That love is a mystery and that love is the mystery that makes things happen.

I‘m getting a little sick of cookies for breakfast but I‘m not ready to go back to eating responsibly yet. So bagel with butter it is. Our house guests hit some bad traffic yesterday and ended up staying somewhere else so it‘s an unexpectedly quiet morning for me to catch up on some reading before work. 6 day weekend starts tomorrow!

Why had we learned to hurry through every day when every day was all we had?

Yesterday was a great but exhausting day (field hockey tournament in the morning, husband‘s work friends over in the evening, cleaning and prep in between.) I sat down for hygge hour at 8 and fell right to sleep. I‘m making up for it this morning before work. #hygeehour

It felt like King could have been describing social media and the terrible hold it has over some young men when he was talking about Arnie and Christine. Creepy.

This book always reminds me of the Chevy Nova my mom had when I was 13. She was warming it up one day when it somehow slipped out of gear, drove into the street, and hit a kid who was driving illegally the day before he was to get his license. #192025 #losersclub

In honor of #FoodAndLit #Italy I made spumoni cookies. I am in love with them- they will definitely go in my every year rotation. Definitely worth the effort to make the 3 separate doughs. https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/spumoni-cookies/

It was a little hard to keep track of the characters in this one, and although it was billed as a Christmas cozy Christmas was really only tacked on at the end. So-so but not bad enough for me to abandon the series completely. #ThematicCozies @julieclair

This book was haunting and just short enough so that the confusion of not knowing exactly what was going on didn‘t make me want to quit. It touched on the generational trauma of the Jeju massacre, which is something the world doesn‘t know enough about. Grateful for books that share hidden history. #TOB26

@hooked_on_books @barbarabb @chelsea.Poole @squirrelbrain @sarahbarnes @chaoticmissadventures @bkclubcare @deblovestoread @merelybookish

#5JoysFriday @DebinHawaii

Thankful for this weekly exercise that reminded me that things really did happen even if it did all pass in a blur.

1) Cat was not missing. She was simply taking a deep nap in the closet.
2) A nice coating of snow
3) Impromptu marching band from kiddos singing sea shanties into wrapping paper tubes. They‘re almost grown but sometimes still act little
4) Toast with jelly
5) Battery operated candles with timers

Each December my company gives each of us a $100 bill. My brilliant coworker has determined that the only place in the neighborhood that will break a $100 is the bookstore. Sorry family I will be late for dinner tonight.

#MyLitsyAwards thanks @CSeydel

(I switched a Trapped in a spooky house book for Auld Lang Spine since I can never get it together enough to participate this time of year.)

It was a good reading year overall even if my concentration wasn‘t always the best.

I‘m late for #hyggehour but I guess it‘s to be expected this time of year. I just put the last bit of laundry away, and I‘m finally settling down. This should be the last busy week at work, and I‘m ready for it. I also have my last physical therapy appointment this week. What a year this has been. Tonight‘s hour will be spent finishing up this book and voting for #wintercamp2026

Thank you hygge hosts for the best hour of the week.

The house is quiet, and I‘ve got a book, a cat, a Christmas movie, and nowhere to go tomorrow. I think I‘ll stay up a little longer.

#jolabokaflod swap and #wintercardswap envelopes are out.

#5JoysFriday @DebinHawaii

This week flew!

1) snow flurries at the metro yesterday
2) cats doing weird things like wearing glasses and sitting in the shower and refusing to move
3) this ornament that @Cuilin sent last year looks gorgeous in the sun
4) winter sunsets
5) cookies for breakfast

Happy Friday everyone!

Getting down to the wire for #192025 so I listened to this short book from 1964 today.

A sweet memoir of the life of a child growing up on a farm in Iowa during the depression. I first read this in 2008. Seemed like it was time again. #ReadingUSA

This was a wild ride! I will never scroll through Instagram in the same way again.

I pulled out the Dutch oven and made white beans and tomatoes for dinner tonight. It was easy and delicious with bread and salad. #FoodAndLit #Italy

https://bellieskitchen.com/cheesy-white-bean-tomato-bake/?utm_source=pinterest&u...

Got the tree up now settling in for #hyggehour

I got a big chunk of my to do list crossed off this weekend, and some missing packages magically appeared so I‘m feeling pretty ready for the week ahead. I‘m tired though so I‘m going to use this hour to clear my mind and read a mystery.

This fun little book convinced me to stay in bed for an extra hour this morning. I like this series about Queen Elizabeth solving crimes in the most proper way, and I‘m glad the author found a way to keep it going.

Breakfast and a book before a busy day.

I‘m catching up on #JaneAustenThenAndNow

This version of Emma set in NYC was pleasant enough. Reader beware if you don‘t like open door it starts off very PG but the last quarter was fairly X 😂 A whole other side of Knightley.

#Chatterday @AllDebooks

The highlight of the year and the thing that brought me the most joy was watching my teens become adults. I just love talking to them (most of the time looking at you 6 7) and hearing them form their thoughts about the world. I was forced into self care this year thanks to my neck issues, but it really did teach me that it makes a difference. And this weekend I‘m hoping to make cookies. Everyone feel free to join!

