and she scores....

Beautiful left footed strike makes its way into the back of the net....oh yeah!  The girls won last night's game 4-0 and my younger soccer chick scored our second goal of the night. A sight to behold and what made it even more special was that she had so many friends there in the stands to see it.  Her old soccer coaches from her Cougar's days were there as well as a former team mate.  Good times on the pitch last night.

I did not even open a book yesterday and with the housework I need to accomplish today, unless I move at a high rate of speed, I doubt I will have the chance to read today.

I'm also expecting the cable people to arrive as we are switching our phone provider over to them and bundling our services into a 'deal' they have going for the next year.

Happy Friday!!

Christie, Fitzgerald and Wells

Gosh, September is a good time for writer's birthdays. The three folks in the blog entry title were all born this month. Astrid Lindgren was also born in September. Who doesn't love her darling character Pippi Longstocking?  I'm trying something new on our Friends facebook page and attempting to update the daily status with some tidbit of book related information. I think Friday will be random author trivia. If I can come up with a theme for each day, it will make it easier on me and provide a rhythm for the posts. 

Stocking the store was a blast yesterday since we had so many good books to choose from and to place on the shelves. That donation we received this week really kept us all busy and brought big smiles to lots of faces.  Nice!

I'm well into the Patricia Briggs book. I do love her Mercy Thompson series. Good stuff all around. I may venture out to B&N today and buy the fourth Kate Daniels book by Ilona Andrews.  I passed along the copy of the "Gargoyle" to one of my Friends buddies and she is thoroughly enjoying it. Sharing a good read with friends is such fun.

Not sure what is up for the weekend. The soccer girls are refereeing the small fry recreational games. The rest of us will have to find things to do. Somehow I don't think that will be a problem.

Happy Friday. 

books, books, books

The Friends of the Library book sale is underway. Last night was the pre-sale for members. From all reports, it was a smashing success with 30 new memberships purchased and lots of books sold. Today the sale opens to the public and there is nothing better than helping folks find books to read. I just love talking authors and stories with our shoppers....avid readers are such a fun group.

Birthday felicitations today to my Uncle Matt who turned 73 yesterday and my bestest friend since our freshman year in college, Cindy, who turns 45 today.

I started reading Lev Grossman's book, "The Magicians" and have already determined that this is going to be a good one....I'm on page 47. Can't wait to spend some time with this novel over the weekend.

Had a delightful lunch outside on the patio of one of our local Tex-Mex places yesterday with my usual lunch crew. Nothing better than good food, great weather and fun conversations.

The oldest and hubby head off to the middle of our state for three soccer games. The middle kid is refereeing five soccer games this weekend. The youngest and I will find some sort of trouble to get into I'm sure.

Enjoy the weekend.

quick post

The oldest is awake, munching her cereal and waiting to use the computer as she needs to complete a transfer off a thumb drive and return the drive to a friend at school.

So, short post for today.

19 out of 24. Yep, that is how many days of rain we've had. Ugh.
Think I will clean closets and desks today. Ugh.
Think I will reward myself with a nice long afternoon reading a book I found donated at the Library. Yeah!

Enjoy the weekend....ours will be soccer filled as they try and make up games that were rained out.

friday

Here comes the weekend and it looks like the rain we've had since last Sunday is going to hold on and stay with us. ugh. ugh. ugh.

The sun came out for a brief moment yesterday and I walked out to the patio and stood facing that bright, glowing, orb and just let the sunshine beat down on me. I get a little disconcerted if I go without sun for more than a few days. Going without sustained sunshine for a week is trying my patience. I thought we left this gloom and drear when we moved away from the Great Lake region and settled in the south.

I finished reading the de la Cruz book yesterday.....so-so. Not sure if it was the book or if it is me. I found myself skimming the last fifty pages and that is never a good sign. Sometimes a series has a book or two in it that just don't quite capture your full attention and I'm hoping that this is the case for this book.

Up next is the latest Marcus Didius Falco mystery from Lindsey Davis. Our intrepid Roman sleuth is on vacation in Alexandria when the head librarian winds up dead. These are clever books with sly wit. Yum.

