So I am back at my computer, finally with a quiet moment without a baby on my lap, to add a few tweaks to my blog and to catch you all up on what I’ve been reading since my last post. That is one of the nice things about maternity leave – lots of time to either sit and listen to a book, or read it on an e-reader. (No physical books for me at the moment, sadly. I don’t have enough hands.) That being said, while I started A Promised Land by Barack Obama […]
November BOTM
In a twist of fate – particularly after last month’s Book of the Month post – this past weekend was warm. Like, unseasonably warm for November. This was excellent for our tour program at work (since we’re somewhat reliant on outdoor tours in these COVID days). But still, completely unexpected. That didn’t stop me from choosing a book for my November Book of the Month that the judge reviewed as being “a hug in book form”. And if you follow me on Instagram you already know which book that is. This Time Next Year by […]
Pregnancy During a Pandemic
I haven’t really posted about my pregnancy in anywhere completely public until now. I am most of the way through the 5th month, so it’s been a little while and has certainly been a journey so far. It’s been a fairly easy pregnancy, all things considered. Which is probably just as well as it’s also a weird time to be pregnant with your first. There are a lot of things that just are not normal because we’re in a pandemic. The biggest one is that I think twice before stepping inside any business – which […]
October BOTM
Happy Fall! If you haven’t had the joy of pulling out a sweater, brewing a cup of tea, or order a pumpkin spice latte yet – no worries! It is here! I have been watching the colors changing at my office and on our yearly fall camping trips! September is such a weird month because it always feels like the weather can’t quite make up its mind. Should it let go of summer? No, not yet… Maybe? No, definitely time to be chilly. Except for when remembering what chilly is and decide that no, summer […]
6 Months On – And So Many More to Go
I’ve been seeing a few people doing check-ins on their blogs or social media accounts in the last few weeks – so yes, this is somewhat jumping on the band wagon. I went back and reviewed what I wrote back in March to see if it really gave any insight to what I was thinking, and other than being worried about what people would do financially, it really didn’t. (You can read that post here.) What do I remember from March? I remember thinking that we might have a tour program by July. (While this […]
“Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story”
My entry point for history was my own family. I grew up visiting graveyards regularly, whether it was planting flowers on relatives graves (some of whom I don’t remember exactly where they fit in the family tree) or trying to find other branches on the family tree generations back, so far back that the graves were often not visited anymore. I can still find baby Daisy because she’s buried so close to Author’s Ridge in the Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in Concord. To put things into even further perspective was thinking about my great-aunt. Born at […]
Author Review: Anne McCaffrey
I have a dozen books that I started reading sitting on my shelf. All books that I really want to read. But this isolation thing (which I am in day 46 of) has made it difficult to finish anything new. So what have I been doing? Re-reading every Anne McCaffrey book in my possession. It started with my husband and I ordering books from Bookshop and realizing that my favorite Anne McCaffrey book was available. The moment The Skies of Pern was in my holding, I picked it up and didn’t put it down. Tai […]
At the Barre: Day One
Written on April 10th, along side Ballet Barre 1 with Dutch National Ballet: I keep saying I’m going to get back in shape, do ballet barre more often, etc. Now a couple of caveats here: I have always been terrible at exercising at home. Always. Even when I was training in a dance studio 6 days a week. (And that goes for ballet and ballroom.) However, because I was already in the studio 6 days a week, it didn’t really matter because that on it’s own typically kept me in shape. Then I left college […]
Baking and Books
I have been anxiously awaiting Julie Jones’ newest book, The Pastry School. In part because I’m now in love with her pie crust recipe, in part because the custard in her custard tart is actually really good and I had never made custard from scratch before, but also because she makes her pies look amazing! It officially came out in the United States earlier this week, and as soon as I logged into Bookshop, I discovered that it was on backorder. I checked again today – I officially have a copy coming my way! Not […]
Book of the Month: April Pick
They’re here, they’re here – TWO DAYS EARLY! (By the time this post publishes, it will be April 3rd and therefore no longer early. But since I’m ahead of the game here, I’m still two days early.) Five Book of the Month picks to choose from as usual, and yet I was so torn I almost picked THREE! Caught between the 1920s, World War II, and romance, I ended up going with The Paris Hours by Alex George. A bit of romance, a bit of Paris, a bit of 1920s Paris society, I couldn’t resist. […]