2 Wheatens Weblog

Finished my first book on my new Kindle and it was an extremely pleasing experience.
It was a little weird not touching the texture of the pages or smelling the book, but I managed to read last 85% of the book today without any problems or annoyances.
I think the Kindle and I will become great friends and I can see myself being obsessed with the lower prices of books and the easy click to purchase in seconds feature.
I wish there was a place to view my wish list on the actual Kindle (maybe there is and I haven’t found it) – that would be my only “I wish it did this…” thing about it.

Happy reading to all! I’ve now completed 4 books since January 1st…pretty good!

Loves.

Across the Universe

My ongoing goal since 1999 is to read one book every month. If I miss a month…I must make it up some time during the year.  Any more books over that is just a bonus. 

I’ve decided to keep my goal for 2010, even though I read more than 12 books this year.  I’m doing that because my second goal is to read a bit more substance this year…see below:

I had an awesome year of reading, from a numbers standpoint, in 2009. I read one book about every two weeks (29 total). Unfortunately, not too much substance. I read mostly what I would call my “in between” reads instead of my substance reads and would also venture to call it the “finishing the series” year.  I actually didn’t get all of them completed, but did really good. I plan on finishing up the rest of them during the beginning of 2010, so I can start on a very long, but very worth it (so I’m told) series called Outlander.

Rachel’s Books Read for 2009:
• The Sea of Monsters (Percy Jackson 2): Rick Riordan
•The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson 1): Rick Riordan
  Lost (Magic Thief, #2): Sarah Prineas
• The Freedom Writers Diary: Erin Gruwell
• Loving Frank: Nancy Horan
• Finger Lickin’ Fifteen: Janet Evanovich
• City of Bones (Mortal Instruments, #1): Cassandra Clare
• City of Ashes (Mortal Instruments, #2): Cassandra Clare
• City of Glass (Mortal Instruments, #3): Cassandra Clare
• The Hundred Dresses: Eleanor Estes
• Godmother: The Secret Ciderella Story: Carolyn Turgeon
• High Voltage Tattoo: Kat VonD
• Stolen (Magic Thief, #1): Sarah Prineas
• Pride and Prejudice: Jane Austen
• The Tortilla Curtain: T.C. Boyle
• Full Tilt Janet: Evanovich
• Full Speed Janet: Evanovich
• Full Blast Janet: Evanovich
• Full Bloom Janet: Evanovich
• Dead Until Dark (Sookie Stackhouse #1): Charlaine Harris
• Living Dead in Dallas (Sookie Stackhouse #2): Charlaine Harris
• The Friday Night Knitting Club: Kate Jacobs
• Bubbles Ablaze (Bubbles Yablonsky #3): Sarah Strohmeyer
• Bubbles A Broad (Bubbles Yablonsky #4): Sarah Strohmeyer
• Bubbles Betrothed (Bubbles Yablonsky #5): Sarah Strohmeyer
• Bubbles All The Way (Bubbles Yablonsky #6): Sarah Strohmeyer
• Plum Lucky: Janet Evanovich
• To Kill a Mockingbird: Harper Lee
• Wish You Well: David Baldacci

We won’t mention the books I started, hated, and refused to complete!

Happy reading to all in 2010!!!!

just added some pictures of my new Christmas purchases to my flickr. I used some Christmas money from Bob and Dina and a gift card from my boss, Renee. I love the lamps!!! Bought at Lowe’s – I had been waiting for 3 months for a price drop, but they told me it would never happen. Christmas money works.
I got the reading table at Target for 50% off and the drawer is holding 4 books I got from mom for Christmas!!!

I also added pictures of the 2wheatens. I just trimmed their feet, cut their nails, trimmed their butts and trimmed around their eyes. Bella was so happy to pose. Booker is always a struggle…

In other news…we had to take Bob to the emergency room last night for chest pains. They finally ruled out a heart attack, but he will have a stress test done tomorrow. We were so freaked out and none of us got much sleep last night, except the 2wheatens…

I hope everyone had a happy holiday!!

