Weekly Wrap-Up #102 – January 15th, 2023

Posted January 15, 2023 by Lisa Mandina in Weekly Wrap Up / 40 Comments

As usual I’ll be linking this up with the Sunday Post (hosted by Caffeinated Book Reviewer).

No Chiefs game this week because with the #1 seed we get a bye week. And after the long past week, a full 5 days, plus a full day on Wednesday, or normal early release day, I’m looking forward to the shorter week coming up. No school at all on Monday, and then on Tuesday no students, just teacher meetings.

Sunday I spent the day going around and visiting other blogs’ Sunday/Weekly Wrap Up posts. Had weekly dinner at my mom’s for the first time since probably before Thanksgiving.

Monday was a pretty normal day at work. We found out that my library clerk now has to cover the nurse’s lunch every day. There were also a lot of students who decided to lie about either not having classes or waiting on a ride and trying to hang out in the library. And then they gave me attitude when I would ask them about it or ended up having to send them back to class. Some days I’m so ready to be no longer working with teenagers.

Tuesday was really hard to get up in the morning. But I did, and went in for what seemed like a long day at work.

Wednesday as I mentioned was a full day for students, and normally we do an early release. So it seemed kind of long. But it was the last day before finals. After school I came home and did some blogging, then went over to my mom’s for dinner. I also went to show my stepdad about the Scotland trip I’m going on in July. He used to travel internationally A LOT for his work when I was in high school and college. So while it has been a while since he did that, I always value his thoughts. Plus with him being retired right now and not doing much, I thought he’d enjoy it too, since he’s been asking me questions about it.

Thursday was the first day of finals. Kind of another long day. But Friday will be less looked forward to as our “advisory” class is scheduled for the end of the day, and it is already a free for all classtime since it isn’t graded or anything. I kind of spent the day doing a little looking at flights to Scotland and I ended up booking an Airbnb for when I first get there. Now to figure out what to do the night before I will probably fly out since I probably won’t get a flight till the day after the last day of the tour.

Friday was an interesting day. My library clerk came in wearing a mask in the morning and she wasn’t feeling well. She decided to go home halfway through the day, which I’d been telling her to go ahead and go because I could tell she wasn’t feeling well. The last hour was crazy as expected.

On my way home from work I had to go by the grocery store. As I was leaving the grocery store, there was an elderly lady with oxygen standing by one of those small grocery carts in the parking lot. When I passed by her she stopped me and asked if there was any way I could help her. I was assuming I was about to get asked for money or something. Instead she told me that she’d dropped her keys somewhere and couldn’t find them. She asked if I could take her to her apartment, which actually isn’t that far from me. I agreed, thinking about how some day that could be me, as I’ll be a little old lady with no husband, children or family to help me out some day. So even as I was driving her there I still kept waiting for something to happen. But of course she was just a lady all alone, her husband had died a few years ago. Her sister had died a short time after that after having moved in and lived with her. She had no family here since she’d moved here with her husband from Massachusetts, and no more family there either. I dropped her off at her apartment, and she thanked me and said she’d add me to her prayers.

Saturday was lovely for sleeping in. Got a few errands run, then mostly just hung out with the dogs and relaxed all day.

Books Finished

The first one I read for a blog tour and the review was posted on Tuesday. The second one was one of the books the publishers sent to me because of the library committee I was on. It was really dark. Third was for a blog tour review next week. Last was an audiobook I’ll be reviewing in the next week or so.

New Additions to My Library

ARCs:

I think I signed up for this one through a Galley Giveaway. Now to fit it into my blog/review schedule!

Audiobooks:

None

Bookish Stuff:

I got some surprise New Year cards from a couple authors, that was pretty cool!

E-galleys:

Just got the first e-galley from being on the author’s review team. Should be posting my review on the pub date next week. The second one is for a blog tour review in February.

Free E-books:

All but the last 5 of these were free on Amazon and a bunch of authors were sharing them in their newslettters. The last 5 were for signing up for an author’s newsletter.

Physical Books:

So I wasn’t happy with one of the books I got last year from Book of the Month and they were nice enough to give me an extra credit. So I used my January credit and the extra one to get these two books. Again, I’m going to be very picky for the rest of the year on whether I actually get any BOTM because of my book buying ban.

