Thursday, June 7, 2018

May Wrap-Up





May Snapshots



Apple & wasp tree. I ran for my life after snapping this picture.



Cherry and apple trees from my bathroom window.






1. Aj answers the hard questions. May rewarded us with the Royal Wedding. I briefly considered waking up early to watch it, but that didn’t happen. I value sleep too much. When I did finally drag my lazy ass out of bed, I got online and tried to find the answer to the single most important question about every wedding ever. What flavor was the cake? Luckily, I was able to uncover the secret. Feel free to thank me for my heroic efforts in journalism.













2. The Internet is frustrating. It was especially frustrating in May. I know that we’re all sick of talking about GDPR, but I’m envisioning a dystopian future where I spend 90% of my day clicking and unclicking tiny little checkboxes.

Speaking of the Internet, I have plans for it! My Instagram account has been badly neglected, so my goal for June is to update it at least once a day. Head over there if you want to see my . . . um . . . typo-riddled creations. (I was going to call them “art,” but that’s a strong word.)



A small glimpse of what you're missing.









3. There’s a dead body in this story. Fair warning. Have you ever had one of those moments where you think, Is this really happening right now? In April, my mom had surgery on her hip and my dog, Cheyenne, got diagnosed with cancer. On May 10, Cheyenne died. She died on my lap at home at 6:30 in the morning. Then I had to wait until 7 for the vet to open so I could drop her off to be cremated.

If you’ve never been around a recently dead creature, there are a few things you should know:

  • Dying involves shockingly large amounts of fluids exiting the body. Everything gets gross and slippery.
  • Dead things are floppy and much harder to carry than live things.
  • It’s impossible to carry anything when you’re completely losing your mind and freaking out because your dog is dead.


Basically, I couldn’t lift my dead dog and carry her to the car. So . . . this was a problem. My mom was home with me, but she couldn’t help because she was on crutches and not allowed to bend or lift. So . . . that was another problem. We solved the problem by wrapping Cheyenne in sheets so that I could drag her to the car. 

While I was struggling to get the dog into the trunk, I noticed my neighbor watching us from across the street. From his perspective, it probably looked like I’d committed a murder and was trying to dispose of the evidence. I remember thinking, Dude, I could really use your help right now, but please don’t make me explain why my crippled mother and I are trying to get a body into the trunk.

My mom and I got the dog to the vet on our own, but that day was full of Is this real life? moments.

On a related topic: I really miss my dog, guys.



I took this picture two days before she died. She has staples in her head and a bandage on her leg from the cancer surgery.

















Wayward Googlers



Cait @ Paper Fury sometimes posts the amusing Google searches that led people to her blog. Today, I’m stealing her idea. Here are some unfortunate souls who ended up on Read All The Things! instead of finding what they were Googling for.
  

“too preachy novels.” YES! We should form a committee to stop these from existing. Great idea, Googler.

 “First time she met Ted.” If “she” is anything like me, then it was awkward. Very, very awkward. 

















Books I Read


In May, I read 11 books.





The Whipping Boy – Sid Fleischman
Jacob Have I Loved – Katherine Paterson
The Elephant Vanishes – Haruki Murakami
Out of the Dust – Karen Hesse
Dear Mr. Henshaw – Beverly Cleary
Britt-Marie was Here – Fredrik Backman
Blood Red, Snow White – Marcus Sedgwick
















Best Books Of May   





3. Britt-Marie was Here – Fredrik Backman
















Most-Viewed May Reviews
























Most-Viewed May Non-Reviews























Posts I Wish got more views







1. Review: Thunderhead by Neal Shusterman. This series is so good. If you like sci-fi or dystopias, you should read it.


















What we need to talk about in June



I’m trying this new thing. It’s called “planning ahead.” I know, it’s revolutionary, right? Here’s a brief list of things we need to talk about in June.

  • All the new books I’ve acquired.
  • A Head Full of Ghosts by Paul Tremblay.
  • Grief is the Thing with Feathers by Max Porter.
  • Bizarre and hilarious emails I’ve gotten.
  • Strange things that authors really need to write about. (Pay attention, authors.)
  • What I’m reading this summer.
  • Britt-Marie was Here and A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman
  • Lots and lots of Newbery winners.
  • How are we almost halfway through the year? Why have I not accomplished anything?



















All The Things!



Distance I’ve sloppily jogged so far in 2018 = 109 miles (175k)

Number of unread books on my TBR shelf = 62 books

I’m currently reading = A Storm of Swords by George R.R. Martin and A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman.


















What did you do in May?











