Tag Archives: monday rambles

 There. I finally did it. I finished my review of Gone Girl. I AM SO GLAD TO GET THAT OFF MY CHEST. You have no idea. It’ll be up tomorrow.

I had an extra long weekend. I took Friday off to celebrate me birthday (yay!) and what did I do? Tons of laundry. Seriously. Tons. I think everyone’s drawers doth runneth over. I know mine does. I had no idea hubby had like 20 pairs of jeans, and I discovered that my daughter has just about outgrown all of hers. *sigh* I think she has 3 pairs of jeans left after this purge. Oh, wait. I found more dirty clothes in my car. Wow. And also damn.

I had my birthday party Saturday, late, thanks to the lovely weather we’ve been having here in NC. My cake was lovely AND delicious. I had two pieces. And another one today. Shh…don’t tell My Fitness Pal.

See my yummy cake?

One of my favorite presents:

and then, of course, there’s this:

A complete surprise from my hubby and kiddos. And I love it. I loved my Tablet, but wow. They fixed a few things I didn’t like about the Tablet and then like, added a million new things that just, oh wow, send me over the moon. I loooooves it.

Now it just needs a cover.

So, yeah, that was my weekend. Happy birthday to me.

How was your weekend? I hope it was mahvelous!

What a weekend. I’ve been fighting a cold for what seems like 3 weeks now. It doesn’t get any better, or any worse, it’s just sitting here. Although, new symptom this morning! My ear is hurting and keeps popping! FUN STUFF!

Thanks to said cold, I staying in most of the weekend reading. It’s January 7, and I’ve almost read 4 books. If I hadn’t had a headache yesterday (thanks, cold) I would have finished The Peach Keeper. I do so love Sarah Addison Allen. Just what I needed after the madness that was GONE GIRL.

Just a couple of things:

Firstly, we’re getting the Estella Society back up and ready for the new year. PLEASE if you’d like to submit your writing, PLEASE DO IT! If you need ideas, check out these general ones to get your brain running. Purty, purty please?

Andi and I are starting to brainstorm Dewey’s Read-A-Thon this April. I am BEYOND excited. Look for the announcement of the date sometime this week! And start spreading the word! We had 485 participants last October, and we just know we can beat that this year.

 Time.

I NEED MORE OF IT.

*sigh*

Have you noticed how life speeds up this time of year? First, it’s Halloween. Then you blink and it’s Thanksgiving. Then you blink again and it’s New Years and you wonder what the heck happened to Christmas?!?!

*sigh*

Excuse me while I wallow in self-pity.

The kids had their second Christmas play of the season last night, so this weekend was again full of rushing to a fro, go to practice, come home from practice, put up the Christmas tree because TIME IS RUNNING OUT, go buy the outfit for the play your husband neglected to tell you the daughter needed, rush to the church for the performance, rush home to get baths, relax, and bed.

I’m tired.

Obviously, I didn’t read much this weekend. Friday night I read Matchless by Gregory Maguire while I was in the tub. It was sweet and sad. I listened to the Count a little bit on Saturday. AND that’s it.

I think I’ll get ready for work now, so I can get some rest!

What a weekend. So busy with Christmas play dress rehearsal, Christmas play at church, trying to get a decent picture of my two rambunctious little ones for Christmas presents and cards, Christmas, Christmas, Christmas. And ugh, we have 21 more days of this.

Bah. Humbug.

Not really. As much as I love to grumble, I love this holiday dearly. Between carting the kids from here to there, I managed to do a bit of decorating. Made a few ornaments. Worked on Christmas presents. Designed our Christmas card. Did some shopping. Cleaned up the house, did a wee bit of laundry, and got in some snuggle time.

Yes, even snuggle time can be work. Whew! I’m ready to go back to work so I can get a break!

Needless to say, I didn’t get ANY reading done. And I am SO BEHIND on The Count of Monte Cristo. I downloaded the audio book read by David Case (is he good? I’ve never listened to anything read by him.) and am officially switching over to it today. Which is going to make things difficult for Dodger by Terry Pratchett (WHICH I AM LOVING WITH MY WHOLE HEART over here.)

