the flu sucks

If you're thinking about getting the stomach flu, might I advise against it. What a very nasty two days I just had. I haven't been that sick (with the flu) in years. Let's just say it wasn't the best way to lose 5 lbs.

Back to work today. I'm functioning at about 90%. Hopefully the day will be easy...

Harris, Charlaine - Definitely Dead

Book 6 was one of my favorites so far. Sookie travels to New Orleans to settle her cousin's estate. She meets new characters and has a wonderful new mystery to solve.
One thing I've enjoyed about each of the books is that the title appears somewhere inside it. In this book, one of the character's sees another (dead) character and says, "Yep, he's definitely dead." Very funny. Or at least it was at the time.
rj

Harris, Charlaine - Dead as a Doornail

I liked book 5 as well.
Same reason as all of the others. Light-hearted, fun, and a little romance and mystery thrown in too.
rj

Harris, Charlaine - Dead to the World

Book 4 is now done too.
And into book 5 now.
The story just continues one after the other. A few weeks between them. A bit of mystery in each one. A bit of romance. A bit of scare. And happy endings too.
Very quick, relaxing reads.
rj

Harris, Charlaine - Club Dead

And because it was a cold weekend, I also finished book three of the series. In this book, Sookie is off to rescue Vampire Bill from the bad vampires of Jackson, MI. She hooks up with a hot werewolf to help her cover story, gets to know Vampire Eric (who wants her bad) a bit better and even gets to meet the King Vampire of Mississippi. A wonderful light-hearted story.
rj

Harris, Charlaine - Dead in Dallas

Book two of the series was just as light and fluffy as book one. A perfectly distracting read. Sookie is quite a crazy woman consorting with vampires and werewolves and shapeshifters as though it was an every day thing. Well, for her it is...
rj

Funke, Cornelia - The Theif Lord

I loved this story. I saw the movie several years ago, so parts of it were "known" to me, but I had forgotten enough of the movie to make the story fresh.
This would be a great story to read out loud to a child...
rj

more books than bookshelves...

Little piles here and there of my books have slowly been taking over my condo. And I've known for a while that I need more bookshelves (or to *GASP* give up some of my books)...but I didn't want to go out and buy just any old shelf. Dad made the four I have, so I wanted him to make the new ones too. I just kept forgetting to ask. Sigh. In fact, he's made most of my lovely wood furniture -- coffee table, end tables, night stand, t.v. trays and bookshelves.

And now he is going to make me two more bookshelves. How lovely. I already know where I will put them and how I will reorganize my books to make it all work best.

Here's the picture I sent dad this morning of one of the ones he's already made...and I diligently took the measurements last night too, so the new ones will blend right in. Of course, you can tell by the shelf that even the books on the shelves need a little, um, reorganizing.

Harris, Charlaine - Dead Until Dark

My friend Karen loaned me this book. It's a light-hearted vampire series. A very quick read. I finished it in two nights. It is a romance/mystery...human woman and vampire man. I was enjoying the humor/romance of the story so much that I wasn't even paying attention to the mystery, so I didn't even figure out who the murder was until he got caught. That doesn't happen very often to me.
Karen has the next 5 in the series and has finished them...so I will probably begin reading them this weekend.

the birthday weekend

My birthday was on Sunday. I had a lovely weekend mixed with both fun activity and time at home to read and nap with cats.
I played miniature golf at the Mall of America with friends and then got to have dinner with other friends and play games. And my sister Holly made grilled cheese sandwiches (a favorite) for my birthday. And I read. And I napped. And did laundry. And grew ever so slightly older.

Flynn, Vince - The Third Option

I'm still not entirely sure why I finished this book. Maybe it's because I feel a bit of a connection to Mitch. I like him. And I wanted him to get his revenge. The fact that we knew the end of the book almost from the beginning kind of sucked, but still...I went on and finished it.
Now I take a break from the Flynn books and move on to other adventures.
rj

The goals go on

I'm down 3 lbs since January 1.

I've been reading my bible every day...and staying on the timeline.

I've been saving money by making better choices. Using those little mini-shampoos finally.

Other than that, it's been cold here. So, I've been staying inside and reading. I watched the first four hours of 24. I haven't seen the show since season 3, so lots of things are different and I know I've missed many plot threads. However, Jack is Jack, so it was easy to catch back up.

Evanovich, Janet - Plum Spooky

A lovely "between-the-numbers" book. This one was a little longer then most of those, and it actually seemed to have a story too it. So not just a fluffy check-in with our favorite characters.
Diesel pops in to help Stephanie find her skip as he (Diesel) is looking for the mastermind who's taken Munch (the skip) under his wing.
Several laugh-out-loud moments. Truly enjoyable.
rj

Flynn, Vince - Transfer of Power

I finished Transfer of Power this weekend. This is the book where we are introduced to Mitch Rapp. I liked the story and will probably continue with the series. Though I must confess that I will probably put it aside and read some other books first. It did get a little slow for me at times...I didn't really like that there wasn't any mystery. I knew from the beginning how it was going to end. But, I did bond with the characters, so it will be worth it to watch them grow in future books.
rj

When Timeouts Go Bad

I got this picture last week from Morgan and couldn't bear to just throw it away...

Boy misbehaves.

Boy goes on Timeout...

Boy uses markers on bedroom wall.

Boy misbehaves.

Boy goes on Timeout...

Boy uses marker on self.

Boy misbehaves....

teeheehee...

The Year of Using

This is the year when I will use things. I will use them up, wear them out, re-purpose them, finish them, and get rid of them to de-clutter my life.
I plan to work on the crafts that I own rather than buy new crafts to do.
I plan to read the books that I own that I haven't read rather than buy new books.
I plan to eat the food I have before stock-piling more.
Use the mini-shampoos. Use the good paper napkins rather than buy more cheap paper ones. Read the pile of magazines and then give them away. Etc.

Other new things:

• I restarted Weight Watchers yesterday now that the medications have stabilized.
• I started to re-read the bible on January 1 using one of those bible-in-a-year plans.
• On vacation next month, I will go through all of 2007 and 2008 papers that I haven't sorted out yet...file what needs to be kept and get rid of the rest.
• I will start saving money. A little each paycheck.

At the end of 2009, I want to be in a better, different place from where I am now. That's going to take work. A little each day will add up.

rj

Funke, Cornelia - Inkdeath

I finished the third book in this triology yesterday afternoon. It was a long book and took me four days to read (what with other bits of life scattered in).
I enjoyed the story as well. I would have ended it differently. But the ending was still a happy one.
I wonder what it would be like to climb into one of my favorite books and become a character inside the ongoing story. Hmm...
rj

Flynn, Vince - Term Limits

I didn't really care for this first book. But I finished it. Part of the problem is that the bad guys somehow become the good guys by the end of the book...and there really aren't any likable characters to root for except for the FBI agent in charge of the investigation...which he doesn't get to solve.
I will read Flynn's second book though. In Transfer of Power, he introduces Mitch Rapp, who becomes a series character. So, book two will help me determine if I go on reading more of Flynn or stop there.
rj