The Sunday Salon: A Week's Report

So, here's a few things to report on from the past week!

Photoaday August

First some pictures I've taken, both Photoaday ones and others:

Day 6: Writing
(the math kind!)

Bonus Picture: Fire Sun
(smoke in the air makes for awesome sunsets!)

Day 7: 8:00 (am)
(the curtains in the morning)

Day 8: Glasses
(couldn't think what to do)

Bonus Picture: With Melissa from Book Nut!
(she escaped from her family reunion
to talk  with me at the library for an hour, sweet!)

Day 9: Messy
(the laundry room, always messy)

Day 10: Ring
(nothing jumped out, so no picture!)

Day 11: Purple
(as seen at Target)

Day 12: Spoon
(the beginnings of spaghetti sauce
with peppers and onions from the garden)

Utah Book Month

And then, I want to make sure you didn't miss any Utah Book Month stuff this past week, so here's what people posted, at least as far as I know (minus reviews):

Mini Challenges: Utah Title Puzzles | Utah Book Buffet | I Spy the Utah Author
Blogger Interviews: Suey | Krista | Lorren | Debz
Author Interviews: Kathryn Jones | Carol Lynch Williams | Robison Wells | Bree Despain
Other Misc: Utah Book Awards | Did You Know? | Carol Lynch Williams Giveaway

Thanks to everyone who has been participating!

Random Life Happenings 

-- This week we are celebrating our 25th anniversary! Sheesh. Plans are to go experience the Utah Shakespearean Festival for the first time. Can't wait.
-- We are also getting new carpet in the bedroom. Not sure how that works, but all the stuff must be moved out to do it! Including my crazy TBR shelf!
-- Book club this week! Which means somehow I need to fit in an Ender's Game re-read.
-- One week and school starts. There are good things and bad things about this. Two weeks and college starts. There are good things and bad things about this too.
-- My exercise of the week... doing the paper cutter at work, and pulling weeds as tall as me in our garden.
-- I survived the dentist this past week... passed with flying colors!
-- The air outside is still smoky. I can't even tell you how bad I want things to cool down and rain like crazy.
-- I saw Total Recall. It was dark and gritty, and quite intense. Not sure I would recommend though. Have you seen it? What do you say?

Okay, enough of the rambling! Here's to another week!

The Sunday Salon: Camping... DONE!

Can you see the deer?

The second week of camping is now over! I've survived. This second camping trip was "for real"... completely unplugged with no connection to the world for four days. Also... no showers. I've never felt so gross in my life, or had such a wonderful shower in my life as I did yesterday when we finally got home!

This is what my "kitchen" looked like.

For those four days, I was in charge of feeding 21 girls and five adults. It was a hard thing, but everything turned out great and all went well. I'm just glad that it's over and that I can go on with the rest of the summer without worrying about it anymore!

Part of the whole crowd... 21 of which are "mine."

Anyway, so this makes the second week of no reading... at all. I'm so hoping to get back into the swing of things this next week. I don't know... maybe I've lost the groove all together. Wow, that would be pretty sad! But I do feel a little out of practice or something!

Hiking! 

I rewarded myself for surviving the two weeks of camping with Batman yesterday! Full thoughts tomorrow, but I totally enjoyed it.

Anyway, here's to a new week! A new month! And a new chance to get some books read!

The Sunday Salon: One Down One to Go

You'll all be happy to know that I've survived the first camping trip! I am furiously washing and trying to furiously rest up for the next one this coming week. Today I have plans to relax like crazy, and then tomorrow I will have to jump into prep work before leaving again.

My hot, tired, dirty family!

I am so tired!

I haven't read or watched anything at all this week! I took three books with me on this first camping adventure. The first day I hauled the book around with me all day long as I watched kids swim and boat and such, but I think I only managed two pages of reading.

So I gave up reading for the all the rest of the days. Good thing I took those books!

The adventure this week will be even worse as far as reading time goes, but I may take something just in case.

But instead of reading, I did a few other things.

Hiked through a cave,

ran around in a wind storm,





took pictures of sunsets

and bees,

visited an old church building,

Part of the crowd. Two families had already left us by this day.

learned about the Oregon Trail,

Oregon California Trail Center in Montpelier Idaho

and ate lots of food.













