This is going to be a short posting today as I am feeling very lazy today.  Good thing it is my Relax and Read weekend.  What are your plans for today?  Anything exciting?
I want to thank Razlover, one of my followers for commenting on a review I posted yesterday.  I joined in on some memes that I consider “my fun things to do”.  You can join in also….check out these memes on the right sidebar of my blog.  And because of that comment, it gave me my question for Aloha Friday, that I am going to do my draft for Friday after this posting.  Hope you stop by on Friday to see my question and leave your answer.
Have a relaxing Sunday!!!!

Vanished by Joseph Finder (won from The Book Trib)  (Rating–5)
Synopsis:  Nick Heller, former Special Ops now working in PI Private Sector receives a call for help from Gabe, his nephew.  Gabe’s stepfather, Roger and Nick’s estranged brother, has vanished and his mother has been attacked and is in the hospital.  Nick not close to his brother or his father, who is in prison for securities fraud, takes a leave of absence to help investigate what has happened to his brother Roger.  Even though their relationship has been strained for years, blood is thicker than water or is it?
Thoughts: This was a heart pounding suspense from a personal level to private sector and all the way up the chain to the government level.  Every turn was a surprise right down to the last page.  This was the first book I read by Joseph Finder and it won’t be my last. Thoroughly enjoyed.
  (Challenges:  Reading From My Shelf, Thriller/Suspense, Books Won & 100+)

Vanished by Joseph Finder (won from The Book Trib)  (Rating–5)
Synopsis:  Nick Heller, former Special Ops now working in PI Private Sector receives a call for help from Gabe, his nephew.  Gabe’s stepfather, Roger and Nick’s estranged brother, has vanished and his mother has been attacked and is in the hospital.  Nick not close to his brother or his father, who is in prison for securities fraud, takes a leave of absence to help investigate what has happened to his brother Roger.  Even though their relationship has been strained for years, blood is thicker than water or is it?
Thoughts: This was a heart pounding suspense from a personal level to private sector and all the way up the chain to the government level.  Every turn was a surprise right down to the last page.  This was the first book I read by Joseph Finder and it won’t be my last. Thoroughly enjoyed.
(Challenges:  Reading From My Shelf, Thriller/Suspense, Books Won & 100+)

TGIS….I am so behind in reading and updating items on my blog (will explain why a little later in this post). I have seen many of the blogs I follow posting about this new challenge Bloggiesta and have been reading some articles and realize……boy do I still have a lot to learn!!!! Things like copyrights (wondering if my blog is too new to invest in this or what are the benefits, labels, organizing blog (this I have been working on but haven’t completed. Once again any help and/or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I tend to feel guilty spending so much time getting my blog updated (since I am the number 1 computer for dummies) instead of what I should be doing and that is reading along with the mundane things known as household chores. But I read somewhere that to increase traffic, have a nice blog (suggestions in this area would also be appreciated). So that’s what I have been trying to accomplish. Now for why I am so behind this week with reading.

MY JOURNEY
I posted this week that I have decided that I will be writing down my thoughts and emotions as to what I am facing as a means of a therapeutic nature and it beats the cost of a counselor. The reason I am so behind in everything is that I spent most of this week on the phone trying to book an appointment for an orthopedic doctor who specializes in complicated and/or risky surgeries of the spine, which I fall into having had 3 past surgeries the last one being 20 years ago and at the time I was the 3rd patient to have had an experimental procedure. Between having reports sent to this doc (wouldn’t even make the appointment until he saw all the tests results, calls to my PCP for certain files to be faxed to the orthopedic doctor, calls to the insurance company for prior authorization, etc. This went on every day this week. The phone became glued to my ear between “listen to the menu press this number, then choose another menu”, being put on hold, shuffled from one person to the next. Four days just to make an appointment……geez louise….the “White House Crashers” had it easier getting into that dinner than I had getting this appointment.

In between laundry, I plan on doing a little work on this blog then grab my afghan( the temperature here in New England is presently 23), a cup of coffee and my book and snuggle up on the couch and read !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hoping all have a relaxing weekend. Happy Reading !

TGIS….I am so behind in reading and updating items on my blog (will explain why a little later in this post). I have seen many of the blogs I follow posting about this new challenge Bloggiesta and have been reading some articles and realize……boy do I still have a lot to learn!!!! Things like copyrights (wondering if my blog is too new to invest in this or what are the benefits, labels, organizing blog (this I have been working on but haven’t completed. Once again any help and/or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I tend to feel guilty spending so much time getting my blog updated (since I am the number 1 computer for dummies) instead of what I should be doing and that is reading along with the mundane things known as household chores. But I read somewhere that to increase traffic, have a nice blog (suggestions in this area would also be appreciated). So that’s what I have been trying to accomplish. Now for why I am so behind this week with reading.

