Coming Out of Hibernation

Hello and welcome back....or did you not just spend the last three days in hibernation like I did?  It's true.  With the mercury dipping a good bit below zero and the wind making it feel like that was possibly absolute zero (remember back to your high school science class for that reference), I stayed inside and mostly huddled under a snuggly throw with Daisy. This morning has been rather ugly weather-wise, a mix of snow, rain and freezing rain, but the temperature has remained above freezing (barely) and it feels all most like a heatwave! That is definitely a welcome change.

Some good came out of my seclusion. 

I got lots of napping done, which I rarely, if ever do. 

I signed up for a menu planning service and downloaded my first batch of menus and shopping lists.

I ordered groceries online from Walmart for the first time. I picked them up after work this morning. This is a great service. I didn't have to spend time walking around the store...just pull in, call the number to let them know you are there, and they bring it out and put it in the car. And it's free! (Not the groceries, just the service.) I wish I had known how yucky today's weather was going to be, though, as I still had to carry it all in the house when I got home. I really love this. Once I get familiar with the site I'll be able to place an order quickly and if I don't have to go in, then I won't be tempted by all those strategically placed items Walmart sets out to spur your impulse shopping.

I moved my great-grandma's dough box out of my office/library and moved the Total Gym in. I'm trying to rearrange a few things so that I can have it open and set up all the time so I will be more inclined to use it. Maybe it will inspire my husband, too.

I finally chose my word for the year. I had a tough time narrowing it down. There were several contenders: mindful, kind, present, focused, etc. I finally chose "Love." I don't mean the mooshy, gooshy kind of love. I mean Biblical love. 1 Corinthians 13 spells out all the things that comprise God's kind of love: patience; kindness; rejoices with the truth; always protects, trusts, hopes, and perseveres; bears all things; believes all things; and endures all things. It also spells out all the things God's kind of love is not: it doesn't envy; it doesn't boast; it isn't prideful; it isn't rude; it isn't self-seeking; it isn't easily angered; it doesn't keep score; it doesn't delight in wrongdoing; it never gives up; it never loses faith; it never fails. That's who I want to work toward being in 2018, a woman who loves like the Lord.

I read. A lot. I finished book number 2 for the year already. At this rate I won't have any problem reaching my goal of 45...which is sort of a moderate goal. I didn't want to be discouraged and feel bad if I wasn't reading enough, but if I can read more....well, go me!

The book I read was James Rollins' Demon Crown. It is the 13th book in the Sigma Force series. Rollins is a master at combining science fact with science possibility and throwing in some a lot of buckle-up-and-hang-on action and adventure. The tales he weaves are fiction, but the science in them, which he documents and points out as being true in each book, lend them an edge of possibility. 

Demon Crown did not disappoint at all. It had all the heart-stopping action I've come to expect while being led all over the world and introduced to rare and amazing people, places, and things. 

All the members of Sigma Force were back, plus a couple of new faces, and my emotions were all over the place at the dangers they faced and wondering if some of them would live on in the next book. It was an intense look at what might be possible with those insect specimens we've all seen that have been trapped in amber since prehistoric times. Recall that they got DNA from a specimen in amber in Jurassic Park....and multiply that by...a lot!...to come up with the how horrible it would be factor.

I can't tell you anything else because I don't want to spoil it for anyone who might want to read it. Just let me express the thought I have after reading every single Sigma Force book. Why? Why, why, why, are these books not being made into movies? They are perfect for it.

If you love a good, action-filled adventure and are interested in new technologies and how they could impact our world...you need to start reading this series!

It looks like the wet stuff has gone completely to rain so I guess I'd better get ready and head back to work before it changes its mind again.

Have a great week!