Hope the sun is shining somewhere; maybe we will get some afternoon sunshine like we did yesterday. It might be enough to get me through until this system is replaced by something more to my liking.

another at home day

Going to have another at home day today....the cold seems to be lessening its grip on me, but I'm still a long ways from my usual, productive self.

So, I will be enjoying Sarah Dunant's book, "Sacred Hearts," drinking another gallon or so of orange juice and breaking into my third box of tissues.

Happy Friday, enjoy the weekend etc......

friday

I read two books yesterday. Yes, two of them. Once we finished stocking the store and dealing with the donations from this past week, I scanned the shelves and the online catalog for the next two Karen Marie Moning titles in her Fever series. I came away with "Bloodfever" and "Faefever." The later one I had to dig for in the work room as it was waiting to be shelved in the stacks. But, I found it!!

I devoured those books. Nothing else got done. Good thing I had planned on sandwiches for dinner and those are self serve, no cooking required by me. Good thing I cleaned earlier in the week.

I read from 11:00 until 8:00 last night......had a few interruptions, but mainly I immersed myself in Mac's world and loved every minute of it.

What a great escape. Can't wait to get my hands on the next title "Dreamfever"....I put a hold on it at the library, should be mine within the next ten days. Not sure if I can wait that long!

My folks arrived in Florida and I will get my mom's take on my grandma's condition at some point today. My uncle had arrived earlier and had already seen her, he felt the nurses didn't quite explain just how bad off she is. But, he saw her just a few weeks ago after she had the car accident and her current condition compared to then sounds to be drastically changed.

Glad the weekend is ahead.

uh huh, that's right, who's the girl?!

Woot. Whee. Wahooo.

Had my second 'soccer' article appear in a local paper. The editor patched together three press releases and made one huge article and ran that along with two photos. It turned out well and looked good.

So that is two articles I've managed to place and the season hasn't even started yet. I'm happy. Nothing quite like a byline to get my feet dancing in the kitchen.

It has been a good week. Had a great meeting with the gals who will be taking on the bookstore when my time is up on October 1. Had a good time sorting donations and putting together a sale cart for the store, which then resulted in booming sales for the store and many happy readers. The happy readers makes me smile, it is a good thing to keep readers reading.

Today I think I will just go out and bum around town; we have a brand new Big Lots store to explore and I may treat myself to a fancy coffee drink and cookie down at our town square.

We have a busy soccer filled weekend ahead, so today is going to serve as my Saturday and Sunday; a day for rest, relaxation and fun.

friday recap

This week flew! Sort of like the baby mockingbirds we've enjoyed watching. The two who were lingering around the patio seemed to have made it into the tree tops at this point, only coming back 'home' at night.

Still reading "Brisingr" but I have high hopes of finally finishing the book either today or tomorrow.

Didn't make it to the concert on the Square last night as the oldest needed to go and talk with her soccer club coach. Her last day of high school conditioning is today...tryouts next week and then the real fun begins!

Going to be a hot one today, I think the paper said a high of 98. Whew.

We will have an extra four legged beastie staying with us for the next 10 days. He is a good boy and the two doggies enjoy each other's company.

Enjoy the weekend!

friday recap

Oops, didn't even realize I didn't blog yesterday until this morning. Things happen when you are out of the normal routine!

Swimming lessons are almost finished for the week, the big finale showcase is today.
Pre-pre-soccer season conditioning is over.
Went to our first ever town farmer's market yesterday and brought home some delicious veggies and fruit.
Had a good time doing our Thursday morning sorting, stocking at the bookstore.
Read a little more in "Brinsingr" and have decided I will finish the book.
Ready for the big three day weekend.

Happy 4th of July!

friday

Rode my bike alongside my oldest as she went for her morning run.
Coerced the kids into helping me wash the van.
Ready to get cleaned up and start the rest of the day.


Ahhhhhh. I love summer.

if you stir the pot, you better have a long spoon

When I looked at the calender this morning I realized I have a wide open day today. I stood for a moment in sheer amazement and if I had been more awake, I might have danced a little jig.

