3.17.2012

Well, it's Saint Patrick's Day and I was one lucky girl today!

One of my passions is books. I'm always looking for books to read and stalking my favorite authors to see if they have a new offering and if they're touring nearby. Late last year I found out that Jodi Picoult was coming to Greenville. She doesn't really come to the South, so I was really excited!

Not only do I like her books, I admire her hair too.

D, being a doting husband, bought tickets so we could attend her reading. The toughest thing was that they only allowed each ticket holder to bring one "back catalog" book in for signing. Which meant that since D came with, I could actually have two signed. But which ones? I agonized over my selection. It's kind of ironic because D and I have hauled books to signings all over the the region and we've never had a limit. An author finally comes to our own county and we have to pick and choose.


In the end, I took a two-prong approach. The collector in me chose her debut novel, Songs of the Humpback Whale, because I know that signed debut novels are really valuable. The sentimental side chose My Sister's Keeper because it was the first of her novels I read and it really drew me to her.



D and I arrived about an hour before the reading started and got good seats. She did a reading, a general talk and then a Q & A. Jodi was very entertaining and informative too. She talked a little about her 2013 book and I'm looking forward to that one.

Then it was time to meet and greet! I told her I admired her well-behaved tresses and she wrote down the styling product she uses. Another curly girl close by also asked for it. Jodi was very surprised when she saw Songs of the Humpback Whale. She said she doesn't often see it on book tours and she only has one copy herself. She handed it over to me and said it was now worth about $250. She's not far off, a search of ABE has one listed for $275. I didn't pay even a quarter of that so, if you think of books as an investment, it's a nice return. Then she thanked me and we went on our way.

9.5.2011

In July I took D to meet one of his favorite authors and so yesterday he reciprocated and took me to see one of mine... Karin Slaughter. I had to reassure D that I didn't just pick Slaughter because he had gone to see Butcher. I like themes but I'm not that morbid. I was looking for someone close by. Karin lives in Georgia and attends the annual Decatur Book Festival because she likes to pitch library support to the crowd. Most of her speech I had heard before from watching YouTube videos but she did give a few hints about her next novel. The Q&A part was okay but as she ruled out any talk about plot-points it wasn't exactly captivating.

It was drizzling in Decatur off-and-on all day long. Karin gave her talk inside the Presbyterian Church so at least we were dry (and cool) for that. For the signing we had to go stand out in the wet until we got into the tent they had her in. D, always prepared, held the umbrella over my books - priorities! I shook Karin's hand and she told me that her agent's name is Victoria. We didn't have much time to chat but there's always email. Hope to meet her again sometime.

7.15.2011

Happy St. Swithin's Day!
No, I'm not familiar with it either. I mean, I wasn't until this week. I read a book, an English?British? novel, in which St. Swithin's Day (July 15th) features quite prominently. I actually had three books by British?English? authors going this week, and only just realized it now. Anyway, I finished the book - purposefully - on July 15th because, well, because I like to do stuff like that. The legend says "St. Swithin's day if thou dost rain for forty days it will remain; St. Swithin's day if thou be fair for forty days 'twill rain nae mair." So, either forty days of wet or forty days of dry. What weather do we have today? Definitely rain. I doubt we'll see rain every day for the next forty. Well, maybe if we count those brief afternoon cloudbursts. Even so, I still love old English tales.

6.30.2011

Last day of the sixth month, we're halfway through the year!
RidgewayGirl and I met at Starbucks this morning and, naturally, we talked books. I'm leading her in our reading challenge - 75 books to her 63 - though if I discount the audio books, she overtakes me. I am really, really enjoying the audiobooks from the library. I never thought I would be an audiobook person but the performances of the readers are just amazing. It helps the work day go by. 121 books once seemed like an impossible goal but we seem to be on target to reach it. We have a group read coming up next week and it's my recommendation so I'm excited and nervous too, in a nerdy, book-groupie kind of way.

