Books, Thoughts And A Few Adventures...

Once Upon ATime...

2012-01-29T11:26:00.001-08:00

Today is a day with no sports?

Wow...

We are catching up on Once Upon A Time...actually we haven't watched any of it and we are sitting...kind of stunned..in the family room...watching one episode after another...but it's really good.

And we feel like doing nothing...nada...not a thing.

I am reading Pure by Julianna Baggott...weird but dystopianly good.

I love staying home on a Sunday...well...that is after breakfast out at Shoo Ma Ma's...don't you love that name? And a fast trip to Target for supplies and an even quicker zip into the grocery store for a few staples including blueberries and bananas and olives...I didn't have a list...so I grabbed...oh...
and three kinds hummus.

How does your Sunday roll?

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

I Love Lucy Or Why I Fold Laundry In The Family Room...

2012-01-28T11:12:00.001-08:00

Ah...well...er...

Lucy loves hot laundry...fresh from the dryer...when she hears the beep beep beep of the dryer...

well...she sort of looks at me in anticipation.

I am putty in her paws...

I race to the dryer.

I pull out the laundry.

I place it just so...
in this spot...
if it is the way she wants it she will make a tidy little nest and take a nice little kitty nap. If it is too bumpy...I will try again...it has to be just so.

Lucy likes things right in her world.

We have her trained...LOL.

Notice the naked Christmas tree in the back ground?
Two weeks and counting...it is truly amazing how we don't notice it...seriously.

Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Rainy Days And Fun Days!!!

2012-01-27T10:30:00.001-08:00

I try to allow myself to let Friday be a free day...no errands, no commitments, no complicated dinner.

It's a time to reconnect, chill, catch up on DVR'd tv and talk about the weekend.

January is such a weird month...and in spite of being on top of everything...our deornamented Christmas tree is still in the middle of the family room!!!

The sad thing is we don't even notice it!!!

Part of the problem is that my hero wants to take it outside on a Monday night...just before trash day.

And we have not remembered for the past two Mondays.

Seriously...ornaments and all signs of Christmas are neatly put away...everything is in order except for a tree in the middle of my living room!!!

Should I laugh or cry?

This day has the makings of a yummy reading day...so I am off to find a cozy nook to read in...

Happy Friday!!!

Oh...just got this book...loving it!!!

It's by bloggers!!!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

My Hero!!! I Have A Hero!!!

2012-01-25T18:38:00.001-08:00

I love love love my iPad2...but yesterday I did not like it at all. Suddenly it stopped allowing me to send emails from my AOL account.

I spent hours with 4 different technicians...all very capable...I am sure.

I deleted and added AOL...twice.

We reset my iPad2...twice.

I waited while each tech talked to another tech...about a million times.

One tech even talked to AOL.

I made new passwords because they wanted me to.

I established a gmail account because they wanted to test to see if it was the software or AOL.

I continued to get the same annoying message whenever I tried to send an email.

I had a massive headache.

I ate lunch at four.

I gave up...threw in the towel...tried to adjust to my shattered world and a foreign email address.

Then my husband said...and I will never forget these words...I really think they meant more to me than his marriage proposal...anyway...he said...

Let me look at your settings...I almost can't breathe right now...

He clicked something and...I could send emails again!!!

Shouting...

I have email sending capability again!!!

All is right in my world...so far.

And here is the best part...he can't remember what he did to fix it!!!

So if it happens again...I shudder...I tremble...I can't even think about it!!!

But for now...he is my hero!!!

And I now have two email addresses which means more places to check mail?

Not sure if that is good or bad but...

Question of the day...who is your hero today?

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

As If We Need More Books...Part Two...

2012-01-25T12:28:00.000-08:00

I have got to stop blogging on my iPad...but at least I've discovered why
my posts disappear and then resurface...

There is a fine line on my iPad...literally a line...and if you accidentally touch it...it sort of changes the post you are working on to a past post and turns it into a draft and to get it back on it has to be republished...

Whew!!!

I hope you stopped reading that halfway through...it doesn't even make sense to me...

