SO something unusual happened after I posted my Monday What Are You Reading post on Sunday evening.
I did not log on to Asus (Laptop) at all yesterday.
😯
Truth is, I can’t remember the last time that has happened unless I was at the cabin for a weekend – separated from laptop by miles and miles of road and trees and the occasional moose….
but no…
I just got up yesterday morning…. got ready for work…. worked until 3:45, picked up food for the IHN Group we are serving, dropped chicken off at my home for hubby when he got off work, picked people up to take to the church we were serving the dinner at, helped with dinner and home around 7:30 pm.
I looked at laptop and proceeded to finish reading Cinder instead…. which, was…..
well…. my review will be up tomorrow. 😀
I need to go…. promise I will be better going forward this week 😀
I dreamt weird last night. At one point I was at an orphanage and I thought I was adopting a baby… turns out it was an 8-year-old girl. The adoption cost was $800 dollars and I did not have any money on me so I had to borrow from a friend. At some point in the dream my 8-year-old girl turned into a boy (age unknown) but I can see him in my mind. In my dream world, I did not know – or did not care that the child had been swapped out.
In the end I remember talking to a real life friend (in my dream) who apparently had been taking care of my adopted child. I explained that I was going to ease the child into my home by Wednesday, but wanted to take it slow. My friend agreed that was a good process. Then I woke up. I have no idea what that was about…..
Here we are on Sunday. My Navy son is flying back to Florida today…. I set up for serving IHN this morning (it is my teams week to serve with the homeless) and things are looking pretty ok moving forward. I say ok as this is the week I start working full-time (tomorrow) and with IHN also this week, plus throw in a Wednesday meeting, and hopefully close to daily work outs… I proceed with caution that I do not try to stretch myself too thin.
I really do believe this week will be fine. I have wonderful volunteers working with me and I don’t foresee anything real stressful…. 😀
So how is your January coming? I can’t believe we are sitting on the 22nd already today. That’s just wild! For me I think I am doing well, I don’t have an exact count at this moment, but have had some great audio time (the cold weather has kept me inside) and the weather helps my book reading too.
This morning I found this Reading/Audio Spreadsheet that looks SO COOL! I haven’t had any time to fill anything in yet as well…. I just got up and found it like ten minutes ago, and I am going to church in um….. 23 minutes. 😀 But when I get home… I plan to fill in what I know so far this year and see what happens. (Kind of excited about that!) I didn’t really set and goals for myself this year along book counts or audio minutes… I just like to see where I land 😀
How about you? Is your reading in January a good month for you – or no? Have you set up and ways of tracking what you read this year (or are you like me last year and do a massive count the last week of December?)
Good morning! It’s been awhile but today is a true day off! Meaning…. no big “to do’s” other than the things I chose to do 😀 And that – is exciting.
My plan today is stay curled up in this blanket for the next 30 to 45 minutes and write this post here… and one for Team Kickin It as well. Then I am going to get ready to go to a Zumba Class with my friend Amanda.
After that I need to pick up some dinner items as we are having a special dinner tonight for Navy son as this is his last night here before he goes back to Florida tomorrow. I know he is sad to go back, but I am thinking he has to miss the nicer weather. (Minnesota has become COLD!)
I also want to pick up a couple of movies on books I have finished recently – Winter Bone and Into The Wild. Tonight… I may just movie up… I haven’t watched a movie in quite a while.
I do have a few pics to post today from the last week for Saturday Snapshots from Alyce’s Home With Books.
Brad (Navy Son and I)Al (Hubby) and Brad (Navy Son)Justin (College Son) and Brad (Navy Son)
Last weekend was the first time the four of us were all together since Christmas 2010. Brad’s schedule has been crazy since he has been home, visiting friends, catching up, and during the week days helping at the Recruiting Office. We had Christmas with Brad and then all went out to dinner.
Then… on Thursday of this week my four female cousins and I went out to dinner. My cousin Cheryl started putting this together and it is nice as we didn’t even hang out like this when we were kids.
