Monday, April 30, 2012

What I am into this month: April

Still just greening.
On My Nightstand: I'm still reading An Omnivore's Dilemma and Changer (sidenote: if you want an eclectic, though-provoking author-blog to add to your reading list, I highly recommend Jane Lindskold's). I've started both Introverts in the Church and Here I Stand: A Biography of Martin Luther, both of which the DDH got me for Easter. I'm slogging or have slogged through a million billion baby books (or at least it feels that way).

I did actually read the entirety of Free Range Kids. Unfortunately, I then decided it would be a good idea to give it to the DDH to read, and he has proceeded to provide me with a list of the exact charges he would level against Skenazy after DHS took her kids and she ended up in his courtroom.

Never marry a lawyer, ladies. -_-

I also read all of Having a Baby, a pregnancy/baby book that my mom read when she was pregnant with me in the mid eighties, written by Danielle Steel (yes, that Danielle Steel, of bodice-ripping romance novel fame) and six of her friends who were all pregnant at the same time in 1983 or so. It was hilarious (please click the link and look at the cover. I implore you). And reassuring? Also, apparently less than thirty years ago women not only still drank while pregnant but drove around in cars with their babies on their laps instead of in car seats. What the what.

Want to Read: The books that I've already begun! Ouch. I blame the fact that I've been opting for naps and worry over reading lately.

Oh! If you want some excellent book suggestions from a variety of ladies 'round the web, check out Anne at Modern Mrs. Darcy's Book Carnival going on today! Really some excellent suggestions.

TV Show Worth Watching: Once Upon a Time, Grimm, Castle, Bones. CommunityAlcatraz. The usual.

The DDH and I have also been watching Mad Men on Netflix. We finished season one and are working on season two. That show is simultaneously BORING and engrossing. It is so. slow. Like snails high on weed crawling through molasses. And every last character is a jerk and/or a creep. BUT. They're all so fascinating, in a train-wreck kind of way. A gorgeous, beautifully costumed, impeccably set, stoned-molasses-snail train wreck.

Movies I've Seen (in or out of a theater): We may or may not have rented a movie or two at some point. When it gets windy (aka every day in the spring), our internet gets unreliable because the giant untrimmed trees snag the cable that leads to our house. I feel certain the DDH rented some movies to remedy this, but I can't even remember. This month has been a haze of all-day-sickness and exhaustion.

More importantly: The Hunger Games. Here is my review: The DDH agreed to go see the movie after I had read the first book, but said that young adult novels are dumb and he doesn't read them. We saw the movie Friday night. Saturday he bought the first book on his Kindle.

In My Ears: I hate music right now. This is apparently my pregnancy aversion: noise.

What I'm looking forward to next month: More appointments. Starting to tell more people (though not telling work...I mean, I'll have to eventually, but I'm not looking forward to it. Or to deciding what my plan actually is about work in the future). This mystical sense of well-being and energy that I have been promised will be mine in the second trimester.

Goal Progress: I posted some goals for the new year, and I figured these monthly wrap-up posts would be a good chance to check my progress throughout 2012.
The Budget: I don't even know. We're fine right now. Still trying to figure out what's going to be what with my work situation in the next few months/years.
The Garden: I ate a snap pea off the vine yesterday. It was delicious. We also planted six tomatoes, four peppers, and a ground cherry plant on Friday.

Food: No @#%$ comment. Blech.

The Craft Room: Miraculously I did actually work on this some the other day and might even share my progress on here at some point.

What a difference a month makes--when that month is April!
How are you doing on your 2012 goals? What are you looking forward to in May?

6 comments:

  1. Thank you, thank you, thank you for imploring me to click on the link and see the Danielle Steele book cover. *still laughing*

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    1. The Eighties were a magical time. I love it.

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  2. So Alcatraz is good, yes? We need a new series. Is it on Hulu?

    I also found Mad Men to be sooooooo boring and so depressing from the view of what life was like for women in that era. I mean, sure, the clothes are gorgeous, but LIFE? UGH. I couldn't make it through the first few episodes.

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    1. It is. I missed the first few episodes because Hyphen just decided to watch it without me, and I'm still not entirely sure that he understands that I want to watch it, too, because I haven't seen an episode in weeks and I'm not sure if that's because the show was on a break or because he's been watching them without me. But yes, the Hulu.

      I think, with Mad Men, that if you stick with it long enough, it treats that issue in really interesting ways. Peggy, for instance, starts as a secretary but begins to do "men's work" writing copy for ads, and it's really interesting how they handle that, her being treated as "one of the boys" (celebratory scotch all around!) and also as this weird special breed (she does ads only for lady's products, lipsticks and things, at least so far as we've gotten), and how the other writers treat her versus how Don, the boss writer, who is this nasty adulterous womanizer in his personal life, obviously also respects her more than his male subordinates and recognizes that she is more talented than they. The character of Don's wife, Betty, is also super interesting.

      But because the pacing of the show is so torturously slow, and because they follow so. many. characters and subplots, it's really hard to appreciate it except in retrospect.

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  3. Hmmm. I've been thinking of starting Mad men one of these days. I'm not really sure what to make of your review! Snails on weed in molasses? Ha!

    Love your Hunger Games review :)

    And thanks for the carnival shout out!

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    1. I hear everyone talk about it, but I figured it wouldn't be something the DDH would want to watch so I never even suggested it. Then he started watching it without me (story of my life).

      I don't know what to make of my review either, because I don't know what to make of the show! I think "stoned snails in molasses" is a perfectly accurate description, but so is "completely fascinating." I gave Megan some more details in my reply to her above. I don't know! I'll be interested to hear what you think if you try it.

      Haha, yes! It was really good. Admittedly I don't think he's actually started reading it yet, nor will he by the next two so I don't have to wait for them to come in at the library until he knows if he likes it. Sigh.

      You're welcome! It was fun. ^_^

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