Sunday Post/Sunday Salon - July 6, 2025: Happy Independence Day?

Thank goodness for three days off work (plus an extra should-have-been-an-hour-but-at-least-was-40-minutes). My direct managers always try to give us an extra hour of company time on US holiday weekends, but workload. So, in summation, I've been away from work since about 1:50pm on Thursday, which is cool. So I've been HOME (including on my back deck or front porch) since a grocery run for the weekend on Thursday. Another WIN. I'm a bit of a homebody, but will probably leave later today to use my free birthday Emagine theater ticket and see Bride Hard. At least that's the plan. So happy holiday weekend, even if 'Independence' day seems to be a stretch lately (check out the shirt at left
here).

As I think I've stated before, high school graduation season is no joke. I've spent the last several Sunday mornings either preparing for graduation parties or college orientation visit, taking the younger one to camp, recovering from a graduation party at our house, and even sneaking in a breakfast with out of town friends. It's been a month, but now I'm back to post with Kimberly at the Caffeinated Reviewer for Sunday Post, and Deb at Readerbuzz for Sunday Salon. And I need to say that I really missed my slow, reflective Sunday mornings sitting right here, saying what really doesn't feel like a lot, but is a spilling of my words. Even if who I am is often a response to my kids, family, and work. None of them oversee this - it's me.

What I'm reading this week:

As part of this great, at-home, doing me stuff weekend, I finished two books yesterday, reviewed two, and started two more. My reviews for The Athena Protocol (which published years ago, and I finished reading weeks ago) and Into the Leopard's Den (published on Tuesday, July 1, 2025, and apparently the last in the much-loved Bangalore Detectives Club series) were written yesterday and will be publishing to Books I Think You Should Read soon. 

While I finished Reading Into the Leopard's Den yesterday on my kindle, I also finished Funny Story by Emily Henry. That was my first read of the four adult Battle of the Books contest reads for mid-August. Our local library does a super-fun trivia contest on four pre-announced books at a local bar/restaurant. The first one was postponed from April 2020 until summer of 2023, and our team/book club (formed in January 2020 for the purpose of this contest) WON! Last year I think we came in third by just a couple points. This year, 3 out of 5 of our members from our championship year are not available, so the two remaining have added one of my co-workers, and the other team member's sister. The other three books are Huda F Are You? by Huda Fahmy, Escape!: The Story of the Great Houdini by Sid Fleischman, and The Lost City of the Monkey God by Doulas Preston. So I finished the pop fiction, started the kids' book, and still have the graphic novel and non-fiction to go. Wish us luck!

I'm currently reading the print copy of Escape!: The Story of the Great Houdini and Fog and Fury by Rachel Howzell Hall on my kindle. 

Three Good Things:

I think Deb started '3 Good Things' during COVID lockdowns, but I'm still all in too. More good news is always good :)

1. We spent a few days at Northern Michigan University, where our daughter will attend in the fall, for new student (and support person) orientation. It was a fabulous event. She stayed in a dorm room with another incoming freshman, learned her way around campus a bit, met her suite-mates and a bunch of other new students, and even got to do an off-campus hike to see the beauty of the area. We're more sure than ever that she's made the right choice and is gonna love the next step in her life. 
2. Actually, this weekend so far has been a good thing :) I love staying home, reading, building LEGO, puttering/cleaning/improving my surroundings, a bit of coloring, watching movies with the kids.... Our son and I even had steak dinner Friday night. It's really been my optimal weekend off.
3. I'm reading more books lately. What that actually means to me is that I'm focusing and checking things off, not just vegging out and sleeping as much as possible. It's a good thing.

Three Goals for this week/month/whatever:

1. While our son's closet re-org/design is done and he's working on putting it, and his whole room, in a better place, I've also found the motivation to work on my home office. And I've made noticeable progress! My goal is to have room for a table in here, so I can do my LEGO without stray pieces being at risk of being in someone's way. 
2. Cleaning out part of my office has already unearthed three brand-new water bottles (I think they have company logos, which reminds me I'd rather have an actual RAISE than another 'free' water bottle, but I digress). Anyway, I'd like to clean out a couple kitchen cupboards which will give me a box of similar items to donate. And get them out of my house!
3. The kids and I have been wanting to re-do the curio cabinets. I have two of my grandmother's old curio cabinets in our 'formal' dining room (with an old table where I've been doing LEGO). While there is memorable stuff in them, we'd like to update it with stuff that is currently meaningful to us. It's on the list.

Hope you're having a summer you're enjoying :)