Friday, May 1, 2020

The Best Part of Waking Up...

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links.

Let's catch up over coffee! I'm so ready for a hug. Virtual coffee dates have been so much fun but they're just not the same as face to face. Wouldn't you agree? I'm trying not to complain--I know it could be so much worse. It's just lonely. While we wait for this virus to ebb, we'll just have to the best of things with our virtual options.

I'm still drinking my Folgers--as Linda called it last time, 'nurse coffee'. You know, the hard stuff. Go ahead, make fun of me. I actually don't think it's that bad! I'm putting my collagen and some half and half in today.

As I mentioned in my Runfessions post last week, April felt like the longest month. It didn't help that we had so much rain and wind. Before all this happened, I thought how nice it would be to have some time off. Be careful what you wish for, right?

source

With the crappy weather we've had this month and being isolated at home, we've been trying to find different things to do to occupy our time. I could clean but we all know how much I love cleaning! If we were having coffee, I'd tell you that a few weekends ago we pulled out Trivial Pursuit. The game we have is from the 1980s and let's just say the questions were challenging. I looked on Amazon to purchase an updated edition but shocker! they are all sold out.


If we were having coffee, I'd tell you that the spammers and the bots have been busy. Google stopped a hacker from trying to get into my email. My blog views are up but my blog gets hit multiple times daily with spam. My email junk folder is loaded with all kinds of crap by the end of the day. The best that I've gotten are 2 emails that threaten to release my 'masturbation video' if I don't send bitcoin. Bitcoin? Really?


If we were having coffee, I'd tell you that I got good news from my rheumatologist this week. My blood work looks good and even better, my joint damage is improved!!!!! I didn't know this could happen but there you go. Guess all that running didn't ruin my knees. She also told me that I am at no higher risk with for complications from COVID than anyone else. I am going back to work next week, 2 days per week, with one day still at home. Obviously, we are all masking and social distancing, and there are a lot of restrictions on the types of patients we are seeing there. I'm happier than I thought I'd be--staying at home has definitely taken a toll on me.


If we were having coffee, I'd share a sad-to-me story. Last weekend when we were up at the lake house, we noticed a mother duck sitting on a nest of eggs next to the front door. She had been busy, spreading her feathers all around the perimeter of the nest. We avoided going in and out of the front door, walking around to the back so as not to disturb her. The next morning when I got up, I walked around to the front to check on her. Mama duck was gone and the eggs were all broken. So was my heart. Nature is cruel.

A likely culprit...
If we were having coffee, I'd share the list of books I've read this month. As you might imagine, I've read quite a few and I'm happy to report they were all good! I did have a minor panic attack one night this week when I couldn't download any of my ebooks from the library! Thank goodness it was a temporary glitch.
  • Darling Rose Gold is the story of a girl whose mother literally made her sick. It's called Muchausen's syndrome by proxy and in my career, I've taken care of a few kids like this.  While it's hard to catch the parent, in the book, Rose's mom goes to jail. Rose makes a life for herself, but it's clear that she's learned a few things about manipulation from her mom. I always wonder what happens to these kids when they grow up. This was satisfying. 
  • Ghosted is a romance about a woman who meets a man; they have a whirlwind week together and then he disappears. She doesn't give up, though, and eventually she learns why he 'ghosted' her. They have a most interesting connection. A good story with a quirky narrative made this a good read.
  • Perfect Tunes was a quick read for me. It's the story of a young woman who travels to New York to embark on a promising music career. Instead, she faces a choice that changes her life forever. Is it ever too late to chase a dream?
  • My Dark Vanessa is dark, it is compelling, it is riveting--I had trouble putting this book down. Vanessa is a young girl who embarks on an affair with her high school teacher. That's all you need to know.
  • You Are Not Alone is a twisted, mind-bender of a thriller. An insecure introvert gets sucked into a crime and well, I wish I could tell you more but it would ruin the story. 
For my full reviews, check out my profile on Goodreads


What would you tell me over coffee? Are you still staying home? What games have you been playing? Bloggers, have you noticed more spam lately? What books have you read?

I'm linking up with Deborah and Coco for the Ultimate Coffee Date and with Fridays with Fairytales and Fitness

 


41 comments :

  1. So many junk emails. Yes more spam.

    Thanks for the book recommendations.

    I’m still at home. May find out today if they extend longer than May 15. Ready to leave my house.

    Though I have been leaving more than most.

    Stay healthy!

