What I Just Finished Reading: Since last Wednesday I have read/finished reading: Garden of Lamentations (A Duncan Kincaid and Gemma James Mystery) by Deborah Crombie and Key Lime Sky by Al Hess.


What I am Currently Reading: Children of the Storm (An Amelia Peabody Mystery) by Elizabeth Peters


What I Plan to Read Next: I have another library book out and one on request, so probably one of those.

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Can you believe that I've actually reached (and surpassed) my goal of 100 books?!!!


Book 100 of 2025: Garden of Lamentations (A Duncan Kincaid and Gemma James Mystery) (Deborah Crombie)

I enjoyed this book a lot! ( spoilers )

This book was really good and I'm giving it five hearts. My only concern is that I'm reaching the end of the series. o_O I found an interview that in which the author says she's working on #20, but there seems to be more time between each release, so I don't know when it might be coming out.

♥♥♥♥♥

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Book 101 of 2025: Key Lime Sky (Al Hess)

This book was nothing at all what I expected, and yet I liked it quite a lot. When I finally got around to starting it, I finished it in two days. ( spoilers )

I enjoyed this book and am giving it five hearts.

♥♥♥♥♥

I had a massage this morning. (I scheduled it on Saturday, after confirming that Sister S was taking mom to her dr. appt today. It’s been a while, and I wanted to do some shopping in Albany, so I took advantage of circumstances.) It was just okay. It was a new-to-me massage therapist and I did not love her technique. Instead of the long, slow strokes I’m used to, she used very fast ones. It felt like she was racing and I couldn’t relax.

I told her when she was doing my back that I often got knots around my shoulder blades. She said she was feeling for things like that as she did the massage. My unspoken thought was, how could you possibly feel anything moving that fast?!! (I did get a free ‘enhancement’ (aromatherapy lotion) for my birthday, even though it was last month, so that was nice.)

I hit five stores while I was in the area and only managed to get something from two of them. I wanted to get Christmas-present calendars from the calendar store, but the calendar store no longer stocks All The Calendars, just games and toys. *deep disappointment* I will have to wait until the first week of October when the kiosk goes up, or just order them online. I was looking forward to having that task finished. (I ended up ordering them online, so the task ~is finished.)

ETA: I forgot to mention that I got lunch at the Cheesecake Factory. I had a gift certificate and hadn't been there in a while. I got their Orange Chicken, which was really good. And some cheesecake to go, naturally. *g*

I folded last night’s load of laundry and got another load washed, dried and folded, hand-washed dishes, went for a couple of walks with Pip and the dogs, cut up chicken for the dogs' meals, scooped kitty litter, and showered.

I read some fanfic and more in Amelia Peabody.

Temps started out at 65.7(F) (we expected it to be 60, but the even warmer temp was a surprise) and reached 70.0. It did rain, but very intermittently.


Mom Update:

I didn’t see mom, but talked to her on the phone. She sounded okay. She’s going to try the radiation. It will be 5 days/week for 5 weeks, which is going to be a frelling pain in the ass, tbh. They told her it might make her nauseated, which didn’t make her happy. I hope she understands that she can opt out at any time.

I hit Walmart and Agway while I was downtown and got in a walk around the park. I also picked up Chinese for lunch.

I did three loads of laundry (the third got left in the dryer), hand-washed dishes, went for a couple of walks with Pip and the dogs, cut up chicken for the dogs' meals, scooped kitty litter, and shaved.

I had a video call with a dermatologist about a bump that keeps forming on my cheek. It used to stay for about 6 weeks, then leave for a couple of months, then come back . . . (My PCP said it had to do with poor drainage, but it's just weird that it suddenly started happening and the timing is so strange, so I finally decided I wanted a second opinion.)

Now that I've scheduled an appointment, of course it only stays for a week or so. Naturally it wasn't showing when I had the video call, but I had thought to take some photos of it, so sent them to the doctor. He's going to get back to me. May have already, but I haven't seen a notification for the my chart thingie.

I read some fanfic and started the next Amelia Peabody.

Temps started out at 47.8(F) (still cold, but 10 degrees warmer than yesterday!) and reached 80.1!! I wore capris and a t-shirt this morning because I knew it was going to get hot later on. After having the forecast show zero rain, we suddenly have five days of rain coming up, starting tomorrow. We need it, but I still hate having to do my errands and running around in the rain.


Mom Update:

Mom was doing pretty good today. ( more back here )

I hit Stewart’s on the way home from mom’s, did two loads of laundry (both washed, dried AND folded (or hung up, as the case may be)), hand-washed dishes and ran a load in the dishwasher, went on a couple of walks with Pip and the dogs, baked chicken for the dogs' meals and also cut up chicken for the dog’s meals, scooped kitty litter, and showered.

I finished Key Lime Sky, read some fanfic, and watched an HGTV program.

Temps started out at 37.8(F) (though it must’ve been colder than that because Pip saw some frost on his first walk of the morning) and reached 75.0. I wore leggings and a long-sleeved t-shirt given how cold it was in the morning, and I roasted on our walks in the afternoon.


Mom Update:

Mom was a little more tired today. ( more back here )

Today was a LOW-shopping day. *g* I hit the Pharmacy while I was downtown and got in a walk around the park. I filled my gas tank and dropped a book off at the library on the way to mom’s.

