I love Christmas Cards (but I am in no way offended by the ‘holiday’ cards I get from my non-Christian friends)! I love to send them (well, at least the first 40, after that your personal note may be very brief). The cards are my favorite decoration. From my house you yours, Merry Christmas!!
Do you see the two ornaments Gage made this year? So artistic 🙂 We actually received a card all the way from Moscow this year and it was one of our first ones. Way to be on top of things, Munteans!
I’m sure that this won’t be the last time I’m sick this year since last year Gage brought major yuckiness home three times, but it seems too early for the cold I’ve got! Sorry I didn’t get the quiz posted yesterday, it’ll be up next Tuesday. We’re getting to the end of this round so I want to give you all a chance to participate.
The upside is that I’ve gotten the chance to rest my sprained foot as I spend extra time in bed 🙂 And read. For the first time since I started blogging I actually have 5 book reviews to write! Maybe I can catch up this week.
Stay healthy, friends.
Another birthday came and went and I forgot to revisit the Bucket List I made when I turned 40. Yes, it is only 2 years later, but last year I posted my one accomplishment. Sadly, I didn’t get to mark anything off the list this year, but I did add one state to #14.
1. Write and publish a novel.
2. Open my own bookstore.
3. Spend a night in an English castle.
4. Visit Ireland.
5. Meet a US president.
6. Learn to start a fire without matches.
7. Learn to play the piano.
8. Raise a happy and successful son.
9. Celebrate my 50th anniversary. (15 in)
10. Make exercise a daily priority.
11. Get back to my wedding weight, just once.
12. Try a vegetarian diet for a year.
13. Drive cross country.
14. Visit all 50 states. (Only counting those states where I spent any significant time seeing a sight or two, I’m at 23. I got to add Vermont this year :))
Have I spent time in your state?
15. Stay in an overnight car on a train trip.
16. Fly first class.
17. Take Gage to Italy.
18. Ride a boat down the Mississippi River.
19. Trace ancestry to when all branches entered the US. (we’ve been here a long time so this will take many more years of research)
20. Spend a week touring Napa Valley.
21. Live somewhere warm year round.
22. Volunteer on a political campaign.
23. Sit on a jury.
24. Buy only American for 1 year.
25. Have a library with wall-to-wall built-in bookcases.
26. Write and mail 1000 letters. These can include cards if I include a personal note. (Not much of a dent with 32 this year for a total of 94)
27. Be an extra in a movie.
28. Watch a play from backstage.
29. Go skiing.
30. Attend a murder mystery dinner. September 2012
31. Volunteer weekly.
32. Read all the books I own. (I’d like to have no TBR pile just once. I can give away books to reach this goal)
33. Start my own book club.
34. See all 4 tennis majors. (2 down, Wimbledon & Australian Open to go)
35. Give blood.
36. Sleep under the stars.
37. Have a hammock.
38. Fire a gun.
39. Learn to sew.
40. Do a random act of kindness every day. (a work in progress. I am trying to be more aware, but still not happening every day)
What should I mark off the list this year? Do you have a bucket list?
First, thank you to everyone who entered my mini-challenge! There were 54 participants who earned 380 points. How do I randomly choose a winner? Easy I asked our new babysitter, Nicki, for the winning number (238) and then worked down the list accordingly and found our winner… #39 Nisaba Be Praised. Congratulations on winning a #24 gift card 🙂
So, since this morning, I’ve read two books, Seduction by Brenda Joyce and A Gracious Plenty by Sheri Reynolds (which I will be raving about on the blog soon), made it through all of Team Tiger’s cheer list once, read in the hot tub, drove by myself to Longhorn (listening to The Passage by Justin Cronin) and had a late lunch (strawberry salad and a glass of white wine) while I read. When I came back home to choose a winner for my mini-challenge I realized that I NEVER think about how long it takes to tally the points (an hour) so I need to fix that next time. Once done here I’m going to start a new book and finish it before I cheer or visit. It’s time to be a little selfish with my reading.
1) How are you doing? Sleepy? Are your eyes tired? Not yet, but I can feel it coming shortly.
2) What have you finished reading? 2 books
3) What is your favorite read so far? LOVED A Gracious Plenty by Sheri Reynolds, 5 stars!
