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Infinite Country by Patricia Engel | Thoughts

   Published : 2021   ||    Format : print   ||    Location : Colombia ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆   What was it about the country that kept everyone hostage to its fantasy? The previous month, on its own soil, an American man went to his job at a plant and gunned down fourteen coworkers, and last spring alone there were four different school shootings. A nation at war with itself, yet people still spoke of it as some kind of paradise.. Thoughts : Infinite Country follows two characters - young Talia, who at the beginning of this book, escapes a girl’s reform school in North Colombia so that she can make her previously booked flight to the US. Before she can do that, she needs to travel many miles to reach her father and get her ticket to the rest of her family. As we follow Talia’s treacherous journey south, we learn about how she ended up in the reform school in the first place and why half her family resides in the US. Infinite Country tells the...

The Sunday Salon: Thinking about the nursery

The Sunday 
Salon.com

Good morning, fellow readers! Happy Sunday! I've had a really low-key weekend filled with a lot of decluttering and reorganizing - yes, I'm still working on these. I have been trying to get rid of stuff that I no longer need, reduce clutter, and make space for our little one's things. When we bought this house, we were already thinking ahead and trying to plan around one day having a family. But now, after two years here, we have managed to establish non-baby related habits and conventions for every space. It's really hard breaking into them, mostly because those conventions are still very necessary.

Still decluttering...

I'm still working on the office room, which is our stockpile of all things unwanted, packaged away in neat boxes and drawers. I can be very ruthless when I'm in a decluttering mood. When I'm not, however, I just keep collecting and postpone decision making to another time. (Is there such a thing as bipolar declutterer?) Yesterday, I opened one box of paperwork that had some of my bank stuff, some legal papers, our medical records, and Rue's vaccination records. I'm feeling very proud to say that more than half of those papers have been shredded/recycled. It's amazing how my brain can make different justifications for the same thing at different times.

Anyways, I still have three more such boxes before I can be done with this room. Because the dog has been murdering playing with her squeaky toys in this room, the floor looks like a rampage just happened - there is a lot of sponge and toy-skin lying around. Grrr, dogs!! The ways they manage to establish dominance - the humans always end up running behind them to clean up. (Mind you, I love my dog, all these complaints are my usual ways of expressing it.)

...and then the fun starts

(I don't know if I have ever mentioned this, but I love decluttering and reorganizing. I am just not artistic or inspired enough to always think of the best way to do something, even with Pinterest.) Once I'm done with all the cleanups, it's time to start thinking baby decorations! We will not be having a separate nursery, at least for now. We need all the bedrooms we have, at least until the end of the year. By then, our girl should be around 6 months, so that's when we will start thinking about a separate room. We have also decided not to paint - no time to do this, what with all the trips the husband has had to take (and more coming), so it's extra challenging to decide what goes well with beige walls. (If you have any ideas, please pass them along!) I am a big fan of violet-gray colors though I don't yet have a theme in mind - maybe a zoo theme or starry night theme. Still working on that - I am hoping something just starts clicking once we start doing it.

Tonight...

Picture credit

It's Game of Thrones night! No one to watch it with though, since the husband won't return until next week. This has been a crazy long wait for this show and I cannot wait to watch the season premiere. Every time, I watch the show, I end up having a renewed desire to read the books. But seeing that this season is going into unpublished territory, especially with George R. R. Martin not finishing his book (Seriously dude, just write that book!), I've decided to wait until Martin has published or is close to publishing his 7th book before diving into the books. By then, I will hopefully forget how long-drawn and wordy his first book is (yawn).

Also, last night, I started reading The Magicians by Lev Grossman - a book that I have been thinking of reading for a while, but never quite wanted to because some of the issues that others had with it would likely bugger me as well. I can totally see those issues already (a whiny annoying protagonist, too much setup, a protagonist who isn't surprised or shocked by the sudden appearance of magic in his life, even if he has been dreaming about that fantasy for a while). But I'm planning to stay on with it - I generally love reading literary fiction about magic  (Harry Potter, The Night Circus, Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell - the latter I never really got to finish but plan to soon) so hopefully, this one will turn out to be more good than annoying).

And finally...

Congratulations to my brother-in-law, G, and his lovely now-wife, S, on their wedding, which just got over a few hours ago. I miss not being there and was super-jealous whenever I called home to see how much fun you all have been having. May you guys have a great married life ahead!

Comments

Decluttering can be therapeutic, can't it? Of course, now I'm looking at bookcase that is cluttered and thinking I really don't want to get into it. But maybe next weekend? :) Dogs? Yeah, we have a cat and can't have too many things down low or he knocks them off. Oh, connection to why bookcase is cluttered? Yep. We blame the cat. ;)
bermudaonion(Kathy) said…
I love to get rid of things - especially the stuff Carl likes to collect. lol I'm not that creative either, but, when it comes to a nursery, the baby doesn't care at all.
JoAnn @ Lakeside Musing said…
How exciting to be thinking about the nursery. Decluttering always makes me feel better... and what a sense of accomplishment! Will look forward to hearing more about The Magicians.
Many congrats to your brother-in-law on his wedding!


