For What It's Worth


Monday, September 23, 2019

My Monday Musings…


I had an eventful week (that didn’t include much reading). We are definitely in fall now and our rainy season has started a few weeks early so I’m all about cold weather food and Halloween right now.



Top left is the beginning of my indoor decorating, top center is a funny little thing I found on the shelf while shopping – seems someone has a sense of humor, top right is from our local chocolate shop – he’s practicing his chocolate sculpting. 

I’m trying more things in the Instant Pot and top left is risotto – very good and super easy! 5 minutes!! I used this recipe from kitchn. The liquid wasn’t fully absorbed when I opened the lid but I stirred it a bit, added the cheese and it was perfect. I sauteed my veggies and added them in at the end, bottom center is my first batch up chicken broth using the Instant Pot and it came out fantastic. Dump in a chicken (I used my leftovers from a roasted chicken), veggies, herbs, water – 30 minutes and voila!  We went to our local theater downtown and saw the first show of the season, AUREUM – an aerial and acrobatic adventure tale (video). The group revamped their show and trained her this summer and put on the show before taking it on tour. It has a really cool story and great performances. 

The story:

AUREUM

The benevolent White Queen of Aureum and her warrior guardian welcome twins into the world. Knowing that the White Queen’s bloodline is the only way to gain control of the powerful magic of the Seed, the Red Empress, seeking to gain ultimate power over Aureum, hatches an evil plan to kidnap one of the twins setting our tale in motion.

The Seed commands the forces of nature and imbues its carrier with immense power and strength.
In the meantime, a young academic has discovered a key that magically transports him to Aureum where he stumbles into a world of wonder and the fascinating characters who staunchly defend it. Through the sorcery of the Red Empress, a gathering of dark powers threatens the tranquil world of Aureum, and its inhabitants must find a way to protect it at all costs.

Aureum is a story of finding love in the most unusual places, and how the bonds that unite us are stronger than those that divide us. 

Very YA sounding right?? lol Honestly, I was a little surprised by how good it was. If you live in WA/OR, I recommend checking out these upcoming dates

Then we went to Storyboard Delights (the chocolate shop) for a crepe, salted caramel mousse and a latte. They’re one of the only places that stay open late around here but they’re perfect for date night or a post show treat. I really want to bring my book here to take some pictures for IG one day. 



I also spotted this creep ass doll in one of the street gardens on the way to the show. Spiders…skeletons…ALL the creepy Halloween things don’t scare me. This flower doll thing?? SCARES ME! lol

But wait! there’s more! I had my first visit with my new Dr and she’s fantastic. Spent at least an hour with me going over my entire medical history, doing an exam – offering a few suggestions and changes from what my old Dr. had said, ordered a few labs. But seriously – a WHOLE hour, patiently asking questions and listening to my answers!! Then I went o have my RX’s filled and it was $10 for my 2 prescriptions. In FL – over $200. So SUPER happy about that. And I’m hopeful she can help me with a few things that have been going on but my FL Dr. mostly ignored. 

We’re house hunting and that’s not going well at all but we keep plugging along. 

Reading:  well……  I read Pride, Prejudice, and Other Flavors by Sonali Dev (review coming this week) and I’ve been attempting to read Match Me If You Can by Tiana Smith but I just haven’t been in a reading mood. We’ll see what this week brings.


As so many of you know, we lost Grace from Rebel Mommy Book Blog in July to cancer. I still don’t think I’ve fully processed that it happened and it’s such a blow every time I see old DM’s in my Twitter from her. 

Lauren from Bookmark Lit has put together a reading challenge in honor of Grace to take place on her birthday – October 14th. 

The idea is to read FOR Grace and choose a book from her favorites and TBR pile. Lauren has included links to spreadsheets for Grace’s reading lists by TBR posts, reviews, TTT favorites, Goodreads. 

Thank you so much to Lauren for putting this together and I will definitely be joining in with that and also donating to Grace’s  favorite charity – METAvivor

Both Grace, and this challenge represent the best of this community. I hope you can all join in or help promote it if you are unable to.

