Short Run

Well, I got my 1 run in over the weekend again.  It was a short 2.15 mile run.  First mile was around 13:05 and 2nd was around 12:40 maybe 12:30--something like that.  It was cold with a cold wind, so I did my 2 & then a little more to get back to my car & called it.  Not too bad, I am hoping I can get some kind of run in tomorrow also, but I will admit the chances are pretty low.

It was also a day to deliver Girl Scout cookies, got to a few houses but not all.  Tomorrow will hopefully at least knock on all the houses we haven't gotten to yet and maybe go back to some that weren't in yesterday.  Really too cold to be out there too long, even though we drove, the standing on porches and in & out of the van just wasn't much fun.

Creighton won today so they have at least a share of the MVC title.  I haven't check the N Iowa score yet so could have an outright title even.  The MVC tourney is coming up next week.  The best days of basketball each year--I love this event.

Still kicking away at my books.  Mostly reading Chasing Harry someone and War & Peace.  The Last Patriot is not getting much attention right now.  I really want the chic book Chasing Harry... done before my parents get into town for basketball on Wed.

Couple Nice Days

It took a while but there were finally a couple of nice days back to back this year.  Of course they were a Wednesday and Thursday so I and probably most people didn't really get to enjoy them.  I will still take it to mean Spring is coming though.  I think I saw where cold weather is coming back in time for the weekend--that figures.

Girl Scout cookies are in & that means delivery time.  I was able to hand out most at work today with only 4 or 5 people to catch next week.  This weekend will be time to hit all of those houses we hit for orders.  Might be able to do some with the wagon but most will probably have to be with the car, just too many and too much walking to do otherwise.

I am off work tomorrow, but Angie has an MIR scheduled concerning her lack of growth hormone.  Since she is 3 she will be put under for this, everything should be fine, but will feel better when over.  A lot of sitting around and waiting at the hospital, good time to get some reading in.  I did start a 3rd book, The Last Patriot by Brad Thor.  It is on 30 some WL, so I figured it is time to read it so I can mail it off when done.  Still working on War & Peace and other one started is Chasing Harry Winston--kind of a chick book, I won't take it to the hospital because I don't really want to be seen reading it in public.

Sunday/Monday

A quick update on Sunday & Monday.  Sunday I actually got a run in, as slow as it was please understand my term "run" is only in the loosest sense.  It was around 5pm on Sunday when I got out and it was cold.  I probably could have used one more layer for my arms but I actually thought it would only be 2 miles so figured I would just tough it out.  I ended up doing 3 miles but the last mile was no problem for the cold because by then I had already warmed up.  The first mile was very slow around 13:55--just under 14 ugly.  The 2nd mile was around 13:05 and the 3rd I think came in around 12:45.  All in all slow but at least got some miles in.

Monday was PSR night but it was also Girl Scout night for Rose.  Her troop went to a regional thing where several troops got together to do an international kind of thing.  So I dropped her off there and then rushed Thomas to PSR, I was a little late getting Thomas there also.  I knew I would be rushed so I just figured I would skip on running/exercising and instead just hit the library looking for books.

I picked up 6 books, which my wife gave me one of those looks for when I got home.  I think she has now realized that instead of me just mailing more books out, I am getting more in order to have some to post.  I also had gotten 3 books in the mail on Monday from a 3 for 1 deal from the PBS message boards.  My wife hasn't really questioned me on this yet, but if she does I think my first answer will be that I am reading more now than in past so I need a larger selection of books to choose from & hope that sticks.  Of the 6 books I bought from the library 3 are very much wanted books, one is on over 900 WL and one on over 500 WL and another on over 250 WL.  The other 3 are not on WL but are also few if any posted so potential is there for them to move as well.  I need to look over them yet to see which ones I will keep around to read, I might keep all 6 but don't know yet.  I did start reading one of them though, Chasing Harry Winston by Lauren Weisberger, she also wrote The Devil Wears Prada.  It is the one on over 50o WL.  Doesn't seem like one of my normal books, but figured I would give it a try.  I picked it out because I figured it would be one that people wanted and it looks like a quick read so I want to read it & send it.  Did read a few pages in War & Peace also--around 925, but still very far away from the 1400 some pages in total. 

Snow, Ashes--#12 finished

Kind of mixed feelings on book #12, Snow, Ashes by Alyson Hagy.  The characters are certainly interesting, not just the main characters but almost every character in the book.  The soldiers they served with in Korea, neighbors and hired hands from growing up, the lady in the trailer that services Adams' needs--it seems they all have interesting stories but we are only given a small glimpse into them.  

