Sunday Synopsis - Truly, Madly, Guilty

 

Truly Madly Guilty by Liane Moriarty
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I should have done my research better before choosing this book. I only chose it based on the author's name and somewhat on the "blurb." I liked one of her other books, and I've seen two series based on her books, but they were just okay.

Set in Australia, the story is told from 6 points of view: three seemingly happy married couples have a barbecue where something goes wrong that changes their lives forever. You wait for the majority of the book to find out what the incident is, then it's over in a few pages. The incident, not the book.

One couple is Sam and Clementine. She is a cellist who is preparing for an audition for the entire book. They have two young children, Holly and Ruby. Clementine's childhood "friend" Erika and her husband Oliver are another couple. They have no children, but Oliver is desperate for a child. The third couple are neighbors of Erika and Oliver, Tiffany and Vid. They have a preteen daughter, Dakota.

I felt the author kept me in suspense for the "barbecue incident" far too long, and when I finally found out what it was, I was a bit disappointed. The incident itself was resolved in a matter of pages, but the repercussions were not. The repercussions were never fully reconciled, either, and I don't like when a book leaves out any of the resolution.

I did not identify with any of the characters. I would describe them as sniveling, spoiled, selfish, and sanctimonious. I just could not wait for this book to end. It wasn't horrible, but when I don't LIKE the characters, any of them, it's difficult to enjoy the book. I didn't like how it jumped back and forth from chapter to chapter being from a different character's point of view. It's okay when there are 2 or 3, but this had 8 because there was even a chapter from Dakota's point of view and one from another neighbor, Harry. It got confusing. Each chapter is written in first person, so it's almost like getting used to another style of writing with every change. I don't recommend this book. There are too many good books to waste time reading mediocrity.

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Fun Photos - Baseball

Major League Baseball continues to be in lockout mode (which began back on December 2), spring training is canceled, and opening day is likely to be postponed, if an agreement is reached at all.... but I can look back on some photos I took at Minutemaid Park five years ago.

Find more fun photos at Image-in-ing and Wordless Wednesday.

Happy Random Tuesday

I'm linking up with Random Tuesday Thoughts and Happy Tuesday.

The Olympics are over, and we don't have to worry about turning on the TV and seeing curling anymore. But recent events has made me rethink my opinion on figure skating.  A 15 year old Russian figure skater tested positive for a banned substance (technically a heart medicine that is banned because it increases endurance).  She is surrounded by coaches, nutritionists, and team doctors, and we all know they are the ones who gave her the drug.  They probably told her it was a vitamin.

Anyway, I read further about what life is like training at the ice rink in Moscow with her coach.  Twelve hours on the ice every single day, food restrictions, water restrictions, efforts to slow or halt puberty, and pushing athletes to the brink of injury.  I don't want to support that lifestyle.  But I'm not naïve enough to think that anything will change just because I don't watch it.  It's a mental conundrum.

I'm happy we are having a visit from our granddaughter.  Her 2nd birthday is Friday. So sweet!  We are having a small family get-together, but she and her parents and the dogs are going to stay a while since they are having work done on their home while they are out of town. 

We finally broke down and purchased a crib.  She used to sleep on a pallet, but that wasn't working out, so we bought a crib with the hope that we will eventually have other grandchildren who come to stay. 

On to the funnies! This first one makes me laugh!

Irony:

An all new meaning for auto-correct.

This cracks me up!  I can see me doing this, but I won't.

And last, but not least...

Have a great week!

Feeling Crafty

 

Click the button to visit Crafty Creators

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Click the button to visit Friendship Friday.

Hello friends!  How was your Valentine's Day?  We don't  make a huge deal out of it, but I did make some cards to celebrate the occasion.  My pictures didn't come out as crisp as  I would have liked, so I am going to have to figure out how to take better photos of my projects.

This card has cut out hearts with different patterns.  I wish I had chosen more vivid colors and patterns.  It was a new technique instead of just adhering hearts to the front.

On this one, the hearts were supposed to look like the candy sweethearts that so typically represent Valentine's Day.  I used some ink blending beneath the hearts, and I like how that turned out.

This next one is actually an "inside joke" with my son.  Instead of saying, "I love you," sometimes we say "olive juice." 

This last card was for my mom.  I was really disappointed in it.  The card I modeled it after was very beautiful, but again, I think the colors and patterns I chose didn't do it justice. I experimented with wavy text, and I have a bit more work to do in that area.

I welcome any advice on taking photographs that you might have to offer!

Exciting news for me!  I am featured over at Crafty Creators on the Life as a Leo Wife blog.  She is showing the manicure roll that I made our girls for Christmas. The original post has a link to Happiest Camper and the directions on how to make it. I put cuticle cream, clippers, nail files, and top coat in it, rolled it up and gifted it.  It's really cute, if I do say so myself.  I'm thankful for crafters who give free patterns and tutorials!

I've been downloading some SVG files from Craft House SVG.  They have designs to purchase as well as freebies, and great bundles, too. (Pssst!  Here's a 10% coupon code for Craft House SVG.)  SVG designs can be used with both Cricut and Silhouette machines. I've got the Cricut Foil Transfer kit I want to try with some of my newly acquired designs.

I'm also really excited that the Cricut Craftfest is about to begin! 

