This week The Broke and Bookish ask us for ten books we've recently added to our TBR lists. Now if only I could read them as fast as I can add them... 1) The Girl on Legare Street by Karen White. This is the 2nd book in her Tradd Street series of which I'm reading the 1st one right now and LOVING it!!! 2) The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion. I got tired of hearing from everyone how good this was so it's time to find out for myself. 3) The Nightengale by Kristin Hannah. This is probably the one I'm aching to read most of all, but being a tight-wad on book spending, I haven't bought it...I am on the waiting list for the e-book at the library though so the minute it comes through, it's mine!! It's getting great reviews. Another WWII story that I know I will love!! 4) The Mapmaker's Children by Sarah McCoy. It's so hard to prioritize what to read next. I've been wanting to read this one for a while but have not gotten to it yet though it sits patiently on my nightstand. Slavery & the Underground Railroad...history that I love reading!! 5) My Name is Resolute by Nancy E. Turner. More history & slavery though in the 1700s. 6) At The Water's Edge by Sara Gruen. Just released today 3.31.15 and it's been getting lots of positive talk about the WWII time period with a search for the Lochness Monster....should be interesting. I've liked her two previous books so hopefully this one is enjoyable too! 7) The Matchmaker by Elin Hilderbrand. I've never read any of her books before but a friend of mine loves them, so they can't be too bad...and when I'm in the mood for a "lighter" story, this is what I want to pick up. 8) All the Single Ladies by Dorothea Benton Frank. Releasing this summer...sure to be another awesome story from her. 9) Secrets of a Charmed Life by Susan Meissner. WWII. 1940s. History. Need I say more? 10) The Strangers on Montagu Street by Karen White. Book #3 in the Tradd series...looking forward to these.
Due to the extremely LOW number of blog posts I've made in 2015, I thought it fitting to do a RANDOM post...and so, here goes... *Hooray...it's Holy Week and that also means only 3.5 days of school. That's A LOT to be happy about. *We will be spending Easter at home this year. Last year we went to SC and froze our tooshies off...since we were just there for Spring Break, we will stay put this weekend. *Our local little league baseball is underway...3 practices so far and our first game is April 11. *I ran 3.1 miles yesterday for the first time since my Dec 2013 knee surgery. It wasn't too bad, though I went slow and did a lot of walking throughout. My knee did swell up a bit afterwards...not visibly, but I could feel it. I'd say that's normal. *I'm really struggling with what the best (getting back into) running "routine" would be...I've been running every other day for the most part (a few exceptions) and on my NON-running days, I make a point to walk on the treadmill for at least 30 minutes at 3.7 speed. I'm thinking maybe I'm not doing enough as the scale is not moving as much as I'd like it to. I quit my YMCA membership for a couple months because I simply could not get there during the school week. I plan to rejoin in May and I look forward the the stationary bike for additional leg workouts. I wonder if running 1 mile (or maybe a little more) EVERY day is better than the walk/run routine...any thoughts? *Once I get myself in better shape and down a few pounds, I need to really focus on longer runs in preparation for the WDW Princess 1/2 Marathon. I have every intention of being there in 2016. Right now a 5k is daunting for me...can't imagine running another 13.1 mile race. *I'm 4 books behind on my reading goal for the year already. That's not good. It seems I'm either caught up (or close) on scrapbooking Project Life or I'm ahead on my reading goal. Never both. *I'm reading "The House on Tradd Street" by Karen White...I started it during Spring Break - I figured "when in Charleston, read about Charleston" I even walked over to 55 Tradd Street (the house in the book), but 55 doesn't actually exist...it used to, but it was never a MAIN house, it was a small kitchen house behind the main (57 Tradd, I think) house. It was still neat to walk by and see where it would have been. *I weighed myself this morning so I'm highly motivated (obsessed) with getting in shape and eating right (today)...what I'd love more than anything would be to get my flabby arms looking a lot better. This has been a dream of mine for many years. I'm going to work on this at home and make a calendar to check off everyday that I complete the exercises....maybe that will help me? On March 1, I started a 30-day squat training...I did great until Spring Break...I should have taken the calendar w/me...fell off the wagon so I'm trying to pick it back up now doing week 3 this week. I'm hoping/thinking this will also strengthen the muscles around my knees.
Bookish and Not-So-Bookish Thoughts is a weekly blogging event hosted by Bookishly Boisterous. It allows book bloggers (and non-book bloggers) to write about pretty much anything, bookish or otherwise (i.e. share exciting plans for the weekend, rants on things they've encountered during the week, etc.).
1) It's official. I have a warped sense of time when it comes to crafting...I signed up for yet another on-line scrapbook workshop...though it is self-paced and I'm super motivated to work on it...let's hope I am in it for the long haul and actually finish the project. Go me!
2) Oops...it's probably not a good thing that only 1 month ago I bought an e-book on Amazon and then just yesterday added it to my wishlist...in other words...I completely forgot I bought it. That's what happens when the price goes to $2.99!!
3) Hard to believe, but I just read "To Kill a Mockingbird" for the very first time in my 43 years of life. Yep. Truth. Not sure how I skirted around it during those fabulous adolescent years of required (boring) reading, though if it was required of me, I likely bought the Cliff Notes for it and called it done. I was NOT at all an "avid" reader during my youth. Hindsight: I wish I had been.
4) I'm in this new book club. The first book we are reading is "Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea". I was so NOT excited to read this book, in fact, I was almost annoyed as the person choosing had originally said she was going to go with a classic and since I've read next to ZERO classics, I was looking forward to adding one to my "read (past tense) this book" list. Well, I've been pleasantly surprised while reading this book...I'm quite absorbed into the lives of the individuals the author is writing about. They have (obviously?) defected from North Korea and I am dying to get to the part in the book that talks more about that. I always knew the leaders (?) of that country were "off their rockers" bat-shit crazy but it's so much more than that. Beyond sad and rather unbelievable. Seriously, holding hands in public is taboo!! WTH?!?!
