Tuesday, April 2, 2024

Weekly Round Up: Journey's End

A weekly round up: eats, workouts, watches, and reads.  This week I tried a new-to-me tofu product, I finished my hiking challenge, I've got book stuff to talk about, and I'm sure there will be a few puppy pictures as well.

Eats

I've got one for the tofu fans.  On my last trip to Trader Joe's I picked up some tofu skins but wasn't sure what to do with them, so they've been in the freezer ever since.

Meanwhile, Hungry Runner Girl mentioned Brocc Your Body's Shrimp Sesame Noodles.  An inventory of the kitchen revealed that I had everything on hand except shrimp, so I decided that it was time to get out the tofu skins.  I wasn't sure exactly what I was supposed to do with them, but my crude plan of thawing them in the microwave, ripping them into bite sized pieces, and then adding them to the noodles right before adding the sauce worked out wonderfully.

The first time that I had this I forgot to add chili crisp, and it was good but not spectacular.  I added a spoonful to all of the leftovers which kicked it up into Next Level territory.

(For the to-do list: find tofu skins at the Asian market.  I'm pretty sure they are a standard item and they're a great "instant" option for those nights when you don't feel like prepping tofu.)

Workouts

Yawn...the same ol' same ol' during the week.

On Saturday I had the happy/sad experience of finishing the hiking challenge.  The journey of 100 miles that I started on New Years day is over!  I took this picture a few minutes before the end of the journey.  I'd just gone up a giant hill and could see the final hill in front of me.  Now that I know what these routes look like in the winter I'll be repeating them in the summer and fall.  10/10 would recommend a hiking challenge that starts in winter as a way to shake things up.


Watching

Still not much and I'm good with that.

Reading

Buckle in and I'll get you up to date!

I finished This American Ex-Wife: How I Ended My Marriage and Began My Life.  Last week I was a bit irritated at what I felt was filler historical material.  The segue to talk about Henry VIII just wasn't landing with me.  I'll stand by that criticism, but if you take those sections out there is still an excellent book here that's worth a look regardless of your marital status.  Make that mandatory for the single folks.

In fiction reading, I needed to find something to tide me over while I was waiting for a library hold to come in.  No problem, I've got the Alphabet series and the Amish murder mysteries for that.  But the horrors, the next book up for both series was checked out.  I laughed at myself since all of these books are stand alone so the order doesn't matter.  I decided to hold out and keep reading Alphabet in order for right now and then I dove with reckless abandon into the Amish series.  Gone Missing by Linda Castillo is #4 in the series, and just like #1 and #2, was a great read.  I just have to remember that I haven't read #3.

Finally my library hold came in for the book that I really wanted to read: The Breaking Wave by Nevil Shute.  As you know, Shute is one of my all time favorite authors that I started reading in middle school.  I think I've read this before, but if I have it was a loooooooong time ago, so I remember nothing.  It's about a WWII veteran who moves back to Australia to take over his elderly parents' farm.  He's expecting it to be somewhat boring, but that's not what happens since the night before he arrives one of their servants commits suicide.  Everyone liked her, but it turns out that no one knew anything about her and she left no paperwork behind to say who she was or how to contact her family.  While his parents are trying to convince themselves that it was an accidental death, the son knows that there's more to the story.

The reason that I picked this up was because Jenny is going to read it!  I figured I'd join in for an informal CBBC sesh.

And Finally

Doggo says it's naptime.


See everyone next week!

23 comments:

  1. That is just the best picture of Doggo. I wish I could sleep like that, but alas...I suspect my neck would be a mess for months - haha.

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    1. Yes, it's fair to say that my neck is not built to do that. I noticed that she didn't stay in that position for very long either.

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  2. What a sweet girl she is! She looks so happy napping there. Sigh.

    I love your 100 miles of hiking idea, and winter is the perfect time to do that as a motivation.

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  3. Congrats on finishing the 100 mile hike!
    I would love to see a photo of that hill when the trees are green or in autumn colours! So cool that you will be repeating the hike. By then, maybe Doggo will be old enough to join you.

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    1. You're thinking exactly what I'm thinking, that I want to get the four seasons view of the trails. I can't wait until we can take Doggo.

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  4. I love love love your hiking challenge! What fun. Those paths are so pretty in the winter, so just imagine how gorgeous in the summer!
    You know, I have never heard of tofu skins. This is a new concept for me!
    Gee, I wish Doggo would just settle into your home and relax already. Lol, what a great photo! Sometimes Rex sleeps in the weirdest positions and I think - really? That's comfortable?

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    1. Tofu skins are next level! I've only had them in takeout.

