These pictures really don’t match what I’m about to talk about, but they’re adorable. Her sweater has a hood, ears, AND a little pouf tail. How can you not love her in this??? Yes. We match. I’m insane.
Two weeks ago, we started the moving process into our new and bigger apartment. Beau loves having all the extra room to run around. We have two spare rooms. One will be my office, and the other is her bedroom – guests will use it when they visit. After moving in, we realized there was some water damage from the previous tenants. The apartment management has dealt with it really well, and it is being taken care of. All the work that needs to be done does take time. Contractors are coming in and out. Everything is in boxes because we can’t really put anything away with all the work still being done.
Beau has been an absolute trooper. She has to be in her box or shut up in a room with me while the contractors work because they’re scared of her. I don’t think she’s completely for sure we’re staying here because the boxes haven’t been unpacked yet. Her anxiety has been a bit high the last week with the uncertainty. We’ve had a few instances of stress peeing. She didn’t even realize she did it. I was a little worried it was a UTI, but she’s just fine. Stressed. Poor baby had to wear a doggy diaper for a little bit. She looked so sad and pathetic.
We’ve gone two days without any stress peeing. No diaper. The contractors should be done by the end of the week. Which means I can finally unpack and organize and maybe get a desk for my office, and Beau can get comfy cozy!!!
Worth a Read Meh Length 368 Quick Review The holidays can be full of drama but nothing compared to the drama of The Adults. A novel about exes coming together for a child with a bit of an oopsies.
So I fell behind with my reading over the holidays, so this is the second to the last book before my holiday reading list is done. The Adultsby Caroline Hulse is kind of a holiday nightmare come to life. It is vastly different from the other Christmas-themed novels I read all last month. It was breath of fresh air. I’m not sure if I totally love it, but it definitely made an impression and had me turning the pages.
The Adultsstarts off with a 999 (911 equivalent) call about an accident on Christmas Eve. The story jumps to a little bit before Christmas. Alex and Matt are together. Matt is the father of Scarlett a little girl whose mother is Claire. Scarlett has an imaginary purple bunny named Posey. Claire is with Patrick – he has his own minor family drama in the background. Other than divorced Claire and Matt, they don’t really know each other very well. They all want to spend Christmas with Scarlett, so they decide to go to Happy Forest, a resort, for Christmas as blended family. Also someone gets shot with a bow and arrow.
The only characters I like are Scarlett and Claire. Alex is judgy and a pain in the ass. Patrick is super judgy and thinks he is better than everyone else. Matt is irresponsible. They all have an honesty issue. None of them seem to be trying to enjoy the time very much. It’s kind of a strange family dynamic, but they all harp on it instead of working on getting along. In a world where divorce is common, I think families celebrating holidays together should become common as well. So in one vain, I like it. But I don’t like how the people are portrayed. They’re irritating. Claire is my favorite. She’s fun and responsible and truly means well. Scarlett is a little kid; you can’t blame her for anything she does because it is all beyond reasonable. It’s title The Adults, but they don’t really act like adults.
I don’t know if I love how the book was narrated, but it was an interesting take. It may be a little confusing at first. The book is told from three perspectives: Alex, Patrick, and Scarlett. It doesn’t follow a pattern of perspectives shifting every chapter; sometimes, it does, but sometimes, the same character will narrate for several chapters in a row. The book is also split up by days. So every new day there is a new section with a little excerpt from the Happy Forest brochure. Throughout, there are also interviews with various characters by the police giving a little more information about the bow and arrow incident.
As far as a Christmas book, I think The Adultsis fun. The holidays can be chock full of weird family relationships and dynamics, so it’s fun to dive into another family’s drama. Like the vast majority of Christmas books, this does have a happy ending. I was pleased with it.
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Memorable Quotes “All men want to be dads, really, Ruby had once said to her. None of them would want to be a mum. But everyone wants to be a dad. It’s parenthood, but semi-skimmed and pasteurized.”
Title: The Adults Author: Caroline Hulse Publisher: Random House Copyright: 2018 ISBN: 9780525511748
Here is a series of Beau pictures. They’re all perfect and very much us.
Enjoy Beau’s stream of consciousness.
The wretched hat is placed upon the head.No. Thank you. Stop. I don’t like it.Oh! Treats. I’ll sniff.I said, “I. Don’t. Like.”I don’t like the rain. I don’t like the hat. The treats are hardly worth this.Anytime now. We can take the picture.Food?This is not worth it.Is this a good enough pose? I look stupid. Is my expression conveying that?Why did the dog cross the road? To get away from you.Won’t you leave me along, devil woman?!?You. This. Is. Exhausting.I am being followed.There. We look good. Here’s my sweater | My hat/leg warmers | Mom’s hat | Mom’s Sweater | Mom’s scarf | Mom’s jeans | Mom’s boots | I’m done.
