Tag: Morning Meanderings

Good morning!

This year I started the WHERE Are You Reading Challenge and I have already been having a lot of fun with it.  The idea was to just read what you are planning to read anyway – and just see where in the world you are reading.  I offered prizes as you got to the end of the year if you were able to read in each of the 50 states, and bonus entries and prizes for those who read outside the states.  You can find all details here.

Each month, I would like to recap where we have been and how this challenge is going for us.  Here is where I am for the month of January 2011:

In February I have read 13 books and 4 audio ( 11 books so far in January, and 6 audio).  On my Reading Map they have landed: (Jan and Feb combined)

Georgia

North Carolina

New York (2)

Minnesota (3)

Vermont

California (2)

Mississippi

New Jersey

Maine (2)

Illinois (2)

Connecticut

Washington

Missouri

Massachusetts (2)

Utah

Oregon

Pennsylvania

South Dakota

Washington

Iowa

One unknown (Clementine – friend Of The Week!)

Saudi Arabia

Australia

Singapore

I am having so much fun this and love seeing where I am reading! 

For those of you participating in the WHERE Are you reading challenge, please feel free to create a monthly wrap-up post and link it here if you would like.  I plan to do this each month.  For those of you who are not connected to this challenge, it is not too late to start your map and join in!  Challenge details here.

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As for the February comment winners –

My randomly drawn winner of a book out of the “Reading Cafe” (Yes, I changed the name…. more themed for me 😛 )is:

Rural View – Views From The Countryside

 

And the winner for the most comments in February and the $20 Amazon gift card is:

Hannah from Wordlily

 

Thanks everyone – I so appreciate your visits and love discussing books with all of you.  The March contest – starts today 😀

 

I have been having some lap top “opportunities” so please bear with me while I get this all straightened out.  I am missing my blog visiting time and will be back to visiting soon.  😀

 

FRIDAY!!!!!  Friday Friday Friday Friday!   YEAH!

Ok… one more…. Friday!  😛

I went to the 5:45 am Group Power Class with my friend Wendy.  At this point I am not sure which of us is crazier… she who is now on her way to work until 7 pm tonight, or me who needed to come home, get ready for a breakfast date at 9 am and packing to leave town right after a quick stop at the library after breakfast.

I am itchin’ for spring and for activity and I think I am finally starting to see things coming up that are exciting!  In three weeks (oh man… it may be less now) I am in for the Polar Plunge is Edina Minnesota for Special Olympics.  I have never done this before… but enjoy adventure.  Although today is currently -4 for a temp so really thinking more and more about that icy water.

Then – yesterday a group of my friends were planning a girls weekend that I thought at first I would not be able to attend as they had picked a weekend I had other commitments… and then – the email came and the date has changed and I am in!!!  IN!!!! AND we are seeing Rick Springfield in concert which is oh so 80’s of me… but that’s the way I roll.

May 1 is the first Minnesota bike ride of the year and my friends Amy and Wendy are committed to doing this with me and I am super uber pumped to do this ride -and hopefully this year the weather is nice enough for us to do the 75 or 100 mile route instead of the 30 due to poor weather the last two years.

And the end of May – is BEA.

And from there – spring and summer means bike rides and a garden and apparently a run this year that still freaks me out a bit but…. I feel I need to do things now because some day I might not want to.  🙂

 

This weekend, well today actually I am going to our cabin up North for the first time since November.  I am taking time to get away and write.  I will be back on Sunday.  Posts will still go up as I should have internet when I go out for coffee at a cafe in Silver Bay.  A 3 hour drive each way means lots of audio time too… and I am thinking about a stop at Barnes and Noble in Duluth…. just because. 😀

Oh and yes, I have a winner from the Literary Blog Hop.  My winner using random.org is:  Amy from The House Of Seven Tails.   She chose The Things They Carried by Tim O’ Brien.  Congratulations Amy!

Have a fabulous day!

 

Good morning.

