Tag: Morning Meanderings

Good morning.  Probably going to the chiropractor this morning…. so ridiculous but the nerve in my back has now went up to my neck (I can’t look down) and over to my right arm – it hurts to lift my coffee cup….. now that is serious.  😛 

In the mean time – as I psych myself up to use the shower…. (how sad that it takes a pep talk with myself to get me going in that direction because it calls for standing and moving), I thought I would do this little meme thingy that Bonnie linked me up too.

Ok… with no more rambling ( as I really do need to figure out a way to move), here is the 4 x 4

Four jobs I’ve had in my life:

1. Wal-Mart (Customer Service Manager, Support Team, Promotional Chairperson, Department Manager)
2. Family Life Administrator (I prefer the FLA – it sounds very CSI)  😛
3. Hardees fast food counter person
4. Domino’s Pizza (driver, day shift manager, office manager)

Four books I would read over and over:

1. The Bible
   
2. Any of the Harry Potter books
3. Summerhouse by Jude Deveroux
4. Three Sisters Trilogy Nora Robers – Dance Upon The Air, Heaven and Earth, and Face The Fire

Four places I have lived:

1. Bemidji Minnesota
2. Virginia Minnesota
3. Soldotna Alaska (one year with my aunt and uncle and mom after the house fire)
4. Brainerd Minnesota (there is no place like home :D)

Four books I would recommend 

1. Summer House by Jude Deveroux
   
2. Three Sisters Trilogy by Nora Roberts (see book titles above)
   
3. ROOM by Emma Donoghue
   
4. Little Princes by Conor Grennan
5. (bonus) Thirteen reasons Why by Jay Asher

Four places I have been:

1. Honduras
2. Costa Rica
3. California
4. New York!

Four of my favorite foods:

1. Thai
2. Mexican
3. Chinese
4. anything chocolate….

Four of my favorite drinks:

1. Ice water
2. fresca
3. diet Dr Pepper
4. skim mocha latte no whip

Four places I would rather be right now:

1. on a secluded SUNNY beach
2. Disney World
3. in a hot tub
4. can I just say the secluded SUNNY beach again?

Four things that are very special in my life:

1. my family (Al, Brad, Justin) and friends
2. my church
3. my activities: biking, rollerblading…
4. my online conversations here

Alright…. yes, I am still going to recap last weekend…. really.  I just need to prep some pics and I know… I can not believe it is Thursday already.  Have a super day everyone… I am off to slowly get ready for work and make that appointment to hopefully get this pain taken care of as I have never experienced anything like this before and it is driving me crazy that I can not be active. 

*I do not do a lot of these meme/questionnaires anymore, and I don’t mean to be rude when people tag me or connect me with blog awards – it’s just honestly… I don’t have the time to do all that they entail.  I apologise to people who gave my a blog award and I commented “I will stop by and check it out” because more times than not, as I continue doing whatever I am doing I forget to stop by and do that.  Thank you for thinking of me though, I think that it is so nice that you even find my ramblings blog award worthy.  😀

Good morning!  😀

32 degrees here this morning in Minnesota…… thirty-two…. 

They are talking snow and rain for the rest of this week.  Uggghhhhh… it is snowing right now….

Oh come on Spring!!!

*my heart sinks with the weight of waiting for weather I can bike in*

So…. change of subject – lets talk books. 😀

I visited the Monday What Are You reading Monday between time I had on Monday and then finished yesterday evening.  Wow…. there are good books out there.

At Serendipity, Vivienne wrote a review on an interesting looking book called A Year Without Autumn by Liz Kessler. 

At The Eclectic Reader, Sheree read and reviewed Stay by Deb Caletti that seems so SSQQUUUEEEE worthy I am looking for that one now!

At “And Anything Bookish“. Kim had a post up about Sarah Dessen’s book What Happens To Good Bye.  I have only experienced Dessen once but liked it very much and this one sounds as though it may be my next Dessen stop. 

At Kristen’s Book Nook, she had a review of Bossy Pants by Tina Fey.  I have watched and wondered about this book from afar.  I find Tina Fey to be really fun and have enjoyed movies she is in. 

Library says YES to all 😛 except a Year Without Autumn…. 😦 they do not have that one. 

