Thursday, April 30, 2020

April Amusements

National Holidays - April 2019 - Prestige Preschool Academy

Anticipations 

I am most certainly looking forward to warmer weather! We had such a mild Winter here but for some reason, April has really not been playing fair - it's been cold and wet, which seemed worse for all the time being stuck inside. I'm hoping the weather will take a turn for warm and sunny in May!

There are no baseball games or Bible study meetings or gatherings in public of any kind to look forward to in the month of May. The state of Virginia is under a shelter in place/stay at home order through June 10th and so that means I'll continue to work from home and wear a face mask when I do leave the house.

I suppose the anticipation is that with each day that passes, we are one day closer to returning to some sort of normalcy in day to day life - even if there isn't necessarily an end point in place quite yet.

Books I Read

The Wondering Years by Knox McCoy - I enjoyed this quippy little read from Knox McCoy; one of the hosts of The Popcast, which I listen to weekly! Knox writes like he speaks and the book was amusing, offered plenty of laughs and also shared some gentle notes on faith and Christianity. This was a quick and light read and really enjoyable!

Buzzsaw: The Improbably Story of How the Washington Nationals Won the World Series by Jesse Dougherty - I devoured this book and it was spectacular! It documented the Nationals 2019 season and their historic comeback from a season that started at 19-31 and ended with the Nationals being the World Series Champions. The book truly shares how each person on the team and involved with the team was an integral piece of the puzzle that is this championship winning team - and it was thrilling, fascinating and just an all around excellent read!

Get out of Your Head by Jennie Allen - I am only about a quarter of the way through this one but so far, I'm really enjoying it. I have a tendency to over think every thing and this book is about taking one thought captive and just going with that - in a Biblical way. I'm interested to finish it and learn more!

Books on the Shelf

I am still working through the mound of books I bought back in mid-February (it's like I subconsciously knew that we'd be forced into quarantine in the future...) and I'm also "reading" audio books pretty prolifically while I work each day!

I "read" through Little Fires Everywhere this month on Audible... if you can call that reading! 

Movies of the Month 

Well guess what - this category is pretty empty, isn't it? Theaters are closed and while some things are popping up on streaming services, I didn't watch any new movies this month. I encouraged my family to watch Onward when it appeared on Disney+ at the beginning of the month and as I exercise, I am making my way back through the entirety of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. So far I've re-watched Iron-Man, Iron-Man 2, Thor, Captain America and Iron-Man 3.

Must See TV 

Schitt's Creek - The final season of Schitt's Creek was everything that the show has been consistently throughout it's six season run: it was hilarious, heart-warming and ended on a perfect note! I am so glad I stumbled onto this show and I enjoyed every minute of my time spent with the Rose family! I look forward to re-watching all six seasons again and again, ha-ha!


Schitt's Creek (TV Series 2015–2020) - IMDb

Westworld  - The third season of Westworld only has eight episodes and is rumored to be the final season and its' certainly quite different from the first two seasons that took place completely within the park setting of West World. I'm still intrigued by the show, the acting, the story-line and the look of the show is still just as spectacular as ever - but I don't know that it will ever be as good as it was in season one!


Full-Watch Westworld Season 3 Episode 5 Online Free fundraising ...

Little Fires Everywhere - This short miniseries was excellent and essentially was an acting showcase for Reese Witherspoon and Kerry Washington, who played their parts like - WOW. The show is all about race, community, the wealth divide and so much more and it plays out through an eight episode span that is fascinating, engrossing and left me glued to the TV. If you have Hulu - you'll want to check this out but note - not for the younger viewers!

Will 'Little Fires Everywhere' Return For Season 2? The Story Has ...

Killing Eve - I tried to get into this about a year ago and couldn't make it past the first episode but at my friend Meridith's insistence, I started it back up and absolutely devoured it! The show follows MI5 (MI6?!?) employee Eve as she becomes involved in the search for serial killer Villanelle - and as her search deepens, the relationship between the two women becomes a strange push and pull of fascination, repulsion and obsession. It's fascinating and I cannot get enough!

Amazon.com: Killing Eve: Season One (DVD): Sandra Oh, Jodie Comer ...

I've also been watching travel shows like Places to Love with Samantha Brown and Rick Steven's Europe because that's really the only way that I can "travel" right now... since no one is traveling very far past their own front door.

I feel like I've watched a LOT of television this month... but then again - it's something to do, right?

Tasty Treats 

It would seem that even in captivity (I know - it's not that... but it feels like it sometimes) I have managed to have some delicious things to eat! We have been frequenting our favorite local eateries in hopes of helping them stay afloat and have had several really good meals - and yet the only thing I have a picture of is Panda Express! *facepalm* It was really tasty though!



The Quarantine Baking (or cooking) is a real thing though - I've made multiple grilled pimento & cheese sandwiches, whipped up some stuffed pepper and made a coconut cream and banana trifle for my Dad's birthday! We also made all sorts of variations of Smore's dip, cinnamon sugar blondies and we popped into Baskin Robbins for ice cream. I'm not sure how I managed to lose any weight this month - but I did! 

Tunes & Talks 

As mentioned - I've been listening to a Audible and I currently have about seven books in the line-up that I can listen to (I had about 10 credits just stored...) and I discovered a new podcast, courtesy of a and I've been binge-listening to that pretty good. It's called Crime Junkies and I find myself fascinated by it.

I'm still listening to plenty of music and most of it is instrumental and is some sort of combination of nature and instrumental sounds because I find that it makes working from home very calming.

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What a month April was! It was the first month that most everyone spent; in it's entirety, in their own homes due to various degrees of shelter in place orders across the nation. I wonder what the month of May and the rest of this year will have in store for us?

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