Oh, how I want to write!
I'm constantly reading books... both good and bad... Adult books, children's books... and I can't help, but to think "Hey, I could do this!"
Book signing session with an author last night reminded me how much I would love to be that person. Didn't appreciate the fact that she made fun of my "I geek libraries" tshirt. (A marketing campaign that our local library has adopted this past year.)
Love stopping by the local bookstore!!! Tonight, a local author had her book signing there. The line was long... all the way to the door when I arrived. (A great turn-out, for sure!) Again, I would LOVE to see a poster hanging on the door or in the storefront window advertising MY WORK.
If only I would actually.... well, follow through with my DREAM!
Mike recently saw something on Pinterest, he reports. It said to write a short story every single day because chances are, at least ONE of the 365 has got to be good. (I think that is encouragement.)
I keep telling myself that SOMEDAY I want to do it; I just keep putting SOMEDAY OFF.
Friday, June 27, 2014
Sunday, February 9, 2014
Winter blues... BLAH!
Had a bit of the Winter Blues yesterday. Wanted desperately to book a vacation to someplace warm. Had enough shoveling this season. (Mike was nice enough to point out that I have done ALMOST ALL of the shoveling this season!)
Felt down. Felt as if we NEVER GO ANYWHERE. (Mike reminds me that we spent a weekend in the Dells... and I just went to my parent's house for the weekend.) Part of me just misses GOING PLACES. You know, like NEW ADVENTURES. Felt depressed about the near-constant reminders that WE DON'T HAVE MONEY.
Felt anxious about the thought of my little boy going to kindergarten in the fall. Anxiety-filled because a small part of me fears that we will get all of our ducks in a row, only to discover that we'll be uprooted before it happens. (You know, like the time I convinced Mike to upgrade our license plates from WI to MN, only for him to get transferred a short time later. We've always teased that we'll get our house the way we want it, only to move... we put a new roof on and installed many new windows last year.)
Discouraged by the checkbook. Wanting to do auto bill payments next time around... as my brain struggles with spending money while earning NOTHING. Plus, I am NOT a numbers girl; that hurts my poor brain! (Seriously, it is expensive almost every time I leave the house! Gas, groceries, cat supplies... I was relieved when I sent Mike & Silas to the store and he realized HOW QUICKLY things add up! Tell me about it... I feel badly every time I shop!)
I miss opening the windows. I miss the sounds of the birds singing. I miss the smell of grass. I miss picnics. (Silas keeps BEGGING to have a picnic; we've eaten on the picnic blanket a few times recently.) I miss being outside with the boys!
That settles it... I'm going to go light my Yankee GRASS-scented candle while I go read a book!
Felt down. Felt as if we NEVER GO ANYWHERE. (Mike reminds me that we spent a weekend in the Dells... and I just went to my parent's house for the weekend.) Part of me just misses GOING PLACES. You know, like NEW ADVENTURES. Felt depressed about the near-constant reminders that WE DON'T HAVE MONEY.
Felt anxious about the thought of my little boy going to kindergarten in the fall. Anxiety-filled because a small part of me fears that we will get all of our ducks in a row, only to discover that we'll be uprooted before it happens. (You know, like the time I convinced Mike to upgrade our license plates from WI to MN, only for him to get transferred a short time later. We've always teased that we'll get our house the way we want it, only to move... we put a new roof on and installed many new windows last year.)
Discouraged by the checkbook. Wanting to do auto bill payments next time around... as my brain struggles with spending money while earning NOTHING. Plus, I am NOT a numbers girl; that hurts my poor brain! (Seriously, it is expensive almost every time I leave the house! Gas, groceries, cat supplies... I was relieved when I sent Mike & Silas to the store and he realized HOW QUICKLY things add up! Tell me about it... I feel badly every time I shop!)
I miss opening the windows. I miss the sounds of the birds singing. I miss the smell of grass. I miss picnics. (Silas keeps BEGGING to have a picnic; we've eaten on the picnic blanket a few times recently.) I miss being outside with the boys!
That settles it... I'm going to go light my Yankee GRASS-scented candle while I go read a book!
