Category: Meanderings

*sigh* The first bike ride of the season is this coming Sunday…. I am so hoping the weather is NICE.

Are you a fan of fairy tales?  I had my favs as a kid that’s for sure but really haven’t given them much thought as an adult…. that is until this little beauty was created by Book Rat and Basically Amazing Books. 

If you click on the above picture it will take you to the schedule of happenings…. book reviews of fairy tales both old and new…. giveaways, and fun posts….

My review of CLOAKED by Alex Finn (author of Beastly) will go live on both sites on Friday.  One site will feature my review… the other will feature a giveaway I am offering along with it.  I will talk more about this on Friday.  😀

I am off to work… I have a heavy schedule today and I think Dawn (awesome co-worker and Office Manager) and I are going out to lunch today to celebrate administration week.  Tonight… I am seriously contemplating kick boxing but that depends on a meeting I have later tonight and I may need to wait one more day to put on the gloves again. 

Hope you have an awesome Wednesday 😀

Good Morning!  The day is looking a little dreary here in Minnesota but yesterday was not.  A GORGEOUS day and I threw caution (and the chiropractor) to the wind. 

I went rollerblading with my friend Wendy.  😛

I know I was just laid up in a chair for 4 days during my back pain and craziness but yesterday I felt GOOD.  I could move and I wanted to move…. and yes, I can still move today.  😀

We bladed 8 miles which was a nice start to our trail riding for 2011.  Wendy and I biked and bladed A LOT in 2010 on the Paul Bunyan trail, it really was a staple in building our friendship – and we really put the miles on both bikes and blades. 

Today as I look outside, I am a little disheartened to see that as the weather was predicted to, it does look like it will rain.  *sigh*  That’s ok… I work until 3 and then I will get a couple of things done in town and around the house. 

Bookish news…

See this little gem here to the right?  This showed up in the Shelf Awareness this morning.  How good does this book look?  (Mmmm hmm…. I said book look…. I am practically Dr. Suess :razz:) 

In her twenties, Emily Wilson was on top of the world: she had a bestselling novel, a husband plucked from the pages of GQ, and a one-way ticket to happily ever after.

Ten years later, the tide has turned on Emily’s good fortune. So when her great-aunt Bee invites her to spend the month of March on Bainbridge Island in Washington State, Emily accepts, longing to be healed by the sea. Researching her next book, Emily discovers a red velvet diary, dated 1943, whose contents reveal startling connections to her own life.

I like the cover, and I like what it says about the book itself.

I would say the majority is found be reading blogs or watching authors I enjoy.   I did not make it through all the Monday What Are You reading posts yesterday but hope to keep working on them through the week…. I do find a lot of bookish treasures that way.  😀

 I am curious, where do you find many of your books that you read?  Recommendations?  Book Blog?  Best sellers lists?

Well… what’s a girl to do who has been layed up since Friday with a bag of ice on her back and shoulder-blade between chiropractor appointments?  I am under Doctors orders to not lift, strain, work out…

Well of course I am going to READ.

I did make a dent in the reading over the weekend which was actually…. nice.  With the weather still cool and rainy it was not a big sacrifice to hang out in the house.  We have no big Easter plans, other than College Son is coming home this morning   – WOO HOO!!!!!  And we get the day to hang out and he goes back to Mankato tomorrow. 

We used to have the Easter Basket hunt when the boys were real young.  As they got older… it became a neighborhood scavenger hunt.  All the neighbors have been here since I was growing up including my aunt who lives two doors down.  The boys would be given a clue at the house and they would have to do whatever it said to get the next one… such as:

“Go over to John and Peggy’s and hop on one foot while asking if you can borrow an egg.” 

Of course all the neighbors were in on it  and they would give them the next clue until they came tot he final clue which would give them hints to the “basket” whereabouts.  Of course the “basket” itself was always improvised as I did not like the traditional baskets….

One year the candy and goodies were in baseball caps, one year football helmets, once plastic totes filled with their favorite trading cards and tickets to a Weird Al concert (which was their first concert!) and then one year – they were new 10 speed bikes hiding in my aunts garage. 

As I type this up… I am filled with fond memories of having the kids here.  At this moment they would have been all over me waiting for their first clue.  😀

I miss that.

Do you have any fun Easter traditions? 

