Weekly Recap (Feb. 1, 2020)

What I read:  I am about 80% done with the third book in The Passage trilogy (according to my kindle) This installment is the most depressing and weirdest one yet….but I am pushing through once more because I want to see if the author manages to tie up all of the many, many loose ends. Maybe it will all make sense in the end??? (Update: the ending was kinda blah compared to the other parts of the series)

**On a funny note, I just noticed that this series got a ringing endorsement from Stephen King. If I had noticed this in the beginning I probably would have avoided this series altogether. I simple cannot get through any of Stephen King’s novels. In fact, I thought he was an awful writer until I read his memoir On Writing and realized that he really can write, but chooses to have a different style for fiction. This for some reason reminds me of Picasso. I was fascinated to find out in an Art History class that Picasso was a classically trained artist, but chose to veer off into a new direction. So basically Stephen King is the Pablo Picasso of the literary world:)

Emma (15 years old) is rereading Divergent. 

Ben (8 years old) is reading The Lightning Thief, Judy Moody Predicts the Future, and Farmer Boy. 

What I watched:  I am currently watching Season 9 of Murdoch Mysteries, Season 5 of Dexter with my husband, and The Middle.

Something I was happy to check off my to do list:

-I finished my last week of washing the altar linens for our church. PSA: If you are going to take the wine during communion please do not wear lipstick to church. Oh and if you ever do need to remove lipstick from linen…a toothbrush and soap work really well:)

-I finished writing out Emma’s Anatomy lessons for the rest of the year and we are hoping to finish by the end of April.

This week, I am looking forward to:  

-Helping out with our church’s youth group for the first time.

-Getting together with my family for a pre-Super Bowl dinner.

Things I learned: 

1. If your Keurig coffee machine suddenly stops making full cups of coffee, you can disassemble the funnel head to clean out the mineral build up in the water outlet. #itwasnasty

2. Apparently sandhill cranes dance to attract mates, and show the top of the heads (which are red) to someone who has irritated them. They also make a lot of noise!

Funny things that happened this week: 

While we were at the Wheeler Wildlife Refuge for our whooping crane field trip, Ranger Daphne told us some really hilarious tales about a renegade rat snake. Apparently a wildlife removal technician had captured a 6 foot long rat snake out of a lady’s toilet (!!!!!) and brought it to be used as a education tool at the refuge a few years back. Unbeknownst to the refuge personnel, this snake had a real affinity for the lady’s restrooms and was caught two times inside the toilets after it had escaped its cage. The ranger mentioned that the snake was on the loose inside the refuge educational building for almost two weeks each time! **Sadly they eventually had to return it to the wild because he just would not stop harassing the ladies:)