2011 Combo Challenge

[BaseballMom18]

Good morning!

 

 

Trish- I would love 3 12 hr days- yes long and tiring, but then you get 4 days off!! A couple of years ago my dept tried 4 10 hr days with alternating day off each week so that every 5 weeks you had a 4 day weekend with Friday and Monday off. I LOVED it, but the powers that be said they didn't think it was working out well in the dept and they ended it. I think they were just jealous that they couldn't do it either- Managers and above had to work 5 days/week.

 

My DD is going to start working 3 12 hr shifts in the OR and she can't wait! She used to do 3 12 hr shifts in the ER and she said if she could do it in the ER she can do it in the OR- much less stressful!

It is really nice having four days off one week and 3 the next but I'm just so flippin' tired after work!

 

Morning ladies

Short post today - got the stomach flu during the night,so I feel really crappy today .

 

Just wanted to drop in to say hello, will post more later today or tomorrow when I feel better .

 

:hugHope you feel better soon!

 

Hi, ladies - flyby for me, too!

Jules :hug:hug

 

Hello!

[judianne]

Hi, ladies - no reading or hooking for me yet today - I did finally see my friend and gave her the RR and the shawl I made for her for her December Bday and Christmas. She also has 2 gorgeous cats, so I thoroughly enjoyed myself....

[judianne]

Oh...I have February's project all lined up:D:D:D

...but you'll just have to wait till Feb for it:lol

[imanurse55]

Hi all,

Julie- Hope you feel better quick!!:hug

 

Judy- Sounds like you had a nice day!!!

 

Trish- I hear you about the being tired after working a 12 hr day- I routinely work about 8.5-9 hrs/day 5 days a week!

 

Karen- That's awesome- reading a book in Polish! My DH was learning Italian- he was tutored for a while- I got him a few books in Italian at a used book store up in Boston- He started one (for the life of me I can't remember the name) and it is taking him quite a while- but he likes a good challenge!

 

Donna- I hear you about the emails when you return to work after being off!!! I'm like you- when I'm off, I'm off!!! The emails will be there when I return! That's neat that you were learning Italian!!!

[Gardener]

Good evening everyone.

 

Joanne, I downloaded Deadly Sanctuary too, but I haven't started it yet.

 

Trish, nearly all the nurses in the ICU where I work do 12 hour shifts. I do 3 8 hour shifts a week, but I may have to go to 2 twelves instead. There is some talk of requiring all critical care nurses to do 12 hour shifts. It's a trade-off, two days a week, or 3 days a week with every evening free. I will just take it as it comes.

 

Julie, hope you feel better soon. There are some nasty viruses going around this winter.

 

Donna, I don't have to be off work for long, before I have accumulated 40 or 50 emails in my work account. I rarely check them at home, unless I have to go in for a meeting that I 'm hoping is cancelled. That hasn't ever happened, but I live in hope!

[JulieKay]

Morning ladies

I'm back and on the mend today . Nice to see lots of posts ,all talking books. It's been interesting reading through them all .

 

TODAY'S BOOK QUESTION :

 

Have you ever bought a book due to hearing so many good reviews for it ,and if so ,did it live up to expectations ,or were you disappointed ?

Do you have more luck choosing books on your own ?

 

 

Karen

Had to mention, I am really impressed that you can read a book in Polish ! Wow ! How long have you guys been there ,and how long do you plan to stay,or havent you decided ?

[imanurse55]

Good morning-

Glad to hear that you are on the mend Julie!!!

 

Question of the Day

I bought The Road by Cormac McCarthy based on the reviews it received and the fact that it won the Pulitzer Prize. I was not disappointed at all and read through it very quickly. I also read The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch after hearing good reviews and that also did not disappoint. I found it to be a very inspiring story.