Monday, February 3, 2014
TWENTY-fourteen Completed Reading List
JANUARY 2014
None completed. :(
FEBRUARY 2014
1. The Round House 2.3.14 Noon Book Club - January selection
2. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (#1) 2.16.14 Noon Book Club - February selection
MARCH 2014
APRIL 2014
6. The Supreme's at Earle's All-U-Can-Eat 4.7.14 Chow Bella Foodie Book Club - April selection
7. How to be a Woman 4.25.14 Noon Book Club - April selection
8. SMILE (graphic novel) 4.27.14
9. Forty beads 4.27.14
JUNE 2014
10. Fly A Little Higher: How God Answered a Mom's Small Prayer in a Big Way (The Story of Zach Sobiech) 06.08.14
11. All Gone 06.13.14. Chow Bella June selection
12. Little Mercies (advanced reader copy) 06.22.14
13. Mother, Daughter, Me 06.27.14
JULY 2014
17. Infidel 08.17.14 Noon book club August selection
All Fall Down - Jennifer Weiner, started; did not finish.
SEPTEMBER 2014
18. What Alice Forgot Library Book Club - September selection 09.06.14
OCTOBER 2014
19. The Hundred-Foot Journey 10.4.14
September Noon Book Club selection (Oct 4)
Chow Bella October selection (Oct 9).
20. The Rosie Project 10.23.14
NOVEMBER 2014
None completed. :(
FEBRUARY 2014
1. The Round House 2.3.14 Noon Book Club - January selection
2. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (#1) 2.16.14 Noon Book Club - February selection
MARCH 2014
3. The Weight of Silence 3.2.14
4. Drama 3.13.14 Library Graphic Book Club - April selection
(** This was my FIRST graphic novel EVER. Heard about the library's graphic novel book club while attending the bi-monthly library adult book club. Read the whole book in less than one hour; thinking I might be able to get hubby to attend a book club like that!)
5. Stumbling on Happiness 03.27.14 Noon Book Club - March selection
4. Drama 3.13.14 Library Graphic Book Club - April selection
(** This was my FIRST graphic novel EVER. Heard about the library's graphic novel book club while attending the bi-monthly library adult book club. Read the whole book in less than one hour; thinking I might be able to get hubby to attend a book club like that!)
5. Stumbling on Happiness 03.27.14 Noon Book Club - March selection
APRIL 2014
6. The Supreme's at Earle's All-U-Can-Eat 4.7.14 Chow Bella Foodie Book Club - April selection
7. How to be a Woman 4.25.14 Noon Book Club - April selection
9. Forty beads 4.27.14
JUNE 2014
10. Fly A Little Higher: How God Answered a Mom's Small Prayer in a Big Way (The Story of Zach Sobiech) 06.08.14
11. All Gone 06.13.14. Chow Bella June selection
12. Little Mercies (advanced reader copy) 06.22.14
13. Mother, Daughter, Me 06.27.14
JULY 2014
14. The End of Your Life Book Club 07.04.14 Library Book Club - July selection
15. Crossing to Safety 07.26.14 Noon book club July
AUGUST 2014
16. An Abundance of Katherines 08.07.14AUGUST 2014
17. Infidel 08.17.14 Noon book club August selection
All Fall Down - Jennifer Weiner, started; did not finish.
SEPTEMBER 2014
18. What Alice Forgot Library Book Club - September selection 09.06.14
OCTOBER 2014
19. The Hundred-Foot Journey 10.4.14
September Noon Book Club selection (Oct 4)
Chow Bella October selection (Oct 9).
20. The Rosie Project 10.23.14
NOVEMBER 2014
21. Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake Library Book Club - November selection
The Call of the Farm: An Unexpected Year of Getting Dirty, Home Cooking and Finding Myself Chow Bella December selection
DECEMBER 2014
List titles here.
Tuesday, January 7, 2014
Sunday, January 5, 2014
Day Book Prompts_2014 JAN 05
Outside my window... Darkness. Near-cloudless sky. City lights. A frigid raw temperature of EIGHT BELOW with temps expecting to drop to NINETEEN BELOW by morning and a "feels like temperature" of –56°F.
I am thinking... that I've got to get back to tackle my office mess; it feels SO GOOD to have organized all three closets so far this year.
I am thankful for... schools to have been called off already for Monday morning; it will be MUCH TOO COLD for school. The HIGH for tomorrow is TEN BELOW.
From the kitchen... we made a roast in the crockpot, as well as a Sweet Onion Spoon Bread recipe that I love.
I am wearing... white anklet socks; black, polartec pajama pants; a long & lean, red tank; the red, cashmere turtleneck sweater that has been MISSING since we moved here in February 2009; a red, polartec zip-front sweatshirt and glasses.
I am creating... GIANT PILES for Goodwill. On my bedroom floor: 1 winter jacket, 2 dresses, 11 pair of shoes, 19 bottoms and 71 tops!
