What's for Dinner? (26)

What's for Dinner is a little insight into my life for you every Monday night. I carefully plan out meals for the week ahead of time and do my shopping over the weekend.  So I wanted to start sharing with you one of the recipes or dinners I am most looking forward to each week.

 

 

 

So I usually cook all week long, about 3 to 4 meals planned with recipes and everything.  However, when the weekend comes, I relinquish the kitchen and pretty much only prepare snacks and breakfast for Munchkin.  Hubby gets run of the kitchen and I will even offer to clean up after he is done, because it is so worth it!

 

Now he almost never works off a recipe, he might look at a few to get an idea but then he just runs with it.  It blows my mind that he can work like a Chopped chef and just pull random food out of the fridge and make a gourmet meal!

 

This last weekend he decided to make a stuffed pork loin . . .

 

Before:

 

And after:

 

 

With a dinner plate like this

 

What woman in their right mind would have ever turned down a proposal?! Wait until I share some of his Italian cooking! This next weekend he promises a taste of Italy with eggplant parm, meatballs, lasagna and all with homemade sauce!

 

 



Dewey Fall Readathon Wrap up

 

 

I am a little delayed getting this post up but there was absolutely no time yesterday since I had a weekend worth of chores to get done in one day.

 

I survived another Dewey Readathon! I didn't read the full 24 hours and for some reason I felt completely frazzled all day, and still feel a little frazzled and rushed. I think it is because I had so much scheduled on Saturday and wasn't able to really settle in and read like I would have preferred. (I really hope the Children's Book Festival doesn't land on the same weekend again next year or I am really going to have to choose which I want to do).  With that said I actually did get very nearly all the reading I had hoped to get done!

 

Books finished: Winter Lights, A Porcupine Named Fluffy, Happy Halloween Little Critter, The Note, Kissing Santa, Santa's Ninja Elves, A Christmas Carol GN, Paddington Bear Treasury

 

Books Read but not Finished: A Cricket on the Hearth (40% complete), Confessions of a Scary Mommy (61 pages read)

 

Total of pages read: 670ish plus 1 hr 15minutes listened

 

Running total of time spent reading: 11.5 hours

 

Which hour was most daunting for you?  hours 11-13 were most daunting because Munchkin went to bed and clearly Hubby couldn't find anything else to occupy his time other than pester me.

 

Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year? Again I strongly suggest having GNs to break things up and I really enjoyed having the Christmas short stories and novellas to read this year.  They were short and fun and it really feels like you are getting somewhere when you finish one.

 

Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year? I didn't get to participate with everyone much so I can't make any suggestions

 

What do you think worked really well in this year’s Read-a-thon? I was really happy with the cheerleading this time, after not having anyone stop by last time I was overwhelmed by the support I had on Twitter this readathon. I guess it is easier for the cheerleaders to visit you on twitter rather than the blogs, something to keep in mind for future readathons.

 

How many books did you read? 10

 

What were the names of the books you read? Winter Lights, A Porcupine Named Fluffy, Happy Halloween Little Critter, The Note, Kissing Santa, Santa's Ninja Elves, A Christmas Carol GN, Paddington Bear Treasury, Cricket on the Hearth, Confessions of a Scary Mommy

 

Which book did you enjoy most? I really enjoyed Santa's Ninja Elves

 

Which did you enjoy least? None of them were bad, I struggled to focus on Confessions of a Scary Mommy because of Hubby.

 

How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? What role would you be likely to take next time? I will definitely be participating again next time (I have already marked my calendar for April 25th) and will be a reader again.  I eventually want to reach at least 15 hours of actual reading time.

 

 

Thoughts on My Fall Readathon: As I said, it was a crazy day and I had a hard time settling in to read with so much going on.  I felt like I was missing a lot of the fun by not participating online as much and not doing the mini challenges. The interaction has become a big part of it to me and I want to make sure I have that again next time. I also didn't feel like I was really doing much reading with so many children's books this time, I also think the feeling came from the fact that most of my other reading was done on the Kindle, it just doesn't have the same page turning feel.  With that said I really liked having and audio book to listen to, it freed me up from the couch and allowed me to move around and go places while still reading. I did miss my special snacks too, weird but true.

 

Plans for the Spring Readathon: I am so looking forward to another readathon and am already making plans.  It was handy to get out of the house to avoid Munchkin and Hubby instead of trying to get them to leave me alone while there, so I think I will make a point to spend at least a part of the day out of the house. I will also plan to read more graphic novels between full length books, I will still have children's books to share with Munchkin too.  I think maybe plan on books no longer than 300 pages so that I don't feel like I am stuck. Maybe a few Novellas and some Middle Grade and Young Adult books to keep things going. I will also have another Audio book to both be able to leave the house or even do some chores while still reading.  I think I will also try to have themed snacks to go along with my books.

 

 

 

So how did your readathon go? If you didn't participate do you want to next time?

Monday Reading List

Its Monday! What Are You Reading? is a weekly meme hosted by Shelia at Book Journey. Share what books you have finished in the last week, are currently reading and what might be coming up next!

