A Book Meme

Of course I invite anyone interested to do this and post on their blog...

1. Hardback or trade paperback or mass market paperback? Whatever I can get my hands on, although if I start a series as one kind, I’ll want all the following books to be the same. For instance, I have all the Harry Potter books in hardback.

2. Amazon or brick and mortar? I love browsing at a brick & mortar, but I do have a 8-page Wish List at Amazon.com. I tend to buy more on line, but will spend more time in a real book store.

3. Amazon or the Co-Op Bookstore? I’d have to say Amazon.com since I prefer new books, but I would have no problem browsing at a co-op.

4. Barnes & Noble or Borders? Doesn’t matter – B&N is closer, though.

5. Bookmark or dog ear? Bookmark!

6. Harry Potter or Lemony Snicket? Harry Potter

7. Stop reading when tired or at chapter breaks? Chapter breaks if possible.

8. “It was a dark and stormy night” or “Once upon a time”? “It was a dark and stormy night…”

9. Buy or Borrow? Buy, because I tend to forget to return borrowed books.

10. New or used? New!

11. Buying choice: book reviews, recommendation, or browse? All three. One of the functions I like from Amazon.com is the “Other readers who bought this book also bought…” It’s turned me on to some new authors I might not otherwise have tried. I also enjoy the Employee Suggestions at B&N.

12. Tidy ending or cliffhanger? I don’t mind a good, satisfying cliffhanger.

13. Morning, afternoon or nighttime reading? Whenever I have a chance, although my favorite is out on the deck on a summer day.

14. Stand alone or series? I read both, although if I read a series I have to read them in order from start to finish.

15. Favorite series? The Ballantyne series or The Courtney series from Wilbur Smith. Both are sweeping multi-generational sagas about Africa. They are very engaging, informative and fun.

16. Favorite book of which nobody else has heard? This is a hard one, but I will go with the trilogy, “His Dark Materials” by Philip Pullman.

17. Favorite books read last year? “The Kite Runner” by Khaled Hosseini or “The Shadow of the Wind” by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

18. Favorite books of all time? Way too hard, as this will change by day, how I’m feeling, who is asking the question, etc. Right now I am recommending Amy Tan’s “Saving Fish From Drowning.”

19. Favorite genre of books? I love historical fiction (Wilbur Smith, Edward Rutherfurd). I also enjoy off-beat fiction/humor by Christopher Moore and Tom Robbins. My escapist reads are series by Sue Grafton and Janet Evanovich.

20. Favorite classic author? Tennessee Williams

21. Favorite modern author? Wilbur Smith

22. Favorite children’s author? Laura Ingalls Wilder – I have my mom’s hardbacks of the entire “Little House on the Prairie” series and have read these book many, many times. My second favorite would be Anna Sewell who wrote “Black Beauty.” I could recite the first four or five chapters verbatim.

23. Favorite local author? Minnesota has a ton to choose from – F. Scott Fitzgerald, Laura Ingalls Wilder, Garrison Keillor, Charles Schultz, Sinclair Lewis, Tami Hoag, etc. My current favorite, although not born here, currently resides in Minneapolis, is Neil Gaiman.

24. Keep or recycle books you’ve read? Must. Keep. All. Books. Period. This is why I have a 7+ foot bookshelf in our den, three 4 foot bookshelves in the office (one shelf is double stacked), 2 small bookshelves in the kitchen (1 is overflowing with cookbooks), 1 bookshelf in the master bedroom (packed) and books scattered in both guest rooms. In fact, the one guest room only has books to be read (currently at 50+).

25. Do you read one book at a time or multiple books? I have a book for upstairs that I read before bed (currently “Marley & Me”) and a downstairs book for reading out on the deck (currently “The Once and Future King”).

26. Favorite reading spot? On the deck, although curled up on the couch on a rainy day with a blanket and the fireplace on isn’t half bad, either.

27. Do you stop reading a boring/bad book or continue to the bitter end? For the most part I will finish the book, although I have finally allowed myself permission to give up and try again if it’s just not grabbing me. The only book I have tried to read multiple times and just can’t get through is “Little Women.”

28. Any big reading plans for the summer? I have about 50 unread books, and I’m really looking forward to several of them, including “Eat, Pray, Love” by Elizabeth Gilbert and “A Thousand Splendid Suns” by Khaled Hosseini. And, of course, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.”

