Morning Meanderings – Page 55

Morning Meanderings… The BIG News revealed and ITS ALIVE!!!!!

Published on April 4, 2013April 4, 2013 by Sheila (Book Journey)18 Comments

Good morning. I smile because I am drinking out of that exact cup in the picture. 😀 But there is more to smile about as well. I mentioned Wine and Words a while back… the event the Friends Of The Brainerd Public Library thought they would give a try for this coming fall. I mentioned yesterday that I had news to reveal but needed to finish one last thing.

Last night about 11:35 pm I finished the last thing.

And now… it’s ready to talk about, sqqquuuuuueeee about and oh please…. pass it on! 😛

The point of Wine and Words was to create an author event locally that would have appeal for people to purchase tickets, have a silent auction, author presentation and a nice dinner. Afterwards you would be able to purchase books and have them signed.

It was a big idea with a lot of details…. we needed sponsors for printing, designing, rooms for the authors, free wine during the silent auction and of course – we needed wonderful authors too who would agree to come and hang out with us and talk….

and before I knew it… we were clicking off that to do list quickly. Far more quickly then I thought we would.

SO if you click on the logo above it will take you to the website and I hope you do check it out…. However I can not wait to share with you the authors who have already committed as Minnesotan’s are going to be thrilled about a couple of them for sure… and my blogger bookish BEA buddies are going to be thrilled about a couple other names.

I present to you… the current authors for Wine and Words:

I know right? 😛

Kent William Krueger is a Minnesota author who has won many awards, has many books and just over all a super addition to our list. He just had a book released called Ordinary Grace and it is receiving wonderful reviews. He has another book coming out right around the time of Wine and Words.

Wendy Webb, also a Minnesota author and just had her second book come out in February, The Fate Of Mercy Alban, based off a mansion in Duluth Minnesota. SHe has a third book coming out in January 2014.

Sandra Brannan is a three book author with her In The Belly Of Jonah kick off series. Those of you who were at BEA in 2010 and 2011 may remember this new author. She is down to earth, real and a joy to hang out with. Her 4th book, Noah’s Rainy Day is due out the first week in September.

Sarah Pekkanen is an author of 4 books, her 4th book The Best Of Us comes out April 9th and again BEA people you may remember this delight of an author as well. My very first year I went to BEA in 2010, I won my BEA trip from her in a contest (I know… I am still excited about that one!) and really got to know Sarah as we toured Simon and Schuster together and went to the Blogger event together. Contacting her to see if she would come was a LONG SHOT…. but when I emailed her she promptly responded when she seen on my blog what I was working on she hoped I would ask her.

I still am looking for a 5th author and have a few emails out there but things have come together so nicely I am really not worried about it.

SO there it is. I hope you check out Wine and Words. I hope you tell your friends. I hope if you live anywhere near me you plan on coming. I know a few of you bloggers in Minnesota that I would love to see attend. Email me and I will see if I can work out a discount at the Lodge on rooms. It is going to be awesome 😀

Proceeds of Wine and Words is going to assist with literacy programs in our community. If you are an author or a publisher or a book seller and wish to contribute to our silent auction or table sponsorships, shoot me a message – my email is journeythroughbooks@gmail.com

Morning Meanderings… Bursting With News!

Published on April 3, 2013April 3, 2013 by Sheila (Book Journey)7 Comments

Good Morning! A few weeks ago I mentioned something I was working on locally here called Wine and Words. I am very excited to say…. well, it’s been an active month for this event and I have INCREDIBLE news I am wanting to share so badly… but I am waiting for one more piece to come together so I can present it well.

