farm goods galore. Anyone and everyone can participate. It was originally started within the book blogging community but I'd love to see it expand beyond as well. You don't have to have a garden or grow veggies to participate, just post about how veggies, flowers, local farms, etc. have impacted your life this week. You'd be surprised! It may be too cold to grow things and it may be too hot to grow things, but you may just want to post about the plans you have for when the ground thaws. Or maybe even share with us how your community aims to keep things more sustainable or even about the local trails and nature offerings around you! This will also connect really well with Mrs. Beth Fish's Weekend Cooking ;) Thanks Heather for letting me take over the reigns for this wonderful idea that spawned from your creative brain :) Feel free to leave the link to your post in the Mr. Linky below, spread the word, and come back to read everyone else's posts as well! 

Saturday Farmer's Market is back after a hiatus for a week for the readathon last weekend! And my garden has had plenty of time to grow in the meantime :) I, on the other hand, haven't done much of anything on the blog since last week and I apologize for that. I can just say I'm trying to get my blogging mojo back and should hopefully be back in the next few days! But let's talk gardening today, shall we? Yes we shall!

Eggplant....it always gives me hell! I don't know if I've ever successfully grown eggplant and I don't know what the hell I do wrong. Does anyone have suggestions on successfully growing eggplant? The flowers on mine always just fall off and die. Since I'm stuck with containers while I'm at my apartment I DID put my plant in a bigger container that drained better and gave it better draining soil and since doing that the plant has done much better and it has it's first flower! Now to keep that flower on.....

The peppers seem to be doing good so far! I actually have three different pepper plants, I'm only showing you two here. I've already picked a couple of jalapenos this year, but you can see on the left that it looks like there will be no shortage of them! Nor will there be a shortage of bell peppers apparently! These are little babies. But they should grow to be pretty decent sized bell peppers. These are the stuffing kind...the big ones. I also have a plant that gives me smaller ones that I'll use just for seasoning when I'm cooking :)

The tomatoes are all doing really good! This isn't even close to all of them. I seriously don't know what I'm going to do with all of them! They're doing much better on the patio this year than they did last year...I think I just got better soil and better containers this year PLUS I gave them a natural fertilizer too. I think they liked that :)

The herbs are all continuing to do really good! And that little container in the front with the new stuff popping up is dill that I planted from seed which I've actually never grown before! I planted dill on one side and I'm growing stevia on the other side which has actually sprouted but it's not even visible in the picture. I just recently trimmed back all the herbs and they're all being dried right now so I can refill all of my spice jars!

I'm actually going to get oranges off of my tree this year! I was worried that the winter wasn't cold enough and that when all of the blossoms would fall off, no oranges would stick. And a lot of the "would be oranges" are falling off with the blossoms but as you can see there are a few that are staying on and turning a darker green and getting bigger :D YAY!

I seem to have been right about the african daisies! They apparently just needed to be moved to a different spot. They're starting to bloom again now that they're in a sunnier spot :D YAY! And the sunflower root that I planted keeps growing bigger every day! I'm very curious as to how big this thing will get in a pot. Gurney's said 3-10 feet. I'm assuming it'll be closer to 3 feet since it's in a pot. But! Behold this:

These are (I believe) lilies. And I swear I didn't think anything was ever going to happen with them. For real. They just kept growing and growing and growing in the bulb pot that I planted. They are nearly as big as me. These buds that finally came out are eye level with me! I'm so so so curious as to what they're going to look like when they bloom!!! They better be pretty damn magnificent!

And these are my pride and joy this week :) These are all of the other bulbs surrounding the lilies that I also thought weren't going to do anything. Now all of a sudden they're spitting out these GORGEOUS flowers every day! Does anyone know what they are? I feel like I should totally know this but I don't :/ The colors are so beautiful and so vivid. They make me smile every day :) And they smell like heaven! It's so worth the wait when you have flowers like this come up.

So what's going on in your garden? Let me know in the Mr. Linky below! And spread the word :)

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Readathon Wrap-Up Post!!

