Tag: Morning Meanderings

Good morning.  At some point I will post a couple positive bike pics…. maybe yet this morning… I don’t really know what I am doing now.  The scars are starting to dry up which means…. itchy.  Itch all night and nothing I can do..

This morning I am anxiously anticipating the weird shower of not getting the cast wet – yet not taking so much time that I am late to work. 

Worse than the shower is the shaving….. one handed shaving…. frightening!

The road rash under my nose has now dried into a crispy ugly half mustache scab which I can feel every time I talk. 

Tomorrow morning I leave for 5 days to Chicago and I am looking forward to…. and dreading the “being on the go” at the same time.  (more on this tomorrow)

I want to read but seem to always be tired.

Tonight is book club  – and I am helping out with VBS registration… hoping I will be able to both somewhat successfully.

I have reviews to write, and an audio interview yet that was planned to go up Saturday…. but yeah, instead I dove into the pavement…. always the life of the party….LOL

Ok so lets talk about my dog Elmo for a minute as this makes me smile (yes, even with the crispy mustache)…   Elmo is 15 years old and a shih-tsu (after all these years I shill can not spell it and do not have time to look it up… so know this about me… sometimes… words elude me.)  😛

Anyway – in Elmo’s old age… he has taken to sleeping with his tongue hanging out – which does nothing for my heart as I keep thinking perhaps he has passed…  ANYWAY he is also afraid of the camera (I think he thinks it will steal his soul), so I can never catch a picture of him with the tongue thing… its like he knows I am coming…. 

YET the other day, there he was…. sleeping in the bed… tongue out.  I grabbed the camera and got him!  (Of course immediately after he got up surprised and left the room… (possibly soulless)

LOL…. 

Here are my current statistics:

Biking:  172 miles

Rollerblading:  18 miles

Broken bones:  1

One more random pics and then I have to go:

Got to go!  Hopefully a review will be up later…. hopefully.  My one fingered typing takes a wee bit longer to get across what I am trying to say.  😀

Good morning.  It is super early here in Duluth this morning.  4:20 a.m. to be exact.  I am the first one up in my room as I hate waiting to get ready to go somewhere so I got up early, got ready…. and am now in the lobby.  I need to go wake my roommates pretty quick here and at 5 a.m. we all will be shuffling our tired bodies to the starting line up for the MS 150 bike ride.

A friend of mine, also named Sheila, has a dad who had MS.  This is my second year participating in bike rides for MS, my first time doing this big one.  It will be two days, 75 miles a day…. late afternoons are filled with food and fun.  (I believe my late afternoon may include  a nap.) 😛

Current temp in Duluth, MN:  46 degrees.

yay.  *sarcasm*

Anyhoo – I am out, have a great day….  pictures soon

Good morning. 

*sips coffee slowly…. rubs back of neck*

Hopefully you were able to stop by yesterday for the all day blog party.  It was a lot of fun and as usual your comments make laugh… and smile.  Great job fellow book lovers! 

This morning I am announcing the 4 winners from yesterday in this post – but first need to cover a couple of other things so hang in there…. these tib bits of life may be interesting. 

1.  Audiobook Week sadly, ends today over at Devourer Of Books.  It has been a blast and if you have not checked it, go and do so.  For me however, it does not end today as I have a narrator interview going up tomorrow.  Kate Reading has chatted with me about narrating books, how it all began, and how it works for her, posting tomorrow.

The question on Jen’s blog today was – what are our best audiobook resources.  For me, I find I use audible.com frequently.  I had first heard about it on Twitter about a year ago and went over and checked it out.  The prices are good, they offer frequent sales, and they download to ITunes and then right on to my IPOD.  I use audible constantly as I always have a book downloaded on my IPOD (I call my IPOD Milton Podricker).  *Fact…. embarrassing fact:  I have no music on my IPOD.  I bought it strictly for books.  😯  Yup.

(I do however have a nano that I call Podette, and Podette has all my music for working out, riding bike, etc on that.)

