Morning Meanderings – Page 92

Morning Meanderings: The Horrible Awful ;)

Published on August 19, 2011 by Sheila (Book Journey)16 Comments

Good morning! 😀 Looks like it will be a nice day here today and I am thrilled as it is my day off and I get to actually enjoy it a bit! 😀

I have a BIG week coming up – a 75 mile bike ride tomorrow in Itasca Minnesota and then come Monday I am at a camp through Friday morning which I am excited about – more on that on Sunday! Today thought, I am going to go work out this morning, come home and do a little house cleaning, a little reading and later shopping for camp. Maybe take a bike ride…

Why did I call this post The Horrible Awful? Well… if you have read or seen The Help, you know why… 😛 I just think that is so funny and went to the movie a second time yesterday afternoon with 4 friends. Yes, worthy of seeing twice and if you have not read this book I urge you to do so.

As for how I did on week one of My Fitness Pal…. the results are below. How about that? 4 pounds! 😀 This next week I think may be a bit harder as at camp all the meals are provided but I am going to try to take in much of my own and keep my eating on track. I am also taking my bike so I can hopefully get out and ride a bit too.

Have an awesome day! 😀

Created by MyFitnessPal – Free Calorie Counter

Morning Meanderings… Fall Reading (right around the corner!)

Published on August 18, 2011 by Sheila (Book Journey)24 Comments

Good morning! 😀

I hate to even mention Fall (I think last year in a post I referred to it as the “F” word 😯 ) but even I have to admit there is one good thing about fall….

life slows down a bit.

Spring is the fresh air, open the windows season and wait impatiently for the signs of summer…. my absolute FAVORITE time of year…. sunny days, bike rides, grilling, camp fires, beaches… by early September I am happy, and usually exhausted.

As fall enters and the nights become chilly… I turn back to the books. I love to curl up in a blanket with a hot cup of tea and a good read. Speaking of good reads… here are a few coming this fall that I have caught my attention:

THE DOVEKEEPERS
By Alice Hoffman

On sale October 4

There’s no magic here; in The Dovekeepers, Hoffman takes readers to the year 70 CE to dramatize a historical event: the storming of the fortress of Masada where 900 Jews took a stand against the Romans. She tells the story from the perspectives of three very different women. We’re thinking that this may be the novel that fans of The Red Tent have been waiting for.

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

On sale September 13

This imaginative debut, set in a magical circus, follows two rival magicians who select champions to represent them in a deadly competition.

The Taker by Alma Katsu

On sale September6

On the midnight shift at a hospital in rural Maine, Dr. Luke Findley is expecting another quiet evening of frostbite and the occasional domestic dispute. But the minute Lanore McIlvrae—Lanny—walks into his ER, she changes his life forever. A mysterious woman with a past and plenty of dark secrets, Lanny is unlike anyone Luke has ever met. He is inexplicably drawn to her . . . despite the fact that she is a murder suspect with a police escort. And as she begins to tell her story, a story of enduring love and consummate betrayal that transcends time and mortality, Luke finds himself utterly captivated.

That’s just a sample…. there are more, but falls not here yet. 😀 Any fall releases you are excited about?

Personal note – tonight 6 of my friends are going to The Help with me. Yes I went last week… but this movie is really REALLY good.

Morning Meanderings… Non Fiction Overdose

Published on August 17, 2011 by Sheila (Book Journey)30 Comments

Good morning! 😀

Did you notice there was no Morning Meandering yesterday? I just flat-out ran out of time. I got up early enough but was putting finishing touches on my Small Town Sinners review and got so into that, suddenly I had to rush to get ready to go to work.. and yup – no Morning Meanderings. EPIC FAIL. 😯

And in other epic fail news… I need a break from non fiction.