#5JoysFriday @DebinHawaii

1) Christmas tree is up and cats are interested
2) the moon has been majestic this week
3) Daughter came back from France with a taste for interesting cheese
4) snow!
5) cats sleeping in the sun

This is a well loved little book of short stories by Truman Capote- two stories about Christmas and one about Thanksgiving all semi (?) autobiographical from Capote‘s childhood. They‘re magical and wistful. An every year read for me- I finished this year‘s read at my kitchen table last night and it was definitely fruit cake weather.

This book was very strange, but it worked. How would history have changed if Hillary never married Bill? Sittenfeld pulled it off. #ReadingUSA #Arkansas

#SnowyDecemberReadathon Day 3

Thanks to insomnia last night I got a few chapters read in A Death In Diamonds. Almost done with Rodham and Capote.

Day two of #SnowyDecemberReadathon

I listened to a good chunk of Rodham today, and I‘m closing it out with Capote‘s A Christmas Memory.

Read 23 books in November and not a single Bingo. I still have high hopes of finishing all my November books, all my December books, and finishing all my unfinished challenges 😂🤣😂🤣

It‘s #hyggehour time. I‘m starting the new Louise Penny. No snacks tonight after overdosing on pie this weekend. Just not in the mood. A little bit ready to go back to work tomorrow, but not really. It‘s our busiest time of the year so I‘m bracing myself for chaos. Enjoy the hour everyone.

#TodayILearned Truman Capote was fired from the New Yorker in the early 40‘s for inadvertently offending Robert Frost 😂 It happens.

Thanks to everyone who joined in this month for #NFN

I‘ve been reading this a chapter a week with my book club, and it has been very enjoyable. Magnetic North is a travel log from a woman in the Arctic, and this edition had an afterword ten years later after climate change had really started to take hold. #NonFictionNovember

I liked that this book looked at climate change from more of a non-western point of view that I usually see. I also appreciated the comparison between Pope Francis‘ Laudato si‘ and the Paris Climate Accord. #Naturalitsy @AllDebooks #NonfictionNovember

It took me all month to read this just because I knew the ending, and it‘s so easy to judge in hindsight. I‘m glad I persevered though because the afterword was excellent. #NonfictionNovember

This was a sweet book that touched on serious topics (cancer, fraud, PTSD, alcoholism.) I enjoyed it- perfect for this time of year since pie was frequently mentioned.

I got my reading porch set up for December. It‘s too cold to read outside most days but every once in a while we get a sunny afternoon.

#TodayILearned Wayne Newton is still alive. Good for him. Googled while watching National Lampoons Vegas Vacation. That‘s all I got today 😂

The idea for Frankenstein came to Shelley during a ghost story competition with her husband Percy Bysshe Shelley, Lord Byron, and John Polidori during the cold summer of 1816. #TodayILearned #NFN

I liked this one a lot more than I thought I would once I got past the whole sentient blob thing. The MC, Vi, was unlikable but also kind of relatable. I‘m glad I gave it a try.

@hooked_on_books @barbarabb @chelsea.Poole @squirrelbrain @sarahbarnes @ChaoticMissAdventures

#tob26

#5JoysFriday @DebinHawaii

1) bogo Chipotle bowls on Thanksgiving eve with my son was unexpectedly a ton of fun
2) running into Not My Cat while walking
3) pics from my daughter in Paris
4) mini pie pans
5) gorgeous sunset last night

Happy Friday all!

I completely re-did my December #BookspinBingo list once I saw the 2026 #TOBLonglist

I think I have it now. Books tagged in the comments.

@TheAromaofBooks after a busy fall you head up to the lake for a quiet weekend away. You throw everything in the car before you can even check the weather. Before you know it you are #SnowedIn

Early morning commute reading- I spy Christmas lights up in Old Town! Yay!

It‘s so dark out I thought it was time for #hyggehour but actually it was 6:15. I guess I am supersizing my hygge time tonight! I‘m looking at some cookbooks and am going to catch up on #NFN and my bookclub reading. I‘m feeling confident about my ability to fit 5 days of work into 2 days this week.

Whew, this book. I loved it. Found families, stories we tell ourselves and others, caregiving, and work are all things I love in a book. #TournamentofBooks2026 long list #ReadingUSA Connecticut

My library stack for December 🍪🍪🍪

The perfect comfort listen this week. I always forget how much I love this book. #Pemberlittens #JaneAustenThenAndNow

#5JoysFriday @DebinHawaii

1) The green tomatoes I picked before it got cold are starting to ripen
2) Just got a text from my daughter that she landed safely in France
3) Going through my son‘s baby pictures this week for his senior yearbook
4) Thanksgiving decorations
5) Lights starting to appear in my neighborhood make for festive walks

Hang in there everyone!

Lichens take nutrients from the air and so absorb many times more radioactive isotopes than other plants. #TodayILearned #NFN