Morning Meanderings – Page 10

Morning Meanderings… Pondering.

Published on January 3, 2016 by Sheila (Book Journey)15 Comments

Sunday morning with COFFEE cup. I feel…. ready to start something.

This morning I was reading Bryan’s post at Still Unfinished about his one word for 2016 and he links others as well. It is a beautiful post and I enjoyed visiting the others one word as well. Check it out, I love the pictures with all of the words. It caused me to go back and read my own choice for this year. I believe it is the right word for me.

In other random news I need to update this blog look. Seriously…. brown? What was a I thinking? The background color has to change. And my side bar is so outdated.

And now that I am writing… I feel scattered this morning like I thought I had a good post in my head and now I am looking at this thinking “what are you trying to say?”

So that said…. I am just going to tiptoe out of here. Have a great Sunday. Read something wonderful.

Morning Meanderings…. Christmas After

Published on December 26, 2015 by Sheila (Book Journey)20 Comments

It is so crazy what sort of negative anticipation a day can bring.

I was not at all looking forward to this Christmas… the first one without my son Justin. We did not put up a tree. I did not cook. I did not purchase any gifts until December 24th when my husband and I went up town to find things for our son Brad who would be joining us for Christmas Day. Until that point I had avoided retail stores as I did not want to see the decorations or the happy people eagerly choosing the gift that would make their persons day.

I had been told, from those who has gone before me on this painful path that the anticipation of the “day/holiday” is usually much worse than the actual day. It is kind of hard to tell because I think by the time I reached Christmas Day I was numb. I did what I had to do because my son was here and we tried to carry on with a little normalcy. We watched TV and I gave Brad Justin’s IPAD knowing that I would never be able to use it myself and it would sit in storage until it was obsolete. We had to guess at Justin’s password and by using his password hints we were able to figure it out, clean out his personal notes and register it to Brad. We also logged him off of his Facebook which 8 months ago was unthinkable. As you can imagine it was a hard thing to do… but I know it was the right thing to do and Justin would have approved.

Al and Brad played cribbage on Justin’s cribbage board. Justin LOVED cribbage and Al and he would play for hours. It was sort of symbolic to use his board for the game. I felt as though he were including him.

In the late afternoon we drove to the Casino which honestly Justin would have thought was an awesome way to spend Christmas. We came up with that idea a few weeks ago as they have a seafood buffet. At the time of decision I kept saying “Oh, we are those people you feel bad for because they have no traditions on Christmas…” Once there, I seen my opinion on this was incorrect. The casino was packed but not filled with sad and lonely lost people as I had imagined but couples and friends hanging out and having a good time. Families were at the buffet and exchanging gifts and I had to change my attitude to maybe this was a nice way for families to enjoy a delicious meal and be together just as much as sitting at home around a tree.

Family traditions can be wherever you land.

I was wiped out by the time we came home around 8 pm. Being “on” all day and the constant knowing what is missing while you try to keep going forward is exhausting. I sat down and had a glass of wine out of a glass that Justin had made and hated that he was not here… and so glad I had climbed another milestone of firsts and made it through. Justin wanted me to be happy. I am trying kid… I am trying.

Thank you to those of you who sent me a Christmas card. That is so nice and I so appreciate your kind and encouraging words.

For those of you signed up to participate in 1st Book of the year, don’t forget to send me your picture! Looking forward to the post!

A Christmas Message To You

Published on December 24, 2015 by Sheila (Book Journey)21 Comments

I did not send out Christmas Cards this year so consider this our Christmas card.
I look outside at the silent whiteness and feel a great emptiness. Loss can be all-consuming and I waiver on the blurry edges of this new world and the one I had. My heart longs to go back and have a do over. I want to change things and put things the way they were but the pieces of this puzzle fall between my fingers as I try to hold tightly to the past that I wish so much was the present and the future.
In this new world I see friendship differently. I see life lines. I see compassion. I see those who have stepped up and those who have stepped back… and I understand both sides. The rose-colored glasses are off and my world is at times painfully real.
I don’t want this to be a sad message. I want it to be one of hope. For whatever reason, my time here on this earth remains. I don’t necessarily want… I would readily trade it – but it seems that is not meant to be.
And with that I look cautiously towards this new uncertain world. I cannot will not let go of what was. It is too much engraved in this beating heart and to take that away – would stop this heart forever. However, I can look at the blessings sprinkled throughout this new world. The connections with Justin’s friends, the courageous people I have met with their own stories of loss, the people and community who have held us a little closer, the ability to see somewhat of a path I hope to travel that will honor my son for all the years I have left until I can be with him again.
This post is not going as I planned.
What I want to say is this.
THIS Christmas, share a little more of you. DO something kind for a stranger. BE a little more open. Hug a little longer, laugh a little louder, and LOVE with all you have.
NEVER NEVER take any moment for granted. Each memory is precious so open your eyes to it and embrace each day for all it is worth. Your memories are treasures and you have the power to build on them. SO build.
Merry Christmas.
The DeChantal’s….. Al, Sheila, Brad, and Justin….. ALWAYS

