Nothing But Reading Challenges discussion
Wheelathon 5
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Team Around the World in Eighty Days
About this challenge
◈ Starts on 12 June and runs for 10 weeks (ending 21 August)
◈ The team with the highest points at the end of the game wins!
◈ Each fortnight the mods will “spin the wheel" and assign each team a word
◈ The team's task is to read books to spell out the word, gaining points per letter tiered by the book length (see below)
◈ The team will get an extra 15 completion points if all the letters in the word are part of their spell-it-out
◈ Once teams have read their word for the week they can "re-read" the word to gain more letter points, but no additional completion points.
◈ Only books STARTED after the challenge begins can count
◈ Books must be at least 160 pages in length. Children's books, Graphic Novels, Scripts/plays (movie and theater), Cookbooks and Poetry books cannot be used unless by word count they can be verified (by arbookfinder.com or arbookfinder.co.uk) as at least 40,000 words or have an audio edition that is at least 5 hours long
◈ Only books read during the specified round can be used (“read date” is what counts, not the day you start.) Books cannot be “banked” from previous rounds to use later in the challenge
◈ Rereads are permitted provided it has been at least 6 months since you last read/listened to the book
Point System
◈ Books less than 160 pages = 0 points
◈ Books between 160 and 1000 pages = 0.1 points/page
◈ Books over 1000 pages = 100 points
(points will be rounded up/down from 0.5 as per standard maths)
Tags
◈ Each colour segment on the wheel has been paired with a selection of genre tags.
◈ If you read and use a book with a matching genre, you will gain 5 bonus points per book, for a maximum of 10 books / 50 points.
◈ Genres must match exactly (though plural/singular is OK).
◈ There is no minimum number of tags required.
◈ Books must be used in the spell out to qualify for Tag points.
◈ for reasons the sheets show these points as "Top Shelf bonus" points
Task Lists
◈ The challenge comes with a task list
◈ If you read and use a book for a task you will gain 5 bonus points per book
◈ Each player in a team has their own task list (i.e. task #1 can be completed by each member in the team)
◈ Each book can only be used once - one book per task, one task per book
BOM Points
Participating in Book of the Month (BOM) discussions during the time frame of the challenge will score points as follows:
◈ 40 points for writing a discussion question set
◈ 20 points for participating in the discussion
How a "spell it out" works
Spell out the word(s) using the first letter in the book's title, the first letter in the author's first or last name, or the first letter of a character's first, last, or nick-name, or the first letter of the series name. As always, if the first letter of a title starts with an indefinite or definite article ('A', 'An', 'The', etc.), you may use the first letter of the second word in the title to spell out your chosen word. If you are listening to an audiobook, the first letter in the narrator's first or last name also can be used. We're also allowing for Translators names, as long as the edition you are reading is a translation version.
Team Member ShelvesAshleigh
Silje
Halli Vause
Kim
Logan Turner
Maritza
Megan Vickers
Rajiv
Sarah
Sophie
Tara Taylor
Vicki
Zuza
Planning Sheet
Team Book Recommendations 
Hi team! I'm your team captain Ashleigh and welcome to this year's Wheelathon! This is my second Wheelathon and first time as a Captain, but I've done countless other challenges on NBRC and other GR groups that I feel confident enough to take up the mantle this year :)About myself: I'm 25 years old from Northumberland, England and I've been a member of GR for over 7 and a half years now. My favourite genres are fantasy and mystery thriller, although this year I have been branching out to other genres, especially romance and in particular historical romance.
Our first word of the challenge is CELEBRATION and our tags are:
FLOWER
LAVENDER
FRANCE
BATTLE
SPACE
Is this your first Wheelathon? Do you have any books planned for the start of the challenge? Which of the tags do you think is easiest to read for?
Yay! Hiya Team!My name is Megan, I'm 28 and from Hertfordshire, England. My favourite genres are fantasy, horror and sci-fi but I do dabble in most genres (except romance).
I think I've played every major team challenge with NBRC since the infamous WOBBLE of 2016 haha.