But it is so much easier to blog from my iPad sometimes...other than that fine line I have to learn how not to touch. There also is a Blogger app for iPad that is forever changing...but that's the case with regular Blogger, too...if I had a clue as to how to do it...I should change to Wordpress...but, alas, I fear the vast unknown...

Don't touch that line!!!

That's for me.

More amazing titles hit me in the face this week end...authors must never never ever ever take a break from writing!!! Don't they need a break?

This is described as...

"A sophisticated page-turner about a wealthy New York family embroiled in a financial scandal with cataclysmic consequences.". OMG!!!

Ranches, two women trying to get along, a returning prodigal son, resentment, broken relationships...and more...much much more. It's that prodigal son thing that is going to make this one delightful!!! And probably steamy?

This one is described as an "utterly riveting modern gothic on marriage and belonging". I adore gothic, utterly and modern!!!

Now for this one... The setting is wine country...the premise is two women claiming to be the mother of the same two children? Wow!!! To make it even more yummy the women have suffered an "unspeakable loss".

The description of this one says...
"Poignant, funny, and heartbreaking, A Good American is a novel about being an outsider-in your country, in your hometown, and sometimes even in your own family. It is a universal story about our search for home." Double wow!!!

Secrets, lies, boarding school setting...an intense drama...be still my heart!!!

Vampires...rock stars...and an extremely intense vampire/human relationship!!!
Yum!!! I still do love a good vamp/human drama!!!

My little list of tasks is done for the day...slow cooker split pea soup is simmering away...I know...I am not sure about split peas...I got distracted reading about all the legumes at the Whole Foods dry bean bar and these looked so pretty...
the verdict is still out on them...
Needs something...doesn't it?

I Love Being Edumacated...

2012-01-24T13:41:00.000-08:00

Hey, Patty:

Just read your review of Edumacation on Goodreads and breathed a huge sigh of relief afterward. Someone likes me, someone really likes me! Well, you like my book, which is 500% better (approximately). I've been seeing a small load of anti-sarcasm sentiments of late, and I feel like I'm bound to become the reluctant figurehead. Unfortunately, I forgot to develop my "thick skin" before becoming a writer. Perhaps I should moisturize more often...or grow a beard?

Anyway, I appreciate you taking the time to read my little book. You rock.

Cheers!

Jay Clark

Can I love stuff like this?

I love stuff like this.

I loved this book...it had all the stuff I love in books...school setting, an out of the box teacher and Jay Baker...the boy who had much to say.

So much to say.

Here is a quickie summary from Amazon.

Meet Jay Baker . . . or, as he is not-so-affectionately called by his opponent in the freshman-class presidential election--no comment.

A few random bullet points about Jay:

He is stupidly in love with his best friend, cheerleading dynamo Cameo "Appearance" Parnell.
He is also trying to score (points) with earthbound tennis-playing goddess Caroline Richardson.
He is fighting a losing battle with Irritable Bowel Syndrome.
He rocks a touché array of pop-culture references, jokes, and puns.
His family life cookie is about to crumble.

Root for Jay as he exchanges ego-blows with his mortal enemy, gets awkward around his dream girl(s), loses his marbles in a Bermudian love triangle, watches his parents' relationship implode, and, finally, learns to keep it real and be himself(ish).

I am offering the book for a giveaway.

Or rather Jay is...

Thank you, Jay!!!

The book releases on Jan. 31st.

I will edumacate you about this giveaway.

Leave a comment...say hi...nothing major.

Contest runs for a week...

ends next Tuesday.

Book will be sent to you by Jay on release day.

As If We Need More Books!!!

2012-01-23T08:45:00.001-08:00

These books caught my attention this week...

Take a look at this one...disappearing mother...turbulent childhood for her daughter...and Maine...even lobsters...sounds like a must read!!!

And this one...described as a sort of gripping tale of a marriage that is falling apart and a wife who will do anything to prevent it from happening...

Yo!!! This kind of dysfunction has my name on it!!!

This one is another family story...it too has been described as gripping and intense...

Oh boy!!! I love gripping!!!

I love intense!!!

I love triple exclamation points!!!

Doesn't it convey my excitement?