Here's hoping I'll be back here next week saying I survived Camping Trip Two!!

The Sunday Salon: If Wishes Were Fishes

I've decided that my regular Sunday journal-y post is getting old now, so I'm thinking of going back to the previous way I thought of Sunday pots, which is similar, but different. Before, it was mostly just a rambly post about whatever I'm thinking at the moment and a bit of a report on the week's reading and other fun sorts of things.

Not sure exactly what I want to do, but I'm tired of those other posts now and so we'll see what happens here if I just bag them for a bit.

On Reading

Anyway, this week I devoured a book called Sean Griswold's Head by Lindsey Leavitt. Awesome title don't you think? And I finished a fun summer-y romance e-book called Caribbean Crossroads by Connie Sokol. I'm a bit behind in reviews and hope to catch up this week (which means write them all today!) So we'll see how that goes.

But now I'm floundering and haven't picked up anything else! Just the Pride and Prejudice re-read and the ongoing quest to get through the "original" Robin Hood, which is fun, but seems to get pushed to the bottom of the pile.

So what should I read next? 

I went to a fun author event on Wednesday, which I hope to report about this week too, along with the event I'll be heading to tomorrow. Gosh, I've got lots to do!


On Watching

Sadly, we didn't get much Buffy watched this week. We did watch three episodes way last Sunday afternoon and I remember thinking that I'm just not getting the whole Angel love... that he seemed like a flat boring character... and then just the very next episode he turned bad again, and suddenly he had some life (strange yes?) to him! That was interesting. And then suddenly Oz is... well... you know... having his own issues too and becoming more a part of the whole crowd. Very fun. I'm anxious to watch more, but it may be awhile. Life is going to get crazy... very very crazy.

HEY! Guess what I got? New speakers!!! Did I ever tell you how about how I love speakers? And our little home theater has always been incomplete, so I finally got a center speaker and a subwoofer. Cool.. and geeky. I know. But now we can FEEL those loud parts... really FEEL them! So exited.

So, I bought The Dark Knight and we watched it last night. It was awesome, but I swear, I don't really know what happens in that movie. And The Joker creeps me out so bad that I have to close my eyes and I really can't believe that it's the same dude as my beautiful Heath Ledger/A Knight's Tale/William Thatcher dude. How can that even be? My head can't make that happen. Ah...still sad about him.



And now tonight, I'm also very excited to watch Falling Skies with a subwoofer! Ha. Seriously. And the guys in the house are very excited to catch up with Breaking Bad tonight too.

What is a cool movie I should watch to test out my new bass thumping subwoofer? I would love suggestions!

On Wishing

I have some wishes. They are things like I wish I could go to ComicCon some day. I think I yearn for this even more than the BEA thing. I wish I could go to Paris and Switzerland instead of camping for two weeks. (I have a friend heading of on the plane for France this very moment!) I wish that I could go to the midnight showing of Batman.... but I will wait for a week and see it then, I hope. I wish the fires would stop starting and that it would rain more. But we did get some rain yesterday and it's been so wonderful. Cleans the air out so well and feels so nice. 


Just some of the wishes I'm wishing. What are you wishing for this summer?

Well, so that's all for now. I'm anxious about the next couple of weeks, so here's hoping I manage it all. Hopefully I'll be around here and there, but it may be a bit hit and miss. Just in case you are wondering!

The Sunday Salon Sunday Rambles

Happy Sunday!!

Outside my window: Hot and sunny this Sunday afternoon. The haze from the fires isn't as bad as it's been though, so that's a good thing. We can actually breathe when we go out.

I am cannot stop listening to: Gotye. All the time, Goyte. I'm thinking this one is not a passing fancy, but one that's going to stick with me, know what I mean? I'm sorry, you my readers, may have to be dealing with this for quite some time.

Song of the week: A new-to-me Gotye song I discovered just the other day, one not on my CD, has been really quite fun to play over and over:






Oh, and you must listen to this one too, please? It's a little more "normal" so don't be scared.




TV Talk:  Buffy Buffy Buffy! Oh, and I watched one Dr. Who episode, and I watched Falling Skies last Sunday. Wahoo for that show! And... that's about all the TV for me this past week. 

