Reading Rainbow

Back in January or February, I set a goal to finish reading the entire Harry Potter series in time to watch the final movie in the theatre in July. (I started with book 5. I think I subconsciously took a sabbatical from the series when it was all the craze.) For many people, that goal could be accomplished in less than a month … but have you seen how many pages those books are?! A total of gazillion pages actually for books 5-8. Along with all the other stuff going on in my life, I figured that was a reasonable goal since I’m not a speed reader and have slacked on my book-reading for a while.

Well, I finished the series a couple of weeks early and did indeed watch the final movie in the theatre with my Potter-loving friend Jenny. Definitely a nerd fest that evening, but we don’t care! We just appreciate brilliantly written stories!

Jenny and I after watching Harry Potter 7.2.

I didn’t intend for this post to be a tribute to Harry Potter – though it is definitely worthy. J.K. Rowling definitely has a gift of storytelling and has inspired millions of people around the world to read more, including myself.

Since finishing the series, I have definitely been on a reading kick. Nothing can take the place of picking up a tangible book and winding down at the end of a busy day in my comfy chair or bed. Or sitting outside taking a break from daily office life and going to a different world with a few words printed on paper. Or sitting on the beach under an umbrella and falling asleep with a book in hand and the crashing of waves ringing in my ears.

Perfect view at Seagrove Beach, FL

Some books I’ve finished recently include:

• A Walk Across America and The Walk West – Peter Jenkins
• Blowing My Cover: My Life as a CIA Agent – Lindsey Moran
• Heaven is for Real - Todd Burpo
• The Traveler’s Gift and The Final Summit – Andy Andrews
• The Big Book of Food and Nutrition - Mike Zimmerman (of the Men’s/Women’s Health magazine gang)

I still have a long list of books I want to read, so I should probably get off the computer and start reading them, huh? I might report on a few of them (but of course not your standard boring 4^th grade book report) because I enjoyed them so much. So stay tuned. But don’t hold your breath. This blog may or may not have a track record of being sporadic.

If you really love books and appreciate good writing, you should check out my co-worker Robert’s blog, 101 Books. He is in the process of reading Time’s 100 greatest books of all time (plus Ulysses) and he’s about 25% of the way to his goal. He’s writing entertaining version of Cliff Notes on many of these big and boring books that I plan to never read, while providing interesting fill-in posts between summary reports. Hey, the guy even read Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret – HA!

What book are you reading right now? What recommendations do you have for me?

Enjoying time at a local bookstore in Rosemary Beach, FL.

Our library is no longer on the floor.

Never take for granted having books on shelves at eye level.

We’ve had many of our books on the floor of our office/junk room for months. And months. And a few more months.

I finally made a decision on what bookcases to get, and I took the purchase plunge a couple of weekends ago. I knew I wanted the open, ladder style as an updated twist to the traditional boxy bookcases, especially for our long multi-purpose living and dining room.

Andy went with me to Target to get the shelves, and when we got back home, I just left him alone downstairs to be Mr. Handyman. When I came back a little later, there stood two beautiful bookcases! It’s nice to have a handy, dandy Andy around for times like these.

Side note: I look forward to the day when we feel like we can paint the walls. I love these types of bookcases against a pop of color!

I really thought we had more books than what is shown on the bookcases. But then again, I haven’t bought a lot of books in the past few years. I’m more likely to go to the bookstore, library, or friends’ personal libraries. The books I have kept around are some of the lucky ones; they have made it through multiple book purges before various apartment moves.

We have quite a few more books that will stay upstairs because I had to leave room for little knicknacks and picture frames. We even organized the shelves by topics – travel, faith, food and nutrition, random, and of course…

Oh, that is just a very small sampling, my friends.

When I revisit this topic in 30 years, we will probably have a dimly lit room with floor-to-ceiling built-in bookshelves with a ladder on wheels, complete with a big cozy leather chair. That’s Andy’s dream.

This and That for 3.4.09

Andy and I had fun playing in the snow on Sunday! Though most of the snow in my area had melted by the afternoon, it was still fun while it lasted. Now it’s supposed to be in the 60s and 70s this week – now that is perfect weather!

I am on a peanut butter kick. I could eat a whole jar.

The Publix’s brand Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookie ice cream is amazing.

The smoothies I make are better than any you can buy at a store. Maybe I should open up my own smoothie place.