I'm thinking the "Battle" and "Space" tags are going to be the easiest for me, based on my preferred genres. I'm planning on having a proper look over the next few days though. I'm a bit of a mood reader though so don't tend to plan too far in advance usually :)
Can't wait to get to know you all and play with you :D
Hi guys, suffice it to say i'm old enough. I live in NYC and I read a wide variety of genres. I have played all wheelathons and wobble. I have volunteered to write DQs for Five Feet Apart. I am not in too many team challenges so I can focus on this. Flower seems easiest for me. I don't plan my books either.
Hello! I'm Tara, 34 and from Carterville, Illinois. This is my second time playing Wheelathon. My favorite genres are mystery/thriller, but I've been branching out quite a bit with some historical fiction, romance, contemporary. I'm not a fan of fantasy/sci-fi. I'm a big mood reader - and right now my mood is leaning to very light books - so I don't pre-plan very much ahead. I'm not sure about these tags … I think France might be the easiest for me. Looking forward to getting to know everyone and enjoying some good reading :)
Hey y’all! I’m Halli, 30 from South Carolina. I have 2 daughters one that’s 7 months and one that’s a little over 2, so while I was once an avid reader, now I’m doing my best to finish a book a week 🤣 This has been the first time I’ve felt comfortable actually participating in a challenge in quite a while, but I have done a few back pre-babies! I was obsessed with wobble in 2016! I’m also a mood reader and mostly lean towards YA. I’ve never read the Mortal Instruments series so I may start of the challenge with the first book of the series. We’ll see!
Hi all! Oh my god, was Wobble 4 years ago?? I think I'm one of the weird people like you Halli who actually enjoyed Wobble and would love it to come back haha.
Hi team! I’ve been around NBRC and GR for a long time, but haven’t been as active the last few years. But the team challenges always manage to get me reading more so I try to join them when I see them. I am in Florida and working remotely these days so lots of time for reading. I love all kinds of genres but lately have been reading more historical romances and thrillers. I love mysteries, urban fantasy, YA. Excited to play with you all!
Are we a chatty team?
Wobble was the first challenge I ever did & I feel like nothing has ever lived up since. 🤣 I didn’t realize it was the first and only time it was ever done & was so bummed when I found out it would never come back!
Yess! I loved Wobble so much! It was my first ever team challenge. It must have been mental for the mods but as a player I had so much fun!I can't remember if I put "yes" or "don't mind" to chatty team... We can make it a chatty team anyway xD
Hi Logan and Megan!It seems like we might all be on the same page about Wobble so we're already well suited as a team haha.
I would prefer a chatty team just so we can keep everything updated and stay up to date :)
I agree, chatty is good on team challenges
Hi everyone! I'm Silje, 29 years, from Norway, and co-captain=) I usually join two or three team challenges a year, they are an excellent motivation to read more! Wobble was one of my favorites too=)
My favorite genres are fantasy, YA, historical romance, and thrillers. I work in a bookshop, so I try to read books from other genres as well, to "broaden my horizon" =P I have to take a closer look at the tags to see which might be easiest for me.
Hi everyone! I am Vicki and as of now I am most likely the oldest member on the team. I am happy to have lived to be 70 years and 4 months old because a lot of people don't. :)I am a mother of 5, grandmother of 21, and great grandmother of 5. I can write books about my grandkids, but I'll spare you all! Ask if you have any questions and I'm happy to brag! LOL
I am a retired high school teacher as of May 2017. I taught English for 25 years and yearbook for 18-19 years. I loved my students and still keep in touch with many of them, mostly via social media but I've definitely had a few "coffees" or meals with several and attended a few weddings and hospital visits to see their newborns.
I played Wheels twice, I believe (old age is my excuse for a bad memory). I'm excited to play but I have a few questions for sure.
Question 1: Do all the books we read have to have one of the above tags to count? I assume this would be in addition to the genre. So, if we need to read a book that is dystopia and we find tags for "battle" it would be extra points, but we don't have to have it tagged with one of the words, correct?
Question 2: The rules say ◈ Each book can only be used once - one book per task, one task per book. Does that mean we have no reason to buddy read for this challenge, meaning if I read a particular book for one task that no one else can read that same book for that task?
Good questions Vicki. Brag all you want.
