The Sunday Salon (winners announced) 8-9-2009

Hello - Happy Sunday! I have just one word- HOT! We finally used our backyard pool today. I think it was the first time all summer we have had 2 consecutive days over 90 degrees! Summer is finally here - just took it long enough. . . We have a 4 year old son that we tried to coerce all afternoon to get in the pool with us (he had on his life jacket). We have been swimming at our local aquatic center all summer without the life jacket - but it has the zero depth area. Finally - after my sister and I both gave up and got out, and my husband got in and tried to get him in - he told his dad he was afraid he was going to drowned - he had forgotten that the life jacket held him up! Once his dad convinced him of this he couldn't get enough of the water and loved to show off how he could "swim" from the ladder to the raft and how he could jump in and touch the bottom. I have a feeling this week we will be spending a lot of time in the water!

I have all these random thoughts each week, and each week I think that I will post them on Sunday - and then Sunday becomes a busy family day and I never get to the post. I am going to try to be better at adding some posts that aren't just featuring books, giveaways or reviews. The other thing that I have missed with summer is getting to read a lot of other blogs. I am looking forward to school starting so that some of my time will free up and I can go "visiting" again! I also just got a new widescreen computer screen which has made reading content MUCH easier. My old screen had been "damaged" by a rambunctious 1 year old when he threw a toy and cracked it - so for the last three years I have had a black section on part of the screen. Well, last whenever I turned the computer on I would have to wait about 5 minutes for the vertical lines to clear - it was time for a new screen.

Speaking of computers - I am not very computer literate and need some help. I want to get a laptop and I don't have a clue where to start. I would just like to use the laptop for blogging and maybe a little game playing. What would I need as far as system requirements that would allow me to do this - and when I travel, what do I need to be able to use it then. Any and all information would be appreciated more than you would know!

Another question that I have - actually, it is an assignment. I would like to get to know the people who read this blog. I had over 1500 page views last week and very few comments (unless it was a giveaway). Let me know you are out there. Tell me you like a book, or a book cover, or just say Hi! Tell me what you had for lunch or the latest movie you saw. Share with me something funny that your kids did this week. Anything - How many comments do you think I can get this week?

Ok - time for some winners! I had 4 giveaways end last week that I have not posted winners for - so here you go.

This Duchess is Mine

CherylS22

Blue Like Play Dough

Barb

Too Many Visitors for One Little House

Barbara

The Moon Looked Down

Julie P
Dar
Diane
ossmcalc
MoziEsme Already won -
Replacement - Amanda - also already won -
Replacement - Sab! Third times a charm!


Lots of good giveaways still going on and lots of book tours happening right now! Let's hear from you this week!

The Sunday Salon 3-8-2009

Well, this is my first Sunday Salon and what a week it has been. I participated in my first Book Carnival and gave away five of my ARCs that I had read and reviewed. It was a lot of fun and it was great to see my followers increase! It was also a lot of work though keeping track of all the different entries for each book - but I think that it was well worth it and look forward to doing it again in the future!

I had a lot of comments on my header (needlepoint wolves). Yes, I did stitch this myself. I hope to start showing some projects that I am working on from time to time in posts on my blog. I have yet to get those posts up and running in any sort of sensible time frame though! You can keep watch on my header though, as I will change it from time to time - probably based on the seasons - and everything that I show will be something that I have done myself.

I was able to review three books this week - Kiss by Ted Dekker, This Side of Heaven by Karen Kingsbury, and The Kingmaking by Helen Hollick (ok - random thought - these all had K's in them in prominent places - kind of weird as my initials are KKKH. . .)

I will be taking a little blogger holiday this week starting on Wednesday - but I hope to be able to generate some auto posts for the days when I will not be able to get to the computer! And look forward to lots of reviews when I come back next week!

Currently I am reading (and will be posting a review this week for First Wild Card Tours) The Stones by Eleanor Gustafson. This is a wonderful fiction book that tells all about the life of King David! I am also reading Marked By Passion by Kate Perry and A Lever Long Enough by Amy Deardon.

During my blogger holiday, while the rest of my family enjoys the snowy slopes of Big Powderhorn Mountain, I will be snuggled up by the fire reading any of the following books that I plan on taking with me: Seeing Red by Susan Crandall, Flirting with Temptation by Kelley St. John, Just Another Girl by Melody Carlson, Scream by Mike Delosso, Diamonds in the Shadow by Caroline B. Cooney, To My Senses by Alexandrea Weis or Nine Lives: Death and Life in New Orleans by Dan Baum. Does anyone have any recommendations on who I should start with? The only author that I have read before would be Melody Carlson.

Well, that about does it for me - Have a great week everyone!!