Snackshots -- April 2017 & Important PSA

For my April snackshot, I'm sharing the Buffalo Chicken Dip I purchased at Sam's Club.  I know what you're thinking, "Oh, I have a great recipe for Buffalo Chicken Dip."  The thing is that if I made your recipe, I'd have to really acknowledge all the fatty ingredients that contribute to the dip's deliciousness.  And then, because it was "fresh," I'd have to really make a commitment to eating dip every day before it spoils.  There's a generous expiration date on this tub of dip (preservatives mixed with the fatty ingredients, I presume) so I don't have to binge.  Two or three times a week, I can zap a couple spoonfuls on dip in the microwave and enjoy with a few gluten-free crackers or tortilla chips. 

And, now, the first-ever Snackshots Public Service Announcement.  Do not bring this giant container of Jelly Belly jelly beans into your home.  Of the 49 flavors, I would estimate that I genuinely enjoy the taste of, maybe, 17 of them.  However, I made myself eat whatever assortment I scooped, including Buttered Popcorn (barf) and Coffee (not for me).  I couldn't stop eating the beans even though I only enjoyed one out of every three beans I tried.  They made me feel gross and yet I kept going back for more.  My children did not impose similar restrictions on themselves with two results.  My daughter would simple spit out jelly beans she did not enjoy, and it was fun finding them on the tablecloth and kitchen rug.  My oldest was picking and choosing without shame and thus, there was nary a red jelly bean (red is your best bet for a decent flavor) to be found once we were about halfway through.  The good news is that we're at the end.  This period of self-loathing, sickness, and disappointment is over. 

Since we're talking food, I thought I'd also share the progress I've made with the Instant Pot I ordered.

Finally, I've already told you about my love for Nora Fleming serving pieces.  Nora Fleming has a new utensil crock out on the market that I've been using as a vase for my grocery story flowers.  I love it because it makes it easy to enjoy my minis day-to-day instead of just when entertaining.  How cool is that?

What's your snack of choice these days?

Local LFL Sighting!

My neighbor invited me to walk with her after school drop-off this morning.  The result was 8,000 steps logged by 9 am, great conversation, and a Little Free Library sighting.

I've already told you about the LFL I saw in Hilton Head, the first one I spotted in LaGrange, and then the other one I found in LaGrange.  And now, I've found a second in my town of Pleasantville (aka Elmhurst, IL).  I've only driven by the first Elmhurst one I spied, but I'll take a walk there soon.  The second one has an adorable shake-ish roof and is fully stocked!  The door is slightly damaged, but there's a rubberband to help with securing it.

As ever, I played my little game:  If I really needed a book to read, which of this LFL's offerings would I choose?  Drumroll please.  I think I'd choose The Shack by William P. Young.  I haven't seen the movie, but the book sounds intriguing.  Fans of A Man Called Ove would probably be tempted by the hardcover of My Grandmother Asked Me To Tell You She's Sorry by Fredrik Backman.  I didn't love that one, but I seem to be in the minority there.  Lots of good choices for kids in this LFL.  Owl Diaries, The Princess in Black, Frindle, and the beautiful Sarah, Plain and Tall.  Still thinking about whether I'd like to have my own LFL. 

As ever, I welcome your LFL sightings and stories.

Book Ritual Updates

I love my bookish rituals each month.

You already know that I look forward to spending my Audible.com audiobook credits each month.

Let me catch you up on the other bookish rituals.

I love choosing a Book of the Month Club title each month.  For a while there, I was choosing more than one.  However, it's fair to say there is a BOTM Club pile-up on my shelves so those days are over.  I've also found that these are buzzed-about books that are often part of one-day ebook sales and/or easy to reserve at the library.  I'm currently enjoying Startup -- I'm not a millennial, a tech gal, or a New Yorker/Brooklynite, but it's fun to read about the scene and to have sympathy for the book's old lady (36, ahem) who's juggling career, kids, debt, and marriage woes. 

