Category: Meanderings

Good morning people!  😛

I am home from the gym…. yup that crazy Wendy and I hit the 5:45 am Group Power class.  Well… to be honest, I got there about 5:48, and Wendy about 5:50… but we were there!  😛

Now I am home and having coffee – which for some reason when you fly out of bed at 5:25 and realize you set your alarm wrong and throw on work out clothes and run out the door to hit a gym class you are cursing yourself for agreeing to…..

suddenly… coffee becomes an obsession.

Now back home, I am glad I went…. it was fun and now I am back home and having COFFEE and can cross “workout” off my list of the “to do’s” for today.

NICE.

At 9 am I have breakfast with my friends Key, Julie, and Sandi.  Julie’s birthday is next Friday and she will be in Florida so we are doing a little pre-birthday gathering over eggs.  😀

From there I think I may spend a little time in the Library hanging out and getting things done as well as finding time to recruit a team for floor hockey that starts this Sunday…. YIPES.  That needs to be a priority today.

Looks like there are finally a couple of movies out that I am interested in so may see if Al wants to go to a movie later today.

Yup… looking at that it does sounds like a day off.

Yesterday evening I got together with three of my cousins.  This is something new we have started, there are five of us girls on the McKinney (my dads) side that decided we should try to get together once a month and just catch up.  I can’t tell you how much I LOVE THIS.  We are a variety of ages (I am second to the youngest) and did not necessarily hang out together when we grew up because of that age difference, but now this is our second get together this year and I have enjoyed getting to know them better.

In April we are planning to attend a wine tasting for a charity and a possible comedy night that one of my cousins sons will be performing at.  🙂

Ok… I must get in the shower and start my day.  Enjoy your Friday!  I should have blog hop time this weekend so hopefully will get in some more visits 😀

Good morning!

I am trying to shake things up here in my busy schedule so thought I would try to get work outs in BEFORE I go to work at 8:00 am.   On Monday and Friday I can do mornings, but Tues – Thurs gets a bit tricky to get them in.

Today was my day to give this a try.

Last night I mentioned this plan to Wendy and she said what time?

I responded, “6:30 a.m.”

She said, “For sure you will be there?”

I said, yes, if she said she was going to as well I would be there.

She said she would let me know at 10 pm last night through text if she could make it.

THERE WAS NO TEXT.

At 10:30 I went to bed thinking I was crazy to try to fit one more thing in my already crazy Thursday…. I work 8 -3, at 3 I am getting a phone call from an author who I am interviewing for a local magazine, I need to run home and check the crock pot,  recruit a floor hockey team to start this Sunday, at 4:30 I am meeting my cousins for dinner…. it was just best to cut myself a little slack.

………..

oh you know it is never that easy right?  😉

At 6:15 am I heard my phone…

I am still in bed.

I shuffle out to the counter and with the one eye that is awake, I read it:

Wendy:  I am on my way to the gym!  You had better be there!  😀

Ok….

I text back that I will need…. ummm…. a few minutes.

RUN RUN RUN to get my work out clothes that I washed last night, RUN RUN RUN to grab my crock pot from downstairs storage to prep the roast for Al tonight… RUN RUN RUN to pack my clothes that I need for work… RUN RUN RUN to let dogs out, let dogs in… RUN RUN RUN to make myself presentable and get ready for my day…. and head for the front door wishing the dogs a good day, the slow cooker my best wishes for a day of seasony goodness and mouth-watering smells…

and GYM TIME.

GAH.

I will get better at this.

So my message for today to you is this….. may your slow cookers always work to take pressure off us who have crazy lives and may the result always be moist and delicious.

**Thank you to Wendy for making me laugh on the elliptical, for talking about the crock pot, for coming up for the title of this post that I could not remember so I had to ask her again and again and again….   I told her today I hang out with her because she gives me so much to blog about. 😛

Have a great day everyone!!!!

 

Good morning.