I am hoping I can put that piece together today. 😀

Sorry to give you this big hint and an almost “SSSQQQQQQUUUEEEEE” and then leave you hanging but really, please watch tomorrow morning as I am really hoping I can get this one piece done later today *fingers crossed* I can say – local friends are going to be excited and I think my book blogger friends are going to be too when I make the reveal 😀

In other news – I finished Sarah Pekkanen’s new book The Best Of Us last night and ooohh…… my review will be up later today. Have you read it? You may want to …. 😀

Have a super glorious Wednesday – we are finally seeing sun here in Minnesota – not “throw on a pair of shorts and grab your sandals, but definitely – no jacket 😀

Have a super day!

Oh ad I seen this today and thought I would pass it on…. so cute!

Morning Meanderings… You Are Kidding Right?

Published on April 2, 2013April 2, 2013 by Sheila (Book Journey)17 Comments

Good morning! 😀 I feel great today – almost 100% through with this pesky cough. We made wonderful progress yesterday with a great Friends Of The Library meeting (more on that later this week), and today after work I am meeting up for finalizing camp applications and then meeting my cousin at the gym. Sounds to me like a well-rounded day of work, volunteering, and working out. 😀

Now…

I don’t always claim to be the sharpest tool in the shed… (I was the girl who once argued with a friend who told me the word gullible wasn’t in the dictionary so I grabbed a dictionary to prove her wrong… 😳 ) But I admit I tend to believe what I see and what I read – not in a “oh my gosh there really are FLYING MONKEYS” kind of way but more of a Mark Zuckerberg kind of way as he was in The Social Network Movie…. “Is this real?“

So… let me get to the point. I admit – maybe reading emails at 6 am pre-coffee/ pre-shower isn’t the best idea. But as I read the latest Redbox email stating this:

and then going on to say that they are proud to offer a variety of cold cuts bologna, turkey, liverwurst and of course… the always coveted olive loaf. 😯

I admit…. I may have toyed with the idea for a while that they may be serious and I admit I may have wondered how would they keep the lunch meat cold….

Ok… ok…. I get it now. 😛 It is just a brilliant way to grab your attention and yes yes YES I did click on the link to look at the “selection” which of course was just movies. 😀 So…. anyhoo… Redbox is brilliant, the person who thought of that advertising should get a raise. Or at least an extended lunch break and a Redbox sandwich of his or her choosing.

Ok, I must go…. much to get going on.

Have a wonderful day – take my advice, read a book, not your emails… they are just confusing. 😀

Find

Did I mention there was cheese?

Morning Meandering…. Easter, Books, Blog, and Everything Inbetween

Published on March 31, 2013 by Sheila (Book Journey)25 Comments

I have spent entirely too much time screwing around with the blog look this morning. I liked the purple background but found it dark… too dark for a girl who is wishing and hoping for Spring… REAL SPRING…. it is snowing (AGAIN) here this morning and I am pretending not to notice….

So…. Happy Easter! We have no kids home this year – Justin (College son) has to work so will not be making the drive, Brad (Navy son) is soaking up the rays in Florida so not feeling too bad for him, other than I miss them both. Just Al and I today…. we have church then maybe later we will do a movie or something… I am looking forward to maybe a little reading this afternoon. I feel like I am in the middle of three audio books and two books and nothing is near completion. 😯

Anyhoo…. because I spent about an hour trying different headers here and going back and forth and honestly still not sure if the header is “the look” I am going for, I must bid you adieu, as now I have sat here with coffee cup and my PJ’s way too long and I need to get moving before I am known as “that late girl”. 😀

Have a lovely day – I will be back this evening with the “Monday, What Are You Reading” post, but other than that I suspect as it is a holiday, it will be pretty quiet around here.

I will leave you with this link to my Easter message to all of you 😀

Morning Meanderings…The First Run Of 2013

Published on March 30, 2013March 30, 2013 by Sheila (Book Journey)50 Comments

I missed the last two weeks of Saturday Snapshot. Two weeks ago I was in the cities getting ready for a 7K and last Saturday I was buried in books at the Spring Library sale.

Today I thought I would share about the 7K.

When I say really cool words like “7K”, a lot of people will say to me, “I didn’t know you are a runner!”