Shots from the week:

I drew this little guy when I started thinking I needed a new avatar. He’s a work in progress, but I’m quite pleased with him so far!

Made the girl an owl hat. Girl seemed quite pleased. Am now making boy a…penguin hat. Hold me.

Snapped this lovely scene on the way to work one morning. Thank God I have a lovely drive to work. It helps.

 Good morning!

I’m on vacation!

Neener, neener, neender!

In other news, Jill (from Fizzy Thoughts, Queen of Tribute songs) has a new song, this time about Edmund Dantes! (woot!) over at Estella. It’s…hilarious. And slightly mean at me. But it’s funny, so it’s okay. I kicked her ass at Words With Friends.

Are you reading along with us? I’m on page 250 or so and things are getting GOOD. I love me some Dantes. If you are reading, how are you liking it so far?

I’m also reading too many other things. Let’s see, I have my hand in Speaker for the Dead by Orson Scott Card. I kind of wish I had waiting until I was finished with The Count, but I took a peek at it and next thing I knew, I’d read about 50 pages. Hard to turn back from that.

I’m also reading Fairy Tales from the Brothers Grimm: A New English Version by Philip Pullman. Some of those old fairy tales are straight up twisted, yo! Gosh, they are good.

AND, yes, there is an and, we’re up to 4 books now, I’m listening to Because it is My Blood  by Gabrielle Zevin, one of my favorite under appreciated YA authors. It’s the second in her Birthright series. Chocolate is illegal. I mean, just, uh, how do you even, I don’t, UGH. I couldn’t live without chocolate. Seriously, I’d be in jail or something by now. It’s my nicotine. Anyhoosie, I loved the first book, All These Things I’ve Done (my review), and BisMYB looks to be even MORE fantastic. I’m a little over halfway through the book and am very glad that I’m going shopping today so I can listen some more. This is the only downside to vacation, no listening to CDs in the house. Well, I could, but it’s a pain in the ass.

Also, read Gabrielle Zevin people! Start with Margarettown. *sigh* Just go in publication order. She just gets better and better.

Oh yeah, and it’s read by the fantastic Ilyana Kadushin. And I appear to be over the fact that I immediately think of Bella Swan when I hear her voice. So that’s good.

I hope to post more this week, but I’m on vacation. I have lots of Christmas shopping and home improvement (read, Pinterest) projects I want to get to. So I’ll see ya when I sees ya.

Wow, what a weekend. Went on a mad shopping spree Saturday morning for a costume, followed by a Halloween party on Saturday afternoon. Came home from that, only to fall asleep around 6 O’CLOCK, and wake up at 8 O’CLOCK. Guess who was up late after that? *sigh* Then Sunday was spent laying around because of THAT crazy sleep pattern. I’m almost feeling recovered (this is Sunday night, yo) only to have to go to WORK tomorrow. UGH.

Heather is not a happy camper.

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We carved pumpkins! We have jacks, a kitty, and a…I’m not sure what, but it’s supposed to be sad.

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In other news, I started reading The Count of Monte Cristo! And it’s just as fantastic as I remember! Love Dantes! Hate Danglars! Hate Ferdinand! Hate Caderousse! LOVE DUMAS! It’s definitely not too late to join in our readalong, since we don’t officially start until November 1st. So come on, join us!

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I picked about 5 lbs of tomatoes yesterday. Out of my garden. It’s almost November. I was flabbergasted. So I made spur-of-the-moment salsa last night. Spur-of-the-moment salsa may be the best salsa. So very yum.

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So, are you watching any new TV? With Chuck over (*sobs*), Bones is getting on my nerves, and no time to watch much of anything except on the weekend, I need recommendations. I love New Girl. It’s practically the only show I make time for. I have half-heartedly watched the first two episodes of Revolution. I like the premise, what happens when all the power goes out?, but the main girl? She gets on my last. nerve. Where in the world did they get her and what made them think she could carry a show by herself? Get her some acting lessons. Stat.

I’m all caught up on Doctor Who. The Ponds! *sobs*

I started MI-5, but part of me just wants to skip to the Richard Armitage episodes. Mr. Thornton!

