September Reads (12)

One star:         did not like it at all

Two stars:        eh, it was okay

Three stars:     liked it

Four stars:       really, really liked it

Five stars:        absolutely loved it

1-Star (0)

2-Star (2)

**A Place for Us (Fiction, F. Mirza)

I MUST have someone to root for while I’m reading a book.  And as much as I tried, I did not give a flying flip about any of these characters.  They all seemed angry, selfish, unlikable, bitter, and resentful.  Even great writing cannot make up for that.

**The Miserable Mill #4 (Fiction, L. Snickett)

The fourth book of A Serious of Unfortunate Events series.  Not my favorite.

3-Star (5)

***Paperback Crush (Non-Fiction, G. Moss)

I enjoyed this non-fiction book about 80’s – 90’s YA/YR books, but I didn’t ‘know’ most of the books discussed (with the exception of the Babysitters Club).  There were definite laugh out loud moments though.

***Into Thin Air (Non-Fiction, J. Krakauer)

Why anyone would ever want to climb this mountain is baffling to me.  Krakauer himself climbed the mountain and never mentioned ANYTHING good (like the views, the sense of accomplishment, etc.).  The entire journey was miserable from start to finish.  Passing dead bodies along the way.  Your fellow climbers dropping like flies (literally).  Frostbite.  Amputations.  Head swelling.  Blood clots.  Constant nausea.  And that just scratches the surface.  Horrible.  The 3-star rating is because at times it was REALLY wordy and I found my mind wandering a LOT.

***Then She Was Gone (Fiction, L. Jewell)

Solid mystery that kept me guessing.

***Bring Her Home (Fiction, D. Bell)

This was good, but it was VERY predictable and a tad too long.  And it all felt very familiar.  Maybe I read it once before and didn’t remember?  Ha ha.  But if you’re looking for a quick, decent mystery this is a good one to pick up.  And the cover is gorgeous.  It almost pains me to get rid of it (I rarely keep 3-star books).

***11-22-63 (Fiction, S. King)

I wavered a lot between 3 stars and 4 stars.  Stephen King is SUCH a good writer.  But….his books are sooooooooooo long.  And they are not easy reads.  But this was a fascinating story about a man who travels back in time to try to prevent the assassination of JFK.  Lesson:  Don’t mess with history.

4-Star (2)

****Ask Me About My Uterus (Non-Fiction, A. Norman)

Anyone who has endometriosis needs to read this book.  Fun fact:  endometriosis is NOT a disease that only appears on the uterus.  It can appear on other organs as well. 

****How the Light Gets In (Fiction, L. Penny)

Another solid Three Pines mystery.

5-Star (3)

*****The Traveling Cat Chronicles (Fiction, H. Arikawa)

This was such a surprising little book.  A man rescues a cat after it was hit by a car.  He takes care of the cat, loves the cat, and then takes the cat on a long journey through Japan, meeting old friends along the way.  But the book is told from the cats perspective.  Sound corny?  It’s not.  It’s so good!

*****Maybe You Should Talk to Someone (Non-Fiction, L. Gottlieb)

Although this book started off very slowly for me, it really picked up towards the middle and through the end.  A therapist who needs therapy.  Anyone who has been in therapy or wants to go to therapy should read this book!

*****The Dutch House (Fiction, A. Patchett)

My very first Ann Patchett book was Bel Canto.  I believe it was a 3-star read for me.  Then I read Run.  Also…3-stars.  Then I read State of Wonder.  4 STARS.  So original.  Then Commonwealth.  Commonwealth was about a 3.5.  Not quite 4, but I STILL think about the first 50 pages or so.  So descriptive.  I felt like I was at that party in California.

The Dutch House?  FIVE SOLID STARS.  The book is about siblings Danny and Maeve, who are raised by a single dad in this mansion in Pennsylvania called The Dutch House.  It’s full of huge glass windows, ornate paintings (left by the original owners), staircases, rooms with window seats, etc.  Some people loved it.  Some people hated it.  Including Danny and Maeve’s mother, who left the family pretty early on.  The kids’ father gets remarried to Andrea, a woman with 2 girls of her own who LOVES the house.  Eventually, she kicks Danny and Maeve to the curb.  Danny and Maeve go from leading a pretty privileged life in a huge house, to living in a crappy apartment in New York where one of them has to sleep on the couch.  They now have to navigate their way through life and support themselves, all while trying to figure out what just happened.  The books goes back and forth in time, but not too much to be confusing.  It flows really nicely.  And there’s not a lot of characters, which is also a nice change. 

