Its no secret here that I love the back deck to our house. This time of year it is my FAVORITE “room”. This morning is gorgeous as it has been for a while now and I like to get up as the sun in barely coming up, grab my coffee cup and stand on the deck listening to the earth awaken.
I sometimes wish I was out on that deck, which faces away from the road and is quite secluded…. I wish that I would be out there in the morning doing yoga or pilates…. striking a warrior pose and preparing mentally for my day….. stretching, maybe doing a short run around the property….
but uhhh…. yeah, wishes and all that – I am not that girl. 😛
Good morning! Another gorgeous day here in Minnesota and I am excited to get out in it! 😀 This past seven days have been a whirlwind of activity and if you have been around at all this past week you have heard some of this but I thought for Alyce’s Saturday Snapshot I would give you a peek into my “Seven Days Of Past” so you can see why I have not popped into blogs or had much of an online presence….
Last Thursday – Saturday evening I went to our cabin up North with my friend Heidi.
Shopping on the North Shore
My first “really bad for me food but oh so good” after the 16 day cleanse
My first non water drink in 16 days after the cleanse….. Reward!!! 🙂
Lake Superior!
The band we listened to Friday night… Psycho Jane…. and they were really good!
Then I went to The Minnesota State Fair Grounds on Sunday and met my college son Justin and a few friends and we participated in the color run.
Look how lovely we are…. all clean and white….
During….
Justin and IAfter!
Then I came home and we had a family get together to hang out with Brad, Navy son who was going back to the Navy.
The fam: Left – Justin, Brad, Me, and Al.
On Monday, we rescued and adopted an abused puppy…. meet Mater, 18 weeks old, part Basset Hound and part Beagle.
Mater – welcome to the family!Sam and Mater playing on both sides of the sliding glass door.
Tuesday I was in an 12 hour meeting… no kidding, 9:30 am – 9:30 pm.
Wednesday I worked, had a meeting, and it was my anniversary!
Thursday – first day I have had nothing in the evening in over a week….. hung out at home with the pups. 😀
Friday garage sales, lawn mowing, an open house, and finally at 8 pm…. home.
Today – I need to do some shopping for tomorrows picnic for 300, help out at IHN tonight (working with the homeless)
Sunday – church picnic and tear down of IHN and move to the next church. I hope to be completely done with all tasks and commitments by 3 pm.
And that…. Sunday afternoon, will end my craziness for a while *whew* 😀
For other fun pictures and happenings, be sure to go check out Alyce’s Saturday Snapshots post. Always a good time!
Good morning! Popping in for a few minutes before I go garage saling this morning (which I LOVE!). I love to find a good deal. A couple of weeks ago I found covers for my deck chairs which was a huge score and I use them all the time. 😀
However before I plunge myself in to sale mode… we have a few winners from the Rebecca Read a Long. And seriously, how awesome was this book? I loved the discussion and think for the most part, we were all glad we read it. 😀 I still need to post my review….. behind, behind, behind….. 😛
The winner of the new copy of My Cousin Rachel by Daphne Du Mairer is….
Thank you everyone for another great book discussion. I will post soon suggestions for our next read-a-long…. I am trying to keep the reads relevant to the time of year so I am thinking Summer….. 😀
Good morning! Wow! Look at me, posting consistently four in a row…..LOL. Working on getting my mojo back or something like that. 😀
I am sitting here this morning and I was looking at my side bar longingly at Yes! Chef. I seriously thought I would have that book read and reviewed weeks ago. I love it, I really do but when was the last time I picked it up? Ummmm…. over last weekend while I was at the cabin. How many pages did I read then? Oh, about 3. 😯
But – that is what life has been like as of late – the cabin weekend was full of activity and we were on the road early, and back late…. exhausted but chatty… we could talk, but I could not read. And then the Color Run with College Son, and Brad (Navy Son) home for two weeks which meant family dinners, and friends, and company…. 😯
Left: Justin, Brad, me, and Al)
and then Monday we adopted Mater, who is adorable…. don’t get me wrong…. but a handful like I did not imagine. I have never owned a part beagle/ part basset hound before and he is high energy. And he is barky (my word). When he plays, he barks, and in the night-time I put him in a kennel in our entry way as that is what he is used to…. he barks. AND his teeth are sharp so playing with him is not like playing with Sam or Bailey. So…. anyhoo, I have work to do with the rescue puppy.
Mater and Sam watching Mater.
AND we are serving with IHN this week (the homeless) so I am juggling volunteers and “opportunities” that tend to arise… AND this coming Sunday is our annual church picnic which falls quite a bit on me.