My attendance at this site has been spotty at best this year. When I think “I am back”, I am not back. I write reviews in my head for hours after I read a book… what I will say, what funny punch line I will give…. but for whatever reason I don’t sit down and review it. I hope that changes soon. I am still here. I still want to be that voice on this page that talks books and life and heartbreak and finding my way… and I hope you will all continue to stop in and see me here in 2016. ♥

Morning Meanderings… The Love Of The Written Word

Published on December 19, 2015 by Sheila (Book Journey)17 Comments

It is a CHILLY morning here in Central Minnesota. I sit with my lap top and a BIG cup of hot coffee. It is days like this where the outdoors looks painfully brittle that I am glad that I do not have to travel out in it.

I will however, do just that in an hour or so when I go just a few houses down from my own to visit my Aunt and Uncle. Needless to say, our conversation will turn towards books and I LOVE that we share this desire to read. Currently she is reading The Immortal Life Of Henrietta Lacks which was a book I devoured when I first read it. I will have to dig around before I go and see what else I can find her.

This connection over books that my Aunt and I found this summer has really made me rethink about readers and non readers. After discovering my Aunts dormant love for books… I am wondering how many others are out there… too busy in there own lives, saying they could never sit still long enough to read a book etc etc…

But what if…

What if these self proclaimed “non readers” just don’t know where to begin? In a world filled with so many titles and authors and… well without the guidance of a reader, someone who’s opinion you trust… where would you find a book that works for you? I have also been thinking about this in terms of the library. What can we do to make people fall in live with our libraries again? To see the real value of what they provide for our community…. I think it begins with a book.

My son Justin was a reader. What was interesting, was that with his college life and work and friends… he would fall away from books. And then… he would hang out with me. I would be talking about one title or another and pretty soon he was downloading it on his Kindle, or we were driving to the local book store…. and often, he would just load up right off my shelves. I loved that. In fact now, with his book shelf in our home… I glance at these gorgeous titles and I know some of them are mine that he borrowed from me…

and I can not remove them from his shelves to return to my own.

And that…

is ok.

My point here (yes, there is one), is that I think there are readers in our midst…. and this is something I have been thinking frequently. How do we bring the readers out of the people?

Justin Dechantal, book journey — Justin’s book shelf

In other news, my post about One Word has brought in a little fun discussion. I hope you read it if you have not already. I love choosing a word each year.

AND if you are participating in First Book Of The Year (and I hope you are!) start planning your picture with your book and email it to me at journeythroughbooks@gmail.com . Everyone and anyone can participate, you do not need to have a blog. This is one of my favorite posts of the year and I love to see all the people and what they are reading around the world as we enter a New Year.

Morning Meanderings… A Little Downton Abbey Moment

Published on December 16, 2015December 16, 2015 by Sheila (Book Journey)13 Comments

I am here.

I don’t know why I don’t post as much as I used to and I really wish I did. I think about posts… and I dialogue them in my head… what I will say, what I will share…. a review, a funny moment, a hard one….

and then for whatever reason the days pass and I will think, “huh, I never did post about that.”

Really though… my whole life is like that now. I struggle to get the simplest things done. I would rather be at home than run an errand. I still avoid crowds as much as possible, and I am working hard to avoid the retail stores this season as I just do not want to see all the decorations or the hustle of people happily gathering things for their soon to be celebrations.

But this…

is not about that.

I have been a Downton Abbey fan for the past couple of years since I first discovered this addicting PBS show. Seriously if you have not watched this… you must. All previous seasons are on Netflix. In the past few months I have watched them all again…

That’s just good stuff.

A friend of mine told me that our local College Theatre was having a pre showing of the next season premiere that will not air in the United States until January 3rd. It was a free event and people were encouraged to dress the era. I was not up to dressing he part, but I was all in for going to the premiere.

The premiere was last night and it was fun to see those who did dress up. Got to love our “Stars Hollow” style community.

The premiere was wonderful. The gentleman in the above pic to the right had trivia for us. Some of the questions were:

What is the first machine you see in the first episode, first season?

What is Mrs.Hughes first name?

What is the name of the man who came to an untimely death in season one?

What has just happened in the opening scene of Downtown abbey season one episode one?

We also received some swag..

That was my evening… and it was a nice one.

In other news, First Book Of The Year is coming along nicely and I am thrilled about that. We currently have 65 signed up to participate! I think this meme, and the book I choose to read will be my way of getting through the end of this year and entering the next.

