I'm A Voracious Reader : AVR Weekly News ~ 649th Edition

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by
Kimberly @ Caffeinated Reviewer.
~ Recap the past week ~
~ Show what's upcoming ~
~ Share news ~
~ Display book hauls ~

Sunday ~ Meme ~ AVR Weekly News ~ 648th Edition
Monday ~ Tour Spotlight ~ The Eternal Return of Clara Hart by Louis Finch
Tuesday ~ Tour Spotlight ~ Child of Vanris by Nikki McCormack
Friday ~ Meme ~ Friday Featured Spotlight ~ TWR Blog Tour: Star by Star
Saturday ~ Meme ~ Saturday Spotlight ~ TWR Blog Tour: The Eternal Return of Clara Hart

Friday ~ Meme ~ Friday Featured Spotlight ~ BBNYA Finalists Blog Tours: 5 & 4
Sunday ~ Meme ~ AVR Weekly News ~ 650th Edition

Hello and Happy Sunday!

On the Home Front

Sunday ~ Got up super late - 10:22! GAH! I hurried through my morning routine then went out to get the furries fed and out to potty. Chastised the boys who were gaming for not waking me. Anna was just starting to feed Sugarcube and Captain Kirk, so I showed her their new routine (since Sugarcube takes meds now), fed Eevee, and fed the dogs. She walked them for me while I hopped on the computer and did Sunday stuff. Anna and I fed the critters and she washed out the bird baths and refilled them. There was 1/4" in the rain gauge. Then I did a few more things on the computer. When I was done it was noon and I wanted to go to Food Lion to get milk and other stuff, so I asked Anna if she wanted to tag along. We shopped and it took awhile since everything was moved around in the renovations. Then we hit up CVS for a few things, they are also renovating. Wtf. When we got back I put stuff up then made banana bars with apple and banana bread with apple. I cleaned out the fridge of old leftovers and sorted through fruit. I showered. Before Anna showered I had her take some apples and oranges I had cut out to the critters. Then I started on the huge pile of dishes. Kyle grilled burgers for dinner and Anna and I finished off the bacon with BLTs. I had really wanted to read all day and that never happened. sigh I watched a couple episodes of Murdoch's Mysteries then was in bed by 9:30.

Monday ~ Memorial Day It rained overnight (I got up around 5:30 to pee and heard it really coming down), so there was 1" in the rain gauge. I wonder if we're still in a drought? After walking the dogs in the super humid air, I put together French Toast Bake and popped it in the oven then worked on the blog while it baked. I helped Anna work on her room for a few hours, making a small dent in the chaos, then I sat down to read for a bit. Leftovers for dinner.

Tuesday ~ Worked on the blog most of the day after cleaning both bathrooms. Hot and humid out. Fluette came in the afternoon to clean the blower on the new HVAC. It was covered in plaster dust, so now it's all shiny clean. Made fried kielbasa and potatoes for dinner.

Wednesday ~ Hot but not quite as humid. Electricians here in the morning to put in outlets for bidets. Folded and put away 2 huge loads of towels and my clothes then showered. Plumber here in the afternoon to install bidets. They are very fancy with all kinds of options to play with and a remote control! There's also a base sensor that I'm going to have to figure out how to disable because that's annoying. It gets set off just walking near the toilet when I feed Eevee and I bet Anna sets theirs off getting in and out of their shower (the boys shower in my bathroom). It can also be pushed with the foot, so I just need to read up on it. There is definitely going to be some learning going on with these. The best part is the straight skirt and wide base. It feels sturdy and it will be so easy to clean! Whoever invented the skinny base with the stupid pipe outlines in porcelain and those fucking cheap ass bolt covers? I hope they are burning in Hell along with the inventors of glass shower doors on cheap ass tracks. Ugh! Anna picked up Chris and he spent the night. They picked up Japanese for dinner. I picked up Zaxby's for the boys and I had kielbasa and potatoes leftovers with an order of eggrolls from Zaxby's which is about the only thing I like from there.

Thursday ~ Hot, but not as humid. Grocery shopping. Hit CVS, the bank, The Natural Dog (pet store), lunch at Blue Ribbon, BJ's, Five Below, and Food Lion. Got most of the stuff put away then had to pick up Kyle at Anna's therapy. Frozen pizza for dinner.

Friday ~ Gorgeous out in the morning. The weather was absolutely perfect when I walked the dogs. Why can't it always be like this?! Cleaned out my inside compost container, Mr. Bin. I didn't name it that, that is the brand name. But I do say things like: Feed that to Mr. Bin or Mr. Bin would like that. lmao While it was still gorgeous out I filled all the bird feeders, emptied and refilled the bird baths, and watered my flowers. Was sweating by the time I got back in the house, but the humidity is way down, so I wasn't soaked. It's perfect to work outside, but I hadn't planned on that, so now I feel like I'm slacking even though I'm working on never ending chores in the house. I had planned for Trip and I to work outside all next week since the forecast is looking decent. So far anyway. Changed my bedstuff and washed it as well as 2 loads of towels. Read for a bit then started on breaded chicken legs and breasts (for Trip) for dinner. Anna shucked some sweet corn I had bought back on Sunday and I made that, too. Nancy came to do the dog nails and Anna spent the night at Chris's. I did up a sink full of dishes before heading to bed around 10:30.