My response, “I am not. I am a runner want to be.”

I want to say for the record, I blame the books. Over the past couple of years I have read some pretty good books on running. Those that can run… fascinate me. Their bodies get lean, their heart rates and over all health improve… they talk of a “runners high” and they can go on and on and on for miles… in some of those books, they would run like 100 miles in a day….

they are my heroes.

So… here I am FAR on the other side of the spectrum. I have running gear. I do ok on the treadmill… I have not yet mastered running.

SO this is before the 7k (which by the way is 4.34 miles). It was SUPER cold that morning… I don’t even recall but we were dancing in the freezing air before go time… don’t let the sun in the picture fool you. On the far left is my cousin’s wife Farrah, my cousin Jarrod, my friends Sheila and Belinda, Belinda’s cousin and wife – April and Ryan, and then me.

Over 11,000 people were registered for this run… close to 10,000 showed up. This is as we walked towards the starting gate.

We were not that far back from the start but I heard it took 26 minutes to get everyone across the starting line. We wore a chip on our tennis shoes that activated from a mat we step on when going across the starting line and then it gives out time when we cross the line at the end. Kind of cool.

This is my friend Sheila who I ran most of the race with (until her pace kicked my pace – I need to fast walk occasionally at this stage in the game and she can keep a nice steady pace). At the end the water they had for us was freezing in the glasses! If you look close you can see that she has the chunk of ice in her mouth. 😀

At the end we were all able to hang out at this Irish Pub which was kind of cool. SO MANY people there… had to be over 1,000. Here a few of the group are showing the “pie” medal we all received for doing the run – you can also see the hoodies that April and Ryan are wearing – this was also something each participant received.

My pie 😀 The first of 4 from the Ortho events this year.

Overall – the run was fun to hang out with friends, but the cold sucked. I warmed up quickly while running but soon discovered I have training to do before I am going to be any kind of rock star at running. I finished the 7k at 51 minutes. I believe the best time in our group was Jarrod at around 35 minutes. He is training for a triathlon.

So that’s my Saturday Snapshot for today. Check out more Saturday Snapshots at Alyce’s At Home With Books. I do not have a lot going on this Easter weekend as Justin (College Son) has to work so he will not be home and Brad is in Florida in the Navy. It will just be Al and I and I think tonight we may watch the Hobbit. 😀

Morning Meanderings…. A Timely End To The March Sisters (and a new read-a-long)

Published on March 29, 2013 by Sheila (Book Journey)8 Comments

Good morning and Happy Easter Weekend. I have a pretty low key morning here and I am taking full advantage here with coffee and book and listening to the end of the audio, Little Women which was the read-a-long over at Fizzy Thoughts for March and I am surprised it took me most of the month to listen to this audio, but 18 hours and 44 minutes takes a while to get through when you are only listening to it in the house and not on road trips. 😀

I am excited to review this one (later today) as it has been a fun revisiting of this high school read and I have taken away some different things this time regarding the tomboy Jo and characters who represents in more modern literature, and perhaps the longest dragged out death scene I have ever read in a book…. to the point where you almost want to say, get on with it already… 😯 It will be good to finish this audio up as I am ready to move on.

Sadly, I do not see a new read-a-long from Jill for April (it has been fun latching on to her reads – I liked not picking a book and the choices have been fun…) and I am still in read-a-long mode so I am going to host one for April. Here it is:

Simple read a long – just feel free to grab the button and read the book in April. That’s it. I will post back here the end of April and set up a link for those who participated to add their thoughts on the book as well.

In other news, I have exciting updates to Wine and Words (SQQQUUUEEEEE Worthy – truly) but that will need to wait for another day, and I also posted this morning a long overdue update to the 12K group and challenge over at Team Kickin It.

Morning Meanderings! Book Sale!!! YOU Choose which one you want!

Published on March 24, 2013March 24, 2013 by Sheila (Book Journey)99 Comments

Good morning.

