Time just got away from me this month and I considered not sending a newsletter at all, but I finally got a free Saturday so here I am!
☘️ 💐 March & April Notes ☘️ 💐
I got to see two touring Broadway shows recently, and they could not be more different. Hamilton and Legally Blonde: The Musical. (“Oh my god, oh my god you guys” 🎶 ) I also went to see The Play that Went Wrong at our local Little Theatre. I just love live theater! I should just go ahead and get season tickets next year.
March is birthday month for me and one of my kids! We had a nice visit from my parents and celebrated at a hibachi place (Josiah’s choice). He also had a party with his friends at an eSports place and I surprised myself by having a pretty good time learning to play Rocket League.
We had a city/school district election in early April and all things considered, I was pretty happy with how things turned out. The school bond issue passed, great (qualified and non-MAGA) school board candidates got elected, and no one crazy got elected to city council (although that’s slightly less of a concern these days as I don’t have to get up to speak in front of them every two weeks 😂 )
Josiah started middle school track. He isn’t too fast but he seems to be having fun. He’s running the 4x800m, which was my event in high school. ❤️
I had a fun weekend trip to St. Louis with my sister and our childhood friend Claire. Our favorite thing was the botanical garden - the daffodils were beautiful.
Stay tuned for “garden lady” antics… I have raised beds and topsoil ordered. Big plans for a veggie garden this summer.
Currently enjoying
I’m still knitting a bit (the scarf in the photo is broken rib brioche - very complicated to set up but pretty easy once I got it going) … but my main obsession recently has been reading. Between audio books and “regular” books, I read 8 books in March and 3 so far in April (with 2 in process at the moment).
Book Recommendations
🐙 Book club report! We read Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt and really enjoyed it. Another book I read this month that gave me similar vibes was Britt-Marie was Here by Fredrik Bachman.
Nature writing with a dash of humor, adventure, and history - A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson. Excellent on audiobook. It was interesting to hear the perspective on the state of our environmental efforts from a book written in the late 1990s. I know our planet is in major trouble but the author spends a lot of time talking about acid rain, and I thought - wow, I haven’t heard about that in a while! I think we might have actually solved that one.
Memoir - Broken Horses by Brandi Carlile. So many great stories. Listen on audio for sure - she sings a song at the end of every chapter!
Thriller - Everybody Knows by Jordan Harper. I heard about this book after the author was featured in a local newspaper since he is originally from the Ozarks. It’s set in LA but the main character is originally from Monett, Missouri. It was a great thrill ride, especially almost immediately following reading Jennette McCurdy’s memoir about her experiences as a Hollywood child star. Yikes.
Photo of the Month
Finished projects from the pottery wheel class that Josiah and I took over the winter. I have given many of my pieces away as gifts already. We will start another class as soon as track is over - we both really enjoyed it!