This is a relatively ‘quiet’ book,  yet there are a LOT of deep issues explored.  And the writing is phenomenal.  Read it!

Total Books Read: 12 (8 Fiction, 4 Non-Fiction)

DNF: 

Sleeping Giants (just not interested)

Pilgrim at Tinker Creek (I’m all for nature…but not THIS much nature)

Health Check-In 09.29.19

Friday, 8/2/19   Start Date

Sunday, 8/4/19     -2.3        (TOTAL -2.3)

Sunday, 8/11/19   -4.7        (TOTAL -7)

Sunday, 8/18/19   -2.9        (TOTAL -9.9)

Sunday, 8/25/19   -1.3        (TOTAL -11.2)

Sunday, 9/1/19     -1.0        (TOTAL -12.2)

Sunday, 9/8/19    -3.8         (TOTAL -16.0)

Sunday, 9/15/19  -2.4         (TOTAL -18.4)

Sunday, 9/22/19  -1.3         (TOTAL -19.7)

Sunday, 9/27/19   -.6          (TOTAL -20.3)

I'm actually pretty pleased with losing this week because I did not have a great week food-wise.  I wasn't as careful and was more 'loose' with my tracking.  But a loss is a loss and I'll take it!

Colorado

We took a short little vacation to Denver last weekend.  We left on Saturday around 8:00, and arrived around 2:30.  Denver is not a bad drive, about 6.5 hours.  Here is my recap with a few travel tips thrown in.  😊

We first checked in to our hotel.   We stayed at the Hyatt House Denver Tech Center in Englewood.

TRAVEL TIP:  Price check, price check, price check.  We were going to try to find an Air BnB, but in this case the hotel was cheaper.  And it was a GREAT hotel.  Our ‘room’ was more of an apartment, with a separate bedroom and a full kitchen.  It’s so nice to have a large fridge/freezer/microwave when traveling.  I had packed a bunch of snacks (yogurt, fruit, nuts) so it was convenient to throw those in the fridge and put my ice packs in the freezer so they would be ready for our drive home.

ALWAYS check the amenities of the place you are staying.  Like free wi-fi.  A lot of hotels advertise free wi-fi, but they only offer the free wi-fi in the lobby, and then charge you for wi-fi in your room.  Check the details of the breakfast.  This hotel served a hot breakfast every morning complete with an omelet bar.  There are a lot of hotels that offer free breakfast, but most of them are cold cereal, fruit, pastries, and make-your-own waffle type breakfasts.  And there’s nothing wrong with that!  But if you’re expecting a hot breakfast and find cold cereal, that might be a tad disappointing. 

After we checked in to our hotel, we found a local tavern that hosts Husker fans every game Saturday.  It was so much fun!  It’s nice to be in a roomful of people rooting for your team.  I had their version of a Runza.  It was not the same.

Sunday morning I found the nearest Pure Barre and took a class.  It was a pretty full class (compared to what I’m used to).  It felt good to MOVE after driving for 6 hours on Saturday.

After Barre I went back to our room and hubby informed me that he got tickets to the Bears/Broncos game at 2:25 p.m.  YAY!!!  I showered, we relaxed for a couple of hours and then got back in the car and headed to Mile High Stadium.

TRAVEL TIP:  If you’re going to a large event, like a football game, do NOT attempt to find parking near the stadium.  It will be impossible and lead to loads of frustration.  So we drove to the nearest ‘box store’ parking lot in proximity to the stadium and parked there.  And then from there, we took a Lyft to the stadium.  It was soooooo nice.  Free parking at Target, and then a $5 Lyft ride to the stadium, where we got dropped off pretty much at the front door.  After the game, we did NOT attempt to get a Lyft back to Target.  Lyft’s prices go by supply/demand, so their prices skyrocket after events like football games and concerts.  So we started walking away from the stadium towards Target (it was 2 miles maybe?)  About halfway there, we found some Lyft scooters.  Basically, if you have the Lyft app (which we do), you scan the barcode on the scooter and off you go.  It was fun, and slightly scary at times ha ha.  So for about a mile, we rode the scooters back to Target.  The scooters charge by the minute.  I think our rides ended up being $4?  Totally worth it!

