It's a chance to share news: a post to recap the past week on your blog, showcase books,
and share what's coming up on your blog in the week ahead.
T H E W E E K I N R E V I E W
Hello friends. These Sunday posts seem to have become an every other week thing for me. Either the work week has been so busy that I feel exhausted and burned out, or I'm just lazy and can't be bothered. 😉 Week before last it was the former. It was a busy week work-wise and on that Friday I had to attend a funeral that took up a chunk of the day. After that I had to come home, log back onto work, and didn't finish up until about 6:30 that evening. So yeah, wasn't really feeling a Sunday post last weekend. This week has been less hectic, but even so I've let it go until Saturday night before even starting this. Procrastination is the name of the game.
Today may be the official first day of spring, but we've been feeling it here for a couple weeks. Pollen is coating everything in sight and temps are already climbing into the 80's. I was totally robbed of any real winter this year. I'm feeling rather bitter about that. 😉
The Husband and I got out and about a bit yesterday and it was great. Lunch from Chicken Salad Chick where we ate at the outside tables, a quick stop at a Hobby Lobby, and then grabbed a few things at Trader Joe's. It still amazes me how few people are masked at this point. I'd say maybe 10%, if that. It's as if the pandemic has been erased from their minds, like it no longer exists. I get that everyone will do their own thing, and do whatever they're comfortable with. But it doesn't mean I understand it.
I'm trying something new for dinner tonight and I can't wait to dig in later. It's called Olive Garden Chicken Pasta (because you use a bottle of Olive Garden salad dressing) and it's from one of my go-to recipe sites, The Pound Dropper. Fingers crossed that it tastes as good as it looks and sounds.
It's been way too long since I shared anything by The Cure so how about a little In Between Days (1985) today? Enjoy!
O N T H E B L O G
Tuesday, March 15
W H A T I R E A D
C U R R E N T L Y R E A D I N G
Audio: Make Me Stay - Kennedy Fox
N E W A D D I T I O N S
PHYSICAL BOOKS
The Two of Us, The Best of Us, The End of Us (Special Editions) by Kennedy Fox
T O T A L L Y R A N D O M
HOW WAS YOUR WEEK?
I'D LOVE TO HEAR ABOUT IT!
Our mask mandate just expired a week ago. It's shocking to me how many people gave them up immediately. I won't be. I'm sorry you've been so busy or too tired. I have missed your weekly Sunday posts.
ReplyDeleteOur moronic governor ditched the mask mandate ages ago. And has actually withheld funding from school districts that continued to enforce it. There's no doubt he will run president in 2024. Heaven help us all.
DeleteI hear you on the pollen. It was nice here this week, and I opened up my condo, but I could feel my allergies kicking in after a while.
ReplyDeleteIt seems particularly bad this year! My husband, who has never had allergy issues, is bothered by it this year.
DeleteTanya, I will make my best effort to loan you some of NJ's winter next year. We had a few sunny, mild days, and I was in heaven. I have never read Kennedy Fox, but it seems like you are doing well with Fox's books. I have to check them out. That Cure song brought me back to seeing them live in 1989. Good times
ReplyDeleteI've been on such a Kennedy Fox kick. I've completed two of their series now and am about to jump into a third.
DeleteThe big grocery stores have lots of customers who are maskless. I see that many older folks tend to wear masks though. Have a great week.
ReplyDeleteI don't know if I qualify as "older folks" yet, but with the latest variant making the rounds, I still mask up in stores.
DeleteWe had a blizzard last Friday, and I spent 2 days shoveling people's driveways, so I'll trade you for some sun! It's the same here with masks. The leaders of my county are weirdos who think COVID is a hoax. Masks have never really been a thing here. I'm usually the only person wearing one.
ReplyDeleteI get it, Aj. Our governor has long been nothing more than a Trump puppet. He even withheld $$ from school districts that continued to enforce mask mandates. Mask usage here is next to nil.
DeleteOur mask mandate has been lifted everywhere except maybe health facilities? The employees are still wearing them at Henry's daycare, though, so that makes me feel good.
ReplyDeleteThank goodness they wear them at the daycare.
DeleteWell here the mask is not mandatory any longer except in public transportations and hospitals! So I'd say maybe 1% wear a mask while doing grocery shopping... like me! If in two or three weeks the situation does not explode then maybe I'll consider leaving mine at home.
ReplyDeleteSame here, Sophie. I'm always the only one masked or one of the very few. Supposedly there's a new variant making the rounds so I'll keep masking up.
DeleteThe Cure is one of my favorite bands! They really brought goth music to the forefront.
ReplyDeleteBack in the 80's my sister and I were big Cure fans. :)
DeleteI saw mask less people at the grocery store last night too. I also don't understand it either.
ReplyDeleteThe Olive Garden Chicken Pasta looks perfect for summer.
The chicken pasta recipe was a big hit! We'll definitely make that again.
