Crock pot lasagna

Yesterday during Dewey's 24-hour readathon I made crock pot lasagna for dinner. It turned out deliciously but we knew it would because we've had it before! It's so easy. You make and layer your lasagna as you would if cooking it in the oven EXCEPT you use raw noodles rather than cooked noodles. That way the noodles cook while they're in the crock pot. All together, prep and cook time it takes about three-and-a-half hours.

I managed to finish one book yesterday. I got through about a third of Career of Evil by Robert Galbraith and read by Robert Glenister. I'm really surprised at how much I am enjoying listening to an audio book. although I guess I shouldn't be because my kids and I have enjoyed listening to the Harry Potter books. 

Dewey's 24 hour readathon and an audio book

 Today is the day - Dewey's 24-hour readathon is on! As usual, I got started late but that's okay! I decided to try listening to an audio book as I did some chores and got dinner in the crock pot for my family. We'll be having lasagna this evening and my kids are delighted! So am I, as it happens. Crock pot lasagna is amazingly delicious!

Anyhow, listening to Career of Evil has been quite enjoyable! I believe I may have struck on a way to read (hear) more books while still getting things done - like writing, blogging and crocheting. Of course, I am also able to do chores, as I did this morning, not nearly as fun as writing or crocheting, but still a necessity. I have liked listening to this book. The story is written by Robert Galbraith and it's being read by Robert Glenister. I love his English accent and the timing and his cadence in telling the story are fantastic!

Okay, I'm off now to continue listening to te book and get some writing done.

Choices for tomorrow's readathon

So looking forward to tomorrow! I'll read what and when I can - along with my kids - and call it a win! :)

Dewey's 24-Hour readathon

 The next installment of Dewey's 24-Hor readathon is this Saturday, April 29th! It's a fun-filled event of reading, cheering, eating, drinking, doing challenges and basically sharing the love of books with others who feel the same about them! Of course, you don't have to do all of those things I just listed. You don't even have to do them for the twenty-four hours - I never have. My start time is %;00 a.m. and I just can't make that work on a Saturday morning! That being said, this event is something  really look forward to participating in the two times per year that it happens. I love the reading I'm able to get done. I love spending time with my kids reading - alone and together. We love the snacks I buy for it and the overall camaraderie of book lovers! If this sounds like fun to you, too, sign up here!

Wordless Wednesday: Spring roses

Teaser Tuesday: Taming Natasha by Nora Roberts

Teaser Tuesday is newly hosted by Ambrosia at The Purple Booker. To play along, just do the following:

- Grab your current read 

- Open to a random page 

- Share two “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page 

- BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!) 

- Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR list if they like your teaser. 

My teaser this week is from Nook page 49 of Taming Natasha by Nora Roberts:

Why did men think they could soften up a woman with a flower? because they could, Natasha admitted, biting off a sigh as she glanced toward it. That didn't mean she was going out to dinner with him. 

Bullet journaling anniversary

I realized the other day that I have been Bullet Journaling for a year! It has been such a great organizational tool for me. I can't imagine going back to a tradtional calendar or planning sysyem. The flexibility and creativity (and for me the simplicity) of it are amazing! 

Flowers and hope

Duran Duran and Snoopy

So in love with this! A friend shared this with me on Facebook. It's not mine, though I may need to buy one! LOL Oh, and I absolutely agree with Snoopy here.

Creativity

Fruit salad

I'm finding eating healthier to be a lot easier than I'd expected. I thought I'd get a little bored with it but I'm not. Of course, it does help that I like a lot of fruit and vegetables. The above fruit salad is what I made for my kids and I as an after school snack. It's bananas, a red apple, a green apple, blueberries and an orange. My daughter and I chopped up all the fruit, put it in a bowl and mixed it up. It was nice, quick and easy but so delicious! There was some left to put in lunches tomorrow, too. 

