2023, Catzteach’s adventures in reading

Looking forward to discovering many good books this year. :)

Starting the year with Anxious People. Not sure how I’m feeling about it so far.

Hippo Gnu Ear!

Happy new year and happy new thread!

Happy New Year! May all your books be gems in 2023.

>1 catzteach: Is it making you anxious? May this new year be full of happy surprises in your reading, along with comfort and joy.

Happy New Year!

>6 MrsLee: actually, yes! I have put it down for now and don’t know if I will pick it back up. The style of writing was not to my liking. I’ve read a couple of his books before and enjoyed them. I don’t remember them being written in this style, though. Kind of a bummer the first book of the year is a DNF. I’m enjoying the one I picked up after it, though. :)

Happy New Year and happy reading!

Happy new year! I hope the books get better after the disappointing start.

Happy New year! Wishing you great reading.

Set my grown up book aside to read a children’s book today. I started reading The One and Only Ivan to my class this week. I read it years ago and had remembered it being sad but really good. I was hoping to use it to teach my kids a bit of empathy and compassion (which they lack). Then I got to a part where the girl’s mom is sick. I needed to see if the girl’s mom passed away. I couldn’t remember and I have one boy whose dad passed away 2 years ago, one whose step-mom passed away in August, and one whose father is transitioning any moment. For me, books with characters experiencing things I had gone through was a comfort and a help. I wasn’t sure it would be the same for these three boys, though. So with the help of the counselor, we came up with a plan in case the mom did die. She doesn’t but there is an animal death. I think the kids will be able to get through it, although if the one whose dad is currently in hospice is in the room, I’ll be sure to have the counselor on hand. Or maybe even have him take a break during read aloud that day.

>It is wonderful to see your thinking in considering the needs of your individual students as you select materials for class.

>12 catzteach: Poor kids. Wonderful of you to be so considerate of their situations.

>12 catzteach: I hope it all works out. I'm so happy to hear that you check into this stuff before sharing a story with your students.

Thanks all. I try my best to meet their needs and take care of them.

I’m going to need a light, fluffy, funny read for them when we’re done with Ivan, though. Not sure what that will be as I can’t think of anything right now. Hmmm….

Just finished The Starless Crown. Picked this one up at the library because the cover looked good. I really enjoyed it! It’s one of those fantasy books that has four different story lines that then come together. There is an evil faction that needs to be overcome. The reader doesn’t really find out who is behind the evil till later in the book. There is also the coming of the end of the world. Can they stop it? Good question. I’ll find out in the next book. :)

I'm a big James Rollins fan, being up to date on his Sigma Force series. I liked his foray into fantasy too. Looking forward to the Starless Crown sequel also.

>18 majkia: This is my first of his books. His Sigma Force series looks good. I’ve put them on my TBR list. The bummer of reading a new series is having to wait for the next book. :/

I was feeling restless today. It is a federal holiday and I had it off from work. I needed to get out of the house. So I went downtown. And since I was downtown, I went to our Indy bookstore, Dudley’s. And since I was in a bookstore, I bought some books. :) I’m super excited for all three.

The first is Portable Magic. It’s a book about the history of books! I hope it’s as good as it sounds.

The second is Abandon. I have not yet read this Blake Crouch book. I love his suspense and science combination.

And the third is Witchcraft. It’s the history of witchcraft, which I’ve always found fascinating. It smells like my college textbooks. Kinda reminds of them, too. I’m looking forward to diving into it.

A trip to the bookstore always helps put me into a better mood. :)

>20 catzteach: sounds like a great haul!

>20 catzteach:
I have Portable Magic and am looking forward to reading it.

Bookshops always raise my spirits too.

I picked up Abandon also. I love Crouch's books.

>22 pgmcc: I knew many people here in the pub would enjoy Portable Magic but when reading the back, I thought of you and how much you would (probably) enjoy it.

>23 majkia: I love his books, too. I’m looking forward to this one.

>20 catzteach: That is a great way to spend the holiday!

Finished Paper and Fire last night. It was better than the first! And then when I was done, I almost checked out the next one right then! I didn’t want the story to end. But since it did, I’ll read a couple of other books first and then read the third one in this series.

It’s been a long week. Remember my kiddo whose dad was in hospice? Yeah, he passed on Tuesday. The little guy has not yet been back to school, but we wrote him cards for when he does come back. He’ll at least know he was missed. Poor kid. I can’t even imagine how hard it is to lose a parent at such a young age.

>26 catzteach:
Sorry to hear about your pupils loss. Your cards will help when he gets back.

>27 pgmcc: Thanks. I think he’ll be back this coming week.

Just finished Going Rogue. It was your basic Stephanie Plum book. Although Ranger was in this one a bit more than the last one.

I’m feeling a bit icky today. Woke up with a sore throat. :( hoping I’m not getting sick, but will opt not to go walking with my friend, just in case.

>20 catzteach: Oh ho! I think I took two bullets from one post!

I'm glad you got to spend some time at a bookstore on your day off. Sounds perfect.

>29 clamairy: Two in one! What a shot! :)

I’ve been reading the Mercy Thompson books this week. It’s been a very long week. Lots of late meetings and then I got sick. I was home yesterday. I’ve read Iron Kissed and Bone Crossed and will be reading Silver Borne today. I had to buy that one for my Kindle because Libby was out of copies. Right now I just need fluffy reading. And I really like Mercy. :)

>31 catzteach: I also find those are excellent comfort reads. I'm also very fond of the audiobooks for listening to on long drives.

>32 NorthernStar: I probably won’t switch over to audios for these because I now have the voices in my head and don’t want them ruined by a narrator. :) But I might try her other series on audio. I bet they are much like a Janet Evanovich on a long drive: easy to listen to and ok if the mind wanders a bit with paying attention to the road.

I’ve been continuing to read the Mercy Thompson books. I’ve now read River Marked, Frost Burned, and am almost finished with Night Broken. I suspect I’ll be done with the series sometime next week. Maybe by then I’ll be able to handle a read that has a little more substance. But maybe not. This has been a tough week. I cried four times today and I didn’t even have the students. I went through my class list with a coworker who supports the kids with issues. Of my 21, 18 have some sort of issue. No wonder I can’t think. I am currently sitting in my pjs and robe and eating graham crackers for dinner. I know this shall pass. In the meantime, I’m going to enjoy my coyote shifter and her werewolf. :)

>34 catzteach: I'm very sorry to hear you've been having such a rough time. I'm also very confused as to why so many kids with issues are in one classroom!!! Hang in there. Big hugs to you.

>34 catzteach: Sorry to hear you're having a rough week. I hope it gets better soon. Meanwhile, Mercy is an excellent series to keep you company.

>34 catzteach: Must have been a grim week! I also wonder about Clam’s question:do you end up with all the kids with “issues”? If so, perhaps it’s a compliment but you might find it a hard one to appreciate! Big hugs anyway, and hope for a better week next.

>34 catzteach: Man, but some "compliments" are hard to bear. Strength to you!