1.28.2011

I've had a blast reading for the 11-11 Challenge this month. The holidays and the snowdays have given me ample opportunity to engage in my hobby. I've finished 17 books so far and that is a record month for me! I should finish at least one more, maybe two, depending on how fast my next audiobook goes. I'm excited about it because it will be on a Playaway, a digital audio player with some features that make it user-friendly for audiobooks. I was surprised that our library loans them out but when I discovered the price of audiobooks I realized the players might be more budget-friendly for them.

I've got f-o-u-r tandem/group reads starting February 1st. One is Literary Fiction, one is a Mystery and two are Romances (for Valentine's Day). The group is so diverse that I can find a buddy for just about anything I'm in the mood to read. I love browsing all their reading journals, it's almost an education in itself. It makes me happy to bond with people over books.

1.6.2011

121 books is a lot for me to read in a year. I'm not permitted to read books at work, not even when it's slow, but listening to CDs is fine. I agreed to join the 11-11 challenge with the stipulation that I would be using audiobooks. I can listen to a book at work and then read a different one in the evening. The extra "reading" time makes 121 a reachable goal. I'm working through my first audio book this week, a mystery called In the Bleak Midwinter by Julia Spencer-Fleming.

Imagine my surprise to discover that the drive in my work computer has a glitch. Every so often it turns the reader into Max Headroom - which completely destroys the mood!

Have they found her b-b-b-b-body?

It was m-m-m-m-murder.

Put down your g-g-g-g-g-gun!

12.13.2010

I was hanging out on LT today (like most days) and found a link to the coolest thing: Art Garfunkel's reading logs from 1968-present. He is very well read. I was surprised to see both Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre on his favorites list (not just his reading list but favorites!) Who knew he was a fellow Bronte fan? Walden is also on there, which is interesting to me because Walden was one of my favorites from this year. This makes me feel so connected to Garfunkel, even more than I already do having been raised on the sound of his voice. If only Paul Simon's website was as revealing. His lyrics are so fantastic, it would be nice to know what books inspired him.

My reading logs are only complete from 2007 and then partial back to 2000. I don't remember exactly why I first started a log but I do recall my Dad once proudly showing me a listing of all the books he read in high school - so maybe I wanted to emulate him. Maybe it's just a compulsion that readers have. I used to keep a paper log but my electronic log on LT is so much easier that now it's the only one I update (and I am compulsive about it).

What a trip down memory lane.... S&G and my Dad.... good times.

12.7.2010

Yesterday, in his gentle way, D said "what's it going to take to get a blog post out of you?" So here it is, my return after a self-imposed hiatus. I think it's done me good.

In early November my right wrist began to pain me. Nothing new. My job is keyboarding 8 hours every day, and then I come home and log into my laptop - every now and again an injury is expected. But this was troubling. It hurt all the time. I would wake up in the middle of the night either in terrible pain or pain-numb. And I had no strength in my hand. I had trouble holding a pen, turning knobs, buckling my seat belt, even holding up a full glass of water. So I over-compensated with my left hand and my left wrist began to hurt too.

I used a brace and applied ice and heat, but the only thing that helped was rest. I took some time off from work and when I returned I took it easy as much as possible. At home I only allowed myself to check my email once a day - no surfing, no blogging, no NaNoWriMo. D helped out by cooking meals and doing dishes and chastising me when he felt I was doing something that might be too much. The rest has helped. I hardly need the brace anymore and I no longer wake up in the middle of the night.

Because I was not brain-storming, composing, editing pictures or uploading posts, I had more time on my hands. I finished my 1010 Challenge - all 100 books complete! I've actually read 112 books this year but a dozen of those did not fit into my categories. Next year the goal is 121 books. It's do-able, but only if I utilize audiobooks. Last month D and I listened to a Conan book that was really well read and it made a fan out of me. I'm looking forward to Jan 1.