I am still hurting, but not as bad.  I have another appointment tomorrow but am really hoping to get to the gym tomorrow – even if it is only the treadmill.  The first big bike ride of the year is next Sunday – the Ironman…..and I am excited about it, praying for good weather… and of course none of this back/arm stuff.  I really want to do the ride.  😀

Have a SUPER AWESOME HAPPY EASTER!!!! 

Good morning!  😀
Lovely post title right?  Just gives you warm fuzzies I am sure…..

If you have been following my “pain” saga (here and here) the past few days you will know I have been having back pain and seeing a chiropractor.  Note:  This is something I don’t do…. haven’t done…. and am going because as of Thursday morning I could hardly turn my neck… what I thought was a pinched nerve went from between my shoulder blades, up my back into my neck and right arm.  Yesterday morning after having my first treatment on Thursday, I could not turn my back, sit in a chair, or stand.  My back felt like it was on FIRE and I called the chiropractor again in tears saying I was not sure if I needed them or a doctor but something was seriously wrong (and yeah…. scary too).

After this second time in they took x rays of my neck and spine.  My spine was perfectly straight (hey I have to take the little wins right?) however my neck was looking straight too which I though “yay me”, but was told…. nah ahh.

Apparently our necks are supposed to have a nice backward “C” shaped curve to them.  Mine does not.  What was shown to me is that people who do a lot of computer work, laptop work, and even reading, can cause their neck to pull straight from looking down so much…. putting pressure into my arm and back.

Guilty.  On all three accounts.  😯

So what do I do? 

I need to keep my laptop on a table at a level that I am not leaning over it (instead of my usual on my lap in the recliner).  When I read the book needs to come up more so I am not looking down to read it but more straight forward…. and I am supposed to exercise my neck by rolling it back as far as I can….

Even though I work out, the doctor said while that is good and strengthens muscles, it is apparently not enough  to counteract the time I spend at a computer.  This is true… between work and writing, I easily spend 4 – 10 hours on the computer a day. 

So there is this mornings post.  I figure many of you must spend pretty close to the same amount of time reading, and computer work as I do, so maybe a little heads up will prevent you from the pain I am currently in.I have been so tired!  😀 

This morning I have another appointment.  They have been doing an ultra sound on my shoulder and working out the ache and pain there and I am taking 800 milligrams of ibuprofen every 5 hours.

On the upside – hanging out at the house with an ice pack has caused me to really catch up on some reading.  I have finished two books in the last two days and started a third.  Nuts I know… but I am always looking for the bright side and hopefully will be back to working out on Monday. 

Do any of you experience any of this pain?  What do you do to prevent it?

Good morning!  Quick check in on my back….. PAIN.  BIG PAIN.  Not sure what my next step is.  I seen the chiropractor yesterday and felt pretty good when I left but as the day went on it got worse… now if I clench my hand into a fist on my right hand a shoot of pain goes into my back.  Good grief…. I am so not this girl.  My back hurts so bad I am propped in the recliner and even that is not helping.  I am trying to decide if I try the chiropractor again or if I need to go to the hospital.  GAH.  Hate this. 

Ok… anyway… last weekend I had went with 8 other girls to Walker Minnesota for a girls weekend.  This group does this once a year and last year I had missed out because it was the home show weekend and I was already committed to it.

So this years adventure was not very far away – a little over an hour from home is Walker Minnesota and our reasoning for going was to go to the Rick Springfield concert.  Now personally – while Rick Springfield was ok back int he 80’s… I probably would not have chosen to go to his concert…. HOWEVER you mix in 8 fun friends and suddenly the idea sounds brilliant.  😛

We left on Friday and went to a beautiful hotel called Chase on The Lake.  We had two suites and you have to see these rooms:

The rooms were fun and Friday night we stayed in, had dinner, and played board games.  On Saturday we went to the shops near by and I bought a cute summer shirt and a sweater (ugggh…. with our weather lately you just do not know which way to go).  Saturday afternoon I even had time to write a review while some of the girls played more games or napped.  Saturday evening after a good dinner in the hotel we went to the concert.

Color me impressed.  Rick put on a very good concert and turns out I knew more songs than I thought I did.  He was high energy, pulled people on to the stage including a little 7-year-old girl who sang “Don’t Talk To Strangers” with him.  Amy, Paula, and Heidi spent the whole concert right up front and Paula and Heidi were both hugged by Rick when he went into the crowd.

Saturday night we were back in the hotel and played board games again until one in the morning…. I love board games! 

A fun weekend and I actually liked that we were not that far away as we were home on Sunday around 1:00 pm.  So I still had Sunday to get the house cleaned up and have dinner with Al.