Beau and I wish you a Happy New Year!!! I can’t believe it’s 2019 already. Holy wowza!
We spent our New Year’s Eve with family in the Chicago area. A very low key night surrounded by the people we love most. My 63 pound dog was miniaturized by her 170-ish pound Great Dane cousin, Dexter. They snuggled on the couch along with a tiny, old girl, Ana, and three cats. It’s a big couch, but four people, three dogs (totalling 200+ pounds), and three cats is cozy. We celebrated with food and an Avengers movie marathon. We know how to party hard.
We said our goodbyes to family and friends in Chicago yesterday. My grandparents live directly on the way from Chicago to Texas, so we stopped in for lunch. Then, we were convinced to stay for a few days. Working from home, I can do this.
I visit my grandparents in Hot Springs Village, Arkansas often. I haven’t been since the end of May. One of the first things Grammy said when I walked in the door, “I was wondering what happened! You’ve been gone sooooo long.” For awhile, I was here almost every month. After the I love you and I missed you’s were exchanged. “You’re staying the night.” Then my grandpa, aka Poppy Walt, wanted to take us out to dinner. And Grammy said, “No, they’re staying a few days. She has nowhere to be.” I guess I’m staying for a few days. Not that I or Beau are complaining. They live in a gated golfing community, and their backyard overlooks a fairway, a lake, and some mountains. REAL shit hole, I tell you.
Since we drove over night, Beau was cozy in her backseat blanket cuddle puddle for nine and a half hours. When we arrived, she was so happy; she loves it here. There is so much space to run around in their woodsy backyard, and the big house has lots of sniffs to find. The rain dampened her high spirits, but life isn’t perfect.
I couldn’t resist taking these cute pictures. I found her sweater, hat, and leg warmers at Target. She HATES the hat. I won’t lie: she is not a fan. At least, she hasn’t transferred her hat hatred to me as the hat-putter-onner. She really likes the sweater though. It’s warm and snug. The leg warmers helped her bear the rain, surprisingly. I’m still in a festive holiday mood, so I donned one of my go-to red sweaters, my favorite red scarf (budget version here), and a white hat. I also live in my grey Aldo boots, and these jeans. Seriously, these boots are the best. For otk boots, these are an incredible deal! Beau is for sure the cuter of the two. Although, she got her beauty sleep… I drove through the night.
Not a bad start to 2019. Rang in the New Year together in Chicago. Day 2 and 3 will be in Arkansas. Day 4 will be home to Houston. Ruff life. We’ll see where else 2019 takes us on our travels!!!
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To the rest of the world, today is New Year’s Eve. Up until eight years ago, it was just New Year’s for me too.
My most influential person came into my life eight years and a few hours ago. His name is Alex. He’s made appearances here and there on my blog. He’s been a big part of my travels this year. He helped make 2018 brilliant.
I can’t really describe Alex to you in any way other than he is an amazing person. People love him or hate him. There is no in between. I don’t know why people hate him except he is an intense kind of man in all the best ways. So there is probably something wrong with the haters.
There are people who come into our lives and change everything. Alex is that person to me. I am who I am because of him. He has become such a part of my story it is impossible to tell it without him. He is written on my soul.
We are always laughing together. Seriously. It’s obnoxious… To other people, I imagine.
On New Year’s Eve of 2010, Alex came into my life, and he never left. We were in college together. He was a senior; I was a freshman. We had almost no reason to meet. Due to fate and a heart condition, he’s stuck with me. We were in choir together. When our director rearranged the seating arrangement, he ended up sitting in front of me. Very few people know this about him anymore: he has a beautiful singing voice. Long story short. Out of sheer optimism or naiveté or stupidity, I invited this dude, who I’d never had an in-person conversation with, to my house for New Year’s. He hugged my dad before we’d ever touched. It was ballsy. It worked out.
In the last eight years, Alex and I have been through more than I could ever write about. We walked to hell and back holding hands a few times over. It wasn’t easy. Actually, it’s been the hardest eight years of my life. Because of him, they have been the best eight years of my life. He is just shy of sainthood. Flawed as he is, he has always put me first. I have severe PTSD. I’ve been through sexual assaults and domestic violence. I have been in abusive relationships. I have been insecure. I have been broken. I have been bruised literally and in a non-physical sense of things. I have seen some pretty horrific things. Through my darkest days, Alex has always been there. He has never left. He has never made me feel less than. He has made me laugh through my tears. He has held my hand when there were no words to be said. When I have been unable or unwilling to pick up the pieces of my soul, he has put them back together. He helped make me whole, when I had never known what that felt like.