37 comments:

  1. Your wrap-up is really cool! :D

    I'm sorry about your dog, I actually had an experience similar to that a couple years ago with my own dog. He was eleven, and also had cancer but we didn't know that until three days before he died.

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    1. My dog was eleven, too. It took us a long time to find out about her cancer. She didn’t have any symptoms, so I didn’t know that anything was seriously wrong.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

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  2. Sorry to hear about Cheyenne. :(

    Those trees are beautiful. And yet all I could think when looking at them was: aaahh-choo!!! Me and nature are not friends.

    One of these days - probably when I quit my job and someone pays me to stay home and read all the books - I will read a Fredrik Backman. (When I first typed Backman, it auto-corrected to Batman and now I can’t stop laughing.)

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    1. Haha, auto-correct is the best. That’s why there are so many typos on my Instagram. My phone corrects everything it shouldn’t and nothing it should.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

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  3. I'm so sorry to hear about Cheyenne. I actually went through the same thing with my cancer cat last spring. She was walking around but acting a little lethargic. I figured it was just one of her off days and planned to book at appt for the vet just to be on the safe side. I went to hop in the shower and when I came out I found her just laying there. My parents were visiting at the time and I remember that feeling like you said of "is this real?" I remember looking up at my mom and saying in a detached voice, "I think she's dead." I was a little freaked out, my other cat was hissing at the cat that I'd wrapped in a towel and laid in a box, and I just remember being in a complete haze until I got to the vet. It's so hard to lose a pet and I miss mine every day. Cheyenne was a beautiful girl and I'm sure she had an amazing life with you.

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    1. I had my dog for eleven years, and it was weird to think that she wouldn’t be here anymore. It’s really hard to get used to. She’s been dead for a month, but I still find myself forgetting and looking around for her.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

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  4. Love your snapshots! So pretty. And I love your IG pictures. I am still so sorry for the loss of your dog. I can't imagine. I really need to get to a Fredrik Backman book. Hope you have a great June!

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  5. Sorry that you lost your loved dog, they become so much part of your life. That royal cake sounds yummy actually. I never got to see the royal wedding although I had planned to but other things intervened. I watched it later as I had recorded it. Oh I love those blossoms, what a picture.

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    1. Thanks! I only saw the highlights of the Royal Wedding. It was very necessary that I see the cake, though. Cakes are important.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

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  6. So sorry to read about your dog... It's hard to lose a pet when they've come so much of your life. I am glad you were able to be there for comfort. I'd only be interested in that royal cake if I was offered a piece! That said, I think you're on to something about the future of the internet where we mostly click boxes!

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    1. I want a piece of Royal Wedding cake, too! I don’t like lemon, but I’d still eat it. It looks like they have enough cake to share with everybody.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

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  7. So sorry about your dog! I have an extremely similar story from when one of my dog's passed. She was a huge black lab/pit mix that my mom and I struggled into the back of our car. We took her a Banfield at Petsmart where they would take care of her (we were having her cremated), and they literally made us wheel her in a trash bag through the store to the counter. I hoped children could not tell what was in our cart. Then they lost her ashes. Fun times. It's so hard, though, and I really hope you're doing okay--dogs are such important members of the family and it's hard to get used to them not being there.

    On another note, it looks like you had a very productive reading month! My mom and I had actually been wondering about the cake flavor, so that really was interesting information. I suppose it fits with the wedding. Your trees are so lovely, even if you did risk your life for the photo! I'll be sure to check out your instagram and follow. I'm so bad at remembering to do my own stuff, but I love looking at other people's photos and appreciate the hard work. Hope you have a great month!

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    1. Wow, that’s a horror story. Sorry you had to go through that. We just had to back up to the door of the vet. One of the vets carried her in.

      I love looking at photos on Instagram, but I’m terrible at taking my own photos. I’ll never be a photographer.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

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  8. I'm so sorry about your dog! :-(

    I hope June is an easier month for you!

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  9. You brought me to tears over your dog, Aj. Our dog died not quite 3 years ago but in some ways it feels like it just happened. I am so sorry that things happened they way they did but I know you have a lot of really great memories with her. I hope you mom is feeling better.

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    1. I didn’t mean to make you cry :(. My mom is mostly feeling better. She’s not on crutches anymore.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

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  10. Oh, your dystopian checking boxes story made me gigglesnort. I was so frustrated on Sunday checking all the boxes. I think one check box is enough, and some have the "are you a spammer button" and check for replies, then if you check for a reply you get an email asking you to confirm...ahhhhhh!

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    1. YES! I read a lot of blogs, and it’s irritating to click all those boxes. If you miss one, you get an error message, and then you have to go back and look for the one you missed. I just want to leave a comment!

