Category: Meanderings

Good morning all!  Let’s get up and go go go!!!!  WOO HOO!!!!  I have been up all of ten minutes and ready to start a great day!  (Oh…. I sound a little like Richard Simmonds… I will tone it down a bit….)

Hmmm… maybe I will tone it down A LOT.

Anyway… we had snow over the weekend and that is just depressing when I am sitting here waiting patiently for spring…. signs of spring (IE. grass, sun, flowers, and certainly no snow!)  And with our weekend snow (so annoying…) came poor road conditions.  Yesterday morning as I left my driveway, directly across the road was a truck with a plow and a cop car that didn’t look like a cop car other than he had a flashing light in his window.
As I sat there wondering what was the proper way to pull out of a driveway when a cop is right across the road (do I stay in the wrong lane until I am beyond him, etc….) I noticed why they were really pulled over.  A little to the left of my driveway was this:

 

 

 

 

No one was hurt, the driver (you can see his head behind the vehicle in the above picture) had just jogged back to his vehicle and was originally standing next to the guy with the truck and plow who I suspect pulled over when he seen what happened.  Yup… even in March roads in Minnesota can be no fun….

did I mention I am waiting for spring?

On a different and more soothing note, the Singapore Coffee recipe that author Cheryl Lu-Lein Tan sent my way and I posted over the weekend was….

YUM.

Smooth and creamy and I am sure not a healthy beverage with the sweetened condensed milk weighing in at 130 calories alone for 2 teaspoons… but definitely treat worthy.

 

 

 

Tonight is book club at my house and we are discussing the book Wench by Dolen Perkins-Valdez….  you can pop in later this week to read about the book, the review, and the food we brought to enjoy with it.  😀

Have a wonderful (AND SAFE) day everyone!

Good morning.

I would smile and let you in but right now my body is telling me “Oh no you did not!”

Well…. check off another new adventure from the to try list.

Yesterday morning I took my first ever Yoga class.  I figured how hard could it be right?  It’s just a lot of sitting around and stretching a little bit right?

Well let’s just say I feel it.    Ow!

Are my bones suppose to make a creaking noise when I move?  😯

For giggles…. I looked up Yoga this morning to see what the history is.

Yoga (Sanskrit, Pāli: योग yóga) refers to traditional physical and mental disciplines that originated in India.^[1] The word is associated with meditative practices in Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism.^[2][3][4] Within Hinduism, it refers to one of the six orthodox (āstika) schools of Hindu philosophy, and to the goal towards which that school directs its practices.^[5][6] In Jainism, yoga is the sum total of all activities — mental, verbal and physical.

The Sanskrit word yoga has many meanings,^[11] and is derived from the Sanskrit root “yuj,” meaning “to control,” “to yoke” or “to unite.”^[12] Translations include “joining,” “uniting,” “union,” “conjunction,” and “means.”^[13][14][15] It is also possible that the word yoga derives from “yujir samadhau,” which means “contemplation” or “absorption.”^[16] This translation fits better with the dualist Raja Yoga because it is through contemplation that discrimination between prakrti (nature) and purusha (pure consciousness) occurs.

Someone who practices yoga or follows the yoga philosophy to a high level of attainment is called a yogi or yogini

~Wikipedia

Ok then.

Let’s just say that I not going to be a Yogi.  😛

Overall thoughts: It was interesting and I was better at all the bendy stuff then I thought I would be for a first timer.  My balance is pretty good and I think I would do it again.  Friends tell me that while it seems to be very slow and paced (so not me….) it is surprisingly a good toning workout.

Did you try anything new this week?

 

Oh and if you have a moment, Sweet Cheryl over at CMash Loves To Read featured me today on her Sunday’s Shining Star.

Happy Happy Saturday!!!!

Did you know?

Saturday is my FAVORITE day of the week!

It is normally a no- work zone, a free pass, a WHATEVER day.

Man… I do like whatever days!

Here is this whatever days plan:

Currently coffee.  Big cups and straight black just the way I like it… but later… I will be trying the Singapore recipe from Cheryl (see recipe at the end of this post)

Next up:  Book review for this afternoon and a bit o’ blog hopping…. still so behind….

Get ready for YMCA – Zumba class at 10 am followed by 30 minutes of Yoga sounds like a good way to kick off the day

Brainerd Library…. think I am going to go and sit in it.  I know, right?  I never do that… but thought Laptop and I might go in and see what happens in the library (I bet there is reading!)

Stopping at store for dinner items for Al and I tonight and for the makings of the above mentioned Singapore Coffee for the below recipe of Singapore Coffee. 😛

Home until 4:30 when I do the pick up for the homeless program and then after orientation with my new overnighters I am home for dinner prep while listening to audio because honestly… I have to get the audio back to the library 😀

I am lovin’ this Saturday! And because I love love love seeing the yummy foody connections over at Beth Fish Reads for Weekend Cooking, I had to include the coffee recipe that I am so excited to try!