Well, Maritza, I can tell you what others on this team have to look forward to. I have 21 grandchildren (11 boys, 10 girls), 5 great grandchildren (3 boys, 2 girls), and my kids (notice they come last now lol) are 3 girls, 2 boys. MY baby will be 41 on the 11th of June. My oldest grandchild is Brianna and she'll be 26 the 27th of this month. She used to lead worship for her youth group when she was younger, then she led on Saturday nights before her dad (my son) taught the Bible. She went with my son on one of his missions trips to Canaille, Haiti, and while there she played and sang and even learned to sing one of the songs in their language. It was quite a learning experience.
My next oldest is Christopher and he is 6 months younger than Brianna. He is currently studying Neuro-muscular Therapy and advanced manual therapy. He'll finish in August. The goal of his massage therapy is to eliminate or alleviate pain via soft tissue manipulation and muscular reeducation. He is big time into plants! He has been for years, even when he was a teen. I mean plants like herbs mostly. He grows his own herbs in planters since they're in a small apartment in Orange County. He lives with his girlfriend of about 3 years.
My youngest grandchild was 3 months yesterday and he's a boy. He has the LONGEST hair I've ever seen on a child that young, ever! LOL His 2 year old sister has hair that her mommy puts in little ponytails, but JuJu could have a really long ponytail. Why do boys always seem to get the long hair and lashes? LOL I sadly have barely seen him because of the pandemic. They only live 30 minutes from me and my daughter has 6 children. The 2 oldest are out of the home (although her daughter is there now due to the virus). She has 4 boys and 2 girls, and JuJu is her last so VERY likely my last grandchild. What a joy they all are!
Okay, enough on myself. I literally could write forever about my grandchildren. They are definitely a joy in life! So how about you? Married? Career? Stay at home mom? I see that you live in New York City. I hope that you're far, far away from all the chaos going on and staying safe. Were you born in NY or moved there later in life? Tell me about yourself a little. I visited New York City back in 2008 or 2010...can't remember but I was only there from Thursday night to Sunday early afternoon. I did get to go on the ferryboat and see the Statue of Liberty. I couldn't believe how big it is! It gave me chills and such pride! I had gone there to meet 5 people from an online masters class we had all been in. That was too fun! We went to see Phantom of the Opera, which made me tear up before it even started because I was so overcome with emotion just sitting in that beautiful theater and knowing I was going to see a real Broadway show at the Majestic! I loved it so much!
Sorry to be so long but I love to write (can you tell?) and no one has to read it if they don't want to!
Our team is not very chatty at all, or at least not yet. I like chattiness and getting to know people on my teams. I've already met several Goodreads friends in person. One person came to San Francisco for a Goodreads meeting of some king (she's one of their librarians) so even though she was only there Thursday night, had an all day meeting Friday and left Saturday, she took out the time to drive halfway (about a 45 minute drive for each of us) so we could meet. Then in January 2019 I flew to Florida to meet another friend and attend her wedding. I got to visit her for a whole week. And last summer 2019 my hubs and I went to Vegas and I met another friend from Goodreads. I become close friends with some people on GR as I am sure many of us do.
Okay, I will shut up for real now! I welcome anyone who wants to chat!
Hi Silje and Vicki!I don't have any children myself, but I have 4 nieces and a nephew (ages between 2 and 5), and being an auntie is my favourite thing in the world. I love those little kids so much and I'm like you Vicki, I just want to talk about them all day. Missing them so so much during these tough times, I'm not able to see them as much as I'd like due to lockdowns. But we're looking forward to the day when we can all be together again.
In answer to the tags/tasks question: you don't have to read books that are tagged, but you get bonus points if you do. We can read a maximum of 10 books for the tags to get bonus points. I'm guessing that's per round and not per tag. We get different tags each round, each round being 2 weeks.
For the monthly buddy reads, only one of us can sign up to write questions for the book, but all of us can participate in the buddy read and answer the questions for bonus points.
'One book per task' means if one person finishes a book, they can only claim one task for that book. So if there were two tasks such as 'read a book with a red cover' and 'read a book that starts with the letter B', if you had a book that fit both prompts, you could only use that book for one of the prompts. If another person also wants to read the same book, they can do so but likewise, they can use that book for one prompt.
Hello & Greetings from Team Orient Express. 😉You can find our collected recommendations here: Book recommendations by Team Orient Express
Please feel free to drop by and recommend books in return, you will always be welcome aboard.
