Books, Latte, Wii, Motorcycles

I cleaned 4 more inches of snow from the driveway this morning. I wanted to go to Mentor, the nearest "big" city for a couple of things. My first stop was the Family Christian Bookstore cuz they have a decent "clean" restroom and my blood pressure meds make me hafta go and it was a 45 mile ride, if you get my drift. Since I was in the bookstore, I decided to browse just in case there was something I couldn't live without. On my way to the restroom I passed a rack of devotionals. One caught my eye because I recognized the author's name but wasn't sure how I knew her. Jennifer Rothschild. Sounded familiar, the devotional looked interesting, but I had to pee. I browsed the store, found some Christmas cards 50% off - great deal and they can go in the bag of cards I bought on sale after Christmas 2007! I wandered to the kids book section and found a cute cloth book for my buckaroo. Figured he could take it to church and it won't make a loud THUD when he drops it. Picked up some greeting cards that I needed. I finally wandered back to the devotional - Fresh Ground Faith. In reading the author credits, I found that Jennifer is the author of Lessons I Learned in the Dark. Bingo. Women of Faith conference 2007 in Cleveland. She was the sightless guest speaker. She has amazing insight. I bought the devotional - and will probably look for the other books she's authored.

After I had spent sufficient time (and $$) there, I moved on. I am going to CMA's Seasons of Refreshing in 2 weeks. It is a Fri night/Sat pre-season rally to prepare us for the upcoming motorcycling ministry season. I NEVER go out of town without a novel to read, and I didn't find anything intriguing at the Family Christian Bookstore (I could "pre-buy" Tony Dungy's next book, but they didn't state the release date) so I stopped at Borders (after visiting several clothing stores and finding zilch). Lo and Behold, they had in stock Tony Dungy's new book! It looks interesting and started to buy it when I spotted THE ASSOCIATE. John Grisham's new release. I dropped Dungy's book like a hot potato knowing Grisham was going home with me. I also have heard alot lately about Jodi Picoult's work so I picked up her latest novel. Did I mention that I love books??? Now all I needed was a quiet corner and a good latte and I'd be all set! Thought about Panera Bread or a nearby Starbucks, but decided to head home and patronize our newest local coffee shop. JavaNet Cafe. It is owned and operated by a good friend and I usually get samples of new things he's trying on the menu. (the lure of free food must run in the family!) John's 15 yr old son Adam was working and fixed me a Cookie Dough Mocha latte with whipped cream on top. mmmm good! I settled in a quiet corner with The Associate (I promise to TRY and not read the last chapter first!) and my java and it was good. Then John came into the cafe and we chatted a little before he told me about the Wii he had in the side room. I told him I knew absolutely nothing about video games so he asked Adam to set the game up for bowling and switch his player to a right-hander so I could play. After a few instructions from John and watching Adam demonstrate . . . .I was bowling. John has the Wii hooked up to a projector so the display is on the wall and you really feel like you are in a bowling alley. John left for his daughter's basketball game and Adam I battled it out. It came down to the 10th frame where he picked up his spare and needed 4 pins to tie with me. He got 6. I can't wait to go back for my next latte and Wii lesson!

Tomorrow is the BIG day! The International Motorcycle Show in Cleveland! I've been planning what to wear for 2 weeks now and have my clothes laid out ready to go, right down to my HD socks. It's midnight thirty here and I'm wide awake with excitement. Perhaps if I cuddle under the covers and read I'll be able to turn my brain off and get some sleep. I'm sure you'll be hearing more about the show in a later post.
Ciao for now.