And I'm looking forward to blogging again. I need my digital memory, scrapbook, what-have-you... It's been a handy reference and I am able to recall things better if I've blogged about them. I might give it a face-lift for the new year though. Just something I'm thinking about.

5.6.2010

D's been pretty busy the last few days with an audit at work. It's given me an opportunity to read at lunch. I polished off my current group read and I have few days before the next one is scheduled, so I started on Queen Victoria, Demon Hunter. I blazed through six chapters last night. It's a riot - a really light frolic that I don't have to think too much about. I'm enjoying it. Random House sent me an advanced copy of Little Women and Werewolves and I'll probably read that next so I can send them my review.

2.10.2010

I'm re-reading The Three Musketeers with a group on LT. Monsieur Whitney would be so proud. It always tickled him when I prattled on about Dumas in class, although he was personally fonder of Hugo. I think out of all my lit classes at Carson-Newman I enjoyed French lit the best.


In keeping with my theme, D took me to Paris! Paris Mountain State Park, that is.


The first sunny weekend in a month of snow and sleet, it was perfect for our first hike of the year. The warmth and the sunshine was enough to infect me with spring fever. We did the Lake Placid trail. It wasn't too long or strenuous, just enough to get on our feet again. It's been awhile!




I've never seen a blaze mark anywhere but on a tree. I guess they wanted to reassure us that we were still on the trail! This was our first green blaze. It wasn't too hard for us to see it, but it is winter. I imagine in spring or summer it might be more difficult.


D said "did you think I would take you hiking if there wasn't a water feature?" He knows me so well. This dam dates back t0 1898. It was so sunny. The sunlight off the water was just dazzling.


Speaking of dams, they have beavers here. We didn't see any but we could see evidence of their existence in the tooth marks they left in the tree stumps. Not quite as exciting as seeing the fingerprints in a Van Gogh, but still interesting...


D managed to capture me soaking up the sunshine. I didn't feel photogenic today.

12.29.2009

It was really cold this morning. I've been in my office for a few years now and the heat has never worked well. Usually I make do with a space heater. But I've had enough of sitting at my desk in my coat, typing with gloves on until my fingers thaw (which is usually around lunch). So, today I sic'd D on the maintenance man. It never hurts to bring in the muscle. He replaced the thermostat. Twice. Still no heat. He checked the compressor. Not the problem. He downloaded three different schematics for the processor board from the internet. Still couldn't fix it. It will be cold again tomorrow morning. But at least it appears that he's working on it. Which is a lot of what my job is -- making our customers believe that we're working on their units. All of them. Simultaneously.

D and I went shopping this evening and got the party food for Thursday night. Good stuff. I'm excited. We watched Robot Chicken: Star Wars over dinner and laughed ourselves silly. It was probably dangerous to watch something that funny while eating but we made it through okay. I think my favorite skit was Empire on Ice.

My reading group on LT is really, really ramping up for 2010. I was having trouble trying to keep track of what I'm supposed to be reading, when. So D helped me start a Google calendar for my group reads. I haven't finished adding everything to it, but I think it's pretty nifty. I've really been working hard these last two weeks at reading books that I already own, versus borrowing from the library. I've cleared a little space on my To Be Read shelf. Just a few inches, but it's enough so that I could put one of my stocking stuffers on display: TBR. I think it looks great on my bookshelf.

12.15.2009

Yesterday D and I left home around 10:30AM to run a few errands before heading to Decatur. We stopped at the new Bojangles and had a breakfast biscuit and then got on the road. Neither one of us had ever been to Agnes Scott College before. It's a beautiful school. We arrived just after 1PM and found our way to Presser Hall.


The line from where we were. And we were not at the beginning.


It was so wet and foggy and gloomy outside. In fact, Neil asked if we imported the fog to make him feel at home. He said it was "really good" fog. I guess so. At least we weren't too hot standing outside. About 4:00 or so they allowed us to pick up our overflow tickets and it wasn't too long after that they let us inside.


