Monday, February 13, 2012

Marvelous Monday: 2012, #7

It's the lucky seventh week of 2012!  Let's kick it off with Marvelous Monday!

1) Of course, we have to start with the official birthday announcement for my sister.  She's 22 today!  She is six years younger than I am, and sometimes we get stuck in our big sis-little sis roles (e.g. my brother and I still make her sit in the middle seat because she used to be the smallest, even though she's taller than I am now).  But more and more I see her like the rest of the world does: a talented, adventurous, caring young person who just finished college and is doing good things in this world.  Other fun facts: she loves her cat, Buffy, and Paula Abdul's "Opposites Attract" was the chart-topping song the week she was born. Cheers to you, Sister!


2) I was flipping through my Glamour magazine over breakfast this morning when I noticed a full-page spread about how to do a fishtail braid.  That's #41 on the 101 in 1,001 list, friends!  Here we go!

3) At dinner last night, Mom gave me a Valentine's Day treat bag with cookies iced festively with hearts and red and pink and white swirlies.  I will never be too old for this!

4) Reading report: I started The Lost Continent: Travels in Small-Town America by Bill Bryson over the weekend.  Also, the book Quiet: The Power of Introverts is skyrocketing up my list - my sister got it for her birthday and I'm hearing a ton about it.

5) Speaking of quiet: I had a peaceful, productive run at lunch.  It's hard to force a run like this, but I've written before that an uninterrupted block of time away from a computer can be an energizing space for generating ideas and brainstorms and plain old good, solid thinking.  I have an event coming up that I wanted to think seriously about, and by the time I finished five miles today, I felt a lot more prepared.  Running isn't the required component here - I've had luck with this on walks, too - but the key structure, I think, is to get your brain alone for a few minutes and see what it dreams up, without all the static and distraction.

There you have it!  What's marvelous about your Monday?

3 comments:

  1. The Lost Continent is good, but have you read any of his other stuff? The one you in particular should really read is The Mother Tongue, and I also highly recommend I'm a Stranger Here Myself. I have both of these :)

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  2. I have heard The Mother Tongue is awesome! (Can I borrow?) I've read A Walk in the Woods and Neither Here Nor There, both of which I loved. Thanks for the recommendations, Kate!

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  3. hoohoo thanks seester!

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