Now let’s talk about the football game.  Oh my.  I have NEVER in my life been so stress out about any football game.  First off, we paid a LOT for our tickets so I was really, really, really hoping for a Bears win.  And all looked great up until the last 2 minutes.  There were SO many things that had to happen just right.  First, the Broncos attempted point after kick to tie the game.  The kicker missed, but there was a penalty against the Bears.  So then, the Broncos decided to go for 2, which would put them one point ahead of the Bears with 30-some seconds before game end.  And they made the 2-point conversion.  At this point, I was heartbroken because I figured it was over for the Bears.  The Bears had just a few seconds to get the ball down the field in field-goal range.  At 2nd down and a bunch of yards, the Bears QB couldn’t connect with anyone.  At 3^rd down, he connected with his receiver who got down the field a bit further.  And then the clock ran out.  And Broncos players and coaches started running onto the field thinking the game was over.  BUT…the Bears had called a time-out with one second remaining on the clock.  ONE SECOND.  One field goal attempt.  A 53 yard attempt (not easy).  Everyone lined up, the kicker kicked and I swear it felt like the football was going in slow motion.  And he made it.  Game over.  BEARS WIN!  It was fun because we had Bears fans right behind us AND in front of us so we were all celebrating and high-fiving as the disgruntled Broncos fans were making their way around us trying to leave.

What a game!!!

After parking our Lyft scooters (you can just leave them wherever) and retrieving our car at Target, we headed back to Englewood and found a meatball restaurant for dinner.  Yes, a meatball restaurant.  It was delicious! 

Monday was Ikea.  We took our time in the morning, had a long breakfast, packed up our stuff and the car and checked out around 11:00.  And then drove to Ikea, which was only about 5 minutes away.

I don’t really have any Ikea tips, except HAVE A LIST.  And try to stick to it ha ha.  Ikea is like a wonderland of good quality cool stuff for cheap.  The Ikea employees are extremely helpful.

We pretty much stuck to our list.  We got a white shelving storage unit for my mother-in-law.  Light blocking curtain panels for our sunroom for the super hot summers.  A couple more bookshelves for the library.  And misc. odds and ends.

After Ikea, we packed up the car.  My trusty CRV.  I should have taken a picture with the Ikea boxes, bags, and our luggage all piled up.

And then we headed back downtown (ish) for the entire reason we went to Denver.  Of Monsters and Men!!!!  I got the tickets a couple months ago, pretty much as soon as they released their tour dates and cities.  They are an Icelandic band and they put out an album every 3-4 years.  So this is only their 3^rd album.  I kicked myself for not going to see them in 2015, so I did NOT want to miss them this time around.

They played at the Mission Ballroom, which is a relative new concert venue in Denver.  It was a really nice place.  It was a sold out concert, I’m guessing there were maybe 3,000 people there? 

TRAVEL TIP:  Again, when going to a large event like this, don’t count on parking near the venue.  I found a really cool parking app which lets you reserve a parking spot in a secured parking garage for WAY cheaper than event parking.  I paid $5 to reserve a parking spot at a parking garage about 6 blocks away from the venue.  I reserved it from 4:30 p.m. until 1:00 a.m.  When we got there, I just whipped out my phone, held it up to the little scanner at the garage and the arm magically lifted and let us through.  IT WAS AMAZING.  Especially when we got to the venue and saw they were charging $20 to park in the lots nearby. The app is called ‘BestParking’.  I’m a fan.

The venue was really nice.  There were bars and bathrooms everywhere, so there were NO LINES EVER.  It was general admission.  Meaning…there are no seats.  On the balcony level though, there are ‘tiered’ steps to sit on though if that makes sense.  So that’s where we sat.  Which was nice because we got to sit down for the majority of the concert.  It was mostly the older people in the balcony so we fit right in ha ha.

The concert was AMAZING.  It exceeded my expectations.  They sang every song on my mental list that I hoped they would, with the exception of one on their new album (Stuck in Gravity).  They sang maybe 20 songs?  They played for an hour and a half.  It was just amazing.  They didn’t do a lot of talking in between.  They speak English (obviously), but with heavy Icelandic accents.  After each song Nanna (the female lead) would say ‘thank you’.  It was so cute.  😊  They did introduce about every other song.  One of my favorites, Lakehouse (from their 1^st album), they introduced by saying ‘this song we wrote reminding us of summers in Iceland’.  And another one they introduced by saying ‘if you’re an awkward dancer, then  you will dance great to this song’ (Wars, from their newest album).  😊  They’re just such a great band.  It was an all-ages show, so it didn’t get crazy or anything.