29. Are there any books or authors that everyone raves about but you just don’t get the hype? I’d have to say the Alexander McCall Smith/No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series. I read the first two, but just couldn’t do any more.

30. Fiction or non-fiction? I’ll read either, depending on my mood.

I Could Get Used To This

This is the first of back-to-back 3-day weekends for me. Of course, this is Memorial Day weekend and next weekend I have Friday - Sunday off since I need to take Don to the airport for his trip to Cleveland.

We didn't have great weather this weekend - only Sunday was perfect. Saturday and today had rain and the threat of storms with strong winds, and high humidity today. We did hikes with the dogs on Saturday and today, so they have been crashed pretty much all weekend. Today, Jager found a dead fish to roll around in, so they are now known as Big Fish Head (Baja) and Little Fish Head (Jager). We spent yesterday out on the deck and grilling. We went to see Pirates of the Caribbean: The End of the World today. Good film - not as good as the first, better than the second.

I did grill last night - rib-eye steaks with a dry rub, BBQ chicken and chicken sausages. There is nothing like meat on a grill, although I do miss charcoal. One can't dismiss the ease, prep and clean-up of a gas grill, though. Plus, I don't feel the need to grill as much as I can so the charcoal doesn't go to waste.

I am thinking about hosting a BBQ over the weekend while Don is gone. I went to one hosted by my co-leader on Friday and we had so much fun. I'm hesitant to host because I'm afraid no on will come or the dogs will be too annoying. Despite this, I'm thinking chicken fajitas, guacamole, salsa, margs... Maybe some games - Uno, Scrabble. We'll see. It's outside of my comfort zone, but I think a good move for me.

Other than that, nothing else much exciting is happening in Casa de Seeholzer... Hope all is well with all my readers, and that they had a great weekend!

Reality Check

It has been hard to get back into the groove after 5 days of vacation. This does not bode well for my return to work after 2 weeks off in July.

To top it all off, my return on Monday included covering my boss' staff meeting where the hot topic was budgets. Better than any sleeping pill, trust me. Plus, they kept the room partially dark, which only added to the sleepy feeling.

The good news is I just need to make it three more days, then I'll have three days off, three days at work and three days off again.

No big plans for Memorial Day weekend. We're still not sure what the weather is going to be like - no big surprise for Minnesota. I'd like to grill and get outside, but I think we're expecting thunderstorms. As long as we can take the dogs for a hike or two, we should be good. We did take them for a different hike around a marsh area on Friday. Baja still found a dead fish to chomp on, but at least he didn't roll in it this time!

We finally have our check from the mortgage company, so as soon as it clears we can pay off three credit cards in full and get to putting money away in savings. That will be a nice feeling. I've already put one credit card away, although I won't cancel it. The other two are emergency cards, which I'll carry and just not use. We're trying to pay for everything with the debit card or cash. It's been hard, but we've been pretty good so far.

The only other big thing on the horizion is trading our 2-door Honda Civic for a 4-door Civic in mid-June. I'm looking at a red one with a sunroof. Don will get a new CRV in August. We figure that our Honda dealership is close and we've had good luck with that brand, so we'll stick with it. Neither of us are big car people - I like something comfortable, but I don't need a lot of bells & whistles (other than a sunroof!). We like having one sedan-type and a 4WD SUV for bad weather days and hauling stuff (like the dogs!).

That's about it for now. I see I'm coming up on 100,000 visitors - that will be a major milestone!!

Relaxation

I am on the second day of five days off. We took the dogs for an early hike. It was so nice - it was on the cool side, around 50 degrees (after two days of unexpected 90+), and there was no one on the trail. I ran some errands, including picking up a swim suit that actually fits and a sweater (for $7) and a skirt (for $13) at Target.

I have a follow up appointment with my PCP today regarding my depression meds, which should only take about 15 minutes. I'm having lunch with a friend and then Don and I are meeting with our financial planner. In between all that, I'm hoping to spend some time out on the deck reading and playing with the dogs.

Tomorrow, I have a therapy appointment and then lunch with another friend. Don and I are planning on seeing "Shrek 3" tomorrow night as well. I'm hoping we can take the dogs for an early run to the dog park, especially if the weather is supposed to hold.

I don't know what we're going to do over the weekend. We've talked about going to the zoo, maybe finding a batting cage/mini golf course. There's also another walking path around Purgatory Lake that we might explore with the dogs to give them something else to do.

