this little life of mine

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Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB at A Daily Rhythm.  Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

•Grab your current read.

•Open to a random page.

 •Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page. (I tend to go over this limit a LOT!)

•BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

•Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

 My teaser today comes from page 33:

At first Cloud heard only a faint wind hushing in the firs. Then she realized she was not alone. Nearby, children wept quietly. 

Hope you all have a great week! Cheers!

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Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB at A Daily Rhythm.  Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

•Grab your current read.

•Open to a random page.

 •Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page. (I tend to go over this limit a LOT!)

•BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

•Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

My Teaser this week comes from page 195 of  Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel.

"A non-ransacked house," August said, once they'd resumed walking. The suitcase wheels were stiff and Kirsten didn't like the sound they made on the road, but otherwise the suitcases were perfect. "I never thought I'd see another one."

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Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB at A Daily Rhythm.  Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

•Grab your current read.

•Open to a random page.

 •Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page. (I tend to go over this limit a LOT!)

•BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

•Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Hello, fellow readers!! Since I took the month of September off from the internet - a wonderful and well-deserved break from the madness! - I have three teasers to share with you this week.  Enjoy!

1. Nightbird by Alice Hoffman, page 53 on my nook:

"And more importantly, we have a secret that binds us together," Julia said solemnly. I looked at her and she nodded. "I saw James."

2. When We Were Animals by Joshua Gaylord, page 144 on my nook:

I knew that repetitions of three had power to them. And if you could summon Bloody Mary by uttering her name three times in a mirror, then I reckoned you could summon a lost girl in a similar way. 

3.  Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne, page 94 - 95

But Mr. Fogg, far from being discouraged, was continuing to search, resolved not to stop if he had to resort to Macao, when he was accosted by a sailor on one of the wharves. 

"Is your honour looking for a boat?"

I hope everyone has a terrific week! Cheers!

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Finally updated my Art Wall with some new photos that I took last month.They're mostly sunrises and sunsets, and some gorgeous cloud formations, but I also captured a rainbow, the full moon, and the patio on top of The Carlton Hotel. Cheers!

As you probably already know, I've been off-line for the past month, taking a voluntary and very necessary break from the madness that is the World Wide Web. It was nice - refreshing, relaxing, and utterly enjoyable! Sometimes I think I could step off the internet forever, and not regret it for a moment. Go back to, say, 1997, before I started reading strangers' online journals and getting sucked into their lives - their tragedies and triumphs, traumas and dramas, loves and hates, break-ups and make-ups - and get back to living in the real world. But, I'd miss it all, I know, because I missed it during the past 30 days. Mostly because a lot of these people are not strangers anymore, but real-life friends I've met and spent quality time with. People I care about. Also, I think I might miss writing about my own life, which I've found to be fun as well as a useful resource. It's nice to know that whenever I'm trying to remember something that's happened (when was the last time it rained, what wineries were at the last Art and Wine Tour, and when did we landscape the backyard, anyway?), I can look it up right here on this blog!

So, anyway, in no particular order, here's what I've been up to the past month:

Over Labour Day weekend, my mom and I chopped down all the overgrown grasses and shrubs in the back yard to get ready for the upcoming El Nino storms. Now all I need to do is add some more rocks along the garage, clean out the gutters and have them checked, and probably clean out the dry creek bed one more time.

I put up nearly 160 rubber stamps for sale on ebay. I sold just about half of them so far.

I purchased a new bed - a Tempurpedic Flex with an adjustable base. I didn't fall in love with it at first, but I'm growing used to it. I really like the adjustable base! It's so much more comfortable to watch TV in bed and use my laptop now!

My mom and I  went to the Fall Art and Wine Tour in Atascadero on the 11th, and this one time I decided to not bother taking any pictures since I wasn't going to do a full blog post anyway, and we'll just walk around, enjoy the wine and the art, and of course, it was the one time there were not only several brand-new wineries and tons of food, but also a poetry reading at Socrates Coffeehouse, a DJ at the 805 Board Shop, and the wine tasting at The Carlton Hotel  had two wineries, and was up on the patio, which is gorgeous!! le sigh!

This past August marked my 10 year anniversary at the Court. Honestly, I cannot believe I've been working here 10 years! To commemorate this milestone, I got my 10 year pin, and a new employee badge photo, as well as a brief ceremony with refreshments with the management teams, along with a couple other long-term employees. It was nice, but I do wish it would've been held up in the office where I work along with all the people I have been working with all these years! It would have been a lot more special. I am pleased with my new pin and employee photo, though! The picture is a great improvement over the older two!

So, by the second week of September, the express bus I usually take into work was full near to capacity before it even reached my stop (and Cal Poly hadn't even started yet!). Instead of looking forward to riding the bus where I can relax and read a book, I was dreading dealing with all the damn people! Friday the 11th, was by far the worst ever, so, that following Monday I decided to try the bus that comes just before it, and found that bus was quite lovely, very nearly empty for the majority of the trip, and even though it's not an express, it still got me to work on time. Win, win!The only changes I had to make to my usual morning routine was to drink my coffee and protein shake faster, and not linger around the TV watching the local news. No problem, since I can get my news online, down my protein shake PDQ, and have coffee when I get to work. I may (or may not I haven't decided yet) go back to my usual express bus around the holidays when the schools are on break, and things usually calm down after that anyway, because a good chunk of students flunk out or graduate, and in the past I've found the Winter, Spring and Summer quarters have, in general, fewer students riding for whatever reason.

 9/14/15: OMG, it RAINED! Just a little - not even an inch, but still. Rain! In September!

I got my monthly pedicure in this lovely, fall-like colour from OPI called Go With the Lava Flow. It didn't hold up as well as OPIs usually do, as I ended up with a couple chips just two weeks in to the month. It's still a pretty colour, though!

Random Fun Sign outside Terry's Bar and Grill Whiskey and June.

 Also, in September, I upgraded to the iPhone 6s. I wasn't going to bother until I heard the 6s has a 12 megapixel camera! My old 5s only had 8.  I did have some trouble getting everything moved over to the new phone, and I probably should've gone in to Verizon and had one of the techs do it, but in the end, I got all my photos and contacts, and that's all that really matters. As for the music and the apps, maybe it's a good thing that I'm starting over. This way I'll have less crap on my phone (and all my music is on my iPod anyway)!

So, that's about it! I hope everyone had a great September! Let me know what you've been up to in the comments - Cheers!