Peacefield

Coconut milk iced latte from Starbucks. My life saver on the way to work!

A light at the end of the tunnel, Bobbly! And not very far away at all, yay! Your trip sounds fun, Anna, and I would love to visit Cornwall, Talisman. We have some family friends there and it just sounds so lovely. I've been home from CA for 2 weeks already and I still miss it. There needs to be a way to slow down time whilst on vacation, that's all there is to it. I was also up at the cabin this past weekend for the first time since September and we had a busy time of mowing the lawn and cleaning out the flower beds. The dock was also put in the water and next weekend the boat arrives! Now if only summer would last for the rest of the year... *sigh*

Such fantastic films and excellent choices here, you guys! My top top 10 would be: 1. Jaws (1975) 2. Bottle Rocket (1996) 3. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) 4. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939) 5. Singin' in the Rain (1952) 6. Rear Window (1954) 7. Shaun of the Dead (2004) 8. Desk Set (1957) 9. Bullitt (1968) 10. Gross Pointe Blank (1997) My other top ten would be: 1. Lost in Translation (2003) 2. Psycho (1960) 3. Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) 4. Stand By Me (1986) 5. Some Kind of Wonderful (1987) 6. The Princess Bride (1987) 7. Lars and the Real Girl (2007) 8. Stranger than Fiction (2006) 9. Ordinary People (1980) 10. State Fair (1945)

Eek, Noll! Falling down stairs is always on my mind when I have to go many floors. I start out great and then I hit a glitch and I'm gripping the rail and thinking about missing steps. When I was about 3 yrs old I decided it was a good idea to go down a flight of stairs on my little four-wheeled plastic car. Not a good idea! Happy Friday, everyone, and happy weekend! I haven't opened my suitcase up yet and began to pack so I'm sure I'll be up late tonight. It's okay though because by then I'll officially be on vacation!

I purchased the e-book version of Puritan Witch: The Redemption of Rebecca Eames by Peni Jo Renner last night on Amazon for only 0.99! I've been looking forward to reading this since Rebecca is my 9th great-grandmother . Plus I just find the topic interesting. Plenty to read on my trip now!

Thanks, Athena and Noll! I will try and remember to post some photos I hear you on the job front, Noll. At the very least it's something to put on your CV, and people love seeing experience! I hope you're scrapes heal up quickly. I hate falling up steps, it's so awkward! Glad to hear your hub is coming home this weekend, Virginia. I'm working from home today, so it's nice to have wee Odin keep me company I'll be spending the whole time in the south, Muggle. Mostly in Ojai but also LA, San Diego and Long Beach. I've got family all over!

Thanks, Muggle and Chesil! You know I never thought of the library for ebooks, but that's a great idea. Wow, I sound like I've been living under a rock! LOL

Sorry to hear about your step-mom losing her job, Abby! Is there a reason your folks decided to head west? I don't remember, but is your dad retired now? Good luck at the new/old job, Noll! Work is definitely preferable to no work and I hope it turns out that you get to stay on permanently one of these days . Who wouldn't hire someone as cool as you?! I'm officially on vacation starting Saturday and will be jetting my way west to California for 10 whole days! Can't wait to take a break from work and be with my siblings, nieces and nephews. It's been a couple of years since I've seen some of them so I am WAY overdue.

I finished Darkfever over the weekend and have downloaded The Last Dragonslayer: The Chronicles of Kazam, book 1 to my Kindle app. I believe this is the first ebook I've read and it feels weird! I'm going on vacation on Saturday though and I thought maybe I would make use of my iPad and use it to read on instead of everything else I do. Not quite sure how I feel about traveling without an actual book in my bag, but I'll get used to it Thanks to Muggle for bringing this series to my attention! I can't wait to dive in!

After finishing As Chimney Sweepers Come to Dust last weekend I started and am now about halfway through Darkfever by Karen Marie Moning.

Is this a new series for Jasper Fforde, Muggle? The books featuring Jennifer Strange? If so I think I need to get on board!

Sari, I'm so jealous that you can see all those Aalto buildings! Way to go on researching and finding out about all of them, too One day I'll get there to see them with my own eyes. I usually weigh myself once a week as well, at the gym. We have an old fashioned non-digital scale at home so it's hard to get down to the ounce. Not that I've been wanting to get on it this week, ugh. According to my heart rate monitor I burn on average 500+ calories during each dance class and still I don't notice much of a loss, and I'm taking 4 classes a week! Grrr...

