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.

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.

http://shouldbereading.wordpress.com

*What are you currently reading?
Vanished by Joseph Finder
*What did you recently finish reading?
Most Likely To Die by Lisa Jackson (Great page turner)
*What do you think you’ll read next?
Not sure…waiting for some review books to be deposited in my mail box, so it depends…going to borrow words from a book blog that I follow…”so many precious books” …so many to choose from.



This was my very first ever challenge that I signed up for. Not knowing much about challenges, I only entered for 5 books (lol) because I wanted to make sure I would be able to meet the challenge. I definitely met the challenge and its only January. So I am reentering for another 5 LJ books. She is an awesome author. And I keep adding to my LJ TBR list after reading J.Kaye’s reviews. So I am thinking that in between the requests for reviews, I will read another Lisa Jackson book for personal enjoyment. Sounds like a plan to me. Thank you J.Kaye for starting the process for me to becoming a challenge addict (lol).

Talk & Thoughts
I am so excited !!!! After the results I received from the doctor on Monday, yes I was very disappointed, and I know that any physical activity will be very limited until I find a doctor that will be capable to perform surgery of a complicated nature, I have to find a positive in all of this and I have found it. What is the saying about having lemons…make lemonade? Well I did just that. Knowing now that I will have more time to read, I applied to some publishers to check out this blog and see if I could and/or would be considered for reviews. And I was accepted into the communities of two (2) publishers !!!! Thank you Miriam from “Hachette Books” and Imran and Tricia from “The Book Trib”. If you look deep and search there is always a positive to every situation. The Lord may shut one door but another will open. I am looking forward to receiving and reading their books and working with them.

http://shouldbereading.wordpress.com/
Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. 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
   *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:
  “After all this time?  He’s dead, don’t you get it?
  From Vanished by Joseph Finder  pg.162

Talk & Thoughts

I started this blog as a “personal journal” of books read.  Due to all I have learned and adding my name to J.Kaye’s Book Blog,  referral list and entering challenges and memes, my blog has been taken to a higher level.

I will be facing some hurdles in the near future.  So I have decided that I will be jotting my thoughts and emotions as I go through this.  I am sorry to bore anyone who reads this but I feel it will be theraputic for me.
I have had 3 back operations due to the original injury in 1979 when I ruptured a disc due to lifting a patient.  By profession I was an RN but have been disabled for 10 years.  My 2nd back operation was a fusion as I was told that I would not be able to carry a child during pregnancy.  So..fusion it was and spent 2 months in a body cast (from knees to neck) but it was worth it.  I have 2 beautiful sons.  But the toll on my back from the pregnacies did more damage and needed a 3rd fusion.  I was lucky to have a top notch doc (he taught internationally and has written books about spines) who asked permission to try a new procedure on me if the damage was extensive, which it was.  I was the 3rd patient to have this surgery and put into a study group.  Twenty-three years later…..and the years have deteriorated more discs causing excruciating pain.  After seeing 2 neurosurgeons, they recommened 3 options, starting with the least invasive and least risky.
So yesterday hubby and I drove out of state to see the doc  for implantation of a nerve stimulator.  He informed me that I am not a candidate for either the nerve stimulator or the next option, implantation of a morphine pump.  I have to respect him because he could have just done the surgery and collected the $$$.  But he was honest and I knew deep down (especially since seeing all the CT scans, etc) what I needed and what was wrong,  sometimes it just sucks being a nurse because you know the truth.  So I am waiting for an appt. to speak to a surgeon for the procedure of another fusion.  But after 20+ yrs of scar tissue growing around the plates/screws located in my back, it will be a very complicated, extensive and even risky operation.  I have a lot to think about before I make this huge decision.   So since I am unable to do even minor daily chores this blog, reading, my family, friends, and now my new blogger friends, will be my sanity and getting me through this.  Sorry for rambling and that I will be posting on this journey I am faced with. Thank you for your time if you read this.  Now that I got all that off my chest, I will go back to my fun things…and be posting about Teaser Tuesdays.

http://shouldbereading.wordpress.com

*What are you currently reading?
Vanished by Joseph Finder
*What did you recently finish reading?
Most Likely To Die by Lisa Jackson (Great page turner)
*What do you think you’ll read next?
Not sure…waiting for some review books to be deposited in my mail box, so it depends…going to borrow words from a book blog that I follow…”so many precious books” …so many to choose from.



