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2024 Bookish Books Reading Challenge (Hosted by Yours Truly)

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My Progress:


9 / 30 books. 30% done!

2024 Literary Escapes Challenge

- Alabama
- Alaska
- Arizona
- Arkansas
- California (3)
- Colorado (1)
- Connecticut
- Delaware
- Florida
- Georgia
- Hawaii
- Idaho (2)
- Illinois
- Indiana
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- Kentucky
- Louisiana (1)
- Maine (1)
- Maryland
- Massachusetts (1)
- Michigan
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- New Hampshire
- New Jersey
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- New York (1)
- North Carolina (1)
- North Dakota
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- Oregon (2)
- Pennsylvania
- Rhode Island
- South Carolina
- South Dakota
- Tennessee (1)
- Texas (1)
- Utah
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- Virginia (1)
- Washington
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
- Wyoming
- Washington, D.C.*

International:
- Australia (1)
- Canada (1)
- England (5)
- France (1)
- Ireland (1)
- Scotland (1)
- The Netherlands (1)

My Progress:


12 / 51 states. 24% done!

2024 Historical Fiction Reading Challenge

My Progress:


10 / 50 words. 20% done!

2024 POPSUGAR Reading Challenge


15 / 50 books. 30% done!

Booklist Queen's 2024 Reading Challenge

My Progress:


32 / 50 books. 64% done!

2024 52 Club Reading Challenge

My Progress:


27 / 52 books. 52% done!

2024 Build Your Library Reading Challenge

My Progress:


21 / 40 books. 53% done!

2024 Pioneer Book Reading Challenge


13 / 40 books. 33% done!

2024 Craving for Cozies Reading Challenge

My Progress:


5 / 25 books. 20% done!

2024 Medical Examiner's Mystery Reading Challenge

2024 Mystery Marathon Reading Challenge

My Progress


17 / 26.2 miles. 65% done!

Mount TBR Reading Challenge

My Progress


15 / 100 books. 15% done!

2024 Pick Your Poison Reading Challenge

My Progress:


34 / 104 books. 33% done!

Around the Year in 52 Books Reading Challenge

My Progress


31 / 52 books. 60% done!

Disney Animated Movies Reading Challenge

My Progress


32 / 165 books. 19% done!
Sunday, October 17, 2010

A Little Sunday Morning Sampling Of My Random Thoughts

I usually don't post on Sundays, but I have a few things on my mind that I wanted to share:


- First off, my good friend Random.org picked a winner in my giveaway for a hardcover copy of Wicked Girls by Stephanie Hemphill. Congratulations to Gaye of Inside a Book. Gaye's one of my most loyal readers, always leaving sweet, thoughtful comments that just make my day! I've sent you an email already Gaye, so get back to me when you can, okay?

Thanks to everyone who entered. As always, I'll be having more giveaways in the near future - definitely stay tuned.

- Second, a little health update: It looks as if I will be doing another round of iodine radiation for my thyroid cancer. When I did the first go-round in April, I was kind of disappointed by how anticlimatic the whole procedure is - basically, I go to the hospital, swallow a green pill, and stay in my room for a week. Since I'm radioactive, I'm not allowed to do housework, prepare food for anyone but me, go out in public, etc. It's not a bad deal for me - I get lots of reading and resting time - but it's hard on my husband, kids, extended family members, etc., who get to take care of everything in my absence. The upside is that I should be feeling good again very soon. I will, however, probably not be online for the next week since my computer is a desktop and it's not in my bedroom. I do have a couple of reviews set to post automatically - I just may not be reading/answering emails and commenting on other blogs. Thanks for your patience!

- Thirdly, I really want to comment on this post, but I can't figure out how. Am I hopelessly inept, or is there a way to leave my thoughts? Help!

- Lastly, Karen and Gerard tagged me for this meme that I've seen going around the blogosphere:

4 Things In My Handbag/Backpack/Briefcase:

- My wallet (of course - it lives there so it won't get lost)
- SoftLips lip balm (my fave)
- Gum (one of those gotta-have-it items)
- A pen (because I'm ALWAYS finding myself without one when I most need one

4 Favorite Things In My Bedroom:

- My bed - I have a California King-sized adjustable bed that is soooo nice. Although my side is busted at the moment, usually it lets me raise your feet, my head, get a massage, etc. I love it!
- The teddy bear my mom sent me after I had surgery earlier this year - I'm not usually the stuffed animal type, but this one's so cute that I adore it!
- The two-way fireplace - on one side is a comfy recliner, on the other side is a big bathtub - both are excellent places to read and relax, especially with a nice fire going.
- The balcony - although it's too hot to sit out there most of the year, it's fun to enjoy the lovely view of the valley, especially at night.

4 Things On My Desk:

- A big pile of mail and other stuff I need to sort through
- A ceramic horse my daughter painted for me a couple of years ago (actually there are two)
- My cell phone, which I should really charge before it completely runs out of juice
- A brand, spankin' new (still in its Amazon box) copy of The Scorch Trials by James Dashner. I'm really enjoying The Maze Runner and can't wait to delve into the sequel, which just barely came out.