I forgot to mention that Mosel wine is made close to where Dina (my MIL) grew up and that is why we went with the German wine. There was another bottle of wine, too…there might or might not be some left…

good Good birthday due to German wine (and other stuff, too ):

I have not missed you.

Go away and come back some other day when my family isn’t travelling to see me.

Goodbye.

Christmas is right around the corner…a week away. And that means my birthday is coming…let’s talk about something else.

Today was a long day (well, it’s not even 4 and it seems like two days have gone by). James went to the nose, ear, throat doctor and will have to go back for tests. They think deviated septum…I totally called that, like a year ago (why don’t people listen to me?).  Then we spent the morning making trips to the storage unit and back to unload. Finally, found my cd-r’s!!  We still have a ways to go, but it’s looking better. The garage, however, is super full. My car will be outside for awhile Cold mornings…

We used up a gift card for Mondo’s Sports Cafe. The food and service were excellent. I had the chicken and avocado blt with water. Love avocado!!! JP had the italian sausage sandwich, which smelled awesome!!!  It was covered in cheese, so I’ll never eat it.

After lunch we came back and took the new recliner upstairs to the guest room and brought the old recliner downstairs.  We thought the old recliner would look good with the replacement couch (technically a loveseat).  We were right about that.  And once we moved the new recliner upstairs I HAD to move the furniture around a bit, so the guest room is arrange slightly different. See my flickr for pics.  And since we were getting a smaller piece of furniture as a replacement…we moved the downstairs around.  It definitely looks better in person. There is a lot more room to manuever downstairs and both sitting areas are very comfortable.  I’m really excited about this!! Some day it will look even better after we save the money for a flat panel wall TV.  I just need a couple of lamps to finish off the downstairs.

After all the moving I uploaded some pics and talked to mom on the phone. They’ve decided to total her car, so we will be car shopping with her. I’m hoping to get her into a CR-V or a RAV

Now, I need to write out some bills and see what the mutts are doing. Quietness usually doesn’t mean peace when it comes to the 2wheatens.  James is going to the basketball game at City tonight, so I should be able to unpack some stuff and possibly make a couple more trips to storage…or I could sew the rest of Katie’s baby blanket. Hmmm…I sewed for around 3.5 hours yesterday and it was so much fun. I made 4 stockings (see flickr), while Deb disassembled an ongoing 10 year project. It was sad to see her ball it up, but she made it look like fun

Besides the fact that we almost lost the 2wheatens yesterday, nothing much has been happening.

Things to note about that little mishap: 1. make sure to look around the corner to see if gate is closed  2. update collar information to real address and telephone number

We haven’t been back to the storage area to retrieve anything this week, so we’ll probably do some of that this weekend.  That means I’ll be able to locate my cd-r’s to make some fun cds for friends!! And most importantly, I’ll be able to decorate for Christmas because all my decor is in the storage unit.

It’s about time for me to wake James up, so he can snow blow the drive for me. I don’t have to be in, technically, until 12 – however, if I get there at 9 I will be paid overtime for 3 hours. So, so, so tempting! And completely doable.

I will leave you all with some of my new fav downloads from iTunes (and some from friends):

1. What I Wouldn’t Do by A Fine Frenzy
2. I Want You To… by Jem
3. Chasing Pirates by Norah Jones
4. Dream A Little Dream of Me by The Beautiful South
5. You’ve Ruined Me by Norah Jones
6. 500 miles by Tori Amos
7. Defying Gravity by Idina Menzel
8. Somebody to Love by Glee Cast
9. A Silent Night with You by Tori Amos (Midwinter Graces)
10. Somewhere Over the Rainbow [Live] by Tori Amos

posted pics of the furkidz on my Flickr. They have been having a blast playing inside and outside. Tonight Booker discovered the toy bin’s new location and started pulling out toys. A mini fight ensued, but both remain civil after the altercation.  Then, Booker got his play on with a pink toy. Whatever floats your boat, I guess!!