D and I were able to score seats in the first row in the overflow room. We had a wonderfully unobstructed view of the screen. Neil arrived and one of the first things he did was ask where the camera was for the overflow room. Then he greeted us specifically. Bonus points for Neil.

Everything he says sounds so proper because of his English accent. And when he tells his stories, he does all the voices. I'm sure he had much practice with his own children. I can see why he's won awards for his readings.


He did a short Q & A and someone asked him his thoughts about NaNoWriMo. He said he thought it was a good thing. Not only to teach people to get their creativity out on paper, but also to show them how tough a job writing really is.

Neil started signing books around 8PM. First, they allowed all the families with children to go, regardless of where they were (which was understandable). Then all the people from the main hall went next (again, nothing unexpected). We were told that the signing would progress by rows. As we were in the first row of the overflow room, we thought we were sitting pretty. But they didn't do what they said they would. When they moved us into the hall, it was willy-nilly without regard for seating place or order. Being at the front of the room, we suddenly became at the end of the line.

By Midnight we were still 2 hours away from having our books signed (both by ours and other people's estimation). We had not eaten anything since 10:30AM, we had a 3 hour drive ahead of us, Feni was waiting at home with a full bladder, and we had to report to work at 8:30AM. So, we had to put it all into perspective and make a judgement call.

So we left. With our books unsigned. After waiting all day for it. But, again, putting it into perspective, it is just a signature. We did had a nice road trip and we did enjoy the reading. And we did arrive home safe and sound. For that I am grateful.

12.8.2009

I love to collect books and so it's natural that I like to meet authors too. Last year, near my birthday, D and I drove all the way to Raleigh, NC (and back, in one evening) to see Orson Scott Card.

Earlier this year I thought we might attend WorldCon for our anniversary. Neil Gaiman was the guest of honor and we both like his stuff. The only problem was that the convention was in Canada. Beaucoup money and too rich for our pockets. Which is why D was especially animated the other day when he told me that Neil Gaiman was coming to Georgia. And thus it was that D and I spent two hours yesterday calling this little bookstore to get tickets. Busy signal. Redial. Busy signal. Redial. But persistence paid off and we have two tickets on reserve!

So, the first question D asked me was 'What are you going to have signed?" If I was a normal woman, it would have been "What are you going to wear?" But D knows me so well. My favorite Gaiman works are Stardust and Neverwhere, but my copies of both are mass-market paperbacks. Maybe it's the book snob in me, but I really don't like taking mass-market paperbacks to author signings. If I'm going to take the effort and time to go out and meet and author, and they're going to take the time and effort to travel to where I am, I want to present them with something nice to sign. So I began hunting for a hardback copy of Stardust.

I called our local Barnes & Noble and explained what I was looking for. The woman clicked away at her keyboard and then explained that Neil Diamond has no books called Stardust. Or albums either. So I spelled it for her. G-a-i-m-a-n. Then she laughed. "Oh, Stardust! I'm sorry, I haven't had any coffee today." And I'm thinking no coffee by 10:30 and you work in a Barnes & Noble? So she informed me that the database told her it was only available Used. I thanked her for her time.

So I called Mr. K's. The girl who answered sounded like she knew who Gaiman was. I started to relax, thinking this was going to be a better experience. Then she asked me if Stardust was "one of his children's books"? No. She said they didn't have their inventory on the computer so she would have to go look. I waited patiently. She came back and told me that they didn't have a copy. Then she said "He's a pretty popular author, you know." Really? So I thanked her for her time.

Then I called Books-A-Million. Probably my least favorite brick-and-mortar bookstore. The guy who answered the phone, again, sounded knowledgeable. He put me on hold for about five minutes. Then he came back and said "Who was that author again?" Gaiman. "Oh, yeah, I'm sure we have some of those." In hardback. "In hardback? Uh, let me look." So he clicks on his keyboard for a little bit. "Yeah. It says we have one. Want me to go make sure it's here?" Yes please! I started to get excited, but braced myself for the reality that it was probably the movie-tie-in edition, which I really did not prefer, but would take, if that was all they had. He came back on the phone and said it would be waiting for me!

