Saturday, March 18, 2023

Sunday Post #199

 



The Sunday Post is hosted by Kimberly @ Caffeinated reviewer book blog, and is a post to recap my bookish and non-bookish things from the last week. I'm also linking up to The Sunday Salon hosted by Deb Nance @Readerbuzz.

Got back from vacation super late on Wednesday. Was happy to find out our power was restored and our internet finally came back on the day before. Basically, we spent the whole of Wednesday getting home. The Cabo San Lucas airport was crowded (on a Wednesday!), didn't eat lunch because the lines were insane. Not even a snack on the airplane because of a high amount of turbulence had the flight attendants suspending cart service. I fly a lot and this was a lot of scary turbulence for me! Landed in San Francisco (no direct flights from our usual airport) at 5pm. Prime traffic time. Maps told us it'd be three hours to get home, but we wanted to eat dinner and not fast food so we ate out, went to my sisters, picked up our cat and stuff and drove home. It was 11:30pm when we finally got back.  Cat was excited, disoriented, meowing, happy to be home, and walking all over us as we tried to settle and go to sleep. Needless to say we didn't get a lot of sleep. 

I spent Thursday unpacking, doing laundry, and trying to finish a book I was supposed to review on Friday. Got it read but was falling asleep and had to just forget about doing any post. Worked on Friday, which was its usual tiring shenanigans and then went to my sister's for dinner. Had a good time. My sister and her husband are the best! Today (Saturday) was spent cleaning the house. My husband did a bunch of storm cleanup as we had several very large branches come down and had to be cut up.  Then we worked on pruning three fruit trees that have been neglected for years. Not by us, but the previous owners of our house. We YouTubed a do-it-yourself video so hopefully we got it right.

Bulbs coming up from the garden:



Crocus and other spring bulbs. 



Read:
(Click on cover for Goodreads link)

Two library lends (Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone and Finlay) and two review books (A Sinister Revenge and Vera Wong). All were enjoyable.



Received/Purchased/Library Lend:




Instagram:





How was your week?



56 comments:

  1. The worst part of vacationing is the traveling to and from. Glad that you at least came home to internet and electricity. Isn't it amazing how much stuff you can find on YouTube. Sometimes the internet is good.

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    1. I agree! Yes, was so happy it was restored. Hopefully, our pruning will help produce fruit. YouTube is so helpful.

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  2. As you say: Air travel is so difficult! We were supposed to fly back to SFO from LaPaz in Baja recently, and wished we had a better airport like Cabo — they cancelled the flight abruptly and rushed us onto a flight to LA where we arrived and found we had no ongoing flights. A really great Delta agent got us on a flight home. NOW you tell me that Cabo isn’t a good airport either! Well, I’ve seen the whales in Baja maybe I’ll never go there again.

    best… mae at maefood.blogspot.com

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    1. I don't think the airport was necessarily bad, but it was super crowded and small. SFO is still a little confusing to me. We've flown in and out of there four times now and just don't have the layout down. I love Oakland and Sacramento airports. We saw whales in Cabo too! So neat. Bummer about your flights! Glad to hear a Delta rep was able to help you out with a flight. Gosh, I hate LAX! To be honest, I wouldn't mind never traveling to Mexico again, but my daughter and SIL love a couple resorts there, and they are very fancy, so I'll probably be going there again next year... :/

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  3. I’m glad you made it back safely!!! Travel can be so stressful.
    Your books look great.
    The flowers are beautiful and I can’t wait for ours to come up

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    1. Me too! Thanks! I keep checking all my bulbs to see what's newly opening. So exciting. I'm a garden sort of geek, though. :)

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  4. There is something so uplifting about spring flowers! So beautiful. :) Your books look great!

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  5. I hope the vacation was fun, even if the travel wasn't. Have a great week!

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    1. The vacation was lovely! Whales were migrating, and the weather was sublime. Lots of pool time with the kiddos, went to the gym everyday and had phenomenal dinners. Thank you, AJ! You too!

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  6. I'm glad that the power and internet came back. I hate the actual travel part of travel. I always end up in an airport during a weird time where either everything is way too busy or nothing is open. I end up always grabbing snacks from one of those overpriced stores.

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    1. I usually do too, but even the stores where super crowded. The actual traveling part of travel isn't a lot of fun. Oh well, glad to be home with electricity and internet! Plus, the time in Cabo was very nice!

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  7. If you are used to turbulences while flying and they were scary to you, I would have died Rachel! I have fear of flying.

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    1. Yes, wasn't thrilled with that at all and my husband read an article that said because of global warming turbulence will be getting worse. Not good news to me.

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  8. I'm glad you got a vacay even with the crazy travel. You have some great books on tap. Enjoy!

    Anne - Books of My Heart This is my Sunday Post

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    1. Thanks, Anne! It was a lovely vacation apart from the coming home travel.

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  9. Sounds like a hectic return- it's always nice to get home, right? :) Nice to see the bulbs coming up. I saw some greens pushing their way up this week even as we got a ton of snow, lol.

    I do want to read the Writing Retreat.

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    1. Yes! I love coming home to my own bed and food I'm used to. Oh, hope your snow melts, Greg! We have a bunch of rain this week but no snow, thankfully!

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  10. All 4 of the books you read seem like they'd have a similar vibe (though I haven't actually read any of them yet). And of your rec'd ones, I've read Writing Retreat and City Under One Roof - both unusual and good. Hope you enjoy them.
    Have a terrific week.
    Terrie @ Bookshelf Journeys

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    1. Oh, nice to hear you enjoyed The Writing Retreat and City Under One Roof. I think I'll pick up that one next. You have a lovely week, too, Terrie!

