the FORGOTTEN GARDEN.....

Done.

I just finished my latest book club assignment.

the FORGOTTEN GARDEN

by: Kate Morton

Phew....

it has been a hot and heavy two day reading marathon.

Well, I was actually finished by 11:00 a.m. today.

So maybe just a full one day read-a-thon.

Don't get me wrong,

I have been reading it since the beginning of March,

but that is really only two weeks ago,

book club got bumped up this month due to spring break.

The first 200 pages were a bit slow for me.

This book has continuous switchbacks,

present, re-cent past, and past.

It took me a good bit of time just to get everyone straight.

I am a bit slow that way.

sooooooo....now I am set free again.

Kinda sad....fumbling around doing wash,

making food again for my family,

phone calls, etc.

Accidentally going to pick my book up when I have a few spare

minutes, only to remember I have already finished it.

Yesterday was a day much preferred.

5:00a.m.Wake up,

5:20 work out.

6:30 walk in door...begin reading.

7:00 arouse kids, nourish them, bike them to school.

7:15 get right to the business of reading.

9:00 hurry to school store, make a few sales, make deposit.

9:45 Choffy break.....walk around, limber up.

10:30 run 6 errands, bank, Walgreens, etc.

get caught up on Tina and Sonia's hair adventure through

pictures and text.

decline lunch date....musen't stray from my task.

11:30 Get home.

read.....tiny nap break.

up again, read more.

Choffy after lunch of some kind.

1:30 dying for something chocolate...

dig through house. 

nothing.

end up making muddy buddies with the rest of the Corn Chex.

ate those for the remainder of the day while reading.

.........

Book is getting good.

finally at page 313....there was a spark of "Romantic Tension"....

that always grabs my attention.

Book Highlights:

I love that "Tess of D'urbervilles was mentioned in the book on pg 352,

that is where McCauley's middle name came from.

"The Rub" was uttered on pg 402.....it is funny, V just said that the other day.

I like that phrase and plan on using it soon.

Today Stacey said, "here's the kicker".....I wondered out loud

if that was the same as "the rub"....

nope,

"the kicker" is a good thing......kind of like a bonus, or the best part.

I love in the book how they refer to coffee, or tea as a "cuppa"

or a "nice drop of warm"....definitely adding those to my vocab for

Choffy reference.

Best word reminder....

dithering - 190 - Stop dithering around!  YES....winner!

The gist of this book was about a women desperately seeking

to pull the threads of her family history together.

Trust me when I say they were in a bit of a tangle.

It was amazing where it all started,

the in's and outs, the intertwining

and all that happened to get her where she was....

and ultimately WHO she was.

I would recommend this book.

 Here is a typical "perfect reading conditions" set up,

a sample pack of what I might have when I read.

I actually had TWO cherry pop tarts....

why are they so dang good??!!

We only have left over green milk from St. Patties day,

I used my Choffy mug from yesterday....if you can see brown

flecks in the cup, that is why.

Must haves: lipgloss, and tons of water.

This way I only have to get up to go to the bathroom, 

refill my water, or get Choffy.

Sweet!!

Thought it would be fun to dress the part for book club tonight....

Eliza was always sweeping in our out in a "white cotton" dress......

soooooo why not?

This book was inertangled with fairytales...and imagination,

it was fun to fancy up a bit and drag it out a few more hours.

The next book is my pick.

Kind of scary and a lot of pressure.

No one wants to pick a dud....or something inappropriate.

I really want something fast, fun, exciting, and where 

I don't have to think too hard about the characters.

(I plan on taking it to read over spring break).

Someone gave me this book at the gym and raved over it.

Then several people walking by sang its praises.

It got 4.5 stars on Amazon.

I went for it.....it looks a little irreverent, innuendoes galore,

but I thought what the heck.

Stephanie Plum has an entire series of these books...

this is the first.

Maybe it will be the last.

Book club is here on April 17th!

I invite you to join us and read One For the Money....

or you can wait a few weeks, I will test it out first,

(just to be safe)

then you can borrow my copy.

HB....you should just read it for fun!

I put it out there......

I was just thinking I would go in and sneak a nap....

just got home from Lawson's soccer game....

which might I add they won!!!

First win in several years!!!!

but then I got thinking it would be fun to come do a quick write up

about this morning.

As the saying goes,

"You can sleep when you're dead".

This morning was so fun.

That really is not the word for it.....it is more along the lines of

SAT - ISS - FIY - ING!

Yeah....that's it.

For the first time I ran with a purpose other than finishing.

I ran for myself.

By myself....surrounded by my good buddies of course.

But this race was different and much more scary than any other,

because I set a goal.....and then.......

I announced it out loud!

(dumb idiot!)

I made the announcement that I was going to 

take first place in our age group.

period.

dot.