MY JOURNEY
I posted this week that I have decided that I will be writing down my thoughts and emotions as to what I am facing as a means of a therapeutic nature and it beats the cost of a counselor. The reason I am so behind in everything is that I spent most of this week on the phone trying to book an appointment for an orthopedic doctor who specializes in complicated and/or risky surgeries of the spine, which I fall into having had 3 past surgeries the last one being 20 years ago and at the time I was the 3rd patient to have had an experimental procedure. Between having reports sent to this doc (wouldn’t even make the appointment until he saw all the tests results, calls to my PCP for certain files to be faxed to the orthopedic doctor, calls to the insurance company for prior authorization, etc. This went on every day this week. The phone became glued to my ear between “listen to the menu press this number, then choose another menu”, being put on hold, shuffled from one person to the next. Four days just to make an appointment……geez louise….the “White House Crashers” had it easier getting into that dinner than I had getting this appointment.

In between laundry, I plan on doing a little work on this blog then grab my afghan( the temperature here in New England is presently 23), a cup of coffee and my book and snuggle up on the couch and read !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hoping all have a relaxing weekend. Happy Reading !

http://islandlife808.com/memes/aloha-friday-116
  From An Island Life: In Hawaii, Aloha Friday is the day that we take it easy and look forward to the weekend. So I thought that on Fridays I would take it easy on posting, too. Therefore, I’ll ask a simple question for you to answer. Nothing that requires a lengthy response.

  If you’d like to participate, visit An Island Life answer the question and then post your own question on your blog and leave your link below. Don’t forget to visit the other participants! It’s a great way to make new bloggy friends!

My question is:  What is your favorite flower?
  I have Star Gazer Lily(s) in my garden.  Beautiful to look at and they are so aromatic.  I love that Yankee Candle has that fragrence so I enjoy it year round.  I even named my laptop (lol) Lily.

1. There are places to go, places to see.

2. Weatherman blow those clouds away.
3. Standing in the rain.
4. Boy oh boy.
5. He went out tiger hunting on his safari vacation.
6. I try to keep my mind from wandering .
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to relaxing and reading, tomorrow my plans include laundry, errands, relaxing and reading and Sunday, I want to do nothing but relax and read!

http://islandlife808.com/memes/aloha-friday-116
  From An Island Life: In Hawaii, Aloha Friday is the day that we take it easy and look forward to the weekend. So I thought that on Fridays I would take it easy on posting, too. Therefore, I’ll ask a simple question for you to answer. Nothing that requires a lengthy response.

  If you’d like to participate, visit An Island Life answer the question and then post your own question on your blog and leave your link below. Don’t forget to visit the other participants! It’s a great way to make new bloggy friends!

My question is:  What is your favorite flower?
  I have Star Gazer Lily(s) in my garden.  Beautiful to look at and they are so aromatic.  I love that Yankee Candle has that fragrence so I enjoy it year round.  I even named my laptop (lol) Lily.

1. There are places to go, places to see.

2. Weatherman blow those clouds away.
3. Standing in the rain.
4. Boy oh boy.
5. He went out tiger hunting on his safari vacation.
6. I try to keep my mind from wandering .
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to relaxing and reading, tomorrow my plans include laundry, errands, relaxing and reading and Sunday, I want to do nothing but relax and read!

http://shouldbereading.wordpress.com

Today’s question:
What books did you get for Christmas (or whichever holiday you may have celebrated last month)?
Do you usually ask for books on gift-giving occasions or do you prefer to buy them yourself?

My answer:
Unfortunately, there is only one book lover other than myself, in my family. So they would have no clue what to get me or even where there is a book store LOL. My one book buddy in the family is Jess, my son’s gf, but they live 5 hours away. And this Christmas she gave me a GC to the Sony EReader store so I can pick out what books I want.


My Journey:

This will now be n occasional posting by me and mainly for me. Being a retired “RN” and facing a very complex surgical and frightening 4th operation I felt that writing down my thoughts and emotions as I face this process will help.
I now, once again, sit and wait. I have an appointment with a surgeon who supposedly only does complicated spinal surgeries. I will be seeing him on Jan 27th. I am very ambivilent about this appointment…I hope he can help me but on the other hand I am terrified to go through another fusion. Will he be able to get through 20 yrs of scar tissue without causing major complications such as paralysis, which is a great fear….but again on the other hand, I can’t live a good quality of life in the level and severity of pain I have on a daily basis. Book blogging and reading has helped me tremendously…it doesn’t take away the pain but it helps pass the time on days where the pain is excruciating.
I apologize for adding this new post to my blog but want to chronicle this new jouney that I am on.