Scott and Sue Family

Gentle Spectrums 2014

February 24, 2014 by Sue 3 Comments

I had an invite from RIEDEL Fascination to join one of her new reading challenges and I’m always game for a new one. These go February 1st, 2014 – February 28th, 2015 so we’re not spending the holidays finishing books and posting wrap-up posts. Great idea! Also she’s not big on lots of picky rules so they are fairly straightforward.

I am joining Gentle Spectrums and choosing option (B) GENTLE SUBJECTS

Fit one book title into each category.

(1) PLANTS
Trees, flowers, grass, gardening & crop-sowing references.

(2) STRUCTURES
A building, rooms, a room or building’s parts.

(3) NATIONS
Culture names, locations ~ lakes, towns, famous spots.

(4) STONES
Synonyms, gems, ruins, geological formations.

(5) FAMILIES
Types of relatives, last names, full names.

(6) QUINTUPLED
A title of 5+ words (articles are fine).

(7) CHEESY
Lame puns or quotations, outrageous, silly; actual cheeses!

(8) ENCHANTING
Mystical, eerie (enchanting content fulfills title; no debunked ending).

(9) WEATHER
Any words approximating weather or seasons.

(10) CHEERFUL
Positive messages, conveys pleasant images!

Sleeping in luxury

February 8, 2014 by Sue Leave a Comment

After 18 years of sleeping on this:

2014-01-31 12.19.45 2014-01-31 12.22.17

we finally got a new bed! We got an Intellibed because they are awesome and we have connections, and it is totally sweet! So comfortable! I can’t wait to go to bed each night. Happy dance! Squeeee!

Red-letter day

January 11, 2014 by Sue Leave a Comment

Today we accomplished something big: we got Christmas all packed up and put away. Yay! On top of that momentous achievement, we also got all the snowmen out. Double yay! With me tired and worn out from my family history mission and Scott working a bazillion hours, we have to prioritize. And frankly, having the holiday stuff up longer than normal didn’t seem like such a bad thing. I decided that if my neighbors were judging me for still having the tree in the front window and turning on the lights every night, so be it. Their problem, not mine, right?

This is the latest we’ve ever taken it down, but as Scott said, it was also the latest we’ve put it up, so it all works out. I was sick for most of December, so it was slow going with the decorating. But then, I move slower all the time now, so it’s all good. I am serene.

Happy snow and snowmen!

One Little Word 2014

January 1, 2014 by Sue Leave a Comment

It’s time again to choose my word for the year. It’s an attempt to choose a word that influences my state of mind throughout the year and creates a structure and framework for my life. Here are my past choices: 2009-SERENE, 2010-CREATE, 2011-BALANCE, 2012-VARIETY, 2013-MEMORY.

This is what I wrote last year:

This year my word is….MEMORY. I want to focus on capturing past memories by working hard on the boys’ scrapbooks and getting them closer to the present day. I want to focus on doing more with my family history projects to remember my ancestors. I want to focus on creating some memories of me through new cuddly quilts.

As I’ve been pondering what to choose for 2014, I find that my goals are the same. I did well with family history by working on my own, scanning lots of my parents’ stuff and starting a blog for our family history. I also got some quilts done but didn’t do one page of scrapbooking. I want to pick that back up and continue with the family history and quilting.

So my word for 2014 is…MEMORY. Again. Happy New Year!

Sue’s Reading Statistics for 2013

January 1, 2014 by Sue Leave a Comment

Once I again I focused on my TBE (to be read) stack and managed to release 48 books to other readers, but I got more than that at thrift stores or on bookmooch.com, so it was a net gain. Hmmm. So I am repeating the Mount TBR Reading Challenge and hoping to equal my 48 and be more restrained about acquisition. I’ve been utilizing the library more, so maybe… Here are my statistics for 2013 from my book journal:

Books read: 150
Pages read: 47936

Of the books read:

Non-fiction: 7
New-to-me authors: 29
Continuing series books: 25
Re-reads: 32
Audio-books: 49
Various book club reads: 15
Challenges completed: 6 of 6
Ongoing tally of Newbery winners: 64 of 92
5 star ratings by me: 33

2012:
196 books; 56,851 pages; 11 non-fiction; 55 new-to-me novelists; 95 series; 25 re-reads; 25 audio-books; 6 of 6 challenges completed; 64 of 91 Newbery
2011:
132 books; 39,641 pages; 15 non-fiction; 42 new-to-me novelists; 54 series; 12 re-reads; 33 audio-books; 0 of 0 challenges completed; 59 of 90 Newbery
2010:
152 books; 46,899 pages; 3 non-fiction; 37 new-to-me novelists; 25 series; 19 re-reads; 28 audio-books; 5 of 5 challenges completed; 50 of 89 Newbery
2009:
73 books; 23,576 pages; 3 non-fiction; 31 new-to-me novelists; 36 series; 5 re-reads; 48 of 88 Newbery
2008:
79 books; 32,031 pages; 8 non-fiction; 15 new-to-me novelists; 31 series; 19 re-reads; 42 of 87 Newbery
2007:
44 books; 17,069 pages; 3 non-fiction; 8 new-to-me novelists; 15 series; 13 re-reads; 38 of 86 Newbery