Don't Be Afraid of the Dork: Saturday in the Garden

OUTSIDE

This week I learned about lakes and people's expectations of them. They want them to have clean water but aren't crazy about the vegetation needed to help clean the water because it interferes with their recreational boating. And then there's the watershed and how people feel like they can do whatever they want on their land, like allowing cattle into the stream and grazing the grass down to the dirt even though these actions have profound consequences for their neighbors and their neighbors' neighbors and in some cases the water supply for a whole region and finally the Gulf of Mexico. It's an interesting discussion about individual landowner rights versus what's good for the community at large. People are motivated by their own "survival", and there's no judgment there - it's natural - so acting in the best interests of the community when it is contrary to their well being is rare indeed. Anyway, interesting questions and food for thought. These are things that I run into almost daily with my work that inspire both "gosh this is an interesting dilemma" and "Oh My God we're doomed", lol. It's definitely made me examine what I personally do at home and how those things might impact at a larger scale than just my property.

One of the "lakes" which are naturally really marshes that we were touring this week.

GAK

For the last several months I have felt a little out of control - like my life is just barreling along without my help or leadership. For some folks this is the norm but for my anal retentive, control-freak self it's stressful. It's most evident on the weekends, which I feel like I stumble into and then look around blinking dumbly for a good chunk of time before taking care of the bare minimum chores and errands and then launching back into the work week. It's evident on the blog as well, because I can't seem to find the time to write book posts and well...um....I'm off schedule with this post. Again. The thing is? Nothing's really changed in my life and frankly I really don't have that many personal responsibilities so I should be able to have full productive (and relaxing) weekends, no problem. This weekend has been all ahoo because I've been sick and had a wedding to go to so that's easily understandable but some weekends I'm flummoxed by.

Do you ever feel like this? In your experience what has caused it? Do you have any specific things you do to get back on track?

WATCHING, READING and BLOGGING

Watching

I caught up with the the fifth season of Longmire this week (thanks to a sick day on the couch Friday), and I'm happy to say that I liked it a lot. Much better than season 4 in my opinion. I still miss the good ol days of seasons 1 and 2 - the show has become much more a character drama rather than a mystery show which isn't necessarily bad but I like a mix. In general though, thumbs up on season 5.

Finished Since the Last Time I Posted

Nothing this week.

Currently Reading:

As Chimney Sweepers Come to Dust (Flavia DeLuce #7) by Alan Bradley: I was really feeling like this series needed a shake up because Flavia felt kind of stuck so I'm enjoying the first part of this book which has her shipped off to Canada for boarding school.
The Palace Job (Rogues of the Republic #1) by Patrick Weekes : A fantasy novel with a heist! This started a little slow for me but halfway through has picked up speed and I am really enjoying it.
Damsel Under Stress (Enchanted, Inc. #3) by Shanna Swendsen: Continuing this fluffy charming series (see above).

Added to the TBR:

This is a list of books that I have added to my Goodreads TBR list ~~this week~~ recently. It helps to burn the books I want to read a little more firmly into my mind, maybe get them on some other folks TBRs and gives me a chance to recognize a lot of the awesome bloggers that add stuff to my TBR!

Radiance (Wraith Kings #1) by Grace Dravan: I think I came across this on Audible? It's a fantasy romance that looks like it could potentially be terrible but also could be awesome. It had pretty decent reader ratings.
The Last Days of Jack Sparks by Jason Arnopp: This comes highly recommended by Mogsy at The Bibliosanctum as scary and perfect for halloween. It certainly looks like it will be creepy!

Blogging