Category: Meanderings

Morning Meanderings… BEA (Book Expo of America) Countdown

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)29 Comments

Good morning!

BEA is less that two weeks away and while it seemed to take FOREVER to get here… now I am all like really, two weeks???   Actually, two weeks from today I will be on the last day of the Expo.  I am flying to New York on Sunday June 3, and returning to Minnesota on June 8th and going right into the MS 150 bike ride on the 8th – 10th and then back home here to Brainerd.

Crazy and exciting!

Two years ago when I first went to BEA it felt like there was more of a buzz around the internet about it.  I remember a group of bloggers all wrote posts about BEA – what to expect, what to make sure you do, what to wear…  I ate those posts up.  I remember sitting with my laptop and a pen and paper handy.  Every tip (bring your own bottled water and snacks to the Javitz) I captured on paper (wear comfortable shoes). Those tips were invaluable to me.

Last year I wrote such a post, and this year – hopefully at some point over the next few days, I plan to write one again.  That first year I was a nervous wreck.  I had never been to New York before, I had never met my roommate Reagan Remmers (Miss Remmers Reviews)… we had just connected through our blogs and emails because we were both from Minnesota.  My friends thought I was nuts to go and stay with people in a hotel room that I had never met.  They said things like “What if Bobbi from Bookish Adventures is actually a big hairy dude?”  Ok ok… they didn’t exactly go that far…. but I did have my fears… 😛

Anyhoo…. are you going to BEA this year?  I would love to meet you if you are – and I would love to meet up with you again if we have already met.  The hanging out with fellow book lovers is a huge part of my love for this event.  😀

Morning Meanderings and A Giveaway you will not want to miss!!!

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)58 Comments

Good morning and happy Wednesday! 

Looks like it will be a rainy gloomy day here today – sky is hazy gray….

I wanted to announce that I have a new giveaway!  I reviewed The Chaperone by Laura Moriarty last week and so enjoyed it!  Now I have been told that I can offer a SIGNED copy here of The Chaperone – and that my friends is SSSQQQUUUEEEEE worthy!  😀

Here is what is being said about The Chaperone:

  • “It’s impossible not to be completely drawn in by The Chaperone. Laura Moriarty has delivered the richest and realest possible heroine in Cora Carlisle, a Wichita housewife who has her mind and heart blown wide open, and steps–with uncommon courage–into the fullness of her life. What a beautiful book. I loved every page.”–Paula McLain, author of The Paris Wife

  • “What a charming, mesmerizing, transporting novel! The characters are so fully realized that I felt I was right there alongside them. A beautiful clarity marks both the style and structure of The Chaperone.”–Sena Jeter Naslund, author of Ahab’s Wife and Adam & Eve

  • “The Chaperone is the best kind of historical fiction, transporting you to another time and place, but even more importantly delivering a poignant story about people so real, you’ll miss and remember them long after you close the book.”–Jenna Blum, author of Those Who Save Us and The Stormchasers

  • “THE CHAPERONE is the enthralling story of two women… In this layered and inventive story, Moriarty raises profound questions about family, sexuality, history, and whether it is luck or will – or a combination of the two – that makes for a wonderful life.”  –O, the Oprah Magazine

  • “A fun romp” –Good Housekeeping

  • Laura’s fanpage

SO what to do to enter…..

1.  Leave a comment here telling me when you were a teen, what your “Big Dream” was for your life.  If you are a teen, share what the dream is for your life.  😀

2.  Leave a comment on my review of The Chaperone, and if you already have just let me know here. 

That’s it.  I will draw a winner on the last day of May!

 

Have a super day – I am at work, and hopefully a workout and a meeting tonight….but this ends my evening commitments for the week and I am THRILLED about that.  😀

Morning Meanderings… Events the past couple of weeks

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)46 Comments

Good morning!  Happy Saturday!  😀 

The past two weekends I have had bike rides, and in honor of Alyce’s Saturday Snapshots I thought I would post a few pics I took from these rides.

This is us pulling into the Ironman bike ride on May 6th. The weather was a bit gloomy….

 

The first thing we have to do is go in and let registration know we are there, get out wrist band and then we are free to ride. This ride was a 17,30,50,68, or 100 mile ride

 

Myself (left) and my friend Amy prior to the ride.