Tomorrow, there is a live kick-off that will feature technology tools and an introduction to Cricut Design Space which is a must if you have a Cricut that you aren't quite sure how to use yet.  All week, they are featuring crafting tutorials FOR FREE!

Have a crafty weekend!

Thursday Thirteen -Too Many Doctors!

Mom in in assisted living now, and I(and sometimes my sister, but mostly I) am in charge of her health care. I have had to get up to speed about all the different types of doctors she needs.

1.  Nurse Practitioner. She sees her at the facility on a bi-weekly basis, or more often if she is having issues.  Unfortunately, in our case, she has misdiagnosed her three times resulting in unnecessary procedures and delays in receiving the treatment she actually needs.  We have a new NP as of this week, though.  Fingers crossed.

2.  Dermatologist.  Everyone knows they are for skin, but also skin diseases including auto-immune disorders that cause ulcers to develop on the skin.

3. Neurologist. He diagnosed her frontotemporal dementia.  She was taking a drug that could possibly slow the progression, but I don't think there is much success with it. 

4. Orthopedic Surgeon.  He did her hip fracture surgery.

5. Orthopedic spine surgeon.  He evaluated her compression fractures and curvature of the spine.  

6. Rheumatologist.  This is an internist who specializes in arthritis and other bone diseases.  I need to make an appointment for her to see this type of doctor as she has severe osteoporosis.

7. Pain Management Specialist - This is such a broad term.  They aren't necessarily orthopedic doctors or even internists.    They can supposedly treat multiple types of pain, but she didn't get any relief from the one we saw.

8. Wound Care.  Before we saw the dermatologist, we saw a two wound care specialists due to the ulcers she was developing on the skin.  They tried, but they didn't offer much help.

9.  Vascular Surgeon.  Sometimes the veins and arteries are the reason a person develops ulcers on the skin.  She had two procedures to clean out her arteries and veins.

10. Cardiologist.  A heart doctor can diagnose and treat heart and blood vessel diseases.  If it weren't for all of her other issues, this is who we would see to determine if she has an blockages that could affect her heart.

11. Surgical Oncologist.  She had two surgeries, one for breast cancer and one for lung cancer.

12. Geriatric Psychiatrist.  We may need this doctor as her dementia worsens.

13. Chiropractor.  This doctor manipulates the joints in the body to help reduce pain, but she hasn't seen a chiropractor in a while.

Whew!  I'm really tired of having to see so many different types of doctors.  I wish one person could do it all.

Visit Thursday Thirteen!

Fun Photos

 Last weekend we took a short trip to our neighbors to the east, Louisiana.  It was a cold day, a little overcast, but the rest area was so pretty and peaceful.  Side note... their bathrooms were extremely well kept!

For more fun photos, visit Image-in-ing and Wordless Wednesday.

Random Happy Tuesday

Link up with Comedy Plus for Happy Tuesday and Stacy Uncorked for Random Tuesday Thoughts.

How was your Valentine's Day?  I hope your sweetie was good to you.  In addition to Valentine "festivities" I had a painful doctor visit: cortisone shots in BOTH hands!  Both hands have carpal tunnel syndrome (which I thought was corrected 25 years ago, but apparently it wears off). But that's not enough, oh, no!  In addition, the left hand has stenosing tenosynovitis (commonly called trigger finger).  Inflammation in the tendon sheath causes the finger to lock in a bent position.  It literally has to be straightened out manually.  It's common in people with arthritis.  Also in the left hand, I have a retinacular cyst (a type of ganglion cyst) on that very same tendon. My cyst is a little bit lower than the number 4 on this diagram.

  The doctor tried to pop it (under the skin while giving me a shot.  Can you say, "Dang!  That's a killer!"?  If I decide to get the surgery, at least she can fix all the problems on that hand with one surgery.

Looks like a book I might need to read!

The right hand, along with carpal tunnel has trigger finger on a different digit than the left, AND lots of arthritis at the base of that same finger.  This hand also has mallet finger from a break I had in September (the extensor tendon is injured and the joints don't align).  The way to repair that, since splinting didn't work, and since there is still a big knot on it, is, you guessed it... surgery!  She also said all of this could be done with one surgery. I also have an old fracture in my wrist on that hand. Lucky me, right?!

More than you wanted to know, I'm sure.  Do you get on the Internet and look up everything the doctor tells you just to see for yourself what is really happening?  Or do you Google your symptoms when you're unsure what's wrong before you go to the doctor?  Every time I do that, I convince myself I'm dying, if not from the condition, from the medication that might be prescribed!

I'm also convinced Google reads my mind.  While watching the Olympics earlier, I wondered where Georgia was (the country, not the state.)  I started typing in the search and Google already knew what I wanted to know after having said absolutely nothing out loud!  Weird.  In case you've wondered, too, it is on the coast of the Black Sea between Europe and Asia and bordered by Russia, Turkey, Armenia, and Azerbaijan.  There's your geography lesson if you homeschool!

And now...

This next one is too true.  My favorite things all involved the hands:  computing, card-making, reading, scrapbooking, sewing, playing phone games, and coloring.

Haha

Ohhh, that's funny!

Oh, no!!!!

Truth!

And last but not least...

Have a great week!