Tag Archives: Peony in Love

A Merry Little Christmas

Posted on by
49

Beautiful Christmas present we received from my husband’s assistant. It’s of my son and DIL on their wedding day this Fall.

Our Christmas didn’t go as expected. I got sick. I’m still sick. I have a headache, low-grade fever, congestion and cough. I am miserable.

I called our friends we were supposed to join for prime rib dinner along with their four kids, spouses and sister and husband. I could barely squeak out my words and ended in a coughing fit.

No, they didn’t want me around.

So far, my husband is fine. Knock on wood.

My daughter was exposed to COVID her last day at work before her break. She was supposed to spend Christmas with her brother and sister-in-law (photo above.) She instead had to isolate.

My son and his wife stayed home alone for Christmas, because she is halfway through chemo and did not want to catch any bugs. It would delay her treatment if she did. I’m not sure that went over well with other family members, but their priority is her health.

All in all it was a sad little Christmas.

Here are few highlights from staying in bed:

Christmas Eve I watched “Meet Me in St. Louis” after my son said he introduced it to his wife for the first time. I love that movie. There’s one point in the movie where the husband comes home with a lavender tin of chocolates and the wife says “Oh! Louis and Sherry!” That was a chocolate and ice cream company that one of my husband’s clients owned. I had the lavender tin on a shelf in my kitchen in Palm Springs, because it’s so pretty.

Once when my aunt was visiting us in Palm Springs, my son asked if she wanted to watch TV with him. He was five or six years old. He turned on “Meet Me in St. Louis.” She was pleasantly surprised because she thought she’d be watching Barney.

I finished reading a book “Bees Don’t Get Arthritis” by Fred Malone, copyright 1974. A friend loaned it to me in August and called to ask when she could get it back. It’s interesting about how many doctors from the 1930s on treated arthritis with bee venom or honey with pretty good results. Many doctors tried to get it approved as a legitimate treatment after having held trials, but somehow it never made it mainstream. Maybe big pharma doesn’t want something so simple?

I watched the mini-series “Black Cake.” I have one episode left. It’s very good but doesn’t follow the book exactly. I wrote a review of the book HERE. It hasn’t added things, but the TV version put more emphasis on things than I felt was necessary from the book.

I finished Lisa See’s “Peony in Love” which I’ve struggled with. The ending picked up. Then I started reading this one:

Because I’m not feeling that well, I put down the book above and used Audible to start Ann Patchet’s “Tom Lake.” I’m really enjoying it and I can lay in bed and listen.

What were some highlights of your Christmas?

How do you decide if you have a cold, flu or COVID — besides testing for COVID?

Have you been sick this winter?

Struggling with a book

Posted on by
39

Books I’ve read or am reading during my spree with Lisa See.

I’m struggling to finish “Peony in Love.” I zipped through the other books pictured above as well as “Dreams of Joy,” “Shanghai Girls” and “Flower Net.” I wonder if my problem with “Peony” is due to the power of suggestion. One of my close friends listens to audio books while she works. She sews for interior designers and creates duvets, curtains, throw pillows, sailboat sail covers and furniture slipcovers.

She gets through quite a lot of books during her working hours. She recommended “China Dolls” and “The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane.” But she did add she couldn’t get into “Peony in Love.”

Is that little nugget of info tucked away in my brain? Or is it the story I don’t like? (It’s about a girl who is lovesick and quits eating until she dies. Then she hovers around her family trying to figure out how to come back to life.)

I read an article in the Wall Street Journal by Jason Gay this week called:

Is Watching a Movie the New Reading a Book?

In a zero attention span world, spending two hours locked in on a film feels like a trip to the spa

Here’s an excerpt:

My chest puffed with pride. I watched a whole movie, in one night, all by myself. No interruptions, no pauses, no iPhone diversions, no flipping channels, not even 30 minutes of falling asleep on the couch, drooling into a pillow and dreaming that I was an astronaut pizza maker who played point guard for the Oklahoma City Thunder. 

It was a revelation. You know what watching a movie felt like to my easily-distracted hamster brain? It felt like an accomplishment. It felt smart. It felt like a spa day for my skull. It felt like…finishing a book. 

https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-cost-of-biden-family-advice-700d12cf?mod=hp_opin_pos_5#cxrecs_s

I agree with the WSJ writer that our attention spans have shortened. I can find myself flipping through texts, X messages and assorted other distractions online. It’s much easier than reading an entire book – or sitting through an entire movie. I prefer reading to watching TV, though. I also like listening to podcasts.

Have you read “Peony in Love?” Did you like it?

Do you think your attention span has changed through the past years?

Do you like to watch entire movies or do find yourself distracted like me?