I did end up going to bed super early last night - I hit the sack at 8:30 pm and slept, with minor interruptions, until 8 am, and it was fantastic. I don't know why I was so exhausted yesterday, but I'm glad I didn't try to fight it like I normally would to stay up until my usual bedtime.

My meetings next Tuesday have all been cancelled, so I've added the day to my vacation next week, so I'll be in Monday and then done until the next Monday. I also discovered I had booked 2 separate optometrist appointments, so I cancelled the one next Thursday and will go in August as usual.

My plan this weekend is to bake a blueberry crumb cake* to take to my brother's on Sunday for our birthday bbq, and then make a key lime pie for myself on Tuesday, since my birthday is Wednesday. I haven't figured out what I'll make myself for dinner, but that is always the less important part of things to me. As long as I have a good birthday dessert, the dinner can be anything.

*Note: it will be an orange blueberry crumb cake since my sister does not like lemon. We'll see how it goes!

I am also once again waiting for the cleaning service to let me know if they are coming on Monday or not. They did not come this past Monday since I said it wouldn't work for me, but then there was radio silence, so today I reached out again, but have not gotten an answer. I appreciate the work they do immensely. I just wish they were better at communicating!

*

My dental appointment went well - it was just a cleaning! - but they still want me to come every three months instead of twice a year. Sigh. Anyway, the appointment was timed so that I did not have coffee or breakfast beforehand, and didn't get home until a little after 1 pm, so I should have just had lunch. But I was so tired that sleep won out over food and I ended up taking a THREE HOUR tour nap. I did finally eat, but now I'm like, maybe I should just go back to bed? Idk.

Anyway, it's Wednesday and I have read some books!

What I've just finished
Radiant Star by Ann Leckie. This was enjoyable but very low-key, even at the climax.

Long Live Evil and All Hail Chaos by Sarah Rees Brennan. Hiilarious and very genre-savvy portal fantasy. I enjoyed both books and am hoping the third one sticks the landing. Sadly, it's not due out until next summer. Alas.

What I'm reading now
Dead Hand Rule by Max Gladstone, which is the third (and final?) book in the Craft Wars trilogy? series? Idk. I'm enjoying it but he is pulling people from all over the first series and I don't always remember who they are since it's been a while since I read those books.

What I'm reading next
As ever, it is a mystery.

*

I meant to post last night but I could barely keep my eyes open so I went to bed early (and missed a super rare Mets comeback in Atlanta!) and slept for 10 glorious hours! I felt great at work today, and got some stuff done, and made some suggestions about the September board meeting agenda that I am sure the CEO and the Chair will not like, but they wanted to get radical and also not overrun the meeting time by 45 minutes again, and I offered a good way to do it to my boss. We'll see if anyone bites.

I am off tomorrow for the dentist - it should just be a cleaning (though I am braced to hear I need yet another crown) but I am always so tired when it's over. And my team meeting on Tuesday got cancelled so I am tempted to take next Tuesday off since I'm already off Wednesday (my birthday), Thursday, and Friday of next week. My boss was like, sure! but I'm still thinking about it.

I thought I had something else to post about but I can't remember... oh right, I finally watched Project Hail Mary the other night. I enjoyed it but it was too long. And there was not enough Eva Stratt, who was the best thing in the movie.

*

Had a couple of baking fails this weekend, so I guess it's granola bars for breakfast this week! Oh well. Eventually I will bake those myself too, but for now, store-bought is fine. *g* Luckily, this hoisin garlic chicken (NYTimes gift link) turned out well. I added soy sauce in place of salt, and also a sprinkling of Chinese five-spice powder instead of red pepper flakes, and it was delicious. And I have leftovers enough for a couple more meals. I also made bacon this morning, so it'll be another week of chicken bacon ranch wraps for lunch. Uh, not the hoisin chicken, though. Perdue short cuts roasted chicken strips.

And I had the first plums of the summer this weekend and they were so good. Plums! I love them so much! Cherries have also been good, but are much more expensive. And I figured out a use for the leftover seltzer for when Friend L was here - it's a good vehicle for the electrolyte powder I otherwise don't end up using, and this weekend it came in handy.

In other news, this morning, my cleaning service texted me asking if they could come tomorrow. I responded promptly saying, no, but I was available on these other dates. They have not responded. So now I'm like, are they coming tomorrow? Do I have to be ready? Because I am not ready and that is why I said no. Ugh. So now I will scramble to get ready and they won't come. Bah.

*

I finally caught up on the last 3 episodes of this season of Abbott Elementary and ( spoilers )

Also, my internet and cable went out for several hours this afternoon, I'm guessing because of the heat? but I was able to use my phone as a hotspot, so it didn't deter me for long. *wry* I took today off because originally I was supposed to be dog-sitting at my sister's before plans changed, and I decided to keep the 4-day weekend. I'm glad I did. I like my job and I mostly like my coworkers, but I am so tired of people asking me for things. Hopefully, I can get a bit of a respite and a reset.

I hope you are all staying cool if you're in the heatwave. <3

*

Tall Ships!!! So beautiful!!!

Wednesday reading, also beautiful!

What I've just finished
Six of Crows: A Darker Shore: Letters from Ketterdam by Leigh Bardugo. I don't know why the title is longer than the short story but I loved it! It's an epistolary story, using an investigation of the mysterious captain of The Wraith (tall ships!!!) as the framework, and letters between Kaz and Inej make up many of the documents the investigators are using. Ugh, I love them so much! ( spoilers )

I really hope this isn't the only time Bardugo chooses to revisit the Dregs and Ketterdam, because I would pay full hardcover price for a full-length, getting the band back together heist novel.

