moving

With the wacky weather that hit the South, not too many folks have been moving around. The photos coming from Atlanta and Birmingham are insane. I believe the temps are going to start rising today, so many of those folks will be moving again. The highways will fill back up. The bridges won't be death traps. The ice will melt away like the Wicked Witch.

We've done a good job of moving at work. There is a small group of us who spend 20 minutes of our half hour lunch break, moving. We lift weights. We do some yoga. We stretch...and kick. If you don't watch Saturday Night Live you won't get that last sentence. Ha!

It's nice on many levels. We get warm. The office is kept like a fridge and many areas are quite chilly. We get away from the computer, the phone, the cubicle. We get to visit with ladies from other departments. We get to laugh and be loud and no one really cares. In fact, we are often a source of entertainment for those walking through the building.

Today, however, I need to move on down the road to Target. The Dukie-dog is out of biscuits/cookies. He does need his morning treat for retrieving the paper and his half treat for being a good boy while his momma was at work.

The boys are off to a speech tournament this weekend, so I get some alone time. Just me and the dust rag/vacuum. Yep, I've already planned my Saturday.

Enjoy!

assembly

Right after the first of the year, I lobbied our director for new chairs. We finally ordered them on Monday and they arrived yesterday. Our warehouse gal is out for her birthday, so she told us before she left that we could either build them ourselves or wait until she got back. We decided to give her a present and go ahead and get them assembled. She hates putting furniture together.

Rather humorous to have two of the four men in our entire office come and make sure we were doing things right. Ha! Yes, we know how to read directions and use an allen wrench. We assembled both of them in about 45 minutes. Easy-peasy.

It is rather exciting to have a new chair for my work space. It has just enough gadgets and settings to make it fun to adjust.

It really is the little things in life....

grateful

The magazine is coming along and I'm so grateful that my boss said he would help with the dreaded imposition chart today.

Thank God! lol

I hate that bloody thing with an undying passion. I guess the fact that I have spent 3 days laying out 18 pages of this issue sort of made him feel a wee bit guilty. Ha.

And we finally received the advertiser list, which makes the job possible. We only had to ask three times. Oi. Vey.

I'm grateful that while it is a whopping 15 degrees here, at least we don't have feet of snow to deal with and temps that have a negative number mark preceding them.

So, with a grateful heart, I head into work today. Yes, it is Tuesday.

the giver

I finished "The Giver" on Saturday and the hubby is now reading it.

In trying to sort through the thoughts and feelings I had about the book, I am left with a feeling of disappointment.

• This book won the major children's literature award. Really?
• I've read better dystopian novels for children and YA.
• I've read better novels for children and YA.
• It does have interesting/controversial themes and would provide plenty of material for classroom discussion, so I can see why teachers would want to teach/discuss this book. I can also see why the book is challenged and banned.
• With the length of the book, the themes and the characters are not fully developed in some cases.
• The ambiguous ending, as of now, has been resolved. Lowry has written 'sequels' set in that world including one about Gabe's birth mother and Gabe makes an appearance. So, he obviously doensn't die with Jonas at the end.
• They are making a movie of this book. Really? They are going to have to add a whole lot in to make it longer than an hour. Beau Bridge, Meryl Streep, and even Taylor Swift are going to star in it.

Now, my feelings of disappointment aside, I think the three of us will have one very interesting conversation based on the book. We can discuss euthanasia, infanticide, family structure, love, political oppression, societal oppression, culture, the concept of utopia, the cost of utopia and the list goes on.

I'm on to reading a sci-fi book a coworker gave me that has murky references to Norse mythology. Having a hard time 'getting into' this one.

Happy Monday.

starting book number four

I've started my fourth book of the new year, Lois Lowry's "The Giver." So far this has been a very interesting read and frankly, a depressing and haunting book. Why anyone would think as you begin the novel that it is set in a utopian world is beyond me. The controlling nature of the society Jonas is growing up in is horrific.

I am anxious to finish it and have the hubby read it so we can discuss it with the youngest.

In other news, the email was a slow trickle yesterday. I guess our email IT guy is out in Vegas getting his party on and the director told us it might be two days before our full email service is restored.

What. The. Heck.

TWO DAYS??? I have a magazine to finish. I told him that this timetable doesn't work for me. He laughed and said they'd do their best.

So, now my editorial review board has my personal email. I was sending articles out for review via that address and I am receiving their comments back at all hours of the day and night.  UGH. I think some of them need to take note of their peer's work with circadian rhythms and shut down at a decent time.

