Goal: Read 50 Books in a Year.

Currently Reading: Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King by J.R.R. Tolkien

Reading is a big part of my life. It always has been. My Mom began reading to me when I was very young, even though people teased her for it saying I wouldn't get anything from it yet. Now, with the advances in early childhood education we can see that she was correct. I've always been a reader and I owe that to my Mom. 

I use goodreads.com to keep track of the books I've read and want to read. This site has introduced me to so many books! goodreads.com has a reading challenge. You can decide how many books you'd like to read in a year and set it as your goal. goodreads will track your progress and tell you how many books behind or ahead of schedule you are.

For 2014 I decided to set a goal of 50 books. I reasoned it would be about a book a week give or take. Some books will take longer and some I will finish in a day or two. The picture of the stack of books above are some books that will be included in my 50 reads. I have a mix of genres and lengths. 

I was fortunate for Christmas and my birthday this year that my loved ones gave me books as gifts. When I finish a book I can easily pick up another. I am currently one book ahead of schedule. As of today I have read 9 books towards my goal of 50. In future blog posts I will give a short review of those 9 books to catch you up with me. 

My plan was to take each book's number of pages and divide it by 7 to assign myself a certain number of pages a day. This worked quite well when I was struggling through Rules of Engagement by Anita Brookner. But once I got into the Lord of the Rings trilogy I was reading more than my assigned amount on most days. So for now I've put the assignment aside, but if I get behind schedule I'll pick it up again.

goodreads.com is a good motivator. I'm quite competitive with myself and I like to stay ahead of schedule. It helps to motivate me to read. I'm a reader and I love books. But sometimes after a long day of work or chores it is more appealing to veg out watching House of Cards on Netflix than to venture off into Middle Earth.

The 9 books I've read so far: The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom, Allegiant by Veronica Roth, The Rules of Engagement by Anita Brookner, The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien, The Madman's Daughter by Megan Shepherd, Her Kind by Robin Throne, Seating Arrangements by Maggie Shipstead, Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? by Mindy Kaling. Reviews and tidbits on those coming soon!

Happy Reading!

The Fitted Sheet Merry-Go-Round

I imagine that many folks spend a lot of time deciding on the content of their first blog post. It should set a tone of what readers can expect. It should be witty and impressive. It should have to do with the title of the blog. 

Ok, well mine sort of has to do with the title of the blog since this could be classified as a "blonde moment." Growing up I always resented that I was a blonde. I became tired of blonde jokes and feeling like people assumed that I was ditzy or not smart because of my hair color. When in fact, I was quite a serious child. My silliness didn't bloom fully until I was in my twenties. Anyways, I learned to laugh at the blonde stereotype and embrace it. Sometimes it's ok to have a "blonde moment." 

From the first time I was told to make my bed I have had a sort of mental block about putting on a fitted sheet. You know the drill. Put a corner under pull it from the top right to the bottom right and it's too short! Ok, take a corner and put it on the bottom right and take it to the bottom left, it's too long! What happened? This is the fitted sheet merry-go-round. I am ashamed to admit how many times I did this over the years. I never looked for a solution because once the bed was made it flitted right out of my head as I promptly grabbed a book to read on my freshly made bed.

I'm here to tell you there's a quick fix. There is a light at the end of this tunnel! When I finally did it and stopped the fitted sheet merry-go-round I felt quite stupid for not doing it earlier. No, not make my husband do the laundry. Buy striped sheets! So simple! Vertical, horizontal, or some print that has a top and bottom will work. Do not buy plaid or you will be doing the fitted sheet merry-go-round: plaid edition. 

I know, it's sad it took me as many years as it did to solve this problem. But, this is me! I believe everyone has a similar issue now and then. We're human. Sometimes we have moments.