 

I usually pick books on my own, and now with the Nook, I've been downloading free ones and I try them- if I don't like it- I move on. Also bought Dennis Lehane books - based on recommendation of my brother- I've read Mystic River and really liked it- and have a used copy of The Given Day that is waiting to be read.

 

I also tend to read a lot of books by the same author. I really like Jodi Piccoult and have read most of her books- same for John Grisham. I used to really like James Patterson books, but I feel that the more recent books are not as good as they used to be. I like Tess Gerritsen and have read most of hers.

 

Hope you all have a good day!!!

[Gardener]

Good morning. It's snowing hard here this morning. Glad I get to stay inside all day! I will try to get dh to feed the birds, as I see the feeder is empty. He needs to go out in the back yard anyhow, since he deposited the Christmas tree on the back deck, and poor Sophie-dog can just barely get through. (We live in the woods and just drag our discarded tree into the woods every year.)

 

Question of the day: I buy books based on friends recommendations, but not usually based on what the critics say. However, if I am thinking about getting a book, I will sometimes read the reviews to help me decide.

[busy-bee-lmt]

Alas, back into harness after while. It will probably take half the shift tonight just to click through all the accumulated e-mail, 95% of which will have nothing to do with me. Some of the staff constantly check work e-mail at home when they're not there, but not me. When I'm off, I'm off. The only exception is if I'm expecting something really important, which is rare.

John just HAS to constantly check out his emails while he's off. Drives me nuts. He works at least a couple of hours a day every day he's on vacation and this Christmas it was 6-8 hours a day the first week. That isn't being on vacation to me.

Morning ladies

I'm back and on the mend today . Nice to see lots of posts ,all talking books. It's been interesting reading through them all .

 

TODAY'S BOOK QUESTION :

 

Have you ever bought a book due to hearing so many good reviews for it ,and if so ,did it live up to expectations ,or were you disappointed ?

Do you have more luck choosing books on your own ?

Glad you are feeling better, Julie.

 

I will occasionally buy a book based on reviews of it, but mostly go on my own interests at the time. Some have been good and some not.

 

Many, many years ago when my mom had her hysterectomy, my dad bought her a book that was on the New York Times Best Seller list. I ended up reading it before she did and it struck me as hillarious that Dad would buy such a book for my mom. (It was a romance with some rather explicit sex scenes in it.) When Mom finally got around to reading it, the only reason she finished it was because she knew that I had finished it. Then she took it outside and BURNED it! :lol It wasn't a bad book as I recall except for about 10 or 12 pages, but that was 10 or 12 pages too many for Mom. And it wasn't something she felt comfortable ever discussing with me. Different generations.

[marpan79]

Good morning everyone

 

Well yesterday at lunch I got another round of snowflake B done I had to run to pick up my car from getting an oil change so didn't have the whole break to work on it

 

And last night after my sixers won and I got home. I read a bit of my book before my eyelid failed against gravity I got about a half chapter I think

 

Julie - I don't pay tooo much attention to the reviews But, I know that I have picked up books that were a big rave that I felt didn't live up to the hype. You know, those ones that jump in your face everywhere you turn So sometimes the reviews find me But for the life of me, I can't remember which books, but I do remember being let down

[Krakovianka]

I don't buy or read books based on general publicity reviews, but I do buy and read books based on personal reviews by people I trust (I read a lot of book blogs). One review isn't usually enough to do it, although there are exceptions. Not long ago I read a review by a blogger I trust, and told her I was going to buy the Kindle version to read based on her review alone (it was that good). I'm in the middle of it now, and I was right--this is absolutely my kind of book, and I'm enjoying it immensely. I've read The Road, Crow Lake (by Mary Lawson), The Book Thief (Markus Zuzak), and several others based on blogger reviews. I totally don't trust publicity reviews. I think the last book I read because of hype was The DaVinci Code...not my thing. The blogger reviews are a better thing to go by, because I can already tell if we LIKE the same kinds of books or not.

[hypermama]

good morning!