See?  I am not completely goofy 😛

Today I leave in ummm…. about an hour for the cities.  About 20 of us are doing a bike ride this weekend called the MS 150.  I am pretty excited about that and whelmed at the same time.  The whelmed part is that there goes my entire weekend…. as I will not be back until Sunday afternoon and then I have to help with an event Sunday eventing.  GAH.  I hate being over scheduled (all on me, I do this to myself I know…) 

I am taking Laptop with me and hoping he survives the trip as a truck carries our luggage for us each day to the next stop where we stay in hotels and I am a little worried about Laptops well-being, but really…. can’t bear to leave him.  (ok, I see now I am back to being goofy…)  😀

Ok… finally… yesterdays winners.  I have to say – I wish you all could win.  You are so fun to chat with and I love to come home and see who had what to say.  You…. complete me.  (Oh man…. I really have the goofies bad today…… :razz:)

Ok… the winners are:

#1.  Lydia from Lost Entwife

#2.  Dixie from Reader Of The Pack

#3.  Deb from Debbie’s Book Bag

#4.  Hannah from Word Lily

Random.org has spoken!  😀  Winners please email me your shipping info to journeythroughbooks@gmail.com and I will get these out to you early next week. 

Thanks again everyone… I have to get a movie on it here but have an awesome post coming up later today with Heather from Age 30+ A Lifetime of Books.  😀 

Good Morning!  What a week huh?  So much going on but I am working hard to keep on top of it all….  Audio Week (woo hoo!!!) is happening and if you did not see my giveaway you can still check that out, and the current mid-week audio thoughts are here:

Current/most recent audiobook:  I listen to 3 at a time (different locations people…. don’t be afraid! :razz:)  In my car is Every Last One by Ann Quinlin.  In my IPOD is Bossy Pants by Tina Fey (hilarious!), and in my kitchen CD player is the Maltaise Falcon (which honestly is freaking me out a bit… is is performed by The Hollywood Theater Of The Ear…. and it takes a bit of getting used to.)

Impressions:  One good, one great, one ummmm….. (you can guess which is which :D)

Current Favorite Audio:  So touch to choose but I really enjoyed The Art of Racing In The Rain by Garth Stein.  (*sob)  That’s all I’m saying. 

One narrator I wold choose over print:  I am not “there” yet.  When it comes to narrators, I am still a rooky.  Sitting on the bench waiting for the coach to let me in the game.  😛  (It’s early yet – first cup of coffee….)

Genres I most often listen to:  I really am all over the genre field.  I think with audio I am more daring… a classic or what looks to be a hard read I may try in audio and have had good luck with that. 

If given the choice I will always choose audio when:  … When I am traveling.  I am actually bummed when I have to ride with someone somewhere as most will not tolerate my “do you mind if we listen to hours of audio?  😛

If given the choice I will always choose print when:  If it is a book I really want to know well, I need to be able to go back and forth… and repeat as necessary. 

Ok – BUT the real real REAL reason for this post title is that tomorrow is……My Blogiversary!  SQQQQUUUEEEEEEE!!!!!  Seriously SSSQQUUUEEEEE!!!!   😀

If you have been around here for any length of time you will know that I go all out for my blogiversary and I have HUGE giveaways as thank you to my awesome readers (YOU!).  If you are new to my blogiversary madness you can get a sneak peak of what happened here in previous years:

Blogiversary  Year One

Yup….. soooooo much fun.  AND tomorrow it is happening again so please stop by!  I have awesome giveaways thanks to incredible authors and publishers.  I will give yo a hint I have a copy of the not yet released __________________!!!!  (I know right!)  And if you were drooling over this one I picked up at BEA, know that I have a second one that will also be on the giveaways!  As always there will be books, coffee, and chocolate too.  All you have to do is come to the party 😀 

I am soooo excited but have a busy day ahead of me….. need to have the blog cleaned, the decorators arrive late this afternoon, caterers will be here in the morning…  oh I should check on the giant  ice sculpture too!

Have an awesome day – a book tour yet to come and later…. an awesome audio review.

Good morning.  *sips coffee deeply, slowly*

Did any of you ever watch Gilmore Girls ?  If you watched it like I did (every episode and then I bought the seasons….) you may remember that in a particular episode or two they talked about Luke’s “Dark Day.”  I don’t recall all the details of his “dark day” but I think it had to do with the passing of his dad and Luke would just disappear for a day.

Yesterday was my dark day.

June 6 is a hard day for me,  It is an anniversary of a loss and even though it has been 15 years, it can still hit me like a ton of bricks.  (Does this happen to anyone else?)