READING REPORT: 
Books Finished: Lady Susan by Jane Austen. 
Books Started: Caribbean Crossroads by Connie Sokol
Books Up Next: You know, I'm winging it this month... I have no idea until I'm actually reading it. 

I am thinking wondering: if ennui is a true physical ailment. I have some kids who seem to be very much affected with it! What to do what to do? (Def: A gripping listlessness or melancholia caused by boredom;) Actually, I've been feeling a bit affected too, with reading and blogging and all manner of other normal pursuits. I'm hoping that once this month is over I can concentrate and feel "normal" again. Here's hoping.

I'm grateful for: for my Kindle, because I seem to be warming up to this whole e-reader thing and all my books lately have been on that thing. Truly loving it.

Around the house: Nothing new at all to report, nothing new on the bedroom redoing, nothing organized lately, nothing fixed or rearranged. Nothing. 

Favorite things of the week: Going to see Spiderman. That was sweet. I need to see another one... movie. But there's nothing much else good that's out right now. Just waiting for Batman. Then what's next after that? 

Utah Book Bloggers: If you got an email from me with a blogger interview assignment, I need to know what day in August you'd like to post your interview! Let me know!



Family Matters: Tomorrow everyone works! Here's the schedule for five people: 9 to 1, noon to 6, 10:30 to 7, 11 to 3, and 9 to 6. And I think we'll all have transportation!  Only the youngest will not be out and about, but all this means she has to get herself to violin lessons! If we can fix her bike! Anyway, yeah for "lazy" summer days, right? 

The coming week: Get ready for camp. Both camps. One family, one church. Buy food, plan activities, prepare, try not to stress, stay calm, buy more food, clean trailer. Buy food. Oh wait... is there a book event I'm going to this week? Jenny? Yes? I think so, okay, so not EVERYTHING will be camp prep this week!



Well, I think that's all I have for now. See you around!

The Sunday Salon: Short and Sweet

Outside my window: It's late, very very late, on Saturday night... in fact, it's actually very very early on Sunday morning. But hey, what else is new. The late nights around here... all in the norm. Though not my most favorite thing. But where were we? Oh, outside the window! DARK, and breezy and perfect.

I am listening to: yeah nothing at the moment. People quietly going to bed.. at least some of them. Others are still not home. Which means I won't be sleeping anytime soon myself. (Update: They came home! Like early-ish! SLEEP!!!)

Song of the week: I already posted songs this week, do you want more? You love hearing my songs, right? Yeah, I know....ummm.... but....sorry... I can't think of one to post right now.... you'll just have to click on that link above and go listen to Gotye again....

TV Talk: I just watched some Buffy episodes this week (my thoughts here) and that's it. And I'm so very sad not to be around tomorrow night (Sunday) to watch the new season start for Falling Skies. It better be on On Demand so I can catch it later.

READING REPORT: 
Books Finished: About a Boy by Nick Hornby
Books Started: Ready Player One by Ernest Cline (half way done) and Cayman Summer by Angela Morrison (almost done)
Books Up Next: You know, I'm not really sure! I am SO winging it! :) Maybe I should do one of those "tell me what to read next" posts, know what I mean?

I am thinking: that suddenly, I'm tired. But hey, it's only 1:00 a.m.!! Things are just getting going!

I'm grateful for: the gift card I was able to use tonight at Olive Garden. Man, that place as gotten expensive!

Around the house: The bedroom corner project is coming along! I may even show pictures next week at this time! I'm sure you are thrilled!

Pinterest of the Week: Guys... I haven't touched Pinterest for two weeks! What's up with that? I mean, not even opened up the program!

Favorite things of the week: a nice and lovely author day

Utah Book Bloggers: I will be emailing blogger interview assignments to those that signed up to participate in this little aspect of our celebration, which will begin in August... which will be here soon!

Family Matters: Lots of late nights and movie watching and not eating very good and sleeping in and job hunting (a little) and working for some and basically, normal summer.

The coming week: Book Club! This is new thing for us.. having book club in the summer. I guess we'll see how it goes, eh? Other than that, I'm not sure what the week has in store! This past week was crazy.. this next week? Not so much I hope.


Oh, and P.S. Happy Father's Day!

The Sunday Salon: Yay for Summer! I think...

Outside my window: Bright and sunny! And hot! (Well, for me anyway.) 


