Morning Meanderings: Did You Know There Is A Readathon coming?

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)39 Comments

Good morning!

I have about a 14 minute window here before I need to shower, pick up Chance, get to Church, sell Banquet Tickets for all three services… then I am going to come home and attempt to make this:

Crock pot pizza pasta.  If it works, I will share the recipe next Saturday for Weekend Cooking.  If it doesn’t… we will pretend this never happened.  😛

The Dewey Read-A-Thon is coming April 9th.  This 24 hour read-a-thon is a wonderful event and I plan to participate as much as I can.  I do have a charity auction I need to participate in on that day but a book will be going with me 🙂  I have participated in the last 4 of these read a thons and they are a BLAST!  Not only is there reading but there are mini challenges, prizes, cheerleaders (yes – this event even comes with cheerleaders!)

I really can not say enough positive about this.  Go over to the Dewey Read A Thon website, check it out and sign yourself up for fun!  😀

Yipes got to run!  😀

Weekend Cooking: Chicken Nachos

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)25 Comments

Weekend Cooking is a fun meme hosted by Beth Fish Reads.

This morning I posted about the beauty and the taste or real sour cream vs. lite and fat-free sour cream.  Since that post…. all I can do is think about the chicken nachos I had a couple of days ago….. mouth-watering…. want more….

So…. I thought I would bring all of you to my level of CRAVING here and share with you the recipe that I LOVE LOVE LOVE for Chicken Nachos.

 

Not my picture - wish I had a picture of mine - there is more cheese, more sour cream and a lot more chicken 🙂

 

 

 

You will need:

a bag of tortilla chips

3 – 5 cups of cooked and shredded chicken breast (the amount depends on the size you are making)

shredded cheddar cheese (as much as you like)

chopped Roman tomato (as much as you like)

chopped onion

fresh chopped cilantro

salsa

heated re fried beans (optional)

REAL sour cream (you can substitute for lighter if you wish)

jalapeno (optional)

Guacamole (optional)

black olives (optional)

 

Preheat over to 300 (if you are making smaller portions can be heated in microwave)

Layer your tortilla chips in the bottom of a baking pan.  Take your shredded chicken and mix in a little taco seasoning to taste and then sprinkle with fingers across the top of the chips.  If you are using the refried beans, while they are still warm, spoon then over the chips and chicken placing dollops here and there.  Now comes the fun part.  Sprinkle on the onion, cilantro to taste, dollop salsa here and there, and then sprinkle over the top of all with the cheese.

Heat in oven/microwave until cheese is melted and gooey.  Watch closely as you do not wish to burn the cheese or the chips.  It only takes a few minutes in the oven and even less in the microwave.

Once out of the oven add the jalapeno, guacamole (dollops on top), sour cream ( generous dollops again over the top), and olives.  Serve immediately.  Enjoy!

This is so great for a fun get together with friends or a movie night snack.

 

 

Dream When You Are Feeling Blue by Elizabeth Berg

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)22 Comments

 

 

They were known as the “dreamy Heaney sisters”, all young and beautiful.  Kitty who is said to be a Rita Haywood look-alike is sure that her boyfriend Jillian has left her an engagement ring at the jewelry store before shipping out to fight in WWII.  After all he hinted about her going to the store after he had gone to pick up a little something he left for her!  Louise is in love with Michael who is leaving on the same day as Jillian to fight in the war but he will be on the European front, where Jillian will be in the Pacific.  Both sisters pine for their men but while Louise is getting pages and pages of letters form Michael filled with romance and love, Kitty finds Jillian’s letters to be lacking in that department and feels more like a pen pal then a possible fiance.

When Kitty goes to pick up the mysterious package at the jewelery store, what she finds makes her rethink everything she thought she knew, and find an inner independence that she never knew she possessed and make sacrifices, she could never have imagined.

 

 

 

 

Now this is the Elizabeth Berg I have come to know and love.  Recently I had listened to a couple of her reads that left me a little flat, but as my goal is to read through all of her works (come what may) in 2011… I have continued on and so far I am enjoying the journey.