Morning Meanderings… 8 Months.

Published on December 5, 2015December 5, 2015 by Sheila (Book Journey)17 Comments

I went on a little break after Thanksgiving.

I packed up my bag, my books, my laptop, and my dog, and drove to the cabin this past Sunday afternoon through Thursday afternoon. It was a trip to get away after the hard holiday and regroup for what is next.

The first evening and through Monday my friend Belinda joined me and we talked and read and hung out wayyyyyyy to long waiting for the cable guy to show up and connect the internet but that is another story and we made the best of it. 🙂 Monday evening (once freed from the Cable Guy) we drove into Beaver Bay Minnesota and had dinner and then drove to Two Harbors Minnesota to go to Shopco (the only retail store they have). On our way back from Shopco we seen these two floaty guys and could not resist…

two harbors, book journey — Belinda dancing with a snowman

The next morning we were hit with a lot of snow so Belinda drove back into Two Harbors and had lunch at a nice place called the Vanilla Bean before she headed back to the cities to beat the weather.

Then after she left, I drove back to the cabin to spend a few days alone. I just needed a break to refresh and I knew if I was at home I would have been running around doing what I always do, worrying about what was for dinner…

and I just didn’t want to.

The snow, which I never like – was actually somewhat symbolic. It seemed, once it blanketed the ground… that it muffled everything… like it almost became more

quiet.

And that spoke to me.

I spent the next two days reading and napping, hiking with my dog, watching movies…. just being. It was good. I plan to do something similar after Christmas.

8 months have passed as of yesterday. I spend a lot of time thinking about that day, and the days before when I had been with Justin. With the heartbreak, there is a mix of thankfulness for the time we had together. I know in many ways I was lucky. My son and I were so close. I will miss and cherish that forever.

I am searching for my new normal every day. I am not sure as of yet what that will look like but I have some ideas of who I hope I am.

I am linking this post to Saturday Snapshot.

First Book Of The Year 2016

Published on December 3, 2015 by Sheila (Book Journey)86 Comments

Every year I get excited about what will be that first book I will be chatting about going into the new year. I make a big deal out of picking the book. It is usually a book I have wanted to read for a while and for whatever reason, I just have not been able to find the time to read it.

This is the third year I am hosting this event and this year, it is all the more important to me. It was a year ago today that I put out last years request. I would love for you to join me in this tradition of picking the book that you will be reading into the new year. It can be a coveted book that you have been waiting to read, a guilty pleasure book, a re-read of a favorite that you want to explore once again… whatever you want.

Our posts of what we are reading will go live on January 1st. You do not need to be done with the book on January 1st, just reading it on January 1st and yes, you can start on the 31st and be reading into the New Year. I would like to link up all your posts here on the 1st as well so others can visit you and cheer you on! If you are interested, please fill out the short form below.

Here are the fun collages I did with last year’s participants:

I have not had the best blog presence the past 7+ months. Please help me spread the word of this event by chatting it up on your blogs, Twitter (link under post to do this easily), Facebook, and wherever else you like to chat. 🙂 I would love for this to be another great year of reading into the New Year.

Morning Meanderings…. ESCAPE. Renew. Do It Again.

Published on November 29, 2015November 28, 2015 by Sheila (Book Journey)10 Comments

Another day.

I am looking out my window this morning. If you don’t look at the ground (which I can not see from my spot at the kitchen table) it looks like fall. Blue skies. Crispy leaves still hanging on the trees. I can not see the frost on the grass from this spot and I like that. Let’s keep believing winter is not coming. SO far…. that has worked.

One thing for certain – no matter what is going on in someone’s life – whatever heartbreaks they are enduring or mountains they are struggling with …. the sun does rise every single day.

Today I am leaving for our cabin. I am taking a mini break to clear my head from the past 7 months and prepare for the next big upcoming holiday that sits ever present at the corners of my mind. I have not spent any time really alone through all of this and I feel that I need to do a little of that. Later today my friend Belinda will join me until Tuesday and possibly Farrah. I hope if it is not too cold to do a little hiking, a camp fire, hang out, watch movies… another friend may join in at some time as well. When they leave I will spend time reading, writing, and BREATHING. I am not sure how many days I will do that but plan to stay until Thursday or Friday. Maybe Saturday….

Recently when looking for audio to download I thought I wanted something non fiction. I do love a good non fiction listen. Yet when I went on Audible nothing was catching my attention in that genre. Instead… I went a different route and chose these two:

Both of these books on audio were excellent! In If You Only Knew, letting go of her ex-husband turned out to be harder than Jenny thought it would be – especially when the ex’s new wife is sweet and adorable and wants to be Jenny’s best friend. When Jenny moves into a new apartment to open her own business she finds she has her hands full with her sisters marriage problems, her mother’s constant undermining, and oh yeah… the good looking guy downstairs.