Thanks all. I resorted to taking one of my anxiety pills yesterday. It has helped take the edge off. It’s not that my class is “stacked,” although it does have more than the other two. It’s that classes are getting more and more like this. Kids are hard now. To generalize, they aren’t being parented and are being exposed to way more than an 8 year old ought to know. The lack of focus and no desire to learn is becoming more and more prevalent. We had a listening session with a few of our board members. The stories shared were heartbreaking. One district official heard about it. Her comment was that “200 of our most whiniest teachers” got together. I need a vacation to somewhere far away and warm. :)

I am on the 9th Mercy Thompson book. :)

>39 catzteach: Following the story of your week. Being a teacher these days is no joke. It's a hard job at the best of times, and those still standing in the classroom deserve far greater support and advocacy than most districts seem willing to extend. Hang in there. (And dinner in robe and pjs, and a dinner of graham crackers sounds just fine to me.)

>39 catzteach: Yikes. That sounds awful. Be sure you take care of yourself too.

I’ve finished Fire Touched, Silence Fallen, and Storm Cursed. All three were enjoyable. I’ll take a break from them while I wait for ones to be available from the library. I’ll be reading Hard Day for a Hangover next. It’s not a comfort read as such, but it is still a pretty easy read.

I’m in a better mind space right now. I did have to take more medicine. Thank goodness I have some and it works. I have a doctor appointment in a couple of weeks and I’ll ask her for something to help me through the rest of the year. And I have a behavior team at school who are going to start implementing a few things to give me some relief.

In the meantime, I’ll keep reading easy brain candy and eating lots of ice cream. Only slightly kidding on the ice cream. :)

Finished A Hard Day for a Hangover last night. I stayed up an extra hour to finish it. I just couldn’t go to sleep with only a couple (few) chapters left and not knowing how it ended. :)

Do any of you remember Blockbuster, the video rental store? Did you know there is one left? It’s here in Bend. It’s gotten a bit of press in the last few years because it’s “The Last Blockbuster.” We even had Ron Howard come and visit it. Well, they created a commercial which debuted yesterday. They played it at the store during their Super Bowl party and on their Instagram page. Here’s our local news story about it: https://ktvz.com/news/bend/2023/02/12/bends-last-blockbuster-on-earth-debuts-its...

It’s pretty cute. :)

>43 catzteach: Ha! That's awesome. I knew there was still one 'out there,' but I wasn't sure exactly where.

>43 catzteach: Cute! That's why I'm a die hard and hold on to my favorite movies on DVD.

>45 MrsLee: It's a wise decision. Especially if you live somewhere, as I do, where the internet connection disappears occasionally.

I forgot to mention in my last post that I finished listening to Almost Human. I Googled pics but would still like to see the pics in the book. I am wondering if Barnes and Noble would have a copy I could look through.

>44 clamairy: and >45 MrsLee: I still have a lot of DVDs but have gotten rid of the VHS tapes.

>43 catzteach: So that's where it is!

>47 catzteach: There was just an article on the news here about a guy who made his own time capsule back in 1982 for his son's birth, then recently opened it up and sold the old Rocky VHS tapes in it for big $$.

>48 Karlstar: Hmm, maybe I should’ve held onto all those old Disney movies. I think I may have kept my anniversary edition of The Wizard of Oz.

I haven’t posted in a while. I’ve been struggling with my anxiety and have needed to stay off of devices for the most part. I went to the doctor this week and am now on a medicine. It should kick in in about 3 weeks.

I also got some sad, but livable news: I have advanced osteoporosis. My doctor is thinking there is an underlying issue as I’m fairly young (53) for it to be so severe. I’m also active. She told me bone scans aren’t usually done until the age of 60 and if we had waited, I’d have been breaking bones “left and right.” My scan was ordered by my gynecologist (I saw my GP the other day) just as a baseline. Now I need to decide on a medication. Not sure how to do that, but she wants me to make a decision quickly. I’m worried because my mom was taking meds and she lost all her teeth. Not sure it was the meds, but I would really like to keep my teeth.

I have been reading though. Actually, that’s about all I feel like doing on the weekends.

Soul Taken The 13th Mercy Thompson book. I’m assuming more will be coming out.

Her Majesty’s Royal Coven a book bullet from here. I can’t remember who, though. I really should keep track of who gets me with these. :) I really enjoyed this book. I almost bought the second one the minute I finished this one, but I have a few others I am wanting to read first, so I didn’t.

Madly, Deeply: the diaries of Alan Rickman I really liked his acting and was sad when he passed. This was an interesting read. It made me realize how much I miss journaling. I now want to go get a nice journal and start up again.

I am now starting Portable Magic. That’s my plan for the weekend. :)

>50 catzteach: oh dear, osteoporosis.That sucks so bad. My serious sympathies.

>50 catzteach: I am so sorry, Cindy. Best of luck with the treatments, both for the osteoporosis and the anxiety. I'm glad you've found some good books to read. They do help.

>50 catzteach: Significant physical changes catch all of us off guard. Deal with one thing at a time (anxiety, osteoporosis, etc.). Take care of yourself as best you can. (((Hugs)))

Journaling may be a big help and I am tempted to go find myself a copy of Madly, Deeply. Because yes, Alan Rickman was a real treasure.

>50 catzteach: Gentle hugs to you. May your medical experts find the best and most effective treatment. As my sister just told me, "Keep your chin up, sister." (Details on my reading thread)

>50 catzteach: Yikes! Good luck with your treatments.

Thanks for the encouragement, everyone. I did some reading today. The underlying cause may be celiacs. So I’m already trying to train my brain to look out for gluten. I need to do more reading up on the meds and then talk with the doctor again. I’m in a bit of a holding pattern waiting to have insurance approve the referral to an endocrinologist.

>54 MrsLee: read your thread. Hugs to you, my friend.

>50 catzteach: Strength and gentle hugs to you!

Wishing you the best for your treatment.

>50 catzteach: Wishing you well with your treatment.

THe BB you took from Her Majesty's Royal Coven seems to have been from Sakerfalcon from her thread of last year. See here. Fairly easy to check on the conversations tab for a book if you need it for future reference.

>59 AHS-Wolfy: Yes, I love that feature.

>59 AHS-Wolfy: Thanks for finding that! There are so many features on LT that I do not yet know how to use. I really need to invest some time into learning them. :)

I'm so sorry to hear of your medical issues, and I hope that you'll be able to find the right way forward now that you've been diagnosed. I'm glad you enjoyed HMRC and have other good books too.

>62 Sakerfalcon: Enjoy HMRC??? I'd rather burn them with fire!

Oh.

Note for US-ians: "HMRC" here stands for "His Majesty's Revenue and Customs" — the UK equivalent of the Internal Revenue Service.

>63 haydninvienna: Richard, I have a similar problem. Several times a week the news carries reports of the latest iniquities perpetrated by the RAF. Every time I have to stop for a double-take, until I remember that they mean the Road Accident Fund (a nest of crooks and vipers), not the entirely honourable Royal Air Force.

>63 haydninvienna: It's a British author; she's clearly enjoying the acronym!

