Indulge me while I share three completely unrelated bits of news and events and try to force them into being linear thoughts. In other words, get ready for the random.

1. We took the kids to see Inside Out this weekend and, as expected, the whole family basically adored it. I could tell from the previews and the cast alone that this movie was going to be amazing and I wasn’t wrong. Another incredibly smart comedy that will get you from every angle and have the whole family laughing (and occasionally crying). This is a must see.

2. The kids finished their first two week session of swim lessons at the local pool and they had a blast every single day. The classes met M-F for half an hour each day and at the end of every class I heard them say, “I wish we could keep swimming, thirty minutes just wasn’t long enough!” It wasn’t all just fun though, they learned a lot, too. MM finally conquered his fear of going under water and is learning to legitimately float and BB went from having no swim skills to being able to float on her back and go underwater a little bit. They’ll be taking more lessons in about a month.

3. I just finished reading Paper Towns by John Green. You know I love a John Green book, but I have to say I liked this one a tiny bit less than FIOS and An Abundance of Katherines. I liked the characters and the writing was good, but sometimes the dialogue bordered on too much – too written out and planned, you know? And I felt the pacing was off – it felt like the plot line didn’t pick up until 75% through the book which I realize now was the book’s climax but it felt like the rest of the book was just setting the tone for that final quarter of a plot and left most of the story to feel like we were just stalling for time, which we were – but it’s fiction, so he could have chosen to write it differently. Yes, this is me finding fault with John Green’s writing. Deal with it. I’m still totally planning to read the rest of his books and will continue to adore him regardless.

What have you been up to?