I didn’t have a break after coming home from vacation – it’s back to normal as usual except I was dealing with an upper respiratory illness. I don’t know if it was a cold or rsv or what not – I didn’t have much nasal congestion, mostly a cough and finally my voice is 90% back to normal! I do still cough in the early, early morning probably due to the colder air and post nasal drip but most of the day I’m fine.
Another contributor to my cough/sinus/etc…is that Mauna Loa, a volcano, on the Big Island is erupting. I live on Oahu which is about a 30 minutes flight away – you literally go up and down! I haven’t been there in 20 years which is kind of a shame – I have relatives there and my dad often goes but we stopped making casual trips when flights got expensive. Anyway, the smoke from the volcano makes it’s way over to our island and there is vog in the air – it’s like smog, but not brown polluted air – it’s hazy and when there is no wind it lingers over the island, my allergies go into high gear, I get a headache sometimes. It’s been windy since yesterday so I feel much better but I’m not looking forward to the days where there will be no wind.
My kids have one more week of school then it is Winter Break, plus my husband is moving to Okinawa next Sunday – I’m just taking it day by day! But he’s stressed about what to bring and what to expect when he gets there, and I’m not super stressed unless I look at the calendar and think of the things I have to do by myself. 🙄 I’m in a half annoyed and half “oh well it is what it is” mood. He won’t be here for Christmas and our daughter’s 6th birthday first week of January and yes…I still have to plan it. 😕 So my calendar stresses me out right now! lol…so I try not to look at it! 😜
It’s been a busy week! So I haven’t done much reading – hoping I can do much more reading this week but we shall see!
Books I Read:
Currently Reading:
Shows/Movies I Watched:
Laguna Beach (Netflix) – talk about nostalgia!!! Just seeing all of the people on the show using Motorola flip phones made me miss that time. I loved my Motorola flip phone lol.
How was your week? Did you get a lot done? Watch anything good? Read any amazing books or books you didn’t finish? What are you reading?…Leave me a comment below!
Well it happened – my family and I survived out first family trip together! We flew into JFK airport in New York – where my son threw up during the descent. It was an 8 hour flight and my daughter’s first time on a plane – I was exhausted but we still had to get to Philadelphia. So we get our rental where my hubby freaks out because he thinks he left his phone on the airplane. Let’s just say…it was a tense moment – so tense that he didn’t realize until 15 minutes later after having someone help him at the rental place to call the airlines and asked if there was a lost phone…that said phone – had fallen to the floor under the car’s steering wheel. 🤦🏻♀️ After that we made the 2 hour drive to Philly, hungry, anxious – trying to listen to my husband’s old GPS device (dunno why he just didn’t use his phone – seriously…) -made it to our air bnb after getting turned around a few times, and dealing with aggressive drivers. My son barfed one more time when we reached our final destination – thank god I took the extra barf bags from the plane!
Philadelphia Skyline
Philadelphia ZooPlease Touch MuseumPlease Touch Museum Space Room
Oh and we went from 85 degrees in Hawaii to like 40 degrees. So that was fun! 😅 I did not pack enough warm clothes – we learned to layer! Our air bnb was an old house but close to where my husband grew up so it was the perfect place and not too far from Center City in Philadelphia. We had a busy week in Philly. We went to The Philadelphia Zoo, the Please Touch Museum, The Academy of Natural Sciences and the kids favorite The Franklin Institute! We even drove down to Delaware to visit my husband’s cousin and visited a best friend of his as well. Philadelphia was lots of fun, just super cold while we were there.
Freezing at the Zoo! Luminature at Philadelphia ZooPhiladelphia Museum of ArtAcademy of Natural Sciences of Drexel UniversityThe Franklin InstitutePendulumThis made me feel so old LOL
The day before Thanksgiving we made the trek almost 5 hours up to Poughkeepsie, New York where my sister and mother-in-law lives. For the most part it was a nice drive – kind of long but we made it. I wish we had seen fall leaves but they had fallen by then. I can imagine how beautiful a drive it would be with the changing leaves. Thanksgiving was a family affair and a success despite all the chaos of 3 families in the house. We did one activity in Poughkeepsie which was the Walkway Over the Hudson. It was a lovely walk on a bridge over the Hudson river until it got super cold and I felt like I couldn’t get warm enough – I think that’s when I actually caught a cold. The rest of the week we hung out at the house with family and my daughter had a wonderful time playing with their cat, Harry.
