Bootcamp

So I just finished my latest 8-week session of bootcamp classes and I am pretty happy with my results. I really only lost a couple pounds, which was frustrating, but I lost inches in a few places. My waist, hips, abductors, thighs, and calfs all got a little smaller! All together I lost about 5 inches. I'm on my way. Mandy

Weight Loss Challenge!

Hello Everyone!

It's been a long time since we've had a post on this blog, and I hope you all don't mind but I have repurposed it from our book club to our new Weight Loss Challenge Blog! The last time I was home a few of us talked about how we should have a competition to see who could lose the biggest percentage of weight between now and Christmas and I think now is a good time to make it official!

As you can see on the right side bar I have created a ticker for everyone to keep track and show off your success! If you don't want to participate or are not interested in showing your progress then feel free to either delete the gadget from the blog or tell me and I can do it for you! As for updating your ticker I will let everyone know how to do this, it's easy as 1-2-3!

Now as for this blog, I thought it would also be the perfect place for us to share tips and tricks, recipes, maybe things that are working for you that the rest of us could try to help us all get into better shape. So let's have fun with this and good luck! Let's see who can lose the highest percentage of weight in the next 3 months!

Sherlock Holmes Revisited

I am almost finished reading Laurie King's "The Moor". It was on the new shelf at the library and I picked it up with no expectations - but have been pleasantly surprised. These are a series of books written from the perspective of Sherlock Holmes's wife, Mary. They take place after the general Sherlock Holmes cases and husband and wife work together. Unlike the modern mystery genre, this story unfolds slowly but the writer's witty language and perspectives keep it moving along. I enjoyed how the mystery was not presented immediately in the first chapter, but came about later on. It kept me guessing and surprised when it did.

The story is set in Dartmoor and King does an exceptional job of conveying the dreary, forsaken gloom of the moor which only adds to the mystery, yet by the end I wanted to go take a tour and maybe even meet some of the characters from the close-knot moor society.

Also a bit of trivia: one of the main characters is the Reverend Sabin Baring-Gould. Sound familiar? He penned "Onward Christian Soldiers" and "Now the Day is Over", both, of course, included in our own hymnbook.

So, if you liked "The Hound of the Baskervilles" or any other Sherlock Holmes mystery, give it a go. And if you have never read any Arthur Conan Doyle, pick it up anyhow. I think you'll still enjoy it.

Or read the Doyle mystery first. "The Hound of the Baskervilles" is classic literature and you might find the original mystery genre intriguing. Reading King's book made me want to open these classics again.

I also want to read the first books in this series to get a better handle on Mary and her relationship with Sherlock Holmes. The title is: "The Beekeeper's Apprentice" in case you want to beat me to it.

Happy Reading!

The House at Riverton

I finally finished it Jen! It only took me 2 months to actually read it. I thought I would get more reading in on our trip while Tyler napped, but instead napped along side him. I really enjoyed it, but would agree with you on all points you mentioned. I too just wanted to know what happened, though I enjoyed thinking of different possibilities throughout the book.
Em

The House at Riverton

I finished reading "The House at Riverton" by Kate Morton last night. I must say I really enjoyed it, which was a nice surprise because her other book did not catch me. It is the story of a family in England prior to and during WWI, but told from the perspective of their maid who is now a 98 year old woman. bShe is being approached for information for a film being made of a suicide that happened at the family home and marked the end of their "dynast".

I found in this book, unlike The Forgotten Garden, I was hooked almost right from the start. She manages to weave a story that is compelling and intriguing, leaving little clues about secrets and mysteries that will be revealed, but not giving everything away easily. I liked the way she interposed the present with memories of the past, and having the main character a servant in the house gave lots of opportunities for things to be observed but still not understood. Her characters are well developed and believable and she portrays the confusion and despair of the war years beautifully without making you depressed.

I will say that I did find at one point nearing the end the story dragged a little. It was only once and then it picked right up again, but I wondered if the book couldn't have been tightened up a little bit. I guess I was eager to know what had really happened but it wasn't getting there fast enough for me. But then I'm impatient. Ha ha. A good read. I would recommend this to everyone who likes a good suspense romance historical novel.

I've been reading...

I've been reading, but I was wondering the same thing as you. I need some new ideas! I tried that book by Kate Morton, but it didn't grab me. I just finished a book by Barbara Erskine that combines mystery with the supernatural. Don't roll your eyes yet. I almost did and I would have missed a book I really enjoyed! She uses the idea that you could connect with the past through spirits and they help solve mysteries and protect you etc. Even though it sounds a bit creepy, it really wasn't. It was more of a romance-suspense. Sorry, can't remember the title, but I do have another one out and I'll tell you if it's any good.

I have also been reading Boy Smarts. It was written by a man from Surrey who has worked in the public education system for 30 years and what he has learned from research and teaching/mentoring boys. I have really enjoyed figuring out how my boys think and feel, because it's way different than me! If you have a boy (pretty much all of you), this book is for you. There is also another that I have on hold at the library. I will post the author's name once I find it. I think it's Barry Macdonald.

Oh, and I lately have been reading more of Simon Brett's Feathering Mysteries. They're a really light who-dunnit with funny characters. A quick, no brainer.

And a little while ago I picked up a couple of Shannon Hale books that I hadn't yet read from her Book of Bayern - River Secrets and... darn, can't remember the name of the last one. They were good, but if you haven't yet read Princess Academy or The Goose Girl, start with those. Her writing is so lyrical and she weaves a whole new world without making it intense like in heavy duty fantasies. They're like reading and extended fairy tale, in fact many of them are just that. The Goose Girl is a fairy tale from some easter European country.

Hmmm....let me think what else I have picked up at the library lately. Not much. Dan re-read Harry Potter 6&7 and he said he enjoyed it way more this time. We've been reading these with Madi and Clay at night and they are on number 4. Clay has sort of lost interest, but Madi's going strong!

I wonder if anyone can remember the name of a book we used to check out from the school libaray about seven chinese brothers, one of whom swallowed the sea? I wish I could find it again. We found something similar, but it's just not the same. Dan and I both remember it as kids.

So, now tell me what you've found! I have another Kate Morton book on reserve and I'm going to see if I can enjoy this one. I read a review of her latest that actually sound intriguing, but the library doesn't have it yet.

Is No One Reading Anymore?

What is going on? Have we all let the chance to read slip through our fingers? I know I have. It seems like I have been super busy or maybe just really tired by the end of the day. I have read "The Mini Shopaholic" since Christmas (yes, it took me nearly 2 months) and I enjoyed it. I have read the whole Shopaholic series, so Trevor got me this final one to add to my collection. I am now starting the "Little house on the Prairie" series. I have never read these before, which my sister in law couldn't believe, so she lent me her copies. I am halfway through the first book, and am enjoying learning about how people used to live.
Emily