 

QOTD...I tend to go the other way if a book is raved about. I wait til the hype is over, see how long the hype lasts (is it a 15min of famer or a long term favorite). I don't like to be a trend follower. lol

 

I like to decide on my own. I read so many different kinds that I don't really fit into any category - not many of my friends like the books I like.

[ImmaFreek]

As per the QOTD .... the only books I have read that had any kind of "you have to read this, its such a good book" were back in High School. They were The Catcher in the Rye, Go Ask Alice, It Happened to Nancy and to be honest, the last 2 were instant favorites, and as for The Catcher in the Rye, I had to read it several times before it fully made sense to me, but I ended up really liking it as well.

 

But these days, I dont go looking for book reviews or read something based on popular demand. I tend to wander through the book store ( or browse online) and look at a variety of books. I read the back. Then I flip through and look at a few pages here and there. If it looks worthy enough to read then I go for it, but if it fails to intrigue me, then back on the shelf it goes.

[ddc]

Julie, I'm glad you're better.

 

I don't read the big reviews, but a few times I've read a book I heard reviewed on NPR. They were always non-fiction, and I didn't buy them, but waited until I could get them through interlibrary loan. I don't remember titles either, except The Big Burn, which I found pretty tedious. The other nameless ones I remember liking well enough. I guess the other stands out because I didn't particularly like it.

 

If I come across a title I think I might like by an author I don't know, I'll check Amazon reviews. If a lot of people have reviewed it, and if any of them are good reviews, they sometimes give a feel for the book. I also look especially for what the reviewers didn't like about a book. That will often stop me because they are sometimes things that I know I wouldn't like either.

 

I hate going back to work and getting bad news before I even get my coat off. My daytime (sort of) counterpart is have surgery at the end of the month that she deferred this summer and will be out 6 weeks. She asked if I could schedule a student worker for days during that time. Uh, no. They're student workers -- they have classes. So it's me. This is bad on two counts. First, I don't like working the day shift at all, and second, it completely reverses my sleep schedule. I be getting up about the time I usually go to bed now. I don't know how people who switch shifts around do it. The only good thing is that I will probably be able to get the week off before this starts so I can start adjusting to the hours. Bummer. But we do what we must to protect the job. No job = no money = no yharn or books. But I'm warning you all - I'll probably be a grumbly grouch those six weeks.

[busy-bee-lmt]

I hate going back to work and getting bad news before I even get my coat off. My daytime (sort of) counterpart is have surgery at the end of the month that she deferred this summer and will be out 6 weeks. She asked if I could schedule a student worker for days during that time. Uh, no. They're student workers -- they have classes. So it's me. This is bad on two counts. First, I don't like working the day shift at all, and second, it completely reverses my sleep schedule. I be getting up about the time I usually go to bed now. I don't know how people who switch shifts around do it. The only good thing is that I will probably be able to get the week off before this starts so I can start adjusting to the hours. Bummer. But we do what we must to protect the job. No job = no money = no yharn or books. But I'm warning you all - I'll probably be a grumbly grouch those six weeks.

Oh, dear. I'm like you, switching shifts always did a horrible number on me too. Grumble all you like, we understand. Life sometimes does get in the way of what we like to do. Big time.

[JulieKay]

Hi folks

Quick jump in -- been fiddling around today and not getting much accomplished anywhere . Still feeling a little sloshy,so not much in the mood to do much of anything .

 

Sounds as if we all kinda feel the same about big reviews on books --- sometimes I will choose a book if I hear from lots of sources that it's good,but I'm not a big NY Times List person -- some of them might be good, but others arent my type of book,so I tend to go more with lots of good amazon reviews --they usually get my attention more since it's just ordinary old people reading them and taking time to comment .

 

Karen

Could you list a few of your book blogs that you like to visit ? Also, if anyone else has some they read up on,we'd like to see them,so maybe we could get some more ideas too .

