Kick off to the weekend! Last night I got together with a few friends and we crafted ornaments. I did not get a whole lot done but this is what I did accomplish:
These are glass ornaments that you pour craft paint inside and rotate until paint covers"Snow Globe" Thanks Carrie for this cute idea!
We only crafted for a couple of hours so I guess this accomplishment isn’t bad… but really the get together is always more about this:
Hanging with friends, chatting about life.... (Kate and Millie)Just being together.... (Millie's FACE and Christy)
That is my contribution to this weeks Saturday Snapshots. Stop on over to see Alyce and At Home With Books to see what everyone else has been up to this week in pictures. 😀
As for today… this morning I have a breakfast brunch I am attending for a group of volunteers I work with. I am making and taking an Almond Pear French Toast casserole which – if it as yummy as it sounds, will grace this blog later today. 😀
Later I am hoping to do a bit more blog maintenance, and some reading of the several books I have going….
How about you – what adventures do you have planned for today?
I hope this day finds everyone well. I am sitting here enjoying my second cup of coffee before I meet a friend at the gym. This is good as this morning with the temp sitting right around 10 degrees…. I could just sit here, sip coffee, and hang out with you. 😀
Friends = motivation.
If you read my morning post yesterday I put myself on the same challenge my son is doing in the Navy… to burn 20,000 calories in 6 weeks. I was pleased to see that some of you are doing this with me and I will make the button this afternoon. I need the motivation…. 😀
And that is not the only thing I need to catch up on around here. My side bar books are sooooo outdated… I want to update that today. I also need to mail books today and if you have won a book from me and are waiting on it, this is totally my bad and I am sorry for the delay. Today…. I am going to the post office and getting caught up.
I am also writing the three reviews I have to write, reading a bit and hopefully finishing one or two more as this weekend there is a little read a thon going on:
In other crazy news I had mentioned earlier this week that my hubby was going to be gone for 6 weeks, having taken a job North Dakota for a company….. uhh… yeah…. they hired too many people and finished the 6 week job in a week. He is working there today and then making the long trek back home tonight and should be here some time in the wee hours of the morning. Life….. is never dull.
Got to run but after the gym I will be back here and finishing up my review of Ready Player One….. it is going to be awesome. 😀
I was going to post this mmmmm…Monday? BUT – as we all know, life has a way of making its own decisions sometimes, and commitments have made this impossible until (hopefully) now.
My Navy Son Brad is coming home the second week of January for two weeks. He and his buddy who is also going to be on leave have been challenged to EACH burn 20,000 calories before that time. I told Brad that I would like to try to do it too….
I think it is doable.
NOW – before you comment about “the crazies” that have apparently attacked my brain again… hear me out. 😛
Seven weeks is 42 days… that’s less than 500 calories a day – AND when I go to the gym (key word here is WHEN), if I spend 30 minutes on the tread mill that’s about 300 calories and 30 minutes on the elliptical is about 300 as well. That’s an hour. If I do a Group Power class I can burn between 300 – 500 calories in that 40 minutes of working out.
Yes it will take commitment but since the accident in June when I had to drop kickboxing and Group Power, I have had a hard time getting back into the rhythm again… I am hoping this is the push I need. The bonus will be that in six weeks that should create a workout habit that I can stick to… and that is the bigger bonus. 😀
I plan to keep you updated here under my morning posts…. I will make a cute little button updating my progress but not this morning as I an 33 minutes out from needing to be at work and need to get moving here. Anyone care to join me? Say so in the comments here and maybe we can email and encourage each other. 😀
I have not started yet… hopefully I will get to credit some calories later today and get this party started. Have a lovely day. I am out of here.
Not a good way to wake up… but there it is. AND it has hung over me for a little over a month now. Just a lot of stuff going on… some good, some bad, some sad…
ARGH.
Anyway – once again as I have trudged through these days I am reminded I am not alone and many of us are “trudging” through our own things.
On the bright side in the past few weeks I have had some time to spend with some of my friends and really… are they not sometimes these paranormal beings with magical powers? My friends can heal, can make tears turn to smiles, make a mountain… feel like a power hike when they walk beside me…
and in turn, I like being that kind of friend back.
Just something I have been thinking about as of late as I flip through the chapters of my life story…. even each of you have a place in my book.
What happenings in my reading adventures? I am spending time with 14-year-old La Vaugn as she is taking care of Jolly’s kids in Make Lemonade by Virginia Euwer Wolff. I am also sitting in an abortion clinic with Dynah and her mother as they ponder what should be done when a child is produced out of a rape in The Atonement Child by Francine Rivers.
Hope everyone has a lovely Wednesday. I have a full one… which is good….