They didn’t go on until about 8:45 and ended around 10:15.  We waited until a lot of people had cleared out before we left.  So we got back to our car around 11:00.  And then we started the drive home.  We had to drive home after the concert because hubby had to be in Santa Fe on Tuesday at 9:00 a.m.  I did the driving so that hubby could sleep.  I took my time (no speeding!), stopped for gas 2 times, ate a gross Arby’s sandwich at 3:00 a.m. (I was starving and it was my only option!), and listened to ‘Into Thin Air’ on audio.  Hubby slept.  We rolled into Santa Fe around 5:00 a.m.  I found a grocery store parking lot, parked the car, and looked at my pictures and videos on my phone while hubby slept.  I woke him up around 6:30.  We found a Starbucks, got cleaned up (thank goodness for disposable washcloths), had coffee, and then I dropped hubby off at the Santa Fe office and I headed home (he caught a ride back to ABQ with his co-workers).

It was a great trip.  Kind of a whirlwind, but we packed a lot in.  It’s so important to get away every now and then!

Health Check-In 09.22.19

Friday, 8/2/19   Start Date

Sunday, 8/4/19     -2.3        (TOTAL -2.3)

Sunday, 8/11/19   -4.7        (TOTAL -7)

Sunday, 8/18/19   -2.9        (TOTAL -9.9)

Sunday, 8/25/19   -1.3        (TOTAL -11.2)

Sunday, 9/1/19     -1.0        (TOTAL -12.2)

Sunday, 9/8/19    -3.8         (TOTAL -16.0)

Sunday, 9/15/19  -2.4         (TOTAL -18.4)

Sunday, 9/22/19  -1.3         (TOTAL -19.7)

Soooo close to 20!  But I am extremely pleased with this loss this week, especially because we were out of town for 3 days (which means eating out, snacks in the car, etc.)

I watched it though and tracked EVERYTHING.  Even my gross Arby's sandwich which I purchased at a truck stop near the Colorado/New Mexico border at 3:00 a.m. Tuesday morning ha ha.

Health Check-In 09.15.19

This will be short because I’m blogging from my iPad in Colorado.


Friday, 8/2/19   Start Date

Sunday, 8/4/19     -2.3        (TOTAL -2.3)

Sunday, 8/11/19   -4.7        (TOTAL -7)

Sunday, 8/18/19   -2.9        (TOTAL -9.9)

Sunday, 8/25/19   -1.3        (TOTAL -11.2)

Sunday, 9/1/19     -1.0        (TOTAL -12.2)

Sunday, 9/8/19    -3.8         (TOTAL -16.0)

Sunday, 9/15/19  -2.4         (TOTAL -18.4)

Whhhhhaaattt. And yes, I totally brought my scale with me lol.

Health Check-In 09.08.19

It was a great week!! So I'm fully expecting next week to show a much smaller loss.  Which is okay!  


Friday, 8/2/19   Start Date

Sunday, 8/4/19     -2.3        (TOTAL -2.3)

Sunday, 8/11/19   -4.7        (TOTAL -7)

Sunday, 8/18/19   -2.9        (TOTAL -9.9)

Sunday, 8/25/19   -1.3        (TOTAL -11.2)

Sunday, 9/1/19     -1.0        (TOTAL -12.2)

Sunday, 9/8/19    -3.8         (TOTAL -16.0)


Crazy!

I did eat pretty perfectly the whole week and tracked EVERY single thing.  And I consistently drank a gallon of water per day as well.  But I am certainly not going to expect a loss like this every week.  ANY loss will be good.  

I'm still fasting, but not as strictly.  If my stomach is really grumbling at night and it doesn't go away after some time OR drinking some water, then I will eat a yogurt or something.  And it hasn't seemed to mess with my weight loss at all.  I'm just trying to listen to my body!

