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Booklover Problem: What To Read First?
This is a picture of what I call my 9th bookcase—it’s the floor by my bed where I keep newly acquired books that I want to read. The two piles on the left are used books I’ve purchased over the past month. The two stacks on the right are my current library haul. So many books that I’ve had on hold at the library have all come in at once! Luckily the loan period is three weeks—but I do have other things going on in my life like a job and friends and a family that take up time. 🙂
So—where do I start? My impulse is to dig into the library stack—those pesky due dates and all—but then again there are a couple of books in that used book pile that I’d really love to explore. What a great “problem” to have, right? I’m hoping to get errands and chores done this morning and then will have time this afternoon and evening to do some serious reading of SOMETHING in one of these stacks!
How about you? What’s on your agenda for this lovely Saturday? Please share!
Next week one of my co-workers—and a good friend—will attend the trial of the person responsible for the death of her 22-year-old daughter nearly three years ago. Her daughter’s boyfriend was killed in the same incident. There’s no doubt that the woman who will finally go on trial was responsible for these deaths—the only thing to be determined is the level of negligence.
I got distracted when I was sorting laundry this morning. When I got back to it, this was what I found.
My across-the-street neighbor—we have a “wave to each other and shout greetings across the street” kind of relationship—went out of her way to do something very kind for me this week. I was floored when I found out about it, and am very grateful to know that someone in my neighborhood has my back and will watch out for me. When you live alone, as I do, that’s important. I have a little bagful of small gifts for her baby that I’m going to take over today as a thank you.
The other night I got home from work tired, cold, and hungry. We’d gotten our first significant snowfall that day and my commute both ways was twice as long as usual. I came home, heated up some dinner, turned on the TV—and found that the movie Love, Actually was just starting. So my evening was set—for the next three hours I did absolutely nothing but watch one of my very favorite films, which also happens to be a Christmas movie.
I think dreams are fascinating—it’s like a whole section of your mind opens up when your barriers go down during sleep. I usually have really vivid dreams—sometimes with multiple plot lines—and on most mornings I can remember a dream when I wake up.
I’m feeling pretty unsettled these days. There’s a big restructuring on the way at my company—the official announcement will probably be made this coming week, but the changes will come in waves over the next several months. I’m not really concerned that my job will be eliminated, but I’m very concerned that my job description may change. I simply love what I do right now, and I’m not sure that it’s going to continue in the same capacity. I’m making a very conscious effort to not spend time worrying over something I can’t control—but that’s part of what has me feeling a little at sea—I have absolutely no control over what may or may not happen over the next few months. I’m just going to have to trust what I have generally found to be true in the past—that everything happens for a reason, and that my performance history with the company will carry me through these changes.
This is Sebastian—he’s my parents’ dog. They adopted him about three years ago from the local pet rescue. I see him about every month or so when I visit them, and when I walk in the door he always acts as though I am the most exciting, fabulous creature he’s ever laid paws on.
It’s going to be a chilly day today–maybe even some rain–and I think I may be coming down with a cold. So that means it’s a perfect day to make soup! I love to make homemade soups because I don’t really have to measure anything–I just keep throwing vegetables and seasonings into the pot and I stop when it gets full. Plus, I find cleaning and chopping vegetables to be very calming and relaxing because I can completely let my mind drift while I’m doing it.
It’s been in the 80s all week–hot and HUMID. It’s also been rainy, so it’s felt almost steamy outside. It’s been a BAD HAIR WEEK! I know I’ll be regretting this in January when it’s well below zero with the wind chill factored in, but right now I am so done with summer weather. I want to wear turtlenecks and tweed blazers and boots! I guess it’s a good thing I haven’t gotten around to putting away all my summer clothes yet–sometimes procrastination can be a good thing!
I don’t “do sports”. I am probably one of the most un-athletic people you’ll ever meet. However, I LOVE to watch sports! Baseball, football, college basketball . . . I’ll even watch golf if it’s a big tournament. And don’t even get me started on the Olympics–I pretty much ignore everything else that’s on TV during those two weeks. But my favorite for the past several years has been hockey–Chicago Blackhawks hockey!
I don’t do a lot of seasonal or holiday decorating around the house. I only do the bare minimum even at Christmas. But somehow it just doesn’t feel like Fall to me unless I have a couple of big pots of mums on my front porch and a basket of gourds on my kitchen table. So, at the top of my list of errands for today is to hit the garden center to find some big pots of bright, beautiful, yellow and orange chrysanthemums–and a bag of the bumpiest, most oddly shaped gourds I can find!
This was an exhausting work week. Lots of last minute emergency projects came up, in addition to previously scheduled deadlines that couldn’t be bumped back. Plus, performance reviews were due. The three-day Labor Day weekend couldn’t have come at a better time!