I am going... to continue my quest for clean and organized living (and HOPE to keep it that way once I figure these messes out!) Want to have a home for everything and put everything in its place.
I am reading... Mrs. Lincoln's Dress Maker and hating it; The Snow Child - having JUST started reading it; audio book of The Round House AND Life After Life, which feels like a S - L - O - W start.
I am hoping... that the library will come through with a printed copy of the audio The Round House OR the audio for The Snow Child. I like to listen to them while I clean the kitchen at night and enjoy reading paper copies during the day.
I am hearing... the furnace kick a few short minutes after it kicks off. It's going to be a long, cold night. Perfect for snuggling. Hoping the power doesn't go out (again) like it did earlier in the week.
Around the house... we're taking our Christmas decorations down. The mini tree is left in the living room, but shouldn't take too long to come down tomorrow. We'll hopefully be done tracking faux pine needles all over the house soon!
One of my favorite things... quiet time at night. A cup of hot, chai tea in the morning. Snuggling with both boys together in the recliner in the morning.
A few plans for the rest of the week... Arranging an impromptu DATE NIGHT to celebrate the anniversary of first meeting each other. {Feeling SO LUCKY for being in the right place at the right time!}
I am thinking... that I've got to get back to tackle my office mess; it feels SO GOOD to have organized all three closets so far this year.
I am thankful for... schools to have been called off already for Monday morning; it will be MUCH TOO COLD for school. The HIGH for tomorrow is TEN BELOW.
From the kitchen... we made a roast in the crockpot, as well as a Sweet Onion Spoon Bread recipe that I love.
I am wearing... white anklet socks; black, polartec pajama pants; a long & lean, red tank; the red, cashmere turtleneck sweater that has been MISSING since we moved here in February 2009; a red, polartec zip-front sweatshirt and glasses.
I am creating... GIANT PILES for Goodwill. On my bedroom floor: 1 winter jacket, 2 dresses, 11 pair of shoes, 19 bottoms and 71 tops!
I am going... to continue my quest for clean and organized living (and HOPE to keep it that way once I figure these messes out!) Want to have a home for everything and put everything in its place.
I am reading... Mrs. Lincoln's Dress Maker and hating it; The Snow Child - having JUST started reading it; audio book of The Round House AND Life After Life, which feels like a S - L - O - W start.
I am hoping... that the library will come through with a printed copy of the audio The Round House OR the audio for The Snow Child. I like to listen to them while I clean the kitchen at night and enjoy reading paper copies during the day.
I am hearing... the furnace kick a few short minutes after it kicks off. It's going to be a long, cold night. Perfect for snuggling. Hoping the power doesn't go out (again) like it did earlier in the week.
Around the house... we're taking our Christmas decorations down. The mini tree is left in the living room, but shouldn't take too long to come down tomorrow. We'll hopefully be done tracking faux pine needles all over the house soon!
One of my favorite things... quiet time at night. A cup of hot, chai tea in the morning. Snuggling with both boys together in the recliner in the morning.
A few plans for the rest of the week... Arranging an impromptu DATE NIGHT to celebrate the anniversary of first meeting each other. {Feeling SO LUCKY for being in the right place at the right time!}
Wednesday, January 1, 2014
Reading List 2014
At the top of this post, I will keep track of books that I have read in 2014. Below, I will keep a running list of books that I (someday) hope to read.
BOOK CLUB READS 2014:
Lunch
The Snow Child
Library
The Chaperone
The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry
Little Wolves
The End of Your Life Book Club
What Alice Forgot
Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake
HER
Mrs. Lincoln's Dressmaker
BOOKS I WANT TO READ:
Parenting with Love and Logic
Happier at Home - Gretchen Rubin
The Reason for God - Timothy Keller
Stumbling on Happiness - Daniel Todd Gilbert
Eat, Pray, Love - Elizabeth Gilbert
The Anti-Romantic Child - Priscilla Gilman
HEARD ABOUT THEM IN THE NEWSPAPER/INTERNET... some of them "classics":
Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
In Cold Blood - Truman Capote
Anna Karenina - Tolstoy
any title by author Kurt Vonnegut
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn - Betty Smith
The Instructions - Adam Levin
Orlando - Virginia Woolf
The Education of Henry Adams - Henry Adams
Pride & Prejudice, Emma - Jane Austen
Huckleberry Finn - Mark Twain
The Yellow Birds: A Novel - Kevin Powers
MAYBE CONSIDER...
