June Highlights, Books + Grocery Spending

Favorite book of the month!

Thursday, July 2, 2026

Wow did June fly! It was very different for me than last year. Last year I finished the school year on June 5th, maybe, and officially retired on July 1st. I spent June recovering! Ha! This year I thoroughly enjoyed the spring weather and got to read outside so much.

Let’s start with groceries. This month I did 5 Kroger deliveries! They don’t accept tips when it’s official Kroger delivery so it’s only slightly more expensive with their $6.95 fee. I am not a member of the Boost program. Tom’s bread is no longer available in our store so I guess the Kroger truck brings the groceries from a warehouse where the bread is stocked. I think I went in my Kroger store once for a big shop and a few small shops and then went to Whole Foods twice and Trader Joe’s once. I have greatly reduced my Trader Joe’s trips. I found I was mostly buying snack and dessert foods so it was making my monthly grocery bill higher. It wasn’t an “instead of” store but “in addition to” my groceries.

We’ve eaten out a bit more this month and my cooking has been uninspired! I will just be honest!

$757 – was up from last month.

On to summer reading…

I really enjoyed this first book of the month! It hooked me pretty early on and I couldn’t put it down because I wanted to see what would happen. I also liked that it was about podcasters.

This was just charming. It was a touch on the cheesy side. I pictured Brett Goldstein playing the role of the male character in the movie version – lol.

Oh my gosh – this book had everything I want in a summer read. I liked that it was set in Rhode Island as I am also watching Real Housewives of Rhode Island (horrible!) and I also have a new fascination with Newport, RI due to The Gilded Age. Everyone gets invited to Newport from NYC – lol. I am now saying “summah”!

This was a fun summer read! I liked the NYC setting and the throwback to dial up internet and no smart phones. It was also fun as Mason went to NYC this month!

DNF – I made it about halfway and I enjoyed a lot of it but all it talked about was relations between the couple and I kept thinking that the female was going to get a UTI but then the author made the character say, “I’m going to get a UTI” and I was out.

DNF – This one jumped from what I thought the story was going to be to focusing on other characters and I could have stuck with it to see if it would come back around but I had other books awaiting me.

I called my sister one day and she said she had just gotten back from the library and started the new Abby Jimenez book and I said, “OMG! I’m reading that right now, too!” Loved it! Great summer read!

I started this and I like it ok…

I found this on the new release shelf at the library and now I’m in it! So, I’m not sure if I will go back to the last two books since they are already due back.

So far, The Calamity Club is making me laugh out loud. Some of the characters have some really funny lines.

Also this month, when I felt like I was about at my 10 book mark for summer reads, I did something silly and fun…

I got myself a personal pan pizza for lunch! Do you remember the Bookit! program? It wasn’t during my childhood and maybe it was before my own kids’ childhood, too. Anyway, you read 10 books over the summer, recorded them, and got a free ppp. Mine wasn’t free; I had to pay $7, but it was a really fun thing to do!

Tom and I both used to work at Pizza Hut, by the way!

How often do you do child-like things? I giggled at myself when I did this. It was a bit of whimsy and I think Gretchen Rubin of The Happiness Project would have approved.

My June Highlights…

A few games of mah jongs, a few boat rides, reading outside, coffee with two former students, and

My high school class of 1990 pool party complete with a pup in a pineapple bikini!