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:
It’s Monday! What Are You Reading is where we share what we read this past week, what we hope to read this week…. and anything in between! D This is a great way to plan out your reading week and see what others are currently reading as well… you never know where that next “must read” book will come from!
I love being a part of this and I hope you do too! As part of this weekly meme I love to encourage you all to go and visit the others participating in this meme. I offer a weekly contest for those who visit 10 or more of the Monday Meme participants and leave a comment telling me how many you visited. **You do not have to have a blog to participate! You receive one entry for every 10 comments, just come back here and tell me how many in the comment area.
In case you wonder why I offer a book giveaway for those who visit others who do this meme, it is because I LOVE community. Book Blogging is all about sharing our love for books with one another. By visiting some of the other participants – you never know where you may find that next awesome read – or a blog that becomes one that you want to read more often. 😀
So a pretty crazy week here. I received some news that bummed me out… and I participated in an event that made me feel better. 😛 You can find out about both here within the happenings of this past week:
So that’s the week. For some reason I did not get everything read that I had hoped to last week. I can’t really put my finger on why as I was reading… but just could not do everything I had hoped to. That said – I am going to keep it a bit lighter over here this week so I can work on the ones from last week as well. This weeks hot list is:
“Do you remember the hospital, Colton?” Sonja said. “Yes, mommy, I remember,” he said. “That’s where the angels sang to me.” When Colton Burpo made it through an emergency appendectomy, his family was overjoyed at his miraculous survival. What they weren’t expecting, though, was the story that emerged in the months that followed—a story as beautiful as it was extraordinary, detailing their little boy’s trip to heaven and back. Colton, not yet four years old, told his parents he left his body during the surgery–and authenticated that claim by describing exactly what his parents were doing in another part of the hospital while he was being operated on. He talked of visiting heaven and relayed stories told to him by people he met there whom he had never met in life, sharing events that happened even before he was born. He also astonished his parents with descriptions and obscure details about heaven that matched the Bible exactly, though he had not yet learned to read. With disarming innocence and the plainspoken boldness of a child, Colton tells of meeting long-departed family members. He describes Jesus, the angels, how “really, really big” God is, and how much God loves us. Retold by his father, but using Colton’s uniquely simple words, Heaven is for Real offers a glimpse of the world that awaits us, where as Colton says, “Nobody is old and nobody wears glasses.”
My book club has been talking about this one for the last couple months. On audio – it is 4 cds and I am already starting the third CD.
Selfish but beautiful Darcy is reeling from the betrayal of her best friend, Rachel, and her fiance, Dex, even though she cheated on Dex with his friend Marcus. Darcy is carrying Marcus’ child, so she assumes he’ll take care of her. After all, she’s always gotten everything she’s ever wanted. But when Marcus dumps her, she finds herself pregnant and alone. Always the opportunist, Darcy contacts her childhood friend Ethan, now a writer living in London, and gets him to agree to let her visit for a while. She jets off to the UK envisioning a charmed life where a handsome, rich Englishman will sweep her off her feet.
Probably a little light and a little cheesy but hey…. it’s summer… and it was on sale. 😛
When a massive wildfire surrounded Tassajara Zen Mountain Center, five monks risked their lives to save it. A gripping narrative as well as a portrait of the Zen path and the ways of wildfire, Fire Monks reveals what it means to meet a crisis with full presence of mind.
Zen master and author of the classic Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind, Shunryu Suzuki Roshi established a monastery at Tassajara Hot Springs in 1967, drawn to the location’s beauty, peace, and seclusion. Deep in the wilderness east of Big Sur, the center is connected to the outside world by a single unpaved road. The remoteness that makes it an oasis also makes it particularly vulnerable when disaster strikes. If fire entered the canyon, there would be no escape.
More than two thousand wildfires, all started by a single lightning storm, blazed across the state of California in June 2008. With resources stretched thin, firefighters advised residents at Tassajara to evacuate early. Most did. A small crew stayed behind, preparing to protect the monastery when the fire arrived.
But nothing could have prepared them for what came next. A treacherous shift in weather conditions prompted a final order to evacuate everyone, including all firefighters. As they caravanned up the road, five senior monks made the risky decision to turn back. Relying on their Zen training, they were able to remain in the moment and do the seemingly impossible-to greet the fire not as an enemy to defeat, but as a friend to guide.