I am listening to: A Disney channel show in the background. I don't even know which one. Did I ever tell you how much I hate laugh tracks? So irritating!

Song of the week: I'm sorry, but it's totally stuck in my head:






Welcome to the new (well new to me) boy band. I don't blame all the young girls going crazy about these guys one bit. :)


TV Talk: Interesting TV week this week! No new shows of course, but the old shows are just as fun! We got on a Gilmore Girl kick and have been watching all the Jess episodes... namely season 2 and 3. Jess is such an obnoxious kid! Why do we like him so much!?? He's a reader for one thing, an obnoxious kid reader. I guess that's a bit intriguing perhaps. 


Also, my sister has been catching up on Vampire Diaries and texts me randomly throughout the week her current thoughts ("Stefan is so sweet! Omigosh, I really like Damon now! Alaric is goregous! Bonnie and Jeremy? Yes." .... etc.) So now and then I'll flip it on and see what she is seeing. It's fun to revisit! 

I watched another Merlin episode too. Trying to savor those and only watch one here and there, though they are on YouTube and I'm scared they will disappear on me.

Then of course there was the beginning in of the Buffy Watch. Two episodes in to that, and many more to go!

Supernatural is also going non-stop at our house, and Lost and Prison Break are also getting a work out.

READING REPORT: 
Books Finished: Last week I finished Black Heart and Destined.

Books Started:  I've got a good start on Anna Dressed in Blood and am nearing the end of Code Name Verity.
Books Up Next: About a Boy and Ready Player One.

I am thinking: That I have a family of really wimpy eaters. 

I'm grateful for: projects! I love projects. Keeps life interesting, you know?

Around the house: Yesterday I decided to be determined about fixing up a corner in my bedroom (just starting with a corner... baby steps!) So I bought frames and found some enlargements we had printed years ago but never framed, and today, I hope to hang them. When I get the corner "done" I will show all before and after pictures! Be prepared to be amazed! :) (ha!)

Pinterest of the Week: I still hope to do a wrap up post of the Pinterest Challenge, but maybe I'll leave this little weekly report on my Sunday Salon posts to motivate me to keep up the Pinterest thing. Last week I made Oreo Brownies, inspired by a Pinterest pin, but it had a bad link, so then I went searching for a good recipe and made these:

Source: kevinandamanda.com via Suey on Pinterest

Here's what mine looked like:

They were good, but extremely messy. And so rich to the point of death... and that's coming from someone who loves rich desserts and can usually handle them just fine!

Favorite things of the week: an impromptu family bbq for Memorial Day, an outside concert on the hill, a night at the theater, last day of school, and an awards assembly where Thurl Bailey showed up to speak!

Utah Book Bloggers: It seems like many of you that signed up to participate have not yet filled out the form to say more specifically what you want to do. Some of you may have been assigned an author to interview already, and the blogger assignments are coming soon. Be sure let us know if you have questions!


Family Matters: All kids are now out of school, one is still hoping to find a job, it's being very very hard. One is wondering what she'll do with herself all summer. I hope she reads a ton of books!

The coming week: At the end of this week it's our city's summerfest celebration. We'll be going to the parade and fireworks for sure. I will also be helping at work to get the library ready for their booth and other things they will be participating in.


It felt like there were tons more things I wanted to report on, but I've forgotten them all now. Oh, well.

The Sunday Salon: The Final Countdown

Outside my window: Sunday afternoon and it's peaceful outside. There're birds, and sunshine, and neighbors talking. It always seems really nice outside my window, have you noticed?


I am listening to: the birds mentioned above. So far, I haven't turned on music, but I just might in order to do the next little prompt....

Song of the week: I've had a lot of new to me songs I've been enjoying this week and it's hard to choose what to share!  Well, anyway, here's a new one from the new Silversun Pickups album called Here We Are:



Sounds very Radiohead, yes?

TV Talk: You know, not much TV going on right now. The Survivor finale was anti-climatic in every sense of the word. It was a boring season all around I must say. I actually watched American Idol (while cleaning) and then made book club watch Adam Lambert when he sang on the results show! Silly me. I liked it though so oh, well. Even though I was expecting him to sing this new song, which I dare you to listen to and NOT dance or at least tap your foot!  I caught up on one Once Upon a Time episode, but have one more to go. That show remained fun for me all season long. Really enjoyed it. If Grim comes to Netflix, maybe I'll go for that one and compare. 