      Yes, if only Doggo would finally feel at ease with us;-)

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  5. Tofu skins? At Trader Joes??? I happen to be heading there today and I'll look for them!
    Okay, I'll start The Breaking Wave tonight! I'm kind of in the opposite situation as you, where I own that book, but had several library holds come in. But I'll leave the library books for now- I don't want to fall behind in the book club! I'm also interested in the Linda Castillo series... but one book at a time.
    As usual I love the photos from your hikes. Yes, do this challenge again in the summer and post more pics!

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    1. Yep! They were in the freezer section. I don't know if they're a permanent thing or just short term, but they had them in February. I'm sure they're a regular thing at the Asian market, I just have to find them.

      There's no hurry to start The Breaking Wave. It's just you and me, and we can chat about it anytime.

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    2. Um, I hope you guys don't mind, but I just invited myself to join you. :) I just got the book from the library and may be a little behind but I want to be a cool blogger!!

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    3. Hells yeah the cool bloggers in the splinter CBBC sect just got cooler!

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  6. Doggo!! You are perfection. I will give you kisses on your nose and squeeze you.

    Are you going to repeat the same hiking challenge in the summer/fall? Or do different hikes?

    I think reading the Alphabet books in order is important. Things change in Kinsey's life as the books go by and you can't miss those changes!

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    1. She will give you the kisses right back!

      I'll do the same routes since I'm not that creative. But if I hear of another park system doing a challenge I'm open to checking it out.

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  7. Doggo looks sooo sweet! There's nothing like sleeping dogs - or sleeping kids/babies. They are just extra cute when they are resting.

    That is fun that you and Jenny will have a little mini cool blogger book club!!

    My reading has been so ho hum lately. I am hoping it picks up. Last night I started my April book club book which is "This Is How It Ends" - it's written by a cosmologist and is about theories about how the world might end. She is making it surprisingly interesting but it still feels like "work" for me... science is so not my thing, as awful as that sounds! It is very much Phil's thing and Paul seems drawn to it so far so at least they can geek out together over space and black holes and such. Anyways, our club votes on books so clearly the majority wanted to read this. I'm trying to keep an open mind but will be happy to return to something lighter? Some of the concepts she discusses makes my head hurt - like how we can look in a super strong telescope and see the aftermath of the big bang because we are seeing in the past, because of the speed of light?

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    1. Ouch! I don't think I would make it past the first page of This is How it Ends. I think my husband and the boys would be all over it.

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  8. Congrats on finishing the winter challenge! What a great way to get outside when it's cold and dreary. Oh, Doggo looks the perfect amount of comfortable in that picture, but my neck could NEVER!

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    1. Correct, my neck could never either. She made a very convincing case that it was comfortable for the minute that she stayed in that position.

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  9. Doggo looks um, comfortable? He reminds me of a baby, and how when they sleep their neck looks so awkward! They don't seem to mind either though. I am so impressed that you got the hiking challenge done in the winter; it was such a good motivator and you got it done pretty quickly! Do you have a group that is also doing this? Will you have a party to celebrate? How does that work?

    I just finished The Women and really enjoyed it; there were a couple of things that annoyed me, but more toward the character, even though I did understand that she was going through some things. In the end, I gave it a five star review. I actually have not read a lot of books about Vietnam, so it was a little bit of education as well!

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    1. She's doing exactly what her little dog heart wants to be doing, that's for sure.

      Yes, the hiking challenge is a group thing. There's a leaderboard and a Facebook group. We're talking about doing a meetup but so far no one has come up with a time or place. We'll see. I've enjoyed hearing everyone else's hiking recaps and cheering folks on.

      Kristin Hannah is tricky for me. I loved The Great Alone (I know a lot of folks didn't), but I hated the ending to The Four Winds so much that it made me hate the book and hate her. I hate the title The Women since it reminds me of that stupid 1939 movie of the same name that stunk. However...I'm hearing a lot of raves about The Women AND I didn't know it was about 'nam which has me intrigued. As soon as I get over myself I think I'll be checking it out.

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  10. Amazing job on the hiking challenge! What a great way to beat the winter doldrums.

    Adding This American Ex-Wife to my TBR - sounds fascinating!

    Doggo is perfection, like always.

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  11. I'm so impressed with your openness to trying new things. You are a great example for me, since what I tend to do is talk a good game... then never follow through. I am bound and determined to actually go somewhere - even for the day! - this summer. You are my inspiration. :)

    Doggo is my other inspiration. Oh, to be so relaxed and comfortable... and asleep. I bet she's a wonderful snuggler.

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  12. Look at your sweet doggo.... Such a beauty!

    CONGRATULATIONS on finishing the hiking challenge! 100 miles! That is excellent. You are a superstar, Birchie!

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