Morning Meanderings/In My Mailbox


Justin had to be to the airport to catch a flight back to Minneapolis this morning at 7 am….. we synchronized our cell phones to wake us up at 5 am.  I was able to use the navigation system on my phone for the first time ever and LOVE it!  I consider myself very directionally challenged and I don’t even drive Minneapolis for fear of getting lost.  This little gadget brought me right to the airport and back to the hotel with no panic by me.  LOVE it – and she talks to me and tells me where to turn!  I will call her Emily.  🙂

So now…. I am back at the hotel and fully awake at 6:30 am.  Having COFFEE and chatting with the nice lady setting up breakfast.  Having missed out on In My Mailbox (kudos to Kristi at Story Siren for this gem of a meme!) that I usually post on Saturday evenings, thought I would add that to my early morning plan as a few books had come int he door before I left for Florida on Thursday morning.

College in a Nutskull I skimmed through the pages if this book when it came in and it looks like it could be a fun read!  The layout is kind of unique and looks like notebook paper.


The Missing Element by John L. Betcher.   With this book, I had pleasant email exchanges with the author and love the fact that this is a Minnesota author writing about a Minnesota mystery.


Conquering Mr. Darcy by Abigail ReynoldsWhen looking up this book, that does not release until August 2010, it has a different name on-line.  The book on-line is called To Conquer Mr. Darcy.  Either way interesting and this will by first Darcy book….

Disrupting Grace by Kristen Richburg This book intrigues me and disturbs me and I have not even opened it yet.  This is a true story of a family who adopted and had to relinquish the child because she just did not connect to them.  I am still unsure how I will feel about this book and I am hopeful that I read this with an open mind.

15 Good reasons Not To Go To Church by Michael Insalaco I enjoy books on church and theology and statistics.  I am looking forward to this read.


That’s my mailbox.  Not sure what our plan today is yet.  Just me and Brad now in Florida.  I need to look for something to do this afternoon, maybe we will fit a late afternoon show, and Hungry Howies pizza which Brad says has the best pizza around and you can choose a flavor for your crust.  Hmmmmm….. now I am intrigued.  😀

What was in your mailbox?

Morning Meanderings…


Day two in Florida…. day two in shorts!  😀  I am having breakfast in the hotel while the boys are still asleep.

Yesterday, Justin and I went to Pensacola Beach and read.   I could seriously do that for the next two days here…. loved it!  However my boys are complete opposites and while Justin will hang out with me at the beach and read (he is a reader!), Brad would be bouncing off the walls.  He needs to do.  The only way I will get to the beach these next two days is if I can find something to do in that area.

We picked Brad up yesterday at 4:30 at the Navy Base.  That was a pretty interesting event.  When I went in to sign him out they yell “Female on deck!”

Well…. now isn’t that awkward…

And after I leave “Female has left the deck!”

Brad toured us around the base pointing out the galley where they eat, the Nex where he picks up his food and toiletries, where he picks up his uniforms….

We then went out to eat at a place he picked, Red Robin which has delicious and totally unhealthy large hamburgers.  Then back to the hotel as all that sun had me shot!  I think I was asleep by 10:00.

Today there is no plan…. I would love to get back towards the beach but we will see what happens.  🙂  In the mean time I am happily enjoying my oatmeal and Coffee prepping a book review for today and doing a little people watching….

Hex Hall and me on Pensacola Beach

Justin On The Beach with Nineteen Minutes

What are you doing this weekend and what books are you taking with you?

Morning Meanderings…


Hello from Pensacola.  (Ok…. that was cheesy).  😀

My flight from Brainerd to Minneapolis (a 30 minute flight) was memorable because the stewardess on the flight was quite unusual.  She used different voices as she read the safety info about the plane.  No kidding.  She used an Irish accent at some points, a southern one through other parts, and a deep mans voice about the no smoking rules.  Can I say this was funny and disturbing?  There were no kids on the flight…..  of course, I will always remember her as she asked the pregnant couple in front of me if they were having twins….

Oh…… can you say awkward?  ;D

After three flights and a rental car, we made it to the hotel.  Last night we went out to dinner at a restaurant called Kings Buffet and – YUM!  But of course with the word buffet,  in it – totally ate too much.  After that we went to the Movie Date Night which was extremely laugh out loud funny.  Seriously – if you like Steve Carell and/or Tina Fey – go …. and laugh….. much.

Today we are going to go check out the beach with our books!  We pick up Brad around 4:30 pm so then we will tour the Navy Base, have dinner – and possibly a movie if Brad is up for it.

This morning as I have my second cup of coffee, I am finishing up a review I wanted to go up yesterday but I never got back to it.  Have a super fab day wherever you are!