READING REPORT: 

Books Finished: Still no books finished this week. Those 1000 page books KILL me in this department! But I'm so so close to finishing it! Just a hundred and fifty or so pages left! I can do it today, really. Awesome book though. (The Wise Man's Fear)

Books Started: I did start reading my first Kindle book! The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood! Wow, that's quite the book so far. Talk about old English language! I also started Destined by Aprilynne Pike... the fourth in that Wings series. 

Books Up Next: Up next will be Black Heart, and About a Boy, and Ready Player One which I got from the library.... and hopefully some quick easy things that I can finish fast so my month tally won't look so very bad!

I am thinking: that whoever is playing outside right now sounds like they are having a lot of fun. 

I'm grateful for: the fact that my vacuum wasn't broken after all, and just needed to be reset because it thought it was plugged. I'm also grateful that I managed to get the WiFi working again this morning, because you know, we would DIE without that. 

Around the house: I cleaned this week pretty dang good, just so you know. It does happen sometimes. 

Pinterest of the Week: Yesterday I managed to put together the blocks for my little nine patch wall hanging. You'll have to wait for pictures though next week for my wrap up post.... that's assuming I keep working on it and maybe finish it!

Favorite things of the week: Book club was great, lots of book talk as always. (Hopefully a report will show up here soon!) Lots of reading time this week was good so I could polish off a few hundred fantasy pages. Awesome weather this week which includes the crazy rainstorm! Oh, and I got a haircut which makes such a difference. 

Utah Book Bloggers:  One more day to sign up! We need to you help make a fun Utah Book Month! If you are NOT a Utah blogger, you can read a Utah book and review it that month, or interview a Utah author... we'll match you up. If you ARE a Utah blogger, you can do those things AND interview another Utah blogger, so we can get to know each other better. That's not too hard, right? So come sign up now if you are interested! You don't have to commit to a ton, or do a lot, just let us know if you want to play.

Least favorite thing: headaches... lots of headaches, and neck aches and other such random body faultiness. I hate that.

Family Matters: Two more weeks of school for the two youngest kids. It's the final countdown! I can't believe it! Let's hope they make it through. Last week of job training for kid #1.... let's do some hoping for him too! And kid #2 has plans to start rehearsing to dance for the library in the summerfest parade! Wahoo for that!

The coming week: performances like crazy for us! Violin recital, orchestra concert and choir concert. Yippy!

The Sunday Salon: Mother's Day

Mother's day today. A happy one to all of you! It's not my most favorite day of the year, but you know, it'll be okay! :)

Outside my window: Beautiful day. Seems like we've been have a lot of beautiful days lately. It's nice.

 I am listening to: The husband is blasting his England Dan Pandora radio station and singing along with every song. He loves that station, and says "I guess this is just my kind of music!" Also I'm hearing some violin practicing going on in the next room. A recital is coming up. Time to get serious!

Song of the week:





TV Talk: Survivor finale today. I'm curious how it will shake down. Too bad I can't watch it. But I will later.  The Vampire Diaries finale was so crazy I didn't even GET what happened! Sheesh. You gotta pat attention with that show or else! The Amazing Race finale was anti-climatic last week. Whatever. I haven't watched much else, but I am really looking forward to some Falling Sky coming up in a few weeks!

READING REPORT: Very very boring this week. So sorry. I've just been reading and reading and reading The Wise Man's Fear, but not as much as I'd hope to. I'm to about page 400 in nearly 1000 page book, so it may be the same story this week. Dang life gets in the way. And maybe the fact that I added crafty stuff to my line up this week. I guess that could be the difference too.

Books Finished: None

Books Started: None

Books Up Next: Who knows? 

I am thinking: that eating something about now would be nice. 

I'm grateful for: my mom. :)

Around the house: Last week I moaned about the broken chair... this week it's the dishwasher.. which technically isn't broken but is really doing it's job lousy. I'm sick of it. Time for a new one. 

Pinterest of the Week: The cute little Mother's Day presents I'm giving today come from Pinterest.... these things. 