 

I let Amy choose what route we would take – the weather was supposed to storm all day. she chose: 50!

 

At the lunch stop we could gather around this little baby…. I love it! It looks like a cauldron and makes me think of Harry Potter!

 

We finished that 50 mile ride without a drop of rain on us.  No idea how that happened – we just missed it. 😀 

 

Then last Saturday I drove to meet us with my MS team for a 50 mile ride in the Cities.  This time the weather was awesome!

These are the girls I rode with: Me (Left), Belinda, Sheila, and Diane

 

One of the pit stops on this ride

 

I did not take a whole lot of pics on this ride -f or some reason when I rode I felt awful – I ached, my neck, my legs, my arms…. the total opposite of the weekend before when I felt great.  A friend (ex -friend) of mine said, “Well Sheila, as we get older our body does not recover as quickly….”

*fingers in ears*  LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA

LOL.  So that is what I have been doing these past two weekends when not enjoying a good book.  😀 

 

This weekend, my College Son and I are heading up to our cabin on the North Shore.  We are both looking forward to this.  It is about a 3 and 1/2 drive from our home. but we will stop in Duluth for lunch, maybe Barnes and Noble… and then continue on up. We are planning some biking, hiking, board games, movies…  and we are not coming back until Monday afternoon. 😀 

 

Stop over to Alyce’s At Home With Books and see what everyone else is posting for Saturday Snapshot!  😀

I do have posts prepped…. so please stop and see me – I will totally catch up with ya all early next week 😀

Morning Meanderings… Ladies Night Out Happenings

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)8 Comments

Happy Friday!!!!  Looks like it is going to be a gorgeous day and I can not wait to get in it!  😛

Last Night is what our happy little town calls “Ladies Night”, and it’s actually, from this first time participants perspective – a brilliant idea.

How it works:

Prior to the event you stop at one of the participating businesses to pick up a card that will later be stamped by all the businesses.  Then, between the hours of 3 and 8 pm, you go and visit each of these businesses on this given day – that day was yesterday, and myself, and my friends Amy, Laura, and Kerri all rode together to the 27 stops to get our card stamped.

Many of the stops had additional giveaways you could sign up for, spa packages, gift cards, oil changes, discounts, catering, etc…. and many of the stops had snacks:  hor duerves, cupcakes, cheese, wine, bottled water, pizza, slushies, fresh fruit…

For every stop you go to, you get a stamp and at the end of the event you turn in your card for a ticket per stamp – that ticket then goes into a huge box with the other participants tickets and then this morning, on a local radio station WJJY, at 8:15 they announced the grand prize winners which were for:

A $300 pair of ear rings from EL Menk

A $500 spa package out at Craguns Resort

and the grand prize, $1000.00 cash

Last night was a lot of fun – not only just hanging out and running into these businesses and getting the stamps with friends but there are a couple newer businesses in town that I had not been in before that really caught my eye and I must go back in there.  Honestly, the idea to do this is brilliant – these businesses just brought TONS of women traffic in their door, they usually gave you a gift certificate for a nice percentage off if you come back and purchase within the next couple of weeks… and they have time to shine….

we  were on a deadline so we did not have time to stop and browse and as we discovered that it does actually take quite a bit of time to get around to all these businesses which are stretched out between two towns we made a little list of sort of rules:

1.  No longer when we see people we know do we have time to say hi and chit chat…. just wave and role on by….

2.  No browsing!  No matter what you see!  (We were slowed down by purses, jewelry, chairs and plants that we wanted to know more about….)

3.  And finally, and this one is my bad… no asking the Jewelry store owner if they fix music boxes and getting caught in a conversation!  We are on a deadline people!  😯  😛

SO this morning, I had to sit in my garage and listen to the radio at 8:15 am….  I do not have a radio in my home and I could not figure out how to make it work on line.  😀

None of us won the big prizes.

However, I am sitting here this morning smiling because I had a wonderful time just running around and being silly with three girls who are not only all in my book club…. they are all my friends. 

Today… I have some reading to do and some prep work for weekend posts.  I am thinking maybe a bike ride this afternoon now that I have finally finished the lawn and gardens. 