Left: Cheryl, Leslie, Lorri, Joyell, and me
It was an awful picture…LOL, but we will work on it. We have plans in March so hopefully we will not all be lined up against a wall in a diner… 😛I really wanted to capture a pic of us all together because it is rare, and I know how important pictures can be.
Have a great day! I am off to get ready for the gym! Zumba here I come!!!
Note to Alyce: I am not sure if my comments are showing up at At Home With Books. I commented yesterday on your I’m Back post and today on the Saturday Snapshot one as well. 🙂 When I comment it takes me to a blank page.
This is my first working Friday as my co-worker went on maternity leave yesterday so I will bump up to full-time while she is away. It’s a good thing as normally I am 25 hours a week and this “bump” is going to pay for me to go to BEA this year. 😀
When I came home yesterday afternoon to get ready to go to dinner with my cousins, I seen two small boxes sitting on my front deck. Book size boxes always excites me so I quickly parked in the garage and hauled in the stuff from my car….
and then grabbed the boxes.
There were two books that I had recently ordered due to blog reviews and gushing….. and well, yeah….
I pre ordered this one when I seen it hmmmmm….. on Vasilly’s post first I think? Now I can’t recall…..
and then…. after seeing the buzz around the debut authors of 2012, I had to jump on the book wagon and also ordered this:
Love the look and sound of this one….
and then – one I have not picked up yet but one day….
(LOL) is…..
Thank you to April at Good Books and Wine to put this book on my radar…. and now…. the heart wants… what the heart wants. 😀
And then as I see I am pushing my time here, Trish at Love, Laughter and a Touch Of Insanity wrote this fun post about how to know you are book obsessed. Now really, I am linking this not for me…. as of course I AM FINE and not obsessed with books at all, but I worry about all of you and think maybe you should check it out. Seriously…. find help…. I worry about you. It’s you who has the problem with books…. not me. 😛
My day yesterday was well…. AWESOME! But long…. BUT AWESOME! But yeah… I am a bit groggy this morning… We had a large meeting I was in charge of setting up last night and it was a lot of prep work… a lot of planning…. and I worked 12 hours yesterday to make it happen….. but it did, and it was fun… and there was cake (but I didnt eat any)… 😛
Yesterday I had posted about the SOPA/PIPA thing coming down the pipe and what that could mean for our little corners of the world. I am believing it is not going to affect us Book Bloggers much but I can see why people are in an uproar about it.
This morning I received this encouraging note:
Google launched a petition. Wikipedia voted to shut itself off. Senators’ websites went down just from the sheer surge of voters trying to write them. NYC and SF geeks had protests that packed city blocks.
You made history today: nothing like this has ever happened before. Tech companies and users teamed up. Tens of millions of people who make the internet what it is joined together to defend their freedoms. The free network defended itself. Whatever you call it, the bottom line is clear: from today forward, it will be muchharder to mess up the internet.
The really crazy part? We might even win.
Approaching Monday’s crucial Senate vote there are now 35 Senators publicly opposing PIPA. Last week there were 5. And it just takes just 41 solid “no” votes to permanently stall PIPA (and SOPA) in the Senate. What seemed like miles away a few weeks ago is now within reach.
But don’t trust predictions. The forces behind SOPA & PIPA (mostly movie companies) can make small changes to these bills until they know they have the votes to pass. Members of Congress know SOPA & PIPA are unpopular, but they don’t understand why–so they’re easily duped by superficial changes. The Senate returns next week, and the next few days are critical. Here are two things to think about:
1. Plan on calling your Senator every day next week. Pick up the phone each morning and call your Senators’ offices, until they vote “no” on cloture. If your site participated today, consider running a “Call the Senate” link all next week.
2. Drop in at your Senators’ district offices. We don’t have a cool map widget to show you the offices nearest you (we’re too exhausted! any takers?). So do it the old fashioned way: use Google, or the phonebook to find the address, and just walk in, say you oppose PIPA, and urge the Senator to vote “no” on cloture. These drop-in visits make our spectacular online protests more tangible and credible.
