The big notebook conundrum

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So I’m struggling with a decision. Last week I discovered bullet journaling. Didn’t want to yet commit to the expense of a Leuchttrum 1917 notebook because I didn’t really know what I was doing, so I went with something cheaper. Big mistake! It’s only been a week and I’m already having to use tape to hold the pages in. So it’s starting to get really bulky and the pages are extremely uneven now. Sure, it makes for a unique and interesting journal, but it bothers me that the pages are falling out after only a week of use. It’s frustrating! This journal has approx. 96 pages and I’ve only used about 20 so far. So it has a lot of blank pages still.

I caved and ordered a Leuchttrum 1917. All pretty in red, dotted with a pocket and two bookmarks. And it arrives today.

So my big decision is this: Should I continue to slog on in the old journal, even though it’s already falling apart? Or should I just give up and start September in the new book that I know will hold up?

If I start the new journal in Sept, what do I do with the old journal since it has so many empty pages? Put it away and just let it be a lesson learned, or use those pages for something else?

Decisions, decisions.

 

Bullet Journaling

Rayne 1 Comment

So back in April, I started trying to journal. Basic plain, write something down every day. I did great for two months, then slowly started fading out. I still journal, just not every single day.

Recently, I discovered bullet journaling. It totally makes sense. It allows me the freedom to use my journal for more than just daily writing. And since it can be whatever you make it, I am going to try it.

I think I will keep traditional journal entries in there when I feel like it, but keeping an index allows me to keep my lists there as well. This is huge!

Another thing I might do, now that my daughter is back in school, is try a weekly spread so I can keep track of all her activities for the week. I found a simple weekly spread that I like that allows me plenty of space to free-form what’s happening during the week. My family uses a shared calendar for all important events, and we also use a shared grocery list, but it would be nice to see at a glance all that’s going on during the week mixed in with my thoughts.

When I was in high school, I carried a pocket calendar with me that I used to write down what happened each day: test dates, assignments due, went out with friends, period, etc.

I quit doing that when I went to college, although I don’t know why. My life isn’t as varied now, it’s more routine, but I’d love to start doing that again. Especially now that my daughter is getting older and starting to have more activities.

I purchased a new notebook. I LOVE notebooks. And I even set up the index and the key and I created one list. But I don’t necessarily need to use it right away. I can start journaling in this way in my current journal, even though right now it mostly just has traditional entries.

So I’m gonna start out slowly with my existing journal and then just migrate over when I use it up. At this rate, it won’t take much longer. And I’m excited to try out the weekly spread next week.

Angst in a Tween

Rayne 2 Comments

So I’ve gone off M/M for a moment and am picked up Tales from the Pantry: Random Rants & Musings of a Stay-At-Home Mom on Kindle Unlimited. It’s hilarious! And while it does remind me of some of the crazier moments with my daughter when she was little, I don’t feel like my life was as nuts or frazzled. Maybe because I only have one to deal with.

I think that will change as she gets older though, because she’s 9 so we are now getting to the puberty and hormones and preteen stage. Which I’m learning is a whole different ballgame of fun times.

Yesterday, I picked her up from school and after about 3 minutes, her attitude was snarky, mean and she yelled at me because she was thirsty and I didn’t have a drink for her. It didn’t matter that she was just within steps from the water fountain at school, had a water bottle she could have filled to have in the car and we were going straight home.

Then when we got home, she had a total meltdown with about 20 – 30 minutes of crying because she couldn’t have the ice cream on her school field trip. We think she is lactose intolerant, so she’s afraid to drink milk or eat ice cream. She also doesn’t eat a whole lot of cheese, except on her pizza. ~ insert eye roll~ Never mind that we buy lactose free milk and lactose free ice cream. She still refuses.

And then proceeds to complain for 10 minutes because I’m making her read for 20 minutes before she’s allowed to watch television.

Oi! And she’s only nine! Nine! I can’t even think how much worse it will be when the hormones really kick in and teenage angst becomes a living thing.

