A weekly round up: eats, watches, workouts, and reads. This week was wonderfully anti-climatic after last week's drama: my ears are working and the weather was beautiful. Nothing much happened, and I'm good with that.
Eats
The best thing that we ate last week was a repeat easy dinner: Jo Cooks sheet pan sausage and pierogies
The worst thing that we ate last week: whatever Hubs had that took him down hard with a stomach bug, which was most likely a meal that was served at a work event. We had a quiet weekend with very informal meals.
Workouts
The usual! 30 minute cardio treadmill sessions five days a week, and lots of body weight strength. I'm regaining my pushup game after being sidelined by a rib injury for a few months. I've mastered six sets of 6 pushups each, but learned the hard way that my body isn't quite ready to move up to sets of eight pushups.
We started the week with a nice fake spring, which finally melted off the foot of snow that we've had on the ground since January. Then fake spring went out and real winter came back in, but at least we had a taste of the warm stuff. Here is the dusting of snow that we had on Sunday, and we got a couple of inches again today.
Watching
Talk about an anti-climax: I finished all of the Alfred Hitchcock movies!!! Every last one of them!!! There are still a few posts worth of recaps to come, so blogging wise the journey isn't quite over yet. And don't feel bad for me since I got to watch 53 [mostly] incredible movies and I have a nice little watch list of related ideas to work my way through. Plus I need to finish season seven of Outlander, and start season two of The Pitt and season three of Gilded Age so I guess I will find something to do with my time.
Speaking of things to do with my time, Hitchcock's second movie, The Lodger, was inspired by Jack the Ripper, and I knew that I had crossed paths with JR recently. It turns out that when I was scrolling through the archives of The Rest is History podcast (rec from Nicole!) that they did a five part series on every last detail of the case. Between dog walks and hiking the series flew by fast.
Reading
I finished The Age of Innocence for CBBC, which was...eh, give me a minute I'm still processing. The ending definitely made the book, but I'm torn on whether it was worth the effort to get there. It's always fun to read a book with friends, and I love Engie's write ups, so it's all good.
I'm still slowly savoring Inhale, Exhale.
And then there was an extreme DNF. I had an audible credit that I needed to use up, so against my better judgement I got Keira D'Amato's memoir, Don't Call It a Comeback. I don't follow too many runners these days, but she was always a great podcast interview, and sounded like such an interesting person.
I listened to the first hour of the audiobook, and I can't explain exactly what, but something about it majorly rubbed me the wrong way. I realized that I would rather do anything with the remaining eight hours of listen time than to finish the book.
This is only the second time that I've ever done this, but I didn't just DNF, I returned it and got my audible credit back. All that I can say is that this book gave me the ick. There was such a vibe of "I had problems, so I started running, and then I started running more."
What's Next
A quiet week at home this week and then I'm getting back on the road!!!
Peace Out! Have you ever gotten a refund for a book that you didn't like?
Sometimes the anti-climactic weeks are the best weeks you know? And your meals always look yummy! So sorry the hubs was down with a stomach bug. Those are SO awful!
ReplyDeleteWay to go on the push-ups! 36 is a lot!
I like Keira D’Amato’s book, but I did get a similar vibe. As I think you commented on my reading recap, I hope she has lots of things other than running to bring joy to her life. It would seem she does, but the book really only focuses on the running—which is sad. I think I’d like a book about a multi-faceted realtor, comedian, mother, good friend runner, which from other accounts is what I hear she is!
Every interview I've ever heard with Keira has been FASCINATING, so that's what really threw me about the book. I found myself overwhelmed with "life is awful" vibes. Her editor must have been asleep on the job.
DeleteStomach bugs are the worst! Has it sufficiently passed that you are out of the woods?
ReplyDeleteHooray for completing your AH rewatch! What a fun project! I think I have a post or two of your recaps to read yet and I look forward to the final - and to your thoughts on the project as a whole.
I am loving season two of The Pitt, so I am excited for you to get to it.
(This is Suzanne.)
Yes, I'm certain that the tummy bug was from something that he ate so I was never very concerned about catching it. It was a rough one but it seems like the worst is over.
DeleteOf course your DNF on D'Amato's book had me running straight to the lowest ratings on Amazon and Goodreads...
ReplyDeleteIt's a book that I have on my TBR list, so I was interested.
It seems that it's mostly her motivational, self-help tone that rubs people the wrong way? Her voice has too much of the "I want to be cool" vibe. Maybe fewer life lessons and more substance would have been good.
Nice job on the push-ups! I think you will suddenly jump from 6 to 10 and leave the numbers in between out!
I only listened to the first hour of the book, but I got zero self help or motivation vibes, just "life sucks so go run. And then go run more". It just felt very bleak.
DeleteYes, I can see how this past week would seem kind of dull to you- no travel, and you finished your big AH film project. You need a new quest!
ReplyDeleteI didn't read Keira's book, but I did finish Inhale Exhale last night! When it gets toward the end you're going to want to read more than one chapter at a time. Maybe when everyone is done reading it we can have a spoiler-filled discussion.
I'm excited to see where you're going next!
Skip Keira's book, read Nicole's book! That's great advice right there! I have a feeling that I'm going to end up gobbling the rest of Inhale, Exhale tonight.
DeleteThat's an impressive number of pushups, Birchie!!!
ReplyDeleteI can't believe you're done watching the Hitchcock movies. What's next in terms of film noir-esque movies???