An upcoming book tour that kind of fascinates me…. I hope it is awesome.
And that’s it – the other two audio’s I have going, Bloody Jack book 2, and One Tuesday Morning I think are going to take me the better part of the week as they are both longer audio.
So – that leaves you. What did you read last week? What are you planning to read this week? Please add your link to your post below where it says “click here” .
Happy reading 😀
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I have been wanting to, meaning to, write this post for a long LONG time.
Winter is a great time to snuggle up with a blanket, grab a cup of hot cocoa, and of course a book or two. No guilt goes along with winter reading as we all know… it is cold outside! 😛 Not to dis on summer, which can present wonderful reading opportunities like: beach reading, lawn chair reading, reading on the boat, on the deck, while tanning…
yet summer can also present a busier outdoor life style where reading is not possible (or in some cases like at family get togethers… frowned upon :razz:)
Summer seems to bring in with it things that are hard to hold a book to:
gardening
mowing
taking walks
grilling and cooking either indoor or out
driving to and from events – weddings, grad parties, gatherings of all types
biking/roller blading
washing windows
What I am leading to is….
audio books.
Ok wait you non audio book people – before you decide to leave, hear me out. If you think audio is cheesy, well guess what? I did at one time too. Both my aunts have listened to it for years and I have all but eye rolled in the past.
BUT…
two years ago I discovered there is such a thing as good audio and audio – when done well, can enhance your reading and help you get to books you never thought you would have time for. I have had books on the shelves for years (no exaggeration) that I have waited to read but never found the time for them. I started picking them up on audio (I currently use audible.com, Blackstone, Hatchette, just to name a few) and find I get to them much faster and listen to them while I am doing other things.
This post today is not only to plug audio to those who have not tried it or had a bad experience, but to also assist you with choosing amazing audio books that I can personally recommend, and other audio lovers have recommended as well. Audio is linked to places you can hear a sample.
Thank you to all the bloggers and book lovers mentioned here who through earlier posts this year have brought these suggestions as awesome audio. I hope audio book lovers find a few titles here, and those of you new to audio may feel encouraged by these trusted sources to dip a toe in…
and stop trying to sneak your nose into books at those family gatherings. 😛
Have you listened to any of these and want to add your two cents? Do you have other awesome listens that were not mentioned? Please let me know, as I am always (ALWAYS) looking for great audio!
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.
Crawling through the tunnel obstacle
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.
After the water part of the event which was like a rain storm
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.
Random shot of the crowd
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.
Weekend Cooking is hosted by Beth Fish Reads. It is a fun way to share food related books, events, or recipes.
Last weekend my friend Amy and I went to St Joseph Minnesota for the Tour Of Saints. It’s a beautiful town and a great ride. After the ride we stopped at a little restaurant called Bo Diddley’s. This is pretty much a tiny small town stop, nothing exciting but we were a mess from riding in the heat for 50 miles and were not looking to impress anyone with our sweaty bike gear, so it worked for us. 😛
Once inside the menu was sparse. After riding in the humidity that had heat advisories out across the state, a burger and fries sounded way too heavy. I wanted nothing fried. Finally we both settled on the seafood pita.
When our food arrived I was pleasantly surprised. It was served in a little square wicker basket that held the pita upright and wide-mouthed. Inside the pita was chunks of imitation crab in a light mayo coating, shredded iceberg lettuce, thinly sliced tomato and onion. That’s it. Simple and refreshing. My friend Amy, who is a whiz at cooking identified the spice in the seafood mix as dill.
I liked this so much I made it as a mid-week supper, and packed it twice for my lunch as well. It’s funny, I could not remember the last time I bought iceberg lettuce being pretty much a Romaine or Spinach leaf salad person. Yet, Iceberg lettuce is exactly what makes this salad awesome.
Here is how I made mine:
head of iceberg lettuce
two tomatoes
a package of imitation crab (I bought the sticks as I thought the chunks were too big)
one onion
fresh cilantro
light mayo
salt and pepper
whole wheat pita (optional)
Using a sharp knife, slice the lettuce into this strips, as much as you need for your salad(s). I used about half the head to make salads for Al and I for dinner. Arrange the lettuce in the individual salad bowls. Slice tomato thinly as well and put desired amount of tomato over the lettuce in the bowls. Take the onion slicing thin strips, enough to put on top of the tomatoes in the salad bowls.