I read Crow Lake and really liked it a lot !

 

Joanne

I picked up a Picoult book today -- never read any of hers, but I know they seem pretty popular ,so thought I'd try one out .

 

Cindy

Sounds like a good day to stay inside ! We have some new snow here -- it all melted a couple days ago,but it is covering the ground again. Not a big amount, just enough to make the ground white .

 

Linda

Loved the story about your dad getting the book for your mom . Funny , I don't think Sam would know what books to choose for me either . I read a wide variety ,but he knows I dont do romance books. He'd probably buy me one just to hear my reaction -- he can be a little ornery sometimes .

 

Marisa

Good job, sticking with the snowflakes ! I know that working with thread is a challenge for lots of people,so it is good of you to keep with it !

 

Donna

Sorry to hear about the job hour change-- at least it wont be permanent,so thats good,but I do understand it will upset your body clock . Hope you can adjust ok !

 

Christine

Sounds as if you kinda have my taste in reading -- you go with whatever strikes you on a particular day. I know the librarian downtown used to say I was lucky I liked so many types of books .She says most people tend to stick with the same ones .I like branching out and reading odd things, especially books that a lot of other ladies wouldnt enjoy -- like war books, cowboy books,and stuff like that. A lot of lady type books seem too fluffy for my taste, but if other people enjoy them, it's fine with me !

 

Lacey

I really enjoyed hearing you talk about the zombie book or whatever the monster was --- I know they are very popular right now .I havent read any of them ,mainly because of my age. I think some books target certain age groups ,and those would be for a younger crowd . My girl has read some of them and liked them .I might have a long time ago,but your tastes change over time I think .

[shana0923]

Oh I love Jodi Picoult! LOVE! I need some recommendations too. I love psychological type books, fiction or non fiction. I love true stories and also love books set in victorian times or like pioneer days. Love Christian fiction too. I love just about any type of book lol.

[Krakovianka]

I'll share some book blog links tomorrow, although there are *thousands* of them out there. (Too tired to look up links tonight--headed to bed in a minute.) Just wanted to say that I *accidentally* read a vampire/zombie book this summer. I downloaded the free sample to my Kindle, read the first couple of chapters and got into the story without having a *clue* that it was going to be a vampire/zombie story. So I *paid* for it, and then...well, I had to finish it because I paid for it. But those aren't really my thing, either, although I *have* read (listened, actually) to both Dracula and another gothic/vintage vampire story at Librivox.

 

The Passage by Justin Cronin--that's the vampire book I accidentally read. I ALSO accidentally rented and watched the first 15 minutes or so of a zombie movie (I mistook it for something else that was recommended to me)--28 weeks after. Oh. My. Word. It ran for about 15 minutes, about half of which I didn't see because I covered my eyes...and then I turned it off. SO not my thing.

[judianne]

Karen, I've been known to cover my eyes when watching some movies, too...and I have Dracula on my Nook....I'm about 1/3 finished with it. I'm a fan of the old Bela Lugosi Dracula movie, so reading this has been very interesting.

 

good morning!

 

QOTD...I tend to go the other way if a book is raved about. I wait til the hype is over, see how long the hype lasts (is it a 15min of famer or a long term favorite). I don't like to be a trend follower. lol

 

I like to decide on my own. I read so many different kinds that I don't really fit into any category - not many of my friends like the books I like.

Ditto! When it's my turn to pick for my neighborohood book club it's usually historical fiction or a classic. Neither of which are greeted with lots of enthusiasm. But they've picked too many "Kite Runner" type books for my taste...or memoirs, etc...so I revel in my chance to pick!

[judianne]

I finished snowflake B - need to tuck tails and starch...but want to do C first.

 

Linda, my clover size 7 hook is working well with 10 thread...and I love the symmetry (sp?) of your patterns! Deceptively simple, and just wonderful to make. Do you happen to like math?? I was wondering as I saw how they were working out...