With After I Do, after a fairy tale like romance Lauren is stunned when Ryan says he needs time apart from her. She is further shocked when he says he wants a year apart and no contact to see where they are at. Burying herself in her work and family activities to keep her mind off Ryan, Lauren learns things about herself she did not know were there.

I plan on chatting about them over the next couple of days – but seriously, if you are looking for fun audio – these were great. now…. I want more like this. Great audio listening is a good way to keep my mind busy while doing other things.

That’s my Sunday. I am out – ROAD TRIP means audio. Got to like that. 😉

Morning Meanderings…and then there were four

Published on November 25, 2015 by Sheila (Book Journey)7 Comments

A week ago I posted about a book club sort of thing that my aunt and I have connected over. Basically it started as visiting and coffee but our conversation led to books and I have been feeding her books I think she will enjoy and I so enjoy talking with her about the books once she has read them.

I am so excited about this common connection over books. It made me realize that there are a lot of dormant readers out there that just need the right book and the right person to connect them to the book to awaken that love of reading. A few months ago I did not know my aunt used to be a reader. Now, she is one again.

Last Friday my Aunt invited me over for lunch. I knew she was also inviting a couple of the neighborhood ladies, one who was a very good friend of my mom’s (Helen),and an older lady (Jan) I had not met yet even though she is my neighbor and has lived in that house for almost two years.

While preparing for the lunch I grabbed a few books to share with my Aunt. We had recently talked on the phone and I had told her my love for the book Delancey. I also talked to her about the book ROOM and how it was about to become a movie. I had two copies of ROOM so I grabbed them both in case Helen would like to read it as well.

After lunch I pulled out the books that I brought and much to my surprise, both Helen and Jan were chatting books as well. Helen took the additional copy of ROOM as well as Gone Girl which my Aunt had just finished. Jan showed an interest in the book Winter Street and I talked to her about what she liked to read.

I told them all about the post I had written about the book club of two and how exciting it was to have people in our neighborhood to talk books with. We joked about how the book club had now become four.

I believe the biggest kick I am getting out of this is that how easy it was to connect to others through books. I guess I should not be surprised- isn’t that what we all do here?

I mentioned before as I process through this I have something in the planning that I am still thinking through bit for now, I extend a small challenge to you. As you go about the holiday weekend, where ever you go – or whoever you see… I challenge you to bring along a book that you love and share with someone that book. Even if (especially if) they are not big readers. I would love to hear what happens.

Morning Meanderings… I Renounce My Review Status

Published on November 24, 2015November 24, 2015 by Sheila (Book Journey)18 Comments

Tuesday. 23 degrees in Central Minnesota and nice out. I know to some around the globe that is cold, but to us Minnesotan’s that is t-shirt weather.

WordPress is annoying me this morning with a new format. GAH. Liked the old one and this post has taken a painful amount of time while I figure out (AGAIN) where to upload the picture, how to link it, etc….

I think it was last week I was all like “Yeah, I am soooo going to catch up on writing reviews! I am on it!” And then….

nothing.

I can not even explain what happens these days where I believe I am absolutely going to get something done and then the day slips away and I do not know where it went or why I never did what I said I was going to do. It is not only here, it is in everything I attempt to do – I have a plan…. plan fizzles.

Today however as I look at the list of books I have yet to review and fear there are some missing that I can not even recall that I read let alone reviewed, I want to renounce that review status and come back to really chatting about books. REALLY.

Really.

Here is what I need to review:

Yeah. I look at these books and I want to tell you about them. Some I am so surprised I have not reviewed yet because I GUSHED about them in my head as I read. One for sure here is a best of 2015 for me. One is a huh… I don’t get the hype. I would say at least three here are a must read.

So reviews… I will write. (Yes, Yoda style)

On another sweet note (I really love sweet notes!) my order came in yesterday as I had mentioned and hoped….so what is it?

It is a new GPS watch the Garmin 220. I treated myself to the covetted watch as a way to (hopefully) get a little motivated. I have spent the last 7 months shutting down and I am struggling to find the motivation to get back on track with healthy habits. I was doing great at the beginning of the year and I want to slowly work my way back to taking walks, hiking, running, whatever…. This watch sets to my specifics, keeps track of heart rate, plans work outs, lets you know personal bests, uploads your workout to a site where you can keep track of your progress, etc…. I will keep you updated.

Off now to write a review – YES. REALLY. Trying to make lunch plans with my son Brad, and I hope to set up my watch to take out on a maiden voyage …. roads are dry, maybe I will go on a bike ride.