Off I go. Here's hoping the email will work today and I have 100 emails waiting for me when I get to the office. Never thought I'd wish to face that number at 7:30 in the morning.

no email

We all had quite a few emails waiting for us at work once we arrived. The magazine had a submission deadline of Monday and I expected half the morning to be dedicated to dealing with all of them. Once that chore was complete and I began to work with the articles and photos, time slipped away.

Before I knew it, lunch was over and I realized I hadn't received one response to the two dozen emails I had sent out since arriving.

That is odd. Very odd. So I asked my two colleagues and guess what....no emails there either. Yep. Something was wonky with the email elfs.

Of course this is happening during a short week that is critical for the magazine. I have to format all of these article and get them ready for review. I have to tell 90% of the authors that the photos they have provided are not good enough for print. Back and forth, back and forth. The emails needed to FLY yesterday.

Didn't happen.

Not looking forward to what today might bring.

book three

I've finished my third book for the new year, Anne Rice's "The Wolves of Midwinter." This is the second title in her Wolf Gift Chronicles.

Rice has created quite a legacy for the world. Many readers consider her vampire novels to be the starting point for all current vampire fiction. She reinvented the genre and gave us Lestat, Louis, and so many other fascinating creatures.

She moved on and explored the world of the Mayfair witches and let us get to know Lasher and Rowan.

She even took a tour through the New Testament and provided two beautifully written books about Jesus.

Now, she has created her man-wolf and a new cast of characters who roam northern California. Rice's writing is decadent. It is lush, complex, and layered. You have to read her novels slowly and with purpose. She requires quite a bit of thought and analysis from her readers as she shares philosophy and theology through her characters.

In "The Wolves of Midwinter" the Distinguished Gentleman and Reuben are preparing for the Christmas season. This will involve not only their own special Yule celebration away from human eyes, but a large festival in the town of Nideck. Reuben is coming to grips with several issues in his life and the wonder/magic/love of Christmas serves as the perfect backdrop for the action taking place in and around him. When you boil down many of Rice's plots what you have left is this: how do the relationships we have help us grow and evolve? Our relationship with the Divine, with our parents, with our friends, with our lovers all impact us in so many different ways. Her characters think about that and ponder it to an extent that many 'real' people never do. And it always comes back to Love and the many forms Love can take.

I'm an Anne Rice fan. I think she is a very intelligent and extremely interesting woman and writer. So, of course, I would recommend this book, but do read the first one in this series. In many ways, the book ends in such a way that Rice would not need to author a third one. I hope she does, but if she chooses not to, I would be content with how she left Reuben and his families, the human one and the furry one.

Off into Tuesday I go.

off we go

We are heading out tomorrow for T-town and will be back home on Monday. The Dukie-dog is going next door to his 'aunt's' house to play with his new cousin......a 3 month old golden lab puppy.

Cue laughter here. If you have seen these two dogs together, it is already obvious that the puppy is going to be calling ALL the shots in this relationship. Duke doesn't know what to make of this ball of yellow fluff and basically just tries to keep out of his way, or to herd him away, or to find ways of ignoring him.

We may have one very tired dog when we get home.

In other news, we are lunching out today as tomorrow one of the lunch bunch has to leave early for an appointment and isn't taking a lunch.

Happy Thursday. The week is speeding by....zip, zoom.

plans

Big plans for the afternoon and evening. Up first, a much needed haircut. Just a bit of pampering for me. Then the boy and I are going to the high school to watch the current play, "Barefoot in the Park." His speech and debate team president is directing the play, which is performed in the round, and he needs what is called school support hours for his Honors Academy. So, off we go.

I'm also starting to plan the weekend. The girl has requested cupcakes from her favorite shop. And, she and a friend will be coming back to deer camp to stay with us on Sunday night.

Not sure if hubby is judging at the competition or if I am as well. Who knows?! If I'm not, I'm hoping for some retail therapy with the oldest while in T-town. And I'm hoping for good weather so we can walk most places instead of driving.

Off into Wednesday I go.....have a good one!

oops, anne is up next

Thought I would be reading "The Giver," but the library had other plans. I finally was able to check out a copy of "The Wolves of Midwinter" by Anne Rice.

Whoop! I started it last night. As always, good stuff.

In other news, keeping lots of positive thoughts and prayers for a former soccer girl as she has decided to head back to school. This young lady struggles with panic attacks and anxiety. She had a very rough first semester and was on the fence about returning for the spring. She is going. Her mom and I chatted over the weekend and she sent me a note late last night to let me know what was going on. She is such a sweet young lady and it breaks my heart to know she is having problems.

