Tag: Morning Meanderings

Morning Meanderings… A Little Diddy about the absent blogger

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)8 Comments

Good morning!  😀

I would normally sip coffee here but I am currently 16 days without it.  What a rock star am I!

Lately it seems I have hardly been on-line…. and if I do try to spend a little time writing reviews my mind wanders and I wind up checking Facebook, or seeing what is up on twitter.

It is suddenly like I have the attention span of a two-year old.  😛

I keep reminding myself that I used to be so good at this!  I would write reviews as soon as I finished the book!  I commented on every comment to me and on all the blogs as well.  Now I look back and think “How did I ever do that?”

So for the record I wanted to let you all know I blame summer…. which is my FAVORITE time of year.  And because I love her so, she is also the biggest time suck because honestly when not working, I want to ride bike, I want to sit on my deck and read, I want to mow my lawn and listen to audio, play in my flower beds, invite people over and grill, go to the cabin as frequently as possible….

because my friends, Winter in Minnesota is waaaaaay tooo long.

Starting today my near future looks like this:

Tonight leave for Cabin until Saturday afternoon

Saturday afternoon – but all the items for out homeless serving week which starts Sunday and prep space

Sunday – drive to cities and meet College son to do the color run which raises money for homeless

Sunday late afternoon, Navy son’s last dinner with us before he returns to Florida

Monday – work and then stay over night for my serving time with homeless

Tuesday – an all day meeting.  Seriously 9 am – 9 pm

Wed – Thurs – work

Friday – garage sale and redo my flower beds with help from friends

Saturday – help clean where we are working with homeless and buy all items for Church Picnic (I am in charge of)

Sunday – continue cleaning in morning of homeless rooms and then prep church picnic by 10 am

Monday – Tuesday – off to recoup

Wed – Thurs – work

Fri – leave for cabin with friends for weekend

Aug 4 and 5 – 150 mile bike ride, two days gone

Aug 10-11 Wisconsin Mud Run

Aug 16 – Brd Library sale!

Aug 18 – Tour De Pines bike ride

Aug 29 – Sept 2 Cabin with friends

Today I just wanted to let you know that I miss you all and I do miss visiting blogs as much as I did through May and please know this season will pass and I will have more time eventually.

Later today will be the pics of our recent book club Queen Event.  I hope you can pop back in for that one 😀

Morning Meanderings…. A Night To Remember… Bookies Coronation

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)17 Comments

Good morning!  I did not mean to start with that picture but half asleep this morning… I guess that is what I did and I am leaving it. 🙂

Last night was our Annual Queen Event for our Book Club.  Once a year we dress in formal wear and get together for a potluck and book sharing experience.  We discussed what we read this past month which was fun because for one, we do not assign a book to read as  a group in July, and for two, some of us did do that book exchange last month which turned out fantastic, almost everybody loved the book that another Bookie picked out for them so that was pretty cool.

A big part of our annual event is choosing a New Queen.  This is a tradition started 6 years ago now (wow!) where we dress up and all make a bid for Queen of the Bookies for one year… it’s a lot of fun, we sing, we do whatever, and then we vote.  The Queen takes care of all book ties (if we can not decide on what to read next) and she decides where we will meet the next month.

She also becomes the proud owner for a year of the scepter, the crown – and the royal throne which is a toilet that I found many years ago when our local State Hospital shut down and I cleaned it up painted it, and now all past Queens have signed it.

We had a blast but it started at 6 pm and we left her house at 9:30.  SO much fun!  I have many more pics but got home late and need to get ready for work so will post them soon. 

In other notes, I feel like I have not been around much.  Summer is definitely upon us and I feel like I am flying in a hundred different directions.  Tonight after work I am hoping to catch a bike ride, I think there is a chance we may be rescuing another dog (another story), I need to pack and get ready for tomorrow after work when I leave until Saturday with my friend Heidi to our cabin.  And I am pretty sure I am not going to take laptop with me because we do not have internet access there anyway. 