Morning Meanderings…. Feeling RaNdOm

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)14 Comments

Good morning!  It is Thursday and I really have no one topic in my head but fractured pieces of several.  Bear with me… (bare with me?  No, that doesn’t sound right either….)

 

Last night Bookcloseouts.com emailed me a 50% off audio books sale.  Way to go Book Closeouts… much of my supposed “mowing in the evening” time went to browsing and drooling over great titles that were $7.99 and less…. many around that $4.00 mark.  17 audio books later, I came out the other side.  I averaged less that $5 per audio.  No kidding – check this out.  (And I finished mowing at 9:15 pm, thank you Book Closeouts!)

 

Shelf Awareness posted this morning that the Pooh House is for sale and for several reasons…. I visualized it as mine for a few seconds…  one reason being, how funny it is called the “Pooh” house…. and the looks you would get – HOWEVER it is called the Pooh House because it used to belong to Christopher Robin Milne, son of Winnie the Pooh creator A.A. Milne, and more recently – a Rolling Stone… not a rolling rock, but a rock man… errr, a member of the Rolling Stones.  😛

The “Pooh House”

I picture myself in England, no doubt wearing long flowing dresses and carrying around a cup of tea as I think that is what the English do… with my pinky in the air because I think that is a “must” as well.  Tally ho and all that…. I think that’s what you say…..

 

Tonight after work I get my hair cut (always frightening!) and then I am going on a town walk – a bout thing which sounds a little cheesy but a lot of fun.  A few of my friends and I are participating in a thing where you go to local participating businesses and get your card stamped – some of the businesses will have treats to sample, and drawings, and one person will win $1,000 dollars, announced tomorrow morning on the radio.  My friend Amy was the winner of that $1,000 the first year she participated. 

Sounds just silly enough to be fun.

Have to run – have to work…. have a wonderful day…. our weather has gone from delightful the past three days where I have been busy mowing the lawn and preparing the garden to now – when I have time to be outside…. windy and cold.  GAH….  Hopefully $1,000 will take the edge off the weather…LOL..

hey, a girl can dream can’t she?  😛

Morning Meanderings… Now That is A World Book Day Story!

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)13 Comments

Good morning and happy Wednesday!  😀  Truly how did I forget that spring is so much work?  Every spare moment I have I am cleaning the deck, assembling lawn furniture, pulling weeds, redoing my hosta beds, mowing the lawn, planting…. and then looking around thinking, “I should really sweep out the garage, I should clean up that storage space, hmmmm…. can I make the yard scrabble board I found on pinterest?”

Ok Ok… that is not what I planned on chatting about this morning so let me just pack away “complaining about the to do’s Sheila” and bring out “I could do a back flip that is so exciting Sheila”….

Oh good… here I am…

SO, last week I mentioned that I had one copy left of the World Book Day book, Hunger Games.  AND I knew where I wanted it to go, to Greg who works in the same building I do and who I figured was a prime candidate when we had a conversation about a month ago about the Hunger Games movie that went something like this:

Greg:  So, do you know anything about that movie Hunger Games?

Me:  Uhhh… YEAH!  I seen it opening night and it was fantastic! 

Greg:  Well, isn’t it about kids killing kids?

Me:  Now Greg, you say that like it is a bad thing…. (LOL, ok that’s not what I really said… let’s try this again…. 😛 )

Me (take II):  It is hard to explain, it’s a book I never thought I would read but if you can say it is done well and tastefully… it really is an amazing read.

Greg:  I don’t know… I will probably pass on it or wait for it to come out in DVD.

(Flash forward to last week when I brought him the final copy I had and offered him to read the book and asked him to put on the mask he wears when he is working at his stained glass business…. because, like I said in last weeks post… that’s just good Hunger Games humor.)

So now I bring you to present time… well, yesterday afternoon to be precise….

Scene:  Greg comes up into the office I work in….

Greg:  You ruined my weekend.

Me:  Wha????

Greg:  I could not put that book down.  At first I thought it was so strange but then…

Me:  Prim?

Greg:  Yes!  Wow, and ….

Me:  Rue?