I guess we shall see…
Then I was just reading a new comment on the post I wrote January 8th about Changes In The Book Blogging World and feeling sad about it. Which, now, 11 days later and MANY MANY great comments… I am still sad about those we have lost along the way (the good one’s that is…) but from responses I also am now encouraged as there are many of us still out here that are enjoying what we do…. not attacking each other or authors or publishers, but genuinely having a good time and doing it well. That my friends, is the camp I want to be in. 😀
So is it the end of blogging as we know it? I don’t think so. I think we are going to be just fine.
I made a comment on that post this morning, and as I thought about it I agreed it was how I feel. I like my little planet Book Journey. It’s cozy here…. I have friends who gather here…. and we talk books. Whats not to love? 😛
Have a fabulous day – I am off to work to clean up the destruction fun of last night. I am also picking up a great cup of COFFEE on my way 😀
It’s probably no big surprise with the lifestyle I lead that I don’t get around to watching the news much or getting into any super in-depth on-line “happenings”.
That said… it was not until Tuesday evening when I opened my email that I found out from WordPress about a US legislation that is threatening our internet freedom, apparently including those of us who have personal blogs.
WordPress gave us an option to “go black” today in protest of this, however I am on a book tour today for Wine To Water, otherwise I would have.
What I was able to do was put the ribbon on my blog that you will see in the upper right hand corner. That will remain on Book Journey until January 28th. I am however, taking Team Kickin It, down for the day in support of those working to make a difference in our favor.
Here is what was sent to me from wordpress:
Many websites are blacked out today to protest proposed U.S. legislation that threatens internet freedom: the Stop Internet Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Protect IP Act (PIPA). From personal blogs to Wikipedia, sites all over the web — including this one — are asking you to help stop this dangerous legislation from being passed.
I will be back to respond to comments after 8 pm tonight. I hope everyone has a wonderful day enjoying a GREAT read! 😀
Good morning! Tuesday already? Smoking through the week…. 😀
Hubby and I usually drive to church separately. He almost always heads one direction after church (things to pick up for our business or a job to check on) and me to the grocery store, the gym, or home. Soooo…. this past Sunday I am booking to church at 8:30 am and go in and do not find hubby in our usual spot (don’t ask me why we all have usual spots but I think it is true of all of us… odd… but true).
Anyhoo.. I do not see him. So I pop back out into the hall and call his cell phone asking where he is and is he on his way. I leave a message. I go back in. I scan the room… nada… nothing… no hubster. I go back in the hall… I call again. No answer. I go back in and I sit towards the back, alone… but I am texting. ANGRY texting.
Me: Where are you?
(2 minutes later)
Me: Seriously. You better be on your way!
(3 minutes later)
Me: You are making me angry!
At this point we all stand up for a song and I notice a man who could possibly be my husband sitting on the end of an aisle about ten rows in front of me. (I know… I know… after 24 years you would think I could recognize the man!) As my row is empty except for me, to the beat of the song I sidled down the row until I am behind my friend Sandi. I whisper in her ear, “Sandi, is that my hubby up there?”
To which she replies, “Yes. I was wondering what was going on with you two!”
Well… in my defense he was wearing gray when I seen him in the morning and now it was a reddish sweatshirt. I sidled back to my seat… grab up my stuff and make my way towards him. Once sitting… I lean in and whisper “Just ignore your phone messages when you get them later.”
Holy meltdown batman!
😳
In other news (Yes, I am changing the subject) 😀 My friend and BEA two time roommate Reagan at Miss Remmers Reviews has an interesting little project going on. She is calling it Book Blogger Readers Appreciation Week and I think it is a pretty sweet idea. You can check out her post here, I have already added it to my sidebar, and I will talk about it again as we get closer to the dates of the event. I love things like this that build up the community so way to go Reagan!!!
And last but not least, Tuesday is check in day for Mari at Bookworm with A Views Checkpoint and I have posted my work out week here:
Is this weekend moving fast or what? I had a few free hours yesterday afternoon and today is spotted with activity…. church in the morning… an early afternoon workout…. Floor Hockey starts tonight at 7…
I am basking this morning in the quiet of the house in the en minutes I have here before I need to start moving. Hello COFFEE CUP. 😛
After such an activity this past week I am looking forward to a little book time. I want to finish The Future Of Us today (its good…. real good…) and hope to start on Ellen Degeneres’s Seriously I am Kidding by later afternoon.