Harry – my sister in law’s handsome cat!Kitty my mother-in-law’s catReady to walk over the Hudson River
Walkway over the Hudson River
The day before our flight we drove from Poughkeepsie to Tarrytown (or Sleepy Hollow) to visit another best friend of my husband’s. I was feeling pretty poorly – my throat hurt but I had no fever or body chills thank goodness. I wish it was day time so we could actually see the town but it was night time. After that we drove another hour into New York City to a hotel next to the airport. I barely survived – barely got any sleep before it was morning and we had to eat breakfast, and get to the airport. Our flight home was 11 hours long and of course my period decided to come 6 days early! I bought some bottled water, wore my mask on the plane – tried to sleep. I was so proud of my kids for surviving that long of a flight. 🙏🏼 We got home with me barely having a voice. I’m still trying to recover my voice. I have some coughing but glad there is no fever and body aches or chills!
My dog, Atlas, is back to trying to figure out his routine. They had fireworks going on in my parents’ neighborhood so he was freaked out over that and lost some weight – he needed to lose weight anyway lol. My family said Atlas shadowed my mom a lot around the house. He picked up some interesting new behaviors – I think my dad let him run wild. So I’m trying to retrain him on some things! But other than that – my kids went back to school, I’m trying to deal with jet lag and waking up too early. Trying to blog! I finished the laundry and unpacking, I even wrapped xmas gifts. I still have half my xmas list to finish! 😆 And my hubby leaves for Okinawa at a later date, Dec. 18th…but still…so much to do, so little time.
But it’s nice to be home! How have you all been? I hope you had a nice Thanksgiving if you celebrated!
I managed to finish only 2 books while on vacation – there was just too much to do and family to meet with.
Books I Read:
Currently Reading:
Shows/Movies I Watched:
Wednesday (Netflix) – I managed to watch 2 episodes on the plane but I’m just that person who starts watching something on the plane and start falling asleep. Same for reading – I just cannot do it on the plane. Next time I should just do coloring books or word search puzzles or something! Anyway I finished the whole series when I came home and love it. Wednesday speaks to my Scorpio soul lol.
How was your week? Did you get a lot done? Watch anything good? Read any amazing books or books you didn’t finish? What are you reading?…Leave me a comment below!
We got through this week! Almost thought my daughter’s cold was coming back but it’s been allergies because mine has been acting up too so Flonase for her and Claritin for me has helped. She did get eaten by mosquitoes on Thursday when she went on her first field trip – she doesn’t get a break does she? 😅 But she is a trooper!
I’ve started packing just to see what will fit in my luggage and honestly, packing warm clothing is taking lots room (our summer trip would have been filled with shorts and tank tops 😅). And it’s so sad – my kids barely own any long pants and definitely no long sleeves. My daughter always tells me her feet sweat in socks and I told her oh well she’ll be wearing them on the trip! It will be such an experience for them. My son has been to Nebraska to visit relatives but this will be my daughter’s first plane trip and it’s an 8 hour one. I guess it will be practice for when we visit their dad in Japan next year! We are excited, but I’m excited/anxious/worried – mostly because my indoor dog will have to be an outdoor dog for a few days when he goes to my mom’s house. So I’m worried my spoiled boy will be a little stressed. He gets to hang out with his cousin Tucker who is fully an outside dog. 😆
So I’ll be gone on Wednesday – I’ll still have post go live while I’m gone because they are pre-written but I won’t be replying to any messages until I come back Nov. 30th.
My sister also wanted to do an early Thanksgiving Lunch today since we won’t be here for actual Thanksgiving, so we get to eat today! I don’t think we’ll have turkey but we will have food and pumpkin pie.
I was kind of in the mood for rom-coms and started on some arcs that I was gonna save for later. But it works out and helps me knock them off my list!
Books I Read:
Currently Reading:
Shows/Movies I Watched:
Falling for Christmas (Netflix) – it’s kinda nice to see Lindsay Lohan doing movies again. This one was cute and christmassy.
How was your week? Did you get a lot done? Watch anything good? Read any amazing books or books you didn’t finish? What are you reading?…Leave me a comment below!
The idea is pretty simple, every week you dedicate a post to the three W’s:
What are you currently reading?
What have you just finished reading?
