Sunday Salon/Sunday Post - May 17, 2026: New Computer, Who Dis?

I'm not sure if I'd mentioned it before, but my computer was a lil finicky and old. I had continued paying the bills as needed, and trying to squeeze out a few blog posts, but after a steady decline, we reached the point where it was doing n o t h i n g. So I came home from work one day just before I had set aside extra spending money for my April and May vacations and said, "Nope! I deserve more peace in my life than this. Time for a new computer." After dinner, hubby and I went to Microcenter, and I bought the new computer. Whooooo doggie. What took me so long? Well, I anticipated the expense being way more than it was. But after just a few hundred dollars, I'm back among the online living.

And one of the first things I'm doing (after only a few book reviews, Yelp! reviews, and paying some bills) is joining Readerbuzz for the Sunday Salon, and Caffeinated Reviewer for the Sunday Post. I've missed ya'll SO MUCH!!

What I'm reading this week:

In the meantime, I've developed the questionable habit of reading at least four books at a time. LOL Besides my regularly scheduled print book for review (The Roaring Ridley's by K.M. Colley) and my kindle book for review (All the Mothers by Domenica Ruta), I've now added some books solely chosen at my whim. I listen to a non-fiction/motivational/memoir on my morning drive (currently Be Ready When the Luck Happens by Ina Garten) and a fiction book on my way home (about half-way through Weyward by Emilia Hart right now).

Since I listen to music all day anyway, I think it's working out. I'm starting the day on a bit more of a positive note usually, and I'm getting to pick books just for the fun of it, instead of always plugging away at my endless review list. Unfortunately, I just got notification that like three more audio books from my hold list are ready (I'm playing an ostrich and sticking my head in the sand), and I only got three quarters of the way through Parable of the Sower and have to wait MONTHS for my turn to come around again...

Three Good Things:

1. In all honesty, I should write a few separate posts for my vacations. In April, first I spent three days in Chicago taking my son to the Hatsune Miku Expo, then my best friend flew in from New Jersey and we went to Northern Michigan University (NMU) to watch my daughter perform in 9 to 5. A couple weeks later, I drove back to NMU to pick up my daughter and bring her home, then hubs and I flew to Maui for a week to celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary (our anniversary was in February, but we waited til our 'adult' daughter could be at home with our son). I now have 1.66 hours of PTO left. LOL
2. My kids are already cast in their next shows! My son is part of the teen ensemble in the Freaky Friday musical in Oxford at the end of June, and my daughter is Beulah in Come from Away at NMU in the fall.
3. Oh! I got new glasses finally too! In addition to updating my lenses for the first time in a couple years, I got a Pair base, with switchable magnetic 'tops' including sunglasses so I don't have to carry a big ole glasses case in a purse. So I'll be getting a new purse, since the tops take up so little room :)

Three Goals for this week/month/whatever:

1. Review more of my trip stuff on Yelp! I've got tons of reviews up, but most are from years ago. I want to be more consistently reviewing, and all my recent travels give me lots of places to review. 
2. Complete more book reviews! I've got another half dozen or so books that I've finished reading, but need to complete my reviews and send them to Books I Think You Should Read. And then sort of the subset on this goal is to review all my emails from her and pick more books to review. Too much reading - my favorite kind of problem!
3. Order our new door wall!! For the last few years, we haven't had a screen door onto our deck (the old one got lost while hubs and his buddy tore off the old deck, and then the 'universal' replacement didn't fit). For 'just' a few grand, I can get the new fancy door with the blinds inside it, and a screen door, installed! They came and did the measurement part while hubs and I were gone, so I can order the new door and probably have it installed in a month or so as a surprise while hubs travels for work - Happy Father's Day!