Not enough me...

I can't believe a week has passed since my last post. I've been seriously overdoing it lately and it's caught up with me. I feel like I've been run over by a truck...and it came back and ran over me a few more times. Too much to do and not enough me. I've started several posts and put them aside to come back to later and not gotten back to them. I haven't had adequate braincells to write up a post. I'm going to try again now...please excuse if it's scattered...I know I am.

Just an overview of what's been going on...

I've decided not to buy an e-reader. Lots of reasons but in a nutshell...too expensive, limited selection of books, and I really prefer real books. Lol, when I have more energy I may expand on this...I have lots of issues with it. One thing that really bothers me is ownership...you pay for an e-book but you never really own it. I feel the consumer is being shafted coming and going. I'm dropping this now before I take off on it and wear myself out.

Grrr, I hate having to always monitor what I do...even what/how much I think. For me, one of the strangest things about CFS is that mental activity is just as exhausting as physical. That's really difficult for me. It gets really old having to pace and try to protect yourself from over-doing all the time in every aspect of your life...from the tiniest, seemingly most insignificant to the big earth-shattering ones. Oh well, sorry for the mini-rant.

I read 2 books this week...a free mystery e-book from Barnes and Noble and a Janet Evanovich mystery. Lots of laughs from both. So I guess my love of reading is intact. Whew, I was kind of worried about that. Must have just been a phase I was going through for a while where I didn't feel like reading. I think that it was also because I didn't have anything to read that really grabbed me.

I have quite a few books that I've collected over the years and haven't read yet so there is always something to read. Sometimes nothing grabs me though and I need something new...a good mystery, for example. Barnes and Noble has a clearance sale going on right now so I re-stocked the mystery shelf this week. Not quite as much fun as real book shopping used to be but still nice. It was a good deal...I got 9 new hardcovers for $31.31 (including tax). B & N has free shipping on orders of $25 or more so no shipping charges, either.

My mother came to live with me back in May and I'm having to learn how to live with someone else again. She's a sweetheart and I love her dearly but I'm finding it incredibly difficult living with her. Not her fault...I'm just doing much too much, not getting enough rest, and suffering from extreme sensory overload. I'm having to learn how to pace all over again and trying to cope with the over-stimulation.

I'm also trying to find ways to decrease how much I have to shop and run errands for us. (Mom doesn't drive.). This last week, I arranged for water delivery so that I don't have to drag all those bottles home from the store...yay! I also discovered that Amazon now ships canned dog food. I pay a yearly fee for an Amazon Prime membership and I get 2 day shipping free, so no charge for shipping the dog food. That's a great deal for me.

I have a large dog who can't eat dry food and haven't been able to find anyone to ship food so I've been having to deal with getting large quantities of it home by myself. I ordered 3 cases from Amazon last week and 2 days later they were delivered to my front door...yay! I highly recommend the Amazon Prime membership if you have trouble getting out and shopping...it's been great for all kinds of things.

Now, if I could get groceries from Amazon, lol. Nobody seems to sell many groceries online. I sure wish someone here in town delivered groceries. You would think that service would be available in a city as large as Houston. Ironically, it was available here before I got sick. Sometimes it can be pretty hard getting out for groceries. No matter how much I buy we always seem to need something. I used to only shop for groceries about once a month...that's not working now. I think we need to buy a small freezer so I can stock up more. Not sure how I could manage dealing with getting more at one time though. I guess spread it out and build up some.

I'm not taking Mom grocery shopping with me now...it actually turns out to be harder and more work than doing it by myself. I need to hurry as much as I can before I run out of steam. I pay for rushing but it's no better when I go slow and I wouldn't be able to finish if I went slow. Mom can't rush...so less stressful for both of us if she doesn't go. We bring in all the cold things when I get home and bring the other things in a little at a time. I have a big old fashioned shopping cart that we load up.

This has been a big week for online shopping. In addition to the dog food and books, Mom and I both needed some new casual clothes (shorts, jeans, tees) and undies so we ordered some things online. This is a first for both of us. I've bought other things online but not clothes. I always worried that they wouldn't fit and I'd have to pay for shipping twice...ouch. I hope these fit.

Can't think to wrap this up logically or re-read it right now to edit...Mom is narrating aloud everything she is doing and I'm on sensory overload. Helpppppppppppppp, lol! Hope this makes some sense...just smile and pretend it does, okay?

Bye for now.

Let's get cozy...

Hurray!! Diane Mott Davidson's 15th culinary mystery, Fatally Flaky, featuring the caterer, Goldy Bear, is due out in April!

Diane Mott Davidson is a favorite of mine. I have all of her books up through book 14 'Sweet Revenge'. If you haven't read any of hers you should give them a try. It's a nice series...not too graphic...a 'cozy' mystery.

If you aren't familiar with the 'cozy' mystery genre...

"A Cozy Mystery usually takes place in a benign universe, in a small town setting. They usually involve a domestic crime, one without violence or bloodshed, committed with a blunt instrument or poison. Cozies are most often solved by gifted amateur detectives, and involve solving some form of a puzzle through observation, deduction and the keen understanding of human nature. There is no graphic violence or use of strong language." ~~~ A concise definition from the Madison WI public library

If you are interested in finding other 'cozy' mystery authors and series, there is a nice list available from the Madison, WI public library. The list contains the author and character names, character's profession, and location. I didn't count past 25 but it looks like the list contains 75-100 authors/series. The URL is http://www.madisonpubliclibrary.org/booklists/cozies.html . This list is nice because it is rather compact so you can print it out and take it with you as a reminder.

An excellent website devoted to cozy mysteries can be found at http://www.cozy-mystery.com/ . I started to describe it but it would almost take another post and I promised myself I was going to keep this post short and not exhaust myself, lol. You will just have to cruise over there and take a look for yourself. Notice that she even has a blog!

Lots of other information and websites on the 'cozy' mystery can be found by Googling "cozy mystery".