Alex went into the Marines over five years ago. We spent three years living together before he enlisted. In five years, we have spent one Christmas and one birthday together. He deployed twice. Two weeks ago, he left on his third deployment. He’s on a boat somewhere in the world. I don’t know where. Late on Christmas Day, I was lucky enough to get a phone call from him. We exchange emails whenever he has internet. I don’t know when he’ll be home. It will be eight months or more. It’s hard. I miss him. I miss hearing his voice. I miss getting to visit him. This isn’t new. We’ve gone over a year without seeing or talking to each other by phone in the past. It’s part of life in the military and loving someone in the military. Many other women, men, and families go through the same thing. Worry is part of our lives.
Just doing normal people stuff in a field in 12 degree weather. Like normal people.
Alex and I have been a part of each other’s lives for eight years. They have been beautiful and stressful and all the feelings in between. Life has been hard on us. A lot of things were out of our control, some that weren’t, and some that seemed like they were. I wish many things had gone differently in our combined lives and our lives before each other. Then again, I don’t. I wouldn’t change him or I or what we have for anything in the world.
I can’t tell you who I am without talking about Alex. He has been an integral part of my life. Some people don’t just influence who we are, they form who we are. He has pushed me to be better. He has questioned my opinions and thoughts. He has held me when I’ve cried. He always challenges me to be the best version of myself. I don’t think I’m as good for him as he is for me, but I’m not going to tell him that any time soon.
It’s been eight years. I hope to have about a gazillion more, but I’ll settle for another seventy. I think I can make it to 97. Any day after that will be a blessing I think.
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“Can we just take a normal picture???” I ask. He responds “No.”
Worth A Read Meh Length 354 Quick Review Haley’s Christmas spirit is less than jolly when her boss sends her to Christmas camp in order to do research for a project. The owner’s attractive son makes it easier and harder to concentrate on her job.
Christmas Camp by Karen Schaler hits all the Hallmark moments we have come to expect from feel-good Christmas stories. If you have a Netflix account, you’re probably familiar with her script from The Christmas Prince, which was a huge hit last year.
Haley is a marketing executive. Her company needs to make a pitch for a Christmas loving toy company. Haley wants to make the pitch more than anything to make partner, but she doesn’t have much of the Christmas spirit. Her boss sends her to Christmas Camp to find her own spirit to help her company. She joins a group of people who are there for many different reasons. The owner’s son is attractive and distracts Haley from completely her job.
To be completely honest, I really did not like Haley. Not for the reason we’re supposed to not like her. I didn’t like her because she just wasn’t terribly likable. Her ambition was about the only thing I could actually relate to.
I didn’t hate the storyline in Christmas Camp. I definitely did not love the storytelling. It reads a lot more like a script than a novel. It makes sense consider Schaler’s background as a screenwriter. There is a lot of telling who there characters are without showing. It’s almost like a “Hi. I’m Haley. I’m a workaholic, but I’m also very nice.” The dialogue is clunky and feels a little bit like I’m being spoon fed the novel. It over simplifies everything.
I think Christmas Campis a nice novel for the season. If you’re looking for a complex look into human interaction, this is not that. It is all the things a Hallmark movie is but in novel form.
Worth A Read Yes Length 657 Quick Review An Irish Country Christmas has all the trimmings for a long winter read to escape from the hustle and bustle of the holidays!
An Irish Country Christmasby Patrick Taylor combines Christmas spirit, historic setting, and the Irish countryside to provide a lovely escape from the hustle and bustle of present day yuletide. It’s a long way from my current situation. Another in the “series,” you don’t need to read the others to enjoy this one. Taylor gives enough back story along the way you’ll know who everyone is in the grand scheme of things.
Dr. Barry Laverty is spending his first Christmas in the fictional town of Ballybucklebo with his attending Dr. O’Reilly, the indomitable Mrs. Kinkaid, a flirty dog, and a slew of other familiar characters to the returning reader. Barry is ready for the weather and the holiday until he finds out his sweetheart, Patricia, won’t be coming home from university. A competing doctor is building a practice in one of the neighboring villages with some practices not necessarily supported by science or logic. As always, things are going wrong for the citizens of Ballybucklebo, and they call on their trusted doctors, Laverty and O’Reilly, to save their health and care for their souls.
I wouldn’t call An Irish Country Christmasa quick read because it is a lengthy book, but it is an easy read. The prose is lovely. Taylor is a doctor himself. The medical terms and treatments are accurate to the time and locale, but you don’t drown in ridiculous terminology. It’s a lovely picture of rural life in Ireland several decades ago. The characters are pleasant. With the exception of one, no one is unlikeable. It’s a great read for this time of year. A little action. A lot of heart. An ending you want to read by a cozy fire.
