Exceedingly Mundane

I finished another library book today, “Beyond Tuesday Morning” by Karen Kingsbury. This brings my count so far this year to 18, with a total of 6,614 pages read.

This book was a sequel to a book I read a few weeks ago, “One Tuesday Morning”, which is a Christian-based fictionalized account of the events leading up to, during and after 9/11. The characters were continued in the second book, and I actually enjoyed this one more than the original. It was a little more believable, although it was still stretching the plot a bit. They’re very good books though, and remind us of so many of the more important things in life.

Up next is a book by a new-to-me author, Penelope J. Stokes. Gail read her book “The Blue Bottle Club” and really enjoyed it and recommended it to me. I couldn’t find that particular one on my last trip to the library, so I got another by Stokes, called “Circle of Grace”. I don’t think I’ll get much reading done this weekend, so it may be early next week before I get a chance to read much of it. I hope it’s a good one also! 🙂

Friday, April 14, 2006
Feast Eighty-Nine

Appetizer
What movie soundtracks do you own? Not big on the soundtrack portion, although we own over 100 movies on DVD. I would have to go look to double check, but the only one I can think of is the soundtrack to “Titanic” 😳

Soup
How much cash do you usually carry with you? Not much, about 30 or 40 dollars usually.

Salad
Are you more comfortable around men or women? Why? I’m more comfortable around men. I got used to being around all men when I worked in the techie and engineering fields for so long. Men are just easier to be around, they like sports and gadgets and don’t gossip much.

Main Course
What is the most mischievous thing you remember doing as a child? I can’t think of a thing. Surprise, surprise!

Dessert
Who is the funniest member of your family? Tim, definitely. He’s always making me laugh. Still, I tell him to keep his day job and not try to be the next Jeff Foxworthy. 🙂

I’ve been trying to catch up on my to-do list today. I tend to procrastinate on so many things! Today, I have:

Whew, feels good to get caught up again!

::”I am the King of Wishful Thinking”::

Onesome: I am– When you state “I am”, what do you state that you are? Hmmm, me? I don’t get it, I must still be asleep. I am me, am I supposed to be something or someone else? 🙂 I’m just me, plain, simple, and exceedingly mundane!

Twosome: the King– Are you the king (or queen) of something? The remote? The household? Or is there something else you master? I am the queen of the household, for sure. My domain. I take care of everything inside the house, and I quite enjoy my job. Very low stress. I’m also the queen of all-picture-taking. Tim doesn’t take pictures unless I shove my camera in his hand and beg and plead, and then sometimes I still don’t get photos with me in them. (P.S. For the record, Tim is king of the remote. I’m only allowed to touch it if he leaves the house :mrgreen:)

Threesome: of Wishful Thinking– What have you been wishful for lately? That a fairy would appear overnight and all of the spring and summer flowers and flower beds would be planted and done and ready, without me having to lift a finger!

Woo-hoo, one of my many loves, besides reading, TV, the computer, etc… I love to cook, I love kitchen appliances and gadgets, love grocery shopping, LOVE collecting cookbooks. Yippee! 😀

You Are an Excellent Cook

You’re a top cook, but you weren’t born that way. It’s taken a lot of practice, a lot of experimenting, and a lot of learning. It’s likely that you have what it takes to be a top chef, should you have the desire…

I stayed up late last night and finished my latest book, “The DaVinci Code” by Dan Brown. I can honestly say that this is the best book I have read so far this year, and I’ve read some good books, some that I have really enjoyed. This book, however, was very gripping, a real page-turner. I can definitely see how it’s going to be a great movie. Lots of action and thrilling cat and mouse moves. It has the “darker” side to it, the conspiracy theories that it tries to espouse, along with some parts of the “cult” that are not very seemly, but those are not major issues for me. I can read over those and not be affected. I’m not going to let this book, or any other piece of fiction, change what I believe in my heart, and so I was able to take that line of writing with a grain of salt. Having done that, I thoroughly, and I mean thoroughly, enjoyed this book! A definite must-read. It was so hard to put it down and go do something else, or even go to sleep at night!

OK, that makes #17 on the year, with a total of 6,314 pages read. Up next is the sequel to “One Tuesday Morning” by Karen Kingsbury, called “Beyond Tuesday Morning”. After that, I’m reading a book by a new-to-me author named Penelope J. Stokes. Also, I picked up another book at the library yesterday. I had my name on the waiting list for the 3rd book in the Redemption series by Karen Kingsbury. There were 2 people ahead of me and I’ve been waiting several weeks. The library called to tell me it was in, and my turn, so I picked it up yesterday. It’s called “Return” and I’ll be reading that one after the other two. Whew – my favorite saying still applies: “So many books, so little time!” 🙂

I played hooky yesterday for a change! I went to lunch with my friends Julie and Wendy, and Wendy’s son Nathan. We had a great time visiting, and catching up (and eating!). It was sooo good to see them, we need to do that more often. We went to Logans and although I tried to take a couple of pictures with my new cameraphone, most of them didn’t come out. Funny lighting in there. I did get one cute picture of Nathan (he needed a little help cleaning up, after eating all of his squash!):

After lunch, I went to Target and then out to Kohl’s. I picked up a couple of new shirts for spring, a new purse (actually two, I have to decide which one to keep and which to take back), and some flip flops. I am intending to spend my whole summer in either tennis shoes or flip flops. None of those cutesy girlie shoes for me! Just kidding. Anyway, it was nice to leave all the chores and housework at home for a day and play hooky. Tim was working in one of the flower beds when I got home, so I went walking by myself. It’s such beautiful spring weather, and I am really enjoying being outside.