5) This week has been kicking my butt...I am not sleeping well, so I'm waking up exhausted (and a bit miserable) which is making it difficult to get through this week. Not to mention the 47 things I have to do after school every day. Ugh. I need Saturday to get here quick!!
6) Speaking of Saturday, the plan is to go see Cinderella w/my mom....so excited. Ethan then said that he wanted to see "HOME" which comes out this Friday...so we may do a double feature and see both!!!
7) It's been 8 days since I ran...oh boy. I've been walking just about every day though...Sunday included 6 hours in a car so needless to say - not many steps that day as getting laundry done was more urgent than getting on the treadmill. And I was worn out. Monday was simply a "lazy" day for me..though Ethan did have baseball practice and we didn't get home until after 7pm...so once again, I was OUT of time. Today at least, we should be home at a reasonable hour (before 5pm!!) and so I have a date with the treadmill. This is the kind of date that you really don't want to go on but feel obligated to, because maybe your friend set you up with the person....some days I love running, most days I don't, but I always LOVE running when I'm done with it.
8) I'm in OBSESSION mode with the Broadway Musical AIDA...saw it way back in 2001 (or 2002) out in AZ and the music is amazing, bought it many moons ago and love it today just as much as then. I'm listening to it on constant-loop AND THEN TODAY THE BEST THING HAPPENED...our drama teacher told me about the AIDA Concept Album that Elton John made back in 1999. The same songs by different artists...now, I absolutely LOVE Heather Headley and Adam Pascal (swoon!) on the Soundtrack, but when you love a song, it's always good to hear other fab artists sing it as well. Elton and LeAnn Rhimes do an AWESOME version of "Written in the Stars" ---check it out. The bad news: I gave up buying anything on iTunes for Lent!!!! Ack!! 11 days and the album will be MINE!!! :)
9) Did I mention the hotness of Adam Pascal? He makes singing look SO easy!!! See here:
Dealing: with the return to school/work after a fun & fabulous Spring Break. Changing: my blogger web address...for reasons mentioned (or not mentioned) in prior post... Counting: down the days until Summer break...yes, I know we JUST got back from Spring Break. Can't help it. Enjoying: 2 good books. 1 for fun and the other for a new book club...interestingly enough, I was NOT excited to read this book but it has turned out to be quite interesting. Assembling: the new piece to my PB desk...been wanting it for years and finally "bit the bullet" to buy it when they offered some extra reward dollars. Yay! Trying: to work out every day, though as baseball season begins, I see a quick end to my routine...I had 8 consecutive days with more than 10k steps on my fitbit...that will be hard to do going forward. Wishing: for way too much to list here. Hoping: this site is still "viewable" by those who may have been reading previously...
Bookish and Not-So-Bookish Thoughts is a weekly blogging event hosted by Bookishly Boisterous. It allows book bloggers (and non-book bloggers) to write about pretty much anything, bookish or otherwise (i.e. share exciting plans for the weekend, rants on things they've encountered during the week, etc.).
1. I recently had to make my blog private. for a variety of reasons. which will go unnamed. it's so NOT fun having a private blog. I may have to to change my domain/blog name to go public again...probably the only way I'll feel comfortable. So for now, my 12ish approved readers are the only ones who will see this.
2) I'm doing this post on a Friday vs. Thursday. That's just how the cookie crumbles lately.
3) Yahoo! It's just about Spring Break...gotta get through today. We weren't planning on doing much...just a weekend jaunt to SC...but then O got word he has a jobsite in SC to take care of, so now we will go out w/him and be in SC all week. I love checking out new places and this will be a new part of SC for us. 4) I am reading "To Kill a Mockingbird" for the first time EVER. I know!! 5) I (stupidly?) offered to work on our school yearbook this year...and while it's a lot to do and a lot to learn...I can say now that I'm absolutely loving it. In fact, I would really love my job if this was all I had to do everyday. It's like getting paid for doing digital scrapbooking. 6) I'm finally cracking down hard on myself with weight loss...I've been running or walking just about every day - getting at least my 10K on the Fitbit almost daily, but not seeing any results on the scale...well, after being strict with my diet on Wed and Thurs I can proudly say I've dropped 1.5lbs. On that note, we invested in the Fitbit Aria scale and I love it...except the part where it tells me how much % body fat I have...yeah that makes me want to cry. Every.single.time. 7) Yikes - I can't believe I haven't blogged for 1 month...almost to the day. I didn't think it was that long. In the meantime, I've enjoyed 7 snowdays...it was awesome. I got acquainted with our new reclining couch...something I rarely do during the work week. It was absolutely divine. I'm even all caught up on the whole 2 shows I DVR. Now the snow is gone and replaced with rain. Ugh! 8) There are only 45 school days left in the year. That is way less than I thought. Amen. It's been one heck of a year. 9) That 7th grade activity I blogged about last time...well the 1st class went well...which was the one I posted about. The other 2 sections...um, they weren't quite as fun (for me). 10) I plan to do copious amounts of reading during Spring Break...I cannot wait 'til we hit the road at 4pm on Sunday. First things first though...getting thru working this wedding tonight...ugh. I love the gal I work with, but absolutely cannot stand working the weddings...I find it boring for me (I'm her assistant) and it's physically hard...like sometimes you get dinner REALLY late....and have to scarf it down...and bathroom breaks are a challenge too....just not my favorite type of work to do. It's truly done only for the money...which is quickly becoming less of a reason in my book.