4) What about your favorite snacks? Ate at Longhorn 🙂
5) Have you found any new blogs through the readathon? If so, give them some love! Honestly, I have visited so many and will revisit more tonight or during the week, so none to call out right now.
Back to the reading portion of my day 🙂
I just finished my first book! Seduction by Brenda Joyce. It was good. I participated in 2 mini-challenges and am going to do some cheering before my own mini-challenge posts at 1. Hope you’ll come back to visit!
Yes, It’s Tuesday and I didn’t put up a quiz. This week is a little nutty. Orientation for one school was tonight, assessment for private swim lessons, meeting with the school district, and paperwork to be filled out for another school (my third set this week already)…I’m sure there’s more that’s slipping my mind right now. Some of you may ask, and rightly so, isn’t Gage only 2? Yes, yes, yes (sigh), I know. Too complicated to get into here, but he is so excited for school and I’ve been working all summer to find the best fit for him and I think we have at least half of it. Anywho, look for a new quiz next week and don’t forget to check out the answers to last week’s best paid author quiz here. I had fun seeing how you guys interpreted my one word hints 🙂
Oh yeah, and look at the booboo we got at the splash park on Saturday…never a dull moment.
(courtesy of Birdbath)
Happy 4th of July from Americans at the Louvre (2010)!
Do you remember me telling y’all that I was famous (here)? Well, I finally read the published book that made me the celebrity I am today.
When I read the first draft ten years ago I remember being impressed that such a creative story came out of the mind of a friend. Not that I was surprised, Julie is a fun and unique woman. As I read it again these past few weeks I was struck by the fact that she has also become an even better writer. The story I remember, the great writing I noticed more this time around. I guess that’s what practice will do for you 🙂
Trapped on a mysterious island, eighteen-year-old Riki finds refuge with four strangers. Isaac, the rugged EMT, insists no one else is around, but Riki cannot ignore her fear that someone is stalking her. Unless she finds a power truly great enough to overthrow Darkness, Riki will choose death over returning to captivity.
Lord Vétis, high priest of a cultic underground, will stop at nothing to reclaim the chosen one, but he must do so before her introduction to the real world ruins her royal destiny. Using black magic, he manipulates Riki and her self-assigned bodyguards, triggering a battle that consumes the entire island. The underground will never allow Riki to live out her dreams of a normal life…something she has never known.
from Goodreads
The four life-long friends are trying to vacation together on a deserted island when Riki washes ashore, close to death. As they take her in and nurse her back to health they realize how odd her behavior is and try to be on their best behavior. But one of them encounters someone else who washed ashore, someone pretending and spreading lies, and the light of the friends is the only thing protecting Riki from darkness.
I would call this book an adventure of spiritual warfare. At one point Isaac even calls himself a superhero for God. The lines are drawn between good and evil and there is a mystical element that makes the setting of a deserted island a perfect one. What happens to the friends and to Riki? They next in this new series will come out in August.
Visit Julie’s blog, Embattled Spirit, to sample her writing. Congratulations, Julie, on a dream come true 🙂
Another round of my Tuesday quizzes are done and a familiar name is back at the top – although not without a good fight! from last round’s winner. Final results here.
She has once again risen to the top of the pack and picks up a nice $42 Barnes & Noble gift card. Well earned 🙂 And Gage chose a random winner for a special gift…
#10 is Jill (Rhapsody in Books). Keep your eyes on your mailbox 🙂
Thank you all for playing along with me on Tuesdays. I have fun and hope you do too. The next round will start in July so study up!!
Oh, and just a quick brag on my kid, tonight on our walk I pointed to a stop sign and asked him what it said and he actually sounded out the word! Cute AND smart. Next up, teaching my 2 1/2 year old to read 😉
If your answer was yes you will have to come back next week. Due to the heat, my allergies, Gage’s allergies, this silly goose computer and the fact that Gage was up til 2 am puking his sad little guts out, I just cannot do it. I do have a fun one planned for next week (I still need a few more questions or I’d post it today).
Oh, I did finish Beth Hoffman’s newest yesterday and really liked it. Hope I can get the review up tomorrow.
Stacy's Books 