Frozen Lake Trail out of Sunrise, Mount Rainier National Park.
June is Great Outdoors Month. I love this month because… well… um… I love June because Mom loves June. And I love everything Mom loves. (Except broccoli. Gag me with roughage!)
Hurray for Great Outdoors Month!
Back to June. Check it out: Hiking! Frisbee tossing! Swimming! Canoeing! Frisbee chasing! Kayaking! Fishing! Frisbee-ing! Picnicking! Biking! Frisbees! The beach, the mountains, the desert, the plains!
Did I mention Frisbees?
First off, this is NOT a bookish post. This is a KIMBER-ish post. So if you’re okay with that, keep reading. If not, you know what to do. As long as it doesn’t involve chocolate. Lemme explain. Like this:
The Great Almond Bark Disaster occurred one month to the day after a family member’s trip to the E.R. with anaphylaxic shock. (Hi, Lisinopril. Incidentally, 15 hours in the E.R. is a really lousy way to spend the night/next day. In case you’re wondering.)
The little stinker (the furry one) is back to her usual “I love everyone, ain’t life grand?” effervescent self today. Bein’ All Magnificent and everythin’.
Her Crankiness is still recovering.
‘Meanwhile, back at the ranch,’ one of us is So Not Interested in racking up any more emergency frequent flyer miles. Mom’s just funny that way. 🤦♀️
Reminder: NEVER give your dog chocolate. It can be deadly. Kimber was lucky. The jury’s still out on Her Crankiness.
Now if we can just get Kimber the Intrepid to the U.N. She’d have world peace figured out in no time. As long as it doesn’t involve almond bark.
What?
We will return to our regularly scheduled broadcast next time.
I know you’re all ginormously disappointed that a little furry face we all know and love isn’t kicking off today’s post. Sorry ’bout that. (Naw. Not really.) But there’s a reason I’m leading off today:
This post is about a wonderful little book I recently came across via Net Galley. It’s called Ava Loves Rescuing Animals.
Talk about a girl after my own heart!
Did you know that Kimber’s a rescue dog? Yeppers. She came to us in 2016 via a mutual friend who works at the local rescue shelter. Kimmi was ten weeks old going on 92, if ya know what I mean. She’s been an Absolute Delight ever since! (Don’t tell Kimber I said that, okay? I’ll never hear the end of it!)
So I wanted to share this delightful book with you, with a sweet furry face in mind. Here goes:
I’m a tag expert. Get the ball? I’m on it! Fetch the stick! It’s mine! Grab the Frisbee? Oh yeah! So Mom says we’re getting the tail wagging for 2023 with a January Book Tag.
“Someone say ‘Fetch’?,”
Ready to play? It’s goal-setting and challenges for the year. Aw, come on! It’ll be fun! Let’s jump on it! Ready? Set? Let’s go:
Kimber here. I’m taking over for Mom today. Cuz she’s buried in a new book. Again.
But there was this New Year thingy the other day. It’s a human thing. Big booms. Silly hats. A nice ham dinner. Bacon. Leftovers…
Wait. Where was I?
Oh yeah. New Year’s.
It seems there’s this Reading Challenge thing around New Year’s. It makes the rounds of the reading world every January. “That’s now,” says Mom. (She’s a genius. Like me.)
Anyway, I’m supposed to ask if you are or will participate in this year’s Reading Challenge? Like, how many books do you plan to read this year?
Hello Friends!
Kimber the Magnificent here to tell you something you probably already know (if you don’t, you should):
MOM IS SERIOUSLY PAWSOME!!
She not only cooks a mean T-bone steak that’s all luscious, delicious and flavorful, mouth-watering and juicy and…
Wait. Where was I?
Oh yeah. Mom. Seriously PAWsome. As in, Bibliophile Extraordinaire and World Class Reader. Like this:
You read that right: Mom and I read 403 books in 2022. (Well, it was mostly me. But Mom chipped in. A little.)
It’s a New Personal Reading Record for most books in one year. And nope, we didn’t review every book. Cuz that’s just silly.
I’d let Mom tell ya more. ‘Cept she’s snoozing. For obvious reasons. I ‘spect she’ll wake up around spring. Or maybe later.
You gonna eat that? Askin’ for a friend.
What are your eating… I mean, reading goals for 2023?
You’ve heard of the Academy Awards. The Emmys, Tonys, and Golden Globes. But you may not have heard of The Biggest Bow Wow of them all:
What? You haven’t heard of this prestigious honor? Maybe that’s cuz I, Kimber, just made it up.
Well, okay. Mom helped. A little. She lobbied for “World’s Most Super Duper, Seriously Splendid, Extra Excellent, Terrifically Talented, Genuine Genius-y, and All-Around Awesome Author Awards.”
I nixed that. After all. Someone has to be the adult in the room. (Well, okay again. It was mostly me. But Mom helped a bit.)
Where was I? Oh yeah. The Kimber Awards. … Continue reading
Pssst! Kimber here. Being all magnificent and everything. Telling you that today, one of my favorite people turns 100 years old! What? Well, okay. Maybe not One. Hundred. Maybe just “older than dirt.”
Anyway, I thought I’d mark this auspicious occasion by sharing a post by Her Momness from 2014. You know. About 100 years ago. Wait. Where was I? Oh yeah. The post is called “Like Coming Home.” It’s about growing up as a voracious reader and book lover.
You don’t want to miss this. Cuz it’s really, really good. (Maybe not as a good as a nice, thick T-bone steak. Nobody’s perfect.)
Anyway, it goes like this:
So there I was. Snoozing in the sunshine. Minding my own business. (It’s tough being Beautiful and Brilliant. But someone’s gotta do it.) Then She Who Must be Obeyed (sort of) skips in with, “Hey Kimmi! I’ve got a great idea!”
Another one?! Insert eye roll here.
“You know those last four books we read?” asks Her Momness, all bright-eyed and chipper. “Two were great. Two were like, Gag me with arugula.”
Yeah. I remember. I was there. (For the reading part. Not the arugula-gagging part.)
Continues Mom: “Instead of doing separate posts on each book, how ’bout we roll ’em all into one post? We can call it 4 Fines & Flubs for Fall! Whaddya think?”
Don’t say I didn’t warn you, okay? I hate arugula.
Do you do Summer Reading Programs? Mom used to. She’s been kinda straddlin’ the fence on SRPs since about 2018. Why? Cuz she set a personal record for books read that summer: 156 books. From June 1 to August 31. No. really. Click here for more.
She hasn’t jumped into an SRP full-bore since. “Cuz Kimmi, how in the world am I gonna top 156 books in three months?”
Well. You know Her Momness. I bribed her with chocolate.
So. Did Mom set a new personal record for Summer Reading?
Well, not quite. We tried. Really. And we got close.
But there was so much other stuff goin’ on this summer, if ya know what I mean. (And yes, I totally aced that semi-annual check-up at the vet’s. Thanks for askin.’)
Including audio books and read-alouds, Mom read 139 books this summer. It’s not 156+. But not bad, eh? (Apparently, some people will do almost anything for a Triple Chocolate Meltdown a la mode.)
You can find some of Mom’s summer favorites at 6 Best Reads of Summer.
I’d let Mom tell you more herself. But she’s snoozing right now. Or “resting up.” Or something.
Mom hasn’t tackled a Goodreads Reading Challenge since shortly after the Ark made landfall. The last one she did was in 2018: 383 books. In one year. She says, “No way can I do that again, Kimster. Not even close.”
But I’m scouting up new supplies of chocolate. Just don’t tell Mom yet, okay?
You gonna eat that?
Pages & Paws 