My point of sharing this really is multi-fold.  One is, as much as I try to keep my posts on a happy note, occasionally there is stuff in our lives and I don’t mind letting you in.  Two, this is where many things come into play that make me thankful… and without dark days… we may not always notice that silver lining.  🙂

Yesterday – I would have rather just been gone for a day.  I was feeling bad, and if it were not for factors in my life and on this blog that I commit to – I would have had a “dark day” and not posted at all….

however…

It was Monday.  And… the Monday meme is a privilege for me to host and I enjoy it.  AND it was the start to Audio Week which I have so been looking forward to as I do love my audio and I am going to hopefully bring some of you nay sayers around to audio throughout this week.  😀  So my point is… no dark day… I had things to post.

As the day went on I left work early, came home with a plan to get some things done and instead I wallowed a bit in a dose of self-pity and then…. my College son called.  He checked in on me, made sure I got the card he sent (he amazes me), and asked my plan for the day.  I told him that I was home… that I was supposed to go out to dinner with a few friends but was going to pass.  He told me I had to go out to dinner and if he had to he was going to text me friend and tell her to make me go. 

So at 5:30 I went mainly because we were celebrating Key’s birthday and I did not want to miss out on that.  As I drove through town I was down… but there is something about friends…. soon we were sitting outside the restaurant at a table with the warm sun and cool breeze, with the smell of lilacs next to a small waterfall.  Tension and sorrow melted off me.  We talked, we ate, we shared until 9:30 pm.  It was getting dark when we left, and while I had no intentions of staying that late.  I am so glad I did. 

My point (I believe) in sharing this is that we all have these moments where we would just rather not let others in.  The first part of June is  hard on me.. has been for many years as memories pour through…. BUT, even my daily rituals of chatting with you makes it a little easier, and friends… are icing on the cake called life.

Ok – enough.  One more thing this morning.  I mentioned it is audio week (SSQQUUEEE).  If you did not get a chance to read my introductory post yesterday, I hope you do.  There is a giveaway.  If you want to join in – check out Devourer Of Books as there are daily things and giveaways.  Also – pop over to The Literate Housewife for the start of something fun… introducing:  Shaken Not Stirred!

Mmmmm…..good morning.

I feel like I had a good nights sleep after a 10 hour headache which I believe is all about the pollen.  It was so thick yesterday when we went bike riding you could see it on the side of the roads and in the grass.  I have been sniffly (my word) and sneazy (like the dwarf) ever since.  And with such an exciting week coming up – I really do not have time to be lying low.

I suspect soon I will be done talking about BEA but I still have not quite spilled out everything I seen and did.  This morning seems like a great day to be talking about the Harry Potter Exhibition in New York.  To someone who has grown up herself on the books along with her kids (hey… I am about as grown up as I am going to get here!) this was a must see.  Even linking it now gives me a bitter-sweet feel as it is with heavy heart that we close out the final chapter of the movies in July of this year.

*sigh*

Ok….

When you walk into the Exhibition we stand in a room where all around us are screen scenes of the actors through the years with great “Potterish” background theme music.  Within the first two minutes I had tears in my eyes.

In the next room we have a chance to be sorted by the sorting hat (which I had heard about pre-exhibit and was going to be sure I had a chance to be sorted.  I was…….  GRYFFINDOR!!!!

*whew!*

Once inside you will find everything from school uniforms the actors actually wore through the years, their wands (OH!  *sigh* again), Quidditch uniforms, the brooms, Harry’s invitation to Hogwart’s, ball gowns, the tri-wizard cup, the Marauders map, Harry’s glasses, props from the classrooms, and we were able to give a try at pulling a young mandrake out of their pots…. awesomeness!!!

Ahhh, but don’t take my word for it…. (a mere Muggle) see for yourself:

and here is a sneak peek into the exhibition in New York which is supposed to sadly be the last stop in North America for this exhibition.

Reagan from Miss Remmers Reviews and I enjoyed seeing this very much and even had a chance to play a little Quidditch.  (I am sure we are both going to be asked to join the team).

A must see for any Harry Potter fan!

As I have talked about before J K Rowling and the entire cast of characters that came out of her mind, and then out of her pen – fascinate me.  Both my boys grew up reading these books and I read right along with them.  For me, the books were a wonderful way to connect with my kids – and even when Justin was a Junior in High School and that final book came out, we were still reading them together.  I have pictures (somewhere) of my boys in capes and casting spells with sticks from the yard)… if a book can make you want to ask it out… it much have magic in it.  😀

Once you get through the exhibit of course you are deposited into a store with everything you may wish to purchase for your full experience:  t-shirts, wands, ties, robes, the candy, collector pieces, books, costumes, board games, and more.  I made a purchase that really excited me – and that was the first book, hard cover Anniversary Edition.  I am so excited about this as I have all the books but this one in hard cover.  I have never been able to find the first book in hard cover.  SSQQUUEEEEEE!!!!!