Tonight I need to sit down and get my posts written up for while I am away. I am just starting to listen to Looking For Alaska by John Green and reading The Crying Game which turns out to also be our Book Club pick for August!

Hows your July going?  Big plans?  Enjoying your weather?  What book is in your hand right now?

Morning Meanderings… BEA 2013 Date Change and CORONATION Day!

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)12 Comments

Good morning everyone!!!  Day 14 today of my cleanse and I am feeling good – definitely notice a difference.  I am waking up earlier and I don’t think I am as tired.  I added chicken and fish in to my diet on day 10, and even that was no big deal.  Coffee…. I miss a little bit but I am going off the cleanse Thursday evening when my friend Heidi and I are going to our cabin for a couple of days for the Beaver Bay Days celebration in Beaver Bay and Silver Bay Minnesota.  (It’s tradition – and the have a book sale!)

I was just on Twitter this morning and seen a conversation going that said the Book Expo for 2013 dates had changed.  I for one, am thrilled – that means that I do not come right back from New York and go right into the MS 150 bike ride.  I will actually have a week in between which is sweet!  It does however wind up smack in the middle of Memorial Day Weekend, but if I remember right, before this year it did too.

In other awesome fun news…. it is the Bookies Queen Event tonight.  SSSQQQQQUUUEEEEEE!!!!  This is our yearly book club event where we dress up in formal wear and give speeches and songs or whatever to put our bid in for Queen of The Bookies. 

Why?  A silly little thing we picked up 6 years ago from a book we read called Same Sweet Girls by Cassandra King.  It was supposed to be a one year thing but it became a tradition and we really get into it, finding dresses at sales or second-hand stores.  I am hoping the dress I found is ready today, I found it at a second-hand store and it had a faulty zipper but I have it in the shop now so we will see.  😀  If that one does not make deadline, I have a back up.  (A lady in waiting is always prepared!)  Pics will be available tomorrow, in the meantime here are the links to the past couple of years:

2011 Queen Event

2010 Queen Event

2009 Queen Event

Ok so much to do 🙂  I am sure I will have pictures up tomorrow…. 😀  Have a great day!

Morning Meanderings… Sunday GO TIME!

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)30 Comments

 

Good morning!  I am literally heading out the door here, up at 4:30 am, in full bike gear and off to ST Joseph MN for The Tour Of Saints ride.   My friend Amy and I are doing this one and I am super pumped, it looks like the weather will be close to perfect 😀

Here are the books that arrived in my home this past week:

I am super excited about all of them! 

I will be back early afternoon yo put up a review.  See you all then!  😀  What has arrived in your house this week bookish wise?

Morning Meanderings… A Dogs Life

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)50 Comments

 

 

Good morning!  It is Saturday!  😀  Tomorrow I have a 50 mile bike ride in St Joseph MN, a beautiful area to ride bike in and going with my friend Amy so this will be a wonderful time.  The weather should be descent, looks like it could hit 90 tomorrow but partly cloudy so that should help.  Last year we biked this ride and it was over 100 degrees and not a cloud in the sky…. it was a HOT ride….LOL

For my Saturday snapshot today I thought I would post a few pics of Sam, the stray dog we adopted in April.  He is soooo fabulous and quirky…

Bailey and Sam laying together on the deck

Sam, after climbing to the top of the chair, now retreats
Sam, after climbing to the top of the chair, now retreats

Chilling

 

 

I am ready for my close up….

 

I have posted this one before, but it is soooo funny.

It has been a long hard day…

 

SO that is Sam.  Stop by and see Alyce at At Home With Books for Saturday Snapshot and see what everyone else has been taking pictures of!  😀 I am off to have my bike checked out for tomorrows ride and then a bike ride to get warmed up for tomorrow.  I will be back later as I am behind on a couple posts I need to write up (the survey one and the April, May, June, recap) as well as three reviews.  These are my goals for today…. oh, and a little reading too 😀

Morning Meanderings… SCHOLASTIC!!!!