Oh and finally I heard about this in my travels too…. there is a website called Magic Is Mite, News From The Ministry Of Magic.  This site has updated posts regarding the search for well….. undesirable #1….. (the site is hilarious) and a must view for all you Potter heads out there.  (Uhhhh…. not me of course….. I am posting this for you…. :razz:)

Ok – I have to get ready for work.  I have a pinched nerve in my back which is ridiculously annoying and makes me walk a bit like the hunchback of Notre Dame.  Well then….life – is never dull 😛

Good morning early.  I am off today to the cities – meeting Dawn at 6:30 in the morning to drive three hours for training all day and then home probably about 8 or 9 pm tonight….

welcome to Tuesday 😛

Yesterday I just felt a little queasy…. actually noticed it Sunday evening after floor hockey and it lingered into Monday…. I went to work hoping it would pass but did not so canceled my evening “to do’s” and stayed home and breathed instead.  Guess what?  Breathing is GOOD.

However when I made dinner for Al and I, I was making grilled chicken with carrots and broccoli and cauliflower, and then I made a pan of noodles to put the chicken goodness on top – and wound up eating just a plate of noodles and butter.  SO BAD.  I don’t think I have done that since I was a kid.  😉

I have much to share this week but will not get to it today…. I have a recap coming up on the Girls Weekend/Rick Springfield concert and books I have found in my blog visit adventures…. but that… will wait until later this week. 

Noodles and butter….. hmmm….. guilty yummy food. 

Ok… fess up… what’s your guilty pleasure food? 

Good morning…. 😀

Note to self – Cameron’s brand Hazelnut Vanilla coffee – YUM!

First off let me say…. I have to move.  Yesterday as we were driving for our girl’s weekend…. it snowed.  SNOWED.  April 15th…. SNOW.  GAHHHHHHH…..

Ok enough of that.  We are at Chase On The Lake and let me tell you it is GORGEOUS here.  There are 9 of us and we are in two condos and wow…. did I say that already?

There were rumors floating around that Rick (did I just call him Rick?) was in the hotel but we had no “sightings”.  There are some HUGE  fans here…. we seen posters and a couple girls in the elevator who were super excited to find him in the hotel….. In a word…. WOW.

We stayed in last night, brought our own food – yum to Amy’s chicken enchilada’s!  Today – who knows… right now I am waiting for my roommates to be ready to go have breakfast 🙂

Have an awesome Saturday!

Good Morning!

I swear a week ago I was almost caught up with writing reviews yet this morning I sit here making a list of the reviews I need to write on the books I have read since the readathon to present.  The week lets just say – got away from me.

I did announce last Sunday that I was going to tackle The Hobbit on audio.  I have no idea where that came from, add it to a list of random thoughts that plow through my head daily…  I have started The Hobbit and have to smile as I am slowly taken back to Middle Earth, a place of many creatures and of course the Hobbits who are short and their feet are so big they are unable to wear shoes…. 

What I do not remember is all the singing and in the beginning of this audio – there is a LOT of singing.  Take this scene from when Bilbo lets the dwarves, and Gandalf into his home the night before they leave on their adventure:

“Chip the glasses and crack the plates!
Blunt the knives and bend the forks!
That’s what Bilbo Baggins hates-
Smash the bottles and burn the corks!
Cut the cloth and tread on the fat!
Pour the milk on the pantry floor!
Leave the bones on the bedroom mat!
Splash the wine on every door!
Dump the crocks in a boiling bawl;
Pound them up with a thumping pole;
And when you’ve finished, if any are whole,
Send them down the hall to roll !
That’s what Bilbo Baggins hates!
So, carefully! carefully with the plates!”

Anyway – when I opened my emails this morning I was pleased to see that I had a link to The Hobbit Video set for the upcoming movie.  It was almost spooky to see the set that was used in some of the other movies being revived in anticipation of The Hobbit:

Ok so sitting here Friday morning I can tell you I am totally unprepared for this weekend.  We are leaving town at 1:30 and I have to pick up food, pack, grab a couple of board games, movies, finish laundry, and I want to stop at one of the stores in town to see if I can find a super cute shirt to wear out tomorrow night.  If you read yesterday mornings post you will see my weekend away plans).

SO – I can say I plan to be still around with the morning meanderings and if I can get it together here before I leave there will be the reviews too – I have not even reviewed and shared about our book club meeting this past Tuesday yet!  Anyway – I am pulling out of Middle Earth for a while…. I have a few things to get done in regular Earth.  😉

Any other Hobbit/Lord Of The Rings/ Tolkien fans out there? 

Hope everyone’s weekend is awesome!