I guess I am saying mixed though because, at least to me, there seems to still be too much missing or not explained in the relationships between the main characters Adams, Hobbs and Adams brother & sister as well.  As a reader it seems you are being asked to fill in some of these blanks yourself, which I kind of understand since it is a short novel, there just isn't enough room to have everything spelled out.  I think the timeline where it started as youngsters, early teenagers and then jumped to present day and then Korean War and then '70s and then again to present day might have lead to some of my confusion.  I just kept hoping that the book would give greater insight into some of the conflicts before it got to the finish.

I did enjoy the book though and will certainly be looking for other Alyson Hagy books as well.  I will also be posting it on PBS.  I don't think it is on anyone's Wish List but I also don't expect it to be posted for long either.  I am guessing within 2 months it will be requested.  Of course I also expected The Door Whore to hang around for a while and it was only days before it was being mailed out.

Been almost a week

It has been almost a week since I typed anything down so I figured I should throw together a few short lines.  I am going to continue my trying to get at least 10 postings each month, even if nothing exciting happens.  

I haven't run in the past week, hopefully tomorrow but no promises.  It is cold here.

I am still reading War & Peace, getting close to 1000 pages read.  I am also working on Snow, Ashes.  It is about a couple of friends that grew up together in Wyoming with one living on a ranch & the other kind of an outcast except for his friend.  They shared experiences growing up and fighting in Korea as Marines.  There are underlying issues going on that haven't been answered yet, but so far not too bad of a book.  No 3rd book, but plenty sitting there.

The Assassin--#11 finished

The Assassin is a good covert/undercover type book.  It is kind of like Bin Laden under a different name with a couple of CIA operatives that have a setup to go after him.  I good read, characters do seem to have some life in them, not just a step by step typical thought type characters.  I liked the book and will probably look into other Stephen Coonts books in the future.  

This one is on 40 something Wish Lists at PBS, so I will probably try to list it in the next week or so.  Speaking of my PBS, I already have a request for the last book I listed, The Door Whore.  I certainly didn't expect it to move that fast, but there it is.  I have some credits stored up, so I will probably have to pick out a book or two & order them.

I have a couple of books I am looking at now, I don't have them in front of me so don't have the titles right off hand.  Not sure though, I think I also have a Grisham book around I might just go for for the quick readiness.  

By the by, I tried to get a run in yesterday.  I went to a park I hadn't been too, Endicott Park, no real path there, but I knew they had frisbee golf course.  Well I did the little path & then branched onto the golf course & ran through too much mud.  I gave up and went to a park close to home then for the rest.  That was .70 at the first park & then 1.3 at the second--slow for the whole part.

The Door Whore--#10 finished

Number 10 is kind of a different book for me to have read.  The Door Whore: Confessions of a Restaurant Diva by Fern Esposito is really not at all something I normally read.  I remember buying it on one of my now frequent trips to the library looking for books to both read & post on PBS.  In fact I was at a library today and saw another copy of this book on their for sale table also.  It looked kind of interesting, in that it might have some back room details of running a restaurant and secondly could be the type of book wanted on PBS.  

As far as how accurate I was, is a little debatable.  It did have some interesting stories but overall not a very good book in my eyes.  Most of the characters in the book seemed very shallow and plastic--I don't think I really cared for any of them.  I guess part of it is that they were living in a reality that just isn't mine.  Someone who is impressed by botox and the minutia of fine living, really just isn't for me.

The book basically consists of each chapter telling a story or two about happenings at the restaurant.  Some are interesting, but with this being a fictional account, the whole idea of too convenient really enters in.  I think the book would have been better served as a non-fictional account on running a restaurant which the writer actually did.  The format of the book is almost journal like which I actually liked.  The many short chapters kept it moving along--no getting drug down by a long boring account.

I guess I go back to the characters and since I have no attachment to them, I likewise have no attachment to this book.  It will be getting posted on PBS in just a few minutes.  It is on no one's Wish List, but last I checked it also isn't being Posted by anyone either.  If I have the only or first copy out there, maybe it will move eventually.  

I am still working away at War & Peace and The Assassin.  I hope to have The Assassin finished up this weekend or early next week.  I might spend a few minutes tonight checking out that all important next book too--many many choices on my bookshelves these days.