"TBR" stands for "to be read."  I have an iPad that I am addicted to with the following stats:

Kindle (purchased and Kindle Unlimited which is limited to 20):  4,601 ( Read more... )

Oh is there an election tomorrow?!  This year in addition to postcarding and letter-writing, I participated in several text banks.  It was actually pretty cool. I don't think I have the social energy to do phone-banking or in-person canvassing so I'm grateful for all the friends who do ( Read more... )

I broke my personal record - three months without posting!  I actually have a reminder on my calendar to post weekly so I will try to be more consistent about my updates.

We went to the Philippines for two weeks last month, to see my mom.  It was like a dream that passed so quickly.  The province where my mom lives is now an official UNESCO Global ( Read more... )

I think this is the longest I've gone without posting.  Whoops.  I see from my friends list as well that I'm not the only one on a brief hiatus.  Now that Z and Mo are in Morocco I have some more flexibility...at least in updating my neglected blog on an early Sunday morning ( Read more... )

Easter was pretty mellow this year, with the overlap with Ramadan. Z's combined birthday party/Easter egg hunt went well except that he declined (disappointingly) to participate in parkour.  We visited the National Arboretum for the annual Seder/Easter egg hunt with church friends.  Z had a cold on Easter Sunday so I visited the Episcopal Church ( Read more... )

Because a big storm was forecast last Saturday, we took a quick turn around Haines Point to see the cherry blossoms on Friday afternoon.  Poor Z played soccer in the rain on Saturday morning,a decision I strongly disagreed with but was unfortunately overruled. (They lost.) Somehow the cherry blossoms stayed intact despite the rain and winds ( Read more... )

A couple of miles away there was a 7-11 which was demolished as the plot was purchased and slated for some other commercial development.  I had hoped that the two gorgeous cherry trees on the adjacent sidewalk would be spared but that was not the case.  Now it sounds like there is a general cherry tree apocalypse.
Washington, D.C.'s cherry trees ( Read more... )

This past weekend was a long weekend - Presidents' Day on Monday - and since it's a federal holiday we all had the day off. Friday was a day off for Z so he participated in an urban wilderness camp.  It sounds counter-intuitive since we are in the center of a major metropolitan area, but there are definitely large swathes of nature within the ( Read more... )

A couple of months ago I mentioned that I needed a way to record my reading habits that was not just screenshots on my iPhone.  I started a Google Sheet with the author's name, title, series, Goodreads link, key words/tropes, and a notes column (really to show if the book was a DNF - did not finish).  So if someone is interested in a romance where ( Read more... )

We've lived in our home for *gulp* 12 years this April, and we (I) have finally gotten around to making some low-key changes that make a big difference. Like...a towel bar in the kitchen.  Replacing the cumbersome coat rack with wall hooks.  Purging a couple of hundred books (seriously) AND installing new shelves and organizing our remaining books ( Read more... )