I feel….

restless.

I have many things bouncing around my head … things I need to do, things I want to do, things I am considering… I work today – have breakfast with friends tomorrow morning and if (IF) all goes as planned I am heading out-of-town after that tomorrow to our cabin for a weekend of writing and just getting out of Dodge…. errr…. Brainerd.  😛

As wired up as I am right now… watch me forget something important like … my notes.

I have no idea why this is in my head right now…. but I am thinking of an episode of friends about a book they were ready.  For the record – I used to really love the Friends episodes.

(Yes…. sorry I guess you have to watch it on you tube)

Well.. for me all book discussions in sit coms are pretty funny…

Ok so I am off to start my day and while my plate if FULL FULL FULL… tomorrow…. is not.  Tomorrow kicks off to a weekend of….

possibilities.  😀

Have a super day everyone – don’t let anyone take your wind!  😀

(wow…. that was cheesy…. I really do need a break.  :shock:)

😀

Good morning 🙂

I am going to make this quick as I just seen to be running behind today and I soooooooo hate that.

Last night we had a small book club group gathering.  This was a bonus review that we agreed to do this month and next.  We are reviewing a book around the food within it.  This was an optional read for our group and those who felt they would like to and were able to read the additional book as well as participate in the food bringing were invited to do so.

Really…. that’s the background story of shy I was straightening the front room to my home… it’s a small friendly room that I often refer to as the friendship room as it is brightly decorated and is comfy to sit in and chat with a few friends.  We usually do book club when it is at my house in the family room downstairs as that is bigger, but I did not need that much space last night and left the downstairs to Chance and Al to chill and watch tv while we met upstairs.

(Wow…. I digress today!  LOOK!!!  Something shiny!!!!)  😛

Ok…. my POINT is that while cleaning the room I was organizing a basket of books that I have next to a chair in the room.  That basket of books has been more decorative than anything and these books have not rotated out of this basket in years.  As I looked at what was in the basket I pulled out a book called The Summer Guest by Justin Cronin.  It surprised me as I do not recall having heard of Justin Cronin before The Passage came out this past year.  Yet, there in the basket was an earlier writing of his, and by the looks of it… a softer read as well.

(Really – this sounded much more interesting when I started typing it)

I know I picked this book up because of title… It really does have a gorgeous cover and now as The Passage is so deeply written and interwoven in this futuristic world of vampire (virals) like creatures… I am super curious what this one is about.

Have you ever done that?  read something by an author you believe you have not heard of before – only to find you own something by them already?  Or is that just me?  Crazy chick in Minnesota.  😛

 

Last nights book club was sooooooo awesome.  I need to get the review up today for Olive Kitteridge but currently have run out of time to do so and was too tired last night so we shall see if I can squeeze in some time to do this later this afternoon.  I should have been more organized – but honestly I unwound last night by watching Amish Grace on Netfix which is the true story of the Amish School shootings in 2006, the book I read recently about that was Think No Evil.

 

Oh and winner from yesterdays Sarah Pekkanen day using random.org is:  Kavyen from Reading Between The Pages!

Have a super fab day 😀

Good morning!  yes it is true… Minnesota is buried in snow and as much as that irritates me to no end….. I refuse to let that get me down!

Today one of my favorite authors has a book released and today is going to be all about the book and the author.

If you have been doing a little blog hopping the last few days you may have seen the reviews start to pop up for Skipping a Beat by Sarah Pekkanen.  I finished it over the weekend and let my just say if COFFEE CUP and I were book critics our vote would be two mocha lattes and a hand full of Kleenex up – yes…… it is that good.

So let the festivities begin!  Here’s the layout – in a few hours my review of Skipping a Beat will be posted.  A few hours after that please pop in again for my author chat with the wonderful Sarah Pekkanen.