(I accidentally forgot to make a hidden clause in that statement

something like, 

except for if Christi or Vanessa run....

cuz they are super fast).

too late.....I made the remark.

It was heard and acknowledged.

Eye brows had already lifted.

Now I had no choice but to follow through.

When I was talking with Kev about it last night,

I was saying I was a little nervous.

Why?

It is 3 miles.

3 miles.....big deal.

Yes, but I am shooting for my P. R.

PR? what is that?

um.....

honey, come on.....my Personal, uh....

something about being the best I can be.

Everyone is always talking about beating their P.R.....

something to do with racing,

we went back and forth and finally landed on 

Personal Record!!!

Yes!

That seems right.

I told him I would be happy with anything under 25 minuets....

cuz that would mean I held an 8 minute mile, which would be a stretch.

.....oh yeah, and take first in my age division....

which may I add I am in the last and oldest year in that slot.

I am excited to move up and outta here!

Get me some grannies to run with!

The run today was sponsored by Sally's House....

a nonprofit org for helping unwed pregnant girls 

get off drugs and fly right.

Give them a leg up and out of the dark.

It was a 5K, there were 203 runners....

so pretty small.

On your mark, get set.......

GO!

And we were off....our group started with the front of the pack....

smart move.

I was left in the dust almost immediately by Christi and Braden (Tina's son),

I just told myself to reel in the runners in front of me one by one.

Don't go crazy and kill yourself off in the first 6 blocks.

Keep Calm and Keep Running.

Less than 30 minutes and you are done for the day....

IT'S EASY!

My music was set for sweet success....

purposefully hand selected pieces.

The Lucky Ones.....

reminded me that this moment is mine, I'm gonna be fine, I got this, 

 and I'm dang lucky to have it!

(just added this one!!)

Sexy and I know it.....for obvious reasons!! : ) 

Strut.....again, why not!!!  come on!

Serenity by Godsmack.....

figured I would need to calm down and keep it smooth right about here, 

nice strong, steady beat.

Ride a White Horse by GoldFrapp....figured this would be my wish at this point.

Lose Yourself by Eminem.....this is what I rounded the bend to......GOOOOOOO!

If this song can't get me moving nothing can.

6 songs.

24 minutes.

pushing my body to do more than it wants to.

resisting the very strong urge, desire, the need to slow.

Wow!

What a riot!

.........at the end anyway.....

only upon crossing does it really become awesome.

Looking back will be good to.

during.....rough....it is HARD.

 But LOOK we all placed!

We all met and/or bettered our P.R.s!!!
Way to go team!!

 Somethings I learned.

Every SECOND COUNTS!!!

Let me go a step further....

if there is a runner right in front of you.....

pass them for heavens sake!

Duh!!!

setting P.R.'s is not about courtesy....

"after you my lady"

.....come off it!!!

Kick their trash and pass them!

It's about being tough.

Digging deeper.

That is where the satisfaction comes from.

You did more than you thought you could....

and it was stinkin hard!

Maybe you threw up a little in your mouth...

or peed just a bit in your pants...

ok.

so what?

Good job.

That means you pushed past your normal capacity and 

created a new one.

A Brand New Physical Capacity.

Now you are capable of doing more.

I am not admitting to anything....I am just saying it is perfectly 

fine and acceptable.

Let me break it down....

first time I have really looked and compared these important facts:

What women beat me, by how much?

Who are these speedsters.....and what in the world is their age?

Probably teenagers...those punks....the overall winner was 13!, 

then a 30 year old and

bad news, the other two were 40 another 43.....

so much for "running with grannies",

looks like it will only get worse.

Here is the rest:

 I will tell you it is eye opening.

(sorry if this bores you to tears....I found it fascinating)

203 runners.

I took 22nd overall.

5th place in the women.

1st in my age group!!  Booo - yaaaa!

but here is the interesting part.....

I missed a trophy by .04 seconds.

One of those beauts could have been mine.

I missed 1st place in women's by .48 seconds....

4 other women came in before me. 

All of them were in the 23 minute range...

3 of them less than .10 seconds faster than me.

You see what I am saying?

Isn't that crazy?

I guess what I am saying is that I can see how a person 

would continually want to beat their P.R.

It is right there.....

just about with in reach.....

s  t  r  e  t  c  h 

just a little bit further.....

I could have taken it all!

......had I know I only needed to push that little bit harder.

Maybe at the time I didn't think I could....

but had I known....maybe, 

maybe I had it in me.

This is Matt Mahoney,

he enters and wins pretty much every single race that was ever

invented in Brevard County.....

I have never done a local race and not seen him cruisin along

enjoying the day.

he is OOOOOOLLLLLDDDDer.

but check out his wash board abs!!

Say Wha??

Great day.

