I'm back!

Hey y'all... took a little bloggy sabbatical in June.  I'm back!

Things that happened:

School ended. I'm not a teacher, but it's amazing how busy the end of the school year can be simply as a parent of a school-age child!


Wedding in the family.  Busy, fun time!

Hurt myself.  Not seriously, but annoyingly.  I had been training for the TD Beach to Beacon 10k since mid-April, and in late May I pulled a calf muscle in my right leg.  "Rested" for a week (no running, but life went on as usual), went for a gentle run, hurt my LEFT leg.  "Rested" for a week and a half (again, no running, but life as normal).  Went for a gentle run, hurt the left leg again.  Enough is enough..... I'm on the DL now.  No Beach to Beacon (this year!) but will probably try to get back in the swing of things for some autumn 5ks.

Home renovations.  You may recall that we made some modifications in our house that mostly involved taking down a defunct 60-yr-old chimney.  Doing work in the house always makes a mess.... taking down the chimney created a lot of soot.... I'm still finding it.  Keeping the house clean (not my forte) has been a little more challenging than normal.  But I love the changes we made!

This stove & the chimney - before...

Mostly After!  See the square on the ceiling?
That's where the chimney used to be!

Welcome to our humble abode!  (fun with panorama)

Ooh... new carpet.

New afghan, in progress.
Groovy, baby.

I'm, um, hooked on crocheting.  With the renovations comes the opportunity for some redecorating.  Nothing major, but at least one room will get a fresh coat of paint, and another room will have a slightly different color scheme.  So I made an afghan with yarn I already had in my "stash" and I loved it so much I'm making another afghan - different pattern. 

Home renovations make me want to clean up my clutter!
Refreshing!

I've been watching things.  We're watching Supernatural on Netflix, and the other night we rented Cloud Atlas (I read Cloud Atlas a few months ago).  Why didn't this get more Oscar nominations?  I loved it.  Copper has started up again, and I think Under the Dome has promise (no, I haven't read the book.... debating whether I should or not.... feel like it might be a spoiler).

I've been learning things (I'm always learning things.... but....) I watched Chemerical, and although I currently make some of my own cleaning supplies, I'm motivated to make more of them, and continue to choose commercial products that are less toxic (plant-based detergents, etc).  Down the road I'm going to try to wean myself from Pantene and Maybelline.  One step at a time.

I'm part of the action!

BUT BEST OF ALL..... drum-roll, please.  I've been selected to be on the judging committee for the 2014 Maine Readers' Choice Award!  Yes, dear friends, as part of my "duties" as a member of this group, I will read 40+ works of 2013 American fiction between now and May 1, 2014.  YAY YAY YAY!  I feel so honored and excited to be a part of this project!

So what am I reading these days?  NOS4A2.  Wow.  Icky creepy goodness (and likely one of the "long listed" books for MRC Award).  Shouldn't be long before I have something to tell you about it!