Good morning! 

*BIG sip out of COFFEE CUP*

I came back from the North Shore yesterday evening.  Two of my friends, Heidi and Sara, and I went to hang out at the cabin for a couple of days and do a little exploring around the small towns of Two Harbors, Silver Bay, Beaver Bay, Schroeder, Little Marais, and then the big town of Grand Marais. 

 

 

It was a lot of fun just checking out the little shops…. in one I bought blueberry salsa (epic…. EPIC fail, so nasty!) and in another I bought a Mediterranean dip that made up for the grossness of the blueberry salsa.  I also – of course bought a couple of books while visiting the stores… one was:

I dove into this baby right away and plan to continue to do so today.  I may even have a review up today on it…. 

and I also picked up Secrets To Longevity… hundreds of ways to live to be 100:

Now before you fall off your chair laughing – its just a book of tips like – what spices and herbs relieve stress, what to eat to keep your memory strong, orange juice bulks up your bones….  anyway… I find this stuff interesting 😀

 

There was also a book sale at the Silver Bay Library which I try to attend every year.  But that -is a different post.  Lets just say…. it was successful.  😀

 

Now that I am back home I am going to spend a little time catching up on emails this morning ,write a review, shampoo my carpets at some point here… roller blade, and maybe take in a movie…. I have not decided yet. 

What are you doing with your Sunday?

Good morning! 

Yesterday I worked, changed oil in the jeep and the Durango… oh wait, let me clarify… I didn’t do it… I went and had the oil changed.  😀   Then picked up a few supplies because…

I am road tripping to the cabin with a couple of friends today after work.  SSQQUUEEEE!!!

This weekend up on the North Shore is Beaver Bay Days.  It is kind of an annual event that I grab a few friends and attend.  It is one of those small town things that are kind of dorky fun.  Silver Bay and Beaver Bay Minnesota have street events, mining tours, street venders, food,  and street dances.  Oh and did I mention that Saturday Silver Bay has its Friends Of The Library books sale?  Oh yeah…. I am there 😀

We are coming back Saturday afternoon and I am not taking Lap Top.  (Shhh….. don’t tell him, its rare that I leave him behind…. :shh:  )   A little mini break 😀 

I am thinking I will try to get my friends to sing this while we drive the 3 1/2 hours….

That’s not too much to ask right? 

Have an awesome rest of your week!

Good morning!  Wednesday already! 

A few days ago, Sunday I think, I had worked on cleaning the house all day, ran a few errands, made dinner… and eventually made it downstairs to curl up in my favorite chair. 

I logged on to my laptop… opened up Tweet Deck and tweeted this:

 

@bookjourney:  Ahhhh… finally… in my favorite chair with my favorite blanky and a little down time between lap top and TV. Anything good on?

 

 

*a minute later cell phone is ringing upstairs*  I sign and tweet:

 

 

@bookjourney:  Things that annoy… downstairs in fav chair, cozy blanket, and lap top and cell phone is ringing upstairs….

 

 

As I am preparing to go upstairs to check it…. I see this message on twitter:

 

 

@missremmersreviews:   that’s just me. Ignore it. haha

 

 

I respond…

 

 

@bookjourney:  wha?

 

 

@missremmersreviews:  I texted. Whoops.

 

 

@missremmersreviews:  Bad timing. LOL

 

 

 

(So if you are following this craziness… I am complaining that I am all cozy downstairs in my chair with my blanket when the cell phone rings upstairs, only to find out that reagan (Miss Remmers Reviews) – who is also on twitter at this same time is the one who is calling me.  😛

 

 

Then another voice chips in:

 

@bonjourcass:  @MissRemmers @bookjourney hahahaha

 

 

😛

 

Ok.. that was pretty funny.  Turns out Reagan was texting me to complain that my post with all the audio book suggestions had added greatly to her TBR.  😀

Ahhhhh…. my work as a book blogger is now complete.  😀

Have an awesome day…. I have no workout to report as instead I came home yesterday, wrote a bit, and mowed my lawn which is a three-hour audio fest.  (The audio?  One Tuesday Morning – SO GOOD!)

Good morning.  I have some awesome news – I Am Cast Free!  The Orthopedic Surgeon taped my fingers and thinks they will strengthen on their own.  I have a follow-up next week to see how it is healing so not completely out of the woods…. but I feel close 😀

Today I am excited to announce the winner of the Harry Potter VLOG contest I announced last week.  I wrote a song for Harry Potter and having no musical talent whatsoever, offered anyone who wanted to create a VLOG and sing my song I would enter them for a gift card … Danielle did just that and did it fantastic.  Don’t take my word for it – check out Danielle here:

Yay Danielle – you rocked this!!!

She even did a bonus song that you can listen to here.

Thanks again Danielle.  😀

In other news, great weekend… roller bladed on Sunday and went back to the gym on Monday.  Time to recover from this injury 😀

2011: 42 miles

As I finally type this, (a minute before noon) you can see above that I did participate in the Warrior Dash in Hastings Minnesota yesterday and I am so glad I did.

When we got there we seen a mom and daughter who had just finished and I asked how it was.  The mom said the worst was the 3/4 mile hill you go up in the beginning – the rest was easy.  That was encouraging.   I asked at Information if I could skip over the obstacles I could not do because of my hand and ram cast and she said all of them were possible by just walking around them.  Awesome – I was fully in.