See you next time.....

what is your P. R.?????

for any goal?

Not just running?

Set one today.......

AND 

THEN SAY IT OUT LOUD

(to another person!!!)

Choffy Klatch......#4 FAT BLOCKER!

More
good news from Choffy!!!

You can watch with out blog music....

just click the pause button to your right.
Watch full screen by clicking video in top left corner.

 Click on comparison list to make it bigger.

Yeah for us!

1988 - 1990

A few days ago I got a face book message from a 

person I went to high school with.

I didn't recall the name, or the face even at all.

The message was short and basically said, 

I just wanted to write a short note and tell you 

thanks for the encouragement and friendship 20 + yrs ago.

Silly hu - that I would hold on to that.

It was a turning point in that experience and journey in my life.

I dug around a bit and got out my old year books and gained 

some recognition and a face to go with the message.

But truthfully,

I don't remember doing or saying anything kind or helpful

to this person.

Which is really sad to me.

I have often thought of my high school years as a complete waste of 

time and space.

A really tough time for me.

This is the second surprise message I have gotten like this

in the past few years.

Both times I have been completely surprised 

and extremely happy that I did something decent in my younger days 

that I wasn't even aware of.

It really got me thinking....

remembering, what I could, anyway.

I thought back about a girl that was a life line to me.

She came into my life with her bright smile and scooped me up.

She befriended me and sought me out time and again.

Camille Egan.

I don't know what happened to her after high school.

I have tried to find her on fb to let her know how much I appreciated 

her tender mercies.  

She was a year older than me.

Very cool, sporty, smart, popular and very good.

I was kind of a rebel that had no idea what I was doing.

Or where I was going,

or where I fit in.

Always felt like I was grasping at straws,

slip sliding every which way,

wasn't yet anchored in the gospel...and was blowing in the wind.

Probably making myself sound like such a pathetic case....

I always wondered why me?

Why is Camille seeking me out?

Who gave her this assignment?

My mom?

My seminary teacher?

Am I her personal progress goal?

Maybe she has a side job full of these floundering kids she

offeres her friendship to in her spare time to help them get a grip.

Who knows?

I never did know if there was more to the story.

I only knew she was my friend.

She did not need me to enhance her popularity.

I couldn't drive her anywhere....she drove...not me.

She had no reason to dump me....

I never pursued her, she came to me.

Time and again she made my day.

She introduced me to Amy Grant.....we went 

to her concert together.

I was reminded of her demeanor when I read her year book note....

Melissa.....thanks so much for being my friend, 

and making me laugh when I am with you.

I respect you a lot, and I'm proud to know you......

She made an imprint on my life.

I would love to tell her....

maybe it would make her day....

she probably hears it all the time.

Maybe, maybe not.

I can promise that you would never have known I was 

so insecure.

Fake it till you make it.

Smile.  Breath.  Walk in.  Eyes up.  Laugh a little.  Breath.  Smile. 

.....you don't care, and nothing matters.

I did have friends.....good ones.

I hope they would never think I felt differently.

I wonder if they felt the same as me sometimes....
not quite sure of anything.

I couldn't tell if they did.

 Look at our big hair!  My chubby cheeks....

My two brother in laws, and above them is Mel, my sister in law.

Pretty funny.

Be kind to others.

You never know when just being a friend is the only thing

 someone needs.

To be noticed, to be loved.

up to more Klatching w/ Chirsti.....

Here is ONE idea on how to utilize your Choffy grounds.

(why is is cutting Christi off???  Watch it on YouTube.....just click top of video screen)

You can use them in unlimited recipes....

in sweet breads,

over your oatmeal,

sprinkled on top of your ice cream...

What do you do with your left over grounds??

Share your ideas.

Klatching with my sponsor Tina....

I have to say I am having so much fun with these Klatches.

I owe it all to you mom!

T came over today for a little Choffy Klatch.

We had a lovely time......

she saw first hand how Choffy talk makes the time FLY...

(unfortunately maybe not so much if you are just watching).

(Tina meant to say, coffee is made from coffee beans....
you probably figured that out on your own.)

P. S. we would love to have you join our team!!!

Just in case you are dying to know how....this minute.....

Here is the low down on becoming a distributor - 

Go to -

www.drinkchoffy.com/melissachristensen

click on "Join Choffy" in the top right corner.

click on the black "Join Now" button.

You will need to hit "I agree" to the terms.

then it will ask you for my number - 

enter "10685"

It will cost you $60

(I will fill you in on how to get this cost credited

back to you by the end of the year).

You will be able to purchase your Choffy at wholesale 

prices and sell at will.

Plus take part in T-s fantastic incentive program!

Since I am signed up under her, 

if you sign up under me...you are still under her!!

Make sense?

PLEASE ASK ?'s If you have any.