Dream When You Are Feeling Blue is a story from the 1940’s and it is almost sad in some ways to see how much we have changed.  In these times, girls usually did not move out of their parents homes until they were married.  The three sisters (there is a third sister named Tish who is quite the handful) share a room in their strongly Irish home.  As I listened to this on audio it was fun to hear the thick accents of both the parents.  What struck me is how strong knit this family was, come what may – they were in it together and the sisters as well as the three brothers, all listened to and respected their parents.

When the sisters start going to the USO dances, Louise and Kitty mainly to keep an eye on their younger and wilder sister Tish, they are shocked when they see someone actually kissing out in the open.  So different from what happens today.

Another part of the book that spoke to me was the deep sacrifices they made as a family and really that is the theme of the book.  The girls sacrifice their boyfriends to the war and hope that they will return to them whole.  The family sacrifices by all doing their part to make ends meet, the girls getting jobs, Kitty even working in a factory that her parents find not fitting for a girl, but she wants to do her part for the war efforts and they are proud of that.  The food is rationed, some days there is no meat available and many of the meals sound like they had to choke them down as they were made from only what they had.  It made me think of how privileged my own life has been having never have gone without anything I needed like food or comforts of home.

I think from this review you can see this book made an impression on me.  From what I have read of Elizabeth Berg so far, this is her at her best.  While the book is about the events surrounding WWII, it is mostly about what is happening on the home front and the letters that the girls write to the men fighting in the war.

The ending shocked me…. and yes, there was a few tears shed.

Amazon Rating

The 2011 WHERE Are You reading Map is updated to include Dream When You Are Feeling Blue

I borrowed this audio from my library

Morning Meanderings… Real Sour Cream? No contest!

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)38 Comments

Good morning!

I feel like I am sleeping soooo much lately.  I used to stay up until midnight (and after) almost nightly and be up by 6 no problem and do it again.  As of the past month seems like I can not stay up past ten without drifting off and then I am sleeping to 6:30 unless I make myself get up to get things done.

Enough of that…. today I want to talk about sour cream.  I know, right?

I try ( emphasis on TRY) to eat healthy and make healthier food choices when I am at the grocery store.  As a standard, I will purchase for our household the light sour cream and if it is just for me, I buy the fat-free.  Apparently it has been a long LONG time since I have had Real full fat sour cream.

As I mentioned yesterday, Thursday evening I went with my cousins to a restaurant called Poncho and Lefty’s.  It is a nice place to eat in Baxter Minnesota and one of my favorite things to get there is the chicken nacho’s.  You can get a half order which is still HUGE and I share it with my cousin Cheryl.  This week, I brought the leftovers home for Al and ummm…. well, they never got to him.  😳

At home as I am picking through the to go container I am marveling at the texture and taste of the sour cream and thinking, “what is with this sour cream, does it come from magic cows?” Yes.  It was that good.

Then it dawned on me…. its REAL sour cream and not the stuff I eat that is a sour cream IMPOSTOR, tasteless and nowhere near as creamy, fluffy…..

Oh…. I am not sure I can go back to the stuff in the frig.  😛

 

Chicken Nachos - SOOOO GOOD!

 

 

Ok… for Alyce’s wonderful Saturday Snapshot I have to (I HAVE TO) use a picture from last weekend and I apologize to my frequent visitors that have already seen these pictures but I am still going a little “Whoa…. can’t believe I did that!”  😀  For those of you that have not been here and are thinking WHAT IS SHE DOING AND WHY?  AND WHILE WE ARE AT IT WHY IS SHE WEARING A YELLOW PROM DRESS THAT MAKES HER LOOK LIKE BO PEEP?  You are welcome to click here to read about the Polar Plunge.

You can also go to Alyce’s website and feel free to link to your own Saturday Snapshot.

 

There is no turning back now...

 

I am in!

 

 

Today promises laundry to fold, a large tub to store (LONG STORY), a trip to the library, a possible (POSSIBLE) drive to the bike trail with my hiking boots to scope out what is happening and when will the snow go away, more Floor Hockey recruiting, steaks and potatoes for dinner, and helping at church tonight sell Missions Banquet tickets for the service tonight and all three tomorrow, and I have to start making a dent in Cutting For Stone.

