Weekly Wrap-Up #163 – March 31st, 2024

I’m connecting up once again with Kimberly at Caffeinated Reviewer.

Sunday was a pretty nice day. It was cloudy in the morning on my drive down to my mom’s house in Branson. I stopped in Springfield on the way down for lunch at the restaurant of the person who invented Springfield cashew chicken. The sun came out for a short time once I got to Branson and my mom and I went to the outlet mall for a few things, and to let her get a bit of a break from my stepdad who didn’t seem to be having one of his better days. I was hoping to find the Vera Bradley Beauty and the Beast purses at the outlet, but they are too new to be there yet. They had a Harry Potter purse I don’t have yet, but I was good and saved my money since it was still only 50% off and I don’t need it, lol. We just hung out at my mom’s little cabin the rest of the night. She made spaghetti and meatballs for dinner. It started raining in the evening which made for a great night’s sleep.

Monday morning woke up to rainy weather. My mom made some little waffles and sausage patties for breakfast, and we spent a lot of the rainy morning sitting around. My stepdad mostly sleeping. My mom watching court tv shows. And I did some blogging. Then I went out and did a few errands with my mom. My brother’s family was driving down from KC in the morning, and they were staying at a tree house cabin they’d stayed at before and really liked. And we had pizza together for dinner at my mom and dad’s cabin.

Tuesday morning I went to the Branson Cafe for breakfast with my mom and stepdad. My brother’s family had plans for themselves throughout the day. There’s a quilt store my mom had heard about in Branson but we hadn’t been before, so she and I went to check it out. She found some different fabrics she really liked. I found a couple small pieces that I will come up with something for her to make for me. Placemats or pillows. Then we went back to the cabin and had some leftover spaghetti for lunch. My mom watched more court tv while I did some blogging. For dinner we all met up at our favorite Mexican restaurant in Branson. I rode with my brother’s family to go get dessert at our favorite dessert place called Cakes & Creams, they like funnel cakes, I like root beer floats. My stepdad didn’t feel like going, so I got a piece of carrot cake and brought it back for him and my mom to share.

Wednesday was still colder than normal, but at least was sunny. We had breakfast at the cabin, went and picked out a wooden sign for my mom and stepdad’s cabin, and then came back for lunch. My mom and I went to a little unique clothing store and just looked around, she bought some candles. Then we came back and rested a bit before going to the Branson Showboat Belle for dinner. The food wars really good, the show was fun, I enjoyed the magician and his comedy the most. My stepdad still wasn’t really eating. I can see why my mom is frustrated after spending the week with them. We got home after the show in time to watch both Survivor and The Amazing Race.

Thursday morning woke up a little earlier. It was sunny outside and warming up. We got packed up, I left my mom’s cabin before they did. I stopped by Buc-Ees on the way home. It was okay I guess. Then I stopped at my favorite Osceola cheese to get some of my favorite colby jack and my friend’s blueberry cheesecake dip that she likes. Stopped at Wendy’s for lunch to get the orange dreamsicle frosty since usually I love those things. But wasn’t impressed by it. Picked up my dogs and brought them home, and even though my friend invited me to go to dinner with her and her mom before I took the dogs home, I was done peopling for a while, lol.

Friday morning was a day to really sleep in as I didn’t have to worry about anyone else waiting on me to get up like I did at my mom’s cabin, since there I sleep on a couch pull-out bed in the small living room by the kitchen. The dogs were nice and let me sleep in too. It was a beautiful day outside too! I took my dad and stepmom to the airport in the afternoon so they could fly to visit my sister in Scotland. Then I came home and just hung out all day with the dogs.

Saturday I had plans to go have lunch with my author friend that I helped at the book convention back at the beginning of February. We talked about the series she is working on. She’s not happy with her third in the series’ title. Also she’s working on a serial type of series for next year where every two months is a couple, one month from the female POV the second month from the male POV. It’s fun helping her figure out some stuff! Then I went to the movies with my mom to see the new Godzilla vs. King Kong movie. Got home around 7:30 pm and finished up this post to be ready to go live on Sunday.

Books Finished

First was an ARC I started last weekend and should have posted the review this week. Second was an egalley for a sequel to a book I loved earlier this year. Posted that as part of my L-L-L post on Saturday. It took me longer than it should have to get through these books since I spent most of the week with other people and had to actually interact with them at meals instead of reading while I ate, lol.

I also had my DNF and L-L-L-Little Reviews posts up the past two days.

New Additions to My Library

ARCs:

None

Audiobooks:

None

Bookish Stuff:

None

E-galleys:

The publishers sent me links to all of these on Netgalley, and since they don’t come out till June and July I went ahead and downloaded them. Giving in and taking the third one though dropped my NG rating to 78%.

Free E-books:

The first four were all free on Amazon as part of a “chubby girl” romance type of deal. The last one was also free on Amazon, and while I don’t really read mystery, it’s got dachshunds on the cover, so I couldn’t resist.

Physical Books:

I clicked on the invitation to the Great Paperback PIF for March, not realizing that meant it accepted the invitation. But I went ahead and stuck with it, sending books to my partner. And then on Friday I got my box, with two books, one I’ve read – Play Smart, and one I haven’t, the Crystal Kaswell book. And my partner also got me some bookish stickers and a TON of candy, including some freeze dried Skittles which I’ve been loving lately. I’ll eat a few pieces of the other and then take the rest to give to my students at school.

What I’m Watching

Being at someone else’s house, I ended up having to watch A LOT of court tv, because that’s what my mom and stepdad like to watch, lol. I did sneak in an episode of Outlander when I could down at my parents’ house in Branson. We did watch Survivor and The Amazing Race Wednesday night while in Branson. Basketball is my least favorite season, worse than football season, in that more of my shows seem to be not on. Two weeks in a row without Young Sheldon or Ghosts new episodes. That meant I rewatched more Outlander. Especially since I’ll be canceling STARZ after this month because part 2 of season 7 won’t be showing till November. But I guess it is time to renew Netflix for Bridgerton in May. Saturday night I went with my mom to see the new Godzilla vs. King Kong movie. It was fun and basically what you’d expect. Nothing extraordinary, but a fun one to see.

Coming Up Next Week on My Blog

Lots of e-galley reviews should be coming up this week! If I got to them as needed. The second book above is an ARC I read a while back. And I’ve loved all the other books by F.T. Lukens, but this one wasn’t as great for me, so the publishers asked me to hold off on posting my review.

Also my end of the month wrap-up post will be tomorrow. And I think I have a promo post later this week too.

Final Thoughts

And tomorrow is April! How did your March go? Did you meet your goals? I think my reading was down again this month. I’m not ready to go back to work tomorrow either after spring break. Also, Happy Easter today if you celebrate!