Good morning.  Probably going to the chiropractor this morning…. so ridiculous but the nerve in my back has now went up to my neck (I can’t look down) and over to my right arm – it hurts to lift my coffee cup….. now that is serious.  😛 

In the mean time – as I psych myself up to use the shower…. (how sad that it takes a pep talk with myself to get me going in that direction because it calls for standing and moving), I thought I would do this little meme thingy that Bonnie linked me up too.

Ok… with no more rambling ( as I really do need to figure out a way to move), here is the 4 x 4

Four jobs I’ve had in my life:

1. Wal-Mart (Customer Service Manager, Support Team, Promotional Chairperson, Department Manager)
2. Family Life Administrator (I prefer the FLA – it sounds very CSI)  😛
3. Hardees fast food counter person
4. Domino’s Pizza (driver, day shift manager, office manager)

Four books I would read over and over:

1. The Bible
   
2. Any of the Harry Potter books
3. Summerhouse by Jude Deveroux
4. Three Sisters Trilogy Nora Robers – Dance Upon The Air, Heaven and Earth, and Face The Fire

Four places I have lived:

1. Bemidji Minnesota
2. Virginia Minnesota
3. Soldotna Alaska (one year with my aunt and uncle and mom after the house fire)
4. Brainerd Minnesota (there is no place like home :D)

Four books I would recommend 

1. Summer House by Jude Deveroux
   
2. Three Sisters Trilogy by Nora Roberts (see book titles above)
   
3. ROOM by Emma Donoghue
   
4. Little Princes by Conor Grennan
5. (bonus) Thirteen reasons Why by Jay Asher

Four places I have been:

1. Honduras
2. Costa Rica
3. California
4. New York!

Four of my favorite foods:

1. Thai
2. Mexican
3. Chinese
4. anything chocolate….

Four of my favorite drinks:

1. Ice water
2. fresca
3. diet Dr Pepper
4. skim mocha latte no whip

Four places I would rather be right now:

1. on a secluded SUNNY beach
2. Disney World
3. in a hot tub
4. can I just say the secluded SUNNY beach again?

Four things that are very special in my life:

1. my family (Al, Brad, Justin) and friends
2. my church
3. my activities: biking, rollerblading…
4. my online conversations here

Alright…. yes, I am still going to recap last weekend…. really.  I just need to prep some pics and I know… I can not believe it is Thursday already.  Have a super day everyone… I am off to slowly get ready for work and make that appointment to hopefully get this pain taken care of as I have never experienced anything like this before and it is driving me crazy that I can not be active. 

*I do not do a lot of these meme/questionnaires anymore, and I don’t mean to be rude when people tag me or connect me with blog awards – it’s just honestly… I don’t have the time to do all that they entail.  I apologise to people who gave my a blog award and I commented “I will stop by and check it out” because more times than not, as I continue doing whatever I am doing I forget to stop by and do that.  Thank you for thinking of me though, I think that it is so nice that you even find my ramblings blog award worthy.  😀

Good morning!  😀

32 degrees here this morning in Minnesota…… thirty-two…. 

They are talking snow and rain for the rest of this week.  Uggghhhhh… it is snowing right now….

Oh come on Spring!!!

*my heart sinks with the weight of waiting for weather I can bike in*

So…. change of subject – lets talk books. 😀

I visited the Monday What Are You reading Monday between time I had on Monday and then finished yesterday evening.  Wow…. there are good books out there.

At Serendipity, Vivienne wrote a review on an interesting looking book called A Year Without Autumn by Liz Kessler. 

At The Eclectic Reader, Sheree read and reviewed Stay by Deb Caletti that seems so SSQQUUUEEEE worthy I am looking for that one now!

At “And Anything Bookish“. Kim had a post up about Sarah Dessen’s book What Happens To Good Bye.  I have only experienced Dessen once but liked it very much and this one sounds as though it may be my next Dessen stop. 

At Kristen’s Book Nook, she had a review of Bossy Pants by Tina Fey.  I have watched and wondered about this book from afar.  I find Tina Fey to be really fun and have enjoyed movies she is in. 

Library says YES to all 😛 except a Year Without Autumn…. 😦 they do not have that one. 