Vicki, I am truly enjoying reading your bragging! I can’t imagine having 5 or 6 children! My husband is officially done after our 2. They’re definitely a handful, but I won’t lie and say I don’t want anymore. I actually miss being pregnant and have found after having both of my 2 I was ready to try again about 3 months later. 🤣 My husband plans to make an appointment to get “fixed” this week & while I’m a little bummed, I understand why! Does anyone have hobbies other than reading? I love to sew clothes for my girls & most recently quilts! I’ve only made 3 quilts so far (the pandemic made it VERY hard to sew with the girls at home) but I am definitely addicted. Right now I’m working on finding classroom space and then I plan to teach “Intro to Sewing” classes as a side gig on top of my full time job.
Full time I work in Human Resources for a manufacturing company. We’re considered essential so I never stopped working but they did let us work from home. I’ve actually enjoyed it and it made me want to be a SAHM. I just sent the girls back to daycare last week & now my husband and I ate working from home and spending the days getting us moved into our old house. (A long story but suffice it to say we moved in with my dad in hopes of selling our house and have no mortgage but it didn’t work out 🤦🏼♀️).
I don't mind chatty at all :) Vicki - I think we've been on a team before. Not sure which one though lol...
We only have 2 children. Garrett is 8 and Katelyn is 5. I'm still a little bit in denial that she starts kindergarten this fall. The struggle is REAL to have that third child... but I just can't do it. Nope. Especially not now that our kids are getting older and a heck of a lot more independent :)
I work as a bookkeeper for a concrete company. I never stopped working either, since we are considered essential. But I've been doing a combination of work at home/work in office. I only have to go in twice a week. My husband, also deemed essential, has been working from home as well.
The kiddos have been out of school/daycare since March. And will be until we have regular school back. We made the decision not to send our daughter back to her daycare (where she was doing pre-k) because well... first of all, we like having that extra money in our pocket lol but more practically because our son was home it just made sense to keep them both home. I've gotten spoiled and don't really want to go back to the office full time at this point. But it will definitely be nice to have a little time to myself again once they go back. Although we still don't know what fall will look like for our school system.... fingers crossed they go back in August! I'm not cut out for homeschooling and I really HATE for our daughter to have to do kindergarten virtually. Plus Garrett got nominated for safety patrol, which is a big deal for 3rd graders in our school system, and he really would be bummed if he misses out on it.
Hi guys, Happy Monday. Well Vicki, that was nice. In answers to your questions - I was borned and raised in Brooklyn, NY. I have lived 2 places 1 block apart. Am nit married or have any kids. Have 3 nieces who live in other states right now. I am home taking care of my elderly parents. I work i a hospital so never stopped working but we are doing patient care through the phone, no in office visits except emergencies. We are in Phase 1 of reopening starting today. These sure have been an anxious 3 months. I have always wanted to see Phantom of the Opera but with the original phantom. I love broadway plays but they are closed for the rest of the year. It has been eerie in NYC with everything closed and people not wanting anyone near them. The thing I havw missed tge most is going to Church, it is not the same on tv and zoom. Can't wait to see what the resy of the year brings. So far 2020 has been full of so much tension and loss. Things will get better slowly.My other hobby besides reading is watching tv. I lead a quiet life and like to stay home.
Hi team! My name is Sarah and I'm 41 and from Toronto, Canada.
I'm married, no children, but mom to my two feline furbabies! I do have a niece and nephew that I love to spend time with.
I mostly read romance, but am a fan of most genres, except Science Fiction and Fantasy.
Besides reading I also love to knit.
I am brand new to this challenge... so where do I start :)
I'm married, no children, but mom to my two feline furbabies! I do have a niece and nephew that I love to spend time with.
I mostly read romance, but am a fan of most genres, except Science Fiction and Fantasy.
Besides reading I also love to knit.
I am brand new to this challenge... so where do I start :)
Greetings from The Wonderful World of Oz! We are preparing some book recommendations for you. We still have some people on our team to add theirs but you can check them out here. Happy Reading Y'all!
Guys are we adding any book recommendations? I see other teams are doing it. I recommend.What Unbreakable Looks Like
Black: Rylee's Protector
Little Secrets
Mod
As we Hitchhike through the galaxy, my team is collecting recommendations. Ours can be found here. And you may want to check it periodically as some members appear to of gotten lost in their travels and we also plan to update it with good books read during Wheel.