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)14 Comments

Good morning and HAPPY FRIDAY!  Rainy and wet here today and that is putting a damper on my garage sale plans… but waiting for a call from my friend to see if we are a go or a pass…. in the meantime, I am here, minus the coffee cup (day 10 of the cleanse), but hanging in there.  😀

So…. a few days ago when Kathy at Bermuda Onion posted about receiving her books from Scholastic I was all “YAY!!!!  They are coming!!!”  But secretly I was also like “Where are mine?  Are they coming?”  LOL 😛  Then my hubby brought up my box from the shop (sometimes UPS delivers there…. annoying) and I was so excited!

Why the excitement… I can not put justice to what an experience it was to be at the Scholastic event while in New York!  (Thank you Alison for connecting me!).  Not only were the authors wonderful and friendly , but when they all read from each others books and acted out chapters, seriously… it was one of the highlights of my New York experience this year. 

We were given a sheet of paper to check off the books that we would like sent to us from the authors who were there that evening and they all were so fantastic that it was hard to choose, but I did pick James Dashner new book (he is so funny how could I pass?), Eliot Schrefer (can not wait to read this one!), Raina Telegemeier ( they acted this one out – funny), Donna Cooner (this looks so good!) and Maggie Stiefvater (I want to read everything she writes!)

And if you know me, you know I am not a big fan of book trailers…. I really am not, but Maggie Stiefvater is a big exception.  This woman is so talented…. check out her book trailer for The Raven Boys… seriously do not pass this up, she makes her trailers herself. 

Just got the word, garage sales are on…. got to run!  Have a great day, I will be back later with a review that I am SOOOOO EXCITED about!

Morning Meanderings…. July 5 and a Sugar Rush!

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)15 Comments

Happy July 5 y’all!  😀

Did everyone survive the fourth?  Our temps here reached over 100 degrees.  We went motor cycling with friends all day which was a lot of fun and stopped for a late lunch at a nice restaurant where I ate fruit and my stir fry (day 9 today of the cleanse).  It actually – was really a wonderful day. 

While on the back of the motorcycle I have discovered that audio on my IPOD is the way to go.  I finished listening to The Fault n Our Stars (If you have not listened to this on audio I INSIST you drop everything and do so…. NOW. But more on that in my review tomorrow 😀 )  And I started Will Grayson Will Grayson, also by John Green which I am enjoying…

Today I work, hopefully get my prom dress fixed… yup you read that right… next Tuesday is out book clubs annual Queen event and I have a dress I picked up at a Good Will store but it needs a new zipper, I am taking it to a friend today.

And my final through for today is I just seen the book trailer for Size 12 and Ready To Rock by Meg Cabot which is a little funny… a little cheesy, and I am not a big fan of book trailers but the 80’s vibe made me smile…. interested in reading this one soon…

 

Goal for the next few days?  I am 5 reviews behind on writing them up and I want tog et caught up so badly.  I hope to do that over the next few evenings. 

Have a great July 5!!!

Morning Meanderings….The Best Books Of July

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)46 Comments

 

Good morning and Happy 4th of July!  😀  Day 8 of the cleanse and I am holding strong.  Last night my son from the Navy (WOO HOO!) was over with three of us his good friends.  Two of them are his best friends from High School and I love that they all stay close.  All three of them are in the Navy.  A 4th friend, Adam, lives in ST Cloud now but is also in the reserves and will be here this weekend to hang out.  While I have no pictures from last night (I know, I know I should have!) here is that high school grad picture that still graces my refrigerator to this day.

 

I can’t even tell you how cool I think it is that they all still hang out together.   I love my friendships and its cool to see strong lasting friendships in my sons as well.

 

Anyway, on to books.  Amazon posted recently what they say are the best books of July.  Normally when I post a list like this I can usually point out 4 or 5 that I have read…. not this time.  I have read none of the books below, and in some cases have not even heard of them.  😀 

My question to you is, have you read any of these books?  Would you recommend any?