I am still in the process of training for the Country Music Half Marathon at the end of April. The fluctuating weather patterns haven’t been too helpful for me, as I prefer running outside to the treadmill. I even cried last week because I didn’t want to go running but knew I needed to. (I ended up running and felt great afterwards.) I have enjoyed reading a lot of awesome info on RunnersWorld.com to help keep me focused. If you have recommendations for other running sites, please let me know.

I have quite a few friends looking for jobs. If you know of anyone in this area in need of a dental assistant, youth minister, or office assistant, I’ve got some great leads for you.

I recently finished The Lost Continent by Bill Bryson. I enjoy travel books and was excited to read this book about Bryson’s road trip around the country, but this book took me forever to read and wasn’t one of my favorites. Maybe because he’s kinda crude at times. Maybe because I wish that was me traveling around. He’s written quite a few books, and I might read another one in the future. What’s your favorite book of his?

Now I have started reading Stuffed: An Insider’s Look at Who’s (Really) Making America Fat and  Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West. I know, I know, I’m kinda behind the times here. Maybe I’ll get around to seeing the Wicked play in the future.

I have much to be thankful for.

This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. —Psalm 118:24

Rachael Ray Recap

The Queen of Yummo and Delish made it to Franklin, TN yesterday. Here is my side of the story:

Katie and I got in line at 2:30pm. Our destination was the back of Williams-Sonoma, which is almost to the middle of the mall. After picking up our pre-ordered cookbooks, we got at the back of the line at Macy’s at the north end of the mall. If you’re unfamiliar with the Cool Springs Galleria, just picture a line spanning almost half of the mall.

We waited in line for just under an hour. Pretty good timing, considering the first insane person got there at 6am. (I really hope that person didn’t take off work all day just for 5 seconds of saying hello to Rachael. Give me a break.) The line moved quickly, and I kept myself occupied by looking through the entire cookbook and munching on some goodies the store’s staff gave us – all from the new cookbook (Macadamian nut cheese balls and roasted vegetable pesto dip). We learned that the older lady in front of us with frazzled bleach-blonde hair lives in Green Hills, couldn’t decide who to give the book to for Christmas, and that the free caramel suckers being passed out hurt her teeth – particularly those on the left side of her mouth where she has some crowns. Uh… TMI, lady. TMI.

While in line, I discovered that every staff person at W-S person I encountered was fabulous. The whole event was organized and professional (plus, they gave us free food – brownie points with me), even though I felt like I was in a herd of well-organized cattle.

Well, we finally got in the store, and the line snaked through the overly priced pots and pans on the road to The Rach. We’re almost there:

I thought we’d have at least a cordial exchange of words with her, considering we all just bought her book for more than we could get it on Amazon and waited in line for quite a while. However, she pretty much had her nose in the books signing away and occasionally looking up for a split second. I guess that’s how you roll when you’re famous, on a time crunch, and have been signing books for over 2 hours already. Here is the incredibly awkward picture of me and Rach:

Rachael observations: The woman is really short. Her hair is amazing. She doesn’t look 40. She seemed tired and stressed. She was not her bubbly TV self. She is a regular person just like the rest of us who was just doing her job.

Before Katie and I were shoved off the scene, we did say a happy “thank you!” which caused Rachael to look up, smile, and say “you’re welcome.” Well, that’s a step toward our friendship, don’t you think? Maybe the simple “thank you” set us apart from the other fans.

It was a fun experience, and I’m sure I’ll cook many wonderful dishes from the book. Maybe you’ll be the next taste tester!

After all that, I found out that one of my old college friends met her at Starbucks earlier in the day. Ahhh!

Rachael Ray is Comin’ to Town

Little Miss Yummo herself is going to be right across the street from my office next week, and I will be there to meet her!

She’s doing a book signing at our local Williams-Sonoma next Tuesday afternoon. My friend Katie Kate is coming with me and hopefully we’ll be able to get our pictures taken with her. I hope she’s just as hyper in person and that she’ll fall in love with us and want us to become her sidekicks. Yes, that would be fun. Here’s to wishful thinking.

I am no longer a Rachael Ray freak, but I have made a lot of food based on her recipes and really loved her before big marketing teams got a hold of her and plastered her face and hyperness on everything under the sun. (But hey, I’m on a marketing team, so I can’t complain.)

Hopefully I can post next Tuesday with a good report of my first book signing experience and Rachael Ray encounter.

Thanks, Heather, for sharing this exciting news! See you in line!