Wait...I am excited over dysfunction? Well...kind of but only in books...not my own...

LOL?

I finally finished reading this...really good...review is on Goodreads...

I started this on Saturday and due to its INTENSITY...
I just finished it now...whew...a fast paced quest kind of book that I normally don't read but did read and did love...lots of bad guys and good guys trying to find something called "anatomicgold" or white ash...which can ultimately alter the history of civilization...

I have no clue what I will be reading next...I think I need something mellow...
like this...

What are you reading today?

The Disappearing Hot Chocolate Post or Way Too Much Technology!!!

2012-01-22T18:36:00.003-08:00

I have to apologize...I was trying to edit my Sunday post but instead...

I "disappeared" it...that is what happens when I try to do it from both my laptop and my iPAD...Blogger on iPAD can be a little bit wonky...but thanks to a friend I was able to restore it...I was trying to divide it into two posts...which I am doing now...and actually just did...

Sigh...

I know I am truly boring you right now...

Sorry...

But the hot chocolate was so good it's worth a post on its own...so here it is...

A faint yet yummy chocolate memory...

We are/were sipping on mugs of really delicious hot chocolate.

It is not too sweet but sort of just right. We made it from a glob of chocolate on a stick. Mine was salted caramel. My husband's was hazelnut.

We topped them with hand made marshmallows from Whole Foods.

They were yummy.

But now they are done...finished...emptied.

Sigh.

We made them from these.

They sort of resemble a chocolate spoon.

Sigh...

We only bought two and the store is far far away in the next town...

Enough said...

This post is done!!!

Snow Day!!!

2012-01-21T10:53:00.001-08:00

It snowed last night...

while we were sleeping.

Not a ton of snow but just the right amount. Everything was white and sparkly this morning when we looked outside...

Saturday's list includes...

a pot roast in the slow cooker

playing catch up with last week's DVR'd tv shows

reading

Words With Friends tournaments

Cupcakes!!!

Naps

Did I say cupcakes?

One chocolate...one vanilla...with buttercream icing...

Sigh...

I wish we would have had the presence of mine to buy four.

Sigh...

Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

The Longest Time I Have Ever Spent Reading A Book...And Two Recipes!!!

2012-01-20T06:22:00.001-08:00

Ok...here is the thing...about "Believing The Lie"...

it's not as though this book is 1Q84...

but...it is complicated...lots and lots of dysfunctional British characters...and lots of words that you have to google...

example...Zimmer Frame? It's a walker...who knew?

But again...it's so good that none of that matters.

I think it's taking me so long to read it because I am reading it with more intensity?

And with this kind of intensity I need breaks...refreshing blog reading breaks...

With that said...

Lasagna Soup? Oh my goodness!!!

This came from a blog called Mel's Kitchen Cafe...here is the link...

http://www.melskitchencafe.com/2011/11/lasagna-soup.html

I am making it this weekend...I love this blog...amazing recipes and I always

want to call it Mel's Diner...

But it's not...

And on the same blog...

this recipe...

It's called Robert Redford Dessert.

Here is that link...

http://www.melskitchencafe.com/2012/01/robert-redford-dessert-my-way.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+melskitchencafe%2FNvNP+%28Mel%27s+Kitchen+Cafe%29

My mom used to make something like this almost every Sunday...I think it is a really old dessert!!!

Thank you, Mel!!!

Happy Friday!!!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Tea And A Toasted Scone?

2012-01-19T14:14:00.001-08:00

This book is good. Seriously good.

Filled with flawed characters. Tons of them.

Total family dysfunction.

At its best.

It's over 600 pages long and I have been glued to every word.

Other than to make tea and eat a biscuit.

I am always influenced by what I read...sometimes in odd ways.

I am in the middle of this book and I have no clue what happened to Ian...there are so many possibilities. I suspect everyone.

Sigh...

Sometimes there is nothing in the world as comfy and as mesmerizing as a really good British mystery. Elizabeth George is a master of this kind of mystery.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

I Should Have Known It Wouldn't Work...

2012-01-17T11:15:00.000-08:00

Lucy knew...