There is a funny story out of yesterday's hike... Around the trail, there are a few places where we can go down to the lake shore. This allows the dogs a chance to splash around in the shallows and to get a drink. We went down and the dogs got a drink and sniffed around, as usual. Baja came upon a dead fish, and instead of just smelling it, he started rubbing his muzzle on it, much to Don's surprise! We had a good laugh and continued on. At the boat launch, we repeated the drill - dogs splash around, get a drink, sniff - and, again, Baja finds a dead fish in the tall grass and starts rolling in it! We called him Fish Head for the rest of the day. Don thinks it's better than the time Jager rolled in horse manure, but I think dead fish smell is far worse.

Today is the 11th anniversary of when Don and I first met. I always give him a hard time about giving me his wrong phone number (it was a new number for him, and he transposed numbers) and not calling the (right) number I gave him. His comeback is always that it worked out for the best in the end. The funny thing is, I kept the napkin with the wrong number. Even when I moved in with him, I had it hanging on our bulletin board, just as a little inside joke. He was always trying to get me to throw it away. At our rehearsal dinner, I actually put the napkin in a box and gave it to him as my wedding gift. He tried to burn it, and it wouldn't catch fire! It's now framed and sitting on our mantle as a reminder of second chances.

Other than that, things are good. My weight continues to sit right between 162.4 and 165 without too much food manipulation. I've actually been eating pretty well - Chicken Parmigiana with asparagus last night, grilled tri-tip with cucumber/red onion/tomato salad (with feta cheese and Kalamata olives), citrus/garlic grilled chicken. I think that sitting down at the table every night with Don has helped me get into a routine with dinner.

Food is becoming less and less of an issue for me. I still don't feel any hunger, and I have to force myself to eat, but I don't seem as "afraid" of food as I have been. I know I can eat more but it's still a hell of a lot less than I used to. Since doughy carbs are hard for me to eat (soft breads, rice, pasta, potatoes) I stay away from them and focus on protein, veggies and fruit. For instance, a meal in years past might have been a large rib-eye steak and a baked potato with butter and sour cream. I might have made a pass at veggies, but they were never a major part of the meal. Now, it's 4 ounces of meat, veggies (asparagus, broccoli, green beans, etc.) and a salad (with things like red onions, beets, peppers, grape tomatoes, cheese, nuts).

Anyway, I'm off to get ready for the doctor.

Tagged!

I've been tagged by Bee-Bop. I haven't done a meme in a long time, so here it goes - First, the rules: each player starts with seven random facts about themselves. Since this is going around, I won't tag anyone specific, but feel free to do this and let me know...

Random Fact #1 - I constantly crack my knuckles. I've done this forever, and my mom used to tell me that my joints would get big, which is an old wives tale. I also crack my hips by putting one leg up on a counter/table and stretching to the floor. It feels soooo good.

Random Fact #2 - I am a huge Dallas Cowboys fan. Yes, I know I'm not from Dallas, nor do I live in Dallas now. Heck, I've only been to Dallas twice in my life. But, I was stuck watching a football game - Dallas versus Houston, I think - when at my grandparents' house and I thought Danny White, the QB, was cute. I was 7.

Random Fact #3 - My favorite number is 14. I think I chose that number when I idolized Mike Scoscia, the catcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers (now the manager of the Anaheim Angels). Again, I thought he was cute. I was probably 13 at the time... A lot of my passwords have 14 in them.

Random Fact #4 - I don't understand light/lite beer. If I'm going to drink beer, I want it to taste like beer.

Random Fact #5 - I love thunderstorms. I will even go to a window to watch, or, once when I was living in NYC, actually went to the roof to watch one. A lightening strike on a park bench across the street sent me running for cover, but I am fascinated by them.

Random Fact #6 - I shower in the same way every day - get wet (back to the shower head, of course), wash my hair, wash/exfoliate my face, rinse hair, condition hair, soap up, rinse, rinse hair. My after shower routine is also the same - do a quick dry, wrap towel around my waist, wrap smaller towel around my hair, clean my ears, clean face, moisturize face, apply under eye cream, towel dry hair, comb hair, blow dry hair, finish drying my body, put on lotion and then spritz with body spray.

Random Fact #7 - I have been known to give up my place in bed for the dogs. If Baja starts to crowd me at the top of the bed, I will often reverse my position - my pillow and head at the foot of the bed, spooned around Jager with Baja on my legs.

Have fun with this!! I probably could have listed several more, but thought this was insightful!!