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  2. I'm happy you will be going back to work and having a bit of a sense of normalcy. You made me laugh with the coffee comment. I agree, there are worse options! Luckily I bought two big tubs of the good stuff (Dunkin' Donuts) when it was on sale at Costco a few months ago, so I am in good shape!

    We play lots of games and do puzzles anyway, but we pulled out our 90s version of Trivial Pursuit a few weeks ago and just had to stop because the questions were so ridiculously easy. One person would go and never get out!

    I haven't really upped my reading game as I thought I would. Maybe in the coming months as things continue.

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    1. Maybe we're all just dummies, but that 80s Trivial pursuit game was ridiculously hard!

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  3. A few years ago we had a duck nest near the end of our driveway. It met the same demise. It is so sad! I regularly see goslings but rarely ducklings so maybe they need to up their nesting game. Knock wood I don't get much blog spam but the email spam and phishing scams are insidious.

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    1. Those goose parents are mean--when I run by a nest or a gaggle of goslings, they hiss at me and chase me! I think ducks are just too nice.

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  4. Yay for going back to work...hope that brings a little more "normal" back to your routine (as if we'll ever really return to the old normal). Trivial Pursuit! That was one of my favorites, but it's been decades (?) since we've opened that box.

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  5. Good new on the medical front! Glad to hear you are feeling so good. I had a K cup of Folgers in my variety pack and it was good! Really hope that tape of you doesn't get out :) lol that's a good one. Do you use the Akismet plugin? It helped me a lot w the spam. Thanks for linking up

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    1. Since I use Blogger, we don't have Akismet. Google catches a lot of the spam, but not all.

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  6. Great to hear that you are beating back the RA and able to “go” to work! Folgers reminds me of my Dad, since that is what he drank when he went upscale from Sanka. I have Akismet blogging spam comments and gmail does too good a job of sorting emails to my spam folder — moving many that are not spam.

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    1. I just found Deborah's comment in my email junk folder. Funny how they let the other stuff through tho!

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  7. Awwe that duck story just made me so sad :(

    Two weekends ago my mom found her old Deluxe Scrabble game so we played that and it was fun!

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  8. I had to laugh when I saw your title, Wendy. I was thinking of using either that or "Good to the Last Drop". Great minds...! :)

    I almost never check my spam folder in my email or on my blog. I guess I should. I could use a good laugh.

    You are a READER! I have been reading more during the lockdown too, no surprise, but my total looks paltry compared to yours. Good for you! Stay safe and have a great weekend.

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    1. There are so many good books right now! And the library keeps rewarding me. I have 3 sitting in my queue as we speak.

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  9. Games. It's hard to play games by yourself and the cats just knock the pieces to the floor for Rigby to chew on. LOL. Words with Friends. That's my jam. Because I need more reasons to stare at my phone all day.

    Dang, I used to read like that! I miss those days. Those books all sound really good, too! I'm ashamed to admit that I haven't read an actual book in a while. I started one - it's by the bed - but ..... I don't even know. I have to work on that.

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  10. I learned the hard way not to put a wreath on my front door that looks like real flowers. A bird built a nest in it, the babies hatch but then had no where to move around and all eventually fell out of the nest on to our front porch. My spring/summer wreath now is flat with metal flowers.

    When you run out of Folgers, I highly recommend Lion Coffee. We're loving the Toasted Coconut. It's cheaper to order directly from Lion (https://www.lioncoffee.com/) than to get it on Amazon ($5 flat rate shipping.)

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  11. So happy that you get back to work & that your joints have improved! Did she have any theories why?

    I'm always sad when I see a broken Robin's egg. They're such a pretty blue. Yes, nature can be cruel in a big way -- and even in small ways.

    We'd had an old Trivial Pursuit like forever. I think it went in one of the previous decluttering phases. Now of course I wish I had it! I do have trouble interesting Mr. Judy in games, though, he'd actually rather watch tv.

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    1. My joints have improved because of the medication I am taking. It's not a miracle, it's not due to diet. Hopefully if things continue, she will consider cutting back on the meds.

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  12. I got two bitcoin emails as well...I guess these crooks have even more time on their hands nowadays.

    Wonderful news about your RA!!! Really happy for you.

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  13. Great news on your bloodwork! It will be a good feeling getting back to on-site work.
    I’m so sad about mama duck. I love seeing little ducklings parade around.
    Have a great weekend!

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    1. While I like being home, working from home is not so fun. Plus I miss my babies!