>63 haydninvienna: Heh. The only magic that HMRC can do is getting blood out of turnips. Wish I could find the old Wizard of Id cartoon where the king, who is thought to be intending to raise taxes, looks down on his subjects and says something like "as I stand here and look down at your anxious faces, I am reminded of turnips ...".

Ha! I didn’t HMRC stood for anything else. :)

Finished Portable Magic yesterday. It was an enjoyable read. Part of the reason I bought it was the look of the book. While I was reading it, the gold came off the title on the spine. :( So now the spine just says “Portable.”

In other news, one of the things the doctor was checking me for was celiac. Good news is I do not have celiac. Now to rule out a thyroid issue/tumor. Luckily I have a friend who is an endocrinologist and an expert in osteoporosis. I shall be seeing her as soon as I get the ok from insurance.

Sorry to hear about your medical issues, I hope they find an effective treatment soon.

It seems a little ironic that the cover of that book is coming apart.

>68 catzteach: Losing half the title off the spine is not one of the book production issues I've heard about very often. Wow.

As to the health issues, I'm glad they've ruled out the celiac disease. Thyroid is manageable although, being a chronic condition, you may need to deal with prescription meds. Crossing thumbs that all further findings are equally simple.

>68 catzteach:
I am looking forward to reading Portable Magic. I hope my copy does not lose half its title.

All the best with the medical issues.

The right side of my thyroid was removed years ago and I take medicine. I have not had any problems. My doctor does blood tests to make sure all is fine.
Best to you.

Strength and health to you!

Years ago the doc in Pretoria decided DD's thyroid was hyperactive and should be silenced with iodine-131. Not the greatest idea the world has ever seen.

Best of luck with the thyroid issues. (I've been on synthroid for over a decade!)

>68 catzteach: How perfect that you have a friend like that! I hope the insurance doesn't put up any roadblocks to your investigations.

Finished The Thursday Murder Club the other day. Loved it! I will definitely be reading the others in the series.

>76 catzteach: Hope you're doing okay.

>77 clamairy: I’m doing ok. Mentally, I’m in a much better space. I still don’t like being on the osteoporosis meds. The anxiety meds have kicked in, though, and I’m feeling much calmer.

I had a girls’ weekend last weekend. It was a very relaxing trip. We walked on the beach, ate good food, did a puzzle, and read. I could’ve used a few more days.

I finished The Dirt on the Ninth Grave while I was there. A perfect beach read!

Next week is spring break. I’m looking forward to doing pretty much nothing but reading all week.

I haven’t posted on my thread in a while. It’s been spring break and I entered major introvert hermit mode. I’ve done pretty much nothing but hang out at home. It was just what I needed. :)

I have finished a few books.

Second Chance Pass This is a Virgin River novel. The first one I haven’t really enjoyed. It was too romance-y. I need other things going on in a plot besides the characters just lusting after each other.

The Curse of the Tenth Grave The 10th Charlie Davidson book. Charley is back in New Mexico and learning how to deal with her new normal.

Then She Was Gone A book club book. I really enjoyed it! Laurel’s daughter disappears when she is 15. 10 years later Laurel meets Floyd. She really likes him. Then she meets his daughter, who is the spitting image of Laurel’s daughter. It makes her wonder what is going on.

In health news: I was finally able to make an appointment with the endocrinologist. I see her on Friday. I was happy to find out she is an expert on osteoporosis. I’m hoping she can recommend a few good books to read about osteo.

Back to the grind tomorrow. 11 more weeks until summer break.

>79 catzteach: I'm glad you got some much-needed hermit time. And I hope the endocrinologist is a big help. Keeping my fingers crossed for you.

Eleven weeks? You've got this!

>50 catzteach: sorry to hear of your medical issues. I have a friend who has been dealing with osteoporosis for quite a while now. She may even have been in her 40s when she started to have problems. She is very athletic - did triathlon and ironman triathlon. The osteoporosis first showed up when she got stress fractures in her feet from running. She once broke a leg when two playing dogs slammed into her. I don't know anything about the causes or what medication she is on. I do know that she still bikes, swims, and does other sports now, but I don't think she runs anymore. She hasn't broken anything for a long time, though, so whatever she is doing must be working.

I hope yours is less drastic and is easily treated.

>79 catzteach: I'm glad you had a good spring break. Sometimes we really need to hibernate to restore our mental balance. And that's great news about the endocrinologist. I hope she can suggest some helpful books.

Abandon picked this one up at my local bookstore. I love Blake Crouch and was excited to see one I hadn’t yet read. The main character is a reporter doing a story on a couple who investigates the paranormal. They are heading to Abandon to see if there are ghosts there. Abandon is an old gold mining town where every resident disappeared one Christmas Eve never to be found. Soon after they arrive, they see shadows where there shouldn’t be anyone moving around. It was a good book.

In health news: I was able to see the endocrinologist. She thinks my osteoporosis is partly genetic and partly because I never grew my bones strong when I was a teen. I was a late bloomer and didn’t “bloom” until I was 18 or so. So she’s not worried that this was a drastic bone loss. She has put me on Reclast, which is an infusion. I get my first dose on Wednesday. It’s once a year. I will do it twice and then get another bone scan. If it looks like my bones have thickened, then I may be able to stop it. She said to keep running and lifting weights. She didn’t think I needed to really worry or learn more about it all, but I think I’ll look for a good book anyway. Doesn’t hurt to learn about foods that will help. :)

I think my anxiety meds are also helping me deal with all of this. Even my coworkers have mentioned how much calmer I seem. If this is how “normal” people feel all the time, I should’ve started these a long time ago. I don’t feel on edge all the time! I love it!

>83 catzteach: That's all good news! You must be so relieved, and not just because of the meds. Hope you stay calm and keep finding good things to read.

>83 catzteach: All good news, congratulations!

>83 catzteach:
I am glad your getting some goods news. All the very best going forward.

>83 catzteach: It sounds as if the endocrinologist is paying attention to what you tell her. That goes a long way in calming your mind as well as everything else! Glad to get the update.

>83 catzteach: That's great news. Thanks for the update.

>83 catzteach: That's great to hear! I'm glad you can keep running as I remember that was a big thing for you.

Haven’t been reading much lately as I’ve had lots of meetings/work till late at night. Well, late for me (8:30). I’ve been coming home and going to bed. Maybe getting a chapter in before I conk out.

My educator’s union has started bargaining with my district and I am co-chair of the committee. Lots of meetings and today is my 11th day out of the classroom to work on the proposal. Legally bargaining hasn’t yet started as tonight we are presenting our proposal for the first time. It’s hefty. We have worked on every article and added a few more! It’s been a ton of work. I still have the PowerPoint to complete. And I’m off to meet the other co-chair and get to work on that.

Someday I’ll be back to tell you how much I’ve enjoyed Lessons in Chemistry even though it’s taken me forever to get through it. I’m almost done and might finish by Wednesday’s book club meeting.

>90 catzteach: Best of luck with the negotiations! I hope all goes smoothly.

I have that book on my wishlist. I do hope you manage to finish it.

>90 catzteach: Lessons in Chemistry is on my TBR pile, so I'm glad to hear you enjoyed it!