Take the imitation crab and cut into small bite size pieces and place in a small serving bowl. chop the cilantro (to taste) into small pieces and add to seafood. Generously sprinkle dill into the crab, cilantro bowl as well. Put enough light mayo in the bowl to coat the seafood and mix well. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Take the seafood combo and put generous amounts on top of each salad. Serve!
*You can also make the seafood combination ahead of time and keep cold in refrigerator until time to serve.
I did not use the pita in my recipe, but if you wanted to just replace the salad bowl with a pita 🙂
If you followed yesterday mornings post you would have read that I was UBER excited for my doctor’s appointment for the “6 weeks and get your cast off” appointment. Summer has been slightly WARMER when it feels like you are constantly wearing a sweater over your left arm.
Yet – after the removal of the cast and the x-rays that followed, my doctor was not liking the lack of cartilage around the break. Apparently, the cartilage is what protects the bones and with out that building up like it should I am overly susceptible to break my finger again.
Not cool for this girl who wants her life back.
My doctor said he wanted to have an orthopedic surgeon (henceforth known as: O.S. as this is two long words and I am typing completely with my right hand) look at it so that is my next step coming up on Monday afternoon. I am told one of two things will happen:
1. O.S. will say that I just need to keep the cast on a while longer to fully heal.
2. O.S. says this is not working, I go in for surgery, they re-break my finger and put pins in it so it will be stronger.
PLEASE help me pray for door #1.
I came home pretty distraught yesterday afternoon. I actually cried for the first time during this whole accident. But… going into late afternoon, after reading on my deck for a while, doing a little shopping, and an iced coffee… I have come to terms with what will be… will be.
So… that said…
where does that leave me with today’s previously scheduled Warrior dash event that I have been signed up for since January?
Well…. I am back and forth. I am going and I am at least cheering my friend on. However, looking at the route, I think I can still do most of it, as long as I can go around the things that require me to use my hand. I will be talking to the registration people when I get there today. I am still undecided.
Have a great Saturday – whatever I do I should have some pretty interesting pictures for tomorrow mornings post.
Denise MacGregor knows all to well about the things that go bump in the night. Her husband has been killed by a demon. So have several of her other relatives as the demon is in search of one man… and he is using Denise as bait.
Denise in a frenzy wonders who she can turn too. She makes a call to her best friend Cat who is half vampire, half human, but instead of Cat, it is Spade who answers her call for help. Spade is a not too painful on the eyes vampire. He is kind and generous and agrees to help Denise with hardly any questions asked.
Yet Denise is unsure what her dept to Spade may become. He has paid for people to get out of her way. He has protected her… and he has discovered that her blood has been possessed by the demon making it as hard to refuse as a drug to other vampires. As Spade works to hide the truth about Denise’s blood… he also works to control himself around this grieving girl who makes his once beating heart… feel alive again.
Ok... this really has nothing to do with anything except that this is Timothy Hutton and I think the dude in the cover shot looks like him. 🙂
O.K.
I listened to this on audio.
Note: I am more willing to stretch my genre tastes with audio…. 1. because I can listen to an audio that is not always captivating much longer that I can tolerate a book that does not grab me and 2. I thirst (ha ha… vampire humor!) for good audio
So yeah, First Drop Of Crimson is more than likely a book I would have never picked up. Just not my thing… even the cover is not to my tastes. HOWEVER, this one of the audio offered at the Blackstone Audio booth at BEA this year and I wanted to give it a try.
I can’t say I disliked the audio. It was interesting. I found it to be a cross between the Sookie Stackhouse series (which annoyed me to no end) and the Twilight series, which I enjoyed. The “Twilight” side of this audio saved it. Denise reminded me a little too much of Sookie, mainly the narrator’s voice gave off a simpleton southern twang that had me thinking… oh no… it can’t be…. Sookie reincarnated… BUT as the read went on, I discovered that Denise was smarter than Sookie. Not always… but occasionally.
There are some pretty steamy and graphic sex scenes in this audio – fair warning for young readers. It was a little too hot for me, and that’s not saying much as I do not like that in books anyway.