I finished No Humans Involved and am now almost a quarter way through As Chimney Sweepers Come to Dust. Have I mentioned how much I love Alan Bradley?

Glad you're feeling better, Athena, and woo congrats, Virginia! That's lovely My work week will be over in about 2 1/2 hours, so I'm pretty excited about that! I'm off tomorrow and plan on running errands, finishing my book, and napping. Saturday night my once-a-month dinner friends and I will be going out for a 'Jucy Lucy' aka cheese-stuffed hamburgers, and Sunday night I'm going to a friend's house to watch the premiere of Game of Thrones season 5 on her 60" TV. All very thrilling!

I must admit that I stopped watching TVD after the 2nd season because I just didn't like the way the show was going and the characters they were killing off. I've always had a love/hate relationship with Kevin Williamson so that probably added fuel to the fire! I saw that The Originals is on Netflix though so maybe I'll give it a try too!

Ditto, Claire! Today I was given a certificate for 2 hours off from work, so yay!

Chilly and rainy here, for the 3rd day in a row, ugh.

I really like John Cusack and Jack Black, Frankie, and I wish that film would've been nothing but the guys interacting in the record store. Otherwise the rest of the story with John and his 'top five breakups' really kind of bored me after the first viewing. This past weekend we watched The Judge and it was pretty good. The most outstanding thing about it was the acting by Robert Downey Jr. and Robert Duvall. Superb! PS: And I also loved Grand Budapest Hotel! But Wes Anderson is a god among filmmakers, IMO, so that's not a stretch for me

Your trip to the shore sounds and looks beautiful, Noll! i bet you just wanted to take a photo every time you turned around That castle looks amazing too, Felidae! I hope you have a grand time, and Chrissy, ditto on your trip to Wales! I envy you all so much, being able to just hop in the car or on a train and see these gorgeous sites. Don't get me wrong, I love being in the quiet at the lake and in the middle of the woods here in MN, but we don't have cliffs or castles All is well with me, just working away and doing my thing. One month from Thursday I'll be heading out west to see my family in southern California and I can't wait! I'll be out there for 10 days and am counting on doing and seeing a lot. I haven't been out there for a couple of years and I miss my siblings and their kids!

We had asparagus with our Easter dinner yesterday! We don't broil it, but we bake it at 400f for 8 minutes and it's still a bit crunchy and the tips are nice and crispy. It's my favorite! I can't stand mushy asparagus We're having fish tacos tonight. Another fave of mine!

I finished No Humans Involved by Kelley Armstrong and over the weekend I purchased The Dead in Their Vaulted Arches by Alan Bradley, and I started it yesterday. I love Alan Bradley and everything he writes so I can't wait to get into this one!

I felt that way about Tris in the books, Chaliepud, so haven't made up my mind if I'll see Insurgent or not. Although if I'm speaking truthfully, I'd pay matinee prices to watch Theo James for 2 hours, so who am I kidding? We watched The Heat again the other night. I never stop laughing at that movie, and I haven't tired of it yet. We received The Judge in the mail today from Netflix so I'm looking forward to seeing that this weekend. I love Robert Duvall.

I agree on what your friend said, Sari. That was one of the first things our instructor said to us, that it would build confidence and only add to self-image. I wonder if there are any Alvar Aalto buildings/houses you could see on your walks. He was such a terrific designer and architect... I would love to see his buildings in person!

Ooooh, have fun with it, Sari, and let us know what you think! I LOVE taking my belly dancing class and while it's a low-impact form of exercise, it's very intense and works all those lovely core muscles. I also hope that all my Lebanese ancestors aren't too disturbed watching me do it . It's so nice having a dog to walk, especially for someone like me who gets very bored if I'm out by myself. My little Beagle, Emma, is pretty strong for her size and does not lift her nose off the ground for one second while we are walking, which can be a bit challenging at times!

It looks like everyone is doing great with their health and/or weight loss! There are a lot of good ideas floating around and I have taken note I've been struggling lately because even though I take Zumba class 3 times a week and belly dancing once a week, I haven't really been shedding that much weight in the month or so I've been doing it. I need to somehow try to find the right combo of exercise and types of food I'm eating so my body can get in gear. I downloaded the My Fitness Pal app and have started to record everything I eat, so we'll see what comes of that.