Monthly Wrap-up: April 2017

Well the month of April was quite a whirlwind for me. I admit that the first couple of weeks just dragged on as my due date got closer, The further along in my pregnancy I got, the more uncomfortable and anxious I became, Then there was the added stress of having to move again. I am so thankful for my family and friends who stepped up once again to help us. I don't know how we would have gotten it all done without them.

We welcomed our baby boy Charles to the world on April 19. Labour and delivery went smoothly and I had a great team of nurses and doctors around me, as well as my husband and mom.

I am so in love with my sweet little boy. It still feels so surreal that he is finally here and that we are parents. Charles is only less than 2 weeks old now, but he has already brought so much joy to our lives,

Here is my reading progress for the month:

Only one book completed in April. I was a bit preoccupied, hehe.

🌟🌟🌟.5 A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman 
Rating: 3.5/5
This book follows a curmudgeon middle-aged widower and a colourful cast of neighbors who keep foiling his plans to commit suicide, It was a humerous story despite the description and I would recommend it to those who enjoy contemporary fiction.

The Stats 

Total Number of Books Read: 1
Total Number of Fiction: 1
Total Number of Non-fiction: 0
Total Books Sent for Review: 0
Total Books Read From My Shelves: 1
Total Library Books Read: 0

Formats Read:

Physical Books: 0
eBooks: 1
Audio Books: 0

Genres Read:

Contemporary: 1

Total Books Read in 2017: 8 

Once again I don't have a set TBR for May, but I hope I can sneak in some reading in between feedings and diaper changes. 

Wishing you all a wonderful may. 

Hosted by: Book Date 

He's here!

Hello everyone!

I would like to take a moment to introduce you to our new addition..

Meet Baby Charles. He was born on April 19, 2017 and weighed 6lbs. 2 oz. My family and I are just over the moon in love with this little guy. He is doing great and keeping us very busy.

As I mentioned in a previous post my blogging and reading may be quite slow as I adjust to mommy-hood, but I will update as I can.

Happy reading to you all,
-Melissa

Sunday Wrap-up: October 16, 2016 (An explanation and announcement!)

               Offline Ramblings:
Hello everyone,

Long time no chat, I know. I owe you all a big explanation for my absence so here it is..

I've been having quite a rough time health wise these past couple of months. As a result of this my reading progress has pretty much grounded to a halt. I have several books lined up that I have made commitments to read and review for authors and blog tours, but I haven't been able to concentrate long enough to read a couple of pages. I've tried to force myself to read, but that just feels like cheating to me. How can I give an honest review of a book I'm just skimming through?

I really began to feel stressed out. Finally I just had to put my books aside and focus on my health and getting as much rest as possible. I still have those books in line to read and I will read them, but it will just take me a lot longer than I normally takes me.

As you have probably noticed (if you follow my posts regularly) that I didn't post a wrap-up for September month. That was because I didn't complete any books last month at all. I've been pretty disappointed about this, but it is what it is.

However there is one book that I have been reading parts of and that is..

Because.. SURPRISE! I'm expecting!

That's right. All those health problems I've been having are due in part to the little one I have on the way. But the 24 hour nausea, massive headaches and crazy cravings pale in comparison to the joy of becoming a mother. I am due in April and we are over the moon-happy to be beginning this new chapter of our life.

Thankfully I have a better handle on the side effects and I'm starting to feel more normal, now that I am nearing my second trimester. I have even started reading a little bit again.

So what does this mean for my blog?

Well I have definitely slowed down a lot. I am not accepting anymore review requests at this time, because I am just so swamped with books that need to be read. Instead I will be concentrating on completing the ones I have.

My goal is to do at least one blog post a week, which isn't much, I know. I just think that is a reasonable number at this time as I need to be very careful to keep my stress levels down due to the high risk of my pregnancy. So I'm just going to relax and enjoy reading when I feel well enough to do so.

                Currently Reading

I am finally starting to make progress again with The Whiskey Sea. Unfortunately I missed out on the TLC book tour, but I am determined to finish it soon.

And that's all for today. Hope you all are having a wonderful October month.


                       Links

Hosted by: Book Date

Hosted by: Caffeinated Book Reviewer 

Sunday Wrap-up: March 27 2016 Pt 1: Southern Ontario Ice Storm

I would like to wish everyone a very Happy Easter. I hope that you all are having a wonderful weekend.

This is part 1 of my Sunday Wrap-up where I will talk about the recent ice storm that hit my area. In part 2 I will update my reading progress. 

