I Just Finished a Great Book!

I know that you can check on my Book Page to see what I've read however I just finished a really great book and wanted to tell you all about it.  Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Book Store by Robin Sloan.

It's Time For Me To Get Back To Blogging

I know it has been a while since I blogged and I tried returning a few months back.  Well I'm very determined to make a successful go this time! Plus Murran is making me do it (yikes)

2014 Book Challenges

Prior to last year I didn't know about online book challenges.  All in all I think I faired pretty well.  While I didn't complete or reach all of my goals I most definitely read genres and authors I wouldn't have considered if not for those challenges.   I am going to repeat some of the same challenges as last year and taking on some brave new ones....

Welcoming 2014 with a Blog Hop

Happy 2014~~ I thought we'd start the year off with something I haven't done before.  A blog hop!!

A Year in Review: Chicks, Movies, Books and More

I recently listened to 's third installment of the Bridget Jones' series, Mad About The Boy, which I highly recommend. I always loved how Bridget started and ended her day with tallies so I thought I'd follow her format and review 2013 similarly

May 2013 Book Challenge Update

I was disappointed with the number of books I read this month however when I realized the 5 books contained over 2,100 pages I was actually a bit proud.

April and March's Update 2013 Book Challenge

     Here it is almost two weeks into May so I thought it would be time to post my April (and March) Book Challenge updates.  As you'll see I've been quite the book reading beaver.

2013 Book Challenge Update January

         Here it is my first 2013 Book Challenge Update.  considering I only joined these last week I think I did OK.  What about you, how'd you do?  Which Challenge did you decide to participate in? Well here's how I finished up January with my 5 Challenges.

Are You Up To Joining Me On a Challenge?

     Come on you know you want to join me!  You have an entire year to do it.  It will be fun and possibly enlightening.  So what is this challenge?  Why a book challenge.  In fact I am going a couple of them ~ see which fits your fancy.

I just love Libraries

     It is no great secret how much I love books so it isn't surprising that I love Libraries. Growing up our town's library was a weekly stop.  I never realized how incredibly fortunate I was with our library.  It wasn't until I moved away that I discovered very quickly how not every library was as friendly and welcoming as the one back home.
     It is very possible that I may have been spoiled by my home library and the incredible staff there.  I realize that over the years the role a library has played in communities has changed.  No longer are students pouring over encyclopedia's for research material.  There's no need to run to the library for the next book in a series when they can be so easily purchased on-line.  With the introduction of eBay in the mid 90's we were able to buy boxes of books for pennies on the dollar and then resell them when our kids out-grew them (OK I'm really bad at the reselling part).  Now with so many people turning to e-readers and buying digital versions of books I wonder how many families will never even visit a library? That thought makes me sad for them.
         I loved walking into the library and being greeted by name.  I knew that if I couldn't find the answer to something Mr. Marve at the research desk was always able to help and if he couldn't find the answer immediately I'd hear from him as soon as he did.  Looking back I can easily see that it was in the children's department that I discovered what an important part books were in my life:  reading the Beatrix Potter books in their green covers; loving the picture books even when I was "too old"; discovering Louisa May Alcott.   They had such an impact on my life that my first nursery was decorated in Beatrix Potter's characters, Meg's name is from Little Women, and I believe the summer I spent working the Children's Reading Program was the stepping stone to teaching preschool.
     I recently discovered that I could join Alachua County's Library for free (unlike Duval which would charge for non-residential use).  I can't tell you how impressed I am with their system.  Now I love my libraries here in Clay County however they could really learn some things from their neighbor.  I've been to three different branches and each time I checked out the librarian noticed I was a new member then asked if I had any questions, would I like a tour and did I see their activity board?  Obviously someone in management believes that customer service is of the utmost importance.  More than once I saw Librarians walking around simply engaging people in the stacks.
One thing I absolutely love is their website.  On it you have the option to keep a reading history of everything you've checked out.  You can also create "lists".  For someone like me who can barely remember what I ate for lunch yesterday I love that I can go in and create lists for my favorite authors and keep track of books I read even if I didn't check them out of their library!
     Without a doubt I can tell you I'd be lost without a library.  At least once a week I'm there using the computers to kill time between appointments.  I don't think there's a library today without a video department where you can usually find the classics right next to the latest release.  For fun I thought I'd try and figure out how much I would have spent on all the books I've "heard" just this year along and let's just say it is well into 4 digits.
     I understand that with today's budget cuts that libraries everywhere are getting hit hard.  However I believe if communities would view their libraries as their heart and soul and use it to that effort not only can their usage increase but their importance would as well.  It is fun seeing kids heading to the library with their arms full of creations for the monthly Lego club meeting.  I wish that instead of cutting hours, as our county has had to do, we find clubs and organizations that can use the facility for meetings in the morning or evening so hours could be extended.  Once a community realizes the true importance of their library they'd never allow services to be cut.
    It is my desire that everyone who calls themselves a reader is an active member of their local library.  I also hope everyone is as lucky as I was to have a great library in their neighborhood.

Shout outs to the great librarians of my past:

Mr. Marve~Mrs. Johns~Mrs. Clark~Ms. Miskowski

   

So what have you been up to?

 .      This summer as I mentioned earlier this week, truly seemed to fly by.  It wasn't that I had a whirlwind of a summer or even went on a long vacation.  But I'm guessing now that the kids are older summers truly aren't what they used to be.   I think we figured that everyone was home for maybe 3 weeks of "Official Summer". We did wind up having one childless week as all three volunteered as counselors at a camp. And I must say it was quite nice not having to write a check for camp this year ~ woo hoo.
     Reflecting back I can't really say I even accomplished or completed anything major this summer and you know what I am perfectly OK with that.  I believe this new laid back attitude of mine is helping in my recovery as I have had less stressed-out/migraine episodes. So yeah.
    While doing "nothing" I did however seem to devour books.  I still am having trouble on the reading side so all of my books were audio versions.  I think I completely read all that my library system offered on two different authors.  I really am running out of option though so if you have anyone you particularly like that writes suspense or historical fiction please let me know.  I have added a page to my pinterest board just for my audio books. Though now that I've looked at it there are a bunch missing... guess what I'm doing once this is posted.
     One thing hubby and I did get into this summer was COCKTAILS. How is it that I didn't know such a thing as watermelon or strawberry vodka existed?  (head shake ~ I know how sad).  Well I made up for lost time.  We were buying a bottle every other (OK sometimes every) weekend.  With hundreds of recipes on the Internet how else was I going to do diligent research to share with you???  After trying a few (dozen) I finally decided to get creative for two reasons.

1. It gets expensive going out and buying all the different juices and vodkas
2. We started Weight Watchers

By the end of July our weekend cocktails started to follow this format:
2 2 liter bottles of club soda
1/2  flavored bottle of vodka (approx 1 1/2 cup or 12 oz)
fresh fruit
2 pks crystal light type mix.

PEOPLE do you know the combinations you can come up with??? I found that Wal-Mart has many more choices than Crystal Light does.  We did some serious experimenting.  Once favorite was Strawberry Vodka, fresh strawberries and banana muddled, walmart's strawberry banana drink mix.  Here's the best part~ the pitcher usually lasted the weekend.  Hubby and I shared so figured we each drank half (just go with it).  As far as WW goes half the pitcher would wind up being about 15 points.....less than 1/3 I was allotted for the entire weekend.   Here are some we tried :Lady Bren cocktails

     There were a number of exciting moments of  course but I think I'll share those one at a time.

So tell me any great cocktails you'd like to share :)