I swiped this from Dawn’s blog last week… thanks, Dawn!

What brand do you usually buy/use??

Feel free to swipe this and play along in your own blog, or here in the comments section. 🙂

While surfing around and following links, I ran across a meme I had not seen before. Looks like fun, so I think I’ll play along! 😀

1. When eating pancakes or waffles, do you put your syrup on top of the pancakes/waffles or on the side and why? I put mine on top, and I like to layer them. A coating of syrup on the top of each pancake, along with a pat of butter, then the next in the same fashion. I’m OCD that way.

2. Do you cut your sandwiches on the diagonal, straight up the middle or not at all? I dislike sandwiches and don’t eat them often. I think that comes from 12 years of brown-bagging it at school. If I make and eat sandwiches now, I rarely, if ever, cut them at all.

3. Do you tuck your top bedsheet in with hospital corners or do you like it on the looser side? OH MY GOODNESS. Here’s where one of my most notable eccentricities comes out. I like my sheets tight. You know, snug as a bug, kind of tight. It drives Tim nuts. He likes his side loose, so he can get some air circulating or stick his arms and feet out. I like mine tucked in. They don’t necessarily have to be hospital corners, but my side of the bed has to be tucked in, and fairly tight. I’m not sure where or how I obtained that little weirdness, but I definitely have it!

The following questions were offered by one of our fellow participants who wishes to remain anonymous. After you’ve answered the first question, proceed to the set of questions below it, depending on if your answer was YES or NO. Thanks so much for playing! =)

Do you like to shop? Not Really

IF YES, answer the following:

1. What is your favorite store? Why?
2. Do you only shop when there is something you specifically need or want or do you sometimes go shopping just for “something to do?”
3. Do you prefer shopping online or in stores?
4. Do you have a shopping buddy or are you perfectly content going alone?

IF NO, answer the following:

1. Even though you don’t like to shop, where do you find yourself shopping most often? Mostly the necessities – grocery shopping, Walmart, Target and Sam’s are my common stops. Occasionally I will go to Kohl’s (a few times a year) for clothes, or to Marshalls or TJ Maxx to browse. I also occasionally go to Bed, Bath and Beyond or Linen’s and Things to look around. I love bookstores, but don’t go often…. it’s too hard to resist not spending a lot of money on books and coffee! I avoid the mall like the plague 😀

2. Do you try to send someone else to shop for you? if so, who and why that person? No, no one to send. I’m it 😀

3. Do you think shopping online is as annoying as shopping in stores? No, I love shopping, and especially browsing, online. No crowds, no rude sales clerks, no parking and traffic issues. What’s not to like about shopping from the comfort of your own home, in your PJ’s?! 🙂

4. Does anyone close to you encourage to go shopping with her (or him)? if so, do you feel tortured and go or just say no? I go with Gail sometimes, when she drives down here to shop or do stuff. It’s a nice change to actually have someone to go with, and Gail and I are very alike in our tastes, so we like the same stores and most of the same stuff.

We had a busy weekend, with a really full, but fun, day on Saturday. We did some stuff around here, most notably, Tim fixed the tiller that has been broken since last summer. He also cut the grass (well, the weeds, we have tons more weeds than grass) and got things cleaned up outside.

We left to go run some errands in the late afternoon, then we headed out to Trustmark Park for the M-Braves game Saturday night. I lobbied to go over to Bass Pro Shop to eat at their new restaurant (Islamadora Fish Company), but Tim wanted the “whole ballpark experience”, so we ate at the game. Hot Dogs, Chili Cheese Fries and a drink.

It was chilly when we got there, and it got colder all night. The wind was blowing constantly out of the north at 10-15mph. After the first couple of innings, I was a block of ice. I ended up borrowing an extra blanket from the very nice family sitting next to us. In addition, we had two groups of coaches/scouts or some kind of organizational people sitting in front of us, and to my right. We had GREAT seats, right behind home plate, and apparently that’s where the guys keeping stats (on Palm Pilots as well as paper), running the pitching radar guns and the big wigs sat. I saw one guy come back with hot chocolate and I asked him which concession stand he found that at (since we hadn’t found any yet, they have different concessions selling different items). He said, “I made it in the clubhouse, would you like me to go get you one?” And I was like, “Oh no, but thank you. I just wondered where you got it”. A couple of innings later, he came and brought me 2 hot chocolates from the clubhouse, which I thought was so nice of him. I think these were the guys from the other team (Huntsville Stars), but he was so thoughtful. I kept one for me and Tim and shared the other with the lady who had loaned me a blanket. Like I told the guy, he made our whole row happy! 🙂

Anyway, we had great seats, and a great time. Those games are so much fun! There’s a lot going on, including a great mascot (Reggie), and fun stuff at every half inning. This was only the third home game and they had lost the first two games, and they didn’t start out well. But, then they had a big rally in the bottom of the 5th inning, and we were clapping, yelling and screaming, and waving our red tomahawks they gave us when we walked in (free from Cellular South). It was a blast! We left a little early (top of the 8th inning, had to stay for the 7th inning stretch!), and it was still 5-2. We went to the new Starbucks near the stadium in Pearl, and got drinks since we were both so cold. Grande dark roast for Tim, and Tall NonFat Decaf Vanilla Latte for me. Mmmm, good. Tim and I had a great time and hope to go back a bunch more this season.