I feel like A LOT of pro runners have incredibly tragic back stories or addictions. Obviously not all of them, but it's definitely a theme.
It's fine to have a tragic back story/addiction, but not OK when someone who should be on the other side of it is "yeah, I just ran my way through it and I'm keeping all of my problems with no introspection. Be like me." Maybe I'm overreacting but I'm telling you the hour of the book that I listened to gave me super bad vibes. Yuck.
DeleteYay for anti-climactic weeks! It's nice to have nothing wrong. I was listening to a podcast that was supposed to be about the importance of rest but ended up being about exercise addiction, and it sounds a lot like that book, maybe? The podcast itself was anti-climactic because just when I thought it would get interesting, the host was like "oh I'm definitely an exercise addict" and then they laughed and moved on. Wait...maybe we should delve into that?
ReplyDeleteThere is a lot to be said for the kinds of jokes that people make. I remember an executive who joked about traveling "because my family doesn't like me" and my team and I just looked at each other and mumbled "I bet" under our breaths.
DeleteI've turned into a huge fan of sheet pan dinners. So easy, so good, and minor cleanup. Winner!
ReplyDeleteHow disappointing was this recent return to winter? We had no reason to expect Fake Spring to stay, but wow! it was disheartening to lose sight of grass again.
I am obsessed with The Pitt. Every character on there, even the ER patients, is excellent. I miss The Bear, but with The Pitt, not as much. What will I watch when it's over?
Correct, we had no reason to expect Fake Spring to say, but it sure was real while it lasted. Sigh...
DeleteI would love a boring week. I won’t have one until the 2nd week of March though. But I will delight in that boring week when it arrives!
ReplyDeleteBoo for the stomach bug. Poor guy! I am loving The Pitt although I have to look away at all the burn cases of which there are A LOT! It brings back too many memories and hits too close to home. My therapist would probably not approve of me watching the show but it’s so darn good! I adore Noah Wylie.
Here is to your upcoming boring week! I hope that it will include some shouldless time.
DeleteI had to look away for a lot of season one, so I am sure it will be the same for season two. Not to disagree with your therapist, but it sounds like watching The Pitt is a very pleasant recovery activity for you.
Kudos for crossing the Hitchcock finish line! That was a very lofty undertaking! As you know, my fake spring was a glorious 2+ weeks long, and it came to a crashing halt last Thursday…but it looks to be returning for an encore this Thursday :-)
ReplyDeleteSign me up for fake spring anytime! It was a nice break to tide us over until real spring gets here!
DeleteYes, I have returned many an Audible Audiobook. If I'm not interested within an hour, then I don't want to listen to any more. My most recent return was My Friends by Fredrik Backman. Good for you for returning the one you didn't enjoy!
ReplyDeleteI would never return a book that I read and didn't like, but returning a book that was giving me the ick very early on - yep, I'll do that.
Delete"slicing them up like a chump" lol love it. I know what you mean about just not being able to understand why you dislike a book so much and yet not being able to read any further. I am making this my year of DNF-ing and damn, it is so liberating. I've never gotten a refund for a book because I don't do audio books and I wouldn't return a Kindle book even if I didn't like it because I've read about how much that screws the author (I assume the same doesn't happen with Audible, no shade even if it does).
ReplyDeleteWoo hoo Year of the DNF!!!
DeleteI can't think of many conditions under which I would return a book other than Audible. First of all, I don't buy that many books to start with. The only other time I did a return was a similar situation where I felt intense loathing within a few minutes.
That is interesting that you (a) DNFed a book from a person that you really enjoyed other mediums from, and (b) that you got the credit back. I love this. No matter your financial situation there are some things that you just cannot put up with! I am reading Clanlands as a follow up to Outlander, and while I like that I am familiar with some of the history (Scotland) that they discuss, and have been to some of the places, and enjoy their accents, it seems to be a grown up frat party at times and I am not very amused by all that.
ReplyDeleteYou're right - it wasn't the money, it was the fact that I had access to a "no" vote.
DeleteI've seen promos for the TV version of Clanlands. Since I've never been to Scotland, I think I would need to see the show vs read the book. I'm sure I would be annoyed about the frat party vibe, but I wouldn't mind listening to those accents!
I have a secret. I am irate at the end of The Age of Innocence. IRATE. I want to know about ELLEN, not boring Archer and May. IRATE!! Why did we read this book?
ReplyDeleteI've never gotten a refund for a book I didn't like, but I have certainly returned many a book to the library unread. Does that count?
Your secret is safe with me! I guess that was one of my problems with Age. Ellen could have been such an interesting character, but we never get to know her and in the end she's just a MacGuffin. Much respect for the opinions of the many people who love this book, but it just didn't do it for me. Hey, the only way to know that was to check it out.
DeleteI have The Rest is History on my to-be-listened-to list and I am really excited to give it a shot! I like starting these podcasts from the very beginning, and sometimes it takes me YEARS to get through a podcast's entire backlist. It's enjoyable for me!
ReplyDeleteI have returned a Kindle book before. It was just SO BAD that I needed my money back, lol. I think I've only done it once or twice, though!
Oh wow, it will definitely take you a few years to get through The Rest is History. But it will be fun.
DeleteI definitely would not make a habit of returning books, but there is a SO BAD threshold that justifies it.
Good for you, for getting your audible credit back! I did that once, and I felt pretty happy about it.
ReplyDeleteWe had spring yesterday - it was almost 80! Now it’s back to more reasonable temps in the low 60s.