Morning!  😀  Holy smokes was yesterday a long and tiring day.  I had such a  blast at the conference and we had an opportunity to hear John Ortberg talk AND I picked up his new book – the me the way I want to be.  That was exciting.  I have all of his previous books and really enjoy his writing.  Oh – and I did I mention I got it signed?  😀  The conference had an awesome band and when they played this song to show how they do visual effects I actually teared up.  I am sure my little flip video version could not possibly do it justice but I had to try to capture this:

While the conference was fun – I was so tired by the time we rolled back into town.  It wasnt even that late as I whipped into my yard around 7:35 pm, tossed my bags on the counter and flew downstairs to watch the last part of Survivor with Al.  Normally I wouldn’t walk in on a show almost done.  We have TiVo so I would just watch it in its entirety after Al goes to bed – BUT… this is Survivor and I so want to be present when Russell is voted off.  The man drives me nuts.  What is funny (or maybe not…) is that Al thinks his strategy is brilliant.  This has caused many a marital spat at our house in our difference of opinion on Russell.  GAH!  Did I mention the man drives me nuts?  (Russell – not Al…LOL)

Anyway – I fell asleep before the show was over so will have to watch it  tonight…  I was exhausted and went to bed the same time as my hubby for a change, at 8:30 pm.

Today I am optimistic that for the first day in over a week it will not rain and my son and I are going to attempt to rollerblade to Nisswa and back today – 32 miles.  We are going to do lunch there and then browse the local book store.  I have not been on my bike or rollerblades all week due to the weather.

I have a review for House Rules by Jodi Piccoult coming up later today so please stop in for that one…. I think I am going to have to include the spoiler button in that one because I feel a rant coming on…  🙂

Early post here.  This may very well even be a pre- coffee post.

NAH!  Just kidding – of course there was coffee!  😀

IT is early though.  It is before the sun (or white cloud cover most likely) is even a thought.  My regular subscribers will probably be in for a shock when they log on to their computers this morning and see that I had already meandered.  Current time:  4:30 am.

Now before you spit coffee all over your computer screen in  horror of why (WHY?) would I be up this early…. I will tell you.  I have an out-of-town meeting and we are car pooling and meeting up at 5:30 am to get to destination by 7:30/8:00 am.  That’s the plan.

At this hour I am unsure if it is a good plan…. but it is a plan non the less.

There were a few inquiries yesterday about my business cards that I posted on my Morning Meandering.  I said I would answer them today so here it is:  😀

I used Overnight Prints for the business cards ( no other reason then I googled business cards and they popped up)

I liked that you can select from their templates or upload your own pictures.

*I have no idea how great these will be (or not).  My order is due byt he 20th and I will be sure to post what I think of the finished product.

Have a good day everyone – I am taking a book or two with me today and hoping that does not come across as rude while we car pool…. there are 8 of us in the vehicle….

Hey all – good morning!  😀

Thank you to everyone who left me well wishes and great comments on yesterdays meandering.  I had one of those rare days that kept me so busy I did not make it back on-line until 9:30 pm last night after I had cleaned up my house from a very awesome book club meeting.  Logging on and seeing so many comments really made me smile.  Thank you for that.

I stayed up way too late last night trying to design a new business card for myself and this bloggy thing I do here.  I am still not sure if I love it – love it, but I got it done at around 1 am so we shall see.  Here is what I came up with:

Front Side

I like the creamy orange color and think it will stand out a bit.  I also was trying to stay with recognition and connection to this blog and this is the new coffee cup logo I have been using and am planning to stick with.

Back Side

I like the chocolaty back of this and like that there is information on both sides of the card – almost making it reversible.  I wanted to use a picture with more books but found my lettering then because lost in the picture.

Well it’s a start.  Now I just cant wait to get them and see them.  I had ones for this blog before that I had made myself and I like that one too, but needed to have the correct name on the ones I am taking to BEA with me.  Thoughts on this?  Advice?  Do you have a card for your blog?

I am really getting behind on reviews with my crazy life style as of late so I am putting up the book club one today and possibly even a second one later today.