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  11. The first time I flew was from Florida to NYC. Everything was going smoothly until we hit some turbulance. The plane started shaking and I started getting nervous but I looked around and everyone else was acting normal. I thought "they've probably flown before so if they aren't scared I'm not going to be either" and that thought calmed me down. I love going on vacation etc. but having to wach all the clothes etc. is a lot of work.

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    1. I think some of the passengers were nervous too, but yeah a lot weren't. My husband wasn't. It was worse than normal though. My husband said as long as no one is flying up and hitting the roof it's all good, lol. Yes, it's a lot of work! I'm happy to be home. :)

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  12. Love the bulbs. Regine

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  13. Long travel day, whew! Bay area traffic can be a bear. Yay for power and wifi restored and a jubilant kitty welcome. Your crocuses are so pretty in bloom. Hopefully you'll get caught up on rest and being back at home.

    Have a good week, Rachel!

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    1. So many good things to come home to! Our kitty is so happy and he had a few days of nice weather to venture outside and stalk whatever was moving! He was living his best life. Now it's raining so he's having to content himself with vigorous cat calling to all the birds that dare to be in his yard, lol! Thank you, Sophia! You too! :)

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  14. Spring flowers is all I see! I miss spring

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  15. Every time I read a chaotic flight-related story I'm really glad I decided to roadtrip home with my cat. I mean, I'm sure it will be chaotic as well, but in a different kind of way. LOL

    Glad you had electricity, internet, helpful Youtube videos and fun times at your sister's house once you got home.

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    1. Thanks! I hope your roadtrip goes well with your kitty! I'd be so nervous taking my cat on a flight so I understand changing it to a car ride. Not sure what I'd do across country. We drove our cat from Southern California to Northern California when we moved and it took over six hours. He wasn't happy, but what can you do? Cats just hate any kind of travel.

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  16. I hope I never have to fly anywhere again. I strongly dislike flying. I'm glad you're home and i hope you had a good time.

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    1. Unfortunately, flying seems to be part of my foreseeable future, but yeah, I'd rather not to have to fly again. Thanks, Wendy!

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  17. YouTube just has the best answers for everything haha I am glad you got there safe though, I haven't had to deal with turbulence though, but I know it can be scary stuff. I really respect pilots and what they have to deal with. I am really glad that you enjoyed the Deanna Rayborn, I have been seeing some great reviews for that one. I love that cover for Courage in the Storm, I can't wait to see what you think of that one. Hope you have a great week!

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    1. I'm looking forward to Courage in the Storm! Thanks, Renee! You too!

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  18. What a way to end your vacation. Glad you made it safely, got the yard cleaned up, unpacked and even had a meal. 😁 You read a lot of humorous mysteries, I love them too. Enjoy your new books and being back home, Rachel.

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  19. I'm one of those crazy people who loves to travel, despite the frequent problems that come up while traveling. I'm glad you were able to get home safely.

    Doesn't Vera Wong look good?! I'm in need of a good, light read. I'll see if I can find it.

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    1. I do love to travel too. Plane rides are not my favorite part of it though. Thanks, Deb! Vera Wong was a lot of fun. Hope you enjoy it too!

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  20. Glad you made it home safe. Sounds like it was a busy week. Hope you have a great week.

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    1. Thank you! Yes, as usual. Hope you have a wonderful week, too!

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  21. Love yo see your flowers! I can't wait to start planting. I just returned home from travelling via flight as well and Olivia (my cat) was a little bit annoyed for a minute but then very happy. Have a great week ahead!

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    1. Thanks! I keep looking to see what's blooming. I'm a definite plant/flower nerd. Glad Olivia was happy to have you home. You too, Sara!

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  22. Those flowers look pretty. I have some tulips coming up in my front yard.
    Have a great week.

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    1. Thanks! I love all the bulbs coming up. I didn't plant any tulips this year. I'll have to plant some this fall for the spring. You too!

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  23. That sounds exhausting- like you need a vacation from vacation!

    Jill
    http://www.allthebooksihaventread.com/blog-1/2023/3/12/on-my-nightstand-march-12-2023-3x56s

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  24. Busy weekend! Glad you had a good time in Cabo. And the description of your cat when you got home, disoriented, meowing and walking all over you made me smile. :D

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    1. Yes! Kitty is finally settled, but boy he was all over the place for a few days after we got home! Love him to pieces. :)

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  25. I absolutely hate traveling. You just never know what might happen and I don't like the unexpected or to be surprised. lol Glad internet and power is back on.

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    1. I'm not a big fan of flying. Driving isn't so bad because we listen to audio books and you control most of the journey like when you leave and such. Plus, the scenery can be interesting and beautiful. I'm SO happy the power and internet are back! :)

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  26. What a long travel day! Glad you're back to having power and internet.

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  27. Coming home after vacation can be exhausting. I don't fly often but I remember experiencing turbulence once and it was scary. Have a great week!

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    1. Yes! I'm so happy to be home. Not a fan of flying either. You too, Carole!

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  28. I'm so happy to read that the vacation was a success and that you made it home safely! I've had a whirlwind couple of weeks as the Houston Rodeo has been in town. I'm a lucky kid who benefitted from livestock shows and the scholarships that came with them, so I volunteer to help put on the Rodeo every year. The three week event marks the largest of its kind in the US, so balancing that and work has been quite the undertaking. I'm ready for a vacation of my own now!

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    1. That is so neat, Ethan! It sounds like an excited and rewarding experience and so nice that you give back! I hope you share some photos!

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  29. I really hope you had a great vacation in spite of the travel woes. Sounds like your cat was happy to have you back, haha.

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