So I already have the two in the front, one from a publisher and one I bought last year. Retro I’ll take into my school library. I’ve reached out to Meghan Quinn’s assistant to let them know they sent me an extra copy of my order. The back one I think is for the library committee I’m on, but it is a graphic novel, which I don’t read, so I’ll just take it into my school library.

What I’m Watching

I finished the first season of Severance. I’ve been in the mood to get back to get back to rewatching Outlander as I plan my trip in July to Scotland. I tried to get into some other shows people suggested, but just couldn’t seem to want to, so Alice in Borderland showed up when I was scrolling through Netflix and I decided to give it a try.

Coming Up Next Week on My Blog

All of these are for blog tour reviews. Also have a couple promo posts this week.

Also, as I’ve been starting planning for my Scotland trip in July, I’m thinking maybe each week I’m going to put a link and some pictures to one of the locations I’ll be going on the tour I’m going to be taking. Starting next week I think!

Giveaways

Don’t forget that I do now have the nice little box on the right hand sidebar so you can check out giveaways all the time!

Final Thoughts

How was your week? Did you read or watch anything good? Get any good books? How has January been for you so far?

I’ll leave you this week with more pictures of my two dogs. Thursday was my dog Dora’s 12th birthday. I get toys for both dogs though, and a treat to share. And as usual, the two ended up switching toys quickly, so the birthday cake toy I got for the birthday girl was more played with by Argyle, lol. Here are some pictures!

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40 responses to “Weekly Wrap-Up #102 – January 15th, 2023

  1. Sounds like an eventful week! Teenagers can be pretty bad. Seeing the way my niece acts has me backing away at almost every gathering! Lol. I even remember how “we” acted back in school. I was actually one of the rare “good” ones, listened to my teachers and all, might have debated a few times with my Academic Lab teacher, but it was all in good fun, but yeah seeing how students treated teachers even back then had me saying no to a life as a teacher myself. My sister got a little burnt out after teaching fifth graders for 2 or 3 years. She prefers them in their preschool age. That was so kind of you to help the older woman out this week! I honestly, would’ve been afraid to. Generally being single and nearly always alone, I am very hesitant to interact with strangers. Even as an adult I have the stranger danger fear that my early teen niece has no fear of. I think I’ve read too many of the news stories where things go wrong.

    Nice new reads! Those are all new to me ones but I hope you thoroughly enjoy each and every one of them!

    Here’s my StS

    Have a GREAT day!

    Old Follower 🙂

    • Lisa Mandina

      I’m the same, I was very hesitant about helping anyone since I’m alone. But I decided to do that this time, thinking about how it could be me someday. Yeah, I used to teach middle school, and I didn’t mind them as much, but high school can be a whole other ballgame. I can’t do the little bitty kids because you can’t really joke much with them, that’s why middle school is about the perfect age. In my opinion. I’m sad I haven’t gotten a middle school library job. Thanks for stopping by!

  2. I wonder how I would have responded to the woman asking for help. I want to think I would have helped, but…… scam artists are EVERYWHERE, and I would have been pretty reluctant. That’s a sad commentary on our society. 🙁 So glad you did your random act of kindness. Quite a lot of books and when you see the covers all together like that, they’re SO bright and cheery.
    Thanks for the visit
    Terrie @ Bookshelf Journeys

    Terrie @ Bookshelf Journeys recently posted: Weekend Book Sharing and Blog Visits #33
    • Lisa Mandina

      Yeah, normally I would have said sorry and walked on by. But for some reason I just decided this was someone I could help and needed to help. We have so many homeless people around where I live that I just am extremely extra cautious. Thanks for returning the visit!

  3. That was so nice of you helping that lady. It can be scary because you just never know, but sometimes it’s just someone needing help. You were her guardian angel that day maybe. 🙂

    Alice in Bordeland is one I’ve been thinking of trying. I need a new show so maybe…

    Have a super weekend (or what’s left of it!!)

    Greg recently posted: Sunday Post #487
    • Lisa Mandina

      I’ve only watched one episode of Alice in Borderland, but I do need to go on, it was good so far. Yeah, there is a large homeless population near where I live, so I’m very cautious about what someone who comes up to me might want. But I think this was just something I had to do, and I’m glad it worked out. Thanks for visiting!