4 Things I've Always Wanted To Do (but haven't yet):

- Visit the British Isles
- See a show on Broadway
- See U2 live (funny enough, the hubs and I had tickets a couple of years ago, but we were both too sick to go ...)
- Write a novel

4 Things I Enjoy Very Much At The Moment:

- Book blogging - Even though my family blog has definitely fallen by the wayside, I still love keeping this blog up.
- Chocolate VitaTops - I'm still not quite sure I'm supposed to be eating these on my low-iodine diet, but allowing myself one a day is keeping me sane :)
- My incredible husband who is not only a kind, supportive spouse, but an energetic, hands-on father whose love for his family is obvious to everyone around him.
- The Fall decorations on my front porch

4 Songs I Can't Get Out of My Head:

- Her Diamonds by Rob Thomas
- Hello, Seattle by Owl City
- Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam (this is my almost 2-year-old's current favorite)
- The Lady of Shallott by Lorena McKennitt (beautiful!)

4 Things You Don't Know About Me:

- I'm a huge Jeopardy! fan
- I'm pathetically bad at the Classic Literature category, but do pretty well with questions on modern literature/bestsellers
- I could eat milk chocolate at every meal and never, ever get tired of it.
- I always sing - loudly and badly - along to the radio/CDs in my car. I am not ashamed, but my kids probably are :)

4 Bloggers I'm Tagging:

- I've seen this one all over, so I think most people have done it already. Plus, I won't be around this week to see your answers, but if you haven't done this one yet, consider yourself tagged. I'd love to hear what you have to say!

* Have a great week, everybody! *

10 comments:

  1. I just love your blog, and I hope that you don't have to take the "green" pill for much longer. I can empathize only with the kids and husband part. Last weekend I was completely incapacited with a violent reaction to antibiotics and could not get out of bed for 2 days. I could hear my kids and husband the entire time but felt so helpless, and they girls really handled it well, but once I was better they were very clingy to me. It made me think about mothers such as yourself, that are dealing with cancer or other serious illnesses for weeks, months, or years and not be able to care for their children for long stretches of time. Hugs to you!

    You are amazing!

    Our youngest daughter is adopted from Ethiopia, and I noticed that your baby may be internationally adopted as well? Or domestically? Either way your family is beautiful.

    Have a wonderful day!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I'm a new follower and I just wanted to say you'll be in my thoughts. May the green pill work wonders!

    ReplyDelete
  3. First of all, good luck with your green pills. Hope all goes well.

    When I clicked on your link to "this post" that you wanted to comment on, I just scrolled down and the comment box was there. Maybe you just need to try again?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Take care of yourself and get the rest you need. Your bedroom sounds fabulous! All your answers are interesting.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I hope everything goes well with the "green pill" treatment and that you'll get lots of reading done!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Thanks for the encouraging words, everybody! I'm less anxious about the radiation stuff this time as I've been through it before, but I still feel badly about making my family go through it :( I will definitely make the most of my downtime - it will be all about resting and reading (mostly reading).

    To answer your question, Lisa - We actually adopted our daughter here in the U.S. Her birth father is African American and her birth mother is Caucasian, so she has gorgeous skin and the cutest curls you ever did see. I'm still trying to figure out what to do with them! Any advice?

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hope everything goes smoothly for you (and your family) this time around. Radioactiveness does sound pretty cool.

    ReplyDelete
  8. So I know this is kind of after the fact, but I realized the "this post" you mentioned is one of my posts and I'm flattered you wanted to comment and sad you weren't able to. Thank you for the link!

    Second I hope all is going well with you health-wise and you're no longer radioactive, which actually sounds pretty cool in super hero world but less exciting in the real one.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Red - Thanks for stopping by! I can't for the life of me figure out how to comment on your blog. I can't see other people's comments on there either. It's really weird. Maybe it has to do with pop-up blockers? I don't know.

    Anyway, I was just going to comment about Jimmy Eat World. They're from the city I live in - my husband actually went to high school with some of the band members. I'm not quite that cool, but I was wondering about the song you mentioned - did you know that Sky Harbor is the name of the airport in Phoenix?

    Yeah, so that was my brilliant comment. I feel kinda dumb now.

    ReplyDelete
  10. That's super exciting that Jimmy Eat World is from your town AND that your husband went to HS with some of them. I'm not surprised that Sky Harbor is the name of the airport. I think (but can't actually remember) if that was the airport where the characters are at the end of A Prayer for Owen Meany.

    Also I'm not sure what's keeping you from commenting but I'm going to try to figure it out! I'm using Intense Debate so once you click on the post title you should see the commenting options at the bottom of the page. I'll see if a pop-up blocker or some browser setting would keep that from working.

    ReplyDelete

Comments make me feel special, so go crazy! Just keep it clean and civil. Feel free to speak your mind (I always do), but be aware that I will delete any offensive comments.

P.S.: Don't panic if your comment doesn't show up right away. I have to approve each one before it posts to prevent spam. It's annoying, but it works!

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Reading

<i>Reading</i>
End of Story by A.J. Finn

Listening

<i>Listening</i>
My Contrary Mary by Brodi Ashton, Cynthia Hand, and Jodi Meadows



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