I haven’t posted all month! It’s been a long, exhausting month. I’m heavily involved with my union and we are in the bargaining process right now. Lots of meetings till late (well, late for me. 8:30 at night.) and then I get home and just want to rest my brain. It’s been hard to even read. Plus, my class is the hardest I’ve ever had. Super disrespectful and unmotivated. They’ve drained me.

I have finished a few books since my last book post:
Hell Bent This one took a while to get into because I couldn’t remember all the details from the first one right away. But once I remembered, I got into the story and enjoyed it.

Lessons in Chemistry This was a book club read. I enjoyed it. I really liked the main character, Elizabeth. I’m sure there were a lot of women like her back then. Thank goodness. They paved the way for the rest of us. Highly recommend this book.

Just finished The Cradle of Ice. Loved the first Moonfall book. This was harder for me as for reasons listed above, my brain was having a hard time focusing. I do wish I had saved it for summer.

There are a couple of books sitting on my table that will wait for summer. I want to be able to really relax and get into them without the other things getting in the way. For now, I’ll read I’m Glad My Mom Died this weekend while at the coast with The Husband. And then pick some fluffy reads until school is out on June 16th. Maybe some more Patricia Briggs. She helped me get through all my “anxiety days” back in January and February when all I could do was read and needed comfort ones. Maybe she can get me through these last few days with this class.

Finished I’m Glad My Mom Died while at the coast the other weekend. It was a book club read. It was good. I did not know who Jeannette McCurdy was; I’m too old for the iCarly show. Her mom was a piece of work, though.

I did not bring another book with me (what was I thinking?) and needed to find one to read when I finished this one. So The Husband and I went to the nearby bookstores to look for books. As we were waiting for one to open, we went into a little shop that had vendor booths with antiques and such. One booth had book 2 and 3 of the Obsidian Trilogy by Mercedes Lackey and James Mallory. They were a dollar each! I debated on buying them because Book 1 was not there. The Husband encouraged me to buy them saying I could get book 1 later. So, ok, bought the books. Then the shop we were waiting for finally opened and guess what I found? Book 1! It was $9 there. I got the entire trilogy for $11 in hard back! I’m almost done with The Outstretched Shadow.

5 days left of school. Very much looking forward to this summer.

>94 catzteach: Your husband is a wise man.

>94 catzteach: Serendipity! Or maybe Kismet. I hope those last 5 days are drama-free. And then, Happy Summer!

>95 MrsLee: yes, he is. :)

The last 5 days were looooonnnnggg. On the last day of school I started the day by giving them a lecture on leaving other people’s personal things alone. They had noticed a TARDIS podium that a friend had bequeathed me on his retirement from teaching. They were gathered around it, trying to pick it up and see if it opened. I did let them know how to respond politely with curiosity about something like that. I ended the day with them coming in from recess at each others’ throats because one was spreading gossip about another. I had to get someone to come in and sort it out. Turns out nothing was being spread except that someone was spreading something. One day pretty much sums up the entire year.

I’ve done pretty much nothing with my first week off except sleep, watch tv, and read. Maybe next week I’ll have some energy.

I did finish The Outstretched Shadow. It was a bit slow but I think that was more because I was so tired and stressed. I’ll get to the other two hopefully this summer.

And now to go catch up on everyone else’s threads. :)

Finished The Priory of the Orange Tree this morning. I really enjoyed this book and am so glad I waited for the summer to read it! Had I tried reading it during the school year, there is no way I would’ve been able to follow all the storylines at the beginning. I will read her second book but probably not until Winter Break when I have hours to devote to it in one sitting as it’s another 800 pager.

I am thoroughly enjoying my summer so far: sleeping in, lazy mornings, runs, bike rides, coffee (and Exploding Kittens) with friends, puzzles, and crocheting. Ah, summer.

I’m also getting things together for our trip to Iceland in a few weeks. We need to get new luggage and the outlet converters. We were supposed to go in 2020, but we all know how things turned out back then. :/ I haven’t been out of the country in decades so I’m very much looking forward to this trip!

>98 catzteach: Oh! Enjoy! I hope you post lots of pictures on Facebook so we can join you vicariously.

I loved Priory, but you're right. There was a lot to sort out in the beginning. I guess I forgot there was a second book.

>98 catzteach: Have a great time in Iceland, Cindy! My brother and his family are going in a couple of weeks also – I'm super envious as it's on my list but I haven't made it there yet. Looking forward to a report!

Iceland (as I understand it) is a very interesting place to visit. As >99 clamairy: says, I hope you'll post photos and allow the rest of us to live vicariously!!

>98 catzteach: Iceland is fascinating. Make sure you try the bread baked in hot sand (which I can confirm is actually pretty good), and go to the place where you can be in Europe and North America at the same time. I'll let you off the fermented shark meat.

Thanks, peeps!

I will post pics if I can figure out how to post on here (I’m wondering if Google pics would allow me to share here). The Husband doesn’t want me posting on FB until we are home.

>102 haydninvienna: Those two things sound so cool! I don’t know if we’ll be near there. We are going with a tour group as it was easier for me, being a novice of overseas travel, to plan and schedule. I would love to try that bread!

>99 clamairy: I read part of the blurb on the second book. It sounded like a history of the Priory. I did not read the whole book jacket blurb.

Enjoy Iceland. It is on my wish-list too.

Enjoy Iceland, even though I'm given to understand it's one of the world's most expensive places to visit.

>98 catzteach: Priory of the Orange Tree is so good! I'm glad you enjoyed it!

Hope you have a fantastic time in Iceland. I will look forward to pictures whenever it's convenient for you to post them.

Thanks all! I’m super excited.

>105 hfglen: we’ve heard it’s super expensive. Our tour includes breakfast and dinner so we will only have to deal with buying lunch. I’m worried that there won’t be any non-fishy things to eat. I don’t eat fish.

I’m almost done getting things we needed: littler carry ons and travel size toiletries. Now I need to figure out how to get our money exchanged and decide on how much cash to take.

>107 catzteach: In my latter-day travels I've seldom bothered taking much cash unless going somewhere where there were no ATMs. Even in Zambia I could get kwacha out of a respectable ATM at the hotel I was staying at. I suppose I never really recovered from the startled face of a teller in a bank in Ireland when I tried to buy some Qatari riyals — she said "I don't think we even sell those!" So I went to Qatar with a wallet modestly full of euro notes and exchanged them in Doha.

I might sometimes take enough of the local currency to buy a meal at the airport, but I remember a cafe in Frankfurt Airport that would take USD, GBP, EUR and possibly other currencies*. Basically, in a developed country, if you have a credit card and an ATM card, you're good. Possible exception: Japan, which I believe is still much more cash-oriented than most other developed countries. OTOH, in Sweden it's customary to use a card even for the smallest transactions. It might be worth your while to find out what the customary payment method in Iceland is. This page might be useful (scroll down, and particularly note the section on tipping).

And I almost forgot! Don't forget to try brennivin unless you're teetotal.