Here’s a quick story about how I met Sarah Pekkanen:  Last April I entered a contest on Twitter that Sarah was tweeting about in honor of book bloggers.  She was giving away a trip to New York for BEA – airfare, food allowance, two nights hotel, tour of Simon and Schuster, and the Book Blogger convention to attend with her.   I entered this much like I would sign up the freezer full of goodies they sometimes offer at your local grocery store and you just sign up because – why not?

Well…. I won.

SSSQQQUUUEEEEEE!!!!  I know right?  I couldn’t believe it!  She sent me an email telling me I won this amazing package to BEA and I thought it had to be spam.  I called her number which she put in the email and she laughed and said, “Wow, I sent that email like 3 minutes ago!”

I remember telling her that I was at work and I was trying really hard not to scream and jump up and down with excitement.  😀

Winning was great – but even better was meeting Sarah.  She is incredibly down to earth and fun to chat with.  I had read her book Opposite of Me and loved it.  I could not wait to see what she came up with next.

So – because Sarah is so incredible and I want you to have a chance to know how incredible she is too – I am giving away a copy of her book Skipping A Beat.  This giveaway is for today only and you will be entered for commenting on this post and/or on the other two posts that will go up today.  If you comment on all three posts – that will be three entries (max of 3).  I will announce the winner tomorrow morning in the meandering.

I hope if you have not read Sarah Pekkanen that you do try her.  I adored both her books!

Tonight I have the bonus book club review and potluck around the book Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout. The food people are bringing sounds good – and I am excited to see what the group thought of this unusual read.  Have an awesome day everyone.  😀

GOOD MORNING!

Yes – that is enthusiastic.  I am coming off one of the best Saturdays I have had in a long time….

I am relaxed

I feel accomplished

and I was able to read!

It does not take much to make this girl happy.  😀

I was up until 1:00 am last night finishing up Skipping A  Beat by Sarah Pekkanen.   Sarah’s new book is being released on Tuesday and I want my review to go live on that day as I adore Sarah – and this second book…. well – yeah.  I can not wait to talk to you about it!  Sarah and I will also be chatting here at Book Journey this week about the book, about life and about fictional characters we would love to hang out with.

Between my excitement over Sarah Pekkanen and my excitement over my upcoming chat with author Cheryl Lu-Lein Tan from my review of Tiger In The Kitchen….  I feel really good going into this week.

Now – if I could only finish Olive Kitteridge which is my bonus book club review – at my house this Tuesday and I have yet to crack the spine.  *gulp!*  This is my quest for today.  🙂

So I am off to start my Sunday – nothing big happening here, I am picking up Chance in 20 minutes and after Church I need to plan out our meals for the week while I listen to a little audio, shop a little and then home base for hopefully some quality reading time.

How do you plan to roll out your Sunday?

Good morning.

I am a little later than usual this morning due to prepping and putting up my Literary Giveaway post for Judith’s Blog hop.  If you have some time you should check out the giveaways.  I plan to do this as well once I get some coffee in me… yes, you read that right… as of this moment I am caffeine free.  Probably another reason this post is up a little later… I am not moving as quickly as I normally am.  😛

On other random notes, it is Saturday and time for a Saturday Snapshot thanks to Alyce of At Home With Books.   Hmmmm…. what am I in the mood for this morning…..  *clicking through pictures from my files*

Ok – this will work:

This is a picture of my uncle’s wedding in 1959.  From left to right is my uncle Dick, my uncle Bill, and my dad Gary.  I don’t have many pictures of my dad who died in a house fire in 1980 so I grabbed a few life this at my aunt and uncles 50th wedding anniversary party.  It’s fun to see the hair styles!

For giggles – here is a picture of my dad’s siblings from that 50th anniversary party.  It was awesome to have them all there!  From left to right:  Bunk (she lives in California), Bill (the groom from the above picture), Bob, and Ida. Bill, Bob, and Ida all still live here in Brainerd Minnesota.

