Doing some spring cleaning in real life and on the blog.
Hope you like my new look/layout! Got it from LeeLou Blogs again!
Check the site out!
Hope to have more posts next week!
Have a great weekend!
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Thursday, March 18, 2010
I'm Weird About Books
I collect books. Not rare editions. Not classics or specific bindings. Just books.
I joined a site called GoodReads, where you can keep track of what you read.
Through this site, I discovered that I read anywhere from 30-40 books a year... sometimes more.
I have always loved reading. Since I was a kid. I was the kid that always wanted to order
20 books from the book orders in school. And if I saved up my pocket change/allowance/babysitting money, I often did get all the books I wanted from the book order.
My parents never discouraged this obsession. I would spend hours arranging
books on my bookshelves. Sometimes alpha by author. Sometimes by size. Always grouping the books from the same author together. Always keeping books that were part of a series on the same shelf. I dreamed of running a bookstore or a library of my own.
I loved reading so much I majored in it in college.
I'm only slightly kidding here. I majored in English. I have (most of) the books to prove it too. And I've started a half-hearted attempt to read or re-read some of those books. I read so many books for my English major that I don't even remember reading some of them. I've re-read two Jane Austen books now, both books I didn't think I finished the first go-round, only to find notes in my handwriting in the margins all the way through the book.
As I've gotten older I've tried to keep this obsession in check. I have actually sold books to Half-Price Books. I have joined a book swap site Bookmooch.com to capitalize on some of the books I know I will never read again... books that were total duds. But I still love to have my books. My own copies. I dream of a room with wall to wall bookshelves to display my collection on.
I'm not one of those people who can just buy a book, and pass it on to someone else. Once I buy a book, it's mine forever. I love that feeling.
But lately I've gone looking for books that I know I own... that I know I haven't swapped or sold. Where are these books?
Then it occurs to me... I've been loaning books to friends and family members. Most of the time, these friends are really great about borrowing books. They read them and return them right away. My family members? Well, at least I know where they keep my books. I've actually taken books my sister has borrowed and never read off the shelf at her house if I know she won't ever get to it. She's got a couple of bags full of my books. And I can hound my family members
to get them back.
Other friends are truly great friends, but they still have copies of my books that they borrowed YEARS after I loaned them to them. They keep saying "Oh, I'll get it to you." But it never happens. If you lost my book, replace it! If you're not going to read it in the next 6 months, give it back. If you've already read it, for the love of God return it. I guess it's my own fault. I love talking books with friends. I've been in a book club for seven years. So I never thought twice about loaning them to people, because I thought everyone was like me. I thought other people valued books the way I do.
I worry about my books. I take really good care of them. I want them to look good when I get that wall-to-wall bookshelf to display them on. It's sad, but I feel like my books are a part of my life. Each one corresponds to a particular time frame. I read them for specific reasons, whether for book club, as a distraction, to help me through an emotion. They are brain food for me. Each one nourishing in a different way... some fill the basic needs and others are purely dessert.
I love to share these things with others, but I'm not getting them back. And it makes me sad.
There's an old saying... "Lend only those books you wish never to see again."
I guess I need to stop lending books. Because I want to see all my books again.
p.s. This post is not targeted at anyone specific. many of my friends have borrowed books from me. plenty of them have returned them in a timely fashion. But there's about 10 really good books of mine floating around out there, that I'd like to get back. and I'm worried that I'll never see them again.
I joined a site called GoodReads, where you can keep track of what you read.
Through this site, I discovered that I read anywhere from 30-40 books a year... sometimes more.
I have always loved reading. Since I was a kid. I was the kid that always wanted to order
20 books from the book orders in school. And if I saved up my pocket change/allowance/babysitting money, I often did get all the books I wanted from the book order.
My parents never discouraged this obsession. I would spend hours arranging
books on my bookshelves. Sometimes alpha by author. Sometimes by size. Always grouping the books from the same author together. Always keeping books that were part of a series on the same shelf. I dreamed of running a bookstore or a library of my own.
I loved reading so much I majored in it in college.
I'm only slightly kidding here. I majored in English. I have (most of) the books to prove it too. And I've started a half-hearted attempt to read or re-read some of those books. I read so many books for my English major that I don't even remember reading some of them. I've re-read two Jane Austen books now, both books I didn't think I finished the first go-round, only to find notes in my handwriting in the margins all the way through the book.
As I've gotten older I've tried to keep this obsession in check. I have actually sold books to Half-Price Books. I have joined a book swap site Bookmooch.com to capitalize on some of the books I know I will never read again... books that were total duds. But I still love to have my books. My own copies. I dream of a room with wall to wall bookshelves to display my collection on.