Reviews Posted Last Week:

Links will take you to my review

Song of the Lioness Series by Tamora Pierce (Alanna)
From My Heart to Yours by Michelle Zarrin
Goddess of the Sea by PC Cast (After Dark)
Meet My Cats by Lesley Anne Ivory (Bedtime Story)

 

Books Finished Last Week:
Reviews will be posted at a later date

Jingle Bells
Frankenstein
Secrets at Sea
Bathing and the Single Girl
Porcupine Named Fluffy
Winter Lights
Happy Halloween, Little Critter
The Note
Kissing Santa
Santa's Ninja Elves
Paddington Treasury
A Christmas Carol

 

Currently Reading:

Enchanted No More by Robin D. Owens - PB - on page 32 of 425
Cry of the Icemark by Stuart Hill - Audio - switched to HC - on page 68 of 496





 Books to be Read Soon:

 

Behind You by Carly M. Duncan (Requested Review)


Interesting Tidbits from the Web:

Unique and Beautiful Book Shops - I love the van bookshop in Portugal and the scenery of the one in Norway (and to think an entire town of books).

 



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Phew! What a week and weekend!! I cannot believe how much reading I got done, between work and home I squeaked out every second I could.  Dewey's went better than I thought it would considering how much I had going on that day, but one of these days it will go exactly how I plan it!  Did you participate in Dewey? How did your day go?

I have another big week planned for this coming week (the boss is out and this girl will read).  I am trying to get way ahead on my reading so next month will be open for a lot of writing!

 

 

 

 

Crafty Times (8)

Crafty Times is a new thing I am trying on the blog where I can share some of the art and crafts I have created (you can too of course). I really dabble in a wide variety of crafts and hope you can find something that sparks your interest or inspires you!

 

 

 

I was in a gift swap on one of the forums I am a member of that was for coffee/tea mugs for this chilly season. One of the mugs needed to be handcrafted/painted/decorated.  

 

I found this idea on Pinterest to make mugs dipped in nail polish for an abstract art look.  I thought, well I have a ton of nail polish so why not give it a shot, and managed to find an inexpensive mug. I used a dark purple/plum color and a gold color on a yellow mug, and well it didn't come out quite as I expected but still unique and something I will try again sometime.

 

 

 

 

Have you tried something from Pinterest lately?  How did it go?

 



Fall Dewey Update #3

 

Boy am I pooped, and have been struggling to read. It might be the fact that my hubby suddenly decided to be conversational this evening.  Oh well, I am fading fast after such a busy day, but I will be up again before the end!

 

So here is my update so far:

 

Currently reading:  Cricket on the Hearth (1hr), Confessions of a Scary Mommy (pg 46)

Books finished: Winter Lights, Happy Halloween Little Critter, A Porcupine Named Fluffy, The Note, Santa's Ninja Elves, Kissing Santa, Christmas Carol GN

Pages read: 146

Time Listened: 1 hour

Running total of pages read: 579

Amount of time spent reading: about 2 hours

Running total of time spent reading: 9 hours

Snacks: nothing

Reading Spot: hitting the bed since I can't even keep my eyes open

 

 

Up Next:

some sleepy time and then up again with Munchkin to read Paddington Bear



A very special thanks to all the wonderful cheerleaders who have been stopping by my Twitter to keep me motivated!

Fall Dewey Readathon #2

 

Wow those 5 hours went by far too fast! Someone please tell me where this day is going, I wanted to do so much more reading but I guess we still have a little more than 12 hours left.

 

So here is my update so far:

 

Currently reading:  Cricket on the Hearth (1hr), Confessions of a Scary Mommy

Books finished: Winter Lights, Happy Halloween Little Critter, A Porcupine Named Fluffy, The Note, Santa's Ninja Elves, Kissing Santa

Pages read: 137

Time Listened: 46 minutes

Running total of pages read: 433

Amount of time spent reading: about 2.5 hours

Running total of time spent reading: 7 hours

Snacks: had a delicious diner from Carrabba's

Reading Spot: Time to finally kick back and relax on the couch with a beverage and some quiet time.

 

 

Up Next:

Hopefully a nice evening reading with a glass of wine!



A very special thanks to all the wonderful cheerleaders who have been stopping by my Twitter to keep me motivated! I will definitely keep me going as the hours begin to wane!

Dewey's Fall Readathon Kick off!

 

I am here ready to kick off my readathon today.  It will be a busy one and I will have to be bouncing in and out of here between my reading, work and Children's Book Festival!

 

I will try to update here on the blog every few hours, but will try to keep up more often on my twitter ( @EasternSunset9 )

 

It is 8:00am here in Rhode Island and I have just a few minutes to read with Munchkin before hitting the road.

 

First books on today's list:

Dinosaur Train's Winter Lights

A Porcupine Named Fluffy

Happy Halloween, Little Critter

 

 

Then I am on my way to the Children's Book Festival accompanied by the audio book

Cricket on the Hearth

 

While I wait in lines or am seated waiting for the presentations I have

The Note

(and of course I will have the books waiting to be autographed)

Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Tuesday

 

 

After that quick adventure it is off to work and I should be able to post an update for you from there.  So expect a post here in about 4 1/2 to 5 hours.

 

Good luck on all your reading adventures!