A Day in the Life of a Commuter

Here is what my commute looked like the other morning:

Snowing and really slick at first,

Then slushy and more congested

Then it snowed again and things were ok if you didn’t switch lanes

Only to get to work and realize that although we are located across the street from the snow plows, I couldn’t get down my street to my parking lot at work!  I still love the snow and living in the Midwest and wouldn’t change it for anything.  More snow is expected tonight and I plan to be out sledding with my kids when it does.

Inspiring Website

As a new year begins, I am looking for projects, recipes, and inspiration for the new year.  There is so much I want to do, but one of my main goals for the coming year is to unclutter my house and then make lots of interesting little nooks throughout the house of things that make me smile.

I was inspired to do this by watching a post over at Tracy Porter’s Blog.  Tracy is a very talented designer, and I just love her designs and her decorating style.  I encourage you to pick a cold day when you have nothing else to do and grab your drink of choice and click around at her website.  I think you too will find inspiration and fun there.

Two Quick Book Reviews

Of the two books I finished in the past week, Dead Sleepby Greg Iles, a new author for me, was my favorite.  Dead Sleep is a murder mystery/thriller that did keep me guessing from the beginning to the very end.  I think it is hard to write a book about serial killers and multiple murders and not be too dark, but this book is serious about the subject without making you feel dirty and depressed. . .I like that.   I really enjoyed getting to know the main character and her family and felt that she had enough depth and reality to make her a great leading lady.  In short, I found this quite an enjoyable read for some cold winter days in the MidWest.

The second book that I read this past week, Dark Paradise by Tami Hoag, I enjoyed, but would not recommend as highly as I would Dead Sleep. My reason for this is that I found the language to be more offensive and the violence to be way over the top for a murder mysterty/thriller. I found this book to have some of the darkness that the television series Dexter has, and I don’t watch that show for that reason. I think the author could have written this book without it being quite so dark and horrible. I also felt that the book was longer than it needed to be and that there were too many substories that didn’t all add value to the larger plot. I plan to try one more book from this author before I decide not to read her again, but I will choose much more carefully this time.