 

Good morning…. *rubs eye*

*sips coffee*

Ok… ready.  😀

What a week and it is only Thursday morning but it has been jam packed with self inflicted things to do…. 😀  Today I work until 2 and then I am going to get my hair cut.  At 4:30 I have a charity wine tasting at a local restaurant for an area Elderly care home.  This is kind of a neat thing this restaurant does – each month on the second Thursday they allow a charity to be sponsored and you pay $15 for wine tasting and horduerves.  My aunt is going to be there, some cousins and my friend Wendy has been roped asked to come along as well.  🙂

Then…. after I have spent a little time there I need to drive a mile up the road to another restaurant where my friends Heidi, Cindy, and Sara are meeting for our monthly dinner.  We are discussing a road trip in June so I need to see where we are at in that discussion.

 

Oh yes…. and then tomorrow…

Tomorrow – a group of my friends are going to leave Brainerd around 1:30 in the afternoon and we are having a girls weekend.  We are only going about an hour away but we are staying in condos and Friday night we are staying in – watching movies, playing games, and hanging out.  Saturday we are going to shop in the area and then Saturday night…

The Rick Springfield concert.  (Reagan from Miss Remmer’s reviews sent me a text message and said “who’s that?”)    LOL

 

 

 

Anyway – it should be fun just getting away and hanging out for the weekend.  And to help those of you who are scratching your head saying…. “who is that dude?”  Here is one of his hits (yes…. I said hits….. how 80’s am I?)  😛

 

Good morning.  MMMMMM Coffee is tasting good this morning!  I had a busy day yesterday and today, tomorrow – and through the weekend is looking about the same.  I enjoy my 30 minutes in the morning writing these posts and “chilling” before I rev up and fly out the door like the late rabbit in Alice in Wonderland….

I love my Shelf Awareness email I receive each weekday morning.  It is filled with bookish news on book stores, books, trends, etc….  yesterday it gave the top 10 BANNED books of 2010.

And the banned books are:

1. And Tango Makes Three by Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson Reasons

2. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie

3. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

4. Crank by Ellen Hopkins

5. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

6. Lush by Natasha Friend

7. What My Mother Doesn’t Know by Sonya Sones

8. Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich

9. Revolutionary Voices, edited by Amy Sonnie

10. Twilight by Stephenie Meyer

Have you read any of these?  I have read #2, #5, and #10.  Last year I participated in banned books week – this year it is September 24 – October 1, by reading banned books all week-long.  Yes it is true I read Dr. Suess’ The Lorax (shudder!), The Absolute True Diary Of A Part Time Indian – see it up there on the list *waves*, SPEAK (oh wow this one was good!), The Bell Jar, Farenheit 451, Harry Potter and The Order Of The Phoenix, Are You There God, It’s Me Margaret – yes, that is Judy Blume, Freedom Writers, The Face On The Milk Carton.

It was…. an awesome week and I plan to do it again this year.  Banned Books are not what you may think they are…. they are books that have been challenged and asked to be removed…. in the case of the Lorax, people complained that it was bad for the forestry because the book is about removing trees.  Yes…. I kid you not.  😉

 

On the flip of that, the books that are up for an award are as follows and SSSQQQUUUUUU for ROOM making that list.  My book club voted for ROOM to be our May read.  I am excited as I think it will make for awesome discussion!

 

Finalists for the Orange Prize for fiction are:

Room by Emma Donoghue
The Memory of Love by Aminatta Forna
Grace Williams Says it Loud by Emma Henderson
Great House by Nicole Krauss
The Tiger’s Wife by Téa Obreht
Annabel by Kathleen Winter

 

Have you read any of these?  Other than ROOM I have not but have been interested in Great House for some time now.

Ok… got to run…. work… work out, kick boxing… home….

This weekend I am going on a Girls Weekend – and I will give more details on that…. on another morning 😀

 

Good morning!  Did everyone survive the weekend?  I hope wherever you are at you were able to experience a bit of nice weather, a little reading, and a lot of fun….

I think I did…. Friday was almost 60 degrees for the first time in Minnesota this year.  I actually got on my bike.  It’s true!

Saturday – well Saturday was the Dewey Read-A-Thon and despite the Camp Benedict Silent Auction being on the same day (I ran to it twice!) and dinner out…. I still did ok for a chick on the fly!