I know … that is just so out of the blue… but it is a fact. I have really noticed for about the past 6 months I have been including at least one non fiction read in each weeks Monday What Are You Reading. I do not know really when it happened, but suddenly I am really into life stories, memoirs, history, triumph stories…

Last week I reviewed The Devil In The White City and Working It Out. Both non fiction. Yesterday I finished the audio of Born Round, also non fiction. As I reached for the next book on my reading list for the week, I noticed both are non fiction and suddenly… I just wanted something fun… not too heavy, and not too real. I needed a break from feeling real horror, real sadness, real ….

well… apparently just real. 😛

SO (and don’t laugh) I picked up CUT by Patricia McCormick because it is fiction and it is small. Of course… not that I am looking at it… I am thinking that may be too serious of fiction so my search for light continues. 😀

DO you ever do that? Over dose on too much of one genre or subject matter and you have to switch it up?

2011 Miles: 385

2011 Miles: 50

Morning Meanderings… Books, Books, GLORIOUS BOOKS!

Published on August 14, 2011 by Sheila (Book Journey)20 Comments

I am probably the last person that should be SQQUUEEEING about books right now. I feel like I have hardly read 20 pages this week…. but..

it’s in my blood….

BOOKS.

SSSSQQUUEEEEE!!!! 😛

Good reads posted August releases and uh…. HELLO books! 😀

But check for yourself…

NEW RELEASES BY GENRE


fiction


nonfiction


young adult


children’s


history & biography


memoir & autobiography


mystery & thriller


romance


science fiction


fantasy


historical fiction


graphic novels & comics

How will I ever keep up? 😀

Quickly glancing through… I am looking at Unsaid, Miracle Beach, Chain Reaction, Peter Nimble, Jack, Darkness My Old Friend… of course an hour from now… given the same list… I could add or subtract to it.

How about you? Any of these go on your wish list?

(I have a busy day and I never wanted it to be…. I am picking up my Kinship Partner and then off to church, then helping out in the children’s wing, then grabbing lunch (not for me!) and coming home to hang with College son, Kinship son, and hubby for a while. At some point I need to ride bike, prep my review today, mow the lawn, and prep tonight’s 100th posting of Monday What Are You Reading. Cant wait – hope you can join us! 😀 )

Morning Meanderings… Last day to Register for BBAW (Book Blogger Appreciation Week)

Published on August 13, 2011 by Sheila (Book Journey)29 Comments

Good morning! 😀

It’s a beautiful Saturday here in Central Minnesota… the kind that calls me outside to my bike. I have the bike locked and loaded on the jeep for later today – but first I have a baby shower today and a house-warming. Both early enough in the day so that I will still have later afternoon to ride a bit.

I also wanted to remind everyone that today is the last day to register for BBAW. I too have to do this today… it’s been crazy busy around here and as soon as I am done writing this post I am going to get busy on that as I think you need to set a little time aside to do it. Be sure to read the Awards Process page and then on to the registration page , you will need a Google account or your twitter ID to log in.

Once logged in (I used my Twitter Id – it seamed easier) I backed out, then went into that same page and now had a nominations link. That is what I am working on now.

If you have not participated in BBAW before, I recommend you do. It gives you an opportunity to recognize the blogs you love to read. It really is fun and I love the community of book bloggers! 😀 Remember – today is the last day to register your blog and nominate.

In other news… as I love to participate in Alyce’s Saturday Snapshot meme, thought I would use a few pictures from Honduras since it looks like I may be leading a team there in November of this year. Honduras is always an amazing experience, and a country that in many parts, is extremely poorish.

155 — How cute are these kids? They would come and watch us work every day.

159 — Me and the kids that live above the dump in Tegucigalpa. We were building a home for a young woman who needed to escape her father

049 — The statue of Jesus up inthe mountains of Tegucigala, Honduras. You can see this statue from all over the city

050 — A shot of the landing strip. Tegucigalpa has one of the shortest landing strips in the world due to the mountains. A captain must fly the planes in to Tegucigalpa.

061 — The flowers and plants of Honduras are GORGEOUS

So that’s it for this morning… Have a great day! 😀

Morning Meanderings…. Time To Get On The Fitness Track

Published on August 12, 2011 by Sheila (Book Journey)24 Comments

Good Morning! Happy Friday!