Well that was fun, wasn't it? I woke up at 1:30 this afternoon! With the headache from hell, but thanks to some painkillers, that's a thing of the past now. I think reading for 12 hours did me in! I think that's my favorite statistic from yesterday...that I actually READ for 12 hours. I keep meticulous time during readathons of the time that I actually spend reading, not just blog hopping, eating, etc. :p How often do we get the chance to read for 12 hours? Simply blissful! So here's my End of Event survery:

1. Which hour was most daunting for you? For me there were two really daunting hours...the first around two p.m and then around two a.m....the two a.m. is when I finally threw in the towel! I usually make it a little bit later than that, but I just couldn't read any more this time...I did stay up a little bit later, but that was to watch Glee with Matt and just hang out a bit :p 
2. Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year? Um...everything that I read? But two in particular....Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell and Let's Explore Diabete's With Owls by David Sedaris....really, anything by David Sedaris would be PERFECT for a readathon!
3. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year? Nope!! Honestly, it couldn't be any better than it is. I'm so happy with the way it's been these last couple of 'thon's. It's like you can feel Dewey back in them. It really has been a celebration of the community and reading!
4. What do you think worked really well in this year’s Read-a-thon? All the things! I think the mini-challenges were much better this readathon...I remember last time, a lot of them were just too time consuming and I didn't do a lot of them because I just didn't have the time, but this time I did many more and really enjoyed them! But seriously...I think everything worked really well :)
5. How many books did you read? I finished three and started a fourth!
6. What were the names of the books you read? Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell, Bird by Rita Murphy, Let's Explore Diabetes With Owls by David Sedaris, and Unnatural Creatures edited by Neil Gaiman.
7. Which book did you enjoy most? Definitely Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell! I think that will be a favorite of the year!
8. Which did you enjoy least? I hate even ANSWERING this question, but Bird by Rita Murphy which was AMAZING...but that just shows how good all of the books that I read were! In fact, I would really push for everyone to put Bird on the top of their list for RIP which I will indeed be doing when I review it :p
9. If you were a Cheerleader, do you have any advice for next year’s Cheerleaders? Wasn't a cheerleader.
10. How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? What role would you be likely to take next time? I will be requesting vacation from work again as soon as I know when the October readathon will be taking place :) And I'll be a reader again as always! It's what I love. 

Once again, thank you to EVERYONE involved in making this the amazing event that it was. An especially huge thank you to Andi and Heather for taking over the reigns of this event and keeping it the event that Dewey made it to be. 

Dewey's Readathon Update The Eighth!

Currently Reading: Unnatural Creatures edited by Neil Gaiman

Total pages read since last update: 60 pgs.

Total pages read cumulative: 723 pgs.

Total books read: 3 (Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell, Bird by Rita Murphy, Let's Explore Diabetes With Owls by David Sedaris and some of Unnatural Creatures edited by Neil Gaiman)

Time spent reading since last update: 1 Hour 2 Minutes

Total Time Spent Reading: 11 Hours 54 Minutes

Caffeinated drinks consumed: 2 Iced Mochas, 1 Cherry Coke

Food Eaten: 1 slice of lemon meringue pie, bowl of frozen grapes, blueberry granola bar, Chips and dip

Progress Report: Well I think this is the end of my posting for tonight ladies and gents!! My eyes are saying (screaming) that they're done! I may get a little bit more read tonight but doubt that I will be back to post any more updates. I WILL however see you all tomorrow for the end of even survey! As always, I truly had an absolute blast today and it was a really special day :) Thanks Andi and Heather and everyone else who made this the wonderful day that it was, celebrating Dewey and everything that she represented and continues to represent in our little online community :) Happy Reading to those staying strong!

Dewey's Readathon Update The Seventh!

Currently Reading: Nothing! But about to dive into Unnatural Creatures edited by Neil Gaiman

Total pages read since last update: 128 pgs.

Total pages read cumulative: 663 pgs.

Total books read: 3 (Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell, Bird by Rita Murphy, Let's Explore Diabetes With Owls by David Sedaris)

Time spent reading since last update: 2 Hour 22 Minutes

Total Time Spent Reading: 10 Hours 52 Minutes

Caffeinated drinks consumed: 2 Iced Mochas, 1 Cherry Coke

Food Eaten: 1 slice of lemon meringue pie, bowl of frozen grapes, blueberry granola bar, Chips and dip

Progress Report: Three books down! Absolutely loved the Sedaris book as I knew I would. Excellent choice for the readathon. Here's a little passage from an essay to give you a late night laugh :p This is in an essay entitled "Standing By" in which he talks about the horrors of airports and delayed flights:

"I should be used to the way Americans dress when traveling, yet it still manages to amaze me. It's as if the person next to you had been washing shoe polish off a pig, then suddenly threw down his sponge saying, 'Fuck this. I'm going to Los Angeles!'"