    • Lisa Mandina

      I’m glad I did it. I had no way to know if she was scamming or not, but in the end it worked out. And like I said, some day that will/could probably be me! Yeah, they are silly and Dora had completely ripped the fur off one spot of the toy I actually got for Argyle within a couple hours. lol

  4. That was so nice of you to help out the woman. In today’s society, it’s hard not to be cautious and skeptical of people’s intentions but I hope more people are honest than not. I am glad it worked out well for both of you. I’m considering joining Book of the Month. Do you find it’s worth it? Looks like you have some good reading ahead of you! Happy Birthday to Dora! Your dogs look like they are having fun. 🙂 Have a great week, Lisa!

    Literary Feline recently posted: Weekly Mews: More Rain and Good Books
    • Lisa Mandina

      Okay, it’s hard for me to be a proponent for Book of the Month club as I stare at pretty much all the books I bought that way but haven’t read yet. I think I’ve only read 2 or 3 of the books I got in the 2 or 3 years. I want to read all the others, just haven’t fit them in yet, lol. If you are on top of your reading, you do occasionally get opportunities to get the book before it is published, and it would be cheaper than buying at a bookstore usually. And it’s nice I can skip a month if I don’t see anything I want. Hard decision! Thanks for stopping by!

  5. Its great you were brave enough to help the older lady. I listen to WAY too many true crime books and podcasts. I am suspicious of everyone. Plus there was that episode of Criminal Minds where it was a guy dressing up as an old lady to be less threatening…Yeah, I need to watch something less scary I guess!
    Love the dog pics! They look happy!

    Samantha recently posted: #SundayPost: January 15th
    • Lisa Mandina

      I am so glad it was just really an older lady needing help. I kept my eyes open waiting for something bad to happen, but I was lucky I guess! Thanks for visiting!

  6. Sounds like a very busy week. Glad it went mostly smoothly and hopefully you don’t get sick from your coworker! My week feels like a blur, honestly. With my daughter only going to school half days (due to her back surgery), I’m running back and forth to the high school a lot. We decided to get Apple TV for the month so we could finally watch Ted Lasso and a few other shows. So far so good. I love that one can pick up a streaming channel for a month and then drop it. We are all off today, but this coming week will be busy.

    Jen Twimom recently posted: #FitReaders Check-In: January 13, 2023
    • Lisa Mandina

      Wow, didn’t know she was going to school half days. I’m sure that does keep you busy! You are right about how nice it is to be able to do the streaming channels that way. I guess that is one positive! I do only subscribe to Starz when Outlander is on and then cancel when it is over. Hope you have a good week!

    • Lisa Mandina

      I know, I wonder that as well. I’ll probably never know! My library clerk is back and seems to be feeling better.

  7. I remember how my friends and I acted as teenagers in school. I don’t know how any of the adult put up with us. We were awful. I’m glad you were able to help the old woman. Happy birthday to the dog! I hope you’re having a great week.

    • Lisa Mandina

      I was such a good little nerd I guess I had no idea what to expect from this age when I started teaching! lol Thanks for stopping by!

    • Lisa Mandina

      I’m so glad it is almost Friday now! lol Retro was really good! My review will be up on Friday this week!

  8. Hope this shorter holiday week is being good to you. Your poor library clerk, now having to cover for the nurse. I swear, she sounds more like a floater than a library clerk. That must be so frustrating. How good of you to help that lady. It’s heartbreaking to think she’s all on her own with no one to help when needed. I’m so glad you were put in her path.

    Tanya @ Girl Plus Books recently posted: Review: Part of Your World by Abby Jimenez
    • Lisa Mandina

      Yeah, she pretty much has to do most anywhere they plan to fit her. Then today in our staff meeting the principal did shout outs for the secretaries, but I wanted to say, what about my clerk?!

  9. What a week you had. How nice of you to help that lady who lost her keys. Though I can’t help but wonder how she got into her apartment without them, but you did such a wonderful selfless thing. Hope this week was a lovely less eventful one!

    • Lisa Mandina

      She told me there was someone in the apartments that could help her. It is a senior living building, so I’m sure they probably deal with lost keys a lot. Last week was crazy! Hoping for a less eventful one this coming week.

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