* My usual supermarket in Doha had signs at the checkouts giving the rate at which it would accept various currencies. It would take Qatari riyals (of course) and all the other Gulf currencies, plus EUR, GBP and USD, at least. i also remember a cafe in Dubai Airport that would take all of those plus Australian dollars.

>107 catzteach: >108 haydninvienna: I'm more than somewhat amused at the line in Haydninvienna's link describing svið. In townships here the identical thing is called a smiley.

V3 Me gusto mucho la temática, la verdad (:, pero no soy muy fanática de los libros DNF

>108 haydninvienna: Thanks for all the info! That page was super helpful! Sounds like I don’t need to worry about cash until I get there or at all. :) I’m still a little worried about the cuisine. It does sound like I’ll have other choices besides fish so that’s good. :) I’m also excited to see what the wool feels like there. I can’t do sheep’s wool here. I can do alpaca or llama. I wonder what Iceland’s wool compares to.

Finished The Beekeeper of Aleppo. It was a book club read. It was ok. Not my style. One of the book club members loved it.

I DNF’d The Orphan Collector. I read about three chapters and just couldn’t do it. Too depressing. It takes place during the Spanish Flu. The people were all dying off and there was much mask wearing and such. I think it is just too soon after Covid to read this one. It was also a book club read.

Not sure what I’m going to read next.

I DNF’d a Naomi Novik book: His Majesty’s Dragon. It just wasn’t holding my attention.

I moved on and finished A Darker Shade of Magic. There are four different London’s and Kell can move between them. He works for the queen and kind of his London and moves messages across to the other Londons. He’s also a smuggler. Things get complicated when someone gives him a stone from Black London. Black London disappeared long ago when magic consumed it. He has to get the stone back to BL before it consumes his London. A good book. There are two more in the series but this could easily be a stand alone.

In other news, I had an allergic reaction to some antibiotic yesterday. Boy, was that weird and scary. I’ve never had an allergic reaction like that before. Swelling, itching, nausea, and redness everywhere. The doctor said people usually get hives in patches. Mine was a continuous patch covering everywhere at once. I was so red! It looked like I’d been out in the sun for hours. Lots of Benadryl and steroids later and I’m fine. And no reaction to my new antibiotic. Whew.

>112 catzteach: Oh, yikes! That's unnerving. Which antibiotic? Back in my early 20s I had a reaction to erythromycin. (Hives and itching.) They took me off it, but didn't give me anything to treat the symptoms. It took weeks to completely heal.

>113 clamairy: It had a really long name that starts with nitro and the nurse kept calling it a macro. She kept asking if I’d had a macro before. I have no idea what they’ve given me in the past. I just know I’ve had four different ones now in the last five months for three UTIs. I’d like to figure something out to avoid the UTI to begin with.

Do you take an antihistamine on a regular basis by any chance? I've read recently that they can cause in increase in bacterial growth because they keep users from being able to complete empty their bladders.

Hmm, I do take an allergy medicine every night. Costco’s generic Zyrtec. I’ll ask my doc about that next time I go in or if I get another stupid UTI in the next few months.

>116 catzteach: I also take Costco's brand of Zyrtec, but I started taking a ½.

>112 catzteach: Oh, Cindy, that's a bummer (the allergic reaction, not the DNF, although that's a bummer too). The only time I ever had an allergic reaction to a drug, it was also an antibiotic given for a UTI... mine was a sulfa-based antibiotic, so I learned the hard way to avoid sulfa. Sounds like yours was something different. Glad you're fine now!

>118 PlatinumWarlock: I am not a fan of the sulfa based ones, either. They upset my tummy horribly. I try to avoid those when I can.

Finished the first three books in The Inheritance Games series. All three were very good. I read them all in a row the last couple of days. The fourth one is not due out till late August. I pre-ordered it today. :)

Now I’m reading a book by a friend of mine. It’s her first foray into YA. I’m enjoying it.

I’m almost all ready for our trip. We leave on Saturday! I’m so excited!!

Read Chasing Eleanor a book a friend of mine wrote. I enjoyed it. The main character was a bit annoying with her stubbornness, but she learned a life lesson along the way and it was a pretty normal trait for a person of her age so I was able to deal with it. I will recommend this book to a couple of my friends who like historical fiction.

I also read Ruth Ware’s new one Zero Days. I did figure out who was the bad guy pretty early, but most of the book was the main character trying to figure out how to prove she wasn’t the bad guy. And she figures out who is it about three-fourths of the way threw the book.

I’m currently reading The Book Woman’s Daughter. So far I’m unimpressed. But maybe it’ll get better?

We are off to Iceland tomorrow! I’m so excited! Neither one of us have been out of the US for over 20 years.

>120 catzteach:
Have a great trip. We are all keen to read your Iceland reports.

>120 catzteach: Bon voyage!!! I hope you can share a few updates in here. I know you won't be sharing photos on Facebook until after you get home.

>120 catzteach: Have a wonderful time! Can't wait to hear all about it when you're back!

We are three days into our trip. It’s been fun and jam packed! We did have to deal with wayward luggage the first day. Our suitcases decided to stay in Seattle a bit longer than we wanted. They took the next plane out and joined us later Sunday evening. This made Sunday a bit stressful for The Husband as he didn’t pack things in his carry-on for just this reason. We’ve heard tons of history, been on two boat rides, eaten genuine Icelandic fair (although no volcanic bread yet), seen two Arctic Foxes, met many fun and nice people, and driven so many miles (kilometers)! We are tired but happy.

Tomorrow we start on our journey around the Golden Circle.

>124 catzteach:
That sounds like a great trip, even with the but of drama thrown in at the start.

Ooh, Arctic fox sightings already! Glad your luggage turned up eventually. I hope the rest of your trip is amazing!

Home from Iceland. What a fantastic trip! It definitely wasn’t a “sit and watch the waves” kind of vacation. It was jam packed every day. Lots of amazing scenery. Lots of yummy food. Lots of good conversation.

Traveling with a tour company was a good choice for us. It was nice to have others around to have shared experiences. We even connected with a couple of other couples. At the end of the trip, we shared contact information. I think it’d be neat to arrange to go on another tour with them. Plus there were dinners we experienced that we would never have had if we were on our own. The Husband had fish every day, sometimes two times a day. I had lamb three times. And the last dinner there, while almost everyone else had fish, I had this really yummy mushroom stuffed puffed pastry. The tour director said he was jealous of my dinner. :)

I think the only con to traveling with a tour group is the pacing. There were times we would’ve liked to hang out at a site and we only had 5 or 10 minutes there. Not having to do the driving was fabulous, though. We are already talking about doing a tour of Ireland in a few years.

We missed a few experiences that if we have a chance to ever get back, we will have to do: the volcano, experiencing the lava baked bread (although we did hear a fun story about it), and the Penis Museum (which I’ve heard is a riot).

I did manage to read three books:

The Book Woman’s Daughter— didn’t really enjoy this one. I don’t know if I was just not in the mood, or what, but I found it really depressing.

Hunting Ground Definitely a good vacation read: werewolves, vampires, and witches.

Clean Sweep This one was ok. The paranormal creatures are actually aliens from other planets. Definitely a fluff read. Will I read more? Eh, if I’m desperate and one is available.