Now that I have it – I am going to read it before I shelf it. 

In answer to my own question on this post title, I can not let go because these books were such a  big part of many years of connecting with my kids, and with a story line that blew me away with each new book that came out.  These books made both my boys readers.  They made me believe in the magic and beauty of words… more than I think I ever have before. 

If you are reading the Harry Potter books this year as the final movie closes in, or if you were thinking about it… Shannon at Giraffe Days sent me this link to a Harry Potter Read A Long that starts this month…. one book a month.  How exciting is that?  AND Elle and Kate from The Book Memoirs sent me an invite to join their Harry Potter Week and The Book Of Memoirs that starts tomorrow, June 6 – 12.  I don’t know a lot about this one other than it looks like their will be a giveaway a day!

** Random note – biked 40 miles yesterday on the Tour Of Lakes bike ride.  The weather was GORGEOUS.  I have a 150 mile ride coming this next weekend and hoping the weather can be the same for that two day ride.

Good morning.  This is an early one today as Wendy and I are on the road at 6:30 am to get to our bike ride – The Tour Of Lakes by 7:30 am starting time.  30 or 60 miles…. we have not decided yet.

Yesterday afternoon I sadly had to return many (MANY) library books unread.  *sigh*.  I had renewed them on-line twice and then finally it came down to who was I kidding… as much as I wanted to read them… it wasn’t going to happen in the time frame I needed to read them, and really…. has it come to this?  Book hording?  Really Sheila?  Holding books for my own selfish reasons making it impossible for others to read them…

What am I?  Two?

SO back they went.  As my habit would go – I had two to pick up that I had on hold.  Of course I am not so cured that I left them behind… oh no, I hauled home the copy of Discovery Of Witches I have been so curious about and the audio of Every Last One by Anna Quindlin.  What?  Did you expect me to be cured overnight?  Please!  This will take YEARS of practice….  😛

Good morning.  Can you smell the fresh brewed coffee?

MMMMMMMMMM

Take a moment and smell it. 

Mmmmmmmmm……

Yesterday afternoon I came home with a plan.  My hubby on Monday evening was scrounging around the house for something sweet.  Cake is actually what he was craving.  Cake.  We never have cake in the house but apparently he had been watching some tv show that had cake and now he too wanted cake.  All I had in the cupboards was a brownie mix, but no eggs in the frig as I forgot them when I went shopping.  Disgruntled… sweet tooth unsatisfied he went to bed.

So on Tuesday I came home from work armed with the missing eggs, a lemon cake mix and cream cheese frosting.  I also picked up a couple of steaks and shrimp (shrimp was on sale – woo hoo!!!) for dinner.  I was planning a special dinner since I was gone in New York all last week.  So I came home and I baked not only the cake, but the brownies.  I doctored up my steaks – tossed the shrimp on top and put them in to broil, feeling a lot like Betty Crocker as I never put this much effort into cooking.

Yay, I thought…. me time!  I text Al (hubby) to let him know when dinner would be ready, and grabbed Laptop and got comfy in the recliner in the reading room.  I was going to catch up on emails before dinner.  That is when Bailey (see exhibit A) decided he would like to go out.  Ok.  Out of the recliner I get, Laptop carefully to the side and let Bailey out.  I see it looks like he is going to stay outside awhile so I get cozy in the recliner again, and just get emails opened when…. Bailey wants in.

Of course he does.

Laptop carefully to side…. out of the recliner, let Bailey in and then back to the recliner wondering if I still have any time before dinner.  I think I do…

Then comes Elmo… he looks at me.  He wants to go outside.  (See Exhibit B)

Now, I can not deny Elmo anything.  Elmo is my dog.  We have had him since 1997.  He grew up with our boys, has been lost (and found) three times in his life, hit by a car 2 years ago and dragged (gah – awful story) and has just been through the ringer.  He is blind in one eye, has loss of hearing, and the early stages of dementia.  Needless to say – I get up and let Elmo out.

Ten minutes later, I get up and let Elmo in.

Some days…. I think I am the pet.  😛

Ok off to work.. later I return to kickboxing class where I have been MIA for three weeks now and am probably going to be hurting in the morning.  Oh well…. it’s all good for me.  😀

Have a lovely LOVELY day everyone!