Sunday Chat: Last week was a disappointing week in many ways.

/ Lisa R. Howeler

It’s time for our Sunday morning chat. On Sundays, I ramble about what’s been going on, what the rest of the family and I have been reading and watching, and what I’ve been writing. Some weeks I share what I am listening to.

Last week was a disappointing week in many ways.

I am not going to go into a ton of details on my blog but we had a bad experience with a staff member of our local library and have decided that we can no longer attend the place I fell in love with reading.

It was heartbreaking and hurtful and a bit shocking, so I spent the second half of the week and this weekend in a deep depression over it all. I’m still very, very down today. It was so surreal and it’s still hard to wrap my mind around how my daughter and I were treated. This is one of those times I did not read into what happened or misunderstood. Not at all.

My daughter was also very hurt, and it breaks my heart she will not have the same experience I did with this little town library that I did when I was growing up.

Maybe this week things will be better. We are looking for a new library to patronize and new places to participate in activities.

It will be colder than last week it looks like, and that isn’t going to be fun but we will take it one day at a time.

I am so down this weekend I barely had the mental energy to write this post today at first.

I will say that we had a crafternoon link up on Zoom yesterday and that did lift my spirits. There were three of us and we had fun discussing crafts, books, libraries, and all things in between. Erin from Still Life, With Cracker Crumbs and I hope to hold our crafternoons once or twice a month and will be changing them to “drop-in crafternoons” so even if a person wants to drop in for a half hour to chat and do some crafts they can. Email me at a lisahoweler@gmail.com or Erin at crackercrumblife@gmail.com if you want to get on our list for the Zoom link!

These chats and opportunities to just relax and craft have been so nice and needed. I know that sometimes I don’t take the time to do things that relax me and take my mind off of the stresses of life. The virtual meetups are a way I “force” myself to slow down and take some time for me. I am so grateful to Erin for having this idea. It’s been such a boost to my mental health.

Last week I finished The Case of the Clueless Kitten by Erle Stanley Gardner. It is not about kittens (not really) and it is a Perry Mason mystery.

I really enjoyed it and plan to share a review of it. I love Gardner’s writing.

This week I am reading:

Chocolate Chip Cookie Murders by Joanne Fluke (am I the only one who has never heard of putting egg shells in coffee grounds before brewing them!?)

Whose Body by Dorothy Sayers (not sure why I abandoned this before. I must have been tired and not tracking. I am enjoying it so far.0

And before bed some nights I am reading All Things Wise and Wonderful by James Herriot. This one seems to be a retelling of some stories mixed in with stories of his time in the RAF.

My “long” read (or the read I am taking my time on) is The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien and I am really enjoying it.

Little Miss and I finished Miracle on Maple Hill, which we listened to on Hoopla.

We will be starting  The Littlest Voyageur by Margi Preus  tomorrow for school and for fun.

The Husband is reading When One Man Dies by Dave White.   

The Husband and I are making our way through Castle.

I started A Touch of Mink. I didn’t finish it yet but not really sure what I think of it…Not my favorite Cary Grant, even though it is somewhat funny.

I also watched Just A Few Acres Farm on YouTube to try to relax from the stressful week.

Next week I will be getting ready for Springtime in Paris, the next movie event with Erin.

We will be watching movies that take place in Paris. Erin and I watch the movie one week and then share our thoughts about the movie on a Thursday on our blog. So the dates listed on the graphic are the dates we will share our thoughts on our blogs.

Then we offer a link for other bloggers to share their thoughts on the same movie. You do not have to watch the movies at the same time as us or even put your link up for a particular movie on the week we watch it. Just drop a link whenever you watch whichever movie. And you absolutely do not have to watch every movie to participate.

Here is our schedule:

Last week on the blog I shared:

I am listening to the podcast True Drew Podcast about all things Nancy Drew and will be listening to Sabotage at Cedar Creek by Janice Thompson on Hoopla later this week.

Now it’s Your Turn!

What have you been doing, watching, reading, listening to or writing? Let me know in the comments or leave a blog post link if you also write a weekly update like this.

This post is linked up with The Sunday Post at  Kimba at Caffeinated Reviewer, The Sunday Salon with Deb at Readerbuzz, and Book Date: It’s Monday! What are you reading hosted by Kathyrn at The Book Date.