This was my very first ever challenge that I signed up for. Not knowing much about challenges, I only entered for 5 books (lol) because I wanted to make sure I would be able to meet the challenge. I definitely met the challenge and its only January. So I am reentering for another 5 LJ books. She is an awesome author. And I keep adding to my LJ TBR list after reading J.Kaye’s reviews. So I am thinking that in between the requests for reviews, I will read another Lisa Jackson book for personal enjoyment. Sounds like a plan to me. Thank you J.Kaye for starting the process for me to becoming a challenge addict (lol).

Talk & Thoughts
I am so excited !!!! After the results I received from the doctor on Monday, yes I was very disappointed, and I know that any physical activity will be very limited until I find a doctor that will be capable to perform surgery of a complicated nature, I have to find a positive in all of this and I have found it. What is the saying about having lemons…make lemonade? Well I did just that. Knowing now that I will have more time to read, I applied to some publishers to check out this blog and see if I could and/or would be considered for reviews. And I was accepted into the communities of two (2) publishers !!!! Thank you Miriam from “Hachette Books” and Imran and Tricia from “The Book Trib”. If you look deep and search there is always a positive to every situation. The Lord may shut one door but another will open. I am looking forward to receiving and reading their books and working with them.

http://shouldbereading.wordpress.com/
Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. 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
   *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:
  “After all this time?  He’s dead, don’t you get it?
  From Vanished by Joseph Finder  pg.162

Talk & Thoughts

I started this blog as a “personal journal” of books read.  Due to all I have learned and adding my name to J.Kaye’s Book Blog,  referral list and entering challenges and memes, my blog has been taken to a higher level.

I will be facing some hurdles in the near future.  So I have decided that I will be jotting my thoughts and emotions as I go through this.  I am sorry to bore anyone who reads this but I feel it will be theraputic for me.
I have had 3 back operations due to the original injury in 1979 when I ruptured a disc due to lifting a patient.  By profession I was an RN but have been disabled for 10 years.  My 2nd back operation was a fusion as I was told that I would not be able to carry a child during pregnancy.  So..fusion it was and spent 2 months in a body cast (from knees to neck) but it was worth it.  I have 2 beautiful sons.  But the toll on my back from the pregnacies did more damage and needed a 3rd fusion.  I was lucky to have a top notch doc (he taught internationally and has written books about spines) who asked permission to try a new procedure on me if the damage was extensive, which it was.  I was the 3rd patient to have this surgery and put into a study group.  Twenty-three years later…..and the years have deteriorated more discs causing excruciating pain.  After seeing 2 neurosurgeons, they recommened 3 options, starting with the least invasive and least risky.
So yesterday hubby and I drove out of state to see the doc  for implantation of a nerve stimulator.  He informed me that I am not a candidate for either the nerve stimulator or the next option, implantation of a morphine pump.  I have to respect him because he could have just done the surgery and collected the $$$.  But he was honest and I knew deep down (especially since seeing all the CT scans, etc) what I needed and what was wrong,  sometimes it just sucks being a nurse because you know the truth.  So I am waiting for an appt. to speak to a surgeon for the procedure of another fusion.  But after 20+ yrs of scar tissue growing around the plates/screws located in my back, it will be a very complicated, extensive and even risky operation.  I have a lot to think about before I make this huge decision.   So since I am unable to do even minor daily chores this blog, reading, my family, friends, and now my new blogger friends, will be my sanity and getting me through this.  Sorry for rambling and that I will be posting on this journey I am faced with. Thank you for your time if you read this.  Now that I got all that off my chest, I will go back to my fun things…and be posting about Teaser Tuesdays.

Mail delivered and no books 🙁 So I have decided to read Vanished by Joseph Finder, which I won from The Book Trib and will go towards a few of the challenges I have signed up for.

Talking of challenges….I posted my first book for 2010…..and since there are overlaps to many…was wondering how you experienced book bloggers keep track of all your challenges, when do you do wrap ups, am I supposed to post a link for my review on the host’s page? Any suggestions and/or help would be helpful and greatly appreciated.

I am quite anxious today. In a little while I will be leaving to drive to a doctor’s appointment in the next state. I will, hopefully, find out if I am a candidate for an implantation of a spinal cord nerve stimulator. Even though this is a 2 part operation, it is the least risky of 3 procedures suggested to me by neurosurgeons.

Happy Monday Reading all…..