I also peruse the Literary Guild selections each month.  Though there are often books on offer that I would enjoy reading, my choices are rarely among the three curated monthly selections.  Those tend to be books that don't appeal to me (AT ALL) and the discounts for additional books don't kick in unless you start with one of those three selections in your box.  Makes it easy to click "skip my monthly credits" at the beginning of each month.  The selections refresh on the 15th of the month so I always check back.  However, a few months ago, a book I was super excited about was a monthly selection.  I boxed up Jennifer Ryan's The Chilbury Ladies' Choir and Jane Harper's The Dry.  Although I am very close to my saturation point with WWII novels (not forever, just for a bit), I did like Ryan's story of community, family, romance, and friendship set in the wartime English countryside.  It's told through letters and journal entries -- all of which are way too long to be believable, but which tell a good story.  Haven't cracked the spine of The Dry yet.

I get my fix for free when I choose my Kindle First selection each month.  I've mentioned this perk before:  if you have Amazon Prime, you can choose one free Kindle First selection each month (a month before the book is published).  To be honest, I don't always read these books in a hurry (or ever), but there's nothing to be lost (except five minutes of my time) by choosing one.  Last month, I chose Laura McNeal's The Practice House (which sounds kind of creepy but also kind of good).  I surprised myself this month by selecting A Small Revolution by Jimin Han.

Audible Monthly Credit(s) Report -- March

You know what is a lot easier and far less intimidating than writing a blog post every once in a blue moon?  Writing a blog post every day.  I'm going to try to get back into that habit as it's much more liberating.  When I wait so long between posts, there's too much pressure and everything I don't/won't blog about (for example, politics and world affairs) weighs me down and the whole endeavor feels pointless and petty.  When I blog every day, it's easier to remember that the point is to practice writing for writing's sake (and my own sake) and put a little something out there in the world. 

I'm stepping back up to the plate with a softball ... a backdated Audible Monthly Credit(s) report.  Here's how I spent my March audiobook credits...

Blue Sapphire by D.E. Stevenson -- I've been working my way through D.E. Stevenson's books (this Scottish scribe wrote many novels) for six years now.  I find them very soothing, particularly as listens.  They are old-fashioned and narrated with melodious Scottish and British accents.  Blue Sapphire is not the one to start with though.  It's all over the place (abandoned storyline about the mystical powers of a blue sapphire, hints at insider trading, glossing over of disturbing implications of mining) and hasn't aged as well as some of Stevenson's others.  Not my favorite.  If you're intrigued though?  Start with some of my favorites, like Miss Buncle's Book (and then its many sequels) or Listening Valley.  

The Woman Next Door by Yewande Omotoso -- I was glad I listened to The Woman Next Door because I would not have been able to properly pronounce some of the names on my own.  At the same time, I wish I had read it in print as there's a lot to ponder with this one.  This novel is about female friendship, race, marriage, and the shadow of Apartheid.  No easy, happy endings here, but definitely hope.  Funnier than I expected, but parts are very serious and difficult to read.  I now have a soft spot for these two difficult neighbor women.

I haven't spent my April credits yet.  There have been some great sales and Deals of the Day so I'm well stocked with listening material.  Plus, I have my eye on a couple of books that release on 4/25. 

Lil Project for a Lil Old Lady

I turned 42 last week and moved one giant step closer to lil old ladyhood ... at least in terms of my lil projects.

The situation in our kitchen was that every time I needed a pen, I could get my hands on a sharpie, a broken pencil, or a lemon sparkle gel pen.  But a black Bic or blue Papermate?  Keep dreaming, sister.  I was coming up empty-handed even though I had purchased packages of pens in recent memory.  Black hole?  Thievery?  I don't know.  Point is:  no pens when I needed them.

About once a week, I find an excuse to dine at a delightful spot called Egg Harbor.  When you sign your credit card slip at the EH register, you use a pen that is dressed up as a flower.  Cute, but more importantly, not a pen with which you are likely to abscond.

