August 2021

 

Not only were eating/exercise not great during August, but September is almost over and I haven't even finished up my monthly post yet. And just so you know ... September is even worse weight-wise :(

Weight, had a little drop but then back up. Fasting hours haven't been great, and I've struggled to keep up the motivation to keep a record of caloric intake (you can see I missed a day there, and there were some general estimates where I wasn't really tracking well). 

Steps and Sleep ... sleep seems okay.

I did keep up my 10k streak at least, but nothing close to a 30k day. #4 son has been crazy with the steps though! Zumba, elliptical, treadmill throughout the month. Lots of ping pong and pickleball. Only two weight sessions.

What I Watched While Working Out ...

Back to HBO (Hubs figured out how to get it included on our phone plan), watching a couple series there. Mare of Easttown was pretty good, I wasn't exactly sure where it would end up. Limited series, wrapped up, not really set for a follow-up. Hubs and I had tried Watchmen a while back, but had only gotten a couple episodes in. I actually had to try and figure out what I had seen and where I was, but needed the refresher. STRANGE series, and I guess it ended at the one season. It did catch my interest and kept me coming back though. A couple movies, one old (Confessions - cute, I'd seen it before. Lots of good music in it) and new, Reminiscence ... this was weird. I liked it okay. Very film noir (I'd piggy backed some of my son's classes last year, one being film studies, thus the reference there). Seemed to have a couple references (both the leading lady, and the rooftop laundry line) to The Greatest Showman. Now CougarTown ... that one has been going on for a while for me. It's my "weight workout" show, one that I don't really have to watch closely, one that I'm okay only catching a couple times a month. I really enjoy this crazy, wacky show. So silly. In the last year or so I think I've finished up season 5 and season 6 ... which wrapped up the series.

Books ... 17 for the month. Mostly audio. I just have much more "ear" time than "eye" time. And my eyes are not going great, I should get in and get checked. It's that time ... I guess I need glasses (it's been a good run, I've outlasted all my siblings!) 

• The Martian - I've heard the Ray Porter narration is better than this Wil Wheaton narration, but other than some "Ready Player One" flashbacks (he narrated that as well) I thought it was good. I had seen the movie some years ago, which I'd really liked, so I did have a basic idea of the storyline going in. Lots of science/physics/chemistry stuff mentioned (but as I went through chemistry and physics with my son during online learning, it was interesting to me to catch some of it). This was included temporarily in AudiblePlus, so I wanted to get the listen in while it was free for me.  4.5 stars.
  
• The Midwife's Revolt, Our Own Country and A More Perfect Union - Historical fiction in early-America years featuring Abigail Adams. A trilogy of sorts, books 1 and 2 have many of the same things happening at the same time, but two different character perspectives. The final book is several years after book 2 ends. The first was my favorite I think. These were included in KindleUnlimited (both text and audio). Four stars for the first two, three stars for the third book.
  
• The Bright Side of Going Dark - cute contemporary, duel POV, featuring a "social influencer" as one story line (turning off her phone, as the title suggests). Kindle Unlimited (text and audio). 4 stars.
  
• The Invisible Life of Addie Larue - heard SO much buzz about this, and I did like it. The title character and the basic premise of "living years unchanged" resembles "Age of Adeline" (although the similarities end there). Borrowed from my library. Julia Whelan narrating. 4 stars.
• Hope (by Marc Levy) - I've read a few by this author (several included in KU, text and audio) and this was a favorite. A romance wUnbith a little futuristic sci-fi thrown in. Can you preserve a person's soul? 4 stars.
  
• Confessions of a Jane Austin Addict - this one didn't do it for me. Time travel, modern JA fan transported back into P&P times. Library borrow. Two stars. 
• Pride and Premeditation - another "Austen-esque" story that didn't quite do it for me. P&P retelling, murder mystery. I'm not sure why Elizabeth was so young in this (just 15).  Library borrow. 2.5 stars.
  
• All That's Left of Me - For some reason I thought this was going to be a fun/light "wishes come true" story, but it was pretty heavy (trigger warning, sexual harassment/rape). Does make you think about what would happen if what you wished for came to pass. KindleUnlimited, text and audio. 3 stars.
• The Rose Code - WW2 drama ... there's been lots of buzz about this book too, maybe my expectations were too high? It was good, but felt a little over-the-top with all that happened (the spy story). Two timelines, both in the 1940s (during the war and after). Three POVs, although all third person, one narrator. 3.5 stars.
• The Girls in the Attic - WW2 drama, included with Kindle Unlimited (text and audio). Good narration with "German accent" (as the characters are German). I wasn't sure where the story was going, it kept me guessing. 4 stars.
• The Second Blind Son - 2nd in a series, and it had been a while since I'd read book one (The First Girl Child) and I didn't really remember it. But reviews said this was more of a companion book than a sequel. Overlapping timelines, different perspective ... so I figured it would be okay if I didn't feel fresh on the first book. While I've loved many of this author's other works, this series is just so-so for me. Fantasy. Included in KU with text and audio. 3 stars.
• The Coldest Girl In Coldtown - for some reason the "cold" in the title always made me think of "Warm Bodies" and thus zombies ... but this is vampires. Interesting premise (turning "cold" but not yet a vampire) but the "cold" is more related to the MC broadcasting blogger news.  Liked it but didn't love it, not sure I'll continue on with the series. Library borrow. 3 stars. 
• The Wrong Unit - my one "read" for the month. It was fine, but didn't keep me hooked and I struggled a bit to get through it and was relieved when I was done. Futuristic sci-fi/robots and some crazy technology and world happenings. 2.5 stars. Kindle Unlimited, text only (whispersync audio was available for $7.49 but this was short, or so I thought!)
  
• Leaving Blythe River - I've read several by this author, and they are a little hit and miss for me. This was a miss. Shifting time frames, and it just wasn't believable at all (for a book that's supposed to be on the realistic side). Searching for a father lost in the wilderness. Included in KU, text and audio. 2 stars.
• Sooley - John Grisham in a non-courtroom novel. This didn't FEEL like a novel at the start. The way it was written, and narrated, it sounded so similar to "The Boys in the Boat"  and "Unbroken" ... I had to stop and Google to see if this (the character, the story) was real.  While loosely based on a real person, this was fiction (with some situational facts, the war, etc) and ... depressing! It left me down, but 3 stars for the writing. Borrowed from my library. 

 

 

As far as family ...

We had birthday week (two boys at the end of August, one first week of September), the start of school (a sophomore, a senior and one SLCC/Skydiving). #2 and his wife had a Hawaii getaway, and Hubs hit the red rock of Moab in the RZR. For me, it was Zumba, pickleball and Pokemon with #4. Speaking of #4, he's been doing great with his exercise (jogging on the treadmill in addition to our pickleball) and has been getting some driving in (finally!) Haircuts, a good watermelon summer, and lots of food.

When Hubs was young, his family would find caterpillars and watch them turn into monarch butterflies. Monarchs have really been struggling for survival in today's world, and while Hubs has wanted to share this experience with the boys, we've not been able to find caterpillars, haven't seen a monarch in the wild in years and years. We've had a patch of milkweed in our flowerbed in the hopes that someday a butterfly would stop by. It finally happened. I can't believe the luck that I had just arrived home and looked over and saw the small flutter and recognized it immediately. I got a video to share with Hubs, and noticed as Mrs. Monarch made a stop on one of the small shoots. She left us an egg! So even though the boys are older now, we've been watching our little egg hatch and "Pilly" eat and grow!