July in Photos
I have all of two photos from July. SUPER LAME.
(But that falafel bowl in the first photo was deeelicious and totally worthy of a photo!)
I have all of two photos from July. SUPER LAME.
(But that falafel bowl in the first photo was deeelicious and totally worthy of a photo!)
5 Things that Happened in July
1. The craziness that happened while Mark was in Israel, which I summarized in this post. There's another untold part of story that I wish I could vent about, but a public blog is not the place to do it. However, if we know each other in real life, you will likely get an earful at some point—something for you to look forward to! ;)
2. My sister-in-law got engaged! The family knew it was coming, but my SIL was apparently totally shocked when her guy popped the question while they were on vacation in Colorado.
3. We attended a 1970s-themed block party hosted by Mark's family in Wisconsin. It was mostly enjoyable for the ridiculous people-watching since people were asked to dress up in all their hippie and disco glory.
4. Our cat Misfit had her second surgery to remove a tumor, and it went about as well as it could, given the shitty circumstances and limited options we have for her. She's all recovered and is doing fine, so we're trying to enjoy the time we have with her right now. Which mostly means spoiling her by letting her go lay outside on the front steps of our condo anytime she asks to go out (asking = sitting by the front door and staring at the door handle, crying repeatedly).
5. I bought a few new travel-related items for our upcoming family trip to Austria, Germany, and Switzerland, which I plan to share in a future blog post or video about traveling light and travel capsule wardrobes.
Read in July
• Ready Player One by Earnest Cline: 3.5 stars. A really fun, easy read. It reminded me quite a bit of Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore, which I read in early 2013. I enjoyed Mr. Penumbra just a touch more because I'm a book girl and not a gamer, but both books had the same kind of nostalgia-mixed-with-modern-technology appeal. I think you'd really enjoy Ready Player One if you have a particular soft spot for '80s pop culture. This was one of the rare books that I successfully pushed onto Mark as soon as I was done, and he really enjoyed it as a 1980s-born video gamer. However, from a literary standpoint, the writing was a little flat and lacking complexity in several spots and the plot/pacing was uneven.
• Lexicon by Max Barry: I'm currently two-thirds of the way through this; I'm mostly enjoying it so far. It's a lot different than the kind of books I normally read though.
Favorite Song from July
What I'm Looking Forward to in August
Well, what I'm not looking forward to is Mark's return to Israel. Though Mark opted out of staying for the scheduled 3 months to complete the project in person, his company asked him last week to return for a few 2-week business trips as a compromise. As soon as the FAA ban on US flights to Israel was lifted last Wednesday, they bought him a ticket back and he leaves Friday morning. I'm not worried about his safety, as the company (and the country at large) has emergency procedures in place, but I'd rather he not have to go back at all. I'll be very glad when this phase of our life is over (which should be by early October), and I'll be very glad when the violence in the region eases because the civilian casualties inside Gaza are just tragic and deplorable (reports now say there have been over 1,100 Palestinians, 47 Israeli soldiers, and two Israeli civilians killed since July 8).
But let's try to look on the bright side, shall we? What I AM looking forward to is: 1. THE LIBRARY BOOK SALE! This is one of my favorite yearly events, and will surely result in a big ol' book haul. I really haven't bought more than 3 or 4 books so far this year, so I'm allowed to do a little damage at the book sale. 2. Tomato season with our CSA. Is there anything better than a garden-fresh tomato?
Happy August, friends!
My local public library used to do a yearly book/bake sale at the end of April every year- it was a huge thing in the town- one year, my mother& I actually paid to be Friends of the library just so we could get in a day early to the sale. With it's popularity, they decided to set up a little shop at the library year-round, but now, the selection is not very good and it sort of took away the specialness of the once-yearly sale and I haven't bought a single book from it since they started, which makes me sad!
ReplyDeleteWhat a bummer! I totally think a once-a-year event makes it more special and keeps people excited.
DeleteI considered paying the $5 admission fee to attend the sale on the private opening night, but I figured I'd still find some good stuff if I showed up early on the public sale day. And I did-- I came away with 13 books for $17. Not too shabby; that's less than the cost of a new hardcover! :)
Gosh, I'm sorry you are having to deal with all the drama regarding your man traveling to Israel. That must be really hard on the both of you :/ But tell me more about your trip to Austria, Switzerland and Germany?? Sounds awesome! Where are you going? Also, book sale at the library? THE Chicago Public Library or? When and where?
ReplyDeleteOther than the 3 specific countries and the fact that we start in Vienna and end in Zurich, I'm not exactly sure where we're going, haha! It's actually a family trip with my mom, step-dad and brother. My mom booked a tour package through those 3 countries; I think the tour's theme is "Exploring Alpine Countries." It'll be quite a different experience from the backpacks and hostels way Mark and I traveled through Europe before! I think we'll be in Lucerne on our anniversary (which we've been to for a short stop and LOVED) so I'm excited about that. Well I'm excited about all of it, of course :) I think we're gone from mid-Sept to the end of Sept.
DeleteAs for the book sale, it was yesterday and today, hosted by/benefiting the Oak Park Public Library and held at the high school. It's an awesome book sale-- all books are $0.50-2.00 and I always get a big stack each year. I don't know if the Chicago Public Library hosts any sales like that-- I don't go into the city often nor really follow events happening downtown. I once went to a book sale downtown at the Newberry Library, and was totally disappointed as it was almost entirely old and super obscure books. But the building was pretty and worth seeing!
P.S. Hope you enjoy your anniversary in Lucerne - will be lovely :)
ReplyDeleteOh that sounds so awesome! You'll have so much fun. It's great to travel with family - my husband and I always go with my mom. I'd be ever so appreciative IF you go to Munich if you could take a few photos for me - we are very curious what it is like there and are considering if we should be moving back to Europe for the long term... Enjoy your trip!
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