Books.
What is it about them that brings us such joy? Is it the escape, is it living in someone else’s world for a while? I don’t know but I absolutely love my time spent in books. AND I get excited when I see others reading as well. College son started reading again and after we celebrated Christmas with Navy son last night, College son found a $25 Amazon gift card laying on his Kindle last night. I know he can’t afford to be spending money on books and I am more than happy to feed that habit. 😀
My friend sent me a video yesterday about books… I thought it was rather cool:
Good morning! Cranking out a post this morning before I head to a meeting…
basically… it has been a week.
Monday was run run run from work, to work out, to pick up diner, to group… home at 8:30 pm
Tuesday was Book Club at my house – so work, grocery shop, cook, clean, BOOKIES!!!, a little bra burning, and house empty at 9 pm
Wednesday Bailey had surgery for a sore he had on his back side…. work, surgery, stayed late at work, volunteer with students, home at 8:30 pm
Thursday was Navy son’s dinner request so work, grocery shop, home, cook, have fun chatting it up with Brad (Navy Son) and Andy (best friend also in Navy) and everyone left to go visit friends at 7:30 pm and I promptly fell asleep on the couch within minutes of everyone gone. 😛
Friday – DAY OFF!!!! Worked the morning catching up on writing reviews, blog visiting, writing… then went to work out with friends (only the second time to gym this week!), then to help with a concert for the homeless in our community. Home at 8:45 pm
And now it is Saturday. I am helping with a meeting this morning that is from 10 – 11:30 am. Then I need to run a few errands, then chill at home a bit, tonight College Son will be here too and we are having Christmas with Brad since he was not here for it, going out to dinner and then Brad is heading out-of-town to visit with friends in ST Cloud for the night.
Whew. What a week! 😀
And for Alyce’s Saturday Snapshots, I do have a few random pics of the week…
Brad (Navy son) cleaning off the deck on Tuesday - yup, no snow!
Delicious cupcakes for book club in honor of our book
The book (Henry's Sisters) started with a bra burning so we ended our meeting with.... a bra burning.
Bailey after surgery... he has to wear the cone for two weeks.
Last nights concert - my friend Key led the music and it ROCKED!
Ok… I am out of here for a while but back later with a review. I am currently reading The Future Of Us and it is getting GOOD!
Good morning! What a night! Navy Son is home until the 22nd and we had a dinner last night with him and his best friend Andy who is also home from the Navy at this time. Brad (Navy son) was able to pick whatever he wanted for dinner and he chose Honduras hotdish, which we all love so easy and delicious!
This morning I wanted to talk a little but about World Book Night. I love the thought World Book Night and did not participate last year but hope too (fingers crossed!!!) do so this year. Here is the gist of World Book Night:
They need 50,000 book-loving volunteers to fan out across America on April 23, 2012! Just take 20 free copies of a book to a location in your community, and you just might change someone’s life.
The goal is to give books to new readers, to encourage reading, to share your passion for a great book. The entire publishing, bookstore, library, author, printing, and paper community is behind this effort with donated services and time. And with a million free World Book Night paperbacks!
The first World Book Night was held in the UK last year, and it was such a big success that it’s spreading around the world! Please volunteer to be a book giver in the U.S. Sign up now to be a book giver.
Seriously fellow book lovers, what is not to like about this deal?
I signed up a while back but received an email yesterday that they want and need more applicants. I am passing the word on to you now. The deadline to sign up is February 1, 2012 and then they will notify who is in on this deal.
I love the idea of one day in the world we are all handing out books… hopefully creating more book lovers. They have a list of 30 books you can choose from to be the one that you would like to hand out. I would love to know, World book night list aside, what one book would you choose to hand out to your community that you think would create new readers?
Read more about World Book Night here, from the free book list to the FAQs. Thank you!
Today I have some reviews to write, a little catching up to do blog wise, and later working out with friends. Tonight, we are going to a concert to raise money to help our communities homeless.
Book Journey 