My cast is a “C: cast, meaning it is in the shape of a “c” and does not go all around my hand and arm.  It is removable.  For the Warrior dash I put on the old one that the doctor was going to toss on Friday, wrapped it in plastic and then put the medical wrap over that.  Hand protected from mud and water.  After the Dash, I threw it away and put on the new one.

The hill was the worst.  Amy and I did not run the event, but fast walked it – we jokingly called it the “Warrior Hike”.  many others were doing that too.  The obstacles that called for climbing I skipped over and took pics of Amy doing them.  There were about 3,000 people there… food and a band and it was fun to people watch as many dress up in costumes. 

In the end – I was so glad I did it.  I posted all my pics on Facebook this morning so if you are a Facebook friend go and check them out – HILARIOUS.  If you are not a Facebook friend you can be at:  Sheila McKinney DeChantal.

 

Good morning.  My sleep patterns are crazy these days… I went to bed at midnight…. up at 5:30, read a little, fell back asleep… up at 8:30 a.m.  GAH.  That has to stop.  luckily, it is not a work day so I have no commitments until…

10:40 a.m.

At 10:40 this morning is my doctor’s appointment where the doctor will check my left hand and see if I can be …. cast free.  Oh – I want to be cast free.  I have had the cast on since June 11th, so yeah basically all of SUMMER.  And I really want to be cast free for many reasons…. but one in particular that is happening on Saturday:

 

 

The Warrior Dash in Minnesota

OK!  OK!  Before you hit your head on the keyboard again …. let me EXPLAIN!!!!

I signed up with this with Amy in January.  It looked like a lot of fun and it is the first time it is in Minnesota.  You have to admit… it looks cool….

There are only three concerns I have on the route….

1.  The rappelling.  I took classes in High School for Outdoor Adventures and have done rock climbing and rappelling.  However, currently I do not have the best grip in either hand. 

2.  The cargo nets – climbing.  Again – the wrist and grip strength.

3.  Great Wall Warrior – another climb with the help of a rope.  Wrist thing again.

 

SO before you tell me I am crazy to even attempt it. Here is the plan.  I am going to let them know at registration that I have just (hopefully) been released of a cast and may need to bypass these sections.  I will not do anything I feel I am unable to do. 

If I still have a cast – well, in that case I am cheering from the sidelines as I can not get it wet in the water part, or muddy in the mud part.  😦

 

So off to get ready for my appointment… 

Gas in vehicle?  check!

directions to clinic?  check!

dollar bills to bribe doctor?  check!  (Oops!  Just kidding!)  😛

 

Good Morning!

I am giving you something today that I wrote… wasn’t sure I would post… saved it… thought about it (song now stuck in my head) AND today I overslept leaving little time for anything new so here it is:

*whew – run on sentence!*

You will need the words to the real song to follow the beat to the one I made up as I tried the instrumental and it is really a hard one to follow….

Goodbye Harry Potter
Though your parents died too early
You had to hold your head up high
While living with the Dursley’s
They locked you in a cupboard
And they whispered into your brain
They set you up for failure
And they told you nothing of your fame

chorus

And it seems to me you lived your life
Like a wand without a spell
Never knowing who to cling to
When Voldermort crawled out of ****
And I would have liked to have known you
but I was just a muggle
Your scar burned brightly long before
Your life became a struggle

Loneliness was tough
The toughest role you ever played
Hogwarts created a superstar
And pain was the price you paid
Even when you followed rules
Oh Snape still hounded you
All the students had to say
Was that Gryffindor deserved you

[repeat chorus]

Goodbye Harry Potter
Though I loved your movies and books
You fought the battle until the end
While Ron and Hermione exchanged looks
Goodbye Harry Potter
From the young mom who read with her kids
Who sees you as something more than magical
More than just our Harry Potter

[repeat chorus]

Ok…hee hee.  That’s me getting my crazy on a little early today 😀  I need to go see the movie again.

Update to this post:  Since my lovely friend Reagan at Miss Remmers Reviews mentioned a VLOG for this song, and then Shirley from My Book Shelf seconded that motion…. an idea grew.  😛   If anyone would care to do a VLOG of this song I created here – yup…. sing it… use the music, create a skit….  whatever, I will put up a $25 Amazon Gift Card.  If there is more than one entry – I will use Random.org to choose the winner.  Anyone who has access to Amazon may enter as I will email the gift card.  We will keep this short and sweet.  Create your VLOG, email me a link at journeythroughbooks@gmail.com by Saturday July 23 at midnight central time and a winner will be announced on Sunday.  I will link all VLOGS as well.  *The only mandatory criteria is that you must use the song I wrote here.  The rest – is up to you 😀

UPDATE 7/24:  We have A WINNER!!!  Winner will be announced and video shown on Tuesday morning the 26th!

There you go… if I have to pay up…. is really up to you.  😛

Good morning!  😀

*Sipping coffee before it gets to hot out*

I was hanging out on Twitter last night and seen that all over the weather has kind of exploded into this sort of “hot fest”.  I really try hard not to complain about the heat as I am soooooo not a fan of winter that I just take whatever summer has to offer.

While our current temps do not look bad (Ryan from Wordsmithonia said they are on their 25th day of over 100 degree weather!), the humidity makes it feel like you are breathing in sauna air.  I go out on my deck with a book… last for about 5 minutes and come back in to the central air.  Only to try again and repeat later. 

I would love to go hang out at the lake, and should probably connect with friends and/or relatives who do live by the water.  I wont go to the beach as that is mainly families with kids – and 1) no kids at home, and 2) I wouldn’t get much reading done with the noises of the beach.  😛

What do you do to keep cool in the hot months of summer?