<p>Ok, thanks so much! We are revisiting out Spain itinerary. I thind Madrid–Sevilla–Granada–flight to Barcelona–train to Madrin and fly home.
Any names of places you stayed would be welcome. H and I cannot share a double bed. Last time I had to pad the floor because I was sure I was going to end up on the floor.
Really want an apartment as D will be with us and we will not have comfortable down time if we have seperate rooms.</p>
<p>The Invisble Ones by Stef Penney—just a fun vacation book that gives a lot of history about the gypsy community. It is a murder mystery which is my typical read but was well written and enjoyable.</p>
<p>And a huge shout out to MP and D!!! What a wonderful thing</p>
<p>oregon, we loved the apartment we rented in Barcelona. It is probably too large for your purposes (3 bedrooms, 2 full baths), but the rental company may have some other nice ones, too. We went through Habitat Aparements and stayed in the Eixample area.</p>
<p>TA, don’t know if you’d be into some of my Jan-Feb reads or not, but here are a few to check out:</p>
<p>I just finished “A Working Theory of Love” – first novel by an edgy san fran author, Scott Hutchins, (who is a Michigan grad and then product of Standford’s creative writing post grad workshop.)</p>
<p>Quite engaging, if different. First person narrative of a divorced young man who’s using his suicided father’s journals to create AI for the Turing competition. Lighter than it sounds…fairly tongue-in-cheek and thought provoking.</p>
<p>Also read Telegraph Avenue by Michael Chabon (if you forgive his excesses in the first 20% or so, it’s actually a rich read) and also the The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, which I loved. </p>
<p>Also read The Marriage Plot by Jeffry Eugenides – carefully crafted and a thoughtful read; it’s been 10 years since his last. He teaches at Princeton now, I believe. I always make an effort to support a homeboy ;)</p>
<p>For something completely different, if short stories are at all your speed, check out George Sanderson’s newest anthology - 10th of December. I read it almost straight through. He is without peer in the short story department, IMHO.</p>
<p>Oregon, posting about the Barcelona apartment made me nostalgic…I just spent the last 5 minutes on Habitat’s website, drooling over their lovely flats in Barecelona and Florence.</p>
<p>Z - That is so very sad and it seems to be happening so often now. It’ painful to even read about.</p>
<p>MP Congrats to your D and her team, that is very exciting. </p>
<p>Would love to visit Spain and also hire a stager. I need the latter.</p>
<p>The books I finished this lately are The Poisoners Handbook by Deborah Blum, The Obituary Writer by Ann Hood and Parlor Games by Maryka Biaggio. Analyst what kind of stuff do you like to read?</p>
<p>Thanks for all of the great book suggestions. I have copied and pasted them all into the spreadsheet I keep on my desktop with my library card number. </p>
<p>I enjoy historical fiction, travel memoirs, romance, and mysteries. Books like The Atlantis Blueprint, Endurance, Guns Germs and Steel, Rowing to Latitude, Losing the Garden, Getting Stoned with Savages, Drop City, Born to Run, and People of the Book are the kinds of things that come to mind that I particularly enjoyed. I will start just about anything if it’s available from my library. I read most of the popular books, such as Water for Elephants, The Help, Life of Pi, etc. but rarely love them. I did like Memoirs of a Geisha, Angela’s Ashes, and some of the older popular books.</p>
<p>Whoo-hoo on an amazing finish to the cheer career!</p>
<p>I really enjoyed Cutting for Stone and The Marriage Plot. </p>
<p>Loved the Hotel Arts in Barcelona. We had a great experience at a little hotel within the gates of the Alhambra. You know, back in the days when you never thought about making reservations? We had the Alhambra all to ourselves on a moon lit night. Simply gorgeous. The next day we went back and saw quite a few chinks in the armor. Oh well… Unfortunately, I forget the name of the place…</p>
<p>I’ll second the Cutting for Stone – one of my fav’s last year (or whenver I read it.)</p>
<p>Just wish he was my h’s doc.