Re: The Magicians -- if it helps at all, the problems I had with the first book mostly evaporated by the second. It improved so much on the issues I had with the first one that I wanted to write the author a letter to thank him (but I thought that would be ultimately more insulting to his first book than flattering to his second).
Ti Reed said…
I love decluttering too! Don't worry, it will all come together.
Belle Wong said…
I love decluttering and organizing things too! Which is kind of strange because I'm also not the tidiest person around (actually, I'm kind of near the bottom of the list when it comes to being tidy). But there's something about setting aside time to declutter and get things organized that feels really really creative to me. Plus I do love it when everything is in its place (I'm just not that great about being the one to get that kind of thing happening).
Kay said…
I am the decluttering queen - really. But I'm also ruthless and many family members stay away from me in that regard. I just always think - it's just stuff - let it go. And, Kathy's right, your baby won't care, although the violet gray you mentioned sounds very pretty. I love purple.
Decluttering is fun once you get really into it. I have also been doing a ton of spring cleaning, and it's been quite therapeutic. And yes yes yes to Game of Thrones!! What did you think? I can't wait for Arya's arc this season for sure, and the introduction of the Sand sisters.
Delia (Postcards from Asia) said…
I should start decluttering as well but...I like the end result rather than the process itself.
Beige is a great color - I can think of a few other colors that could go with it: orange, green, yellow, maybe purple? How about gray&pink? Good luck with the project, I'd love to see the outcome.

I know what you mean about GOT. I'm excited about it too. I had no idea G.R. Martin didn't finish the book. Must be hard, with so many people having high expectations.
If you want to read more fantasy, there's a read-along for Little, Big by John Crowley starting in May: http://dolcebellezza.net/2015/04/04/a-little-big-read-along-care-to-join-in/

Congratulations to your brother-in-law and his wife!
Vasilly said…
Have you thought of a bookish theme for the baby's nursery? :-) Our walls are white, so I recommend having colorful furniture. I'm currently in love with the color orange. My poor baby. . . :-) Let us know what you end up picking.
literaryfeline said…
We still haven't painted. My daughter's room is the same color it was when we moved in. She spends so little time in there though as it is and really hasn't taken an interest in decorations in there--good for me who is completely and utterly devoid of creative design ideas when it comes to stuff like that! You will most likely do much better than I have! LOL

The Magicians is a book I have wanted to read for awhile now--but haven't for the reasons you name. Oh well. Someday. :-)

I hope you have a great week, Athira!
Athira / Aths said…
Yeah, dogs and cats are pretty much to blame for the mess in our house - I don't see why they are not. :-) I do struggle with getting started on decluttering or organizing something, but once I start, I cannot stop - I have to finish it. Unfortunately, when I don't have motivation to start, I never get to do it anyways.
Athira / Aths said…
I keep reminding myself that the baby doesn't give a hoot about all the nursery decorations and that does make me feel better. All these things I want to do are really for me.
Athira / Aths said…
Decluttering certainly makes me feel better. Suddenly everything looks lighter and airier!
Athira / Aths said…
I am so glad to hear that the second book improves a LOT on the first. The series is pretty interesting though, right now, I still don't know where it is going. But it should be going somewhere if he wrote three books in this series.
Athira / Aths said…
I keep telling myself that too. I just hope I finish it all before I get too tired.
Athira / Aths said…
I am just like you. My home is not the neatest place in the world. Soon after one declutter, stuff slowly starts piling up again and then I stop caring for where they are piling up. But it still feels so good to declutter - definitely therapeutic!
Athira / Aths said…
I'm a big fan of purple too - it looks so regal!
Athira / Aths said…
I loved the GoT premiere - it was a perfect way to return to TV. I can't wait too for Arya's arc - that is making me super nervous!
Athira / Aths said…
Thanks for all those color options! I am not great with colors so I really like getting ideas or suggestions from other people! Gray and pink is gorgeous - if we were planning to paint, I would have gone with gray/pink or gray/purple.


I will have to look into that readalong. I hadn't heard of that book before but it looks interesting!
Athira / Aths said…
I seriously want to do a Harry Potter theme for the nursery! I have already bookmarked several pins/etsy items that are Harry Potter related. I wonder if it's too selfish to do that theme because I feel like I am drowning my kid in Harry Potter but on the other hand, this kid doesn't care whether it's Superman or Batman or Harry Potter in her room. Only I probably care, so I may just go ahead and do that. :-)
Athira / Aths said…
That makes me feel better! Every person I meet talks about painting the nursery and that bums me out a little because I want to paint but really don't have the time or the plan to do that now. Peer pressure, I tell ya!
Lisa Sheppard said…
Baby won't care if she doesn't have a room of her own for years so you can take your time (although by the time she can get out of the crib, you'll definitely not want her in a room where she can get into things). Beige, eh? What about picking up the browns with pink accents?
Athira / Aths said…
I was kind of thinking along the lines of some kind of pink but eventually I wanted to try coral and aqua. In my head, the colors are matching well so I'm curious to see how that will work out.
Lisa Sheppard said…
Those would be great colors for her to grow up with, too.