Until Next Time...

So, it's been a couple of weeks. Here's how that's been going....  I started, and quit, a fitness challenge that was supposed to run from Memorial Day to July 4.  I did really good the first week and a half.  I swam, I walked, I did some belly dancing and pilates.  Then, my girls got home and we came to Hubs's cabin on the river and I got a little lazy (read that to say I got a LOT lazy).  We did some walking outside but it's so stinking hot and the driveway here is a mountain. Since this is like being in BFE, phone service is limited and we've gone WAAAAY over the data on the jetpack, so even Youtube exercise videos are out of the question at the moment.  I need to just make myself exercise.  But I'm weak.  And lazy.  And I must do better. Food wise, I've been doing AH-MAZ-ING!  Sticking to my points, not snacking too much, making healthy choices.  Monday was weigh in day, but alas, no scale here so that will  have t...

Good Morning!   Yes, I'm one of *those* people.  The ones who are unusually happy and greet everyone with a "good morning".  I use to teach with a lady that would look at me and say, "It's just morning.  There isn't anything good about it cause we're at school."  I'd just smile in response. Because, really?  What is there to say to that? So, I said I was going to try oatmeal this morning.  And I have.  And the jury is still out on whether or not I like it.  I know, you're wondering why I'd try oatmeal if I don't like it.  Or better yet, you're wondering how I've never tried oatmeal before.  Well, let me explain... I'm a Southerner.  Born in southeast Texas, raised in coastal Louisiana, currently shacking up in Alabama. I joke and say you couldn't get much more southern than me since I'm from below I-10 (if you don't understand that, look at the map up there). In fact, I've never lived north of  ...

Chocolate chip cookie dough fudge.  Yeah, yeah.  I know that doesn't sound like it goes with the all the diet talk from yesterday. That would be correct, oh wise one.  But in my defense I did use fat free sweetened condensed milk.  You couldn't even tell.  And the sweetened condensed milk was still good enough to eat with a spoon. Which I did. But only 3 spoonfuls. Then I covered it and put the rest in the fridge for later HAHAHA And I only ate one piece of fudge.  It hit the spot. I'll send some home with Lauren for her and Graem to enjoy. So, to even out the fudge, I made skinny chimichangas and steamed broccoli.  It was tasty.  Lauren and I weren't too sure about the chimichangas and how only 1/2 pound ground meat would make dinner, but it easily made 4 chimichangas.  I was surprised.  And now I have lunch for tomorrow :) In case you're wondering, I got the recipe for the Skinny Chimichangas off of Kitchme ...

It's been a LOOOOONNNGGGG while since I've been here.  Apparently, it's been *whispers* five years.  What's been going on with you in that time?  Well, I'm still reading...and writing reviews.  I'm still on GoodReads, but I run a romance book blog with my bestie Amanda.  Check us out... Two Girls with Books .  We have a good time with that.  I haven't been in the classroom in a couple of years, but I did apply for a couple of teaching jobs just over the weekend.  And I still have my lovely family :) My girls have all but grown up.  If you remember, I have 5 girls.  My oldest is living in Louisiana with her two children (yep, I'm a Mimi now).  The second one just re-enrolled in college, she's 24.   I have her junior class picture on here somewhere LOL  She'd DIE if she knew I had that posted.  The middle one lives in Huntsville and works at The Walking Company.  They have great shoes and she gets an amazi...

The Woman Who Loved Jesse James by Cindi Myers My rating: 4 of 5 stars 3.5 stars When I was a young girl, I had strange goals and dreams.  At one point in time, I wanted to be a truck driver (this was after watching Smokey and the Bandit).  As I got older, I dreamed of being a mafia wife.  All through those times, though, I had a strange obsession with Jesse James and the James Gang.  I don't know where I first heard of him, but I was smitten.  I guess it was kind of like the dream of being a mafia wife...mysterious and dangerous and on the wrong side of the law. Well, if I hadn't been in love with Jesse James before, this book would have done it for me.  This was the story of Jesse and his wife, Zee.  It was a fictionalized telling of their life, with a dash of truth thrown in.  The author portrayed Jesse as a loving, caring man who valued his wife and family, even though he had an adventurous soul and couldn't be happy living a normal l...

Reflected in You by Sylvia Day My rating: 5 of 5 stars ***BE WARNED!!  THERE MAY BE SPOILERS AHEAD!!**** Yeah.  Well.  I just don't know what to say.  With the way this ended, I don't know that I can accept it.  Does Gideon's actions finally make sense? Yes.  But the better question is, does it make up for the hell Eva has felt and lived through because of his actions?  I say no.  At least for me it doesn't.  I want to be like Eva and just be ok with him ignoring her for the most part, for running hot and cold with her, for being seen in public with his ex-fiancee and having everyone believe they'd gotten back together, including Eva herself.  I'm not.  And I'm mad.  Not just at Gideon for doing these things (for Eva's protection), but I'm mad at Eva for knowing, knowing , that she's falling back into her old self-destructive depressive patterns, and continuing to allow the little contact they had to continue to eat her...

Play of Passion by Nalini Singh My rating: 5 of 5 stars IT'S WAR!!!  At least that is what is going on in the overall story line with this series.  The Psy Council has split in two factions - those wanting to continue on with Silence, even knowing it's failing and those who are ready to change cause they see how it isn't working.  So, the Changelings are brought into the internal fight among the Psy because of Psy defectors and business dealings.  And I CAN NOT WAIT TO SEE WHERE THIS GOES!!!! Oh yeah!  This was a romance book.  Did I forget to mention that?  Sorry. I got a little excited there cause I love the world that Nalini Singh created and I read these for the overall story as much as for the romance. This was Drew Kincaid and Indigo Rivere's book.  Both are members of the SnowDancer wolf pack.  Indigo, or Indy as Drew calls her, is a Lieutenant and Drew is the Tracker for the pack.  I fell head over heals in love with Drew. ...