Bluebird Books

Thanksgiving is behind us, December is ahead of us.  This Monday feels like a new beginning.  Time to roll up my sleeves to get started on all that Christmas stuff.   Here are my Monday moods: Things I Love 1.  Holidays with family.  This year was challenging because it's our first Thanksgiving without my dad.  Last year was our first Thanksgiving without my father-in-law.  Sometimes it feels like we've been trapped in the grief cycle for too long.  Despite a week of worry in anticipation of the actual holiday, we had a great time celebrating together.  Together makes grief easier and I need to remember that for the next holiday.  2.  The Family Upstairs .  This book was perfect for a week of holiday prep work.  It distracted me when I needed it to and the suspense and twisty turny plot kept me going back for a few more chapters instead of going down the black hole of social media.   3.  My mom.  She came to spend a few days with us and she helped cook, clean,

It's a big Monday...the Monday before Thanksgiving.  This week is full: of shopping, of cleaning, and of celebrating.  I will not let all the work ahead of me rob me of the joy of eating a big, delicious meal with the people I love.  So, yay Monday! I'm serious Denise, GET WITH THE PROGRAM.  WE ARE HAPPY TODAY. Here's what I love: 1.  Tea tree oil body wash from Trader Joe's.  I love tea tree oil and this body wash is great, light and clean and smells great.   me when I open  2.  Christmas decorations.  Even though we haven't had Thanksgiving yet, we put our tree up on Sunday.  At church, the pastor said Christmas Eve is only a month away and I was like ok, I'm doing this.  We didn't decorate it yet, but having the tree with soft white lights makes us all feel a little more peaceful.  I love coming down in the morning to see the tree all lit up.  Don't @ me.  Christmas is a lot of work and I want a full month of enjoyment, thank you v

Tis the season to be grateful, right?  Being grateful in every season has all kinds of benefits.  This year I decided to keep a gratitude journal and I actually stuck with it.  The practice of waking up and writing some things that I'm grateful for each day helped me feel more content and pay attention to all the good things in my life. One of the things I find that crops up in my gratitude journal now and then is my current read.  This got me thinking.  What are 5 books I've read over the course of my life that I'm grateful for?  Not necessarily my favorites...but books that helped me. This is not a complete list, not by a long shot, but here are a few of the books I am grateful for, in no particular order. Hippos Go Berserk .  This is a board book that we read to all four of our children.  I can still recite it from memory.  "One hippo, all alone, calls two hippos, on the phone."  It is a tale of going from loneliness to a life filled with hippos and b

Another weekend in the books, another week on the horizon. Let's do this! Here are my Monday moods. Things I Love: 1.  Date nights.  We used to only go on date nights occasionally.  Babysitters are expensive and it just seemed like a lot.  Nowadays we are going weekly.  We have two teen daughters who alternate babysitting.  We pay them a small amount and they make dinner and hang out with their siblings.  My husband and I can go out and have a nice meal and a real conversation and come home to happy kids.  The only problem is that the kids are never in bed when we get home...but as long as they're all smiling, I'll take it! #relatable 2.  Reading "fun" books.  I love classics, but after finishing a big, serious book, I really love curling up with a book that does not take too much brainpower.  This weekend was full of "fun" reading and it was good.   3.  An hour of cleaning.  On weekends, I usually sit with my book, thinking a

I thought October would be the month that I only read one book.  I started like 50, but couldn't seem to actually finish any.  But then I got focused and determined and October turned out to be a pretty good month for reading.  I even spent time reading on Halloween thanks to crappy weather and only 20 minutes of trick-or-treating.   Here's what I read: Ask Again, Yes has been everywhere.  And I get it.  It's a well-written novel about two families.  It has nuanced themes like young love, duty, and mental health.  But for me, I didn't love it.  I only kind of liked it.  When I give a book four or five stars it's usually because I highlighted it to death.  I like it when a book has beautiful writing or insightful writing.  This book was good technically, but I felt like there weren't any parts where I stopped to say, "Wow."  I'm glad I checked it off my list for fomo reasons and also because it was a Book of the Month pick sitting