Favorite things of the week: Working on the garden yesterday was nice, hard though. I hope it grows. Seeing two musicals, one at the school and one a the community theater was fun. Doing some quilting this week was fun...well technically it was piecing, which is the best part. Texting my sister about Stefan and Damon was fun, she is just now watching the first season. 

Utah Book Bloggers:  We posted the sign up for participating in Utah Book Month this last week, and those will stay open for another week or so. We'd love for tons more Utah bloggers to participate. Doesn't it sound fun? Yes? Come! 

Least favorite thing: unhappy kids.

Family Matters: Everyone seems a little stressed. Here's hoping that eases up soon. I'm tired of stress, you know?

The coming week: Book club! And that's always a good thing. 

The Sunday Salon: I Crafted Stuff!

Outside my window: It's dark on a Saturday night. And quite chilly I must say. But it'll be perfect sleeping temperature. I just hope to sleep. Sleep is not easy to come by lately it seems. 

 I am listening to: nothing at the moment except for a Jazz game in the background

Song of the week: I've been obsessed with the Someone I Used to Know song all week.If you haven't heard (and seen) this cover of it though, here it is. (I know I'm late to the party here, but maybe there's a few of you that are even later than me!)




TV Talk: Just caught up on  American Idol and Survivor. American Idol is just meh as I've been saying. I do like Philip now though.... ish. And I was glad to see Kat go on Survivor. She's only 22? Wow. Vampire Diaries was quite shocking this past week. When's the finale on that one? I'm sad to see it almost over for the season. But I am getting excited to start watching Falling Skies again. Tomorrow is The Amazing Race finale. Yay.

READING REPORT:
Books Finished: This week I finished Precious Bane... early for book club! Wow. I need to see if any book clubbers need to borrow it now.

Books Started: YAY! I finally started The Wise Man's Fear... here's hoping tomorrow I can knock off lots and lots of its pages!

Books Up Next: You know, I'm just not sure what'll be next. Strange feeling.

I am thinking: wow, has it been a month already since our Arizona adventure? Yeah that was fun, I want to do something like that again please.

I'm grateful for: really really cold ice water. 

Around the house: Our chair is broken... very very broken. It's time for a new one for sure.

Pinterest of the Week: Because I signed up for the Pinterest Challenge, I thought I'd report here some progress, though there will be "real" posts too. So, we are going to make this casserole for dinner tomorrow. And today we started in on the journal calendar that several of us fell in love with. (I blame Kailana for that one in particular though.) And that has been fun. Also, I bought some quilt scraps and plan to make a disappearing nine patch wall hanging from that. I played a bit with that today too. So, it's been a crafty-ish sort of day! So fun. Can't wait to make a quilty thing again. 

Favorite things of the week: There were lots of awesome things this past week. Seeing Rick Riordan was fun, getting Utah Bloggers organized (at least started) was fun (see our new Twitter here!), chit chatting with Jenny, Susan, Robin and Heidi was fun, seeing The Avengers was fun, going for a walk in the canyon was fun, crafting with the girls today was fun, having an impromptu picnic today was also fun. Lots of nice things this week. 


Utah Book Bloggers: So maybe I'll add a section here to report this sort of stuff each week. We'll try it and see. So here's the thing. we want to have what we've decided to call Utah Book Month in August. The idea is to promote authors, bloggers and books from Utah. We have lots of fun things planned, so stay tuned for more details that will hopefully be coming up next week. If you aren't from Utah, there are ways for you to participate also... if you want! Yay! :)

Least favorite thing: I ate a lot of crap this week. And I tried to get back into the exercise routine, but failed. And my hair is bugging me. Yes, that's probably my least favorite thing of the week for sure!

Family Matters: The big college daughter has been going to a high school prom tonight! They went with her boyfriend's little sister and participated in all the stuff except the actual dance. Too funny, yes? The big college son helped his girlfriend sell her car. That was quite the exciting evening around here. The 17 year son played in a tennis tournament today (Regionals) and took 2nd place and is now going on to State. How cool is that?  And the youngest got to go to see her favorite author with me!

The coming week: Ummm... so what IS happening this next week? Mother's Day on Sunday. You know what I want for Mother's Day? A center speaker and a sub woofer speaker for my TV. No kidding. Once and for all, I'd like to set up the surround sound correctly. 


And now, I'm going to go read. Have a lovely Sunday!