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

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  11. Those trees are so beautiful! I hope one day I have a yard big enough to have those gorgeous, flowering trees. I'm totally with you on GDPR. I hadn't even heard of it until after the deadline, so I was scrambling to try to figure it out! I somehow missed your Outlander post, so I'm off to check that out! And I'm sorry to say, I'm definitely stealing your emails idea. I have gotten some really strange ones! XD

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    1. Please steal my emails idea. I want to know if other people’s inboxes are as ridiculous as mine. I like the fruit trees, but they attract so many wasps. You can hear the trees buzzing from across the yard. The apple and pear trees are the worst.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

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  12. I'm so sorry about your dog and I do hope that your mom is feeling better.

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  13. First I was laughing about GDPR and endless box clicking, and then I was crying for you and Cheyenne. It is so painful to lose a loved one, and then having to do all that. My heart broke for you. ((HUGS)) I absolutely adored Britt-Marie. Backman quietly painted the picture of this woman, and I was so convinced about what got her to this place, that I was shocked to learn the truth. It was a wonderful and heartwarming story, and I definitely want to read more of his books. Oh, and as long as we have super preachy people, there will be super preachy books. No way to avoid that.

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    1. Yeah, this wrap-up is a bit all-over-the-place. I love Britt-Marie. She tries so hard to adapt to the modern world.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

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  14. I'm so sorry to hear about Cheyenne though that was quite an ordeal with getting her to a vet. I imagine your neighbor will be watching you suspiciously from now on! What a lovely view out your bathroom window! Happy June!

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  15. What a month, eh? The cycle of life is brutal sometimes. We had to put my sister's 15 year old lab to sleep this spring too, and my son insisted on staying with us, and when it was over he said, "She peed!" like that was the remarkable thing about it all.

    I was not at all up on the royal wedding hoopla, but thank you for sharing the cake deets. Very important, as you said.

    I so loved Thunderhead. The first time I read Scythe, I liked it, but felt it was not different enough from Unwind in its themes and how they were handled. The second time I read it, for CYBILS, I was more impressed. Reading Thunderhead really cemented my enthusiasm for the series.

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  16. Oh my goodness, I knew that you had lost your dear puppy friend, but I didn't realize just how traumatic the whole experience had been. So sorry you had to go through that!

    Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction

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  17. I'm so sorry about your doggy! *massive hugs* I feel like non-animal-lovers don't understand just how hard it is to lose a pet - it's heart-breaking. *Hugs some more* *sends loves* <3 <3 <3 <3

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  18. Your May snapshots are so lovely. Thanks for sharing them :)

    I'm so sorry about Cheyenne. I teared up while reading what you wrote. Losing a beloved pet just sucks so much. *hugs*

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  19. I'm so sorry about Cheyenne, what a stressful time it must have been for you and your mom. I'm so so so sorry. <3

    I'm in love with your apple tree, not so in love with the wasps.

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  20. Looks like you had a awesome May, sending you hugs about feeling sad losing someone you love is never easy. I need to pick up Thunderhead because I loved Scythe.
    Tori @ In Tori Lex

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  21. I'm so sorry about Cheyenne. (((((((((HUGS))))))

    I didn't rally myself to get up for the pre-wedding festivities, but I was up for the wedding itself, however, I made the mistake of looking at Facebook first, and I got into a heated discussion (argument) with some racist numbskull on a friend's anti-border wall meme and missed the ceremony anyway. I watched all the recaps, though. Thanks for the cake facts and image. I missed that part. The wedding seems like it was very "homestyle". Did you know Harry hand-picked the bridal bouquet flowers from Diana's memorial garden? 💐

    I love your flowery view photos. 🌸🌻🌼

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  22. I wish I had that whole wedding cake in my house to get stuck into!

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  23. Aw hun I'm so sorry about your dog, she seemed gorgeous (*sending hugssss*)! And I seriously wish I had a wedding cake sitting in my kitchen to get stuck into! Lovely post :)

    Grace Louise || www.gracelouiseofficial.blogspot.co.uk/

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  24. Sorry to hear about Cheyenne. Losing a loved one is so hard. My sister passed just short of her birthday last year. Her birthday was a few days ago and we celebrated with family, reminiscing about her. She was a ray of sunshine!
    Loved A Man Called Ove. Britt-Marie should be just as good! Humor and the things that make us human. Backman does a great job!

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  25. I remember you posting about Cheyanne and now am feeling the sadness all over again. I had to put my 13 year old golden retriever to sleep just before Thanksgiving last year, and I still miss him (shortly afterward my computer died too, taking all my photos of him with it). Yes, death is messy physically too. Have you ever talked to your neighbor after the trunk witnessing?

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