Here is Cheryl’s recipe (Cheryl author of the book A Tiger In The Kitchen and my earlier this week author chat)

Recipe: K.F. Seetoh’s Kopitiam Coffee 

• 1/2 tablespoon sugar
• 1.5 tablespoons condensed milk
• 1.5 tablespoons evaporated milk
• 1.5 tablespoons ground coffee
• 3/4 cup hot water

Place sugar, condensed milk, and evaporated milk in a coffee cup, and the ground coffee in a cloth sock. Run hot water through the sock and into the cup. Serve immediately.

Hmmm….. I think I am going to have to buy a sock too….. 😛

Oh and one last thing… I love Alyce’s Saturday Snapshot and mostly enjoy  plucking through old pictures that seem to speak to me….. well, you know I am sooooooo tired of winter so had to go this way today:

Stop by and see Alyce At Home With Books and add your own Saturday Snapshot!  I can’t wait to start riding again!  😀

Good morning!

Friday’s here!

I am heading to the gym this morning and happy about it.  (Surely that must be a sign of Spring?)  Then I am hanging out with my friend Wendy for catching up and girl time.   In girl code that is manicures and pedicures and maybe we will grab a salad after that…. this is something I rarely do so it just sounds fun 😀

I may then take a walk through Best Buy and look at my options on laptops for when the day comes that I need to make that purchase.  Yes, I am still on my original one… odd but it is working just fine now.

Later tonight hubby is talking me out for seafood buffet and I am super excited – we both love seafood and while it is about a 30 minute drive to get there – it is worth it.

I have a lot of reading to catch up on this weekend…  I need to finish Wench for Tuesdays book club, and I really want to finish The Eyes Of The Heart today or tomorrow…. I was hoping to have it done by now but this week I feel like I have been tired…. and I don’t know why… I just have been and going to bed early which is usually prime time reading for me.

Ok – I am out… hope to get some “blog reading” time this weekend too… I am so behind.  😀

Good morning.  😀

It was nice sleeping at home last night – in my own bed.  When I serve for our week with the homeless we stay overnight in a church.  The Sunday school rooms are converted to bedrooms for the families, and for the host overnighters.  On Tuesday night I was the host overnighter.  Usually there are always two of us that stay overnight as hosts, which is fun as that becomes catch up times with friends while we hang out before we sleep.  This time however, there is one lady in the program with her 4 month old baby girl and I stayed alone.

I would have never dreamed that I would sleep in a church and now it has become this inside joke as that is the taboo thing to do, fall asleep in church.  I can tell people proudly – I have never slept in my own church( due to our buildings layout we are not able to host there) …. however there are four others in our area that I can say that I have.  😛

We sleep on cots that travel in a trailer from church to church.  It isn’t that bad other than the fact they are super narrow and when guys stay over night I can imagine they must be really uncomfortable.  One couple that serves brings their own air mattress when they stay overnight.  Probably not a bad idea…

Anyway…

that is where I was on Tuesday and then in the morning I drove the guests to the day center where they go seven days a week from 8 am – 4:30 to do laundry, shower, and work on finding affordable housing and jobs if they are not currently working.  It really is an amazing program and has a 92% success rate in our community that once people are back on their feet and in homes with jobs that they remain that way and do not fall back into homelessness.

Our group serves once a quarter and after this week I think our next time is in July.

 

Today will be nice, I have work and then a  workout and then HOME.  Yes…. that’s it… no meetings tonight… and that feels good 😀

I will leave you this morning with this discovery I found at Barnes and Noble on-line… Rachel Ray reading Green Eggs and Ham:

 

Morning….

Why why why why am I so tired?

I had a whole weekend of leisurely writing and yes don’t tell my husband who believes I worked like a fiend writing all weekend, but I napped too!  SO why on this Wednesday morning am I feeling like I am coming off a 20 hour work shift?

Last night I stayed in town as it is our serving week to stay with the homeless.  There is no reason why I should not have had some good quality reading of blog time as from 8 pm on I was alone, just me and Laptop (yes – LAPTOP, I will get to that in a minute…. ) but when I tried to read through some of the Monday Meme posts…. I was just ….

tired.

As for Laptop…. if you have been around this weekend you know he died on Sunday afternoon.  Yup.  Would not turn on.  I have had some opportunities the last couple weeks with Laptop and I think I know his issue…. even took pictures of the broken wires (very CSI of me!) to show how he died.  I even… and this is harsh so be warned…

I even pulled his plug.

Then…

Tuesday evening as I was preparing dinner I sat at the table and pushed his power button, just like old times… and

a message came on the previously blank screen:

Plug In – Your Battery Is Dangerously Low

So – well…. wow!  I ran for the plug-in and when hubby and Chance got to the table I told them do not look directly at it…. but look…. Laptop is BREATHING!

It’s a March Miracle!

I realize I am still probably on borrowed time so my plans to invest in a new one are still in place and I have now emailed myself all important documents off this one so I can no longer say “yup…. there went my book.”

