I'm Back....

… Or, am I?

I have been thinking for a while that I might like to try this blogging thing again. I miss talking about books and being part of the bookish community. I started this blog in 2005. If I had continued it, it would have been 15 years this year. It's hard to believe it has been that long! I still talk to people I met over the years on different platforms, but it is just not the same.

Chloe

The main reason I stopped blogging; was I stopped reading. I hardly read at all in 2017 and then 2018 was terrible. In 2019, I slowly started to find my groove again. Then, in June of 2019, my father was diagnosed with cancer. He died 5 and a half weeks later. It is something you know that you will likely go through, but to actually go through it... That is something else entirely.

I had just started to get my reading groove back and then I went into a slump again. I still managed to read 127 books in 2019, but it was mainly audiobooks on my commute. But, I wanted to read again. I just needed to get my head above water again. It is hard to say what 2020 will bring. So far, I am reading and actively wanting to pick up books, but the events of the Summer of 2019 are still with me. My father has not even been gone 6 months and I have already done my first birthday without him, his first birthday he was not around for, and the first Christmas. They were all hard.

Baby Me & My Father

I never really made this blog that personal. I mentioned things here and there, but didn't make it my main focus. I shared pictures of the cats and the dog. I mentioned my relationship here and there. I would sometimes mention work or something that had happened, but it was mostly about books. And, I think I am ready for the distraction of books again. I think I want to be back in that community I had so much fun in for years. The people that I still consider friends.

I am not sure what form that will take. In 2016, my last real reading year, I blogged every Sunday. I might start there and see where the year takes me. I am not even sure if people blog hop anymore. No one may ever see this post. But, I am going to try and come back. If only because I enjoy talking about the books I read and hoping that someone out there will enjoy it, too.

Saturday Snapshot - January & February Pictures

I had planned to share my pictures more regularly, but since that didn't happen.. Here is a bunch of January and February pictures!

January

February

Books, Life, & Everything Else (6)

1. | It is hard to believe that it is March all ready. I am always happy to get through February and March because they are usually the worst months of the winter. I am not sure what is going on with our winter this year, though. We did have like 2 weeks of bad weather in February, but overall it has been a pretty mild one. It is not over yet, though.

2. | I have given up on trying to read and just have resorted to audiobooks. I am finding I have a hard time sitting still lately, which is why I am not really reading, but it means that audiobooks work. I am having a record listening streak. I finished audiobooks on February 24th, 25th, 27th, and March 1st. I am almost done another one. This is very unlike me! The best part is they were all really good, both the books and the audio narrations.

3. | I was trying to think of a Chloe story. She hasn't fallen in the toilet, but she does love the bathroom sink. You can turn the water on to wash your hands and she will just lay there. So, then she is all wet and drinks the water out of the sink after you are done. She's a strange cat.

4. | I put all my pictures from February from my phone to my computer the other day and I honestly did not take very many pictures. That is what happens in the winter. The landscape is brown and dreary and I get bored of taking only pictures of the cats and the dog. But, at the same time, I enjoy seeing old pictures of Casey on my time hop and am glad I take too many pictures of my animals. lol

5. | I wish puzzles were not so expensive. I am having a really hard time with second hand ones having all of their pieces. But, at the same time, Chloe helps with that so I wouldn't want to pay a lot of money for a puzzle only for her to walk off with the pieces. I bought the below puzzle at Value Village because I thought it was so cute and missing piece. Disappointing.

6. | I added all of my audiobooks to my Libib during my spare time the last couple days. It was a good project because I have audiobooks that I entirely forgot I had. I also have way more audiobooks that I thought. I didn't count to see how many were unread, but probably a lot. The daunting thing is the same as my physical shelves, so many series. (The fact that there was just a first book in a series sale didn't help...)

7. | My brother-in-law doesn't think Mackie spends enough time outside. I want him to live in my house for a week and experience his annoying new habit of barking to say he wants to come in. He hardly used to bark at all and I am so annoyed about it. He is barking to come in as I write this and I am attempting to ignore him so now he has moved to crying. Anyone want a dog? lol