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  14. Aww I remember Trivia being one of the hardest games to the point where it really wasn't fun...lol Maybe that's just me..lol
    I'm glad that you had good news from your R.A dr. Hopefully you will feel refreshed enough to be ready to go back to work those few days a week.
    I have not noticed much spam on the blog, but I have noticed every once in a while I will get what I think to be spammers or bots following me on IG. They are people I would doubt are interested in stuff I post and when I check their profile they have something to do with Bit Coin....so odd.

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    1. I know about Bitcoin but does anyone really use it? Seems so dark web...

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  15. I'm so glad you got some good news from your doc!

    The spam has been ridiculous lately...so much! Thank goodness for Akismet or it would probably be worse.

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  16. Hey Wendy! Hope you see this :) the best book I've read in lockdown so far is Beth O'Leary's The Flatshare. Would also recommend Tweet Cute by Emma Lord. I read a whole bunch of other stuff, some which you recommended (I think I mentioned I read Nothing To See Here and Kitchens of The Great Midwest), and just finished The Holdout. I hope we get a film soon! I also really enjoyed the Alex Rider series by Anthony Horowitz (it's YA haha), the latest book was released in April. If that's not really your kind of thing you can check out The Magpie Murders, and also the short series he wrote featuring Detective Daniel Hawthorne (The Sentence is Death, The Word is Murder etc). I'm not sure if I mentioned this before as well, but Amor Towles' books are excellent and A Gentleman In Moscow is a good read for these times.
    Peter Swanson's books were enjoyable too - Eight Perfect Murders, Before She Knew Him etc. And for something really mindless but still decent, The Bromance Book Club series by Lyssa Kay Adams.
    P/s I also totally understand about the cleaning lady not being thorough. I'm thankful for mine but wow! So much dust in unseen places. Haha.

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    1. My son read all those Alex Rider books when he was growing up. He loved them! I didn't know he was still writing them.

      Thanks for all the recommendations!

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  17. Ughh, I got one where they threatened to release a video of me watching ~*dirty videos*~ online if I didn't send them $1100 (so oddly specific?) right away. Suuuureee, I'll get right on that.

    I'm so glad you got good news from your rheumatologist! <3

    That's so sad about the mama duck and her eggs. :(

    I haven't read any of those yet but will have to add em' to my to-read list! I recently finished Maybe You Should Talk To Someone and Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine--both were great books!

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  18. High 5 on your rheumatologist report! Going into work 2 days a week sounds like a good balance. I haven't been reading very much but I've got a good one going right now, The Third Wife by Lisa Jewell.

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  19. Wendy, I can relate about the nest. We had a bird's nest tucked in the corner of a column on our front porch. We had heavy wind and rain Wednesday night, and when I went out the door to run Thursday morning, I saw the nest was gone and all of the not-yet-hatched chicks on our porch and driveway. It was such a sad sight. I am not reading any good, holding-my-interest books lately, so I will definitely save this post so I can add these titles to my list! Thanks for catching up with us over coffee!

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    1. That's so sad about your nest! Nature is so cruel. Let me know what books you pick!

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  20. I came in from a walk/run last week one morning and found a broken Robin egg next to our driveway and it made me quite sad. At first I thought it was a bluebird egg which would have devastated us because we have houses for bluebirds and love watching them from our kitchen windows. I feel like they're our babies.

    How exciting that your joint health is improving! And I'm happy you're going to be able to go back to work soon. Our governor is planning to announce on Monday what, if anything, can start reopening. I doubt gyms will be on the list, though, so I may be keeping it virtual for a while longer.

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    1. I'm really surprised we're reopening anything--cases have plateaued, not dropped. With the beautiful weather we're having, I expect that to continue. I think this is going to be with us for a long time.

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  21. A lot of good news there, I'm so glad for you (apart from the poor ducks). I am reading LESS as I am working so full-time at the moment plus all other activities seem to take longer than normal. But I am reading and well and working and earning and running, so I'll take that.

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  22. I am currently working on Dune and just finished The Geography of Lost Things. I do some puzzles and some cross stitch. Games are hard here.

    We are still mostly in. This week, we are probably going to stay really low, just because everything is opening and we don't know what that's going to look like. In fact, a few places were trying to open that shouldn't have been (indoor play places, for example), so it's really throwing wrenches into everything. Today was the last day of restricted beach access so we took advantage of that and it was fairly nice. Tomorrow, the beaches open regular hours with unrestricted activities, so I imagine it will be chaos. We are just doing the best we can.

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