Killing Jesus - Bill O'Reilly
Lincoln's Last Days - Bill O'Reilley/Dwight Zimmerman
Killing Lincoln - Bill O'Reilley/Martin Dugard
A Thousand Splendid Suns
The Glass Castle
The Book Thief
The Kite Runner
Harry Potter books
Twilight series
Sarah Palin
Spoken from the Heart - Laura Bush
Me talk pretty one day
Water for Elephants
To Kill a Mockingbird
Mockinbird: A Portrait of Harper Lee
The Faraway Nearby - Rebecca Solnit
A Field Guide for Getting List - Rebecca Solnit
RECOMMENDED BY OTHERS
Elin Hildebrand (any title)
Jodi Piccoult - Plain Truth OR Between the Lines
The Unfinished Work of Elizabeth D - Nichole Bernier
Brooklyn - Colm Toibin
Hector and the Search for Happiness - Francois Lelord
Louise Penny
Macy Dobbs
Penelope Lively
"The Round House"
In the Garden of Beasts
Devil in the White City
When She Woke
BOOKS I WANT TO READ MY KIDS
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - done
Toys Go Out #1 by Emily Jenkins
Toy Dance Party #2 by Emily Jenkins
Toys Come Home #3 by Emily Jenkins
BOOKS I WANT TO READ MY KIDS
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - done
Toys Go Out #1 by Emily Jenkins
Toy Dance Party #2 by Emily Jenkins
Toys Come Home #3 by Emily Jenkins
Monday, November 4, 2013
There are TWO of us now
Sigh.
Just saw that my own dirty socks, bra and underwear were left laying on the floor.
Hours earlier, they rested nearby my husband's dirty shirt, pants, socks and underwear. While I applaud his effort to pick up his dirty laundry, placing it into the hamper, a part of me is disappointed that he didn't pick mine up as well.
I'm in a near-constant state of picking up clothes (and toys... and dishes... and garbage... and recyclables, etc.)
When I pour drinks for meals, I pour for everyone, but myself (first) – making sure that there is enough. (I'm secretly sad for all of the times when my husband will pour a glass for himself and leave my glass empty or when he forgets to get glasses out for our kids; his response is normally "What?!?! Sorry, I'm hungry!")
I'm secretly sad when I see that my husband has cleared HIS place from the table, leaving mine there.
I'm secretly sad when I hear him going into the freezer to scoop a bowl of ice cream, but rarely considers getting one for me.
• • •
I'm very thankful for all of the times that he cooks for me/us. My heart melts when I hear him announce "Go tell Mommy that breakfast is ready!"
I'm thankful for his little surprises... like when he bought me a Reeces peanut butter pumpkin or a pack of Dr. Peppers (shortly after I had declared that I was craving them).
I'm thankful for the times when he takes my car and brings it back to me... washed and full of gas.
• • •
Instead of scolding me "You should be in bed!", I would someday like to hear "It was really sweet of you to stay up so that you could say HI to me and hear about my day. THANK YOU!"
I AM SO LUCKY TO HAVE HIM IN MY LIFE!!!
Just saw that my own dirty socks, bra and underwear were left laying on the floor.
Hours earlier, they rested nearby my husband's dirty shirt, pants, socks and underwear. While I applaud his effort to pick up his dirty laundry, placing it into the hamper, a part of me is disappointed that he didn't pick mine up as well.
I'm in a near-constant state of picking up clothes (and toys... and dishes... and garbage... and recyclables, etc.)
When I pour drinks for meals, I pour for everyone, but myself (first) – making sure that there is enough. (I'm secretly sad for all of the times when my husband will pour a glass for himself and leave my glass empty or when he forgets to get glasses out for our kids; his response is normally "What?!?! Sorry, I'm hungry!")
I'm secretly sad when I see that my husband has cleared HIS place from the table, leaving mine there.
I'm secretly sad when I hear him going into the freezer to scoop a bowl of ice cream, but rarely considers getting one for me.
• • •
I'm very thankful for all of the times that he cooks for me/us. My heart melts when I hear him announce "Go tell Mommy that breakfast is ready!"
I'm thankful for his little surprises... like when he bought me a Reeces peanut butter pumpkin or a pack of Dr. Peppers (shortly after I had declared that I was craving them).
I'm thankful for the times when he takes my car and brings it back to me... washed and full of gas.
• • •
Instead of scolding me "You should be in bed!", I would someday like to hear "It was really sweet of you to stay up so that you could say HI to me and hear about my day. THANK YOU!"
I AM SO LUCKY TO HAVE HIM IN MY LIFE!!!
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