[JulieKay]

Shana

Well, maybe we can get some new book lists in here so we might all find some new ones to try out . There used to be a really neat site online for book recommendations,but I havent looked for it in a long time. Msybe I'll go do some searching for it and see if it is still out there someplace .

You have definitely talked me into trying the Picoult book very soon !

 

Karen

Anytime you get the chance to post some book blogs will be fine . No hurry and you won't have to post a ton ,maybe just a few of your most favorites .

I'm with you on the scarey type books -- I dont read many of them ,and I'm not a movie watcher at all,so I know I'd never sit through a scarey movie ,although lots of people consider them their favorites . We all have our likes and dislikes .

 

Jude

I think I could handle the classic-type scarey books. They arent told in a real graphic type way ,so are more like ghost stories than the blood and guts type stuff .

Glad the snowflakes are working out well for you !

 

 

Speaking of books, I just finished one on my Kindle tonite-- Echoes of a Haunting Revisited ... a true ghost story,which I love . I like watching all the ghosthunter shows ,although a lot of them are a bunch of hooey (IMO) ,but I do think some of them are fairly believeable .

 

So...now, what book to start next ? I started the travel one the other day but just couldnt get into it, so will try it another time .

 

You all have a good night ,and we'll check in tomorrow morning,same time, same channel !

[imanurse55]

Quick stop in - as it's getting late already and I want to finish a scarf and also read for a bit- there just aren't enough hours in the day!!!

 

Donna- sorry about the hour switch at your job- I know how difficult that will be- I used to sometimes get called in to work a different shift than I was used to and it messed me up for days. But I agree, you do what you have to do- especially in this economy!!!

 

Off for the night!

[JulieKay]

Hi Joanne

Thanks for stopping in -- I know you have a pretty hectic work schedule this week !

 

 

Ok guys - I can't find the old list they used to have up,but here are a few I found kinda interesting :

 

http://www.onlinecollege.org/2010/07/14/100-book-recommendations-to-get-you-through-the-summer/

 

http://www.examiner.com/book-in-national/favorite-books-of-all-time-a-completely-personal-and-biased-list-of-50-unabashed-literary-loves

(This has 50-- click on the bottom for second half )

 

http://othemts.wordpress.com/2009/01/23/favorite-books-100-9/

(10 per page,counts down from 100 ---)

 

 

http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/completelist/0,29569,1951793,00.html

 

http://www.thebest100lists.com/best100novels/

 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2009/jan/23/bestbooks-fiction

 

(****I'm a little worried about this last one ..... ONE THOUSAND BOOKS ???? I'm a little LATE TO THE DANCE ,I do believe,unless by some miracle I have already read about 829 of them.......)

 

 

Ok gang, this will at least give you some ideas -- couldnt find the site I used to go to all the time -- that was a long time ago in a galaxy far away ....

[marpan79]

Hey everyone

 

Nothing new to report here. I did however figure out a part of snowflake B I was messing up on with Linda's help (Thanks ) so tomorrow at lunch I will finish B and hopefully do C as well Oh that reminds me that I need to remind Mary to bring her starch with her tomorrow.

 

Hopefully I'll get to read a few more pages before bed tonight too

 

Right now though, I'm headed to the couch to work on a baby blanket for my new niece that due in a few weeks It's very annoying that life, ie. work, has to get in the way of my crocheting

[imanurse55]

Hey everyone

 

It's very annoying that life, ie. work, has to get in the way of my crocheting

Couldn't agree with you more!!!!!!

 

I could be done with the scarf, it looks fine, but I may just take it to work and make it a little longer since I have the yarn. I have 50 pages left to read in my book. It seems that my eyelids started closing a little quicker than usual when I started reading last night:lol

 

I'm hoping to try my hand at one of the thread snowflakes on Sunday. Which is the EASIEST of the three to do?

 

Hope you ALL have a happy Friday!