>127 catzteach: Glad you had a great trip! I thought about you as I was reading Bulfinch's Mythology, and the Nordic Mythology. I didn't know that the Eddas came from Iceland.

>128 MrsLee: Ooh, I’ll have to get a copy of Bulfinch’s Mythology. I wanted to pick up a couple of legend books while there, but I didn’t have room to get them home. I want to learn more about the mythology of the area.

>127 catzteach:
Sounds like a great trip.

I hope you have time for a quick meet-up if you do the tour of Ireland.

>130 catzteach: I am betting there are better books on Norse mythology than Bulfinch. The section on it is more like an appendix at the back of the book, very abbreviated, although, I am loving the book as a whole. It's focus is Greek mythology. Didn't Niel Gaimon do a Norse mythology? I think I might have it lost in my Kindle. Haven't read it though.

>130 catzteach: Dead envious. I loved Iceland and would dearly love to go back.

>127 catzteach: That sounds like a marvelous trip! And how nice that you connected with some other travelers. Iceland has been on our list too... we were considering going in the summer of 2020, but then Covid. My brother and his family are there right now, though, so I'm looking forward to additional reports! Welcome home. 😊

I'm so glad you had a good time. Your pics on FB are fabulous. Thank you for sharing them.

Glad you had a good time! The photos are amazing! I bet your time there went much too quickly.

>132 MrsLee: Gaimen has written one. I’ll go to the local indie bookstore and see if they have anything.

>134 PlatinumWarlock: We were supposed to go in 2020 as well. The tour company gave us vouchers rather than a refund. I’m glad they did. It made us continue our plans and have a deadline as to when we could use them. Hence, this summer’s trip. :)

>135 clamairy: & >136 Sakerfalcon: The pics on FB are a fraction of what I took. I uploaded them from my iPad and the app would only allow 30 pics. Plus, no captions. So some have no context. Like the little electric scooters. In Bend we have blue e-bikes people can rent with an app. The bikes appear all over town having been left after use. The scooters were the same over there. And the bottle of booze. It was called “The Black Death” by the tour director. It’s the “antidote” one takes after trying the fermented shark. We were given shots of the alcohol and a chocolate candy. No shark, thank goodness. :)

We could’ve stayed two weeks and still not have seen everything.

>137 catzteach: What a great name for an alcoholic beverage! Hahaha.

>137 catzteach: >138 clamairy: Not its formal name! "Brennvin". Similar to akvavit but less caraway-y, is how I remember it. (I didn't bother with the fermented shark bit, just sent straight to the booze.)

>137 catzteach: I know how hard it is to edit photos to reasonable limits! I took over 1000 in Paris and although I could have uploaded as many I wanted, I don't want to bore people. Being limited to 30 at a time would be REALLY hard! Those escooters are a menace in every city that has them. I am all for environmentally friendly travel and they are great for people who want to zip around cities, but why does the system allow them to be dumped everywhere?? I would design it so they had to be docked before the charges stop accruing.

>139 haydninvienna: The Brennvin was interesting. I don’t drink much. Maybe one a year. I had half a shot. Just as I was processing the taste, which I liked, the burn started. Boy, howdy! I’d never had anything like it. :)

>140 Sakerfalcon: I know what you mean. The blue bikes get left everywhere. I often wonder who picks them up. How do they not get lost? I, too, would’ve made it a requirement to return them to a dock station.

Finished Into the West yesterday. It was not action packed, but did explain how the Valdemarans were able to settle somewhere else. I’m assuming there are more of them in the series because they have not yet met the horses that can mindspeak.

Holy cow! I haven’t been on here in a while! Not sure why. I haven’t even been super busy. Just enjoying the “Sunday of Summer.” Unfortunately, it’s been super smoky here for most of the last 25 days. I haven’t run outside all month. But I have been reading, crocheting, and doing puzzles. I think I’m on my 7th puzzle of the summer. :)

Here’s what I’ve read:
We Don’t Swim Here A YA about a haunted lake. I enjoyed it.

Miss Pym Disposes This was a BB from Mrs.Lee. It was a nice, calm read. I really liked Miss Pym. I was disappointed it wasn’t really a murder mystery but enjoyed it anyway.

How to Sell a Haunted House I have read two other books by Hendrix so I knew what I was getting into. Do not read this if you get scared easily. It was a good ghost story.

The Magician’s Daughter This one was also a BB, but I can’t remember from who. Loved it!

Eleventh Grave in Moonlight 11th Charley Davidson book. One of my brain candy series.

>143 catzteach: Sounds like you were doing all the right things for your summer. So sorry about the smoke. My sister said they got lots of rain this week, but that it was missing the fire area. :(

I am glad you enjoyed Miss Pym. I call it an anti-murder mystery. Although there is a mystery.

>143 catzteach: Are you running on a treadmill? I'm sorry about the smoke. I also enjoyed The Magician's Daughter, which was originally a bullet from sakerfalcon.

>144 MrsLee: I have been wondering if you’ve been getting smoke as well. It’s become a normal part of August and September. We had a bit of rain but not enough to do any good. And now with the storms that went through the night before last, we have fires popping up everywhere. :(

>145 clamairy: I do have a treadmill, but I choose to go to the park and rec’s fitness center and use the little bitty track. 56 laps makes the 4 miles I am up to. I like the little change in scenery by going around in circles. I will be very glad to get back outside to run, though.

>146 catzteach: I understand. Back when I was still running I discovered that I run differently on the treadmill than I do outside or on a track. I shorten my stride, or something. I do hope your air clears up soon!

>146 catzteach: This last storm started some fires further north of us, so we are seeing the first smoke of the year. Not bad where I am yet. The last few years we had smoke from July through October, so I'm grateful for the respite.

>143 catzteach: I enjoyed The magician's daughter and We don't swim here. Unlike a lot of YA horror, I found We don't swim here to be genuinely scary. I hope you get a break from all the smoke soon.

>149 Sakerfalcon: agree that We don’t swim here was scary.

Finished The Last Graduate. It was as good as the first. I will pick up the third one as soon as my library pile has been whittled down.

Not many breaks from the smoke yet, but it did rain in the fire areas today so hopefully that helped. It’s been cool and cloudy today. Felt good, actually.

We had Open House (Back to School Night) tonight. At my school, it’s just a meet and greet. I had an ex-student pop in. Her child is in first grade. I had her when she was in second and third grades. That was 20 years ago! It’s crazy how fast it has gone. I can’t wait to have her little guy in a couple of years: a “grandstudent.” :)

>150 catzteach: Wow. That's great she stopped in to say hello. I hope your smoke clears out soon. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for you.

>150 catzteach: Smoke is here now as well. :(

Also, you don't look old enough to have grandstudents!

>151 clamairy: It was great to see her. She was one that I got to know really well. And I love her mom. I had both her little brothers, too.

>152 MrsLee: Aw, thanks!
Sorry you are having smoke now. We got rain last night and today so I was able to get outside for a run today. :)

We have three teachers who are already sick with Covid! Yikes! Guess I should be prepared for a sub sooner rather than later.