It’s snowing.

😯

Ok, I just had to get the “S” word out-of-the-way so I could move on to better things. You have not heard a peep out of my on this site in days. From Thursday afternoon (after work) on, I have been at The Brainerd Library sale helping with the sale. I was there 5 hours on Thursday, 12.5 hours on Friday, and 9.5 on Saturday. 27 hours surrounded by books, helping people with books, talking books, looks for certain books, hauling books out to cars, straightening books, toting empty boxes to the basement…. if it was bookish… I probably did it in the last 3 days.

Let me start with Thursday morning when the sale opened…

My friend Wendy (you will see here waving in the pictures) and I were in the Library parking lot by 6:15 am Thursday morning. (TRADITION!!!!) Yes, the library sale does not open up until 9:00 am and yes, it is true that it was 8 below zero on Thursday morning but it is a book dorky thing I like to do so whatever. 😛

We sat out the chairs and then we ran (yes ran!) to sit in Wendy’s vehicle sipping coffee, catching up, and enjoying the heated seats. 😀 It was about 7:00 am when the next car pulled into the parking lot – a guy who is always at the sale and I know as Tom showed up in full “ready to sit outside in 8 below zero weather gear”. Wendy groaned “oh no, now we have to go sit in those chairs to hold our place in line!” I told her, “No, wait – I know this guy, let me talk to him.” So out into the FREEZING air I went to talk with Tom. Once he heard my wheezy voice (yup, still battling that sinus infection) he said he would hold our spots and I scurried back to the car ever grateful. Not only did Tom hold our spots… but he gave numbers to those who came after him so they too could go back to their cars and stay warm too.

At about 30 minutes before “GO TIME!” Wendy and I went to stand in line and chat it up with the other books lovers (really one of my favorite things to do at the sales). Everyone, despite the cold, was in such good spirits.

The awesome Library then let us form our line inside due to the cold (I can’t remember exactly but I think someone said it was the coldest day in March in like 60 years…. I believe it!) SO inside this jolly little crew went, and at that time – thanks to Tom’s numbers, we knew we had 48 people in the line.

At 9 am the doors opened to the sale and in we went. I had to get to work and I did not feel well enough to get down and crawl through boxes like I usually do but at 50 cents a book I still spent $20. Over the next two days of working the sale I would spend another $16. (Do not judge…. 😛 )

So – on to the books…. Here is what I brought home:

and then a few special ones –

Two old Nancy Drews (I collect her) and yes, I do own The Help…. but, (and this is a book geek thing)…. not with this cover. 😛

Oh come on, have you not ever bought a good book just to own it in with a different cover? No? Just me? Too much? 😛

So that is where I have been and what I have been doing. I feel wiped out today but not as tired as I was yesterday. Yesterday was the $2 a bag of books sale and it was soooooo busy and by the time we closed up I was merely fumes of my former self. BUT – I have to tell you, what a blast and what a fun group of volunteers I spent time with this week. 😀

SO in honor of the book sale, put below in the comments one of the books that you see here that you would like (*not including the last picture). On Tuesday I will use random.org to choose a winner and I will send you that book.

Have a great start to your day everyone – I am off to get ready for church and then think I will lay low most of today re-energizing to start another busy week tomorrow. 😀

Morning Meanderings… The Post Where I Am Sick… Oh And I Cry.

Published on March 19, 2013 by Sheila (Book Journey)13 Comments

Hi! See this picture of me here where I look whimsical, witty, coffee in hard, a glow to my cheeks?

Yeah…

That’s not me today.

Today, I am in the recliner covered in a blanket, surrounded by assorted states of Kleenex, coughing like I really do not need two lungs, and hair that looks like something out of a bad 80’s movie. Yup, that about sums it up.

I am sick.

