Perfection: A Memoir of...

...of Betrayal and Renewal. I'm a member of Shespeaks and today I successfully joined the SheSpeaks Book Club program. Our reading selection is going to be Perfection: A Memoir of Betrayal and Renewal. I can't say that this is the type of book (a memoir) that I would normally pick off the shelf -- I'm more of a lit thrill/mystery/sci-fi/non-fiction/reference kinda gal -- but I am an avid reader and am generally willing to give "anything" a shot... once. (Shespeaks Book Club members will receive a free copy of the paperback edition of the book.) So we'll see...

Here's the jacket description:

Julie Metz’s life changed forever on one ordinary January afternoon when her husband, Henry, collapsed on the kitchen floor and died in her arms. Suddenly, this mother of a six-year-old became the young widow in her bucolic small town. But that was only the beginning. Seven months after Henry’s death, just when Julie thought she was emerging from the worst of it, came the rest of it: She discovered that what had appeared to be the reality of her marriage was but a half-truth. Henry had hidden another life from her.

Shespeaks Book Club members also were given a link (See below) to share a free excerpt (Chapter 1) from the book with another excerpt (Chapters 2-4) to be added soon. I'll update this post when the next excerpt becomes available.

• < Download PDF > Ch. 1 of Perfection: A Memoir of Betrayal and Renewal

If you're interested in joining our discussion or perhaps in reading the book along with your own book club then visit the SheSpeaks Book Club page for more information on the book and author, along with helpful book club tools.

DIY Chair Project

I should mention I love DIY stuff. I was born a handyman. (I mean "man" in the generic every human sense.) I'm always tinkering; making stuff, taking stuff apart, fixing things, breaking things... I was a DIY fanatic long before such a thing had a catchy name.

So this morning as I was returning from my first walk with the dogs -- my sister had joined us as well today -- I happened to notice a chair at a curbside dump. Except for the ripped brown leather upholstery on its seat pad, this is a lovely, solid-wood-frame chair with nicely turned front legs. The kind of chair they don't make any longer -- it's all particle wood-chip junk nowadays in most stores. And I thought to myself, why would someone throw this out, it would take like 5-minutes to re-upholster?

As an aside, I should also mention that one of my favorite uncles is a master upholsterer. Learned the trade as a young man and has his own private shop out back of his house. Being fascinated by all craftsmanship, I spend time chatting with him about his "hobby" every time I visit. I've picked up a few tips here and there. Plus, there's always my uncle as a source, if need be.