Yesterday I was trying so hard to stay focused on the Monday meme and visiting and it just wasn’t in me. I would read a few blogs…. then wander away to other areas of the blogosphere. I could not stay on task. So what does a wandering Sheila do?
Well for starters…. I am loving the game Words With Friends on Facebook and have about 15 games going. (It is like scrabble, and you take turns, when your opponent has played the board comes back for you to play)…. lets just say once a word girl… always a word girl. 😛
Then I went to find out what district I was in for Hunger Games. You can actually go to the Capital and find out for yourself… which many Hunger Game fans have already done… it just took me awhile. 😀 So what district am I in?
There I am… ready for battle with District 5. (It is times like these that crazy pictures of someone playing buck hunt arcade game pays off… 😀
Made coffee…. drank coffee… drank some more coffee 😯
Downloaded work out music on to my IPOD (Podette)
Started a draft of this post so I did not forget what I wanted to chat about
… and then I went to work, ran some errands… came home late afternoon… played some more Words with Friends and went to my study last night.
A good day… but I did not get through the Monday Memers like I had hoped to.
Today I only work a partial day. I am attending my friends sisters funeral and then going out to a late lunch with some of my friends who will be in attendance.
Beyond that I do not know what this day holds beyond reading the rest of the INSPY Award books.
I hope your day is lovely – and all your distractions are good ones. 😀
This morning Al (hubby) is leaving for a job in North Dakota for 6 weeks. It’s crazy – but it’s also good. Our business we own is pretty much shut down every winter from now until March. This is a bonus job he is doing with a friend.
As for me… well… I am pretty independent so my plan other than work and working out (more on that tomorrow morning) will be reading and writing… the writing part really being something I have neglected for a while now.
Today I am listening to Ready Player One and so in love with this audio! I mean really – if you have any connection to the 80’s you will LOVE this, and please do yourself justice and go for the audio. This is the best advice I can give you…. I feel currently that this is going to be the best audio I have listened to this year… pushing past some incredible audio!
I will be around today, catching up on the four reviews that I have yet to write…. reading for the INSPY’s and I don’t know… maybe watching a little Gilmore Girls. 😀
How is everyone surviving the Thanksgiving weekend? Honestly I feel soooo behind. I have had the best of intentions to post reviews the last few days and the fact is… I need to write them first. My week has been busy with not only Thanksgiving prep and crazy hours of shopping, but also a good friend of mine’s sister passed away on Wednesday and I have been spending time with her as well as she goes through this hard time.
Yesterday College Son (Justin) spent all day with me from the crazy shopping to afternoon errands to lunch at a Chinese restaurant. It’s hard to catch him when he is in town as he is off visiting friends but having him all day on Thursday and most of Friday was a blessing. He will be hanging out with us a while today before he heads back to Mankato this afternoon to prepare his projects for school again on Monday.
So this morning I was trying to think what pictures I was going to post for Alyce’s Saturday Snapshot as well as Candice’s Weekend Cooking post and decided if I want to add another post I have been working on this afternoon – I had to (just this once) combine the two meme’s.
In honor of Thanksgiving…. here is what I have to share.
SO… you may have heard of a very odd (IMO) tradition of stuffing a turkey with a duck and inside the duck a chicken? (ughhh…. I so dont even like the visual image of this). It is called Turducken.
No worries… I did not do it, BUT this past week I heard of something a little visually comforting and a fun holiday treat and that is the combination of a cake and a pie. (I looked it up on the internet this morning… I guess the official title is Pumpple.
I have no “before” pictures… but it is fairly easy and you can get the steps here:
you will need:
a cake mix or two
a pie or two that you think would compliment the cake mix
In this particular two layer one… the cake mixes were spice and yellow and the pies were pumpkin and apple.
Use round cake pans and put a little spray oil in the bottom and on sides. Mix up the cake mix as instructed on the box and put a layer in the bottom of your cake pan. Place your pie in the cake pan. Pour more cake mix over pie in the cake pan. Yes, you will have mix left over. Maybe make a few cupcakes or a mini cake.
Bake as instructed on the cake box. When done, cool and then frost. It looks pretty cool on a plate and when you cut into it. Its pretty tasty as well as a fun conversation piece for your next get together.
Verdict: It’s good. I liked the pumpkin pie and spice cake combo. I heard that a chocolate cake with pumpkin is really good too and since I am a fan of all things chocolate I would consider that one. 😛
Please stop by At Home With Books to see what others are posting today for Saturday Snapshots…
AND be sure to check out Beth Fish Reads Weekend Cooking which always has links to fantastic recipes that make you (ME) run right out the door to get the things to cook them! 😀
Today is going to be a low-key day and I am sooooo excited for that. I am going to write the missing reviews and between today and tomorrow get in some good reading time as well. I hope your weekend is a fantastic one.