What are you going to read next?
My mind is trying to make sure my kids get through this week of school and trying to find someone to dog sit for us when we go on vacay and actually packing for vacay! My brain is everywhere….😅
Another month, another book haul! Have you gotten a lot of good books lately?
NETGALLEY::
A cynical tarot card reader seeks to uncover the truth about her friend’s mysterious death in this delightfully clever whodunit.
For Katie True, a keen gut and quick wit are just tools of the trade. After a failed attempt at adulting in Chicago, she’s back in the suburbs living a bit too close to her overbearing parents, jumping from one dead-end job to the next, and flipping through her tarot deck for guidance. Then along comes Marley.
Mysterious, worldly, and comfortable in her own skin, Marley takes a job at the mall where Katie peddles Russian tchotchkes. The two just get each other. Marley doesn’t try to fix Katie’s life or pretend to be someone she’s not, and Katie thinks that with Marley’s friendship she just might make it through this rough patch after all. So one day, having been encouraged by Marley to practice soothsaying, Katie reads tarot for someone who stumbles into her shop. But when she sneaks a glance at his phone, she finds more than just clairvoyant intel. She finds a photo. Of Marley. With a gunshot wound to the head.
The bottom falls out of Katie’s world. Her best friend is dead? Who killed her? She quickly realizes there are some things her tarot cards can’t foresee, and she must put her razor-sharp instincts to the ultimate test. But the truth has deadly consequences, and Katie’s recklessness lands her in the crossfire of a threat she never saw coming. Now Katie must use her street smarts and her inner Strength card to solve Marley’s murder—or risk losing everything.
Maude is the daughter of witches. She spent her childhood running wild with her best friend, Odette, weaving stories of girls who slayed dragons and saved princes. Then Maude grew up and lost her magic—and her best friend.
These days, magic is toothless, reduced to glamour patches and psychic energy drinks found in supermarkets and shopping malls. Odette has always hungered for forbidden, dangerous magic, and two weeks ago she went searching for it. Now she’s missing, and everyone says she’s dead. Everyone except Maude.
Storytelling has always been Maude’s gift, so she knows all about girls who get lost in the woods. She’s sure she can find Odette inside the ruins of Sicklehurst, an abandoned power plant built over an ancient magical forest—a place nobody else seems to remember is there. The danger is, no one knows what remains inside Sicklehurst, either. And every good story is sure to have a monster.
Nova Albright was going to be the first Black homecoming queen at Lovett High—but now she’s dead. Murdered on coronation night. Fans of One of Us Is Lying and The Other Black Girl will love this unputdownable thriller.
Nova Albright, the first Black homecoming queen at Lovett High, is dead. Murdered the night of her coronation, her body found the next morning in the old slave cemetery she spent her weekends rehabilitating.
Tinsley McArthur was supposed to be queen. Not only is she beautiful, wealthy, and white, it’s her legacy—her grandmother, her mother, and even her sister wore the crown before her. Everyone in Lovett knows Tinsley would do anything to carry on the McArthur tradition.
No one is more certain of that than Duchess Simmons, Nova’s best friend. Duchess’s father is the first Black police captain in Lovett. For Duchess, Nova’s crown was more than just a win for Nova. It was a win for all the Black kids. Now her best friend is dead, and her father won’t fact the fact that the main suspect is right in front of him. Duchess is convinced that Tinsley killed Nova—and that Tinsley is privileged enough to think she can get away with it. But Duchess’s father seems to be doing what he always does: fall behind the blue line. Which means that the white girl is going to walk.
Duchess is determined to prove Tinsley’s guilt. And to do that, she’ll have to get close to her.
But Tinsley has an agenda, too.
Everyone loved Nova. And sometimes, love is exactly what gets you killed.
A damsel in distress takes on the dragon herself in this epic twist on classic fantasy—a groundbreaking collaboration between New York Times bestselling author Evelyn Skye and the team behind the upcoming Netflix film Damsel, starring Millie Bobbie Brown.
Elodie never dreamed of a lavish palace or a handsome prince. Growing up in the famine-stricken realm of Inophe, her deepest wish was to help her people survive each winter. So when a representative from a rich, reclusive kingdom offers her family enough wealth to save Inophe in exchange for Elodie’s hand in marriage, she accepts without hesitation. Swept away to the glistening kingdom of Aurea, Elodie is quickly taken in by the beauty of the realm—and of her betrothed, Prince Henry.
