The calm after the storm

Not much to catch you up on this weekend. I've been rather lazy since returning home on Wednesday. I didn't make it to stitch and chat and Mahjong doesn't start again until next week.

I puttered around the house, handling some housework that needed doing, and made a trip out to Pet Valu on Thursday for cat litter, and dropped off my book at the Library. It was a book written by Jeanine Cummins, American Dirt, a fictional story about a woman and her son running from the Mexican cartel who had killed her husband and many family members. It described their journey through Mexico and across the border into the United States, and the migrants they met along the way. Two of these were sisters from South American, fleeing the brutality of their lives. It was heart-breaking to read in so many ways, but eye-opening (at least for me) of the dangerous conditions that so many face in other countries. Although fictional, the author had done a significant amount of research in order to write the novel.

I liked her writing so much, that I spent some of my Indigo gift card (from my brother and family) on a memoir she wrote about family members. From Amazon here is the summary:

"A Rip in Heaven is Jeanine Cummins’ story of a night in April, 1991, when her two cousins Julie and Robin Kerry, and her brother, Tom, were assaulted on the Old Chain of Rocks Bridge, which spans the Mississippi River just outside of St. Louis. When, after a harrowing ordeal, Tom managed to escape the attackers and flag down help, he thought the nightmare would soon be over. He couldn’t have been more wrong. Tom, his sister Jeanine, and their entire family were just at the beginning of a horrific odyssey through the aftermath of a violent crime, a world of shocking betrayal, endless heartbreak, and utter disillusionment. It was a trial by fire from which no family member would emerge unscathed."

I haven't started it yet, as I'm reading a book I'd picked up earlier this fall. It's one I can put down and pick up irregularly and continue the story. Good, but not great.

I was feeling antsy on Friday, so made a quick trip to Value Village and the dollar store. I found a lovely t-shirt for myself and a new jigsaw puzzle. I've given up on the one I started before Christmas - it was all browns, grays, and greens that blended into one another. I found myself sorting by shapes, rather than color and pieces that clearly didn't belong together fit together anyway. 

This morning, I put away the old and started the new puzzle - almost all of the edge pieces were located. There are blogs to read, my older book, and if I'm feeling truly ambitious, my crocheting to work on. Or maybe my cross-stitch. Choices, choices. 

New Year's Eve will be spent quietly here at home. D has mentioned that Eli has asked if he can stay up this year. She's agreed, so we'll see how that goes! I did mention, if he's getting too tired to change to another time zone and let midnight come a little earlier. They can watch the ball fall in Times Square and he'll not know the difference. :)

All the best in 2024 to all of my readers wherever you may be. I appreciate your following along this journey.