Hi there,
This is my monthly catch-up with you, and with myself. Let’s Grab Coffee is where I take a moment, or a few, to reflect on the month as a whole. I want this to feel like you’re talking to a good friend over a steaming cup of coffee in the dappled light of a flowering tree. This is a conversation, so if you want to answer the questions or just want to say hello, hit reply to this email to send me your response. Let’s keep the conversation flowing.
1. Where are you struggling?
I’m not sure if it’s the time of year, too many tasks on my mental to-do list, or that I’m not sleeping as well as normal, but I’ve struggled to get up in time to write in the mornings. I’ve struggled to get up to write, hitting snooze until I absolutely have to be up to make it to physical therapy or to workout. When the alarm sounds—an owl hooting— my body becomes lead, an immovable object needing to move.
On Easter Sunday, I felt so exhausted from the activities of the weekend that I fell asleep in the car driving to a family dinner in Mississippi, and going home. (I wasn’t driving.) I’m generally not a car sleeper. I cannot make myself fall sleep in the car. It only happens when I happen to fall asleep, head falling forward and snapping back. That evening on the couch, I still couldn’t keep my eyes open. Sitting up, Ryan talking directly to me, my eyes felt like they were being forced closed by someone else.
There’s only one solution to this struggle, one I’ve learned to listen to when it speaks. When your body is crying out for rest, it’s best, simply, to rest. Pushing forward or harder only worsens its effect. When you’re sitting up straight, eyes closing of their own accord as someone speaks directly at your face, may you listen to the language of your body, and rest.
2. What is blooming?
When we lived in Virginia our house was surrounded by flowering plants and trees. A massive tulip tree towered above the left end of the house, the blush pink flowers blooming every spring and visible from my favorite spot on the couch. Several azalea bushes—magenta, pink, and white—lined the front of the house, and created a small space for a two-year-old to squeeze through. Two weeping cherry trees, one in the front and one in the back, bloomed delicate white flowers each spring, swaying in the breeze.
I knew moving into a new construction we wouldn’t be the recipient of someone else’s green thumb. The small tree planted just before our move-in date wasted away, dying as spring brought everything around us to life. We decided we needed a new tree this year. A tree that reminded us of the ones we loved and left behind in the wispy fog of the Blue Ridge Mountains.
We settled on a type of Crabapple tree, which looks like a giant twig planted in our front yard. It looks almost silly now, but the azaleas have begun to bloom. They’re red this time, and every time I see their brilliant color it fills my soul with a deep joy. I can’t wait to see what the new tree will look like next year.
3. What are you trying that’s new (to you)?
I saved this question for last because it flows right into my list of books I read in March. If you’re an avid reader this will most definitely not be a new thing for you. At the midpoint of March, Ryan discovered he could listen to audiobooks on Spotify— our preferred music platform—where we pay for one of their plans.
I’ve never been much of an audiobook listener, with the exception of the Harry Potter series and one Clive Cussler book. One evening in the car as we drove to pick up the kids after work, sun stabbing at our eyeballs, I heard an excerpt from the audiobook my husband was listening to on Spotify. As I listened to the short snippet, I thought, hey, that actually sounds interesting. I think I’ll search for it too.
I’m still waiting for that particular book to be available at the library, but since March 15 I’ve listened to five books. I won’t spoil too much of the What I Read section, but I’ll tell you one thing I learned from this little experiment. Listening to genres you don’t always gravitate toward while reading with your eyes might be a more enjoyable experience. The first book I tested this out on was in the rom-com genre by Emily Henry titled Beach Read. Not only was it a delightful story, it was infinitely more enjoyable because I used a different method to read it.
What I Read in March:
Just Another Missing Person by Gillian Mcallister
This was a nice detective/mystery novel, investigating a, you guessed it, missing person case. Also, it’s set in England, which I loved. I know I can’t hear the accents, but I love novels set in a different country.
Beach Read by Emily Henry
This was the first book I listened to as an audiobook. It was such a delightful little read. It centers on two authors living next door to one another who know one another from college. They challenge each other to write in a different genre, taking little field trips each week to get into the headspace of their new genres. As they learn more about each other’s lives, they grow closer. It has much more depth than I expected it to.
The Outsider by Stephen King
*Content Warning* This book opens on the graphic death of a child, and the focus remains there for some time. Most of the book is about the investigation of the child’s death, which leads investigators to supernatural conclusions. If you can get past the graphic details of the death, this is a good book. I do not recommend this book if you don’t enjoy a graphicly detailed death, especially that of a child.
Thank You For Listening by Julia Whelan
Two audiobook narrators take a job working on the same book narration, but they haven’t been completely truthful about who they are behind their pen names. It’s a great book, and the behind the scenes talk about audiobook narration was very fun.
The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley
A woman meets her brother at his apartment in Paris, but when she arrives she finds he’s not home. The book follows her journey to find her brother and the discoveries she makes along the way of an investigative piece he was writing. The audiobook was excellent, with English and French accents.
The Duke and I by Julia Quinn
I loved the Bridgerton series on Netflix like most people when it came on. I’ve been meaning to go back and read the books the tv series is based on, but never seemed to find the time. Que, my discovery of audiobooks from the library. It was a nice read. An excellent palate cleanser book.