I didn't mean to disappear for two weeks, but life has gotten rather hectic. As many of you know, we are planning to move to Oregon once my husband retires in May and after we sell our house. We had originally planned to put it on the market at the end of April, but we decided to go ahead and meet with our agent and see what she advises. She feels the market in our community continues to be strong for sellers, so the paperwork to list has been drawn up and things are moving ahead rather quickly. I may continue to be rather quiet around here for a little bit, but not to worry. I will be back. I'm also contemplating a name change to the blog since I will no longer be living on the prairie. Any suggestions? We're planning to live on the coast of Oregon, so I'm open to all suggestions for a new name!
I'll see you all soon! Fingers crossed that we sell quickly. I am quite happy to spend my days packing rather than tidying up after my husband and dog...
Note to self: Breathe. This too shall pass.
Well, I wrote a draft of this post on Thursday and now it's Saturday. Things are happening rather quickly around here. The house sold on the first day!
Well, hello November. How did you sneak up on me? Has it really been four months since my last post? And, over six months since my last book review?! I hadn't planned to be away that long! I guess I always knew I'd return to this corner of my life or I would have posted a formal goodbye. I wasn't feeling pressured to blog, but spring rolled around and I got busy with outdoor life (although not to the extent I used to... I love a beautiful yard, but don't really care to spend too much time working at it) and travel (photos of three fun-filled vacations will be shared on Wordless Wednesday over the next few months). But things seem to be settling down now (says she who is about to dive into yet another season of holiday madness as a bookseller at Barnes & Noble!). Hey, I'll give it my best shot. As far as book reviews, I think I'll keep things simple. Maybe I'll share what I've read with a brief comment or two, much like what I now do on Goodreads. If I feel compelled to elaborate or include a lot of favorite passages, I'll go that route. In any event, I want to be back here, sharing my thoughts and photos and reconnecting with all of you. Thank you for being so patient and keeping me in your blog feeds. :)
I guess I'll start off with some photos from the weekend. We are enjoying some amazingly warm temps. 76 yesterday and 82 today. I know we're going to eventually get hit with some colder weather, so I'm enjoying the fact that I can still wear shorts and sandals, even though what little tan I had has long since faded.
We took a long walk yesterday afternoon, enjoying the fall colors and spending a little time wandering around our city's rose garden. We've ridden our bikes past this park on several occasions, but this was the first time we spent any time strolling among the roses. Most are finished for the season, but there were a few still blooming. Afterwards, we rewarded ourselves with an iced cold beer out on our porch. All in all, it was a great afternoon.
I haven't been reading much these days, but I decided to start The Boys in the Boat last night (unofficially, joining the Nonfiction November challenge). I've been eager to read this book ever since it was first released in hardcover, so I'm happy to have a gentle nudge to finally dust it off my shelf. The last book I read was Find the Good by Heather Lende. Oh, and I'm also listening to The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh. (Yes, I plan to update my sidebar!)
And now it's time to go start dinner and spend some time working on my photos from my recent trip. My mom and I went on a river cruise in Austria, Germany and the Netherlands and I have hundreds of photos to edit!
I'll leave you with a question of the day: Do any of you actually like daylight savings time?
Not that I post with any regularity, but I thought I should let y'all know that I'm going to be unplugged for the holiday weekend. We're off to Colorado (Red Feather Lakes) and won't have access to the Internet until Wednesday morning. This is always a rough weekend for us, so it will be nice to get away with some good friends. If the weather cooperates, we'll go for long hikes (just us and the bears & mountain lions!), cook delicious meals, play board games, and drink lots of wine. Hmmm, at 9,000 feet, maybe I should be careful with the wine...I'll be back next week with several book reviews. April and May were good reading months.I hope everyone has a relaxing (and safe) holiday weekend!
I'm going to take a short break from blogging. My husband had an emergency appendectomy on Friday night and was finally discharged from the hospital this afternoon. While the appendix didn't rupture, it came very close, resulting in a series of IV antibiotics, pain meds and a much longer recovery than normal. He's no longer in excruciating pain, but he's worn out and quite happy to have me wait on him. :)
I have several reviews to write and will start posting them later next weekend. But now it's time for a nap!
Yes, I'm still here! It's been over two weeks since my last post. Yikes! This is definitely the longest bloggy break I've taken without some sort of an announcement. I hope you haven't all given up on me.
I've been busy with work (back to my regular 7-2 schedule, although next week I'll be working 7-3), gardening, entertaining, and another road trip. We were in St. Louis for several days in April and hit the road again over Memorial Day weekend, taking the motorcycle and MiniCooper out to Broken Bow (located in the Nebraska Sandhills). I've been busy with all the photos I shot on both trips, posting a daily shot on my photoblog.But what have I been reading, you ask? Nothing!! I finished one book in May. Yep, you read that right. Just one! However, remember that long to-do list I posted earlier? Well, I've accomplished quite a bit, which of course makes me very happy.Wash the front porch and deck (which are both covered in a lovely layer of fine, yellow pollen) Did it!Wash the cars My sweet husband took care of this for me.Wash the windows (I'm willing to skip the ones that nobody but us looks out) Still needs to be done.Paint the guest room and my office (This has been on my list for a few years now and every spring I say, this is the year!) Calling about this tomorrow.Buy annuals and replacement perennials for flower beds and pots on deck. Plant them! Almost finished!Tackle the weeding before it gets out of hand. (Too late!) Now I just need to stay on top of them.Get the carpets cleaned. Done!Schedule A/C tune-up before the heat & humidity arrive. Done!Continue sorting and posting photos recently shot on a couple of trips to Missouri. On-going processing, especially now that I've added another set of photos to the mix!Store all the winter clothing and gear that was tossed into a big pile in the basement over a month ago. Oops. Forgot all about this.Start brushing Annie on a regular basis. She's beginning to blow her winter coat and we're back to dealing with all that beautiful dog hair. On-going chore.Start using the Swiss exercise ball I bought over a month ago (and have only used once!). Thank goodness I decided to get that rather than a Wii Fit. I'm only out $25 if it doesn't get used as often as it should. Hmmmm. Maybe tomorrow...Post new recipes on my food blog. It's been neglected for far too long and I really want to try this recipe. Hmmm. Maybe today?Read more! I'm still reading the same book I started two weeks ago. It's not long or involved. I'm just too busy (or tired) to read more than a few pages every night. I'm trying! I've got a couple of books going right now, but gave up on a couple that weren't holding my interest.Post my monthly summary for April! We're almost halfway through May, for heaven's sakes. And now it's time for May's!So, I'm almost ready to settle down and enjoy the summer with lots of good books. And get out on the lake in my kayak. And spend some time floating in a pool. And ride my bike. Guess I really do need more hours in my day.
Oh, and did I happen to mention a particular book signing I plan to attend next weekend? My favorite biker/car-washer/editorial dude is participating in a local author event at my Barnes & Noble from 2-4 on Saturday. Should be great fun! Stay tuned for photos of that exciting event!