So by now, you may be seeing why I have not had time to pick up a book, or chat away with all of you on-line (which I LOVE to do!)
I do see a light (I think) at the end of the tunnel. I took Monday and Tuesday off next week to recoup. That should give me time to rest up, play with the dog and oh…. READ. Books…. how I miss you! 😀
Whats happening in your July? Plenty of reading being done or is summer a distraction for you as well? 😀
Good Morning! It’s so nice to be back to my regular routine, sitting here in the morning with you, coffee cup to my right…. yes, that’s right… the CUP is back.
Many of you know I took that 16 day cleanse and gave up coffee during that time as well as many other things, but COFFEE would be a big one for me. It actually wasn’t that bad and I am not back on it like I once was, but a cup or two a day seems to work out just fine. Some days, it is still none. 😀
AND this morning…. I did need some coffee. Yesterday really was a 12 hour meeting day and I drove home about 9:55 pm. This morning… I look and feel a little like a warmed over bagel. With hair. A bagel with hair. Yup… that describes me. I cant see it here in the dining room… but I can feel that my hair is everywhere.
Now…. about Rebecca. Yesterday many of us were on schedule to have our “Party with Rebecca” here at Book Journey. Now… as much as I would like to blame Rebecca and say that she did not show up to her own party…. that responsibility would be solely on me. I am the one who dropped that ball.
Since my post was not 100% ready to go yesterday when I left the house at 6:30 am, I knew I would have a little time between my check in with our IHN team, and my 9:30 meeting so I took Laptop with me to Starbucks at 8:30, fully ready to finish my post and schedule it. Except…. I had no internet at Starbucks. 😯
I tried for 40 minutes to get on-line, talked to the people who worked there, they didn’t know what was going on either. AND since like I said earlier, my meeting was 12 hours…. Rebecca’s party was postponed and I could not even let you all know. SO…. that all said, Rebecca will party with us today so if you were part of the read-a-long, please join me in a discussion of the book, and whatever we want to discuss about Rebecca. 😀
Today should be my first not too over the top day in almost a week. While I do have a meeting tonight, it should not be super long and I should get home at a decent hour, which will be nice. Thursday and Friday will be better yet, no evening meetings and Friday I do not even have to work….. WOO HOO!!!!! I can see the light!
Good morning! It has been one crazy weekend and my online presence has been minimal. Having a laptop would have been…..
awkward. 😀
From Thursday to Sunday afternoon I put 800 miles on my Jeep between the North Shore and the Gunflint Trail…
This is my first non water drink in 16 days!!!! (I was doing the cleanse)
And… the results of the Silver Bay book sale 🙂
Then on Sunday I took off the other direction from my home and went to The Cities to the Minnesota State Fairgrounds where I participated with friends and my son, in the Color Run…
Justin and I before the run
And shortly after…
In other news, our book club last week chose out October Classic to be The Wizard Of Oz, so I was uber thrilled to find out that they are making a prequel to The Wizard Of Oz. Have you heard this? I am soooo excited. Here is the trailer:
I have to go get ready, I have some finishing touches to put on a post for later today and I have a 12 hour meeting today – I kid you not. 12 hours. 😯 I will be home around 9 pm tonight.
Hi! I have been missing in action this weekend and am home for the night, on my laptop for the first time in days and thought I would say “Heeeey-eyyyy” while I could. 😀
I went to our cabin this weekend with my friend Heidi and we had a blast hanging out on the Gunflint Trail and seeing a band called Psycho Jane, which has AWESOME. Saturday morning we went to the Silver Bay Book sale, and then came home. Now I leave this morning (EARLY) to drive to the cities to hang out with my son and friends at the Color Run. Yes, I can not wait to participate in this event.
So…. before I head out the door… here is a sample of the color run:
I would normally sip coffee here but I am currently 16 days without it. What a rock star am I!
Lately it seems I have hardly been on-line…. and if I do try to spend a little time writing reviews my mind wanders and I wind up checking Facebook, or seeing what is up on twitter.
It is suddenly like I have the attention span of a two-year old. 😛
I keep reminding myself that I used to be so good at this! I would write reviews as soon as I finished the book! I commented on every comment to me and on all the blogs as well. Now I look back and think “How did I ever do that?”
So for the record I wanted to let you all know I blame summer…. which is my FAVORITE time of year. And because I love her so, she is also the biggest time suck because honestly when not working, I want to ride bike, I want to sit on my deck and read, I want to mow my lawn and listen to audio, play in my flower beds, invite people over and grill, go to the cabin as frequently as possible….
because my friends, Winter in Minnesota is waaaaaay tooo long.
