Weekly Roundup: September 22, 2023

Today is the last official day of summer. Last night, I finished the last of the summer beers stashed in my fridge. I know I’m supposed to buy pumpkin ales now but I am not a fan of pumpkin-flavored things (#sorrynotsorry). Let’s get into the roundup.

Quote of the week:
“I don’t really want to become normal, average, standard. I want merely to gain in strength, in the courage to live out my life more fully, enjoy more, experience more. I want to develop even more original and more unconventional traits.” — Anais Nin

What I’m reading:
Evil Eye by Etaf Rum. I’m really enjoying it. I loved her first book and recommend it often.

What I’m listening to:
The First Day of Spring by Nancy Tucker. I cannot remember who recommended this to me, but it is definitely a compelling read. Very dark though—reader beware.

What I’m watching:
The Handmaid’s Tale on Hulu. I told myself I’d only watch the first season but it’s SO GOOD. I’m almost done with the first season and may have to venture beyond.

Writing news:
Playing the waiting game on my latest manuscript.

Interesting things I learned this week:

If you dug a hole to the center of the Earth and dropped a book down, it would take 42 minutes to reach the bottomIn the 2022-2023 school year, there was a 33% increase in the number of books banned compared to the previous year, according to PEN America’s latest reportFlorida leads the U.S. in book bans, with 40% of bans taking place thereMexico will have its first woman as president next year after the governing party chose Claudia Sheinbaum as their candidate to compete against the opposition’s candidate, Xóchitl GálvezA new feature on Lyft will allow women to match rides with other women, which the company hopes will improve safety and encourage more female driversCat pee glows under a black light. Whaaaat

Weirdest thing I googled this week:
“how to fix smelly shoes overnight.” My daughter refuses to wear socks with her shoes. ‘Nough said.

What I’m grateful for:

My last big training week for the Chicago Marathon (it’s on October 8!). I did my second 20-mile run this morning and felt great overall No cancer on my face! I had my annual skin check yesterday and had precancerous cells in one place. Said buh-bye to those with a little freezing action. Thankful this was caught early. PSA: Get your skin checks!Lots of fun kids things—soccer games, playdates, birthday parties, superhero day at school. Kindergartners have very busy livesA solo date. Hired my daughter’s favorite babysitter and took myself to dinner and a women’s group

Snapshots:

Solo dinner date. Well, I was accompanied by a book. Still smiling after 20 miles. Running views.

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