Greg:  Yes!  Wow when she ……………………………………….. (I wont say here in case anyone has not read the book/seen the movie)

Me:  I know, right?

Greg:  I will be finishing it later today.

Me:  So, do you want me to bring in Catching Fire and Mockingjay for you to finish out the series?

Greg:  That’s what I came in here to ask you.

Me:  😛

So yeah – that is a World Book Day WIN!  I have the books packed up to go into work with me today where I am sure I will have a discussion with Greg about the ending of Hunger Games.  😀  I love book wins, and Hunger Games has been one I have recommended over and over again to reluctant readers and seen them come out the other side of the book with a “WOW!”  😀

Anyhoo… Wednesday… work, finish up the lawn this afternoon, work with the teens later tonight and then maybe try to finish up my hosta garden. 

How about you whats happening on Wednesday?  Books?  Gardens?  The ever growing lawn?

Morning Meanderings… Christening The New Chair By Book

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)43 Comments

Good morning, happy Tuesday and all that.  Looks like it will be another beautiful day here in Minnesota.  Yesterday was fantastic – hot, with a little breeze….

and I sat in my new Mother’s Day Chair. 

 

There it is!  On the back deck, ready for me!

And every good chair needs a good book to be part of its maiden voyage (yeah I am stretching it here, but I am on a role…. 😛 ) and that said…

Myself, and Insurgent were on that chairs maiden voyage on the deck.  Yesterday afternoon I basked in my favorite time of year with my favorite pastime….

Today, I work, I ride bike, I mow the lawn…. the last two while listening to audio.

Have you spent any reading time outdoors yet?  if so, what book(s) have been part of your Spring 2012?

Morning Meanderings… Sunday Salon Style

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)35 Comments

Good morning and Happy Mother’s Day! 

It is a lovely day here today in Central Minnesota.  I have a few commitments this morning, think hubby and I are joining some friends later for a motorcycle ride, and later yet… a road trip to hopefully pick up the chair I posted earlier this week as my hopeful Mothers Day gift  (*fingers crossed!) 

I did have some books enter the house this past week:

Some great reading here!  AND on top are a couple of audio and I have already dug into Come Home. 

Then this past Friday I went to garage sales which I have not done in probably over  a year – mainly because I used to always look for books and I have no need of doing that anymore between the review books, books i purchase, and Library sales… HOWEVER, I have a friend who RAVES (” a brand new crock pot, still in the box $5!  One of those buffet things I have always wanted!  A set of dishes that int he store would go for hundreds of dollars, I got it for $15!) about her finds and so…. I caved… and then this happened:

This is why I can’t go to garage sales.  It was a large church sale.  I was minding my own business, wandering through nick nacks, shoes, blankets…. alas over to the books just to see if they had any treasures….

I love Claire Cook, had to grad that one.  I read Pamela Morsi a long time ago and found her hilarious, better grab that one, I have The Help in hard cover, but what if I want one to loan out so grabbed that one, I have a copy of Mrs. Kimble, but I think it will be good when I review it so I can do a giveaway now too, Small Island – new to me, Thirteenth tale I have in hard cover, and Bel Canto I have always wanted to read – I already have, but again… what if it would make a good giveaway.

See my problem?  😯

This week should be a nice one for me, not too heavily overloaded.  Now that the weather is getting nice I am getting selfish about evening meetings and commitments, I want to garden, I want to ride bike, I want to read on the deck in the new (ahem) chair, I want to be outside!!! 😀  Next weekend I will get to go to the cabin with College son.  I can not wait!

How about you?  Any plans for today?  For this week?

Morning Meanderings… Spending Time With BEES

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)53 Comments

Good morning.  😀

By the time you read this I should be on my way to the cities to join my friends for a bike ride this morning for MS.  I left town at 5 am, and the ride starts at 8 am. 

Last Saturday I had the wonderful opportunity to go and hang out with my friend Amanda who has just started Bee Keeping with her husband.  I can not lie, once I seen her in that bee- outfit… I knew I had to go and check this out.  Lucky for me, she understood my crazy thirst for knowledge and invited me into the hive…

literally.  😛

The had just bought more bees and would be moving them into their new homes.  I came over to help. 