>150 catzteach: How very sweet to see your former student! I stayed friends with two of my elementary school teachers... both attended my wedding, both came to meet my infant son when I brought him to town to visit, and one of them became a painter after retiring from teaching and I have two of her paintings hanging in my house. Those relationships have been a real gift! I hope you experience the same. :)

>154 PlatinumWarlock: Facebook has made it possible for me to keep up with quite a few of my former students. It’s so weird to think of them as parents. :) I wish I had been able to keep in touch with my 7th grade teacher. She helped me with some tough stuff that year. The best I was able to do was email her years later, tell her I became a teacher because of her, and let her know how much she meant to me. She was retiring that year and we never communicated again. :(

Read Where the Forest meets the Stars this was a book club read. It was very good! Ursa is a young girl who shows up at Jo’s house. She is unkept and looks like she ran away from a bad situation. Together with her neighbor, Jo takes the girl in and takes care of her. Eventually they learn Ursa’s story.

Today was the first day of school. Oh my gosh! How different from last year! I’m in a better head space and these kids are sooooo much nicer! Definitely have a couple of stinkers, but nothing like last year’s group. I think this is going to be a great year!

>155 catzteach: That's wonderful news. I hope this year is the best one yet.

>156 clamairy: Thanks! I think it’s going to be pretty fantastic. We painted yesterday and today and I had lots of little helpers cleaning the floor and the brushes. I did have two pulling their pants down at recess, but that’s not super unusual for this age. :)

I started reading Fairy Tale. I haven’t read a King book since high school. I’ve heard this one is a bit different than his others. I’m really enjoying it so far. I’m maybe 1/4 of the way in.

And our home football games start this weekend. The PAC-12 has been decimated. Nobody picked up my team (Oregon State). They are trying to keep the PAC alive by bringing on the Mountain West. I hope that is what happens. But this will be the last year of the big rivalry game between Oregon State and the University of Oregon. :(

>157 catzteach: I'm laughing... How old are these kids again? I don't think the pants dropping thing every stops for some people, even after they leave school and join the work force.

Please keep us in the loop on that Stephen King book. I haven't read much of his newer stuff. Although I did enjoy 11/22/63.

>158 clamairy: They are 7 and 8. Considering these little guys, they may be the type to never grow out of it! :D

I just want to record somewhere that I just finished one of the funnest first weeks ever! I’m going to have so much fun with this group!

And I will keep you posted. Still enjoying it. :)

>159 catzteach: I am so happy (and relieved) for you. Enjoy the year.

>159 catzteach: So glad you have great kids this year! I hope you all have a wonderful time.

Finished Stephen King’s Fairy Tale yesterday. I ended up skimming the last 200 pages. It got boring! I did want to read the ending, though, just to see what happened to the main character. I hadn’t read a King novel since high school. I heard good things about this one. Maybe it was because I was reading it during the first weeks of school, but it just didn’t grab me, and I didn’t feel like picking it up to read when I got home.

In other news, the class is still fun. I do have a few squirrelly boys, but they are super sweet. And when I talk to them about their behavior, they accept it and do their best to change (I have a couple of ADHD kiddos who just can’t help themselves). It’s so nice to not have them argue and talk back!

And my union has picked up bargaining again. It’s tough because I’m only the co-chair. The president of the union is really the one in charge. She wants me to take on a bigger role, but I don’t always know what direction she wants the team to go in and I then say things wrong. I mentioned my need to practice if I was going to present at a bargaining session and now she doubts me. It makes me sad because we were making such a good team until now. I don’t know what to do. Sigh. It may just be my perception, too. I tend to doubt myself too much and then take things super personally. So I may be misreading the situation.

>162 catzteach: I've often felt that Stephen King weaves a great web for his books, but then has no clue how to end them and so he just keeps going.

I'm glad the kids are great this year, and I can't offer any advice on the union thing because I suffer from the same self doubt about human interaction.

>163 clamairy: that could be it. This one just kept going and going and going. I just couldn’t take it anymore. I used to love his books. I stopped reading him freshman year in college. Long story as to why. I thought I’d give him another try. Did I just pick up a dud?

Just your reply was encouraging. Thanks for “listening.”

It’s been a few days since I’ve been in the pub, let alone reported on anything.

I’ve been plodding through Witch King. Not because it’s not good, but because I’ve been so busy. When I’m able to sit down and really focus on it, I really enjoy it. Unfortunately I’ve been reading it mostly at times I’ve had a lot on my mind. I think if I had read it during the summer, I’d be really loving it. I’m about 2/3 of the way through. Now that I don’t have another bargaining meeting till the 30th, I might be able to focus on this book more.

The meeting we had the other night did not go well. :( I took point on presenting. Spent three days (all weekend) preparing for the meeting. On the second slide of my presentation, during the first Article we were speaking on, one of the District’s team members interrupted me to say they’d heard rationale with our initial proposal and they didn’t need/want to hear it again. She said they wanted to know the changes we made. Then another member muttered that he’d like to know the changes so he’d know what to read. So we had to pivot. Not easy. We are close to the time in bargaining where my union can declare mediation. I’m not sure what we are going to decide. It’s not an easy decision.

>165 catzteach: Oh dear, presenting to a group is always hard if you're not comfortable doing it, and then to have someone interrupt and throw you off track makes it even worse. I wish you the best of luck in this difficult situation.

Finished Witch King. I do think I would’ve enjoyed it more if I could’ve sat down and read long chunks at time. Maybe I’ll give it a reread in the summertime.

Bargaining is going to continue; at least, my union won’t be taking next steps yet. I spent all day Friday working on documents for our next meeting. Hopefully we’ll be able to share our whys at the next meeting. Erg.

I’m now reading a VE Schwab book. I’m enjoying it. It’s witchy so a good choice for October. I’ll say more when I’m done. :)

>167 catzteach: I don't know about you, but personally if I get one large chunk of time to spend on a book when I initially begin it, the reading stays with me for a longer period of time. Reading in bits and snatches isn't conducive to keeping it straight in my head.

>168 jillmwo:
Agreed.

>168 jillmwo: Exactly!!

I’ve finally found some time to be reading. Finished In the Lives of Puppets last night. I really like Klune’s books. My favorite character in this one was Rambo. He’s a sentient vacuum. At the end of the book, Klune said he came up with the idea of the book when he bought a Roomba and put big googly eyes on it. :D

I think my schedule may start calming down now that we are going to do bargaining during the day rather than evenings. And hopefully we see movement on the District’s part. Our members are ready to do what we have to do in order to get what we need.

I started The Road to Roswell last night. It was a BB from here, but I can’t remember who hit me with it. I really need to write down the sharpshooter’s names. :)

I haven’t been on in a while. I have read a couple of books since, though.

Can’t remember all off the top of my head. I do know I finished The Shadow Cabinet the other day. it was a great follow up to Her Majesty’s Royal Coven. The third one doesn’t come out until July of 2024. I almost put it on preorder. This one ended with quite the cliff hanger!

I’ve been enjoying a week long break for Thanksgiving. In my district we get the whole week. I’ve spent it getting some lesson planning done, reading, crocheting, and visiting with a couple of friends I haven’t seen in months.