Here is what I accomplished:

Hate List by Jennifer Brown- start to finish 432 pages … sadly, this is the only book I finished

Open House by Elizabeth berg (car audio) 30 minutes

Dreamland by Sarah Dessen (kitchen/living room audio) 1 hour 10 minutes

Massacre at Mountain Meadows (bathroom/bedroom audio) 30 minutes

I was reading (listening) for charity, for Camp Benedict the camp for children with AIDS and their families.  I pledged $1.00 for every 10 pages I read or 10 minutes I listened to audio.  I also opened it up to others to sponsor me if they chose or make a donation…. here are the results:

My reading:  $43.00

My Audio:      $13.00

Millie:  $3.00

Key from Random Acts Of Reading donated .5 cents a page:  $21.60

Don Saxum $25.00

For a total of:  $105.60!

 

Yesterday I skipped my morning gym weight lifting class knowing I was going to be there in the afternoon and instead visited the Monday What Are You Reading participants.  I really enjoy seeing what everyone is reading and many times I can get through the list without adding a book to my tbr…. yesterday that was not true.

At There’s A Book, I found Danielle’s review for The Kitchen Daughter by Jael Mchenry

Also, Danielle caught me again with her review of The Fourth Stall by Chris Rylander

At Helen’s Book  Blog, her review of A Thousand Sisters by Lisa Shannon grabbed me right away!

At Not Just Reading I was interested in a book called Half The Church by Carolyn Curtis James (unfortunately, this is the only one my library did not have.)

The top three have been reserved at my library.  I usually visit the other blogs with my library reserve on-line page open…. just in case 😀

FINALLY – update to Kickboxing.  Yesterday evening I took my third class and enjoyed it very much.  They put me with a girl who was there for the first time and while we are both beginners, it was fun to talk to her and when we were given instructions I could whisper, “don’t worry…. I am still learning that too!”

It was fun – quite the work out and I am LOVING it!  My friend Heidi is coming with when I go Wednesday evening, and I am working on my friend Wendy!  (Come on Wendy – everyone is doing it!  😛 )

 

Ok – off – busy day…. book club meets tonight to discuss Sunday’s At Tiffanys by James Patterson

Good morning.  I have just a few minutes this morning as I have an early commitment.  For all of you who did the read-a-thon yesterday, how much fun was that?  I had a blast even with a few things in my day that pulled me away.  I made it to hour 18 and then it was literally light out for me.  I was done – kupoot…. I wanted to do more… I could not.

I will gather totals later – probably Tuesday morning as tomorrow is all Monday What Are You Reading and I try hard to keep Mondays clear for that purpose alone.

Anyhoo…. I would love to hear if you participated how did you do?  What did you read?  What did you love?  What was the best part of the read-a-thon for you?

I am out… but I wanted to leave you with this….

This was my cover made up for one of the mini challenges….. below is the actual cover…  and yes, that is ET….. he was my stand in.  😛

LOL…. have a sweet day!  😀

Good morning.

Yes it is still morning, but yes… I am late.  First of all… my fingers hurt.  Well.. I think maybe it is my arms hurt all the way to my wrists and therefore it is effecting my fingers.  😛  Kickboxing Day 2 did not come out as pain free as day one.  I think I over achieved, over confidently thought that since day 1 was pretty much pain free why not jump back in to the ring?  Well… I definitely felt weaker last night, seemed that my arms tired more quickly and I watched the clock…. a lot.  Is it over yet? I was supposed to do to the 5:00 pm class tonight with my friend Christy but I am pretty sure I will be canceling out and waiting to start again on Monday.

The Dewey Read-A-Thon is tomorrow – SSSQQQQUUUEEEEE!!!  This is so much fun and I hope you are planning to participate….don’t worry if you cant do the full 24 hours (oh I tried once… at 2 am it was not pretty… :razz:)  If you can take any amount of time at all to read and join in the fun you should go sign up!  😀  And they have fun mini challenges throughout the day to break up the reading time and I love that!  I have the 2 pm (central time) challenge right here and make a note to come check it out because you are not going to want to miss this one!  😀  I have a couple must do’s tomorrow – one being going to my friends silent auction so I will listen to audio while traveling there… keeping in the readathon theme…

And as for book love…. ahhhh… I just am craving book time.  I am going to sit down here in a few minutes and wrap up Little Princes.  Yeah, that was on my agenda for yesterday but the day was crazy busy and after kick boxing and dinner I fell asleep on the couch at 9 pm.  Boy that is embarrassing.  😛

Today I am doing group power at noon, dropping off items for the auction, going to the library, prepping my post for tomorrow, and reading.  Yes – I am hitting the pause button on life and getting in a little reading time….. warming up for tomorrow 😀