Starting today my near future looks like this:
Tonight leave for Cabin until Saturday afternoon
Saturday afternoon – but all the items for out homeless serving week which starts Sunday and prep space
Sunday – drive to cities and meet College son to do the color run which raises money for homeless
Sunday late afternoon, Navy son’s last dinner with us before he returns to Florida
Monday – work and then stay over night for my serving time with homeless
Tuesday – an all day meeting. Seriously 9 am – 9 pm
Wed – Thurs – work
Friday – garage sale and redo my flower beds with help from friends
Saturday – help clean where we are working with homeless and buy all items for Church Picnic (I am in charge of)
Sunday – continue cleaning in morning of homeless rooms and then prep church picnic by 10 am
Monday – Tuesday – off to recoup
Wed – Thurs – work
Fri – leave for cabin with friends for weekend
Aug 4 and 5 – 150 mile bike ride, two days gone
Aug 10-11 Wisconsin Mud Run
Aug 16 – Brd Library sale!
Aug 18 – Tour De Pines bike ride
Aug 29 – Sept 2 Cabin with friends
Today I just wanted to let you know that I miss you all and I do miss visiting blogs as much as I did through May and please know this season will pass and I will have more time eventually.
Later today will be the pics of our recent book club Queen Event. I hope you can pop back in for that one 😀
Good morning! I did not mean to start with that picture but half asleep this morning… I guess that is what I did and I am leaving it. 🙂
Last night was our Annual Queen Event for our Book Club. Once a year we dress in formal wear and get together for a potluck and book sharing experience. We discussed what we read this past month which was fun because for one, we do not assign a book to read as a group in July, and for two, some of us did do that book exchange last month which turned out fantastic, almost everybody loved the book that another Bookie picked out for them so that was pretty cool.
A big part of our annual event is choosing a New Queen. This is a tradition started 6 years ago now (wow!) where we dress up and all make a bid for Queen of the Bookies for one year… it’s a lot of fun, we sing, we do whatever, and then we vote. The Queen takes care of all book ties (if we can not decide on what to read next) and she decides where we will meet the next month.
She also becomes the proud owner for a year of the scepter, the crown – and the royal throne which is a toilet that I found many years ago when our local State Hospital shut down and I cleaned it up painted it, and now all past Queens have signed it.
We had a blast but it started at 6 pm and we left her house at 9:30. SO much fun! I have many more pics but got home late and need to get ready for work so will post them soon.
In other notes, I feel like I have not been around much. Summer is definitely upon us and I feel like I am flying in a hundred different directions. Tonight after work I am hoping to catch a bike ride, I think there is a chance we may be rescuing another dog (another story), I need to pack and get ready for tomorrow after work when I leave until Saturday with my friend Heidi to our cabin. And I am pretty sure I am not going to take laptop with me because we do not have internet access there anyway.
Tonight I need to sit down and get my posts written up for while I am away. I am just starting to listen to Looking For Alaska by John Green and reading The Crying Game which turns out to also be our Book Club pick for August!
Hows your July going? Big plans? Enjoying your weather? What book is in your hand right now?
Good morning everyone!!! Day 14 today of my cleanse and I am feeling good – definitely notice a difference. I am waking up earlier and I don’t think I am as tired. I added chicken and fish in to my diet on day 10, and even that was no big deal. Coffee…. I miss a little bit but I am going off the cleanse Thursday evening when my friend Heidi and I are going to our cabin for a couple of days for the Beaver Bay Days celebration in Beaver Bay and Silver Bay Minnesota. (It’s tradition – and the have a book sale!)
I was just on Twitter this morning and seen a conversation going that said the Book Expo for 2013 dates had changed. I for one, am thrilled – that means that I do not come right back from New York and go right into the MS 150 bike ride. I will actually have a week in between which is sweet! It does however wind up smack in the middle of Memorial Day Weekend, but if I remember right, before this year it did too.
In other awesome fun news…. it is the Bookies Queen Event tonight. SSSQQQQQUUUEEEEEE!!!! This is our yearly book club event where we dress up in formal wear and give speeches and songs or whatever to put our bid in for Queen of The Bookies.
Why? A silly little thing we picked up 6 years ago from a book we read called Same Sweet Girls by Cassandra King. It was supposed to be a one year thing but it became a tradition and we really get into it, finding dresses at sales or second-hand stores. I am hoping the dress I found is ready today, I found it at a second-hand store and it had a faulty zipper but I have it in the shop now so we will see. 😀 If that one does not make deadline, I have a back up. (A lady in waiting is always prepared!) Pics will be available tomorrow, in the meantime here are the links to the past couple of years:
Book Journey 