Well, it's Wednesday so that should pretty much tell you all you need to know about my Monday.   cheers! Let's get to it... Things I Love 1.  Finishing big, long books that are also classics and are also wonderful.  Last weekend I finished East of Eden and I'm still riding that high. 2.  Having dinner in the oven at 9am.  I love doubling recipes and slow cooking things.  Tonight it's pulled pork and I cannot wait.  Already I've over planned the hours of 4-7pm since I won't have to do much to get a meal for six people on the table.   basically... 3.  Reading my son's writing.  My son is 8 and in 3rd grade.  This is the first year that he kind of likes reading and writing.  The papers and stories he brings home from school show his sense of humor and developing skill and I look forward to each one.  He invited me to visit his classroom next week and also asked for a ham sandwich from Subway.  He wrote a story that began with this l

Here we are again, after another full weekend.  Are you enjoying the quiet or dreading the rush of the week?  I think I fall into both categories. Things I Love 1.  NaNoWriMo .  I've been trying to be more intentional about my writing but it's always the first thing that gets pushed aside.  This month I'm writing with a specific word goal every day to participate in National Novel Writing Month.  I'll be curious to see if there is a dip in my reading (although it hasn't been that great over the last few months anyway).  Logging my word count means I have some serious accountability and already I'm noticing how I can squeeze writing in if it's important to me.  Which it is.   2.  Coloring pages.  I used to love coloring so much when I was a little kid and then I bought a ton of adult coloring books which were too detailed and I gave up fast.  I started subscribing to Rad + Happy 's monthly coloring pages and they are a perfect in-between.  I

It's Monday and I'm running around here like a boy with a bag of bread being chased by a flock of chickens (see gif below).  This weekend I confused volleyball tournament times and that made me feel like I need to recalibrate and actually read my emails thoroughly again.  Today was full of logistics and I'm ready for bed.  *sigh*   Things I Love 1.  The trees.  I don't know if I'm looking around more or this year has been extra great but the foliage around these parts has been spectacular.  I love watching the gradual progression.  A little orange here and there, a little more, boom--the most vibrant orange I've ever seen.  I think I might be annoying my friends and family a little but I don't care--HAVE YOU SEEN THE TREES? 2.  American Eagle .  When we went back to school shopping in September I got a few sweaters and long sleeve t-shirts too.  I put them away and thought, "Future Noelle will thank me."  And now, I would like to th

I'm starting a recurring post called #goals because I've got lots of goals floating around in my head, but writing them down here and then checking in with them will give me some accountability to hopefully see them through.  I've broken my goals into three categories.  Reading, writing, and personal.  These are the three main sections of my life and within each group, I can be more specific about what I want to change.  *deep breath* Here I go: Reading Goals I'll be honest with you, I've gotten a little lazy about reading in my spare moments.  I've kind of been overloaded with the kids' stuff and when my brain feels like it's handling too much at once, I reach for a screen.  Reading East of Eden has taken me waaaaaay longer than I ever imagined.  I love the book, but I also love scrolling twitter.  My first reading goal is to finish East of Eden by Friday, November 8.  The other aspect of my reading life that seems a little o

This weekend we had guests and did a million things so this Monday I am dragging. I have a nice big cup of coffee and a quiet house.  Without further ado...here are my Monday moods.   Things I Love 1.  Visiting the monuments in DC.  This weekend we had perfect weather and my brother and his family were visiting so we decided to head into DC.  I was struck with gratitude and reverence while we were standing at Lincoln's feet and reading the names on the Vietnam memorial.  If you haven't been, you should go.   a quiet moment at the WWII memorial 2.  This tea .  It is my favorite thing on chilly afternoons.  Sometimes cinnamon is too strong for me, but this has a nice balance. And, it goes great with a good book.   3.  East of Eden .  I'm making a big push to finish this in the next couple of weeks.  I put sticky tags to mark the number of pages I need to read each day.  The story is so good that I'm reaching for it when I have a few moments  instead of 

Ready or not, it's Monday again.  The weather is crisp and fallish and my kids are in school.  🙌 Here are my Monday moods, don't forget to leave a comment telling me about yours. Things I love 1.  People who comment on posts.  In my previous post , I'm hosting a giveaway, with only one comment so far.  Go over there and add yours.  I love commenting on blogs because it adds to the conversation and most of the time I get a response, which makes me feel included in the online book community and scratches my itch for book talk.  2.  Not walking the dog.  I mean, I take my dog on short little walks.  She's a big dog and long walks are a challenge.  Today I'm spending time walking in my neighborhood without the dog and loving every minute of it.  I can go faster and listen to audiobooks without judgment from Ruby's big brown eyes.  Without her, I'm really able to notice the beautiful trees in our neighborhood and no one is trying to pull me i