Once In A Blue Moon

I just finished reading a great book, Once In A Blue Moon by Eileen Goudge. The book tells the story of sisters Lindsay and Kerrie Ann. As we learn in the prologue, they were separated at a young age, when they were placed in foster care because their mother was arrested and sent to prison. Fast forward twenty some years and we learn that they are still leading their separate lives. Lindsay has tried to find her sister, but Kerrie Ann, so young when they were separated, didn't even know she had a sister until her lawyer unearths it. The author does an excellent job of building the characters in the first two chapters, helping the reader learn more about who they are and what the influences in their lives have been. Then, the story unfolds as it explores their relationship as they fall in and out of love and face major life issues.

I really enjoyed reading this book. I stayed up later than I should have on more than one occasion, because I wanted to read just one more chapter. Ms Goudge tells such a wonderful story with characters that you feel drawn to, you can't help but want to find out what happens next. I love a good page turner.

This was the first book that I read by Eileen Goudge, but now I can't wait to check out more of her books. I learned over on her website that she has 16 other books...so I have a lot of catching up to do.

You can learn more about Eileen and her books at her website. You can also Fan her on Facebook or follow her on Twitter.

Once In A Blue Moon becomes available on Tuesday, October 6. I had the opportunity to receive an advanced copy for review through One2One Network.

Update!!!

Turns out, I have the opportunity to give away one copy of the book I read as well as a copy of Woman in Red. You can enter here to win a copy of Once In a Blue Moon and Woman in Red.

How to enter:

Primary entry - Leave a comment with your favorite author and your favorite book (not necessarily the same).

Bonus entries -
Follow me on Twitter (@ABusyMomofTwo) and tweet about this giveaway. Can be done once per day, be sure to leave a separate comment for each tweet.

Sign up for daily updates by RSS feed or e-mail. Leave me a comment letting me know you subscribe.

Add my button to your sidebar or my blog to blog roll. Leave me a comment letting me know you did, with a link to your blog.

Post about this giveaway on your blog with a link back. Leave a comment letting me know you blogged, with a link to your post.

Giveaway will remain open until Tuesday, October 13th at 9 pm Eastern. Winner will be selected using a random number generator. Winner will be contacted by e-mail and have 36 hours to respond or a new winner will be selected.

I did not receive any compensation for this post, but did receive an advanced copy of the book to read and review.

Fat Burnin' Friday

Well, I made it through a challenging week of birthday parties, eating out, and overnight travel. And, I'm happy to say I was triumphant! Nothing major, but I did lose 1#. I would have liked to have lost more, but knowing that I can party, eat out and travel and with constraint still manage to lose, is a good thing.

I tried to stick with simple foods when I ate out. I ate salads for a few of the meals, but otherwise stuck with chicken based meals. Keeping it simple made it easier for me to stay on Plan. I could more easily guesstimate the Points value for the foods and feel confident that I was within reason. Outside of the birthday party, when I was away from home, I did my best to resist dessert. It was good that my travel companions steered clear as well, as I was certainly tempted by a dish called Caramel Cobbler. What could there be not to like about that, except perhaps 899 calories (I don't really know, just making it up). I did have some at home, but I had everything I needed to figure out how indulgent a treat really was.

I also started to really use the Weight Watchers' eTools for tracking my points. If you have done Weight Watchers and haven't used eTools, you are missing out. They even have a mobile site that allows you to easily use most functions from your phone. This let me enter my points as I sat at the table or shortly there after, allowing me to better track Points and better understand where I stood. In addition to having a huge database of brand name and restaurant dishes, on the web version you can also calculate the Points for recipes. Enter all of your ingredients and the number of servings and Voila! a calculation of the points. I love this feature. I always hated trying to calculate everything by hand. This way, it pulls the details from it's database, combines it all together and determine the value for a serving. I used it to guide me as I considered what size portion made sense. I could play with the number of servings and make the serving size fit my Points available.

When I attended my class on Monday, my weight loss was 1.4#. Having two separate weigh dates is a little confusing, but I have always checked on Friday, so I will continue. It also is confused in that I weigh first thing in the morning on Friday and after dinner of Monday, so the time of day definitely creates a swing in the weights - another reason that I need to continue to use my Friday morning check as my standard. I guess I will meet my goal first in the morning and then will strive to meet that goal for my evening weight.

In the meantime, I have 34# to go to my target.

Samples and Freebies

Requested:

Dove Hair Care
Garnier Fructis sample
Emergen-C
Simplistick sample

Received:

Always Infinity Pad and Liner sample and coupons
Huggies Little Movers sample
Kotex Pads and Tampons sample and coupons
John Frieda Collection Brillian Brunette shampoo and conditioner sample and coupon