I am looking forward to this weekend because really…. I have no big plans. 😀 Saturday I have a baby shower but no bike rides, camping, cabin, travel… nada.

I like that a lot. 😛

Last weekend I biked the Camp Benedict ride with my cousin’s wife. She looks amazing and my cousin and her have been doing a program they found on-line called My Fitness Pal. Between seeing how well it has worked for them (and uh…. seeing some pics of me these past few events) I jumped on the program earlier this week.

There are many things I like about it –

It is easy to use, I put in my height, weight, age and that was about it.

you enter your food into the daily journal and it calculates for you – LOVE THAT!

At the end of the day if you want it will run a report for you that is pretty cool – breaking down calories, fat, protein, fiber, carbs, and sodium. I find it all a little fascinating 😀

After the injury earlier this year I slowed down (yes, I know… some of you will say I didn’t… but I did… 😛 ) and now it is time to kick back in gear. I have been using My Fitness Pal since Monday and I will let you know each Friday how I am doing with the ticker that is below.

Created by MyFitnessPal – Free Weight Loss Tools

Morning Meanderings: The Help movie scores an A+ with me

Published on August 11, 2011 by Sheila (Book Journey)36 Comments

Good morning. I am coffee free this morning….. but on purpose. 😀 I am going to my first weigh in this morning with a friend and I am anal about eating or drinking anything before weigh in. No worries – my weigh in is at 8:30 am and I will stop for coffee on my way to work after.

Last night myself and a mix of book club gals and friends, went to the 7 pm showing of The Help. I was warned previously by Kathy at Bermuda Onion to bring Kleenex, which I forgot and did need. 😛

I felt the movie was a wonderful stem off the book. While not all scenes ran as the book did, it was a close comparison and changes were small and probably so the movie (which was 2 1/5 hours long) did not become a 3 to 4 hour movie! 😀

The characters were wonderful – Skeeter played by Emma Stone did a wonderful job and Aibileen by Viola Davis, was breathtakingly true to the character. Of course… if you know me…. my heart and my laugh was given time and again to Minny. Minny was outspoken, rough around the edges, and in her home life… abused.

The seven of us in the theater as well as the rest of the theater rolled with laughter when it came to the confrontation between Minny and Hilly. Hilly, by the way, cast by Bryce Dallas Howard also did wonderful! In fact there is no part taken that I would say did not feel true to the book.

I laughed and I cried, and I laughed and I cried again. I highly recommend if this movie comes close to you that you see it. AND – bring the Kleenex. 😉

Morning Meanderings… Celebrating 10 years with the Bookies!

Published on August 10, 2011 by Sheila (Book Journey)48 Comments

Good morning all!

After yesterday mornings “I am in limbo” post… this one excited me to write!

Last night was my August book club meeting, but this time it was more than that. It was also a surprise birthday party for Sharon in our group who turns 50 today, and it was also our 10 year anniversary.

I am pretty sentimental when it comes to my book club. Bookies was started in August of 2001 as a way to bring people together. At the time I had worked for Wal-Mart about 10 years and thought it was sad that many of us who had worked together for so long really didn’t know anything about each other.

The idea of a book club came out of the air. I figured I like to read… maybe others do too. So I posted a book title by the time clock (Dance Upon The Air by Nora Roberts) and put a date, place and time to meet in a few weeks. And….

crickets.

Yup. No one said a word to me about it.

The night we were to meet I thought I would show up at the meeting place, have a diet Pepsi and then go home if I was all alone. So I showed up. And a few minutes after me, Angie showed up (Angie now runs the book blog By Book or By Crook!) and Karen showed up. And we reviewed the book and I had brought another book to suggest for the next month (Mr. Perfect by Linda Howard). We agreed to meet again the second Tuesday of September. This was 2001.