August Reads (11)

One star = did not like it at all

Two stars = eh, it was okay

Three stars =  liked it

Four stars = really, really liked it

Five stars = absolutely loved it

1-Star (0)

2-Star (0)

3-Star (5)

***Gift From the Sea (Non-Fiction, Anne Morrow Lindbergh)

Reflections on life and being a wife and a mother by the wife of Charles Lindbergh.  I think mothers would appreciate this more than I did.

***Life As We Knew It (Fiction, Susan Beth Pfeffer)

An asteroid hits the moon and knocks it WAY too close to the earth.  Chaos ensues…dormant volcanos erupt, tsunamis hit, earthquakes are abundant. And in a small town in Pennsylvania, a teenager tries to survive with her family.  I felt it was a bit too long, but the story still held my interest.  This is the first of a 4-book YA series.  I doubt I will read the other books.  From what I read, they just tell the same story, but from another person from another town’s perspective.  No thank you. 

***A Monster Calls (Fiction, Patrick Ness)

This is a ‘young reader’ book although I think it should be labeled more as YA.  And I TOTALLY understand why it’s won numerous awards and why it has such a high Goodreads rating.  And while I did enjoy it, I found myself skimming a lot.  It just wasn’t for me.  However, I think it would be the perfect book for a young person to read if they are experiencing any kind of grief.

***By the Shores of Silver Lake (Fiction, (?) L. Ingalls-Wilder)

The last one in the series.  I’ve now re-read the whole beloved series from my childhood.

***The Five Love Languages (Non-Fiction, G. Chapman)

Hmm.  I just couldn’t get into this one.  A lot of it felt self-explanatory and the writer just seemed to be tooting his own horn for the whole book.

4-Star (5)

****Along Came a Spider (Fiction, James Patterson, Alex Cross #1)

Oh, James Patterson.  I’ve read a random book of his here or there (he has SO MANY), but this one is the first one of the Alex Cross series, the one that ‘started it all’ according to the book cover.  It is dark (VERY dark), twisty, and suspenseful.  I had a hard time putting it down and read it quickly. There are currently 26 books in this series, and the 27^th is coming out later on this year I believe.  I have a lot of reading to do!

****Kiss the Girls (Fiction, James Patterson, Alex Cross #2)

Okay so if I thought the first Alex Cross book one was dark, I was in no way prepared for this one.  Probably the most disturbing book I’ve ever read. But…again, I couldn’t put it down.  And honestly I would not recommend it to anyone.  It is not for the faint of heart.  I actually had to take a break from it for like a week (and I NEVER do that with books) just because it was so intense/horrifying.  I plan to read it again lol.

****On the Banks of Plum Creek (Fiction (?) L. Ingalls-Wilder)

Quite the difference from the James Patterson books lol.  And I never know if these books should be considered fiction or non-fiction.  I think of them more as fiction.  But technically…they’re autobiographical.  So I don’t know.

****Fodor’s Kauai (Non-Fiction)

Technically I read it, so it counts, right?  Lol.  We’re *possibly* going to Kauai next year for our 10^th anniversary.  Possibly.  Everything is so stinking expensive!  Anyways, I thought I would read up a bit.  The internet always overwhelms me when trip planning.  I ALWAYS get a book.  This one is cool because it’s written by locals. 

****The Dearly Beloved (Fiction, Cara Wall)

Two couples.  The men both get ‘called’ to preach at a Presbyterian church in New York City.  The wives do not get along, which is unfortunate because they both go through some REALLY hard things basically alone.  I’ve heard this book compared a lot to Crossing to Safety, but I don’t agree with that. Crossing to Safety is a complete masterpiece, and the only similarities with this book is that the central characters are the 2 couples.  However, I really enjoyed it.  The writing is great.  The first half of the book is mostly character development (which is important, especially for Lily, one of the wives) and it’s a bit slow.  The second half really picks up in pace and dialogue.  This is a good one, especially because I think it’s her debut novel!

5-Star (1)

*****The Ultimate Kauai Guidebook: Kauai Revealed (Non-Fiction)

This one was way better than Fodor’s.  It was like “at the right side of the large palm tree next to the busted up yellow van, you’ll find the best shave-ice stand on the island”.  Lol.

Total Books Read: 11 (7 fiction, 4 non-fiction)

DNF (Did Not Finish) :

The Huntress (Fiction, K. Quinn) – I just couldn’t connect with this one and it was soooooo long.

Matterhorn (Fiction) – too much swearing