Whats in store for you today?

The Postmistress by Sarah Blake

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)33 Comments

In 1940, Iris James is the postmistress in coastal, Franklin, Massachusetts. Iris knows more about the townspeople than she will ever say – for example, that Emma Trask has come to marry the town’s doctor, and that Harry Vale watches the ocean for U-boats. Iris believes her job is to deliver secrets. Yet one day she does the unthinkable: slips a letter into her pocket, reads it, and doesn’t deliver it.

Meanwhile, Frankie Bard broadcasts from overseas with Edward R. Murrow. Her dispatches beg listeners to pay heed as the Nazis bomb London nightly. Most of the townspeople of Franklin think the war can’t touch them. But Iris and Emma and Frankie know better…

 

 

Who are we to decide what is considered truth and who is allowed to hear it?  This is the underlying message in this book and I am thankful to say this is not as much of a war novel as it is the knowledge that there is a war happening.

 

 

 

My first impressions were “whoa – that’s a lot of characters!”…  I have mentioned this before, I prefer books with few characters as I like to get to know them.  I also struggle keeping a gaggle of characters straight when many are brought in at once or switched frequently and that does happen within this read.  As much as I enjoyed the three main female characters and found this to a pleasant read, there was a lot to keep track of and having just read another world war II book it felt a little like work to read.

But hang in there reader.  These three women do make for an interesting read.  Iris, who resides in Massachusetts is the keeper of all things postal… in this case, the local post office and insists that she be called the “postmaster”, (I am curious as to why the book was not names this, instead of postmistress). Iris’s job is a serious one as in a time where TV’s were pretty much non-existent, radios were the source of entertainment (yup – pre Twitter, texting and hang on to your chair, pre- Facebook.).  Iris was in many cases the communication life line between people such as Will and Emma… until one day…

OOPS!  Moving on 😉

American journalist Frankie Bard is the voice of the war.  Frankie’s job is to find a way to tell the stories of those she meets and this becomes her struggle, as she can not remain neutral.   Frankie’s role really becomes a center to this books as much is set around her broadcasts and the other characters (Iris who feels it can not be as bad as Frankie is saying and Emma  listening to them.

 

Emma is a young newly wed to the towns doctor, Will.  She also resides in Massachusetts.  Through a happening in the book she becomes friends with the much older Iris.  Emma waits for Wills letters that come frequently for a while…. and then they slow to the point of stopping, the results are what will bring all three of these women to a heartbreaking togetherness.

 

While the book at times felt choppy, I have to admit I took great interest in the story line…. what right do we have to withhold information?  How is it that while our world is at war we can go on living as though all is well?  This applies to the book – and I think to our every day lives.  Of course, my thoughts drift to Japan…

Final thoughts:  It is a good read but I did not find it to be an easy read and at times it felt a bit like work to follow what was happening.  If you are making a decision on this book, please check out other thoughts as well as they are mixed and this is one of those books that holds a sense of mystery around it…. some love it, some hate it….  I liked it.  🙂

 

The 2011 WHERE Are You Reading Map has been updated to include Postmistress

 

I received this book to review for the TLC Book Tour

Morning Meanderings…. Day Off? Or is it a mirage?

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)19 Comments

Good morning people!  😛

I am home from the gym…. yup that crazy Wendy and I hit the 5:45 am Group Power class.  Well… to be honest, I got there about 5:48, and Wendy about 5:50… but we were there!  😛

Now I am home and having coffee – which for some reason when you fly out of bed at 5:25 and realize you set your alarm wrong and throw on work out clothes and run out the door to hit a gym class you are cursing yourself for agreeing to…..

suddenly… coffee becomes an obsession.


Now back home, I am glad I went…. it was fun and now I am back home and having COFFEE and can cross “workout” off my list of the “to do’s” for today.

NICE.