But alas, I best get back to work, as my life will be filled with vetting and cross-checking these doogie howsers ;)</p>
<p>Oh…forgot to mention Molokai! I really liked this book. It spans many years and ties Hawaiian history with healthcare, what makes a family, religion/spiritualism and how society/cultures view disease. Lots of topics for a book club!</p>
<p>Great end to cheering, MP. And I bet the NappyTabs class was pretty remarkable too. I love how SYTYCD has brought choreographers into the limelight. (Did you see Alex Wong dancing in the Academy Award production numbers last week?)</p>
<p>Yes, thank goodness for the DVR, so we could stop the picture, rewind, “Yes, that’s Alex!” My Ds are much better at picking out SYTYCD alums in shows like the Oscars, Glee, etc. than I am.</p>
<p>MP, congratulations. Fabulous that D went out on such a high note.</p>
<p>Good news. The really nice but marginally competent assistant I thought I was going to have to terminate found another job that is much better matched to her personality and strengths. So, no painful firing. Now I have to find someone better. </p>
<p>Off to London tomorrow. I must say that driving home most days and then to a hotel, which was the equivalent of a 30 minute round trip commute each day, plus packing clothes, combined with having a substandard equipment has left a lot of things falling through the cracks.</p>
<p>arabrab, nothing has happened less, but they used low VOC paint and ShawWife is affected by it. Today she spent some time in the house and wasn’t horribly affected. We may try to move back in on the weekend.</p>
<p>With regard to the floors, we’ve been told it takes two weeks to do the floors as the low VOC finish takes longer to dry. I was assuming another two weeks before ShawWife can enter the house after that.</p>
<p>I can’t think of anyone less suited to life in a hotel than my H. I cant even imagine… but then again, I am not allergic!</p>
<p>Congrats Missy and MissyD! That is so exciting. Had no idea how huge a deal this was…but knew it was her last. Bittersweet as they say – but always, always better to WIN! Bravo.</p>
<p>While I found this woman thru a friend who had hired her to literally furnish her home to sell (they moved abroad), she has two different rates, so to speak, One is as a designer,where she’d ostensibly go shopping for you etc. And then to just use what you have in your house for $55 an hour, which i found hugely reasonable considering how paralyzed I had become in the process. I was on a roll today and then ran out bubble wrap… productivity thwarted</p>
<p>Congrats to MissyD! How thrilling and wonderful!</p>
<p>I finally got off my rear and completed a fitness assessment at our wellness center. Got a personalized exercise plan which started last Friday. So far it’s not as horrible as I thought it would be. Just need to keep it a priority.</p>
<p>Modadunn, glad you are making progress! Hope you get some more bubble wrap and keep up the momentum.</p>
<p>Kudos to missyD! What a great end to the season/career!
Moda, happy packing. I actually enjoy bubble wrap. When I wrapped up the house to move I had a little wrapping station set up with a stool, table and everything I needed. Think I missed my calling working in a factory. For some reason I find repetitive work soothing! Kind of a mental holiday, yet satisfying.</p>
<p>Well, the visit with the doc didn’t really improve my confidence level in his communication skills. Jury is out on the other skills. Considering how astonishingly difficult it is to get into med school I was left thinking Really? It was reasonably productive and all, but really only because I made it so, which probably doesn’t inspire much confidence in mch!</p>
<p>An old pal of mine who is as cranky and common-sense oriented as I am is a retired doc who’s off galavanting the third world (doctors without borders). I may need to put out the call to him for tips if I can raise him. Problem is the surgeon he recommended before who I liked has just retired.</p>
<p>I’ve decided to get mch one birthday gift that’s fun and he’ll like, and one that I suspect he won’t. I’ve made good gains with the Nordic-walking-up-the-hill and discovered you can get “exertstrider” poles that can be used on treadmill and regular terraine. They’re adjustable, so even if he won’t use them, I will That will be my “I’d like to keep you around” gift.</p>
<p>Can y’all believe what is going on at Oberlin?</p>
<p>Yesterday, when I was folding D’s freshly laundered cheer uniform, I realized that this may be the last of such activities…it started with the tiny gymnastics leotards…one year, the moms were just laughing at the new, very pricey competition leos because there was no way to follow all of the contradictory laundry instructions. Dance costumes, dance practice clothes that cannot shrink (horrors if a teen girl “outgrows” her practice clothes), drill team field uniform. At some point in there, the Color Catchers product came out, which was helpful. Anyway, years of delicate/hang dry/hope the colors don’t run/hope the sparkles don’t come off may be at an end.</p>
<p>[Okay, now we’ve had everything on this thread…a laundry post.]</p>
<p>So hard to face those “lasts” missypie. I bet missyD was so excited to win the Championship! Congrats to her and her friends.</p>
<p>I have faith that Oberlin will handle the racist situation with sensitivity and compassion.</p>
<p>cq…good luck with the fitness program! I am also back on track!</p>
<p>kmc…good luck with the dr. situation. I know what it is like if you don’t have confidence in your health care team. Congrats to you too with your exercise progress! </p>
<p>Have about 10 inches of snow here at the moment. The woods look beautiful. We have an unusual snow day around here. Very rare. I can hear the plows on my street as I write this. Worried about D2 and her drive in to work. Hope she texts me soon!</p>
That will be my “I’d like to keep you around” gift.</p>