I did not learn until after I finished this read that this series – while being book one, is actually a spin-off from another series of Jeaniene Frost, and the characters in this audio, have already been developed well in another series – which is great for those who have read the series, but for a newcomer like me… confusing. Knowing this now explains a lot about the beginning of the book when cat is mentioned but does not actually show up until the middle and Spade seems to have a familiarity with Denise prior to this book.
I will not continue on with this series, it is not what I am drawn too, however I do think many YA readers will enjoy this and find it fits in well with the paranormal reads that are in huge demand today.
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:
Click here to see actual route I will be on and the obstacles
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!) 😛
Laurie Hertzel started out with what I would have once called my dream job. She worked in a library. Later, when offered a chance to work at a Duluth Minnesota newspaper, she jumped at the chance – jumped… before even realizing what the job entailed. Laurie found herself running copy, writing obits, answering phones, and making coffee (which is something she dis not drink and had to fill the large carafe in the only sink deep enough… the ones in the men’s room).
Despite Laurie’s start in newspaper with little previous experience, she watched and learned, moving horizontally and then eventually up the ladder to reporter, and then journalist. The times that Laurie describes in this book of her journey… well… times… they were a changing, and Laurie was right in the middle of it.
The story of her career was a chance to accompany a group of “Duluthians” (I know right? This is what she refers to people of Duluth as) to the USSR in 1986 to build a relationship with a potential sister city. The result of this trip not only leads to a great newspaper story, but also relationships between a USSR city and the city of Duluth Minnesota that stand strong even today. This trip eventually led to a second trip where she wrote a book, They Took My Father, based on a true story.
Laurie’s book is lighthearted and funny as she shares the happenings with co workers, and all that is shared in a newsroom.
Laurie with her book, "News To Me"
I listened to Laurie at an event at my local Library this week. I went in knowing chances are I was getting the book… what I wasn’t expecting was after Laurie shared with the 44 people in the room exerts from her book, how much I wanted the book. To the point that I was eyeballing how many books she brought with her, vs… the people in the room and concerned she would run out before I got my hands on one! 😛
Laurie in the early 1980's interviewing a llama farmer.
Laurie’s book kept me up late into the night. I could not put it down. Her delightful retelling of her time in newspaper when women were not really valued as anything more than wives. The papers even still referred to women as Mrs. John Doe – using the husband’s name to identify them… or describing them in the papers as a petite blond, or other now controversial titles.
The antics of the newsroom in the 70’s was pretty interesting. The guys smoked at their desks… and the women were expected to just do their job. In one instance, Laurie describes a female coworker becoming impatient when the single women’s bathroom was occupied and she marched herself into the men’s room. Afterwards, one of the men asked if she was having her monthly since she was so crabby (yes, you read that right)…the woman along with another female offered to make a “flow chart” so the guys could document if they were truly upset…or just hormonal. 😛 Happily, it did not come to this.
There are many other great stories, both funny and amazing that Laurie discusses in her years leading up to where she
Duluth News tribune 1978
is now, the Senior books editor of the Minneapolis Star and Tribune. Yes, that’s right… I am reviewing the book of a senior book editor. 😯
When Laurie talks about the Congdon Murders taking place while she was working for the newspapers, that blew me away. The murders that took place in Duluth in 1977 were later on trial in my home town Brainerd Mn. This is long before I knew anything about the Congdon’s, but in my adult life I have toured the Congdon Mansion many times.
When Laurie writes about her time in the USSR with a camera person and the other delegates from Duluth I thought maybe the book would take a turn to the less passionate for me. Boy was I wrong… what I thought may be heavy information about the trip and Russia was still handled with Laurie Hertzel’s flare for getting to the story. I found myself just as engrossed in this section as all the others of the book.
I loved this read. As a lover of words, writing, and crazy opportunities, Laurie seemed like an adventurous person after my own heart. She inspired me. She will inspire you.
When Laurie was speaking here is what she said when asked about the future of newspapers: “Newspapers should always have a place in the world. People like to hold them, they like the feel of them. On line newspapers are great if you know what you are looking for, but difficult to maneuver when you are just reading. Love on your newspapers.”
Book Journey 