Have a great day everyone – I am enjoying Coffee cup #3 this morning and listening to House Rules by Jodi Piccoult while I get ready for work.

Good morning!  Another rainy day here in central Minnesota but for some reason I can not stop smiling.  Why is this?

I just found out last night that I was one of the winners that will have tea with Adriana Trigiani while I am in New York on May 26th for BEA (Book Expo America).  Adriana is the author of Viola in Reel Life, Very Valentine, Brava Valentine (all which have been reviewed here) and many more best selling books.  Seriously I can’t stop grinning.  The email I received said that I would be picked up from the Jarvis Center and will ferry me to the tea in Manhattan!

So… because of this…. I leave you with this video this morning because this is a little illustration that keeps popping in my head to go with the way I am feeling right now.

So I am now skipping my way out the door to a day of work and then tonight I have book club here at my home.  We are reviewing The Girl She Used To Be by David Cristofano and we are potlucking around the food in the book.  This means…. Italian!  Yum!!!  I hope to have pictures for the meandering and for the review.  🙂

Have a super awesome day everyone!!!

Good morning all.  This morning Coffee Cup and I are in Maplewood Minnesota and I am up and about as prepared as I am going to be for the MS bike ride this morning.

Current temperature:  36 degrees (weather man says it feels like 27 degrees)

Chance of rain this morning with 15 to 20 MPH winds.

Percentage of  craziness I am feeling right now:  about 92% and rising.

I drove up to Maplewood last night and once I arrived I realized the book I was planning on finishing last night (Columbine) is still sitting on my kitchen counter at home.  Right where I put it when I was packing the car to go.  I never am without a book so last night was odd and I finally just went to sleep.

Current time is 6:52 am and the ride starts at 7:30.  I had better take off and see if I can find my team.  I am seriously going to need other crazy people to motivate me to ride today.  At this point I am planning on doing the 30 unless there is a real gung-ho group that encourages me to do the 60.  I think the weather is going to knock me on my butt on this one.

Anyway – I will post an update tonight when I post my In My Mailbox post…. after I am back in Brainerd…. home… and safe…. and WARM.  🙂

Have a great day everyone.  If you are planning on doing anything crazy (even tackling cleaning out a closet works), let me know so I can feel as though I am in good company.  🙂

Good morning.  I had a terrible crummy day yesterday.  I had a large project due for an important meeting taking place at 6 pm and it just did not come together as quickly as I had hoped.  I get off work at 3 and was watching the sun come out in the afternoon and I was excited to get in an afternoon bike ride.  Missing all of Tuesday had put me behind and I thought I could still do it in time, but life happens, the internet went down, the printer quit working, it was a busy office day and at 6 pm, I was still finishing up the project.

At 6 pm, we also had dinner plans across town with friends.  Needless to say – we were late.  We got there at 6:40.  I would describe myself as haggard.

Ever notice how time with friends can heal anything?  Within 15 minutes I feel myself relaxing, we are laughing, catching up and although I feel like I am 50 years older and so tired I could lay my head at the restaurant table, I had a fantastic time.

So….  today I am watching the weather… it is supposed to snow today and tonight I am supposed to be heading to Maplewood Minnesota for tomorrows bike ride.  I am trying to be optimistic.  😀

Todays forcast:

Today

Rain in the morning…then rain or snow in the afternoon. Snow accumulation around an inch. Highs 40 to 45. Northeast winds 10 to 15 mph.

Tonight:  Cloudy. Snow likely in the evening…then a chance of snow after midnight. Snow accumulation of 2 to 3 inches. Total snow accumulation 3 to 4 inches. Lows 30 to 35. with winds 10 to 15 mph. Chance of snow 70 percent.

But tomorrow – here and Maplewood is supposed to be partly sunny and 50’s.  I would prefer full sun and 65… but you know…

I am off to the gym now, need to work off the rest of yesterdays stress and get on with my day.  In a few hours I will post the books choice someone chose for me on the Choose The Book I Read next post.  It’s not to late to put in your two cents if you havent already 🙂

Good morning Meandering readers!  Hope you day is off to a good start!  Yesterday I was at lunch with a group of fellow office staff and my boss said I was the Queen of conversation links.  Meaning, I can take a piece of conversation and run with it in a different direction.  Could be the multi tasker in me…. could be the coffee…  it is the way I am wired.