In addition to my blog, I write fiction, and you can learn more about my books here: https://lisahoweler.com/my-books-2/

I also have a Substack where I share about my writing journey or books.

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18 thoughts on “Sunday Chat: Last week was a disappointing week in many ways.”

  1. I’m so sorry about your experience at the library and I’m glad at least the library director apologised so you know for sure it was all on that crappy person (I can turn anything round to being my fault!). I wouldn’t feel able to go back either. But that person will be mean too many times and leave / get got rid of and hopefully someone will let you know.

    I was really sad to miss the Crafternoon – I had my running club’s AGM and we had to have a quorum of members attending for the voting. We did, but only just. I’ll hopefully be at the next one!

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  3. I’m so sorry you had such a bad experience at the library. I hope you find another library that you both love. Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder was my gateway into cozies. 🙂 I love the idea of crafternoons. I hope your week is wonderful! 🙂

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    • I am enjoying Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder so far. The library director apologized but the icky feeling from the staff member is still there so we are going to look for a different library for a bit.

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  4. I hope you are going to find the perfect library for you. A library should always be a bit of a safe haven.
    Take your time to process it in a way that you can start to let it go, but I know you are probably as good (not) at that as I am. I still hope you’ll be able to.
    I hear you about “A Touch of Mink”. It has never been one of my favorites although there really are some funny scences. Maybe it just wasn’t the right cast for that story?

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  6. I hate that you had such a crummy experience at the library. We love ours so much – I hope that the next library you go to will be the experience you should be having!

    I am so excited for our Springtime in Paris event! I can’t believe we are so close already! When we were planning we were like we have a few weeks still.. and now it is almost here!

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  9. Sounds like an awfully upsetting experience at the library. Knock the dust off your feet and move on to another library – well I hope you find one. It is a nuisance to have to go looking. I was once scolded by a local librarian head and didn’t appreciate it! I stopped taking my class there for a very long time. Like you too once I somehow got out of line in a supermarket line and the woman behind the counter yelled at me in front of everyone. I was totally lost in my head – my mother had just died. I never went back there!! So I feel for you. Take care and may this week be better.

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  10. At the library where I grew up, I was always so afraid of the librarians. You were never ever greeted with a smile. And, quiet was definitely enforced. The new library (before we moved) was a bit of an improvement, but it was all new and shiny and metallic. I loved our little old wooden staircase gorgeous library even if it was manned by Gorgons. I’m so sorry you had the experience, but even worse that Little Miss experienced it, too. People have forgotten how to be kind and understanding.

    I was so sorry to miss the crafternoon and hope I can join in on the next ones. My retreat went well, but I was exhausted the rest of the day and weekend. I guess I was a little more stressed than I thought.

    I remember reading that James Herriott book and loved it. I actually loved each of his books. They just seemed so gentle and loving. I am currently reading We Solve Murders with some feisty older women. I love that! I am finishing up the last (I think) Project Runway season. I’ll have to see if I can find newer or older ones. I just like that I can watch it but not pay close attention to it.

    I hope this next week is much better for all of you.

    https://marshainthemiddle.com/

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    • We have a few other small ones in our area but it’s sad the local one made us feel that way. I wanted to detail the whole exchange here to make it clear this was not something that I overreacted about but I also don’t want to totally trash the staff…It was so bewildering that I don’t know how to feel. I’m angry..yeah…but I’m more just floored by it.

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  12. it really is so sad when a bitter person gains a little power and thinks they can exert that power over everyone. I saw it in the small Wisconsin town we lived in. I sure hope this week is better with some new library possibilities! I’m still loving my re-found Gladys Taber book. It’s set up by the seasons and the months, so it’s fun to just pick it up now and then

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  14. I am sad that you feel like you cannot return to your library. I wish the issues could be resolved.

    I was disappointed that I could not join in with the crafternoon yesterday. Something came up, sadly. I am planning to start a crocheting project and maybe I can join in next time.

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    • No worries about Crafternoon. it’s just not possible to juggle all there is to do these days!

      I don’t think the issue can be resolved sadly. The way we were spoke to was shocking and humiliating. All we did was try to attend an event we were told we were signed up for. We were essentially accused of ignoring a wait list…which I had no idea existed! And scolded in front of an entire roomful of people. Little Miss was crying and doesn’t feel comfortable ever going back there again. I don’t either.

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