We were supposed to have soccer practice for the oldest kid tonight, but the coach gave them the night off. Now, this decision is a bit counter intuitive....they played so awful last night and lost 3-1 that he told them he just didn't want to see them until their game on Saturday and they needed to decide if they were soccer players or crappy kick ball players. It was pretty sad....all across the field.

So, everyone is home tonight, which may mean that hubby and I sneak out for a date. Now, how fun would that be??? I think it sounds like a plan.

For today, well, today I am still stirring the pot that I stumbled across earlier in the week. Read this week's posts to learn all about that. Right now I'm in the solution phase. If you have a problem it does no good to just complain or moan about it, you need to come up with a way to solve it. That is my current goal and it just so happens that my solution is one that other people have also considered. So, we must all be on the right track.

I need to make some phone calls today and perhaps begin the first draft of a letter and maybe even a proposal for a grant or scholarship fund.

Long spoon in hand, away I go! Have a good weekend and don't forget the sunscreen.

more rain

It was a dark and stormy night.......

I couldn't resist. We've had a TON of the wet stuff this week. The yard is like a sponge. My flowers are bent over from all the water showered down on them. The only good thing is the pollen has been washed out of the air and down the nearest drain.

Today I'm finishing my cabinet cleaning, lining and touch up painting. Going to be a big effort as the kitchen is in my sights.

The hubby and the middle kid head east for a soccer tournament. The oldest and youngest kids are staying put with me. Not sure what our weekend will bring even though we've scheduled things; the rain may impact a lot.

So, the word for the weekend is: QUACK!

spring break dead ahead

As soon as the youngest hits the front porch this afternoon, spring break will be officially underway. For the first several days we will have an extra 'body' in the house. The neighbor's greyhound is hanging out with us while they travel to Texas. We also have four soccer games over the weekend since the oldest is playing in a local tournament. Beyond those two 'events,' I'm not sure what else we are doing.

Some possibilities are......going to the movies; taking a nature hike, having a picnic, working in the flower beds, spring cleaning the house and going bowling. Of course, the weather will impact a lot of what we will or will not do over the next week.

I'm hoping for some sunny and warm days. I'd like to sit outside with a good book, a tall glass of lemonade and soak up some much needed vitamin D.

friday recap

Some weeks it is best to just focus your efforts on maintaining the status quo. The first week of the month is that sort of week with all the Library-Friends events that happen plus the normal family-kid activity events on the schedule.

I have a special treat lined up for myself on Sunday. I'm going to escape to B&N and meet my buddy Kim for coffee and conversation. We've been trying to get together since before Christmas and I have high hopes that Sunday will give us the chance to sit and visit for a good amount of time. I can't wait to hear all the exciting things she is doing with her book(s), promotions, blog-radio show etc.

Still haven't made any more progress in the Mona Lisa book, but perhaps today, after I clean the house, I can carve out some time to read.

time to pay the bill

I procrastinated all week and did not stick to my usual schedule. The result is that today I'm under the gun to get the house cleaned and in good order while also getting ready to send the oldest off to a soccer tournament, prepare for the youngest's birthday bowling bash and keep the middle one from feeling left out!

First up for today, however, is taking the dog for a nice walk in the sunshine. I wish it was a bit warmer outside, but at least the sky is clear and the wind isn't blowing too hard. I need the exercise as he does.

Then I'm off to the grocery store and then home to pay the bill I've let accumulate all week long!

what happens when I don't blog before 6:00...

When I don't blog first thing in the morning, well, close to first thing as the drinking of that magical first cup of coffee actually comes first, I struggle for words to put down as the minutiae of the day begins to intrude upon my feeble brain synapses.

No insights to share.
No revelations to reveal.
Just lists of things that must get done in a certain order or else the universe of Liz will begin to unravel like the space time continuum on Lost.

So, rather than bore you with my "must get done before 2:00 to do list"....which is quite long and quite boring except for my lunch date today....I pass along a wish for a great and relaxing weekend.

toodles....

recap

This has been a very weird and disjointed week. Lots of ups and downs, plans changed or canceled, good and bad all rolled into the past seven days.

I got this via an email and had fun playing with it.... click on various items in the photo and watch what happens. The door out of the room is my personal favorite.....

http://www.palinaspresident.us/


Have a good weekend.