Morning Meanderings…


This morning I am on a plane from Brainerd to Minneapolis.  There I will meet up with Justin (College Son) and together we will fly to Pensacola Florida to spend the weekend with Brad (Navy Son).

No worries…. Laptop and Coffee Cup will be traveling along so I can chat away with you and continue to post reviews that I have to get caught up on from this past weeks reading and the readathon.

You may have noticed I changed the header to this blog.  That’s not the only change…. I also have followed through on my trimming of the blog name, “One Persons Journey Through A World Of Books”.   Thanks to the advice I received from many of you when I posted the possibility of change (see post here) I trimmed up the name.  No worries – I made this completely user-friendly.  There are no link changes and – thanks to your advice, I kept the original as a subtitle…. in fact added a little fun to it by adding “and coffee”.

The Monday Meme will remain under the original blog name so new buttons do not have to be formed.

The new name is simply Book Journey and works for me as that is my blog address and my Twitter name.  I also use that when commenting on blogs so I believe I still have name recognition.

Anyway – I have a plane to catch!  I will be on later today with an exciting review and probably twittering tonight from Florida!  (Twitter name:  Bookjourney)

Morning Meanderings…


I’ve got the grog.

I am groggy.  That first cup of coffee was just a trial run…. I am going to have to have a do over this morning.

*Going to kitchen for second cup… shuffling feet back to laptop*

Ok.  Good Morning!  That’s better.  🙂

Last nights book was super fabulo-sious *A new spell for Harry Potter that makes everything wonderful 😉.  I love those girls!  Our discussion of Little Bee by Chris Cleave was so good.  With mixed reviews and thoughts, it was still a rocking good time that I can not wait to share with you tomorrow!

Our book pick for May is The Girl She Used To Be by David Cristofano.  I am super excited about this recommendation.  I had nominated this one last month and one of the girls in our group read it and thought it was fantastic!  This one will go in the suitcase.


And speaking of the suitcase which is still unpacked… I leave at 7 am tomorrow morning for Florida (insert SQUUUUEEEEE here).  I am excited, but have been so busy I feel completely disorganized.  I work a full day today, need to drop some books at the post office, run on treadmill with Heidi at 4 pm, get home around 5 and pull it all together.

Yikes!  There were books from the readathon pile that I did not get to.  A few of them are going in the suitcase.  Any thoughts as to which books they may be, or any suggestions of what books should be going along?  My nineteen year old son who is joining me on this trip is also a reader so I am hoping to take books he will enjoy too.

Now that  my mind is in high gear from the second cup of coffee  I am thinking I really need to get the Word Shakers on line book club going again after the winter hiatus!

Now I am feeling a little like Corky Romano (following clip) and if you have not seen this movie – HIGHLY recommend it.  I laughed and laughed….. (wish I had his car here too)

Have an awesome day peeps!  I am off to work – review up later 🙂

Morning Meanderings…


Hmmmm…. I slept a little later today than I normally do.   I am having one quick cup of coffee and then I need to stop at the grocery store on my way into work to get my supper ingredients and my items for tonight.  My head is full of things I need to get done yet before Thursday when I fly out of Brainerd at 7 am.  I will meet up with Justin (College Son) in Minneapolis, and then together we will fly to Florida to hang out with Brad (Navy Son) for the weekend.   Yes, Laptop is going with me….  I am hoping for a bit of reading time and a lot of sun….. (one can hope right?)

Tonight my book club reviews Little Bee by Chris Cleave.  It will be fun to see what everyone brings to the potluck.  We are supposed to theme the food around the book.  I will post the review later this week as well as the Book Club comments and plans.

I had such a great weekend with the readathon and Sunday I biked with Amy 18 miles and Rollerblade with Justin 8 miles.  I wish I could get that kind of workout every day!

Yesterdays question about the book(s) that pull you completely in was a lot of fun!  Seeing the books that come up time and again is interesting and new books are hitting my radar.  If you have not answered it yet, that post is here.

Have a fantastic day – I am off to conquer a desk of paperwork!

Morning Meanderings….


The readathon is over!  Thank you blog subscribers who put up with the overload of posts yesterday in their email box.  I have a plan on how to do that better for the Fall 2010 Readathon that will not create all those posts.  My visits to participants yesterday gave me great ideas on how to do this.

So how did I do?

Well, I started yesterday at 5 am CST, two hours too early – but for some reason I had it in my head that was when it started.  I was up, with a lot of coffee and managed to complete 3 books throughout the day and start on a 4th.  I managed to stay up until 11:20 PM, crashed until midnight when I woke up to close out my mini challenge, crashed again until 4:40 am, and then read until 5:30 am to close out my 24 hours.  I actually participated 19 of the hours between reading, mini challenges and cheering.