Happy Reading!
Business first: What are all the book recommendations? Are we supposed to be recommending them for a particular reason for this challenge? Or are we simply telling others what our favorites are? Maybe I missed something...highly typical for me. LOL
@Ashleigh, thank you for making all of that so clear for me! I truly appreciate the time you took to do that! Your nieces and nephews are clearly very important in your life! All my nieces were like my children (5 nieces). Back then they still lived in CA and our children got together a lot!! Sadly, one of my nieces is simply missing, but not from being kidnapped. She got involved (we think) in drugs and we haven't heard from her in years and years. I fly to FL every year so I can visit my 3 siblings, Janice (my BFF), Jon (my bear hugger), and Judy (the one with more lives than a cat!). Maybe I'll explain that at some point. LOL
So much to catch up on! I love reading about you all and your lives. It's so interesting!I've had a very busy day today, I have a little business hand making pet accessories (collars, leads etc) and orders have been coming in thick and fast throughout lockdown which is AMAZING having so many people support small businesses but it does mean I'm very busy and a little stressed most of the time haha.
Other than reading I run and dance - though I unfortunately contracted Covid19 in March and I'm still battling with the aftermath physically so haven't been able to run or do dance classes for a while :(
Luckily I also enjoy gaming, watching movies/tv and crafting which I can do while I recover :D
@Vicki - Oh wow! I can't imagine having such a big family, that's so lovely. Do you every have massive get togethers with all of them at the same time?
Phantom is such an amazing show, I'm lucky to live close enough to London to have seen quite a few West End shows.
@Halli - Being able to sew clothes is such an awesome talent, I'm always envious of people with that skill. Is it something you taught yourself or did you take a class?
@Tara - That must be so tough with both you and your other half working plus having 2 young children at home! Hopefully things will be back to "normal" soon. Kindergarten would be so lacking if it had to be done virtually :( Safety patrol sounds like fun! What does it entail?? How do you get nominated??
@Halli, I loved having 5 children and when they were growing up, I was very proactive in their "training." We had SO MANY good family times like dancing in the living room, their friends coming over and practicing dancing moves, my son Brian's baseball buddies coming over and spending the night. Once Brian fell asleep and the drew a face on his face with make up and then woke him up and told him they wanted to go to the store right down the street from us, so he got up and left not knowing he looked ridiculously funny. LOL I also loved being pregnant! I missed being pregnant right after they were born and feeling the movement inside, but at the same time I obviously preferred having them in my arms. And I feel cheated because I never had sonograms to see my babies inside me since my first was born in March 1970. Doctors would guess their gender based on heartbeats. But I think I'm too old to try again. LOL
Hobbies? Not much. Before this dang pandemic, I was spending a lot of my retirement time taking care of my grandkids. One of my daughters was back in college and I'd watch her younger ones (mainly the 2 year old...my heart, Lily). I was usually there 3-4 days a week. She also works at a hospital as a CNA and is trying to get into the RN program, but she had her last baby March 6, we went on official lock down March 19 so she's been on maternity leave plus disability for about 2 months or so prior to the virus due to a really bad sacroiliac. She still hasn't returned to work and has a least 2 more months before she has to go back.
Other than a lot of time with my grandkids and traveling a lot, my only "hobby" is TV. I have to admit that I love some shows like The Bachelor/Bachelorette, Big Brother (thanks to my sister making me watch it), and some others. I love all of the dance shows and singing competitions too.
@Tara, we did play on another challenge or maybe 2 because I remember your profile picture. :)I love your children's names and ages. That first time kindergarten is a difficult one. At least they were for me, especially if they cry that first (or 2nd etc.) day. I understand wanting more but deciding it's not perhaps the best choice. Maybe you'll have grandchildren in many years from now and just you wait and see how much JOY they bring you!! Such a different relationship from that with your children.
Garrett must be a special little boy. Being selected for safety patrol is huge and a wonderful self-esteem/responsibility builder. I think one major fault of parents these days is not giving their children enough responsibilities (chores) at home. When I taught high school (mostly 9th grade) I couldn't believe how many students had NO responsibility at home. Perhaps some lied about it, but I didn't get that sense. In yearbook, of course, I had the best of the best students since they had to apply and I got to choose which ones to take. Students in yearbook were mostly very motivated kids, and I know quite a few that are now nurses, a chiropractor, a real estate guru, and other successful careers. They thrived on responsibility in school (for the most part).