The Secret Behind Chick-fil-A’s Success

Over the weekend, I finished the book How Did You Do It, Truett?. It’s a very quick read written by Truett Cathey, the founder of Chick-fil-A. In the book, Truett tells the story of how the popular restaurant came to be and what distinguishes it from other fast-food restaurants to this day.

The whole time I was reading the book, my mouth was watering for all things Chick-fil-A: chicken sandwich, waffle fries, chicken nuggets, lemonade, southwest chicken salad, chicken biscuit, etc. Mmmmm…I’m starting to crave it as I type this.

Besides the delish food, I love Chick-fil-A because I have never left there in a bad mood. The team members who work there are always so friendly. That doesn’t happen by accident. Here’s what Truett had to say about it:

If you really aren’t interested in serving others, you don’t need to be in the restaurant business in the first place. We like to say we recruit smiles. We can’t teach a sour person to be joyful. Smiles are there because the heart is behind the smile. … What we can do is suggest actions that put smiles on the faces of others. Nothing brings a smile quicker than service that goes beyond the expected.

I asked … employees to say, ‘My pleasure’ whenever someone thanked them. The purpose was not just to change the words we say, but to remind those we serve, as well as ourselves, of the servant spirit and ‘second-mile’ orientation we are continually building into our business. … It distinguishes the individual and the company they represent.

I’d also like to note this statement that pretty much boils down to the success of the chain. I think I’m going to start writing this on napkins when I go out to eat and leave a copy of this book (among others) for the manager.

Businesses are not dishonest or selfish, people are. Thus, a business, successful or not, is merely a reflection of the character of its leadership. … I see no conflict between biblical principles and good business practices. We’ve tried to operate Chick-fil-A that way from the beginning.

It’s definitely a quick read I recommend taking a hour or so to read. Also, a Google search brought up this Q&A with Truett about the book.

And now for the question I want you to answer: In what places recently have you experienced exceptional customer service?

The Irresistible Revolution

I recently finished reading my third book of my 2008 book list, The Irresistible Revolution: Living As An Ordinary Radical by Shane Claiborne. The fairly quick read was recommended to me by a good friend and I had heard some buzz about it, so I figured I’d just check it out for myself.

As a whole, the book wasn’t my favorite one I’ve ever read. Though I didn’t agree with a lot of things he illustrated and his context of certain Scriptures, there were quite a few quotes and passages that positively stuck out to me, more than I will note here, but here are a few:

Mother Teresa always said, “Calcuttas are everywhere if only we have eyes to see. Find your Calcutta.” I was ready to come home. I knew that my Calcutta was the United States, for I knew that we could not end poverty until we took a careful look at wealth. I was to battle the beast from within the belly. I learned from the lepers that leprosy is a disease of numbness. The contagion numbs the skin, and the nerves can no longer feel as the body wastes away. In fact, the way it was detected was by rubbing a feather across the skin, and if the person could not feel it, they were diagnosed with the illness. To treat it, we would dig out or dissect the scarred tissue until the person could feel again. As I left Calcutta, it occurred to me that I was returning to a land of lepers, a land of people who had forgotten how to feel, to laugh, to cry, a land haunted by numbness. Could we learn to feel again? (89) 

All around you, people will be tiptoeing through life, just to arrive at death safely. But dear children, do not tiptoe. Run, hop, skip, or dance, just don’t tiptoe.” – a college prof (225)

When we look through the eyes of Jesus, we see new things in people. In the murderers, we see our own hatred. In the addicts, we see our own addictions. In the saints, we catch glimpses of our own holiness. We can see our own brokenness, our own violence, our own ability to destroy, and we can see our own sacredness, our own capacity to love and forgive. When we realize that we are both wretched and beautiful, we are freed up to see others the same way. (264)

Have you read the book?

Re: Nehemiah

My church has recently started a new teaching series of the Old Testament book Nehemiah. The series is titled “Re: Rebuilding, Returning, Reclaiming, Restoring,” basically a 3-second summary of the book. I’m excited about studying this book together.

The last time I really studied it (well, part of it) was in my small group in college. One night we met, we weren’t all mentally there (for the moment, of course) so my fearless leader decided to spice things up a little bit by acting out a passage from the book. Due to that brief skit, I will always think of King Artaxeres as “Big Daddy A.” I am sure that’s what people back in his day called him.

Since I’ve been attending Fellowship, we as a church and as Inversion have studied in-depth various books of the Bible, including Ruth, Hebrews, Philippians (twice), Habakkuk, Mark, and 2 Timothy. Bring on Nehemiah!

You can download the messages here.