Saturday ~ After doing the usual morning stuff I got my rare Saturday blog post sprinkled around the internet. Then I started on the cleaning. Since I had just done my bathroom Tuesday, it really only needed Eevee's litterbox scooped and the pad under it replaced and empty the trash can. Tidied up the back deck before starting on the laundry room. Kyle's turn for litterboxes this week. Put away two sizes of tissue boxes (the small square and the long rectangle lol) I stocked up on from BJ's. Poor Kyle and his allergies. We may not need toilet paper anymore, but we'll keep the tissue industry going Spring through Fall. I cleaned my kitchen sink, folded my bedstuff, and cleared out some recyclables that were drying in the laundry room sink. After feeding the furries their evening noms at 5pm I decided to scrub the back deck. However, once I got going with my little Harbor Freight power washing wand connected to my hose, I decide just to get the tree junk out from between the boards and do a quick rinse. I'll scrub it tomorrow. Warmed up leftovers and watched Murdoch Mysteries for a bit.

Today My only plan (so far) is to scrub the back deck, shower, and read. Lasagna is on the menu for dinner. We'll see how it goes.

New Year's Resolutions/Goals
I thought I'd keep a weekly record of these so I can see if anything is getting done. 😆
More reading, less tv ~ Not really though I did finish a few books.
Go back to the beginning and revamp old blog posts ~ Nothing this week.
Exercise ~ Nope. At some point I'll start doing regular exercises. I mean, I do a lot of chores and stuff, so I am moving around a lot.
Tidy up outside ~ Not this week. Too gross out.

Touching Nature: Hot and humid before settling down to mildly hot and less humid.

Book News: I managed to get some reading done. Yay! Still haven't written reviews though. Eek.

Don't Touch That Dial!: Watching Murdoch Mysteries. Just got an email that DirecTv is going up yet again. It went up $9 in October and in June it's going up another $8. Trip is the only one who watches it. Anna said, "That's a lot of money to watch Harry Potter all day every day." lmao But it's the only place he can watch the Tarheels and the Hurricanes who, by the way, won game 5 Friday evening and are now facing the Vegas Golden Knights for the Stanley Cup. We last won it in 2006. So...Let's Go Canes! 🏒 Also got an email from Verizon that Netflix has also gone up. I should just cancel everything.

At the Flicks: Nope.

Cyberspace Playground: Wordle, Word Lots, Crossword Jam, Solitaire, the Finch app - if anyone wants to be friends just let me know.

Randomness: So, we got new bidets. A few things from the manual:

Do not use the heated seat or warm dryer temperature for an extended amount of time. Extended use may result in burns. Ha! The remote has a setting to turn the heat off. So there. Hello, Instagram!

This product is not a toy. Says you! *proceeds to play with all the remote settings*

Do not stand on the lid...blah blah. But, how am I supposed to get stuff down from the higher shelves behind the toilet?!

Avoid direct sunlight or heat. *Risk of product discoloration. What?! What about my skylight?! Though it's not as if the sunlight illuminates the throne all day long.

So. This is a learning experience for sure. And I'm finding the dryer function doesn't dry all that well. Ok, maybe if I could sit there for more than the 4 minutes (do you have any idea how long 4 minutes is?! It's for-ever!) it's set to run and I just wanted to do a quick pee. I've read that other people buy drying cloths to dab dry and just wash them. I think I'll do that when the toilet paper I currently have runs out.

Also, there's a sensor at the base that opens the lid when you're near. That is so annoying. I mean, for an Intelligent Toilet it doesn't know the difference between a pit stop, feeding Eevee, or getting a towel out of the cupboard. There's supposed to be a way to turn that off so all you have to do is push the button in with your foot. I'll have to figure that part out soon. It does make a cute beeboop noise when it opens though. Like R2D2.

And finally, while we're on the subject of this toilet calling itself an Intelligent Toilet, how come it doesn't have a sensor to detect malodorous content and immediately initiate a courtesy flush?! Now that would be super helpful. And smart.

I managed to sneak up on it, so the lid didn't open.

Behind me is the towel cupboard and Eevee's food and water dishes.

Now that there's a plug close by (next to the bidet) I'm getting her a fountain.

Also, the standard toilet rug does not fit, so my oddball rug gets to shine now.

Carol's Nuggets of Wisdom: Life never turns out the way you think it will. I know mine is so far off the path I thought I was heading down that I'm actually off-roading now. Adapt and overcome to find a new path or be miserable and bitter.

That's it for me. AVR News Update signing off. May all your books enthrall you.