Wordless Wednesday: Gorgeous Succulent

Teaser Tuesday: Brazen Virtues by Nora Roberts

Teaser Tuesday is newly hosted by Ambrosia at The Purple Booker. To play along, just do the following:

- Grab your current read 

- Open to a random page 

- Share two “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page 

- BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!) 

- Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR list if they like your teaser. 

My teaser this week is from page 70 of Brazen Virtue by Nora Roberts:

"Mystery writer discovers sister's body." Grace nodded, preparing herself. "Yes, it would make an interesting lead story." She stared at the phone. "I can handle the press, Ed."

Musing Mondays: Favorite time to read

 Musing Mondays is a weekly meme hosted by The Purple Booker that asks you to choose one of the following prompts to answer:

• I’m currently reading…
• Up next I think I’ll read…
• I bought the following book(s) in the past week…
• I’m super excited to tell you about (book/author/bookish-news)…
• I’m really upset by (book/author/bookish-news)…
• I can’t wait to get a copy of…
• I wish I could read ___, but…
• I blogged about ____ this past week…

THIS WEEKS RANDOM QUESTION: Do you have a favorite time of day to read?

I do have a favorite time of day to read and that is at night when my home is quiet and everything is done for the day. This is also usually in bed which is my favorite place to read. Now, that being said, I will read any time of day or night and often get in pages here and there through the day.

Happy Easter

Happy Easter to all of those who celebrate it! Happy Sunday to all! I hope everyone is having a pleasant and relaxing day.

Hidden Figures

Last night we watched the movie Hidden Figures! It is an excellent movie! Now I want to read the book. I want all the extra details that I am certain had to be left out of the movie for the sake of time. Here is the GoodReads description of the book by Margot Lee Shetterly:

The phenomenal true story of the black female mathematicians at NASA whose calculations helped fuel some of America's greatest achievements in space. Now a major motion picture starring Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer, Janelle Monae, Kirsten Dunst, and Kevin Costner.

Before John Glenn orbited the Earth or Neil Armstrong walked on the moon, a group of dedicated female mathematicians known as "human computers" used pencils, slide rules, and adding machines to calculate the numbers that would launch rockets and astronauts into space.

Among these problem solvers were a group of exceptionally talented African American women, some of the brightest minds of their generation. Originally relegated to teaching math in the South's segregated public schools, they were called into service during the labor shortages of World War II, when America's aeronautics industry was in dire need of anyone who had the right stuff. Suddenly these overlooked math whizzes had shots at jobs worthy of their skills, and they answered Uncle Sam's call, moving to Hampton, Virginia, and the fascinating, high-energy world of the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory.

Even as Virginia's Jim Crow laws required them to be segregated from their white counterparts, the women of Langley's all-black West Computing group helped America achieve one of the things it desired most: a decisive victory over the Soviet Union in the Cold War and complete domination of the heavens.

Starting in World War II and moving through to the Cold War, the civil rights movement, and the space race, Hidden Figures follows the interwoven accounts of Dorothy Vaughan, Mary Jackson, Katherine Johnson, and Christine Darden, four African American women who participated in some of NASA's greatest successes. It chronicles their careers over nearly three decades as they faced challenges, forged alliances, and used their intellects to change their own lives - and their country's future.

See, doesn't this book sound fantastic? I think it does. Two things strike me right off based on the description. One, this book is about four pioneering African American women. The movie didn't include Christime Darden and I wonder why. Two, the time frame of the movie is a couple of years while the book sounds like it covers a couple of decades. THis book is going to the top of my to-read list!

Counting stars

Some of the stars I've made for a patriotic garland!

Great teachers

Wordless Wednesday: Tulips

Teaser Tuesday: Sacred Sins by Nora Roberts (2)

Teaser Tuesday is newly hosted by Ambrosia at The Purple Booker. To play along, just do the following:

- Grab your current read 

- Open to a random page 

- Share two “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page 

- BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!) 

- Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR list if they like your teaser. 