I did a load of laundry (washed, dried AND folded), hand-washed dishes, went for several walks with Pip and the dogs, cut up chicken for the dogs' meals, scooped kitty litter, paid some bills online, and showered. *whispers* I picked up more bbq chicken quarters for supper. Sunnycrest was having a Harvest Fest, and bbq chicken and pulled pork was part of that. The dinners were disappointing, but a night of not having to cook supper is still a win for me!

I read more fanfic and watched some HGTV programs.

Temps started out at 60.6(F) and reached 72.1. I had no idea it was going to be so warm in the morning! We were actually warm sleeping overnight because we’d planned for another 45 degree night.


Mom Update:

Mom was doing well today, which was a surprise after yesterday’s exhausting afternoon. ( more back here )

I had a chiropractic appointment this morning. I hit Price Chopper and the Pharmacy while I was downtown and got in a walk around the park.

I did two loads of laundry (both washed, dried AND folded!), hand-washed dishes, went for several walks with Pip and the dogs, cut up chicken for the dogs' meals, scooped kitty litter, and shaved. I grilled Italian sausage for Pip’s supper.

I read more in Duncan Kincaid.

Temps started out at 46.0(F) and reached 74.3. I did not wear shorts this morning because the temps were only supposed to be about 70, but tomorrow it will be high 70s, so I anticipate shorts again!


Mom Update:

Mom was tired today, but she still went out to sit on the porch. ( more back here )

I hit Walmart while I was downtown and Stewart’s on the way home. I did a load of laundry, hand-washed dishes, went for several walks with Pip and the dogs, scooped kitty litter, and showered. I stopped by the library on the way home from mom’s to pick up some books. I grilled steak for Pip’s supper.

I started the next Duncan Kincaid book and watched an HGTV program.

Temps started out at 48.7(F) and reached 77.2. I wore shorts and a tank top out of the house in the morning despite the cool temps because I was determined to enjoy the later warm temps. (With a sweatshirt, naturally. *g*)


Mom Update:

Mom was on the porch when I arrived, but still complained about having too little energy. ( more back here )

I scheduled an appointment with Spectrum for today to check out something on Pip’s phone. Since I had to be in that area anyway (it’s the closest store to our house at a 45 min drive away; for you city folk, that's 45 min without traffic, not 45 min to go ten miles, which I still can't wrap my head around), I decided to do some other things while I was there.

First I had breakfast at Panera and used their wifi. (They were already out of my fave Panera breakfast, the souffles, when I arrived at 7:10 – they open at 7am. The woman who waited on me said that they opened to an order that took every one of the souffles. Which is fine, if they make more for their regular customers, which they didn’t do. That’s the part that annoyed me.) Anyway.

I made a quick trip to Walmart because I forgot to pick up more tomato soup for mom yesterday, and since that’s something that she can easily eat AND we used the last can she had at home, I wanted to make sure she had more.

I then visited an RV dealer. I have been looking at RV floorplans for years and wanting to visit this dealership to check out actual RVs in person. (If you don’t know, I have this dream of getting an RV (Class C) and driving Route 20 from the East Coast to the West Coast. Slowly. Taking time to see the sights (and maybe visiting people along the way) and just enjoying the ride, with no specific destination in mind. Aside from the West Coast. *g*)

I went to a local restaurant to get GCs for both of my sisters for their anniversaries (one I will be on time for, the other I am very late for). I was originally just going to get this specific GC for sister A, but I found out that Sister S also liked the place, so I figured, two birds, one stone. *g* They’ll both be surprised they got a GC that wasn’t available at the grocery store! (I may have also had lunch there. I had to check it out, right?!!)

Finally I got to Spectrum. I was 45 min early for my appointment, but there was no one else there so they took me immediately. Also, since there was no one else there, more than one service person weighed in on my issue. The fix is easy, but the whole explanation made my head spin. Phones, gah!

Back home, I did a load of laundry, hand-washed dishes, swept and mopped the kitchen; mopped the bathroom, wiped down the bathroom sink, took the dogs for a short walk (and then went on a couple other walks with both Pip and the dogs), cut up chicken for the dogs’ meals, scooped kitty litter, and shaved. Whew! That was a long ass busy day!

In fun stuff, I read more fanfic.

Temps started out at 45.3(F) and reached 77.6. It was a really lovely day out.


The Upcoming Weekend – Another Civil War Battlefield, Yay!: I’m not sure if I mentioned it, but we’re going away for the weekend. Another trip to Antietam Battlefield with a side trip to Shepherdstown, WV, where our motel is. It’s a lovely place, if in the middle of nowhere, and I would be looking forward to it if the timing wasn’t so bad, with mom getting so sick from her third chemo treatment and ending up in the hospital. I’d suggest canceling, but we already canceled our planned weekend in June because it was on the same weekend as mom’s surgery (we’d have been driving back on the Monday of her surgery and I wanted to be there). It will probably do me good to get away, but the planning for just a weekend away is stressful for me. I have two (counting today) days to get things done before we leave. o_O


Mom Update:

I did not get to visit mom today, but I called her a couple of times to check in. The first time (late morning) she sounded quite perky, the second time (late afternoon) she sounded like her energy was starting to fade. I know my sister visited her, so she did have some company during the day. ETA: I have learned that my other sister also visited, so she wasn't alone all day as I feared she might be.