Was the night short for you too?

Last night after work I popped home had a quick dinner and then went to create gift baskets for the silent auction for next weekends Mission Banquet.  It did not go as quickly as I had hoped and I popped back into the house (not as energetic a “pop” as it had been earlier in the day), exhausted and ready to wind down.  unfortunately I had hit that level of exhaustion that causes a person not to be able to read because my eyes just can not focus on words and my mind can not cling to whats happening…

*sigh*

However today – excites me because tonight after working out, my friend Wendy and I are going to have salads and have a registration party.  That means it is it that time to start registering for bike rides…. and that..

ENERGIZES me.

Somebody – call in the rabbit!

There – that’s better.  😀

Here is the ride list:

May 1, 2011:  The IronMan (60 miles/100 miles)

May 7, 2011:  MS Ride (50 miles)

June 3-5:  Tour of Lakes (3 smaller rides – 1 each day.. between 30 – 70 miles)

June 10-12:  MS 150 (150 miles)

July ___:  Tour of Saints (yet to be determined what date)

July 23, 2011 Warrior Dash – not a bike ride!

August 6-7:  Camp Benedict Ride for AIDS (175 miles)

August 20:  Tour De Pines (may have a conflict on this one)  😦

That is what is on my radar for now 😀

Have to run and get ready for work!  Have an awesome day!

Good morning!

After a day spent almost entirely in bed (I think it was the flu – achy, queasy, and tired – and not these are not names of dwarfs…) I am up and still feel a bit weak but able to function.

Top Book Club Books in February

The following are the most popular book club books during February based on votes from readers of 27,000 book clubs registered at Bookmovement.com:

1. Room: A Novel by Emma Donoghue
2. Sarah’s Key by Tatiana de Rosnay
3. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
4. Little Bee: A Novel by Chris Cleave
5. Water for Elephants: A Novel by Sara Gruen
6. The Help by Kathryn Stockett
7. Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese
8. Saving CeeCee Honeycutt: A Novel by Beth Hoffman
9. Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet: A Novel by Jamie Ford
10. The Forgotten Garden: A Novel by Kate Morton

Rising stars:

The 19th Wife by David Ebershoff
Juliet by Anne Fortier

The ones I have highlighted in red are the ones that my book club has (or in the case of Cutting For Stone – will be) read as a group.  The other 4 on this top ten list I have read on my own.  I kind of felt good about that 😀  I have not read either of the rising stars.

 

Have you read any of these books?  Would you agree they make for good book club discussions?  Are there books that you would recommend for book clubs to add to this list?

Good morning.

Yes – I am late but it is still morning 😉

By the time I came back home last night at 6 pm I had dinner grabbed a book went to read in bed and fell asleep.

True story.

Apparently the cold water wiped me out.  😀

So all I really have this morning is a few plunge pics and to tell you that it was COLD.  It was a little SCARY.  BUT for the cause and to hang out with my bike ride team it was also AWESOME and FUN.

More pictures may come in over the next few days… I did not know everyone taking pictures so I am waiting to see what other people post on Facebook.  All my pics are on Facebook – Sheila DeChantal but here are a few highlights:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yes!  It is that time again and maybe, for me, the first sign of spring is indeed the Spring Library Sale.

Yesterday I was not able to be at the library for the opening moments which is crushing… but I did make it around 11 a.m. and came out with enough good reads that I am content until the fall sale… where I have already pre warned everyone – I am going and going in the morning to be a part of the excitement of the crowd that wraps around the library waiting for the doors to open… ahh yes, it truly is a part of the sale that makes it a complete experience.

SO – as per my tradition… If I go to the sale and bring home a box of books they tend to stay in that box.  Last year I implemented a fun win win with the library sale books that works for both you and I.  Below you will see posted all the books that I purchased yesterday at the sale.  Honestly I had a short time at the sale and with the crowd, I did a lot of picking out books that had appealing  covers and in many cases know little about the actual reads.