Rainy day yesterday and while it isn't pouring this morning, it is extremely damp and icky outside. I really need to get back into my walking routine. The cold and icy sidewalks kept us off the 'path' for a while. Now I'm just being lazy. Ugh.

Off into Tuesday I go...have a good day.

mysteries with a touch of history

I've always enjoyed novels with a strong historic setting. If they involve historic figures as main characters, that is even better. For example, I love Sharon Kay Penman's novels. When I stumbled onto Ariana Franklin's "Mistress of the Art of Death" series, I was a very happy reader. She combines the amateur sleuth protagonist along with a historic setting in a seamless way.

When the hubby and I were in B&N after Christmas, I found one of Franklin's novels in the discount bin. It went home with me, of course. Franklin was actually Diana Norman and died in 2011. The title I found, "A Murderous Procession," was her last book in this series. If you want to learn more about the author and this series featuring a wonderful woman named Adelia, visit here: http://www.arianafranklin.com/franklin-bio.htm.

Up next will be Lois Lowry's "The Giver." Hard to believe, but I've never read this classic, award winning book.

Happy Monday.

stirring the pot

I unintentionally stirred a rather large pot yesterday. Oops. You just never know sometimes and when I forwarded the 'bounce' report from our last email campaign to the database manager, I really didn't intend for it to become such a large issue.

Well, it did. Okay, fine.

I'm sure the fall out from that one will continue over the next few weeks.

But, it is Thursday and that is a very good thing. And we were approved to purchase new chairs for work! Yeah! So, off to Office D. we will go to try a few on for size. When you sit on your fanny as much as we do, a nice chair is important.

Enough work stuff. Time to enjoy that first cup of coffee, the newspaper, and a bit of conversation with the hubby.

Enjoy your day.

off to school they go

The youngest and his sisters start classes today. Good Luck, kids!! The youngest almost had another day of vacation as the main water pipe at the high school burst. Yikes. They got the plumbers out and everything was fixed and cleaned up by early this morning. School is on!

I watched the season four premiere episode of Downton Abbey last night. Oh how I've missed Maggie Smith! She is amazing. The writers who give her those great lines are amazing. Superb. Simply superb. I feared that with O'Brien's departure for the warmer climes of India, the nasty baggage factor would be diminished. But, the  new lady's maid seems quite up to the task with the help of Thomas and they are already stirring up trouble both upstairs and down.

Fun, fun, fun.

We are setting up a coffee bar at work....in my boss' office. Ha. We will no longer drink the swill they call coffee (Folgers) and will now only enjoy freshly ground Starbucks! The things we do to keep our morale up. Oh, and during lunch the two Indiana girls are teaching our boss to play euchre. That was a hoot yesterday.

So, all in all, good stuff going on. Happy Wednesday.

brrrrr

It is 10 outside right now. The county closed the schools today due to the temperature. Too cold for these kids to walk or wait for the bus. To my northern self, that seems a bit crazy, but many kids don't have winter gear.

So, the boy gets an extra day of vacation. He was thrilled.

I took a blanket into work with me yesterday. It helped. The office is always cold, but it was chilly yesterday. I'm sure it will be even more chilly today since it never warmed up while we were all there.

The good news is that it should be 57 here by Saturday.

Got to love it.

Happy Tuesday.

here we go

Today is the first full work week of 2014 for me. The middle kid went back to school yesterday. The oldest will leave for campus today. The youngest starts his second semester tomorrow.

And we have some record breaking cold temps in the area, but none of the white stuff that many hoped would fall from they sky.

I think they have plenty of snow in other parts of the country.

So, happy Monday to you! Here we go.

1

My first book of 2014 is one that I began on my Christmas vacation, but set aside in order to start and finish reading "Hild."

"The Demon King" is book one in the Seven Realms series by Cinda Williams Chima. I began reading Chima back when I worked for the library as I purchased her first series for the collection. Her YA fantasy titles are always popular and with this newer series, I can see why she continues to do well.

She has three other titles out in this series, I just stumbled across the first one on the library's ebook site. Like her Warrior Heir series, she does a great job with epic fantasy, action, world building, and tosses in interesting characters to propel the whole plot along at a nice pace.

So, book number one is officially completed and I have started number two. Yes, I will have my 52 book goal again in 2014. I'd like to surpass it, but will commit to at least my one a week average for now.

Off to work I go. It was a wonderful holiday, couldn't have asked for anything better.

52

I finished book number 52 last night, "Hild" by Nicola Griffith!! Goodbye 2013, it was a good year for us and we are looking forward to 2014.

May your New Year be filled with goodness.