Tell Garrett that Grandma Vicki (lol okay, a friend of yours on GR) said, "I'm very proud of you, Garrett. It's really wonderful that you are taking on such an important job and at such a young age! Good luck on safety patrol, buddy."
To all: I am glad that it seems most or all of us have not lost jobs or income during this time. I was already retired but my hubs (Scott) is also an essential worker and a General Mills plant. I worry about him every day because he works with truckers from all over the world, seeing that they are coming and going with the proper order/load. Last week 1 person was found to be positive and 2 days ago they were notified that 3 are positive. The good news is that he doesn't work in the main warehouse, so he should be safe but you never know. Since I am older and have several high risk categories, it does make me nervous. I do all that I can from home, disinfect etc. wash my hands (they're so soft now lol) and do not go out to stores or anything (Scott does all the shopping), if God chooses to take me then I'll know that's on Him, not me. LOLI'm really looking forward to playing will all of you! We seem like a great team. I promise (well, I'll try) not to write an entire book about all my family!
Sarah wrote: "Hi team! My name is Sarah and I'm 41 and from Toronto, Canada.I'm married, no children, but mom to my two feline furbabies! I do have a niece and nephew that I love to spend time with.
I mostly ..."
I am SO SO SAD that we had to cancel our July trip to Canada. I was taking my daughter and her girlfriend and 2 of my granddaughters and we've had it planned since June 2019. Cairn Banff was our destination. Hopefully we can go next year instead, but as of now we've planned a trip to Yellowstone National Park which is absolutely amazing to see. The animals, beauty, hot springs, Old Faithful, and so much more to see. My daughter (Heather) is into nature big time so we decided to take her there next year. Anyway, I did go to Victoria in 1972 and it was absolutely gorgeous! At that time it was so clean I used to tell people, "You could eat off the streets!" But I don't know if it's still that way.
Anyway, welcome to our trip around the world!!!
@Megan...oh my gosh! I am so glad that you're okay!! I am super scared to get COVID-19 because of my risk factors and health. I hope you continue to get stronger and healthier!!! Did you get very sick with it or have to go to the hospital with it?You just might be sorry you asked this question. LOL
We have had a tradition in our family since 2008. One of my sons and his wife got a divorce and she moved to Oregon (we're in California). My other son had already moved to southern CA, and so things were more difficult because we had spent a lot of time getting the grandkids together. So, my son Brian and my oldest (daughter) Kim thought of having a "Cousins Camp" every summer so that the cousins (my grandkids) would remain close and never forget each other or not know each other. The first 2-3 summers we spent in my daughter's backyard. I think it was 3 nights at first. Boys in one tent with one "adult" and girls in the other with an "adult" but the adults were probably the biggest instigators, teaching the kids how to harass the other tents, etc.
It's grown since then, as our family has, and to this day we haven't missed a single summer planning and having a Cousins Camp until now. :( We have mostly spent our times in one of our homes, but twice my husband and I were able to get us 5 rooms at a resort in Big Bear and we had our Cousins Camp there. We've been jet skiing (not me, Grandma watched lol), boat and dolphins swimming by our side (like about 30!), we've been to the Bible of the Museum when it was in L.A. area (mobile unit), ocean trips, water parks and many kinds of activities. In Big Bear in my son's room we had an ongoing 1000 piece puzzle set up on a table and we'd drop in and work on it for 5 minutes, an hour, whatever we wanted and we did finish it. We have SO SO MANY good memories and to this day, even my grandchildren's spouses come to it. They all still love it and look forward to it. Of course, a couple times one or two couldn't make it. I have one grandson by marriage who is in the service and overseas, so he's had to miss it. One of my granddaughters had to miss it due to being pregnant and due when Cousins Camp was happening. It's usually in July, but sometimes we have it in June. My son Brian is a pastor and he is over children's ministry and men's ministry, so we have our annual event when the head pastor tells Brian when he (Pastor Tim) is going on vacation because Brian is also assistant pastor so he "takes over" when Tim is gone so we can never plan it at that time. But we don't always know when Pastor Tim is going until a month or two prior, so planning isn't easy with 35 of us. We do not allow anyone to come except for our family since we want to build family ties, so boyfriends, girlfriends, etc. (unless they are a couple living together) aren't allowed. But if they are part of the family but just not married, we include them. That is only 2 in our family at this time. I am so sad we probably won't have it this year but if we do, I might not go. :(
Christmas we rarely all make it to one place. Traveling at Christmastime for my son to where we live is about 320 miles and he has 6 children, but now 2 are grown and married. But having 6 children and no van that fit all of them, he and his wife drove 2 cars for trips and often still do because she can stay for a few days or a week, but he normally has to get back for church. On my 70th birthday (Jan. 27) he drove up here and had dinner with the family but then he had to drive back that night to be at their church service. So he drove about 5-6 hours to be here and turned right around and did the same thing. I was shocked to see him at the restaurant!!