Weekend Warrior

Work has pretty much kicked my butt all week. We have had to deal with one person out sick and people out on vacation, crazy phone volumes, trying to manage capacity, technology issues... All fun stuff. It's at least made the week go by fast!

I finally went and had my work badge re-done. I was getting embarrassed by my old photo, and wouldn't wear my badge since people would do a double-take. I can totally see the difference, just like when I got my new drivers license. At least now I look like my photo, which is a good thing!

We're supposed to get scattered thunderstorms over the weekend, but I'm hoping they're early or at night so we get some decent time outside. There is a ton of yard work that should get done, plus I could use some serious deck time. We, of course, will take the dogs for at least one hike, maybe 2 if they're up for it. They have such a good time on our hikes, especially splashing in the lake. I would also like to get into the gym. It's been awhile and I could use a good sweat. I've put on a few pounds this week, and although I'm not in a panic state, I'd rather up the exercise rather than skipping meals to get back in the middle of my comfort zone.

My typical day is now:

Breakfast - 1 to 1 1/2 eggs, 3 flatbread crackers, fruit (I've been on a cantaloupe kick lately)
Snack - AchievOne protein shake
Lunch - 3-4 ounces of protein, veggies/salad, V-8 juice
Snack - Cheese stick, fruit (usually an apple)
Dinner - 3-4 ounces of protein, veggies/salad

I start my day off with about 16 ounces of black coffee, and on certain days I have a large skim latte. I get in plain water plus a 20-ounce VitaminWater. Where I'm getting off track is snacking on sweets and doing stupid things like eating 2 slices of pizza yesterday! Ugh. No wonder I'm up a few!

Life is pretty status quo right now. I'll have a new member on my team shortly, so that's great. Our department is going through so many good changes right now, it's really exciting. It keeps me on my toes, but I've gotten some really great recognition over the past few days that it really makes me feel appreciated.

Of course, what I'm really looking forward to is my three days off next week with Don. I know for sure we'll see "Shrek 3" but that's the only thing we have planned. It's mostly going to be about sleeping in, playing with the dogs and hanging out on the deck. Gotta work on my tan!!

Weird Weekend

I was looking forward to a really nice weekend, but both Don and I came down with a bit of a bug. I made a really nice dinner on Friday - grilled tuna steaks, Asian noodles, asparagus and mixed salad (greens, grape tomatoes, beets, blue cheese, pecans) in an Asian dressing. I woke up Saturday and just felt off. I had planned on going to coffee, but realized I should stay a lot closer to my recliner and the bathroom.

I finally got up the energy to make a Trader Joe's and grocery store run since I needed ingredients for my fajitas I was making in honor of Cinco de Mayo. I got home and still felt weird - shaky, dry mouth, fuzzy head. We didn't drink on Friday night so I knew it wasn't a hangover. The weather was really overcast and windy, and I could feel rain coming, but Don and I decided to take the dogs for a hike around the lake. I was wearing yoga pants, a long-sleeve t-shirt and a down vest since the temps were in the low 60s, plus the winds were gusting to about 40 m.p.h.

About 2/3 of the way through the walk, I started feeling dizzy and had to stop every few feet to catch my breath. In addition, I was sweating like it was 90 degrees out - I mean drenching. Don ended up having to walk both dogs, although I tried to take Jager at the very end, but ended up actually having to sit down. Don went to take the dogs to the car and come back to get me, but I hustled after him since I realized I needed to find a bathroom right away, and there were port-a-potties where we parked. Let's just say I barely made it. Ugh.

I got home and was clammy and still sweating and freezing with chills. After a short nap in the recliner, I got enough energy up to take a shower, which actually did help, although I was still a little shaky. I finally started really feeling better around 3:00 or so - just in time for Don to start feeling like crap - chills, fevers, aches. We each had different symptoms, but it has to be the same bug...

Anyway, I did make great chicken fajitas with homemade guacamole. We skipped the margs, and stuck to water. We each popped some Advil, but both ended up with weird fever-induced dreams, so we both still felt like we were hit with a 2x4 this morning.

We kept it pretty low key today. I had a hair appointment and then read on the deck for a few hours, despite it being overcast and windy. We're watching some NBA games and a gold tournament and will have leftovers for dinner. My big chore for the weekend was dusting the downstairs - that's about all I had energy for! Don did the laundry, so I'll have clean clothes for next week.

Pretty boring post, I know, but at least we're feeling better and hoping for a good night's sleep to start the week off right!