But as Elodie undertakes the rituals to become an Aurean princess, doubts prick at her mind as cracks in the kingdom’s perfect veneer begin to show: A young girl who appears and vanishes from the castle tower. A parade of torches weaving through the mountains. Markings left behind in a mysterious “V.” Too late, she discovers that Aurea’s prosperity has been purchased at a heavy cost—each harvest season, the kingdom sacrifices its princesses to a hungry dragon. And Elodie is the next sacrifice.
This ancient arrangement has persisted for centuries, leading hundreds of women to their deaths. But the women who came before Elodie did not go quietly. Their blood pulses with power and memory, and their experiences hold the key to Elodie’s survival. Forced to fight for her life, this damsel must use her wits to defeat a dragon, uncover Aurea’s past, and save not only herself, but the future of her new kingdom as well.
KINDLE UNLIMITED: 0
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ONLINE LIBRARY:: 0
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PHYSICAL BOOKS Gifted by Author:
Immortality isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, especially for the 3,375-year-old virgin of Mount Olympus.
Day after day, the God of Love launches his arrows, then watches from the sidelines while everyone else has all the fun. On a mischievous whim, Cupid sends a love-tipped arrow into the wrong rump—and the gods sentence him to a taste of his own medicine.
Banished from the only home he’s ever known, Cupid plunges to Earth and lands in present-day Tarra, Indiana, where mortals go on about their daily routines, oblivious to the capricious gods stirring the pot from above. Delighted to discover his wings and pubescent pudge have been transformed into a magnificent human body, Cupid swiftly leaves his virginity behind.
But his carnal spree is cut short when he falls passionately in love for the first time in his immortal life, and he understands the full measure of his punishment: he must find the Right Love match for the mortal he desperately loves, and then he must let her go.
Caught between two worlds on a quest to fix Love, Cupid must survive the violent throes of his own coming of age and triumph over the powerful gods conspiring against him. Failure will not be tolerated; success will cost him everything.
First Quiver is an irreverent, contemporary twist on mythology and the struggle between duty and love, a battle as old as the gods themselves. Content Advisory: This book is intended for mature audiences and contains explicit sexual activity and strong language
**I wanted to mention I was devastated by that Halloween incident in Itaewon, South Korea. I was devastated seeing that news before Halloween and I pray for those young souls lost so tragically.🙏🏼** So heartbreaking.💔
It was Halloween on Monday and it was a busy day for us. I was so happy my kids’ school chose Nov. 1st as their waiver day (school closed) – so we didn’t have to wake up early the next morning! They had a school parade in the morning. Then at night we went trick or treating. I bought about 5 or 6 big bags of candy – I made 40+ goody bags for their classmates – the rest went into the candy bowl to pass out. We had a LOT of candy to pass out! Usually we leave the bowls out by the steps and go trick or treating. By the time we came back to the house the bowls of candy was almost empty. By the end of the night I think I refilled the 2 candy bowls twice? And we were left with only a handful at the end of the night. Here are some of the pics from that day and night:
Can you guess what my kids are? My son is a red PIKMIN (a Nintendo game character from the Pikmin game). And my daughter is Pikachu – the ears on her hood is flat in the picture but they are there lol. And yes my son is in slippers (as we call them in Hawaii, flip flops on the mainland lol) – it was 80 degrees outside! My hubby and I were Peanut Butter (him) and Jelly(me). We loved seeing the houses that go all out on decorating! I wish we had as much motivation to do it lol…but it gets expensive. There was one house that was a bit too scary for my kids – it had some ghostly girl swinging on the porch and a creature thing that looked like it didn’t do anything until you stood there long enough and it screamed at you. 🤣
The skeleton house is always popular and the skeletons are SO huge! My kids say it’s their favorite house on Halloween. And then my daughter and I found this one woman who was dressed as a fortune teller and was in full character, asking my daughter to ask her a question, etc… SO cool!
The rest of the week went quick – my birthday was on Friday and we went to dinner at the Cheesecake Factory.