Oh and finally I heard about this in my travels too…. there is a website called Magic Is Mite, News From The Ministry Of Magic.  This site has updated posts regarding the search for well….. undesirable #1….. (the site is hilarious) and a must view for all you Potter heads out there.  (Uhhhh…. not me of course….. I am posting this for you…. :razz:)

Ok – I have to get ready for work.  I have a pinched nerve in my back which is ridiculously annoying and makes me walk a bit like the hunchback of Notre Dame.  Well then….life – is never dull 😛

Good morning early.  I am off today to the cities – meeting Dawn at 6:30 in the morning to drive three hours for training all day and then home probably about 8 or 9 pm tonight….

welcome to Tuesday 😛

Yesterday I just felt a little queasy…. actually noticed it Sunday evening after floor hockey and it lingered into Monday…. I went to work hoping it would pass but did not so canceled my evening “to do’s” and stayed home and breathed instead.  Guess what?  Breathing is GOOD.

However when I made dinner for Al and I, I was making grilled chicken with carrots and broccoli and cauliflower, and then I made a pan of noodles to put the chicken goodness on top – and wound up eating just a plate of noodles and butter.  SO BAD.  I don’t think I have done that since I was a kid.  😉

I have much to share this week but will not get to it today…. I have a recap coming up on the Girls Weekend/Rick Springfield concert and books I have found in my blog visit adventures…. but that… will wait until later this week. 

Noodles and butter….. hmmm….. guilty yummy food. 

Ok… fess up… what’s your guilty pleasure food? 

Good morning…. 😀

Note to self – Cameron’s brand Hazelnut Vanilla coffee – YUM!

First off let me say…. I have to move.  Yesterday as we were driving for our girl’s weekend…. it snowed.  SNOWED.  April 15th…. SNOW.  GAHHHHHHH…..

Ok enough of that.  We are at Chase On The Lake and let me tell you it is GORGEOUS here.  There are 9 of us and we are in two condos and wow…. did I say that already?

There were rumors floating around that Rick (did I just call him Rick?) was in the hotel but we had no “sightings”.  There are some HUGE  fans here…. we seen posters and a couple girls in the elevator who were super excited to find him in the hotel….. In a word…. WOW.

We stayed in last night, brought our own food – yum to Amy’s chicken enchilada’s!  Today – who knows… right now I am waiting for my roommates to be ready to go have breakfast 🙂

Have an awesome Saturday!

Good Morning!

I swear a week ago I was almost caught up with writing reviews yet this morning I sit here making a list of the reviews I need to write on the books I have read since the readathon to present.  The week lets just say – got away from me.

I did announce last Sunday that I was going to tackle The Hobbit on audio.  I have no idea where that came from, add it to a list of random thoughts that plow through my head daily…  I have started The Hobbit and have to smile as I am slowly taken back to Middle Earth, a place of many creatures and of course the Hobbits who are short and their feet are so big they are unable to wear shoes…. 

What I do not remember is all the singing and in the beginning of this audio – there is a LOT of singing.  Take this scene from when Bilbo lets the dwarves, and Gandalf into his home the night before they leave on their adventure:

“Chip the glasses and crack the plates!
Blunt the knives and bend the forks!
That’s what Bilbo Baggins hates-
Smash the bottles and burn the corks!
Cut the cloth and tread on the fat!
Pour the milk on the pantry floor!
Leave the bones on the bedroom mat!
Splash the wine on every door!
Dump the crocks in a boiling bawl;
Pound them up with a thumping pole;
And when you’ve finished, if any are whole,
Send them down the hall to roll !
That’s what Bilbo Baggins hates!
So, carefully! carefully with the plates!”

Anyway – when I opened my emails this morning I was pleased to see that I had a link to The Hobbit Video set for the upcoming movie.  It was almost spooky to see the set that was used in some of the other movies being revived in anticipation of The Hobbit:

Ok so sitting here Friday morning I can tell you I am totally unprepared for this weekend.  We are leaving town at 1:30 and I have to pick up food, pack, grab a couple of board games, movies, finish laundry, and I want to stop at one of the stores in town to see if I can find a super cute shirt to wear out tomorrow night.  If you read yesterday mornings post you will see my weekend away plans).

SO – I can say I plan to be still around with the morning meanderings and if I can get it together here before I leave there will be the reviews too – I have not even reviewed and shared about our book club meeting this past Tuesday yet!  Anyway – I am pulling out of Middle Earth for a while…. I have a few things to get done in regular Earth.  😉

Any other Hobbit/Lord Of The Rings/ Tolkien fans out there? 

Hope everyone’s weekend is awesome!