I'm not one of those people who can just buy a book, and pass it on to someone else. Once I buy a book, it's mine forever. I love that feeling.
But lately I've gone looking for books that I know I own... that I know I haven't swapped or sold. Where are these books?
Then it occurs to me... I've been loaning books to friends and family members. Most of the time, these friends are really great about borrowing books. They read them and return them right away. My family members? Well, at least I know where they keep my books. I've actually taken books my sister has borrowed and never read off the shelf at her house if I know she won't ever get to it. She's got a couple of bags full of my books. And I can hound my family members
to get them back.
Other friends are truly great friends, but they still have copies of my books that they borrowed YEARS after I loaned them to them. They keep saying "Oh, I'll get it to you." But it never happens. If you lost my book, replace it! If you're not going to read it in the next 6 months, give it back. If you've already read it, for the love of God return it. I guess it's my own fault. I love talking books with friends. I've been in a book club for seven years. So I never thought twice about loaning them to people, because I thought everyone was like me. I thought other people valued books the way I do.
I worry about my books. I take really good care of them. I want them to look good when I get that wall-to-wall bookshelf to display them on. It's sad, but I feel like my books are a part of my life. Each one corresponds to a particular time frame. I read them for specific reasons, whether for book club, as a distraction, to help me through an emotion. They are brain food for me. Each one nourishing in a different way... some fill the basic needs and others are purely dessert.
I love to share these things with others, but I'm not getting them back. And it makes me sad.
There's an old saying... "Lend only those books you wish never to see again."
I guess I need to stop lending books. Because I want to see all my books again.
p.s. This post is not targeted at anyone specific. many of my friends have borrowed books from me. plenty of them have returned them in a timely fashion. But there's about 10 really good books of mine floating around out there, that I'd like to get back. and I'm worried that I'll never see them again.
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Guess Who's Three Months Old??
This cheerful little guy is three months old today! I can't believe it! Time is going so fast. So far he's a good sleeper, a good eater, and every bit as cute as his big brother was at this age.
Catching a snooze with Dad.
This one was actually taken today... three months old!
Go Bears! (Gotta get him wearing the right team and colors young. It's going to be tough enough having them grow up in Packers country.)Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Excuses, Excuses
Holy moley has it been busy around here! I can't believe it's been over a week since I've posted anything. Rest assured things are fine here... just insanely busy both at work and at home.
Glad for the busy-ness at work because it means I have job security. Always a good thing!
Glad for the busy-ness at home because that means everyone is healthy and happy!
Adam is closing in on three months. I swear, I don't know where the time has gone. I'll try to post some new pictures soon.
Alex is my sweet, sensitive guy. He's doing so great in school right now and I'm so proud of him.
Craig and I are managing to stay sane now that I'm back to work. No easy task!
That's it for now. I promise I'll try to get back into a more regular posting schedule!
Glad for the busy-ness at work because it means I have job security. Always a good thing!
Glad for the busy-ness at home because that means everyone is healthy and happy!
Adam is closing in on three months. I swear, I don't know where the time has gone. I'll try to post some new pictures soon.
Alex is my sweet, sensitive guy. He's doing so great in school right now and I'm so proud of him.
Craig and I are managing to stay sane now that I'm back to work. No easy task!
That's it for now. I promise I'll try to get back into a more regular posting schedule!
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
I have a new favorite song.
It's called "Just Breathe."
A song off of Pearl Jam's latest album. I absolutely love it.
Eddie Vedder's voice is both haunting and soothing at the same time.
Check it out... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kuq7RYQ8Wa0
Craig is a HUGE Pearl Jam fan. I've always liked them and have been lucky enough to see them in concert. (It was at Alpine Valley here in WI. Amazing venue if you ever get a chance to see a show there. Jimmy Buffett and Dave Matthews Band play there usually once a year... but I digress.) I have to get this and some other music loaded onto the MP3 player... soon!
A song off of Pearl Jam's latest album. I absolutely love it.
Eddie Vedder's voice is both haunting and soothing at the same time.
Check it out... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kuq7RYQ8Wa0
Craig is a HUGE Pearl Jam fan. I've always liked them and have been lucky enough to see them in concert. (It was at Alpine Valley here in WI. Amazing venue if you ever get a chance to see a show there. Jimmy Buffett and Dave Matthews Band play there usually once a year... but I digress.) I have to get this and some other music loaded onto the MP3 player... soon!