I have another busy evening tonight but Thursday is looking promisingly uneventful and I do plan to read the Monday posts as I am in need of my book fix. 🙂

Good morning!

This year I started the WHERE Are You Reading Challenge and I have already been having a lot of fun with it.  The idea was to just read what you are planning to read anyway – and just see where in the world you are reading.  I offered prizes as you got to the end of the year if you were able to read in each of the 50 states, and bonus entries and prizes for those who read outside the states.  You can find all details here.

Each month, I would like to recap where we have been and how this challenge is going for us.  Here is where I am for the month of January 2011:

In February I have read 13 books and 4 audio ( 11 books so far in January, and 6 audio).  On my Reading Map they have landed: (Jan and Feb combined)

Georgia

North Carolina

New York (2)

Minnesota (3)

Vermont

California (2)

Mississippi

New Jersey

Maine (2)

Illinois (2)

Connecticut

Washington

Missouri

Massachusetts (2)

Utah

Oregon

Pennsylvania

South Dakota

Washington

Iowa

One unknown (Clementine – friend Of The Week!)

Saudi Arabia

Australia

Singapore

I am having so much fun this and love seeing where I am reading! 

For those of you participating in the WHERE Are you reading challenge, please feel free to create a monthly wrap-up post and link it here if you would like.  I plan to do this each month.  For those of you who are not connected to this challenge, it is not too late to start your map and join in!  Challenge details here.

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As for the February comment winners –

My randomly drawn winner of a book out of the “Reading Cafe” (Yes, I changed the name…. more themed for me 😛 )is:

Rural View – Views From The Countryside

 

And the winner for the most comments in February and the $20 Amazon gift card is:

Hannah from Wordlily

 

Thanks everyone – I so appreciate your visits and love discussing books with all of you.  The March contest – starts today 😀

 

I have been having some lap top “opportunities” so please bear with me while I get this all straightened out.  I am missing my blog visiting time and will be back to visiting soon.  😀

 

FRIDAY!!!!!  Friday Friday Friday Friday!   YEAH!

Ok… one more…. Friday!  😛

I went to the 5:45 am Group Power Class with my friend Wendy.  At this point I am not sure which of us is crazier… she who is now on her way to work until 7 pm tonight, or me who needed to come home, get ready for a breakfast date at 9 am and packing to leave town right after a quick stop at the library after breakfast.

I am itchin’ for spring and for activity and I think I am finally starting to see things coming up that are exciting!  In three weeks (oh man… it may be less now) I am in for the Polar Plunge is Edina Minnesota for Special Olympics.  I have never done this before… but enjoy adventure.  Although today is currently -4 for a temp so really thinking more and more about that icy water.

Then – yesterday a group of my friends were planning a girls weekend that I thought at first I would not be able to attend as they had picked a weekend I had other commitments… and then – the email came and the date has changed and I am in!!!  IN!!!! AND we are seeing Rick Springfield in concert which is oh so 80’s of me… but that’s the way I roll.

May 1 is the first Minnesota bike ride of the year and my friends Amy and Wendy are committed to doing this with me and I am super uber pumped to do this ride -and hopefully this year the weather is nice enough for us to do the 75 or 100 mile route instead of the 30 due to poor weather the last two years.

And the end of May – is BEA.

And from there – spring and summer means bike rides and a garden and apparently a run this year that still freaks me out a bit but…. I feel I need to do things now because some day I might not want to.  🙂

 

This weekend, well today actually I am going to our cabin up North for the first time since November.  I am taking time to get away and write.  I will be back on Sunday.  Posts will still go up as I should have internet when I go out for coffee at a cafe in Silver Bay.  A 3 hour drive each way means lots of audio time too… and I am thinking about a stop at Barnes and Noble in Duluth…. just because. 😀

Oh and yes, I have a winner from the Literary Blog Hop.  My winner using random.org is:  Amy from The House Of Seven Tails.   She chose The Things They Carried by Tim O’ Brien.  Congratulations Amy!

Have a fabulous day!

 

Good morning.

I feel….

restless.

I have many things bouncing around my head … things I need to do, things I want to do, things I am considering… I work today – have breakfast with friends tomorrow morning and if (IF) all goes as planned I am heading out-of-town after that tomorrow to our cabin for a weekend of writing and just getting out of Dodge…. errr…. Brainerd.  😛

As wired up as I am right now… watch me forget something important like … my notes.

I have no idea why this is in my head right now…. but I am thinking of an episode of friends about a book they were ready.  For the record – I used to really love the Friends episodes.

(Yes…. sorry I guess you have to watch it on you tube)

Well.. for me all book discussions in sit coms are pretty funny…

Ok so I am off to start my day and while my plate if FULL FULL FULL… tomorrow…. is not.  Tomorrow kicks off to a weekend of….

possibilities.  😀

Have a super day everyone – don’t let anyone take your wind!  😀

(wow…. that was cheesy…. I really do need a break.  :shock:)

😀