Your mission, if you choose to accept it, is to pick my next read.  Below in the comment area tell me which of these books you would like to read.  On Saturday I will choose a winner using random.org and I will add the at book to my reads for next week and once read, I will mail it to you.  See?  Win Win!!!

Here are the titles of the books:

Their Eyes Were Watching God

V.S. Naipaul

A Catch of Consequence

The Dress Lodger

The Other Side Of Air

Breath, Eyes, Memory

About Schmidt

Finding Nauf

Six Pence House

The Beautiful Thing That Heaven Bears

A Child In Time

A Cup Of Light

The Elegant Gathering Of White Snows

Dance Upon The Air * a three book series I have loved for years

Face The Fire * The third book in the Dance Upon The Air series

The Glass Palace

Cutting For Stone

Rooftops of Tehran

The Beach House * read and enjoyed many years ago but willing to read again

Chateau Of Echos

The Knitting Circle

Murders Out Of Tune

The Last Kingdom

 

Have fun 😀

 

For the first time ever…. I am missing opening hour of the Brainerd Library sale.

I have an important meeting that I can not change.

I really thought I was ok with this as I don’t need any books.  Really.  I am good.  Yet, last night I was at the library and as I left I seen the room where they have the sale.  The books were pushed up against the glass panels at least 4 feet high…. boxes and boxes sorted by genre, author…. hardcover, paperback….

I think for a moment…

my nose was pressed to the glass.  (If you go – you may see my nose mark.)

 

I think I am going to try to pop in after the meeting.  I realize by that time the line will be around the building – they only let so many people in at a time… but maybe… just maybe… I will find a treasure or two.  😀

 

 

On a completely different note… today is National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day.  I have a good friend Connie who has had AIDS since she contacted it through an emergency hysterectomy in 1981.  Connie has an amazing heart and I have met with her weekly as often as possible, to discuss her story – and what a story.

So today – this is for Connie and for all the women and girls out there who have been touched by AIDS.  This pump is for you.

 

It’s a nationwide initiative to raise awareness about the increasing impact of HIV/AIDS on women & girls and encourages ladies to take action. While progress has definitely been made in the areas of AIDS prevention and treatment, women still represent 27% of all new AIDS diagnoses, with African-American women accounting for 66% of that group. This year focuses on this statistic, “Every 35 minutes, a woman tests positive for HIV in the United States.”

 

Good morning.  😀

Another lovely day here in Minnesota and no, I am not being sarcastic.  Currently 27 degrees I can not (WILL NOT) complain as yesterday at this time it was 9 degrees.  Looks like Saturday will much be the same and Brrr….. to the Polar Bear Plunge, but well… that’s days away.  😛

So…

my hubby snores.

Yup.  Al snores.  I don’t think it bothers me if I am already asleep but if I am just getting cozy….

I am not sleeping during the snore fest.

A couple of years ago I discovered that if I took a corner of his pillow and pulled just a wee bit that would cause him to roll over or readjust and the snoring would stop.  I was Queen of all those who snore and life went back to quiet nights and happy mornings…

Until two nights ago.

It started with the snores…

I did the pillow tweak.

A voice said, “Don’t pull on my pillow.”

Whaaaa…..?

“Don’t pull on my pillow.”

B U S T E D

For the first time since I started making happy sleep time for both of us with the “pillow tweak and sleep” I was discovered.  He did not want to hear about my successful run of two years (Gold medal worthy I am sure…) without him ever knowing the secret to my sleep success….

Oh well.  😳

Yesterday evening was Bookies book club at my home and between the delicious food (hello Gym membership!) and the fantastic discussion surrounding the book Wench by Dolen Perkins-Valdez (review up tomorrow) it was a wonderful evening.

Oh course, right before Al went to bed he said,

“Don’t pull on my pillow.”

GAH!  I need a new tactic…… 😛