If you read my wrap-up for March 13-20 you may remember me mentioning that I was longing to go away for a night. Well it happened friday. Only it wasn't exactly the get-away I had hoped for..

This past week we kept hearing of a winter storm that was heading our way. A lot of people didn't think it would hit us very hard (if at all) and others had even taken their snow tires off with the start of "spring". Well it hit us. Very hard. Thursday evening it started to snow.. then it turned into freezing rain. It wasn't long before the power outages began all over southern Ontario.

So that night we had cold cereal for dinner and just read our books by lantern light.

I am so thankful for our LED battery operated lanterns! You can adjust the brightness, they are safe and lightweight. We've even brought these camping with us. We used some candles too, but for the most part these gave us the light we needed.

Friday morning we woke up still without power and the bad weather continued. By this time everything was a sheet of ice. The trees were so coated with ice that they began to snap, bringing down large trunks and branches onto power lines, which created fires and even more dangerous conditions. 

Here is a video I found on Youtube that shows all the ice on the trees:

It looks kind of pretty, but scary at the same time. All we could hear throughout the night was the snapping of branches from the trees all around us. By morning it was starting to get pretty cold inside due to the lack of heat and because our stove/oven is electric as well we couldn't even cook anything.

Image from The Weather Network (Susan Casey)

So we packed up and headed to my parents house where we were very thankful for a woodstove and a gas range. It wasn't until late friday night that power was restored to the area where my parents live. Unfortunately it took a lot longer for other areas to get theirs back. Some may be in the cold and dark until monday!

Here is another video which was posted on the Weather Network that shows some damage and the electrical explosions that were seen throughout the night:

http://www.theweathernetwork.com/videos/Gallery/caught-on-camera-stormchaser-experiences-an-electrical-explosion/sharevideo/4818413881001


While we were very fortunate to have a warm meal and a cozy fire, there were many others in my area and all over the region who were not so lucky. A lot of damage has been done as a result of this storm. I would like to take a moment to think of the first responders: the firefighters, paramedics and the OPP, as well as all the hydro crews. Many of which have been working non-stop to make sure that residents are safe.

So like I said it wasn't exactly the get-away I hoped for, but we made the most of the situation. Sometimes it is nice to be unplugged. We both got a lot of reading done, played some Jenga and just enjoyed some quality time together in front of a warm fire.

Stay tuned for part 2 of my sunday wrap-up.

Personal Update and It's Monday What Are You Reading?

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is a place to meet up and share what you have been, are and about to be reading over the week. It is hosted by Kathryn at Book Date. 

 As I look back over the past couple of week's blog posts. they seem just as disconnected as I feel. So I just wanted to take a moment to address that and share what has been going on in my life lately.

Back on the 12th of this month, the Ho Ho Ho Read-a-thon kicked off. I was looking forward to participating in this one because I thought it would help get me into the Christmas spirit. Little did I know that things were about to become a lot more stressful.

That Friday I had a doctors appointment to get my pacemaker checked and ended up coming home with date booked for surgery. After almost 5 1/2 years I need to get a new device implanted. Now, I'd like to clarify that this isn't open heart surgery (thank god!), but because I have been dealing with a lot of trauma from past heart related experiences and this has really set me off. Its brought back so many bad memories. 

Then the next day, my Dad had a health scare and we spent much of the following week at the hospital with me. Thankfully he is doing much better now though and is on the mend. But it has all been a lot to handle. 

My reading has definitely fallen by the wayside. To tell you the truth, I am having a very hard time concentrating on anything at the moment. So that is why I have been feeling so disconnected lately. 

The days leading up to my surgery are getting shorter and shorter ( a week tomorrow to be exact) and to add insult to injury that just so happens to be my anniversary with my Hunny. Not exactly an ideal way to spend our special day, but that's life right?

Christmas is coming so quickly and for the first time (that I can remember), I'm just not into it at all. I can't even be bothered to decorate. Bah Humbug indeed!

Anyway, that's my update.. Let's talk about books:

I am currently somewhat reading:

Which is actually a really good book and I am enjoying it despite not being in much of a reading mood. It is an adventure story set in beautiful small town Alaska. This is the first book in the Alaskan Courage series. 

This is a Netgalley and the third book in the Kurland St. Mary Mystery series. I read the second book and quite enjoyed it. So I was really looking forward to this installment. Unfortunately I am having a very hard time getting into it. I hope this is just due in part to my mood and not the story. I am going to keep plugging away at it though and hopefully I will begin to enjoy it more.

Thats all for today. Stay tuned for my monthly wrap up coming soon.

Hope you all have a great week and happy reading to you/