What I'm reading now
Radiant Star by Ann Leckie. I'm enjoying it but I only have a very vague recollection of what happened in the main trilogy, so some of it is probably going over my head. And I also realized I haven't read Translation State so hopefully that is not to relevant to this one. I do enjoy how Leckie plays with POV though.

What I'm reading next
As always, who can say?

*

June recs update:

unfitforsociety has been updated for June 2026 with 10 recs in 3 fandoms:

* 8 Heated Rivalry
* 1 Dungeon Crawler Carl and 1 The Locked Tomb

✭

Dungeon Crawler Carl

Seven Ways to Style a Warlord's Hair by railou
Carl has long, beautiful, and very braidable hair. Everyone else seems to like it a lot more than he does. 6 times one of Carl's friends braids his hair and one time the System AI does. Oh Carl.

✭

The Locked Tomb

just like normal by paene
Ianthe gives herself a cock, and Corona is increasingly bewildered that she hasn't been allowed to sit on it yet. Super hot Tridentariicest.

✭

Heated Rivalry

Coordinated Attack by 409_conflict
The third year of ESPN's #2019NHLSexiestPlayer poll gets derailed … and the internet finds out something new about Shane Hollander. Hee! This is super cute.

Domesticated: Ilya Rozanov retired partyboy by Riekawrites
Yuna Hollander's phone gets hacked, and her messages get leaked.

Everybody runs to read her messages with Shane, who she has lovingly saved as Favourite Son. Yuna and Ilya gossiping together is *chef's kiss*

#DontYouDareFuckingFreeMe by Airuna
"We do not say anything about the Hollander situation," LeClaire tells them even though it sounds like he's already resigned to what he knows is going to happen.

After all, Roz gets extremely mad whenever it's brought up. Not that Cliff can blame him, he's pretty sure that Roz liked Hollander before this (wouldn't chirp him half as much if he didn't). Finding out that he's such a bastard must sting.

Not to mention that Roz does not mess around with people that disrespect girls. Or women. Or kids. Or dogs. Or the elderly (excluding Scott Hunter). Or really anyone, if it's for petty stupid reasons.

"Of course," Cliff agrees for both of them since Roz is still too busy texting someone.

It's apparently not good enough for LeClaire because he asks, "Roz?"

"Just one second," he answers without raising his eyes from his phone or stopping his typing. "Need to get my Jane to agree with something. She's very stubborn." This is a lot of fun!

He's With Us by 74days
Shane wasn't really a... 'good' gay. He knew it.
He was, however, an exceptional lesbian. Aw Shane... <3

A Seat at Our Table by Davanzo
At a quiet hotel bar in Boston, Yuna Hollander unexpectedly runs into Ilya Rozanov while watching Shane's Montreal game. Their initially awkward conversation softens into something surprisingly easy, especially as Yuna notices the unmistakable tenderness in the way Ilya watches Shane play. So soft and lovely!

side effects may vary by ghosttotheparty
Yuna's entire body aches, and it would appear that her instincts were right— Rozanov is small, and he's vulnerable, and he's tired, and he needed somewhere safe to rest.

And Yuna can't help the weird sense that she's honoured— her home was somewhere for Rozanov to go, even if she and David knew nothing about any of it, even if they still don't, Shane knew it would be safe for Rozanov here. Shane told him to come home. Shane and Ilya come out to the Hollanders in a slightly different way. Soft and melancholy. <3

that great big hill of hope by defcontwo
Sveta is such a good friend! <333

who are you trying to trick? by iamthececimonster
Cliff may not be the smartest man in any given room, but he knows Ilya Rozanov pretty well. Which means, unfortunately, listening to sad lesbian music and pretending everything is definitely fine. This is super cute. Cliff is such a good friend!

✭

So I did finish season 5 of The Bear last night - instead of the episodes being shambolic and overly long, they were mostly a tight 22 minutes (there were 3 I think that were longer, out of 8) and ( spoilers )

*

In other news, my sister and brother-in-law took Baby Miss L and her parents to Disney World this week, and I've already gotten adorable photos of them with Winnie the Pooh! Hopefully there will be many more where that came from. *g*

Also, I forgot it was a short work week and made myself a big tray of chicken cutlet parm for lunch/dinner. Oh well, it will still be delicious.

*

allbingo provides a space for creative people to share their work, using bingo cards for inspiration.

crowdfunding is a community for creators, patrons, and fans of cyberfunded creativity.

Further details below ...

( Read more... )

I slept in this morning, but I am still so tired. Luckily it's a short work week and I have a 4-day weekend next week for the 4th.

I got a late start, but I did make blueberry corn muffins and they turned out well, but I think maybe I just prefer to have blueberry or corn muffins? Idk, but I still have corn meal so maybe I'll just make corn muffins next weekend.

I also have cherries which I am excited to eat - there is so much fresh fruit now and all of it was on sale this week, so I had to choose, because I can't eat all of it before it goes bad. And last night, I set up the first coffee granita of the season, and had some earlier and it was so good.

Now I've started watching season 5 of The Bear and will probably try to finish it this weekend so I don't get too spoiled. I also watched that one-off episode Gary but did not enjoy it much. Bernthal and Moss-Bachrach have great chemistry, but ( spoilers ) It had some good needle-drops, though. Anyway, hopefully they stick the landing. I'll guess we'll see!

After that, I have so many other things to watch, so I will probably just end up rewatching something I'm already familiar with so I don't have to make a choice. *wry*

*