I miss our monthly update and weekend threads on here. They were a great way to keep up with everyone when I had limited time.

Oh yeah, the weekend threads were fun. I'll start one. Sounds like you had a fun and productive week.

>173 Bookmarque: Thanks for starting a weekend thread!

Finished Beautiful Little Fools yesterday. So good! The characters are from The Great Gatsby. It’s the women’s stories. I read GG when I was in high school and then again as an adult. I loved it both times. I couldn’t remember how it ended, though. This book was written with a bit of mystery in it. I would highly recommend it, especially if you liked Gatsby.

>175 catzteach: I think I just took a bullet!

>175 catzteach: Definitely intriguing to think about Gatsby from the female perspective.

>175 catzteach: Oh this sounds great! Carve another notch on your BB pistol!

Oh, some BB’s! I mentioned the book this morning while getting coffee in the staff room and hit a few more people with BBs. I hope you all enjoy it!

Yesterday I finished Heart of the Moors. It’s a post Sleeping Beauty story for young readers. It wasn’t bad. It made me even like Malificent (how does one spell that?).

This morning, our youngest cat marked our bed. Grrr. He and our oldest cat have had tension between them and both have been marking all over the house. I don’t know what to do anymore. I’ve tried so many things. I think The Husband may be close to getting rid of the youngest. He hasn’t said anything yet tonight, but I can tell he’s really angry. I don’t want to bring it up because I don’t want him to suggest it. I will go along with it; it was our bed, after all. But I will hate it!!

Bargaining has been going well, though. We managed to tentatively agree on three more articles today. :D Hopefully we can continue this progress and get something in place before the end of the school year.

>179 catzteach: Oh no. I had the marking issue become so bad when we lived in Illinois that I started letting our cats outside. They all survived. And the marking stopped. But I decided at that point that I would never own two males again. (I also had two females at that point.) Have you tried those calming plugins yet?

>179 catzteach: I second Clam's suggestion of the Feliway plugins - I have had good results using them with anxious cats, although I haven't had to try them for aggression marking issues. It might be worth a try though. They also make a spray that you can use to pinpoint target areas. Males usually like to have their own territory, but most of the time they will just choose a room to live in. Marking your bed sounds like he is trying to establish YOU as his territory. Giving all of them a ton of loves is about all you can do to reassure them that you love them both.

Also buy a bunch of Natures Miracle to treat the 'problem areas', or they will get used to using those spots.

>180 clamairy: and >181 Darth-Heather: I think they are trying to establish their territories. It started after Teddi passed away. I guess she must have been the alpha? We do let them outside but not to roam the neighborhood, just to hang in the backyard, and, in Skippy’s case, the front and neighbor’s yard. I have Feliway on order, SSScat compressed air sprays strategically placed, and one ScatMat in one corner. I talked to my vet-tech friend today and will get some gabapentin to use on both of them until I can get some anxiety meds to rub on their ears. Oi vey.

Oh, and The Husband is tempted to get rid of them, but he thinks they wouldn’t find homes as they are black and they mark (they may go home with someone and get returned if/when they mark).

>182 catzteach: The best of luck to you sorting it out. My Hobbes had terribly anxiety issues and he was put on oral Estrogen to calm him, believe it or not. It really helped. I think he took it for almost a decade. My current kitty is on the Prozac ear smear. She has an autoimmune disease that causes itching, and this definitely helps with that. I am very hopeful that you will be able to get things to settle down. They must really miss Teddi.

>183 clamairy: Estrogen, that’s interesting. Oral meds are too hard with these two. I’m hoping the ear smear stuff will be like little kitty ear massages. :) I know I miss Teddi. She was such a calm, cool cat. The other thing that changed with her dying, our other girl cat started hanging out downstairs more. She and Teddi tended to stay upstairs most of the time. With Buggy being downstairs more, she’s on our laps more. She doesn’t share a lap. That probably hasn’t helped.

>182 catzteach: Cat dynamics are hard to figure out for sure. We are still trying to integrate our "new" grey kitty into the family. I did use the pheromones. My 2 older cats seem ok now, but the new baby (male) is constantly after my small female. He sits in all her favorite places and won't let her rest on my lap. I've started grimacing (wide eyes, teeth bared) at him when he is aggressive towards her. Makes him pause, anyway. Yesterday when I woke up from my nap in my chair, she was on the blanket at my feet, and he was on the chair arm by my shoulder. When I got up, they slept together for at least an hour, so I have hope. Happily my males are not marking territory!

Just finished Martin Short’s I Must Say. I listened to it on my way to work and whenever else I was in the car. It was great! I love listening to memoirs especially when they read it themselves.

Spent the weekend bargaining. And we are back at it tomorrow morning. Got a lot done, but still have financials. I’m so tired! By the end of today we were getting rather punchy and giggly. We did have some amazing food all weekend. Our members brought tons of snacks for us, which was great, but I ate way too much! :) Hopefully we get things wrapped up and we don’t have to bargain over Winter Break.

>186 catzteach: I'm glad you liked the audiobook. He's hilarious! Sorry that your negotiations are still ongoing. Soon it will be over, hopefully. I'll keep my fingers crossed for you.

>187 clamairy: Thanks. Clam. Based on the proposal we got from them today (after their 9 hour caucus in which we sat and waited), I’m not so sure it’s going to be over anytime soon. I drove home thinking, “Well, F**k.” And now I’m out of the classroom again tomorrow to help draft our counter and then we’ll reconvene with the District on Wednesday to give them our counter. I’m exhausted.

>188 catzteach: :(

>188 catzteach: Ack. I'm sorry.

Thanks you two. We drafted most of our counter today. Thank goodness our group gets along and has fun with each other!! We are all planning on wearing our Christmas sweaters tomorrow. Yesterday during our 9 hour wait, we watched YouTube videos, Elfed ourselves, and just had a good time, despite being trapped in a small room that was way too hot. I did get half a blanket crocheted. It’s disheartening how much our district isn’t offering. They have taken away work time, asked us to work four night time events for free, and haven’t wanted to give us a Cost of Living Adjustment. :(

>191 catzteach: I'm glad you had fun, but yeesh. :o(

Finished Sword Catcher this morning. I enjoyed it. It had palace intrigue and a couple of storylines. Now I wait for the sequel.

Listened to I Must Say. Thanks, Clam, for this BB. It was really enjoyable.

Finished The Golden Enclaves yesterday. As Sakerfalcon said, this one wrapped up the series nicely.

I’m now reading Shark Heart. It’s a Novel Idea book that the library chose. Every year they choose a first book that becomes a group read for the city. Then the author comes in the spring to talk.

I’m also listening to Beyond the Wand. I really enjoy listening to memoirs especially when read by the author. This one has been enjoyable so far. I didn’t realize Tom Felton was in a couple of movies before being Draco.

Finished listening to Beyond the Wand. Now I’m listening to Rob Lowe’s book.

Happy New Year!

May your classroom be a place of joyful inspiration to both you and your students, your home a place of peace and health and love.