Since this was one of the first home games, they were giving out big magnets with the entire schedule on them, so I got one and put it on the fridge. We know when all the home games are now, so everyone come and go to a game with us! They’re fun 🙂

Here’s Tim at the game, holding his tomahawk… more pictures on the extended page:

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We had a busy day on Saturday and a big and eventful time at the M-Braves game Saturday night. I’ll try to catch up later today or tomorrow on all of that.

In the mean time, we’re out of here! Tim and I are driving over to his parents. Our niece Brittany is being baptized today and we’re going. Back later, not sure when.

P.S. We plan to either watch or tape the movie on TV tonight based on a Robert Ludlum book. Tim is a huge Ludlum fan, and the movie is “Covert One”. Check it out!

I love flowers blooming in the spring. Even more than that, I love having flowers I didn’t expect to come back and bloom again. I planted some snapdragons last fall in one of my flower beds. Most of them looked pretty ragged when I pulled them up in the winter, but two of them looked half alive, so instead of throwing them in the trash, I stuck them in an old flower pot behind my fence. Didn’t plant them, didn’t water them, didn’t fertilize them. I just made a hole with my hand in an old pot with old dirt, stuck them in, and covered their roots.

This spring, they have come back and bloomed beautifully. Here’s a collage of some of the pictures I have taken… making them smaller to fit in one collage really takes away from how pretty they are. So, I’m including a couple of pictures on the extended page. Even then, the pictures don’t do them justice! The colors are just so vibrant and gorgeous – pink and yellow – so springy!

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I finished my last book from the library last night, “Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons” by Lorna Landvik. That makes #16 for the year, with a total of 5,825 pages read. I need to post a review for it on Hambones.org. Actually, I need to post several book and movie reviews. I seem to really be procrastinating on those! 🙂

This was a good book and I enjoyed it, although I know of several people who would not enjoy it. It covers a book club, a group of 5 women living on the same street in Minnesota, who get together to read books, eat, drink and gossip, and in the process, form a friendship that spans 4 decades. It follows their lives, their marriages and relationships, their children, and draws on the times. The sixties cover sex, drugs and the Vietnam conflict. Some of the 70’s, as well. There’s drug use, out-of-wedlock and interracical babies, spousal abuse, gay relationships and other issues current with the times. It was a good book, and I love to see characters developed and how their life unfolds. I’d probably give it a 7 out of 10.

Next up, I am trying to start “The DaVinci Code” by Dan Brown. I think I’m about the last person on the planet to read this book. I am going to approach it as a piece of fiction, not some assault against facts that I know as a Christian. I wanted to read it before the movie came out, and I saw a preview recently, so I think the movie comes out this summer. I need to get a move on! Also up is a trip back to the library. I’ll post more when I get more books lined up to read next. 🙂

Friday, April 07, 2006
Feast Eighty-Eight

Appetizer
Name a trait you share with your parents or your children. I think I inherited lots of things, good and bad, from my parents. I am a good manager of money, thanks to my dad’s teaching. They were very frugal people, and I believe I am too. “Waste not, want not” was drilled into me. I am afraid I also inherited my mom’s propensity to worry and stress about things. I’m a terrible worrier.

Soup
List 3 qualities of a good leader, in your opinion. A good leader should have honor, integrity and a good sense of morals, of right and wrong, and the strength to stand up for what is right.

Salad
Who is your favorite television chef? I’m currently on a Giada streak. I used to like Rachael Ray, but she is so overexposed now that she almost bugs me. I like watching Paula Deen also, she’s a hoot!

Main Course
Share a story about a gift you received from someone you love. A couple of years after Tim and I were married, he gave me a vacuum cleaner for Christmas. I never thought I had married the kind of guy to give me tools or appliances for gifts, especially in the first couple years of our married life. I wanted flowers, candy, jewelry, thoughtful gifts, not household appliances. He has a couple of great photos of the look on my face when I opened it. He finally had to open the clear canister on the front and show me where there was another box with a silver bracelet. Which didn’t fit, by the way, and I had to return. I have tiny wrists and it just fell right off my hand. It was sweet though, and I’ve finally gotten over my appliance-gift phobia. One of my favorite things he has gotten me recently (last year) was a set of Calphalon pots and pans! I love those things, and use them every day! 🙂

Dessert
How do you react under pressure? Not well. I don’t handle stress and pressure well. Thankfully, Tim does, so I rely on him.