28 comments:

  1. As usual, most of these things I already knew from Twitter. Yay for the new doctor! Nice and kind - is she Doctor Who? LOL.

    I'm not scared of dolls, but that one is so bad-tastey LOL.

    I will mention the Read for Grace challenge in my next Tooting Yout Trumpet post.

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    2. I forgot - good luck with your house-hunting!
      (Sorry for the deleted comment - I accidentally typed "house-haunting" LOL).

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    3. Oh but I LIKE the house haunting angle! lol

      That doll is weird. I'm just walking through my little downtown area, enjoying the flowers and BAMN.

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    4. And thank you for spreading the word about that challenge xoxo

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  2. That doll is so creepy *stares at it*

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  3. I love cold weather food haha in fall. I need all the soups, stews and whatnot. Mmm chili season lol!

    That doll... just no :)

    #Read for Grace is an amazing idea- love it.

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    1. I can't have tomato based things now so I've been looking into white chili recipes.

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  4. Fall, cold weather, and Halloween decorating... are you *trying* to make me green with envy?? :) I'm curious about the InstantPot but it also makes me nervous. The process seems confusing to me (pressing buttons, release valves, steam... gah!) and I'm scared I'd blow something up. Ha.

    I'm so glad Lauren is doing the reading challenge for Grace. I'll definitely be taking part.

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    1. It used to scare me too Tanya but it's seriously simple. And I use maybe two buttons of that whole thing lol

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  5. The food pics look delicious! And that show sounds like something I'd love with the aerial and acrobatic stuff. Wow, that really is a creepy doll lol. Glad you found such a great dr!

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    1. I loved the Dr. We'll see how she is when I have a major problem but so far she helped with some of my ongoing things, adjusted a few meds. So *fingers crossed*

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  6. I love that Lauren put this event together. It's a beautiful way to pay tribute to Grace.

    That doll is creepy, but sort of cute, and man! You eat the best food.

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    1. I was tearing up thinking about reading *for* her but it's a really beautiful way to honor her.

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  7. Oh man lucky you with the new doctor! I am having some health problems that my doctor is happy to blame on the medications I'm taking as she shuffles me out the door after 15 minutes and $25.


    And good grief but that doll is so creepy. I just can't, dolls creep me out.

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    1. My husband has a different but great Dr too. I think you need to move out here lol

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  8. It's good that you feel really positive after meeting the doctor-I hope things go well going forward! Yep very creepy doll!

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    1. I've had really bad luck with Dr's so fingers crossed that this keeps going well with her.

      Dolls=creepy

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  9. My SIL is in Seattle and she said it's pretty dreary now! You've definitely got me curious about getting an instant pot, I need to cook more.

    And I was just thinking about Grace, I'm so happy to see we can move forward with the readathon!!

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    1. I guess the rainy season has started about a month early :-(

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  10. First of all, I'm so glad you found a new doctor you love. That's great! That creepy doll is awesome, lol.
    I didn't know about Read for Grace, but I'm going to sign up. I still can't believe she's gone.

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    1. Yeah - it's still just as shocking now as it was when it happened.

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  11. Oh god, that doll is creepy! Not cool. lol Ooh a chocolate shop. It sounds lovely! I love that Lauren put together that reading event for Grace. I definitely hope to take part. And your new doctor sounds awesome - it makes a world of difference to have someone truly LISTEN and actually care about you and your well being.

    -Lauren
    www.shootingstarsmag.net

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    1. Yeah - they're so rushed now that it's pretty rare for them to take time for you these days.

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  12. Autumn has landed here too! This week so far has been rain, rain and more rain interspersed with crisp temperatures and occasional sunshine. The leaves are all turning and pumpkin spice is everywhere. I even harvested my pumpkins! It's exciting. :)

    Read for Grace sounds like a wonderful tribute! I'll definitely be spreading the word.

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    1. It's been rainy here but also nice temps with bursts of sunshine with falling leaves. it's been nice!

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  13. Yay for Halloween decorating and good doctors! 👍✨

    I am going to be doing the Read for Grace read-a-thon. 💟💟💟

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