DeleteSounds like you had a busy week. The Olive Garden Chicken Pasta sure looks good, I'm going to try it out.
ReplyDeleteThe chicken pasta recipe was a big hit here! I hope you'll love it, too, if you try it, Wendy.
DeleteI think mask wearing is just a personal decision, and unless you are wearing a N95, it probably doesn't make sense for some people especially if you are vaccinated. I am meticulous with my hygiene though, and very careful how many places I go. Its interesting how all the states that had a mask mandate ironically lifted them as its a election year haha But maybe ppl just don't fear it anymore, or have other priorities.
ReplyDeleteThat Olive Garden Chicken Pasta looks so good (and I love that they sell the dressing in the store now).
I believe that masking is still an effective tool for spreading the virus. And I do use N95 masks. I am double vaxxed and boosted but even so, I don't want Covid. No matter that it would likely be mild. I don't want it. And I certainly wouldn't want to pass it to my 77 year old mother or anyone else around me.
DeleteThe pasta dish was excellent! Definitely a keeper.
I haven't got my Sunday Post up early for a few weeks now! Lately I've been doing it up Sunday morning because I'm just too tired to do it Saturday night, so I hear ya! That Olive Garden recipe looks good! I'd like to try it out. It's the same here with the weather! We have like one week of Spring and then straight to Summer. It's been nice this week, but we're already going to have upper 80s weather this next week. I'm glad I'm moving to Northern California! Cooler temps and more rain. Things stay green longer and there's more trees. That random, lol!
ReplyDeleteThe chicken pasta recipe was delicious, Rachel! And not too over the top since it called for light cream cheese and whole wheat pasta (I always use Fiber Gourmet - a high fiber, high protein pasta). Totally get the short spring/straight into summer thing. I know you won't miss that after your move! :)
DeleteThe olive garden chicken pasta sounds good! Last weekend, it snowed 3 in. Then 2 days later it was 70 degrees. My allergies don't know which way is up!
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness, that's truly crazy weather!
DeleteOooh! That Chicken Salad looks so good! It's been awhile since I last went to Olive Garden. Hope you have a great week!
ReplyDeleteHere’s my Sunday Post!
Ronyell @ Rabbit Ears Book Blog
We are just starting to get that nice spring season here. No pollen but it's coming. I have 3 sides of the house weeded but the worst is left to do. I'll have to check out Pound Dropper.
ReplyDeleteAnne - Books of My Heart This is my Sunday Post
Pound Dropper is a real favorite of mine. Lots of delicious recipes that have been lightened up.
DeleteI don't get the mask thing. But then I've never understood the mask hysteria- it's all disinformation if you ask me. All that nonsense about how it "hurts" kids to wear them because they can't see facial cues. Give me a break lol (I mean, sure, maybe it was going to last forever, but I feel like a couple years isn't the end of the world if wearing them saves lives). Anyways...
ReplyDeleteThat chicken pasta looks delicious!
Totally agree, Greg! 100%.
DeleteI am that cat. everyday. I always hate the lunchs that I pack. I always do my posts the night before they go live. I am really good at procrastination. I hope that you have a great week!
ReplyDeleteLOL Yep, I do the same a lot, Carole. By the time noon rolls around I no longer want what I brought!
DeleteI hope that pasta recipe is as good as it looks! People seem to have mostly stopped wearing masks here as well with the exception of doctor's offices and a few businesses who are still requiring them. I would have expected people to be a little more careful until we know there's not yet another variant out there lurking but I guess not. I'm still masking the majority of the time though. My son has epilepsy and we've been told COVID would trigger seizures so we try to be as careful as possible.
ReplyDeleteRight? And now it sounds like there is a new variant making the rounds. Sure we're better off now than we were a year ago, but Covid is far from gone. And we should still mask. If not for ourselves then for others who are compromised - like your son.
DeleteIt was a long week lol
ReplyDeleteI did get to work in the garden yesterday which always makes me happy.
We dropped our mask requirement a week ago and it's weird - it all depends what county and store you go to whether people keep wearing them or not.
I'll check out that recipe. I tried a Olive Garden gnocchi soup instant pot knock off & it was ick but I thicken it the next day with a little flour and grated parmesan and it was delicious. I think it's scientifically proven that cheese improves everything lol
Have a great week Tanya!
Karen @For What It's Worth
Nice on the gardening. Finding something that lifts your spirits and gives you some peace is everything.
DeleteI'm with you on the cheese! It makes everything better! :)
The mask manage here was dropped two weeks ago, just in time for BA2 and a subsequent leap in case numbers. I’m still wearing my mask when I go grocery shopping.
ReplyDeleteI hope the pasta was tasty
Enjoy your new books!
Wishing you a great reading week
Same here, Shelley. And now with BA2 I'm even more vigilant. Now's not the time to get lax.
DeleteHope you're having a great week!