The Five

Sight

The Lottery by Patricia Wood

I wanted to like this book more than I did. I was kind of distracted by a severe headache while reading this, so perhaps it was just that I wasn't in good enough shape to read it well. I don't want you to not read this book because of my review. I have recommended it to my bookclubs and I plan to read it again and wish to discuss it. It's subject matter hits close to home for me and so, perhaps this is why I didn't like it. Maybe it made me think about things that could take place if I wasn't around. Hmmm.

The premise is great. A man with a very low IQ wins the lottery. He's not retarded, as he likes to remind us. This is the story of how his biological family betrays him and how he creates his own true family. And how he's much smarter than most people give him credit for.

Sleep Softly by Gwen Hunter

Another disappointment. I don't think this one was my headache, it just was a stinker. Predictable fluff. The story tries to jump to light speed instantly and so, from the get go, it just didn't work for me. I wanted to like this. I wanted to read a mystery/thriller/suspense novel just to mix it up a bit. I trudged through to the end, which dragged on, just because I felt obligated. Not a good reason to finish a book. I should have put it down when it didn't engage me at the beginning. Oh well. I did learn a little bit about forensic nursing and for about two milliseconds I actually considered looking into training for this job (yes, I'm a RN), but then I realized how truly depressing this career would actually be. I don't recommend, sorry Gwen.

Sound

The Wicked Soundtrack and Pink's I'm Not Dead.

Yes, once again I will mention that I am not a music snob, but this is an odd combination isn't it? They just happen to be the albums that caught my sing along attention on my Ipod when I was cleaning my house today. Giving Young One more fodder for adulthood therapy, he got to watch me half dance/ half clean around the house while singing along to the invisible music. I apologize to him from deep within my heart, but whistling while you work/ a spoonful of sugar makes the medicine go down, etc etc. really does work. I sang show tunes and rocked out to Pink AND got several loads of laundry done and all the bathrooms clean. Plus, I dusted and vacuumed. SCORE! Try not to scrub the heck out of something while listening to Pink. Oh, I love her so.

Scent

Cheater BBQ Ribs. Young One loves BBQ. Weight Watchers doesn't. I think you can have, like, one rib for a million points--seriously. So, I bought some lean pork loin, cut it into "ribs", seared them on the grill, wrapped them in foil, dumped some cheap BBQ sauce on them, and they are now tantalizingly slow cooking to perfection on my grill. I think they smell great, so they'll probably be fantabulous.

Taste

I ate a can of green beans and a Lean Cuisine for lunch. I was so uninspired and had so many things to cross off my to do list, I caved and ate some not so great food. In Points value, this really wasn't a bad meal, but there are things in those frozen meals that give me the heebie jeebies and eating canned green beans when you have 2 pounds of fresh ones in your refrigerator seems a bit ridiculous to me.

While reaching into the black hole which is my pantry to get the beans, I noticed a can of garbanzo beans. I think it's been there since we moved in, perhaps a relic left behind by the former owners. I really do need to clean that thing out. Oh and, for the record, I have nothing against garbanzo beans. You do have to be in a Hummus mood or ready to roast some---otherwise, they just look a little frightening to me. Something about their shape and the fact that they are also known as Chick Peas is unnerving to me.

Touch

I finally spent my Mother's Day gift. Initially, I was a bit miffed at being handed a wad of cash for Mother's Day. I mean, come on, how hard is it to buy a gift card for the spa or go paint a plate somewhere? I'm not going to look a gift horse in the mouth, though. And I did, finally find what I wanted to spend it on. I love art. We purchase a piece of art every time we travel and for special occasions. I'm addicted to etsy. I love to purchase directly from the artists and I can browse on that website for hours. It sparks my creative side and I get ideas from there a lot! Anyway, I found this delightful artist, who lives in neighboring Wisconsin, and purchased two paintings and a painted vase from her. I'm too lazy (overdosed on cleaning today) to take pictures and post them, but basically one is a small sunflower painting and the other is a painting of a tree and some flowers. Too simple a description to do them justice, sorry. I love them! And the vase is gorgeous. I put the dried roses from my dad's funeral in them (which, although this sounds morbid, really is quite pretty!). Please check her out, follow the link to etsy and search for marysworkshop.