That is, sadly, about it. So what’s good? Give me something to watch while I’m crocheting people!

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Speaking of crochet, it’s dangerous, yo.

Have a great week!

Hi guys! I feel like I have sorely neglected my blog! Between the Readathon, getting Estella off the ground, and Real Life, I just haven’t had time to think about things over here. NOW that the Readathon is done for now (!), Estella is off to a pretty good start, and Real Life…well, can’t do much about that but hang on… I think I can refocus over here. My loyal readers know what happens around here when Heather looses her blogging mojo. I promise to try to make it subtle.

In other news, I made a list of all the books I want to review soon. It’s…not pretty. It’s actually pretty long! You may be seeing some mini-reviews soon, so I can catch up. Here is what I need to review:

• The Brides of Rollrock Island by Margo Lanagan
• Under Wildwood by Colin Meloy, read by the author
• The Prince of Mist by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
• The Good Neighbors (1-3) by Holly Black and Ted Naifeh
• Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury
• The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood, read by Joanna David
• Anna Dressed in Blood/Girl of Nightmares by  Kendare Blake
• Ida B… and Her Plans to Maximize Fun, Avoid Disaster, and (Possibly) Save the World by Katherine Hannigan
• The Return of the Soldier by Rebecca West
• The Spiderwick Chronicles by Holly Black and Tony DiTerrlizi
• The Sandman: Preludes and Nocturnes and The Doll’s House by Neil Gaiman

And that’s probably just the tip of the iceberg. See how daunting this is? Is there anything you’re particularly anxious to hear about?

In other news, I’ve been crocheting like a maniac. Trying to get a few things made for Christmas. So far I’m working on a scarf, a cowl, and a blanket. It’s nice, and relaxing, despite the stress of GETTING IT DONE. Only I know how to stress myself out while doing a hobby. lol

I have to do a post on pins soon. I have done so many! And a lot of them are organizing! So far I’ve organized my kids drawers (thank GOD), I’ve organized my scarves, and I’m planning to do my linen closet next. Now I need to find a pin on organizing my books…. *sigh* I also made some fantastic sesame noodles. I LOVE SESAME NOODLES.

I’m also planning to do pins on Halloween costumes (I’m leaning toward being a gypsy), getting a haircut, and of course more food. There is a pumpkin cake worming around in my brain as we speak.

Have a great week!!

I moved Monday rambles to this day because, well, because I can!

What a busy week, eh? BBAW was awesome this year. I found so many new bloggers, heard about so many new books…just general awesomeness all around. Kudos again, to My Friend Amy, for pulling off such a fantastic event.

Reading sort of fell to the wayside for me this week. I don’t feel like I read anything! I started The Belly of Paris by Emilie Zola, The Black Count by Tom Reiss, Partials by , and The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood (in audio). So far The Handmaid’s Tale is the only one to really STICK, even though I’m enjoying the other three. I’ve read like 7 or 8 books since the beginning of September however, so maybe my brain just needed a break.

Or maybe I’m a little overwhelmed by Other Things (see below).

Had a big week over at The Estella Society. We:

• Announced: Estella Society Co-Hosts Dewey’s Read-a-Thon!
• did some Book Blogger Appreciation Week Appreciation of our own.
• Had a Genre Cage Match: The Romance Rumble!
• Had some Thoughts on Waiting for Columbus by Thomas Trofimuk, one of my favorite books ever.
• Reviewed at the halfway point of The Little Stranger. Lots of great posts on the book linked here!
• Read It a Little Old School with Daphne du Maurier

All in all a great week! Check in next week with our wrap up of The Little Stranger, the 100 Chapter Books Readalong kickoff with The Wizard of Oz, and more. Always, always more.

I might have made me one of these: Chunky Crocheted Basket. Well, almost finished it. I have to get a bit more yarn… I’ll post a picture when I finish.

I’m almost finished with my big granny afghan as well. I’m on the last two squares, then I just have to join and give it a border. I can’t wait!

Again, will post a picture when I’m finished. Maybe next Sunday?

That’s all for me today. Have to go get the kiddos ready for church. Have a happy Sunday everyone!