Upside Down

Life has turned upside down for us these past few days.  We are in Salt Lake City and up at all odd hours of the night.  Also, it seems like I am allergic to Utah air and am heavily dosed with Allegra (which makes me sleep every time there's a dull moment).  And I miss my dog...

Losing a loved one is never pleasant.  This visit did not have a happy beginning nor will it have a happy ending.  But I will be grateful that I had the chance to see loved ones.  And as hard as this Easter has been for all of us, I believe it is very fitting.  Knowing Christ and knowing there is a better life awaiting us after death is what helps us through these times.

But I'm still having a difficult time.  All I want to ask is why?  Why her?  Why now?  And I know I have no right to question God and His plan, but I do.  I try to take comfort in the fact that He knows a lot more than me, so His plan is going to be a lot more better than mine.  It still hurts.

Maybe I'll post more at a later date.

And I find it kind of funny

I find it kind of sad

The dreams in which I'm dyin'

Are the best I've ever had

I find it hard to tell you

'Cause I find it hard to take

When people run in circles

It's a very, very

Mad world, mad world

Mad world, mad world


Brandi Harris
Rest in Peace

Exhausted

I am exhausted.  I've been working too much.  And I refused to work today.  So after the hour of work I did today, I don't know what to do with myself.  I haven't had this much time to myself in a while.  What I've found out, I'm depressed and emotionally exhausted.  But here's to finishing that cycle and starting the next one.  With the next one, it's going to be a little easier and happier.  (No idea what I'm talking about.)  I need to go read my book; I haven't touched it in three days which should show how out of whack and busy my life has been lately.

The best moment of the week was when I came home to a package on the table.  I remember thinking, 'Oh that must be the book I ordered a while ago.'  Then Jared said, "Your surprise is on the table."  Back to my thoughts, 'The book I ordered?  Wait a second, I never ordered a book.  I got a book?  What book?!'  Lo and behold, Jared got me the new Cassandra Clare book without me ever bringing it up (with subtle and non-subtle hints like I usually do with books).  I completely spaced the release.  But I'm super excited to read it after I finish my current book (and when work doesn't keep me up at night anymore).

Oh yeah, and I'm headed to Reno again tomorrow.  It'll be fun.  (Even though I would kind of rather get reacquainted with my husband and dog and get used to my new bed than go explore and work in another city.)

Organic

Jared and I decided to read the nutritional labels while grocery shopping.  And wow, there's a lot of sodium and bad stuff in the food out there.  Needless to say, we bought a lot of organic and healthier stuff.  It was an expensive shopping trip.  Let's see if the food tastes better or the same.  Can I handle organic food?  Can I handle healthier foods?  Hmm...

I'm enjoying my three day weekend.  I've been running a lot of errands and cleaning the house.  It's nice to do almost nothing.  It's supposed to get really warm this weekend.  Mid 60s to lower 70s.  Exciting.  I'm glad to be home.

Gizmo got his Spring cut today.  I didn't do anything too severe by saying chop all of his hair off.  So, he still has quite a bit.  And I'm beginning to think they didn't use a shaver but actually cut his hair with scissors.  The groomer said I did a good job maintaining his hair throughout winter.  In other words, he had absolutely no mattes, and his hair was very smooth to the touch.

Last Saturday, my coworker and I went to Virginia City, Nevada.  It's an old ghost town turned tourist town.  There were a lot of older buildings and shopping areas.  It was also very windy.  Anyways, I had lots of fun learning Virginia City's history and window-shopping.

Where we ate lunch.  It was an old saloon.  I didn't get a picture of the bar.  Thought of that mistake after the fact...

I believe the name of this church is St Mary's in the Mountains or something like that.  It's one of the oldest Catholic churches in the US.  I got to attend mass in it.  I enjoyed it.

Books

As promised, here are the latest books I have been reading.  Excluding last week, I've been averaging about 400 pages a week.  So, here's what I've been reading lately.

 

 

 

I went ahead and finished most of the books that are out.  Haunted is from a ghost's perspective.  I thought it was alright.  I enjoyed Broken and No Humans Involved which also had different narrators.  Personal Demon was alright.  I believe the books I've enjoyed the most have been from Elena (the werewolf)'s perspective.  Frostbitten was actually one of the books Jared got me for Christmas.  I can now say I've finished two of my Christmas books from Jared.  Men of the Otherworld is an anthology of short stories, and I enjoyed the stories.  I haven't read the latest novel yet because it was released in paperback on Tuesday.  And I need to go pick up my package from my clubhouse (it's depressing that Borders closed down my store).  The newest one will be released later this summer.  I can officially add Kelley Armstrong to my favorite author's list.

The book I had been anticipating for a while now.  I gobbled it down in two days.  I hated how Eugenie went back to the first guy.  Honestly, I liked the gentry guy a lot more than the kitsune.  And then the book climaxed a whole bunch and the end came too soon.  Such a huge cliff hanger on this one.  I can't wait for the next one (I don't even know if the publisher's set a date yet).

I got a little wrapped up in other books that I completely spaced the release date for this one.  I saw it at Barnes and Noble (which still sells everything at full price) and immediately went to borders.com to order it (which still honors coupons, my membership, and free shipping).  Anyways, this book was alright.  It seems the longer a series lasts, the more the book's oomph diminishes.  And maybe it's because I've lost a little of the whole story due to waiting a year.  The book was okay...

Jared and I saw the movie for this and thought, "Wow, I wonder if the book is this good."  So I got the book and made Jared read it first.  He had a lot of issues with the author's writing style and warned me about it.  I went into the book expecting the worst and was pretty surprised to find the style didn't bother me.  The storyline was really good.  And I do plan on reading The Power of Six (sequel).

So, what books do I plan on reading in the very near future?  I have a pile of quite a few books; some from Christmas and some from my birthday.  Right now, I'm trying to finish the Kushiel trilogy (yes I went back to the wicked pain fetish).  The next Sookie Stackhouse book comes out next month.  I'll probably work on some sequels and series books.  Then I'll be diving into my pile at random (my eyes are too big for my brain - it can't keep up)...

Hotel

I've been in Reno for almost a week.  And I believe I'm ready to go home...  Granted, almost all I've done here is work and more work.  But today's my day off.  Maybe I'll get out of this hotel and go do something...  If only I had a car.