This is a picture of me (left) and Amanda (right).  There are the bees they had just purchased.  They had bought four of these boxes and we were going to place two of them in their new homes.  Amanda says each box contains around 10,000 bees.

SSSQQQUUUEEE!!!!

This is the boxes that the bees will be placed in. I am sure there is a better name than “boxes” I just do not know it… 😀  The smoker thing in the background helps to mellow the bees as soon we will be letting them out of the boxes you seen in the first picture and dumping them in their new homes. 

Inside the boxes are these slats where the bees will make the honey.  The section to the front with the two holes is for a liquid we pour in that the bees will drink and it keeps then from getting ill or infected by mites and dying.  (I hope I am remembering this right).  This is a new unused bee box, that is why it looks so clean.

 

In each of those boxes you seen in the first picture is a Queen in her own little box.  Crazy right?  She has to be protected at all cost.  Amanda here will now replace the wooden cork in the end of this little box with marshmallow.  Yup, you read that right.  Then, once placed in her new home… in about three days the worker bees will eat the marshmallow enough to set her free among them.  All hail the Queen!

 

After Amanda and I thoroughly spray the bee boxes with a sugar water that makes it hard for them to fly… we pour them into their new home. 

 

After the bees are in the box, Amanda carefully replaced the slots where they will go to work making the honey!

Just playing with the camera… I feel like an Oompa Loompa.  😀

 

Before the lid goes back on this big hunk of food goes on top and I can not remember what it is called.  😀  This will feed the worker bees, who in turn feed the Queen for the next several weeks.  When the weather warms up the bees will produce their own food.

 

This is one of the bee homes that they started several weeks ago… you can see on the central grids that work is being done. 

 

 

Amanda says that every few weeks you need to check these for a couple of things.  1.  You want to remove these little sacks you find on them which I am told is the worker bees making a new Queen.  Rude right?  Apparently if the bees feels that the hive is too full they will attempt to create another Queen and then take the existing Queen and leave the hive to make a new one.  By scraping off these sacks you are assisting in preventing that.

2.  She checks for the Queen.  You want to make sure she is within the box somewhere.  This is easier said than done.  As the bees fill up these grids, another box of grids is added to the existing one on top.  Amanda says by August (harvest time) the boxes should be stacked so tall she will need a step-ladder to get into them.  Currently these older homes have only two stacked so not too deep… still, we are looking for a single Queen bee among the 10,000.  😯

How do you pick out the Queen?  She is larger and longer than the others, has longer wings and is more of a buttercup coloring .

Looking for the Queen….

The experience was incredible.  I was not nervous at all.  When we started working with the older bee homes they were more aggressive, not liking to be disturbed.  Several went for my face mask, which was kid of like 3D as they hit the mask in “attack” mode.  Before we left the area we had to wipe each others outfits down, Amanda said I was covered with bees. 

That is my contribution to this weeks Saturday Snapshot.  Stop on over and see Alyce at At Home With Books to see what others are taking pictures of around the world. 😀

Morning Meanderings… The Last World Book Day Book

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)9 Comments

Good morning! 

It’s Friday!  *insert dance here*

In the office I work in, downstairs there is a business called Shining Light Studio.  Greg Rosenberg works with stained glass and if you check out the link to his site, you will see that amazing things he creates. 

A few weeks ago he and I were discussing the Hunger Games Movie.  Greg wanted to know what the movie was about having heard a few rumbles about it and I of course, was all too ready and eager to gush about The Hunger Games.

Flash forward to World Book Day and my book I was handing out was indeed Hunger Games.  I was thrilled of course to give out this great read but knew I wanted to get one in Greg’s hands and get him reading this book…

I had a request though…. 😀

This week, I finally had time to connect with Greg again and brought him the book.  My request had been that he wear the mask that he does when he is working with the glass and chemicals because for some reason I find that to be very, “Hunger Gamesish”

He obliged. 


Thanks Greg!  Enjoy the book!

 

As for today – I am actually going garage sailing.  I know… freaks me out a bit too!  I have not gone in over a year, but a friend has been gushing about her finds lately and this used to be something I loved to do so thought I would hit a few this morning.  😀

I will be back here later to put up my book review and work on a couple of things for tomorrow.  😀