At 9 am I have breakfast with my friends Key, Julie, and Sandi.  Julie’s birthday is next Friday and she will be in Florida so we are doing a little pre-birthday gathering over eggs.  😀

From there I think I may spend a little time in the Library hanging out and getting things done as well as finding time to recruit a team for floor hockey that starts this Sunday…. YIPES.  That needs to be a priority today.

Looks like there are finally a couple of movies out that I am interested in so may see if Al wants to go to a movie later today.

Yup… looking at that it does sounds like a day off.

Yesterday evening I got together with three of my cousins.  This is something new we have started, there are five of us girls on the McKinney (my dads) side that decided we should try to get together once a month and just catch up.  I can’t tell you how much I LOVE THIS.  We are a variety of ages (I am second to the youngest) and did not necessarily hang out together when we grew up because of that age difference, but now this is our second get together this year and I have enjoyed getting to know them better.

In April we are planning to attend a wine tasting for a charity and a possible comedy night that one of my cousins sons will be performing at.  🙂

Ok… I must get in the shower and start my day.  Enjoy your Friday!  I should have blog hop time this weekend so hopefully will get in some more visits 😀

Morning Meanderings… May The Slow Cooker Be With You

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)41 Comments

Good morning!

I am trying to shake things up here in my busy schedule so thought I would try to get work outs in BEFORE I go to work at 8:00 am.   On Monday and Friday I can do mornings, but Tues – Thurs gets a bit tricky to get them in.

Today was my day to give this a try.

Last night I mentioned this plan to Wendy and she said what time?

I responded, “6:30 a.m.”

She said, “For sure you will be there?”

I said, yes, if she said she was going to as well I would be there.

She said she would let me know at 10 pm last night through text if she could make it.

THERE WAS NO TEXT.

At 10:30 I went to bed thinking I was crazy to try to fit one more thing in my already crazy Thursday…. I work 8 -3, at 3 I am getting a phone call from an author who I am interviewing for a local magazine, I need to run home and check the crock pot,  recruit a floor hockey team to start this Sunday, at 4:30 I am meeting my cousins for dinner…. it was just best to cut myself a little slack.

………..

oh you know it is never that easy right?  😉

At 6:15 am I heard my phone…

I am still in bed.

I shuffle out to the counter and with the one eye that is awake, I read it:

Wendy:  I am on my way to the gym!  You had better be there!  😀

Ok….

I text back that I will need…. ummm…. a few minutes.

RUN RUN RUN to get my work out clothes that I washed last night, RUN RUN RUN to grab my crock pot from downstairs storage to prep the roast for Al tonight… RUN RUN RUN to pack my clothes that I need for work… RUN RUN RUN to let dogs out, let dogs in… RUN RUN RUN to make myself presentable and get ready for my day…. and head for the front door wishing the dogs a good day, the slow cooker my best wishes for a day of seasony goodness and mouth-watering smells…

and GYM TIME.

GAH.

I will get better at this.

So my message for today to you is this….. may your slow cookers always work to take pressure off us who have crazy lives and may the result always be moist and delicious.


**Thank you to Wendy for making me laugh on the elliptical, for talking about the crock pot, for coming up for the title of this post that I could not remember so I had to ask her again and again and again….   I told her today I hang out with her because she gives me so much to blog about. 😛

Have a great day everyone!!!!

 

Snitch by Rene Gutteridge

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)17 Comments

Convinced he has a greater chance to die–of boredom–at his desk job than he ever faced in narcotics, Las Vegas police sergeant Ron Yeager agrees to slip off the retirement track long enough to head up an undercover task force designed to combat the recent surge in auto thefts.

Then Ron gets a good look at his inexperienced team he has been assigned.  Jesse Lunden is a cocky maverick who feels this job is beneath him and he really should be taking the lead.  Then there is Dozer who can not seem to stay awake beyond the morning debriefing, Mackenzie “Mack” Hazard who insists on wearing her faith on her sleeve – all the while trying to be a convincing undercover blue eye shadow, short skirt wearing, wrong side of the tracks girl….and well Whiz… lets just say he didn’t earn this nickname because he is smart… Oh, and lets not forget Kyle, Yeager’s youthful Pastor in desperate need of a sabbatical who really is interested in the whole under cover excitement and would really like to (hint hint hint hint) be a part of the team.