I admit defeat.

I am incapable of reading more than one book at a time.

I am even incapable of leaving books in separate rooms.

I tried.

But before I went to bed...the scattered bookmarked books were back in a tidy stack...

to be read when I finish Elizabeth George's new book...

which is the perfect book for me on this cold wet icy rainy day.

I am obviously not as freewheeling and flexible as I perceived myself to be at this time yesterday.

So sad...

Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Trying Something New For Me!!!

2012-01-16T13:28:00.000-08:00

I am strictly a one book at a time reader.

I take my time...I choose my book...I read it...I write about it ASAP...and I close the door and move on to the next one on my Kindle or shelf or table or iPad.

There is always a next one to be started right away.

That's the way I roll.

But this is my week to experiment with my reading style.

I will attempt to read three books at a time!!!

I am going to put each book in a different room.

I will stroll leisurely into those rooms and read whatever is there.

I will not move the books from their assigned rooms until each book is finished.

The only book that is free to roam is the book that is on my iPad.

Actually...my Kindle gets a rest this week...a well deserved rest.

Here are the room assignments...

This is the sunroom book...it matches the big yellow flowered sofa there.

When not in use it will rest on the white wicker coffee table. Started yesterday...bookmark in place.

This is the family room book. It will sit nicely on my red painted bench that is the coffee table there.

Started and stopped and started again.

This is the iPad book...it gets to move all around this week.

This is the one I am really into...I love her work...

Sigh...

I can't wait to find out the results of my experiment a week from today!!!

Brady? Tebow Rules In This House!!!

2012-01-14T15:55:00.001-08:00

Lucy and Den decked out in Bronco orange!!!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

It's Date Night...

2012-01-13T12:03:00.000-08:00

Tonight is date night!!!
In our house it means getting just a bit dressed up and going off to our neighborhood gem...
Sovano Bistro.
We love this place.
It is always crowded.
The chef is amazing.
The martinis are icy and cold.
We usually know what we will have before we even get there.
It's a relaxing time for us to talk and connect.
That is what we will do.
We will share a starter... tonight it will be calimari...
made with deep fried lemons and chili peppers and an amazing aoli.
Yum.
That is as far as I am thinking.
Often I have a starter for dinner.
I would kill for Sovano Bistro's pommes frites.
They come in a metal cone that has white parchment paper on the inside.
But Dennis won't let me have that for dinner.
Hmmm.
There is still time to think about it.

Books!!!

I finished reading Val McDermid's The Retribution...excellent.
I also just finished Ellen Potter's The Humming Room...really different and really lovely.
The Retribution was complex and hefty...but I loved it.
The Humming Room short and sweet...but I loved it, too.

I just started reading this book...from a small Indie press.
YA...a wealthy hidden family...
their future lies with the abilities of an estranged daughter.
Loving it.

Football!!!

Tomorrow is GAME DAY for this house.
My husband is from Colorado.
He is...how shall I put this...
extremely excited for this game.
He loves this team.
He has passion for this team.
Lucy and I might be in another part of the house while the game is on.
He is incapable of watching it without major histrionics.
He will be all over the place.
Sigh.
We cannot have people over nor can we watch the game anywhere but safely in our house tomorrow night.
Too stressful.
Too distracting.
I don't get it.
Do you know anyone who has this kind of over the top extreme passion for a sport?

Do You Like Good Music? Do You Like To Dance?

2012-01-12T15:24:00.000-08:00

Now that I do not work full time any more...I have time to explore ( or obsess over ) a lot of things...

So...

a random song on my husband's iPOD that woke him up in the morning on Monday turned out to be Billy Idol's "Flesh For Fantasy".

Then the next morning "Rebel Yell" woke us up.

Then the morning after that it was "Eyes Without A Face".

Now I am looking for Billy Idol concerts and downloading some of his songs on my iPOD.

I've watched YouTube videos of him, read about his life, and learned about why he took the name Idol...ultimately he is this week's passion...

My husband hums Flesh For Fantasy while he shaves and I even saw him dance down the hall to "Rebel Yell".

This is Billy Idol in his prime.