I guess it was inevitable. All winter long people around me have been taken out for days, weeks even, with some nasty flu bug that does not let go. I pride myself on the fact that I rarely get sick. I snub the yearly flu shot and walk around rarely with a coat… then Friday I started going down hill. While driving to the cities I felt a little tingly (know what I mean?) Saturday morning I woke up with a fever and a cough and a voice that I call “Grover” from Sesame Street.

I blame all this crappy snow and 15 below weather.

Sunday I was up and down, Monday I worked and then faded to the point of cancelling my Monday work out and now I am home here having called in to work for the morning and hoping I can pull myself together by noon so I can go to work for a couple of hours and then run a couple of errands.

At this moment… that idea sounds like a fictional tale.

In other news, I was reading the Shelf Awareness email this morning and read about Lisa Lynch, blogger at Alright Tit. Lisa created the blog after discovering she had breast cancer and her posts reflect an upbeat, and funny look at what she was going through. Always light-hearted, I believe she spoke to other women who also have suffered/are suffering from breast cancer. Her husband and good friend write the current post you see there today letting us know that Lisa lost her fight on March 11th.

Very sad, and did not help my Kleenex shortage over here.

So that is my post. I need to get well. This is a busy week with the Spring Library sale starting on Thursday and I will be helping out after work on Thursday through Saturday. Its going to be fun – and I need to get well. 😀

I have a review to write now and then I think I will relax into my Russian Tea a friend sent over last night saying this was their family “stay healthy” secret. I really should bathe in it.

Morning Meanderings…. 7K Eve and Bring Your Own Cheese

Published on March 15, 2013March 15, 2013 by Sheila (Book Journey)6 Comments

Good morning. 😀 As I look out my window starting at yet more.. yes, you guessed it.. SNOW coming done, I think of my relocation plan…

definitely somewhere year around sunny where bike riding is the norm, and book lovers are seen everywhere from park benches to the beach. *sigh*

A girl can dream….

In my reality, tomorrow in ST Paul I am running my first 7K of the year (yes yes… I know it is snowing….) and as odd as this probably sounds, I am looking forward to it. It should be fun, it will definitely be picture worthy. 😛

Tonight after work I will head to the cities to stay with friends who are also running. Then tomorrow afternoon we will be going to other friends home to enjoy a St Patty’s day get together where we are to BYOC… (Bring Your Own Cheese). LOL…. apparently along with great food, they are going to have a cheese bar. I do not know what a cheese bar is, but I like saying it, and I like the visual of it. being a lover of almost all things cheese, I am in on that deal.

I will be listening to audio during my travels but other than that reading has been at a real minimum this week. It seems like I have filled up every spare moment I have with errands, working out, and hanging with friends (book club was Tuesday, cousins get together was last night. ) Anyhoo.. it is all good.

Laptop will be making the trek with me this weekend so I will be around and hopefully will be posting some long due book reviews. 😀

Any plans for your St Patty’s weekend?

Morning Meanderings… .Getting DUMPED (on)!

Published on March 10, 2013 by Sheila (Book Journey)29 Comments

Good morning. 😀 If I were a grumbly sort this would be just the occasion to pull out the grumbles. GAH. SNOW.

Yet another 8,9, 10 inches fell between yesterday afternoon and late last night.

**This was the back deck yesterday afternoon when it started to snow really big quarter size flakes.**

**At 6:00 am this morning this was my driveway.**

6 days out now from the 7K in the cities. Seriously… should I run in snow boots? 😯

In other better happier news… a few books arrived this week:

So what craziness awaits me today? Well shoveling for one. While Al is plowing I need to get snow odd that back deck before my dogs can just leap over the railing. At some point there is talk of it turning to rain and at that point the snow will freeze and it will be even a bigger mess.

I have church this morning, I think the gym this afternoon, and an early “healthy eating” get together where I still need to figure out what I am going to bring. I am doing a main dish for about 18 people.

How are things in your corner of the world… please share with me sunshine and green grass and temperatures over 30 degrees…. I need the encouragement. 😀