How do I feel?

Like a scruffy guy who hasn’t shaved in a month.  And yes, I realize I am a woman…. but I seriously feel as though I have grown facial hair overnight….  LOL


Changes to my next Readathon participation?

I do wish I had spent more time reading, but I did really enjoy the cheering too.  I think I need to just pick a better ratio and stick to it.  I seen a few pretty cool ways that people posted their updates all in one NEAT post.  Trust me, I am sooooo doing that next time.  I loved doing a mini challenge as it was so fun to see all the bloggers I have never met stop by.  I am hoping later tonight when life settles down to visit their blogs.


Plan for today?

Well, I am thankful that I did sleep because my day is a fun and full one.  I am going biking with my friend Amy and I hope we do the 18 mile round trip to Merrifield and back.  She and I are in a bike tour in a couple of weeks – her first one and our goal is 65 miles.   Then, my College Son Justin and I are going to Rollerblade in the afternoon and he will probably push me to do at least 14 miles.  Of well, it is good training for me 🙂

We may go to a movie later afternoon, depending on how long we blade, then I will plan supper and tonight Amazing Race!!!  (Which I love!)

I missed out on the “What’s In My Mailbox” post I usually do on Saturday evenings, but think I will add it to my “It’s Monday!  What are you reading?” post that goes live tonight.  This Mondays participants should have interesting posts with all the reading that went on during the readathon.  It would be fun to know a total of books read during the event.

Any way – I need to get moving!  10:07 am and still am in my pj’s! 😀

Morning Meandering: Readathon Day


5:00 am at The DeChantal Household and Coffee Cup and I am ready to go with todays Readathon.  I have books picked out that vary from size, to genres, to the ones I have been drooling over for months but have not had time to get to.


Throughout the day I will be posting updates of what I am currently reading…. what I am fueling my brain with (besides words) and I will be participating in mini challenges throughout the day.  (*Note to subscribers of this blog : if today’s event creates extra posts in  your email I apologize now and want you to know this is for the next 24 hours only. )

So what am I starting with?  I actually have a couple near by for mood changes but here is the early (EARLY) morning start up:


The second book of this Sullivan series.  I have book three and book for is due out in a few weeks.  I am half way through this one and want to finish it today.



I picked this book up when my friends and I were in Grand Marais, MN last fall.  It was at a cute little book store and thought it looked like a fun read.

Ok that’s my starting line up and I am reading!  Check out more of what is going on today at the Dewey Readathon website.  At last count there were 371 participants!

Morning Meanderings…

Riddle me this… why is that when I go to buy my dogs these little dog foods I find myself studying the flavors as though I was going to eat it myself?

Seriously, I am in that dog food aisle for about ten minutes trying to choose if I want to get the smoked bacon and egg, grilled steak and ham, salmon, or the chicken and liver.   When the trance lifts, I almost always have more of the salmon in my cart because that just sounds good.

Sounds good?

My dogs have never showed a preference.   They happily accept whatever I serve and yet even picking it out of the cupboard I am doing it again…. “Let’s see… last night they had chicken….

OK then…. 😉


Today I have a workout schedule in mind and hopefully get all my planning set for next weekend when I go to Pensacola Florida to see Navy son.  I have my flight taken care of but have been so busy I have not booked the hotel yet.  Yipes!  I will bet here Thursday – Sun… hoping to get in some great weather and wonderful times with both of my sons!  (Yes!  College son will be flying with me to hang out with his brother!)

Now I did promise to have the video up for my “Payback” that I gave to Brett for “foiling” my office last week for April Fools Day.  Here is that payback:

**For some reason I can not get the video to work… will try another day 🙂

I hope many of you are going to bed early tonight and joining me and many other bloggers tomorrow for the Readathon.  🙂

Morning Meanderings….

Don’t hate me for this post.  I just have to share this with you.  Bookcloseouts.com is having another sale.  I raved about this website when I found it is February and enjoyed incredible prices and gorgeous books.  If you haven’t checked out this site, I recommend you do…. and if you find lots of wonderful books….  let me know what you find.  🙂

Looks like another beautiful day here in Minnesota!  After work I have a work out date with my friend Heidi and then maybe a bike ride if I can fit it in before Survivor tonight.

Oh – and if any of you seen my post last week about what was done to me on April 1st…. stay tune tomorrow as I post the pictures of what I did back.  🙂

Have a wonderful day everyone – I have a review up later and perhaps a few winners tonight!