My teaser this week is from page 132 of Sacred Sins by Nora Roberts:

If he'd gone with instinct, he would have said good night and gone on to the next address on the list. Procedure was more demanding and infinitely more boring than instinct. They interviewed the three other priests in the rectory.

Photo by my husband

My husband and daughter went grocery shopping this evening. They bought me tulips while out. Then he took this super cool photo of one of the flowers!

This evening's sunset

Centerpieces

This is the lovely centerpiece from my chapter meeting of RWA today. It's adorable! Better than that is that the actual meeting itself was FANTASTIC! There was chat about goal setting (and actual goals set!), a panel that spoke about things new writers should be aware of in the publishing industry and an afternoon presentation on how to be more productive! All in all - agreat meeting!

Brussels sprouts

Yummy Brussels sprouts for dinner. I put pepper, butter and Parmesan cheese on them. My kids don't like them but my husband and I think they're delicious! 

A Title

I HAVE A TITLE! Excuse my all caps excitement, please. I am so excited to FINALLY have a Title for my current book! I was truly beginning to sweat not having a title for my book because I am ready to submit said book - as in tomorrow, the next morning at the latest! 

It's not uncommon for me to lack a title at the beginning of a writing project. It doesn't bother me at that point because I know the title will come to me during the writing process. I also know whatever title I choose may be changed when it comes to publication. Still, I need to submit the book with a title. So imagine my nerves as I began to near the end of writing the story and still had no title. Then I went through the first round of revision with no idea of what I wanted to call the book! Same thing for revision round two. Now I'm at the end of my third round of revision and until about an hour ago still had NO IDEA what I wanted to call this book! Then it FINALLY came to me and I am so happy with it! I won't get emotionally attached to the title but I am still so relieved that I have a name for my book!

I love writing advice! That doesn't mean I always take it but I LOVE to hear and read about authors opinions and advice on their personal writing journeys. Though I don't take every bit of advice I hear I do always learn something I can use! Add in a title that's meant to make people smile and I can guarantee I'm going to want to read the book - and learn the advice. I just got this book today so I can't share anything I've learned from it just yet. However, I am excited to get into it.

Wordless Wednesday: Working outside

Teaser Tuesday: Sacred Sins by Nora Roberts

Teaser Tuesday is newly hosted by Ambrosia at The Purple Booker. To play along, just do the following:

- Grab your current read 

- Open to a random page 

- Share two “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page 

- BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!) 

- Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR list if they like your teaser. 

My teaser this week is from page 12 0f Sacred Sins by Nora Roberts:

"No use letting it get to you," she murmured, then seeing his face, passed him the Pepsi. It always got to you. 

Keep crafting

I love this so much I had to share it here! It's not mine. I got it off of Twitter from Stylecraft Yarn. Still, it's perfect for Monday and I completely agree with it!

Camp Nanowrimo

I'm sure a lot of you know that November is National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). In April, the same organization runs Camp NaNoWriMo. It's the same idea in terms of creating a writing goal and doing your best to achieve it during the thirty days of April. This year, the organizers have set it up so that participants can choose to write a certain number of words or pages per day. You can even write a set number of lines or revise. In other words, whatever works for you. I've decided to go for writing 30,000 words this month. That's less than the 50,000 word requirement in November but it will still be a challenge for me as I have a LOT going on this month!

It's not too late to sign up and participate if Camp NaNoWriMo sounds like something you'd like to do this April. Just go here to do so!

Dewey's 24-Hour Readathon

It's almost time for another installment of the amazing and fun Dewey's 24-Hour Readathon. It is on April 29th - so exactly four weeks from now. The great organizers have opened sign-ups for the event. Don't worry though - it's always free.

The readathon is designed to have fun and read as much as you can or want to read in a 24-hour period. There are a lot of fun things to do as well like mini challenges and sharing the fun with fellow book and reading enthusiasts! This can also be a fun family event. My kids love to participate in this with me each time.