The Lottery Ticket

Last year I did "A Year of Making" which entailed making something every day for 365 days in a row.  I'm not going to write about that now, but wanted to mention it as many people have asked what I will be doing this year.

My answer, besides not committing to do anything 365 days in a row, is that I will be reading more.  My goal for the year is 100 books.  I read more than that in 2014, so I know it can be done!  My reading habits are a bit different now though, as I no longer have to read a large number of young adult fiction for my job.  Yay! (I was getting a bit burned out on those)

Last year, I also started Goodreads group based on the 2015 Reading Challenge put out by Popsugar. I did not come anywhere near finishing - some of those categories were real skunks.  The group has grown, and this year we developed our own 2016 Reading Challenge.  Today I finished my first book!

The Lottery Ticket, by Jules Verne (also known as Ticket No. 9672) was what you would a call a very NICE book.  It was published in 1886, and it was certainly appropriate for young people or those wanting a gentle read.

Plot Synopsis: 
(courtesy of D. Kytasaari - http://epguides.com/djk/JulesVerne/works.shtml) 

Hulda Hansen of Dal, Norway anxiously awaits the return of her betrothed, Ole Kamp who promised her great fortune on his return. Ole works on the fishing boat, Viking, which is expected to return soon, but when it doesn't, it is feared lost. While this is going on, Hulda and her brother Joel also worry about their mother Dame Hansen, who hasn't been acting like herself, ever since that visit from a man known as Sandgoist. A guest staying with the family is Sylvius Hogg, who is taken with Hulda's story and uses his position within the government to help out. One trace of the ship is found, a bottle that contains a note for Hulda and a single lottery ticket, numbered 9672. News of the tragedy and the hope of the possible riches of the lottery ticket spread around the countryside, especially interested is the man Sandgoist. What fortunes await the Hansen family when the day of the lottery drawing arrives?

I found it for free on iBooks, and thought it would be kind of fun to have on my phone to read during those times I found myself with a few minutes to spare here and there.  It worked well for that.  Easy to pick up and put down, so to speak.

That's all for today!

Goodbye 2014!

Oh hello.

Seems like a good time to dust off this bloggie.  There's only one more day in 2014!  YAY!  It was a good year, really.  After Michael's fake heart attack in January, things really started to turn around.  Actually, the fake heart attack was at the end of 2013, but it set the tone for the beginning of the year.

So many more good things happened in 2014!

We took our trailer out FIVE TIMES!  Other than the really rainy trip to Marblemount (which turned out to be a useful exploratory trip), we had a most excellent time.

Christine took this great photo on our trip to Newhalem.  It was 101 degrees!

I also got a promotion at work.  I'm now the Lead Librarian for Public Computing.  It's a new job, and I'm still working out exactly what that means.  I'm still technically the teen services librarian at my branch, but the "new job" is taking up more and more of my time.  I love it!  It will eventually be full time, but I don't know when.  I can't wait though!  It's fun and challenging and I get to spend time THINKING.

Wacky concept!

Plenty of other good things happened, but I'm ready to move on to 2015.  I'll be turning 50 this year, and I don't see that as any sort of crisis.  Margarita party at my house!  Haha.  I don't want to have to drive anywhere.

One thing about 2014 that bugs me is that I didn't DO a whole lot.  I had a nice garden and we went places, but I spend an awful lot of time plugged into this blasted computer.  So I've decided to do a couple of different things next year.

2015 Reading Challenge - join my Goodreads group to play along!  Not only am I going to do this challenge, I'm going to moderate a group of people who are also reading books for the challenge.  My group is low-key and relaxed, unlike the other group I found doing this challenge.  I've decided that the more rules you have at the get go, the more freaked out people get and the more time you have to spend moderating to coddle and hold hands.  NO THANK YOU

I'm also going to do a YEAR OF MAKING.  Something creative, every day of the year.  It doesn't have to be big, it just has to be.  I've got so much yarn, so many beads, so much STUFF lurking around the house I've got no excuse.

Now that I've resurrected this bloggie, follow along here for my progress!


See you soon!