Note the sultry sneer.
OMG...

This is Billy Idol now...not so sneery...

still cute...still the bad boy.

Sigh...

Ok...now it's time to tell all...

who was your fave musician when you were in high school or college?

I can't wait to hear all about it.

I Say I Want Some Resolutions...

2012-01-11T16:01:00.000-08:00

Mine are simple and hopefully fulfillable.

Use the word erudite soon...preferably correctly. I read a review that WriteMeg wrote where she used erudite in an easy flowing manner. I am forever in awe of her now.

Wear my new white Feel The Peace amazingly lovely long sleeved stirrup hands tee somewhere...I have an intense fear of spots on clothes. I carry Tide sticks everywhere.

Wear the right shoes to the right event...without blistering my entire foot.

Make pasta from scratch...maybe.

Decide what I want for dinner without changing my mind three times...and needing the odd ingredient...truffle oil...that can only be found at the grocery store near my husband's office.

Stop preordering books for my Kindle...
they really do come in...they have to be paid for and like clockwork they all come in on the same day.

That's enough for me...I am a one day at a time kind of person...so the above list is a biggie for me.

Happy Wednesday!

Is anybody watching The Bachelor?
Heaven on Monday nights.

Drama...dysfunction...even a blogger...but she didn't get a rose this week!!!

Yesterday Was Lots Of Fun!!!

2012-01-10T15:08:00.000-08:00

Apparently lots of people like the idea that I elaborated on profusely in my post yesterday...
Ok...it freaks me out to even say this...but...
and I know it won't last...
but...
I had about a billion comments...really funny clever ones.
I was in comment love.
I think I hounded down and thanked every single person.
But here is what I don't get.
If I respond to your comments in my comments...do you ever see it?
I should have asked that one a long time ago.
Some people can respond to comments on their blog right under the comment that a person makes but I don't think Blogger has that option...

This blogging business is tricky stuff.

Not only do I try to comment in my blog but I then track down the person who commented and thank them personally.
Whew...
What am I doing wrong?

The result of yesterday is that I am playing "Words" with 4 more people and I am commenting on 6 more blogs!!!

I must be doing something right?

I am reading Val McDermid's new book...it is so good I can't see straight.
I think that some of her books were a PBS series...the one with Tony Hill and Carol Jordan...detective and psychologist.
This one involves a seriously evil serial killer...sometimes there is nothing better than an English mystery and hers are fabulous.

Hear Me Out?

2012-01-09T12:34:00.000-08:00

I need every blogger and writer out there in the world to just slow down and stop writing and blogging and posting.

I need to catch up!!!

I can't unless everyone stops writing.

Forget your deadlines and posts and go out to play...

Go to lunch with a friend.

Go get a coffee.

Go shopping with your mom.

Take a nap.

Daydream!!!

Doodle!!!

Please?

You can start again in one month from today.

Does anyone out there feel the way I do?

And thank you Alec Baldwin for my newest big distraction.

Words With Friends!!!

I can only read one book at a time and yet I have 7 different games going and I think I am being whooped by everyone out there.

Is it my fault I attract only vowels or a Q without a U?

Happy Monday!!!

I have so many books to read...

I just put myself on a reading schedule.

I have stopped talking to my husband unless it is necessary.

I just bought those glasses that have lights in them...really ugly but I can read at night without bright lights on...that part is cool...

Again...Happy Monday!!!

Mine...All Mine!!!

2012-01-09T04:51:00.001-08:00

I have yearned, threatened, pouted, ranted and cried over these shoes. Silly me... But now they are mine...and on sale at endless shoes!!! The fit is amazing...the sole is perfection...they are comfy and cute...

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

We Almost Have A Mailbox Again...

2012-01-07T15:31:00.000-08:00

We are so close to actually getting back to normal mail delivery.

I have stressed all week over mail.

Our mailbox was killed right after Christmas.

RIP...

pretty cedar post with finial and lovely white mailbox. You served us well for the short time you were with us.

It was destroyed along with our 25 mph street sign.

So sad.

This was the fourth time.

Our mailbox has been batted, hit, ripped off and now plumb run over.