So that's it in a nutshell. :)
Cousin camp sounds wonderful!! My dad is an only child and my mom didn’t get along well with her family so we didn’t really have any cousins growing up. I have 2 sisters though and I have loved seeing the bonds our children have formed! My twin has a son who is 11 months between both my girls & I love watching them all interact.
Halli, I have 2 sisters, too! One is my absolute BFF (Janice). It's fun watching the little ones, right? I reminisce sometimes and find pictures of my grandchildren at really young ages and send them out. It's a lot of fun to do that and they love it. They can't believe that I have some of the pictures that I do, and I'll send it in group texts to those who are in the pictures. :)I have twin granddaughters, but they aren't identical. Are you and your twin identical?
I love all these diverse families! I grew up in a small family but my husband has a big one so it took some time for me to adjust to gatherings with his family. So much noise! People in all different rooms! Chaos! lolWe are childfree by choice but we have 9 nieces and nephews - 4 from my sister and 5 from his brothers. I love them all so much! I try to go see my sister and her girls every few months (they are in the Twin Cities area and I’m in Florida) but COVID has kept me from a visit and I am DYING to see them and snuggle them. Hoping to go for a visit in the next few months. Trust me, I could brag on those cutie pies all night too! :)
Logan, that's how I feel about seeing my family. DYING to see them! On Mother's Day those in this area came to my house and my daughter texted me that she had dropped something off on my porch so go get it before a porch pirate steals it, so I went out and my family who live here were all there! They were outside our fence area and waving and yelling loving things and then they sang Happy Mother's Day to me. It made me cry but it was so good to see them all! I want to hug and snuggle to my heart's content!!!
Hello Around the World!I'm drifting over from Watership Down to wish you safe travels as we embark on this voyage of book exploration. My shipmates are tossing out recommendations for each other to use during our trip and I wanted to invite you to come aboard and have a look in this post , if you so desire. We promise not to let the bunnies attack!
BUT, in the spirit of team interaction, I would also like to invite each of you to drop by anytime to ask for specific recommendations for your favorite type of book or when you want something totally random to read!
If you happen to read a book our team recommended, please come back and let us know what you thought of it - good or bad!
Happy Travels and Happier Reading!
Angie, that’s really nice of you to post that. I’ll be visiting!
For the recommendations, I think it might be part of the challenge where you'll have to read books recommended by other players. Maritza has already started us off so I'll add a couple of rec's here.The Kind Worth Killing
Foul Is Fair
While the Duke Was Sleeping
The Worst Best Man
Lying in Wait
The Palace Job
Nothing But Reading Challenges
Books mentioned in this topic
Two Witches and a Whiskey (other topics)She-Wolves: The Women Who Ruled England Before Elizabeth (other topics)
She-Wolves: The Women Who Ruled England Before Elizabeth (other topics)
Wicked Game (other topics)
Pachinko (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
David M. Oshinsky (other topics)Therese Oneill (other topics)
Maisey Yates (other topics)
Caitlin Mullen (other topics)
Brandon Sanderson (other topics)
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Team Members
• Ashleigh (Captain)
• Silje (Co-captain)
• Halli Vause
• Kim
• Logan Turner
• Maritza
• Megan Vickers
• Rajiv
• Sarah
• Sophie
• Tara Taylor
• Vicki
• Zuza