I Have a Serious Problem

My book addiction has gotten out of control. Honestly, it is a problem. I have books that I purchased the first week they came out and I have yet to pick up. At last count I have 150 books around the house that I have been meaning to get to. Add to that the 148 on my e-books wish list on the Columbus Library website and the 200 on my "want to read" list on Goodreads and you can see that this is completely out of control. I even have 30 books that I have started to read and have not finished. They are just on my Goodreads list... staring at me, shaking their heads in disappointment.

Now that it is officially autumn (AKA the season of cuddle up with a hot drink and a book) I have decided to read these books and clear off some shelves. Really what that means is that I am not going to buy anymore books until I read the ones I have. I can read the books I have on my shelves and sell them to our favorite used bookstore, or give them to the library and then I can ramp up my supply again. 

I am going to use this opportunity to clear out some clutter AND make better use of Goodreads. At the beginning of every new year I sign up for a book challenge on Goodreads and every year, I fail. For 2017 I pledged 60 books. I'm holding strong at 7 (just finished one!) Seven. Y'all. And Ok, those seven books don't include the books that I read to my daughter, but really, I have got to be better about carving out some time for doing the things that I love and I love to read. There are series that I have not ever wanted to read (Twilight, Harry Potter), there are genres that I have left largely unexplored (Young Adult and Sci Fi); and there are genres that I will probably continue to avoid (romance). No matter. I need to continue to expand my mind and serve as an example to my kid, so I have to make time for (my) reading. 

I have just figured out how to create a book club on Goodreads, so I think that I am going to reach out to a few of my girlfriends and see if they would be interested in having a few discussions as I wade through this ever growing list of books. If we decide to make a book club, I will definitely let you all know, until then feel free to friend me on Goodreads and hold me accountable for getting my reading life together. You can also see what I am reading on Instagram (@hotblackbitterreads). I will post a pic of the book cover so you know what I am reading. Nerd on, loves. Nerd on. 

Winner, Winner - Friday Night Swag

I'm a winner y'all! (More than usual) :) Last month I participated in a fitness challenge at my local YMCA. It was the Mystery Mayhem challenge. Essentially, every three days we would get an email of what we should be doing. We could complete the challenge in one day or take the entire three day period to complete it. Points were accumulated for completing the challenges, sharing it on social media, working out in different ways (swim, bike, group class etc). Because I participated in this challenge, I found a new park to walk in that is near my job AND I took my first Zumba class. So I am expanding my workout prowess, or something like that :)

When I signed up, I knew I was getting a t-shirt but there was also the possibility of winning a Fitbit Flex. At the beginning of this week, I got an email saying I was a winner of a Fitbit Flex!! Now, I know that I am late to the Fitbit party, but hear me out. I don't like getting electronic things when they are in the "testing" period. Like, you don't have to worry about me standing in line for a new iPhone. Let some other sucker work out the kinks... I'll get the second generation. That rule generally serves me well. Very rarely do I have to take things back or participate in recalls. Makes my life easier.

Seems as though this Fitbit is going to make tracking my life easier also, and it came just in time... this week I signed up for the Hall of Fame Half Marathon (again)... I am hoping that the Fitbit helps with training and tracking (the good and the bad). I am also hoping for a better time in the half marathon and, you know, no limping for a week like the last time... sigh! I would like to have a better time, recovery and this time do more running than walking. Oh yeah, and to finish! The goal is to finish! Who knew that finishing 13.1 miles in less than 4 hours was such a hard goal to work with? While we ponder how these happy hips are going to make it another 13.1 miles in April, here are some pictures of my winnings. YES!!

Sickle Cell Awareness

Today is the end of September, can you believe that? I, for one, need the year to slow down a bit. It seems like just yesterday, Lefty and I were driving back into the city limits to celebrate a new year together and now here we are on the edge of October. This was a month of firsts for us. We went to our very first blogging conference together, which was lovely. A first of many, I am sure. Last month we did the ALS challenge and this month is Sickle Cell Awareness month. Like ALS, Sickle Cell and its sufferers are relatively unknown except by those who suffer from it or those who are caretakers.

Many people don't even know what having Sickle Cell Anemia entails. Sickle Cell is a hereditary, blood disorder where red blood cells assume a rigid, sickle like shape. Sickle-cell disease is associated with a number of acute and chronic health problems, such as severe infections and attacks of severe pain ("sickle-cell crisis"), and an increased risk of death. A person inherits two abnormal copies of the haemoglobin gene, one from each parent. If you only have one of the abnormal copies, from one parent then you have the Sickle Cell Trait (like me) and you do not experience the above named symptoms. The highest frequency of sickle cell disease is found in tropical regions (and tropical people... again, like me!), particularly sub-Saharan Africa, India and the Middle-East. In the United States, about 1 out of 500 African-American children and 1 in every 36,000 Hispanic-American children born will have sickle-cell anemia. Sickle cell trait occurs among about 1:12 African-Americans and 1:100 Hispanic-Americans.

And so what are we doing to raise awareness for this debilitating disease? The ice bucket challenge was already taken :) but my almost life long friend... and Sickle Cell Warrior, got me hip to their campaign #BoldLips4SickleCell so, of course I had to participate! Below are my pics, both serious and silly-- lipstick is Rimmel Bordeaux (because Bordeaux is the color that you NEED when doing a bold lip challenge). Educate yourselves, my lovebugs and see what you can do in your community to help bring awareness to this disease. Now... SHOW ME THOSE LIPS!! :)

Excuse the seatbelt shot from Lefty's car-- we were headed to the blogging conference and he is all about safety first... even while taking dreamy eyed selfies :)