Confident that a pen dressed as a flower would not end up in my sons' pencil bags, I purchased the necessary items at Hobby Lobby a few weeks ago.  Then, I thought to myself, "This can be a little birthday gift from me to me."  The cost of materials was minimal, but the time spent making the flower pens (also minimal) was a way of treating myself.  

This bouquet of flower pens is super cute now lives on my kitchen desk.  I'm writing my grocery lists, checks, and lunch box notes like a boss.

No Stars From Me -- Goodreads Freeloader?

I signed up for Goodreads in 2011 and did nothing with it.  Around 2013, I figured out that there was a Goodreads app for iPhone and became a regular user.

My favorite Goodreads feature is the ability to keep track of the books I want to read.  For a couple years, I tried typing titles into a note on my phone.  Over and over, I'd lose the note (or a child would delete it) and poof would go months of book ideas.  Now, if I hear about a book from a friend, read about a good one in a waiting room People, or see something intriguing in a #bookstagram pic, I can just open up Goodreads and log the title into my app as "To Read."

My least favorite aspect of Goodreads is how difficult it is to "unfriend."  Every once in a while, someone (whom I don't know personally) will friend me.  At first, I would say yes in order to be nice, only to find that this individual seemingly did nothing all day except for comment/like other people's reviews and repeatedly post about books in genres I avoid (fantasy, for example).  Another gem of a Goodreads stranger/friend would review a book and then re-post that same review 10-12 times.  All that was clogging up my feed, but it's NOT EASY to unfollow someone, especially through the app.  (Disclaimer:  If I know you personally or our reading tastes are similar, I'm not looking to shake you.) 

The feature of Goodreads that stresses me out is the rating system.  I don't like giving the books a star rating at the end.  Too much bullshit to work through.  Am I being too kind?  Too harsh?  Am I prejudice against certain genres/types of books?  Am I rating on my experience reading that particular book at that specific moment in my life?  Or, am I supposed to evaluate each book within the context of all the books I've ever read?  I know, I know, don't overthink it, you're not on the Pulitzer selection committee, Megan.

Can I admit that I also get irritated by other people's ratings?  People who say perfectly pleasant things about a book that they finished reading and then give it two stars?!?!  Two stars?!  I guess for me, if I liked a book enough to finish it, then that book is better than two stars?  If it's only a two-star book for you, why are you spending time reading it?!  Some people are consistently stingy in their book ratings, and I admit to thinking, "Well, okay then, book snob."  But then, I'm actually the book snob because what I'm really thinking is:  "Well, okay then, you wanna-be book snob.  Who are you to give out these stingy ratings when I read over a hundred books last year and am much more generous in my ratings?"  But maybe I'm an easy grader.  And, of course, every reader, regardless of number of books read, has the right to rate a book as he/she sees fit so who am I to get all pissy about other people's ratings?!  And who gives a shit about these ratings anyway?!  See, how I can spiral with this Goodreads star system?

I gave myself a gift at the start of 2017:  I'm writing up little blurbs about the books I finish, but I'm not giving them a star rating.  It feels liberating.  But am I freeloading?  Since I often check the average ratings of books when deciding what to read.  Whether or not I'm a freeloader, not rating books has enhanced my Goodreads experience.  How about you?

Author's Note:  You know a post is boring when you start it on 3/8 and don't circle back and force yourself to finish it until 3/14.  Please don't rate this post.

  

Snackshots -- March 2017

Haven't posted a Snackshot in months.  I found these Fisher Nut Exactly Snack Bites at my local grocery store (Jewel).  My best snacks always combine salty and sweet, and these little bites are tasty.  I joined Weight Watchers in January (I do this every winter -- an ongoing cycle of winter weight loss in preparation for summer weight gain), and I like that two snack bites are 1 Smart Point.  That's not really a bargain as the bites are small, but the Smart Points system is very punitive when it comes to treats (many small treats are 4 points each) and it's nice to have something sweet without breaking the point bank.