And there's just so so so much more this collection that made me laugh out loud, yet there's a certain poignancy to much of this collection as well. The above quote obviously has no poignancy to it :p In my sleep deprived delirium, I just found it extremely hilarious :p

I also realized that it was probably a good idea that I drink some water as I was getting nauseated and didn't know why....may have something to do with the 40 ounces of iced coffee and can of coke I had today, but no other liquids aside from that :p And no real food on top of that, lol. Hmmm..in sticking with the no real food, I think I'm going to eat some pears and vanilla pudding now....It's the poor man's pears and cream :p And while doing that I'm going to alternate between Gaiman's new anthology Unnatural Creatures and Richard Russo's Interventions...that'll take me through the rest of the night I think!

Andi is currently hosting a wonderful mini challenge :) It's the Six Word Celebration Mini Challenge in which we write a six word celebration to Dewey for continuing to inspire us:

Always here, Dewey, reading with us.

I really miss that amazing woman today. So much. But that sentence about sums it up....I really do feel like she's been here with us today. You can just feel her in the community spirit of this event :) It really has felt like such a special day and I have to thank everyone that's made this the incredible event that it is :)

Dewey's Readathon Update The Sixth!

Currently Reading: Let's Explore Diabetes With Owls by David Sedaris

Total pages read since last update: 76 pgs.

Total pages read cumulative: 535 pgs.

Total books read: 2 (Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell, Bird by Rita Murphy)

Time spent reading since last update:  1 Hour 21 Minutes

Total Time Spent Reading: 8 Hours 30 Minutes

Caffeinated drinks consumed: 2 Iced Mochas, 1 Cherry Coke

Food Eaten: 1 slice of lemon meringue pie, bowl of frozen grapes, blueberry granola bar, Chips and dip

Progress Report: I'm about 2/3 of the way through the Sedaris book and I think I'm going to go soak in a bubble bath to finish this one after typing up this post :) I'm just thinking of what a great readathon this has been so far. Not only has it been a wonderfully relaxing day all in memory of Dewey, but it's sandwiched right in the middle of a five day weekend! The next two days are bound to be a bit of an emotional mess as Matt will be moving back to Arkansas this week, but I'm glad I have tomorrow off to spend with him and don't have to worry about work :)

As for reading plans, I'm thinking after this one, I'm going to start Gaiman's new anthology and maybe alternate between that and Richard Russo's Interventions which is a little box set of a novella and three stories all in their own individual books :) I can use that one to inflate my numbers if I REALLY want to because I can count the four individual books in Interventions as 4 different short books :p Hey, it makes me feel better...ok?

Hope everyone is doing good and having a blast!

Dewey's Readathon Update The Fifth!

Currently Reading: Let's Explore Diabetes With Owls by David Sedaris

Total pages read since last update: 73 pgs.

Total pages read cumulative: 459 pgs.

Total books read: 2 (Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell, Bird by Rita Murphy)

Time spent reading since last update: 1 Hour 17 Minutes

Total Time Spent Reading: 7 Hours 9 Minutes

Caffeinated drinks consumed: 1 Iced Mocha, 1 Cherry Coke

Food Eaten: 1 slice of lemon meringue pie, bowl of frozen grapes, blueberry granola bar

Progress Report: Well David Sedaris has definitely gave me a bit of an energy burst which was much much needed! I knew he would. I'm really enjoying this collection so far. It has his classic dry humor in it, but there seems to be a bit more depth to this collection too than previous ones. Having said that, I did have to come inside after just the first page because I will just never be able to read Sedaris in public :p

I do think it's time for a bit more caffeine...think I'm going to head down the road and pick up another iced mocha and then heat up some velveeta and rotel dip! Sounds like a delicious dinner, eh? Boy have I eaten healthy today....a piece of pie, frozen grapes, a granola bar and chips and dip....a real meal would be nice :p But I'm just in the mood for snacking.

But before I go get my coffee, it's mid-event survey time!:

1) How are you doing? Sleepy? Are your eyes tired?



I don't think I ever really woke up today :p But I'm hanging in there! I'm learning that when my eyelids start getting droopy, I just need to get up and switch places for a little bit.

2) What have you finished reading?


I've finished Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell and Bird by Rita Murphy

3) What is your favorite read so far?


Definitely Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell..will likely be a favorite of the year!

4) What about your favorite snacks?


So far, my lemon meringue pie :p

5) Have you found any new blogs through the readathon? If so, give them some love!

Sadly no :( I really haven't done much blog hopping aside from the ones in my reader.