1) It’s Halloween weekend! I’ll be the first to admit: I have very little love for this holiday. We didn’t really celebrate it when I was a kid. (I dressed up and went trick-or-treating as a young child, but stopped after age 11.) But my office likes to go all out for Halloween (we do a cubicle decorating and Halloween costume contest!), so I try to get in the spooky spirit. I will be dressing up today (look for my reveal on Instagram!) annnd… that’s about it. Ha. No Halloween parties and since I live in an apartment, no passing out candy for cute trick-or-treaters. Fine by me!
2) Do you find it easy to abandon a book you’re not really enjoying? I usually have a difficult time, especially if it’s a book that’s gotten good reviews from everyone I know. I just had this happen with Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter. I thought I would love it, but I was having a hard time getting into the story and when I went an entire day without reading it at all (I can’t remember the last time I went a full day without reading!), I knew it was time to just give it up and move on to something I would enjoy more. Now I’m reading a fun romance novel by Kristan Higgans – hooray!
3) Apparently, Dutch can only last a few months between vet visits. This is the fun of having a senior dog, I suppose! Early Tuesday morning, he got very, very sick. Throwing up, diarrhea, panting, shivering, lethargy – the whole nine yards. Even though he’s been in and out of the vet this year, he hasn’t been sick like that. It was terrifying, especially because I had to deal with it all on my own. (Like I said last week, this adulting thing is for the birds.) I considered taking him to an emergency vet, but he calmed down enough to sleep a little bit, so I decided to wait for my vet’s office to open. At the vet, they ran some tests and he was diagnosed with a bacterial infection. Poor dude! He was given meds and within 24 hours, was back to his normal self. So very grateful! Tuesday was such a scary day for me. Being a pet owner can be such a roller coaster, sometimes.
4) I’m slowly starting to get back to my exercise groove. Motivating myself to exercise used to be easier than it has been in the past few months. But the only way to get back into the habit is to do it, so I’m doing it. And it’s especially nice that my apartment gym is totally empty in the morning (I go at 5am), so I have the entire space to myself. I’m hoping to get into more of a routine with my workouts, but for now, just getting myself to the gym and sweating it out for 30 minutes a few times a week is enough.
5) I don’t have much going on this weekend. Tonight, my mom is coming over for pizza and a movie. Tomorrow, I’m meeting up with a friend to write and then taking it easy for the rest of the day (chores and errands will have to get done, but other than that, nada to do). And Sunday will be a day full of football and family. Happy weekend!
Do you have trouble abandoning books? What are your plans for this weekend?
Lisa of Lisa's Yarns
I used tp have trouble abandoning books but I have gotten a bit better lately. I started a book on my flight home on Wednesday and read about 15 pages and wasn’t at all engaged so I gave up, even though it was a critically acclaimed book (The Orphan Master’s Son). I have a harder time giving up on books I have bought but it is so very very rare for me to buy books anymore so I don’t have that problem anymore!
I used to be a Halloween HATER but I’ve embraced the holiday a bit more in the last couple of years. It helps that I can hand out candy now at Phil’s since he has a house, and we’ve started the tradition of having people over to carve pumpkins which is really fun! We are doing that tonight!
april
I have this issue all the time. I usually will put it aside for awhile and read something else and then see if I can get re-engaged. Or if I can’t bear to pick it back up, I don’t bother.
Vanessa Meads
I’ve always been terrible at abandoning books, but I’m getting better. Sometimes you just have to let go!
We’re heading out to see a live adaptation of the Rocky Horror Picture Show tomorrow night, which should be fun. Other than that my weekend is looking pretty relaxed – I’ll probably put in a few hours of work on Sunday just to shorten my work week up a bit, but that’s about all I have planned. This week has been crazy so I’m really looking forward to it.
Hope Dutch is feeling better. Have an awesome weekend!
Erika
Hope Dutch feels better soon! He is such a cutiepie of a dog :).
I really do not like abandoning books either, especially if it’s something I thought I would love and it had great reviews attached to it. Last year I was reading Night Circus and as much as the idea of the story was beautiful, the execution of it just didn’t work for me. So, I let it go not even halfway through reading it. It’s difficult to part with books like that, but then it makes me think there are other ones to love out there!
This weekend is fairly straightforward – errands/chores, relaxing with my boyfriend. Although tomorrow night some friends are coming over and we are going to dress up and pub/bar-crawl around my town in Halloween costume-fashion! Something different to do after the wonky week I’ve had.
Enjoy the lovely last weekend of October!
StephTheBookworm
Good for you for getting back to exercising! A little bit truly does go a long way. I’m just getting back to it too, and my current goal is just two days a week for 20-30 minutes. I’ll continue to nudge it up as Caleb gets older and my body gets used to frequent activity again.
Enjoy your weekend! 🙂
Kara
If I;m not into a book after the first chapter, I usually give up on it! Luckily this hasn’t happened very often (less than a handful of times), but I always feel bad giving up, especially if the book was gifted or recommended by a friend.
This weekend we’re hitting up the mall for trick or treating, and then Sunday I’m heading to a giant craft fair!
NZ Muse
I sooo do! But I’m getting better about it. Life’s too short. Same with bad food.
Gina
Poor Dutch! Glad to hear he’s doing better. I feel you on pet ownership being a roller coaster. Otis is not even a senior dog and he has already had so many health issues and visits to the vet this year. Dealing with the worry and the vet bills stresses me out!
San
I used to be a “non-quitter”, but I’ve learned that no book is worth wasting my time if I don’t enjoy it. It’s become easier to just abandon books that I can’t get into (even when other people LOVE them).
Glad to hear that I am not the only one who’s not fond of Halloween. 😉
Amber
I can’t remember where I got this timeline but maybe Book Riot or a blog? Anyways, if a book hasn’t grabbed me by 50 pages I ditch it. The exception to that is book club books which I try to push through. But in general life is too short to read bad books!