Yeager needs to find a way to make this motley crew a team… and the way it looks now… he has half a mind to turn tail and run, not walk back to retirement as fast as his cane can take him.

 

Snitch may refer to:

 


Snitch is the second book I have read by Rene Gutteridge and I flipped through the pages with great joy.  The storyline was fun and quick – yet also carried a solid plot that held everything together.  The characters were interesting and diverse.

Snitch happens to be the second book in this three book series… Scoop being the first one which I have not read.  (Short story – I wanted to try Rene Gutteridge, I put in for several of her books at the library and this is what came  in, so this is what I read.  :D)  However, I did not feel that I had missed out on anything by not having read Scoop first.  Snitch is a self-contained book and while I enjoyed it enough to be curious about the first book and interested in pursuing the third book,, I do not feel I would need to in order to complete the story.

What I really found in this book was a bit of humorous mystery that was enjoyable to read.  A nice mix of suspense, humor, and even a little romance – but not to the point of sappy.  I liked this book very much and for the second time can say I am impressed with Rene Gutteridge’s style of writing.

Amazon Rating

The 2011 WHERE Are You reading map has been updated to include Snitch


I borrowed this book from my library

Morning Meanderings… Registration Day!

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)33 Comments

Good morning.

Was the night short for you too?

Last night after work I popped home had a quick dinner and then went to create gift baskets for the silent auction for next weekends Mission Banquet.  It did not go as quickly as I had hoped and I popped back into the house (not as energetic a “pop” as it had been earlier in the day), exhausted and ready to wind down.  unfortunately I had hit that level of exhaustion that causes a person not to be able to read because my eyes just can not focus on words and my mind can not cling to whats happening…

*sigh*

However today – excites me because tonight after working out, my friend Wendy and I are going to have salads and have a registration party.  That means it is it that time to start registering for bike rides…. and that..

ENERGIZES me.

Somebody – call in the rabbit!

There – that’s better.  😀

Here is the ride list:

May 1, 2011:  The IronMan (60 miles/100 miles)

May 7, 2011:  MS Ride (50 miles)

June 3-5:  Tour of Lakes (3 smaller rides – 1 each day.. between 30 – 70 miles)

June 10-12:  MS 150 (150 miles)

July ___:  Tour of Saints (yet to be determined what date)

July 23, 2011 Warrior Dash – not a bike ride!

August 6-7:  Camp Benedict Ride for AIDS (175 miles)

August 20:  Tour De Pines (may have a conflict on this one)  😦

That is what is on my radar for now 😀

Have to run and get ready for work!  Have an awesome day!

Morning Meanderings: The Best Book Club Choices

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)53 Comments

Good morning!

After a day spent almost entirely in bed (I think it was the flu – achy, queasy, and tired – and not these are not names of dwarfs…) I am up and still feel a bit weak but able to function.


Top Book Club Books in February

The following are the most popular book club books during February based on votes from readers of 27,000 book clubs registered at Bookmovement.com:

1. Room: A Novel by Emma Donoghue
2. Sarah’s Key by Tatiana de Rosnay
3. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
4. Little Bee: A Novel by Chris Cleave
5. Water for Elephants: A Novel by Sara Gruen
6. The Help by Kathryn Stockett
7. Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese
8. Saving CeeCee Honeycutt: A Novel by Beth Hoffman
9. Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet: A Novel by Jamie Ford
10. The Forgotten Garden: A Novel by Kate Morton

Rising stars:

The 19th Wife by David Ebershoff
Juliet by Anne Fortier

The ones I have highlighted in red are the ones that my book club has (or in the case of Cutting For Stone – will be) read as a group.  The other 4 on this top ten list I have read on my own.  I kind of felt good about that 😀  I have not read either of the rising stars.

 

Have you read any of these books?  Would you agree they make for good book club discussions?  Are there books that you would recommend for book clubs to add to this list?