On that second Tuesday of September… it was the 11th and we had the terrorist attacks on the world trade center. It was a day that filled with a lot of emotion and turmoil, and that evening I told my husband I was going to show up at book club. I did not know if we would have any new people, I had not heard from anyone… but I did not want them to show up and be alone so I went. The amazing thing was, the other two showed up as well as one more. We all agreed that there was nothing we could do at home about what was happening in the world, so we shared our thoughts on the days events, brokenhearted for the world, and yes, we reviewed the book.

Now it is August 2011 and we are currently 17 members. Walking into the Boardwalk Bread and Bagel last night was amazing to look at all the book lovers there… all a part of this group we call Bookies. We no longer can fit into a booth like we did that first meeting (although I did suggest we try :razz:)

Last night we reviewed Devil In The White City by Eric Larson. I can not wait to share with you my thoughts as well as the Bookies. We celebrated a milestone birthday with Sharon, and ate together. Coming home, I just could not get over how blessed I feel to be a part of such amazing women. It started out to be a few girls that worked together… then we added a few friends… and then it grew from there. We never said we were an all girls group… it just turned out that way.

Next month we are reading The Postmistress bu Sarah Blake. I read and reviewed this one a while back but think I will refresh myself by trying it on audio….

Morning Meanderings… So This Is What Limbo Feel Like….

Published on August 9, 2011August 9, 2011 by Sheila (Book Journey)22 Comments

Good morning! 😀

I have this feeling of well… limbo.

Limbo: A region or condition of oblivion or neglect: Management kept her promotion in limbo for months.

A state or place of confinement.

An intermediate place or state

What has brought this on?

Well normally after a big bike ride like I just had this past weekend I would be flooding you with information and pictures. Day one of the ride (Saturday) was stormy and we rode about 5 hours of the 75 miles in the rain – hard rain. By pit stop one (10 miles into the ride) my camera had taken in moisture and was not working. No camera… no pictures.

SO I am telling you just a wee bit about the ride now as I believe pictures will start getting posted on Facebook and I will be able to find some so you can see how truly soaked we were. It is the first time I rode through hard rain. Wet, cold…. but only 4 riders dropped out and I was not going to be one of them.

Camp as always was beautiful and by that time the sun was out and when we rode in although we were muddy…. we were pretty dry.

The rest of the afternoon I hung out with friends catching up on lives, and then we had a wonderful dinner, camp fire – and bed by 9:30 pm so we could get up and ride 75 miles back on Sunday, which was a really nice day to ride. Not too hot.

I had no incidents. No falls. No nothing. 😛 I believe as a team there were 10 flat tires, and one pulled tendon which involved a trip to the hospital, but all is well now between the bikes and the riders. 😀

That’s limbo #1.

Limbo #2 is that I feel really behind in my reading. The weekend was a bust for book moments as I picked up my book Saturday evening and fell asleep before I read one page. Sunday evening came home after dinner was downstairs trying to read while Al (hubby) watched tv and I fell asleep again.

At this time I have book club tonight (our 10th Anniversary party!!!!) and I have not finished the book because I keep falling asleep. 😛

So there you have it. No pics to show, no books to review… AND

Limbo #3, I hardly got around to any of the Monday What Are You Reading participants yesterday as I worked all day, followed immediately by a 3 hour meeting for the upcoming camp dates, and then came home, made dinner, picked up my book….

and yup – you guessed it…. promptly fell asleep.

(Really – it is not the book…. it is me). 😀

2011 Bike Miles: 372

2011 Blade miles: 42

Morning Meanderings… A BIG Bike Ride for a great cause

Published on August 6, 2011 by Sheila (Book Journey)41 Comments

Today I am starting a two day ride for Camp Benedict, the ride I participate in for families infected of affected by AIDS/HIV. We will start at 8 am this morning and bike 75 miles (with an option to do 100) to camp, then we get up Sunday morning and bike the 75 miles back to Brainerd.

It’s a great ride and a wonderful team.

For Saturday Snapshots (Check out Alyce’s blog, At Home With Books for more info) I thought I would post a few pics from last years ride…