There’s a bunch of stuff pinging around in my head right now – to do lists and work things and more. In other words, I’m feeling random! So, there’s not a real theme to this post, just a bunch of things that I want to tell ya.

• I finished my reading challenge on Good Reads last Friday, reading 75 books for the year. I’ll obviously finish more before 2018 is over, I’m guessing it might top out around 80 but it’s hard to say. Last year my total was 78 books. I’ll be sharing more about what I’ve read lately in a future post.
• I commented on Laurie’s blog the other day about the fridge jenga that occurs every time there’s a holiday. She said she’d never heard the expression before and I honestly can’t remember where I heard it first but I think it’s pretty spot on for what happens when you have to cram your fridge full of all the ingredients (and a giant turkey) for a holiday dinner. Pull out the wrong thing and it’s all going to come tumbling down!
• We had Friendsgiving the other day at Sean’s house and it was wonderful. Sean did the majority of the cooking but I made this cranberry salsa and it was terrific. I’m definitely going to be making it again soon.
• I usually cook a turkey on the Saturday after Thanksgiving but I don’t think that’s happening this year. We’ve had to adjust the plans for our Thanksmas gathering with our kids since some of them have to work on Saturday so we’re doing it on Friday and I’m going to emphasize the “mas” part of this holiday and have more Christmas foods like Swedish meatballs, deviled eggs, medwurst and ham.
• It’s not too late to make your turkey gravy in advance. I generally do a mash up of these two versions and it’s a great thing to just have to reheat the gravy and not make it while the turkey is resting.
• We bought an artificial Christmas tree last year and I’m so glad we made the switch. It’s pretty cool to think we can put up the tree any time we want. Maybe this weekend? It means putting away the fall and Christmas stuff, too, because I can’t have both holidays going at once!
• Speaking of Christmas . . . I’m all in for Christmas music and I’m loving it. I’m using Spotify for new playlists but I have my favorites that I go to year after year, too. Plus the app Tinsel and Tunes and the stations on Sirius . . . there’s a lot of music to cover between now and December 25th.
• It’s now been just over 2 weeks since Mason died and I am adjusting. I see him out of the corner of my eye a LOT and the other night I had a dream about him and he was fat and young and playing – and that’s how I think of him now.

What going on – random or otherwise – with you right now?

It’s hard to believe that today is August 1st. As I lamented to Kat the other day, how come summer months go by so much quicker than winter months? Doesn’t is seem reasonable that the days should feel like they last longer since there’s so much more day light? But we all know it doesn’t work that way and here we are with just one full month of summer left.

Here’s what’s current in my world right now.

Drinking: Rosé. It’s the perfect summer wine and I even went so far as to buy a 25 oz S’well bottle because it will hold (and keep frosty cold) an entire bottle of rosé.

Reading: Those Who Save Us (for my free center square, I saved it for last) and Sailing Alone Around the Room for a collection of poetry square. My cover all is imminent!

Watching: Sharp Objects. We love it! It’s creepy and weird and the perfect summer show.

Picking: Grape tomatoes, zucchini, summer squash and cucumbers. Oh, and lots of basil and parsley. The cucumbers are kind of weird this year, they have curves and are skinny. And the summer squash skin has been super tough. I’ve read that adding manure could help with that. Dale’s on it.

Loving: Our new pergola. We’ve got lights now and have enjoyed a few meals out there. Last Friday when we got home from the wedding we actually had a night cap sitting at the table and it was magical. The mosquitoes are a little more fierce than they are up on the deck but we’re mostly managing to not get bitten.

Finding: Roadside flower stands. I love buying bouquets of zinnias and cosmos and more! So old fashioned and charming.

Listening to: The Avett Brothers. All the time! And for podcasts, The Daily.

Knitting: True Colors but I have made zero progress. And socks. Also zero progress.

Planning: Jackie’s one year birthday sweater! The top contender? Little Hipster Cardigan.

Buying: Pottery. Too much pottery. And stuff for outside like a heater and lights. And prezzies for Jackie. Always.

Anticipating: Our Cape Cod vacation! It signals the end of summer, which blows, but it’s still one of my favorite weeks of the year.

Happy August to all!

It’s the first day of spring! Hooray! And it feels nothing like spring and we’re under a winter storm watch for tomorrow and Thursday. Booo! Here’s what’s going on with me, currently.

Trying: To look my best all the time because that’s the life of a candidate. And feeling jealous of all the male politicians out there who don’t have this added to the list of things that they have to do.

Reading: Hum If You Don’t Know the Words. It’s excellent but my reading time is so limited right know that I’m having a hard time finishing it.

Loving: Fridays with Jack!

Watching: We caught up with the latest season of Grace & Frankie and loved it. We’ve only watched 2 episodes of Stranger Things and it just hasn’t grabbed me yet. And we haven’t watched any episodes of Homeland yet.

Sleeping: Better since I started using the essential oil blend of coconut oil, lavender and cedar wood we made on Sunday. Plus it smells great!

Eating: Healthier as much as possible. I’m really committed to bringing lunch from home and have been for about 6 months. It has saved me money and it tastes better and only takes a bit of planning on my part. Also, lots of hard boiled eggs. They are so easy to make in the Instant Pot and the perfect little low cal protein filled snack.

Drinking: More and more tea. I love licorice tea and also ginger tea. Yogi tea has great inspirational quotes on the tags, too.

Listening: In the car, podcasts, including Happier in Hollywood, This American Life, All the Books, and Radiolab. At home, Spotify. I love the Daily Mixes, Release Radar and Time Capsule playlists.

Planning: Easter Dinner. It will be a nice break from the campaign stuff and I’m looking forward to a relaxing day with family and friends.

Hosting: A Meet & Greet tonight at the public library. It’s open to everyone and if you’re local I hope you’ll come.

Hoping: The spring weather arrives soon!

Ready for a brain dump? Let’s go.

• I read yesterday that Thanksgiving Eve is the biggest reading day of the year. Seriously? Who has time to read on this day? Men, I bet. And then I thought, well, it’s probably connected to the traveling that happens. If you’re in a car or a bus or plane I guess you might be reading.
• Speaking of Thanksgiving travel, the traffic people on the news are as pumped about these reports as the weather people are about a gigantic storm. C’mon, people. It’s traffic and it’s not that exciting and certainly doesn’t warrant extended coverage.
• We’ve reinstated a weekly dinner night with the kids. This was something we did when Patrick was younger but we’d gotten out of the habit in recent years. Now that we have Jackie we’ve started this up again on Tuesday nights. Can I tell you, though? I can’t believe I used to cook dinner for 6 every night and I’m definitely out of practice when it comes to feeding a small crowd on a week night. So far I’ve made chicken and rice, baked ziti, white bean chicken chili, American chop suey, and roast beef. Really, though, it’s not about the food, it’s about gathering around the table and visiting and, (if I’m being completely honest) holding that sweet little baby so that his mama can get a hot meal.
• Speaking of Jackie, I’m using him as leverage to convince Dale that we should get an artificial tree. That might not make sense to you but here’s my approach: “Dale! Look at how Jackie loves to look at the twinkle lights! Just think how he’s going to love the tree! Oh, but how sad that he won’t get to really enjoy the tree more than a couple of times since we put it up so late. That’s a shame, really, because look at his little eyes taking this all in. Hey! If we got an artificial tree we could put it up right away.” Apparently this genius approach has worked because I am now researching artificial trees. Got tips? Share them for me, would you? Because this is overwhelming.
• That’s all I’ve got for today. Happy Thanksgiving Eve!