Today’s To-Do List [Show and Tell Sunday]

Today’s To-Do List [Show and Tell Sunday]

After more than ten years of faithful service, my Capresso CoffeeTeam coffeemaker gave up the ghost last Monday. Because freshly-ground beans made into custom-brewed coffee is one of my favorite things from the kitchen, I’ve ordered a new one. Because I really don’t want to make daily Starbucks runs in the meantime (no, seriously, I don’t), I’ve borrowed my dad’s Keurig till it arrives. . Duly caffeinated, I put together my “to do” list for […]

Bloggiesta Bust…and a Bit of a Blog Break

Bloggiesta Bust…and a Bit of a Blog Break

My only Bloggiesta accomplishments were connecting with my Bookish Masterminds group and participating in last Monday’s Twitter chat, which was scheduled during my lunch hour–I did not get to anything else on my Bloggiesta to-do list. But I’m not actually all that surprised by the #fail, to be honest–I knew the event coincided with a busy week of work and non-blog life. I also knew I’d have a couple of days off right after to […]

4 Things to Start Spring [Show and Tell Sunday]

4 Things to Start Spring [Show and Tell Sunday]

Happy First Day of Spring, Northern Hemisphere! The last sunset of winter, through a car window I had mistakenly thought today was also the first day of Spring Bloggiesta and had planned my starting-line post as this week’s Sunday programming. Then I actually read the calendar and realized that one’s for tomorrow, so this Show-and-Tell Sunday is spur-of-the-moment and short.   My husband Paul has been a fan of musician Loreena McKennitt for two decades, […]

My Infomagical Week [Show and Tell Sunday]

My Infomagical Week [Show and Tell Sunday]

I learned about Infomagical from Bryan, and decided to try this challenge for myself last week. Since I knew I had a packed week of work ahead of me, it seemed like as good a time as any to tackle a project designed to help manage information overload and improve focus and creativity: “Infomagical (is) a collective FOMO course correction. (I)t’s not about your gadgets per se, it’s about all the stuff on them, and all the stuff coming […]

Trying to Find the Happy Place [Show and Tell Sunday]

Trying to Find the Happy Place [Show and Tell Sunday]

  I suppose I should have anticipated it–when you start your week at The Happiest Place on Earth, it’s probably going to be all downhill from there. It’s not that there’s anything big going wrong, but I’ve spent the last few days on the dark side of Funky Town. Our long-anticipated departmental team-building/retreat day at the top-secret location pictured above–postponed several times over the past year–was fun and fruitful, but also indeed long. Frankly, I […]

Some Recent Online Reading [Show-and-Tell Sunday]

Some Recent Online Reading [Show-and-Tell Sunday]

The momentum of Book Blogger Appreciation Week wasn’t sustained in my blogging last week, sadly–I only got one post up and am officially behind on review-writing. I fell off the comment wagon (although I have saved some posts with the intent to comment, and may yet get to them this weekend!)   I have been doing some online reading outside some of my usual haunts, though, and wanted to share a few links with y’all […]

After BBAW [Show and Tell Sunday]

After BBAW [Show and Tell Sunday]

I’m winding down now after joining in the celebration of Book Blogger Appreciation Week. The timing was less than ideal for my participation–I tend to be especially busy at work mid-month, and that’s even more true during the winter and spring months when I’m doing audit prep–but I’m really glad I didn’t decide to opt out! In case you missed it, here’s what I posted: An Introduction to Me as a Reader An Interview with […]

[Show-and-Tell Sunday] When Randomness Rules

[Show-and-Tell Sunday] When Randomness Rules

My husband took this picture of his car thermometer when he arrived at work this past Tuesday. The effects of a chilly, rainy weekend were lingering here in Southern California. Yesterday morning I walked the dog in sunshine and warm breezes. The high temperature was forecast to top 70°, and today and tomorrow are supposed to be even warmer. If I could pack this up and send it off to share with those of you buried […]

Damage Control; Or, 5 Things I Tried This Week

Damage Control; Or, 5 Things I Tried This Week

“I am this close to burnout,” I said to Paul as we were driving back home from his mother’s house last Monday. We were just 18 days into 2016–the mythical “Blue Monday”–but between parenting both our parents since Thanksgiving (one way or another) while observing the holidays with our kids and trying not to let our work go undone, I’ve been feeling a bit crisp around the edges. This week, I tried a few things that […]

Show-and-Tell Sunday: Notes From Elsewhere

Show-and-Tell Sunday: Notes From Elsewhere

I’m showing and telling today from my mother-in-law’s home in Oceanside, California (north of San Diego), which we were able to return her to this weekend! We’re staying here till tomorrow to help her settle back in and make arrangements for her to have some assistance during the next few weeks as her broken ribs continue to heal. Minor accomplishments: 4 things I did this week Finished reading a book! Set up review draft templates […]

2015: The Year in Books (And a Few Numbers)

2015: The Year in Books (And a Few Numbers)

  2015 was not one of the more distinguished years of my reading life, so it seems rather fitting that it’s the year I stepped away from assigning ratings to the books I wrote about. Partly because of that, and partly because the books that stood out and stuck with me did so for random reasons, I’m taking a different approach to my year-end book roundup. And since I wasn’t entirely sure I would do […]

Show-and-Tell Sunday: Rocky New Year

Show-and-Tell Sunday: Rocky New Year

  This post’s featured image my first Tweet and Instagram update of 2016. Other than my One Word, it’s the only goal of any kind I have as this new year gets underway. I’m a bit too preoccupied to do much more right now. As some of you may already know, my mother-in-law fell and cracked three ribs while visiting us on Christmas Eve, and was admitted to the hospital on the day after Christmas […]