The Best Offer

I keep thinking about how much I enjoyed this movie the other day. Geoffrey Rush plays a renowned fine art auctioneer (with a secret), who is hired by an agoraphobic heiress to auction off all her art and expensive pieces. He suffers a range of emotions in his dealings with her, from disdain to skepticism, from anger to compassion and finally love. I wish I could tell you WHY I was so fascinated by this movie, but that would reveal the ending and that just wouldn't be right.

Just watch it. Really. Netflix.  

The Nightingale, by Kristin Hannah

As much as I'm a little worn out on WWII novels, I have to admit I've enjoyed listening to The Nightingale, by Kristin Hannah.

Yes, I know it's been on the NY Times Bestseller list for a while, so really who cares what little old me thinks about this historical novel?

But here goes: the book does often veer into the tried-and-true narratives about the Nazi occupation in France, as well as the brutal mistreatment of members of the resistance in the camps. BUT, the really great part of this book is the story of two women who worked to help people.

The bolder, brasher sister helped down ally pilots escape the Nazis, escorting them over the Pyrenees on foot to safety. These pilots, from various ally countries, met up with their units, allowing them to fly again.

The older, milder and more cautious sister, stayed in her hometown with her daughter as she waiting for her husband to be released from prison. She had Nazi officers billeted at her home, and ultimately saved more than a dozen Jewish orphans from certain death in the camps.

There many readers who say they chose their book because it was compared with another bestseller, "All the Light We Cannot See," by Anthony Doerr. I don't really see a resemblance, other than that both take place during the same time and same place. I personally didn't get to finish "All the Light," as I returned it to Audible after attempting to listen to it for 4 hours. I might try it again, but I got bogged down by the author's extremely detailed descriptions. There was just so much painting of the scene, that I couldn't hang out long enough for the real story. Maybe I'm shallow? I always feel a little shallow when this happens.

Weekend Breakfast

My weekday breakfast always happens around 8:30 or 9. At home I make a bowl of oatmeal with all the goodies and no liquid. At school, after all the students are tucked into their first block classes, I add hot water and cook it a couple minutes in the 'wave. Most of the front office staff eats breakfast around 9. And a lot of them eat oats or grits. 

But on weekends I like eggs over easy. Normally I slide them onto toast, but this morning I got to thinking about grits:

These are stone ground grits cooked with water and leftover cream from Thanksgiving. I stirred in some shredded cheese and set it aside. I cooked my egg and slid it on top. 

Will there be lunch in my future today? Most likely not. 

Oh, and don't tell Bear. I forgot to give him a piece of the egg.