We don't have good luck with our mailboxes.

Lucy and I watched while Dennis dug a hole...removed shards of cedar post,

poured in cement,

only made one extra trip to the hardware store,

and then finally put in the post .

After much sighing and groaning.

Oh...

and one "Patty, could you just get me a drink of water...I think I am going to faint".

I guess actually digging as opposed to watching someone dig...

is harder work.

I have been waiting for our mail lady every day so that she won't have to jump out of her truck and bring me down the mail.

When I am not there she brings it down to me anyway...people are so sweet and kind and nice.

So...tomorrow...we will have a bright shiny new mailbox. This time white on white.

It's kind of fun to change it out all the time.

We never get tired of our mailbox.

Because it could be gone tomorrow.

Hopefully you are having a lovely Saturday!!!

This is dinner tonight...

We Should Really Just Be Reading...

2012-01-05T09:41:00.001-08:00

There are so many amazing wonderful beautiful books out there. So many favorite and new authors to explore. How can all of this lovely reading be managed?

It's easy.

I have come up with the perfect solution.

I used to do it with my second graders every single day at different times.

Drop everything you are doing and read!!!

Oh my.

With my second graders...the lively ones...it meant a mad dash to the shelves...until I took a minute off of their recess for the time that they spent fiddling and looking for a book.

Slowly they learned to keep their library books close by.

And they would actually look through our shelves and choose a book in the morning.

First mostly picture books.

Then books that I read to them.

And eventually chapter books.

And pretty soon everyone in my class became a book lover.

That was my gift to my students.

Now it's my gift to me.

I am dropping everything to read.

I can't stand not to.

Here are some new ones from NetGalley.

Shouldn't we all drop everything and just read?

Please Don't Ask Me To Do This...

2012-01-04T12:15:00.000-08:00

Not this little guy but probably his brother/sister was in our basement last night.

I have been telling my husband that the noises he has been hearing are his imagination.

Yep.

Not.

We almost took Lucy to the vet because she refused to go downstairs to the basement to her litter box.

She would go down a few steps and stop and listen...

she was freaking me out.

I thought she was ill.

She would race to the basement and scream.

We have been giving her calming sprays.

Turns out she was perceptive.

As was Dennis.

We have moved her litter box to the laundry room and barricaded the basement door.

Dennis has been putting peanut butter in a cute little trap that just catches the little varmint.

We had no clue what it was.

Our thoughts ranged from massive rodent to deer to fox.

We should have known better.

We have had a squirrel in our house in almost every state we have lived in.

When we lived in St. Louis a flying squirrel was in the pocket of my robe.

I found that out when I tried to put on my robe.

They are protected and we had to have wildlife agents in to save him.
We have no clue how they get in but the one we found last night did not want to leave.
He was calm and quiet and full of organic peanut butter.
Lucy refused to look at him...or rather she took one look and raced back upstairs.
Dennis wants me to go into the basement to see if he came back in again.
Wasn't there a movie about squirrels jumping on people's heads and attacking them?
I couldn't work out this morning because of that issue.
He can check the basement when he comes home this evening.
Lucy and I are staying upstairs in the squirrel free zone.

Just finished reading this...ooh it was great fun...different and lots of excitement.

Isn't this a great time of year to cozy up with a great book?

Help!!!

2012-01-04T06:45:00.001-08:00

This was in our basement last night!!!

Why? Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Books I Can't Wait To Read...

2012-01-02T14:45:00.000-08:00

I have to read these soon...they sound delicious, don't they?

OMG...the 1950's...a mystery, found bones, a mysterious drifter and a young girl with an agoraphobic mother...what else is there?

This is a quirky novel...high school new girl and a mysterious loner she has to sit next to.

This has my name written all over it.

A mystery with "shocking secrets" and "dark and distressing matters".

Need I say more?

A murder on the Fair Isles...Detective Jimmy Perez...cold calculating crime...OMG...

does it get any better than this one?

This is why I love to read...I can be on a plane or waiting in line or on a drive trip to somewhere and these are at my fingertips!!!

What are you just itching to get your hands on soon?