My big plan for today is to get in some reading!   I have a few errands to run this afternoon but nothing seriously time-consuming.  I ran a lot yesterday to make today a bit more relaxing.  Seriously though, I do need to get some coffee.  😀

I seen this over at  Polishing Mudballs and LOVE this!  SO I thought I would try it for this Morning Meandering.

Outside my Window: Over cast skies with a hint of pink shining through…. the snow is melting and there are patches of green among the white…. if this is like past years, it is signs of false spring and we will be hit again a couple more times with big snow falls.  I hope not.

I am listening to:  Chance getting ready for school.

I am Thinking:  I have a couple of author chats to complete and a review.  I hope to read a little this morning… and prep packages to mail.  I am hoping I can accomplish a lot today and still get reading time as well.

I Am Grateful For:  This day off.

I am pondering:  The weekend.  What should I get done today – what can wait until tomorrow…

I am reading:  Olive Kitteridge for Tuesdays bonus book group.  I hope to start Black Girl White Girl, and Skipping A Beat over the weekend.

I am photographing: Nothing at the time…

I am listing:  “to do’s”

I am creating: something…..  the question is, what?  😀

From The Kitchen:  Just Al and I tonight so maybe it will be sizzling mushroom covered steaks tonight…

Favorite Thing Of The Week:  Justin (College Son) was over last night.  We had dinner together and watched a movie before he had to go.  AND Brad (Navy son) called last night and I was able to chat with him for a while.

On This Date:  I will work on the book a bit and strive to have a well-balanced day

Ok…. onward.  Have a super Friday everyone.  😀

 

Good morning…. 😀

I am not really a gimmick girl… the “as seen on tv” doesn’t phase me….I pride myself on passing on crazy packaging or the stunts that are done to make old products more appealing.  I say “pshaw” to all that.

Unless…

there is a sale.

(You know there is a story here).  My local grocery store had a product called Batter Blast.  See exhibit A:

Batter Blast is basically a pancake in a can.  You shake it and spray it like cheese whiz into your fry pan and whip up some quick pancakes.  Priced out at 2 cans for $5, I took one look and thought, “FUN!” as I plopped two cans into my cart.

That was over a week ago and they have been in my frig ever since.

Last night was a typical Wednesday of getting home around 5 pm and have to be on the move by 6:30…. my window for anything I need to get done including supper, is a small one.  Al was not going to be home for supper so it was just Chance and I and I was not really hungry so I gave him two options… on our way to town we swing by and grab him a Little Caesar’s Pizza – $5 at the drive thru, or I could make the Batter Blast with a side of turkey bacon.

Batter Blast won… hands down.  I heated up the pan, read the instructions and pressed out a pancake… first attempt, the pancake was too thin and burned easily. Batch #2 was better but my pan was still too hot and I was having trouble turning them fast enough… by batch three, Chance was involved and along with pressing out the letter “C” ’cause that was what we wanted to do, we also make a couple nice batches of pancakes.

Over all thoughts:

Me:  Meh.  It was cool but actually was hard to press the button and really it’s not like it takes all that much work to whip up a batch of fresh pancakes.  It’s also cheaper to make them from scratch.

Chance:  Loved it.  He thought they tasted good and it was fun to squeeze out the shapes.

 

 

 

COFFEE CUP and I are up and preparing for a busy day.  I am leaving for the cities at 10 am for training and will not be home until 5:30 or 6 tonight.  Then College Son Justin is supposed to be over for super and we are thinking about taking in a movie… I would like to see Just Go With It.

I really dislike my days being so FULL.  I am the type of person who needs to unwind and have a little quiet time.  When that is hard to come by…. I start to feel tense.   I have a class Friday morning and I meet with Connie 11 – 1 tomorrow to continue recording her story.  After that….  I am home and chilling for what I hope to be, most of the weekend.  😀

Right now…. I miss books.  I need a good uninterrupted reading session.

 

I will leave you with this question… have you ever bought an as seen on tv  item?  What was it?  How did it work out for you and most importantly….. where is it now?  😀