Words always have triggered other thoughts for me… either movie quotes, past conversations, or pictures just come to mind. I switch gears quickly – much like my fictional hero, Lorelai from Gilmore Girls.

Hope your day is super fab awesome!  I am still battling poor weather conditions here and even heard there was a chance for snow over the weekend.  Are you kidding me????  SNOW in May?  GAH!

That makes me a little annoyed. 😉

How is your week going?

Hmmmm….. the best laid plans.

I am up super early this morning as I have super pinky sweared my friend Jennifer that I would take the 5:45 am Group Power class with her at the YMCA.  For those of you who have been on the super pinky swear club…. you know that is serious stuff.  🙂

When I agreed to do this on Monday afternoon I was fully awake and energized and of course it sounded like a good idea then… now..

not so much.

Well, the point was that if I took my class this morning instead of the 4:15 time I usually do, then if the weather was decent – I may actually have time to get in a bike ride in the later afternoon.  That is the method behind my madness.

So why am I grumbling about best laid plans?  Yesterday I had big dreams of putting up an afternoon review and then giveaway winners in the evening.  That is not how it went at all.  Instead I did not get my review post ready… had a super busy day at work… ran a couple of errands and caught up with my friend Wendy for rollerblading at 4, home by 5:15 pm… making super, played a game of cribbage with Al, cleaned up after supper, watched Biggest Loser (which I LOVE), answered some emails, worked on my blog book journey map…. and well…. around midnight had to say that’s all folks.

Perhaps today will have a better outlook.  One can only hope 🙂

As for bookish happenings… I am crying my way through Columbine, laughing and enthralled in the audio of House Rules, and deeply involved in the CD’s of Kite Runner.

I am having a lot of fun with the map though and still have a way to go to catching it up for 2010!

I am filled with giddiness….

Good morning everyone!  I am up and ready to leave the house soon for leadership training this morning.  Starting out my day today with Coffee Cup and a bowl of pomegranate oatmeal which is hitting the spot this gloomy Minnesota morning.

Yesterday afternoon I came home to grab a few things for the post office as well as a book I forgot to return to the library.  I was only going to be home a few minutes but as I started prepping everything, one thing lead to another – I swept the kitchen, then mopped…. then dried and folded laundry… caught up on emails…. twittered…. and alas figured I could return the library book today and picked up Titanic 2012 and started reading.

I read until I fell asleep.

When my husband came home from the office and I was prepping for our dinner and movie plans, he asked me where I was going.  “I am not going anywhere until we go out, why?”

He them informed me that the Jeep was running.

I forgot that when I came home – HOURS before…. that I was only going to run in the house and grab the book and the mailing and go again.  I never shut the Jeep off.  It had been running for 4 1/2 hours.

Seriously – I have never done that before.  Getting into it for dinner it was like sitting in a sauna as I had the heat cranked up due to the rainy cooler weather.

Anyway – moving on.  Today is May 1!  That means that I have comment winners for April, as each month, I keep track of all comments on non giveaway posts.  As a thank you to my readers, and a little encouragement to not just read but also to share your thoughts (I do love reading them!) I use Random.Org at the end of each month to:

1.  Give a $20 Gift Certificate to the reader who comments the most throughout the month

2.  I choose two readers/commenters using Random.Org to choose a book out of the prize box (these books are some of my gently used reads that I have either reviewed or picked up at sales when I found them in really good condition.

Here are this months winners:

The two random.org winners are out of 1057 non giveaway comments:

#459  Lisa (Lit and Life)

# 357 Esme (Chocolates and Croissants)

Congratulations – please choose out of the prize box and then email me at journeythroughbooks@gmail.com to let me know what you picked and your address!

My Top Commenter for the month of April is:

and this was close between three commenters…

Library Pat

Pat I will email you your gift card for Amazon later today!

I have to run or I will be late for the meeting!  Have a great day everyone!  The new comment contest starts today and I will be back later with a review!