Sunday Salon: A Walking Fool

Happy Sunday friends! Well, we started out the week on a great note. A day off from school on MLK day, and the kids and I decided to brave the crowds and do a few rollercoasters at Universal. There is no pick-me-up quite like it! Not only is there a new coaster (where you get to select the music you want blasting into your ears while you ride), but we got to see the progress made on the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, which should be opening sometime this spring. We are so excited we can't stand it! We left Universal and went to see The Lovely Bones with my parents. It was a pretty good "don't talk to strangers or weird neighbors" lesson for the kids, and it was cinematically artistic but strayed pretty far from the book. And it completely freaked out my dad. He no likey.

It was another good exercising week. With the exception of one rainy day, the weather was beautiful and I was a walking fool. It's not all that difficult when you have excellent audio books in your ears! I have accumulated almost 80 miles in three weeks, so that 100 mile challenge should be history by the end of next week. This also was the last week of the Game On diet, and trust me folks, I AM READY! I intend to continue many of the rules in order to get down to a bathing suit weight before my trip to Hawaii in early March, but perhaps not with quite as much deprivation. I will publish a wrap-up post once I have final points!

It was a good week for books as well. After finishing "Brooklyn" (which, by the way, held my interest but made me infuriated with the ending!), I picked up the YA book "Life As We Knew It" by Susan Beth Pfeffer. I'd rented it from the library and my daughter had already read it, and she'd been asking me daily to PLEASE hurry up and read it. She needed to talk about it! Now I know why...apocalyptic stories are never easy. I finished that book a couple nights ago and now am trying to finish the YA book "Ghost in the Machine" by Patrick Carman, a sequel to the much-loved "Skeleton Creek". I started reading it to the kids last September, and they really had no interest in it whatsoever. It was like pulling teeth to get them to sit still to listen. Not a good sign for a book. So I'm finishing it by myself and getting it off my kitchen table already.

And as for my ear candy "The Girl Who Played With Fire"? Yeah baby! This is what I'm talking about! Some may not care for the late great Stieg Larsson, but personally, these stories are like crack to me, and are a perfect example of what thrillers should be. I didn't want it to end, and now I have to wait until May to get my hands on the third and final book, which is maddening. It almost sends me into a fit of depression to know that because of Larsson's untimely death, I only have one more adventure with Lisbeth Salander. ANYWAY. I'll move on here. After finishing that audio, I picked up Agassi's memoir "Open" which I am loving immensely.

I'm looking forward to a nice romp on the elliptical here shortly, and a pleasant day of watching my son play football. What's on your agenda today?