Yesterday was a super fab day. Our youngest College son came home and spent the entire day with us, eating too much good food… watching movies, and playing board games.
Turkey!
Then….
at 9:30 pm… we headed out into the cold Minnesota night to do what only crazy people do… hit the sales. This is only my second time doing this and as I sit now in my recliner with sand filled eyes… I remember why I have not made this a yearly must.
It’s cold. There is a TON of crazy people in the area I live in. The crowds. The pushing. The crabbies. The lines. Did I mention it’s cold? 😯
BUT…
it is also crazy fun and Walmart at 10 pm Thursday night was hilarious. We could not even park in the super center parking lot… instead we parked across the highway at JC Penney’s and walked over.
The people were pushy to say the least and the crowds were probably “fire marshall worthy”… I found none of the items that were on my list as I could not get through the people. My son Justin found a few movies and a board game.
check out lines at Wal-Mart Thursday nightWal-Mart parking lot Thursday night
Then we went to Target…. also crazy but in a different way. They did not open their doors until midnight so at 11:30 pm we found our way to the back of the line that then wrapped around the front of the building. All I can say is thank God there was no snow or wind… I don’t think I could handle it.
Target at 11:30 pm last night. We were in line around the corner from the front side of the building.
When we did get to go in – kudos to Target for having a plan. They had people directing traffic, aisles taped off to keep us from getting grid locked and I went right to the movie sections without feeling I was taking my life into my own hands. We left Target with movie purchases and a new IPOD home for me. That was happy shopping.
We swing in, and quickly out, of Best Buy. They are just too congested in their set up anyway to be able to do Black Friday right. While I did pick up a movie I would have liked to have – I would rather pay full price for it on a different day then wait over an hour (I am sure) in their crazy long line.
We were home by 1:20 am… and I was in bed by 1:45 am.
It’s not over.
I was up at 5 am, waking Justin and we were out the door by 5:15 am to go the Mennards sale. Mennard’s had the one thing I really wanted and my husband was buying it for me for Christmas… but it was my job to face the crazies and go and get it. Not a problem for someone just as crazy. 😛
This time we were again in a line probably farther back then we were a few short hours prior at Target. Again we were thankful for no snow. It was cold… and I wished I was in Florida for Black Friday shopping… but it was doable.
And….
it paid off. I get the Cricut machine I had wanted for $119. I picked up several cartridges for $12.99 each. Justin and I had fun, it wasn’t too crazy and we were back home by 7:15 am. He is already back in bed… later we will go do lunch. I am writing this post and going to catch a couple of hours of sleep myself.
SSSQQQUUUEEE!!!!! My very own Cricut! (and assorted goodies)The cartridges I picked up for the Cricut.... which... needs a name......
The weekend will be much quieter and I am excited to catch up on a few reviews and checking out the blog world to see what you are all up too.
Anyone else crazy enough to pull off the sales? Oh please share the stories! 😛
I have no idea what a grub monkey is, but if there was a picture of one in the dictionary… I am pretty sure it would look like me right now. 😯
ANYWAY…. yesterday I received some sad news that kept me away from the house until late. In fact, by the time I did come home I was so emotionally exhausted that I curled up on the couch and was asleep by 8:30 pm and slept on the couch all night long.
This morning… I feel grubby… you know… like you feel when you have been camping in that hot plastic tent and you wake up feeling… microwaved? Yeah… that’s me right now. (Sorry about the visual :razz:)
And now as I sit here typing I am looking at my kitchen table… which is laughable and I think… picture worthy.
I think tomorrow morning… I will show you what my table and kitchen looked like AFTER I prepped for Thanksgiving. 😛
So what accompanies during this prep today? Ready Player One on audio and I am LOVING it.
Even in this mess, I am thankful for family and friendships and the combination of friends who are like family. ♥ I am thankful for my home and my job. I am thankful for the pets in my life… past and present. I am thankful for my health. I am thankful for this little corner of the internet that I call my blog home and for all of you who visit and make me smile. I am thankful for the opportunities that present themselves every day – big or small, they make me who I am.
Life happenings (yes again!) are going to keep this short and to the point today… BUT
I have to mention two kind of fun things as we go into this Thanksgiving weekend:
1. I am being featured over at Alyce’s At Home With Books today where I am talking abut my love/hate relationship with Anita Shreve. Please take a moment today and go check that out. 😛
2. My review of One Perfect Day by Lorraine Snelling came out in Her Voice magazine yesterday. I am on page 30 and 31.
I have to run… but plan to be back later with a review and yet this week with a list of bookish holiday gifts that I love and I think you will too. 😀
Book Journey 