Best Books of the Month
Shine Shine Shine by Lydia Netzer
Hardcover  |  Kindle book
The Long Walk: A Story of War and the Life That Follows by Brian Castner
Hardcover  |  Kindle book
Shadow of Night by Deborah Harkness
Hardcover  |  Kindle book
The Absolutist by John Boyne
Paperback  |  Kindle book
The Last Policeman by Ben Winters
Paperback  |  Kindle book
Office Girl by Joe Meno
Hardcover  |  Kindle book
The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce
Hardcover  |  Kindle book
Gold by Chris Cleave
Hardcover  |  Kindle book
Broken Harbor by Tana French
Hardcover  |  Kindle book
The Violinist’s Thumb by Sam Kean
Hardcover  |  Kindle book

 

Morning Meanderings… Where I Share New Found Knowledge on Pineapple

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)37 Comments

Good morning!  I am on day 7 of the cleanse that I am on so it is really weird to put my coffee picture on these posts when I have not had coffee for seven days now.  SEVEN.  😯

A couple weeks ago I went to a friends Pampered Chef party.  I had not been to one in quite a long time.  Usually if people have them I just place an order without attending.  I am so glad I didn’t do that this time.  The Pampered Chef lady was a hoot… but just as importantly she actually taught me a few things I didn’t know. 

Lets talk pineapple.

 

I am not a big fan of buying whole pineapple.  My experience has been that the pineapple is dry, woody tasting even.  Here is what I learned:

To see if a pineapple is ripe before purchasing, reach in and pull two of the small center leaves.  If they pull out easy the pineapple is ripe.

One day before serving, put pineapple upside down in a bowl.  This distributes all the sweet juices that have settled to the bottom, to distribute evenly throughout the pineapple.  I have tried it twice now, it works… and it is delicious.

So all that said, what did I buy at the party?

The Pampered Chef Pineapple Cutter and corer of course!

and the brownie pan (watch for this to go into use for next weeks Bookies Book Club Queen Event!)

No idea why I wanted to share that, maybe you already knew but it was news to me and thought I would share 😀

I also have my last winner to announce form the Audio Book Week.  The winner of a copy of Ravens on Audio is:

Laurie from The Bay State Reading Advisory

Whoo Hoo!!!  Send me your address please Laurie and I will have that sent off to you directly from Amazon.

Today I work and then hopefully a bike ride 😀

Morning Meanderings… A Good Week For Books

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)24 Comments

Good morning and happy Sunday!  We have had a full week of sunny days so needless to say, I am happy!  😀  Sunny days usually equals good reading time for me, and this weekend with no heavy plans I have had a wonderful time enjoying books and audio.

I am on day 6 of my cleanse which is no bread, dairy, no beverage other than water, basically fruits, vegies, a little brown rice, olive oil, protein shakes.  Actually I have become pretty creative in my cooking and have made a few things that I suspect I will continue to make and eat after the cleanse is complete.  After day 10 (FRIDAY!) I can add in chicken and fish.

 

Here is what arrived at my house for review this week:

All great looking books, the top one, Mirror Mirror is a DVD. 

On Monday our library had its June Brown Bag Author event and I picked up this:

Shawn Lawrence Otto was interesting to listen to… his book about the topics our presidential candidates are not discussing like global warming and water shortages.  Not necessarily a book I would have normally picked up, but after listening to him talk and chatting with him afterwards I am curious what else he has to say.

I am very excited about Yes Chef!  I see this one on Shelf Awareness this past week and ordered it right away!  Yes Chef is a genre and type of book I love – Food Memoirs!!!

And finally, I did a little garage saling with a friend on Friday morning and I found three audio books to bring home.  😀 

That’s what books have entered my house this week. About 20 left the house in giveaway packages so I think I am ahead of the game 😀  Tomorrow at the Library will be Margi Preus, with her book Heart Of The Samurai, A 2011 Newbery Honor Book.  I am interested in hearing her talk and plan on having a Minnesota Authors segment coming up soon.

Hope your day is SUPER FAB!  This is my last quiet weekend for a while so I am soaking it up 😀