The Detective’s Pleasure

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29073420The Detective’s Pleasure by Christa Tomlinson
Self Published
February 10, 2016
317 pages

Blurb:
“You’ll kneel for me without me having to tell you to. And when you do, you’ll feel so much better. Trust me.”
– Detective Sam Roberts

Officer Ryan Bennett: Ambitious and smart, Ryan Bennett is a young officer on Houston’s police force. He’s pursuing his dream of being promoted to the city’s elite SWAT team with a single mindedness that won’t accept any outcome but success. But that isn’t his only dream. Ryan wants more than a coveted position on SWAT. He wants to be owned by a strong Dominant. To give himself up to a Dom who will make him shudder with pleasure beneath a firm yet loving hand. Unfortunately, Ryan has had nothing but failure in that part of his life. Now, he’s hidden that dream away from everyone, including himself. And he refuses to let anyone close enough to see what he truly desires, and who he truly is.

Detective Sam Roberts: Cool and calm, Detective Sam Roberts is good at reading people, during the day as a detective and at night as a Dom. He easily sees past the hard layer of arrogance surrounding Officer Ryan Bennett to the hurt submissive hiding beneath. He wants to help Ryan, even though the stubborn young man resists him. But Sam isn’t one to back down from a challenge. He’s determined to help Ryan embrace the soft, giving nature of his submissive side. Using both a gentle hand and the sting of the whip, he’ll work to coax Ryan’s submission free. But what will Sam do if he’s successful? Let Ryan go as promised? Or give the young officer the very thing he’s wanted for so long?

MY THOUGHTS:

I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.

This was exactly the kind of story I have been looking for. A BDSM story of a Dom helping a sub overcome his issues and finding his submissive self. The connection between Sam and Ryan was perfect. I loved how Sam wouldn’t let things go with Ryan. He asserted his dominance when Ryan needed it, even when he was being a pain in the ass. The way he took care of him and helped him was exactly what I was in the mood for. This story fell into my lap at the perfect moment and I was completely sucked in from the start. I enjoyed this story far more than book one and was so disappointed to reach the end. I wasn’t ready to be done with Sam and Ryan.

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Against the Rules

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28443873Against the Rules by A.R. Barley
Carina Press
June 6, 2016
169 pages

Blurb:
Kelly O’Connell’s out of control

An RA at Halton University, he spends his off nights at a club, hoping to find what he’s looking for in rough sex with strangers.

Until one night the play gets a little too rough. An isolated room, a dangerous situation…and an unexpected rescue.

Ian Rankin knows what Kelly wants—a true Dom, someone who will protect him instead of using him, someone who can take him to the edge without pushing him into unsafe territory.

Ian knows just what Kelly needs, and he’s the only man who can give it to him.

There’s only one problem: Kelly is a student, and Ian is a teacher.

My Thoughts:

I was provided an ARC of this book by Carina Press via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The story I read wasn’t quite what I was expecting based on the book description. I was expecting Ian to discover and help Kelly through his issues. Help him deal with it, by giving him the safe outlet he needed. But that’s not really what happened.

Kelly wasn’t coping very well with the death of his mom. He craved something to help him forget. So he would turn to alcohol and rough sex and/or abuse to escape. Ian rescues him from a bar before things go very bad and the two connect. There is a lot of relationship stuff, and Kelly dealing (or not dealing) with family stuff.

Then finally, after an incident leads to Ian and Kelly breaking up, Kelly sort of comes to his own “awakening” per say, at the words of someone else not really involved in whole mess. It’s like he has a sort of “Aha” moment, when he realizes he should have stepped up and spoken up and not let everyone run over him. So it wasn’t necessarily Ian that helped him through it all. Ian was just there to keep him from getting beaten to a pulp or getting injured some other way.

And the whole student/professor thing barely came up. Just a bit at the beginning and a minor issue at the end that didn’t really seem to fit the story, like it was thrown in to satisfy the bit in the description. But for the most part it was a non-issue.

I think it would have worked better if I’d gone into it with different expectations than what I had.

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

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