I loved my daughter’s drawing that she made me on Procreate. And yes her name is Layla…can you tell? 😅🥰 Me and the kids are lactose intolerant so we had to take some Lactaid tablets to enjoy the hot fudge sundae. We didn’t have cheesecake because I’d need like 2 more lactaid for that. Cheesecake is hard on my tummy and I only became lactose intolerant in my 40’s. SAD huh? My favorite used to be the Oreo Cheesecake or the Pumpkin Cheesecake…both of which is painful to eat now. 😩
We are counting down the days to our trip…so I’m trying to figure out who can take care of our dog for 2 weeks 😢 – our vet is full, a home sitter I found on Rover.com with good reviews said she’s not available for the dates we are gone. Bummer…so…last resort is he goes to my mom’s house but she doesn’t allow dogs in the house, their dog is an outside dog and it’s a busy/rough neighborhood. I guess I’ll check with one more vet that was recommended…and see what they say. 🤞🏽
World Series Major League Baseball – Phillies lost, oh well! But the Astros had really good pitchers.
Selena Gomez – My Mind & Me – I can feel her sadness through this documentary 😦 but I’m glad she is healing. I loved the scenes of her going back to the small town she grew up in.
How was your week? Did you get a lot done? Watch anything good? Read any amazing books or books you didn’t finish? What are you reading?…Leave me a comment below!
The idea is pretty simple, every week you dedicate a post to the three W’s:
What are you currently reading?
What have you just finished reading?
What are you going to read next?
It’s November! Can you believe it? I can’t! I haven’t read a lot this week and I won’t be reading a lot in the coming month because *crossing fingers my kids will not get another cold* I’m supposed to go on vacation in 2 weeks.
What are you currently reading?
What have you just finished reading?
What are you going to read next?
I only have these 2 December arcs to finish reading and then I can move on to my 2023 arcs…can you believe it? 2023? I’m not ready!
Well the week started off good! We went to a Halloween party my cousin was throwing at her condo – or the area behind her condo. My kids had some fun time with their cousins and ran all over the place. My cousin bought like all the Halloween games and kid activities from Target! We had a blast.
But then my daughter’s cold…came back. Day after the party she was congested and had a runny nose and then her cough came back. And then her brother got her cold two days after her. So it’s been lots of sneezing, runny nose and coughing again in my house. I’ve actually been lucky to not catch it myself even though my daughter coughs in my face all the time!
So will we actually be going on our East Coast trip in 2 weeks or is she going to have another cold? Seems like she has a cold every two weeks and my son gets it once a month. 🙁 I will say she did better this time around and got better quicker? So I hope her immune system is getting stronger because it’s being bombarded with germs.
In other news my grandma, who lives in the Philippines turned 100 years old! My mom (it’s her mom) and dad left for the PI 2 weeks ago and will be there for another week. They planned a surprise birthday bash for it, which is exciting for all of them. I wish we could’ve gone but I did manage to facetime to wish her a happy birthday and she got to see my kids – even though the connection was bad.
I hope all of you had a good week and a wonderful week ahead of you! Happy Halloween to those who celebrated! 🎃
So I fell into a reading slump for a few days – I think it was because my kids were sick again and I just felt tired. Anyway I did manage to finish two books at the end of the week. But I feel like my reading is slowing down as the busiest time of the year approaches.
Books I Read:
Currently Reading:
Shows/Movies I Watched:
House of Dragons (HboMax) – looking forward to next season!
World Series Major League Baseball – because the Phillies are in it and my hubby is from Philadelphia so we have to support them, even though we never watch baseball 😅
How was your week? Did you get a lot done? Watch anything good? Read any amazing books or books you didn’t finish? What are you reading?…Leave me a comment below!
It was a good week and my daughter is done with her antibiotics and the flonase is helping a lot with allergies so I’m happy! They had a school carnival and yes it’s late October but it was about 85 degrees with the sun making me sweat – my weather app says “it feels like” 90 degrees. Let’s just say we played most of the games and left after 30 minutes because my shirt was kind of drenched in sweat. Gross. Other than that we have a Halloween party my cousin is throwing today so that should be fun.
This week will be Parent Conference week which means my kids will be let out early for 2 weeks so they can get through all these meetings. Ours is on Wednesday so I hope I hear great things! Can you believe October is almost over? I can’t!
I hope all of you had a good week and a wonderful week ahead of you!
How was your week? Did you get a lot done? Watch anything good? Read any amazing books or books you didn’t finish? What are you reading?…Leave me a comment below!
Past Midnight Book Reviews & More 