Guilty Pleasures
This week I’m looking at finishing up another 365 day spin around the sun and am trying to figure out what I might want to do to celebrate. Birthdays should be celebrated right? I have reached that point in my life that I’m less worried about how old I am and happier that I have another chance at a fantastic year, guilty pleasures and all!
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So anywhoo, today’s topic is courtesy of my hubby. I was trying to land on a good subject for today and he tossed it out at me. I may have to enlist his help more often, because it’s a pretty good one! I’m going to go out on a limb here and say we all have at least one or two guilty pleasures that we indulge in from time to time. Maybe more if we’re really honest!
My own list is guaranteed to elicit at least one eye roll from the men in my life (aka the hubby and our two boys) simply because they’re girly in the extreme and, yes, more than a little stereotypical. However, I intend to carry on and enjoy them at every opportunity. So there!
Guilty Pleasure #1
Romance Novels. I fully admit to having somewhat limited reading tastes. I tend to reach for the happily ever after whenever possible and am not a fan of non-fiction.Mostly because I read to escape. I feel like I have so much going on in my day-to-day life that when I curl up with a book, it’s with the express intent to just escape and I just want to go somewhere happy. I can’t tell you how many times my youngest son has tried to steer me toward something in another genre to no avail. Not that I am resistant to giving it a try, but the story better grab me in the first few chapters or I’m likely to bail. I have a preferred author list that, that thank heaven, is full of prolific writers because I tend to devour whatever they publish. There are a few very notable exceptions to my usual reading list and they are as follows. I highly recommend each one of these titles. They’re all fantastic in their own way and not a single one of them is a romance novel.
- Harry Potter series – (JK Rowling) My youngest son Josh devoured these books and for a short while physically resembled Ron Weasley. Really, the resemblance was uncanny, and we had a ton of fun with that. He and I bonded over these books and to this day we are avid fans of all things Harry, Ron and Hermoine.
- The Chronicals of Thomas Covenent – (Stephen R Donaldson) My husband has had these books on his top 10 list for as long as i’ve known him. We’ve been married for 36 years now. You do the math. There’s actually several books in this series but the ones I speak of here are the first three. They’re more in the fantasy genre and I lost sleep reading them. Not because they were nightmare inducing, but rather because they had me by the throat and I had to finish them. I seriously could not put them down.
- Dewey the Library Cat: A True Story (Viki Myron & Bret Witter) This is one of the funniest books I’ve read in a long time. It’s my one notable exception to my non-fiction bias. Set in Northern Iowa, it captured my attention because I’ve passed through the little town where it all occurred and it’s got a wonderful heartland sort of vibe. If you’re an animal lover, this is a great book.
- The Shack (William P Young) – This one made it into a movie which you might be familiar with but, as is true of a lot of book-to-movie scenarios, the book is better. The story is compelling and, while it may make you rethink some of what you’ve been taught and consider a slightly different perspective, I definitely think it’s worth the read.
Guilty Pleasure #2
Hallmark Movies Yes I can hear the groans and see the eye rolls. I can’t help it. If it’s on Hallmark I’m going to watch it. Probably more than once. Christmas in July? Sign me up! I even have the socks that warn my family that I’m not to be disturbed because, hello! Watching a Hallmark movie here! I am well aware that the same 10 actors appear in every movie, that the stories are all shockingly similar, the HEA is GUARANTEED, and there will always be a kiss at the end. I don’t care. I love everything about them no matter how cheesy. Plus, I pop popcorn and well…that might be another guilty pleasure come to think of it.
Guilty Pleasure #3
Two Weeks at Christmas This one is one of those things that have been indulging in for many years. I started saving my vacation days way back in my early career in the Electrical industry when I was making a pittance and only had a measly week or so to work with for vacation days. The prospect of having a full two weeks off at the very end of a really long year was heaven then, and still is today. January 1 of every year, I block off however many days I need to get a full two weeks worth of time off. With the Christmas and New Year’s holidays included, I generally only need to take a few days to accomplish it and I LOVE it. I scramble like a crazy woman the first half of December to get everything I possibly can finished up before I go and then I call it a year and sign off. It’s bliss and also, gives me time to indulge #s 1 and 2!
And that, my friends, is a wrap for me. I do believe it’s time for a Hallmark movie.
What’s your guilty pleasure?