So D and I went out on our lunch break to pick it up. And it's not the movie-tie-in edition, thank you very much. It's a beautiful illustrated copy. So the book snob in me is just completely and utterly beside herself and couldn't be happier to present it for Mr. Gaiman to sign on Monday.

9.23.2009

A few years ago a bookshop out in California allowed it's 20,000 books to be arranged completely by color. It was a temporary art exhibit, but it made quite a wave in the book community. Every now and again someone will bring it up in discussion threads on LT. Like an urban legend you hear about through email. I've even seen books arranged by color in lifestyle magazines. Many people think it's a cool idea but to actually do that would be gutsy, looney and so avant garde. So naturally, I did it. First of all, it's fun. It was such an adventure just getting them all arranged. Secondly, it is aesthetically pleasing. Every time I walked into the room and saw that rainbow it brought a smile to my face. It's beautiful. And thirdly, it's interesting what kind of connections you can make between books that never would have 'met' if they were filed alphabetically. The problem? I can't find a blessed thing. Even after a four-month trial. I literally tore the house apart looking for my Philip Marlowe book which I knew to be yellow. It took me over 30 minutes to finally find it. In black. The book was yellow, it just had a black spine. Over a third of my collection is black and I got fatigued going through them all. Ridiculous. And way too much stress. So it's back to antiquated, boring, pedestrian alpha-by-author for me. There's a reason it's a system that's been used for hundreds of years.

I've already begun to dismantle the rainbow. Here's one last glance to make me smile...

9.3.2009

I've started reading a Swedish book, part one of a trilogy. It's called The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. Well, that's its English name at least. Its Swedish name means "Men Who Hate Women". Isn't that interesting? I'm only 3 chapters in but I am enjoying it. I've been surprised at how many Swedish words the translator left in without explanation - like tunnelbana. I remember what it means but then again, I've ridden the tunnelbana. I wonder how it goes over with those who haven't had any exposure to the language. One of the characters is named Thorbjörn . I love it!

9.1.2009

I finished the 999 Challenge about 11PM last night! I was very tired and went straight to bed without celebrating.... so I had to do that today. Breakfast was a banana split sundae with vanilla bean ice cream and peanut butter granola chunks with dark chocolate sauce. Then for lunch I met RidgewayGirl at Sweet Basil. It's so nice having an LT friend who's local. I've promised D that I would not read anything tonight!

Here are the 81 books I completed:

1. The Sugar Queen by Sarah Addison Allen (1/1/2009)
2. Ambassador to the Penguins by Eleanor Mathews (1/3/2009)
3. Suicide Squeeze by Victor Gischler (1/04/2009)
4. Play Dirty by Sandra Brown (1/6/2009)
5. One Month to Live by Kerry Shook (1/08/2009)
6. Heart of Stone by C.E. Murphy (1/11/2009)
7. Tantalize by Cynthia Leitich Smith (1/13/2009)
8. Sweetheart by Chelsea Cain (1/16/2009)
9. Alone by Richard E. Byrd (1/20/2009)
10. Eat This, Not That by David Zinczenko (1.26.2009)
11. Curly Girl by Lorraine Massey (1/29/2009)
12. The Evil Seed by Joanne Harris (1/30/2009)
13. Logan's Run by William F. Nolan (2.11.2009)
14. The Seduction of the Crimson Rose by Lauren Willig (2/15/2009)
15. Shoot the Piano Player by David Goodis (2/18/2009)
16. Writing Past Dark by Bonnie Friedman (2/20/2009)
17. Heart Shaped Box by Joe Hill (2/28/2009)
18. The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky (3/1/2009)
19. Nightfall by Isaac Asimov and Robert Silverberg (3/02/2009)
20. Playback by Raymond Chandler (3/02/2009)
21. Children of Men by P.D. James (3/05/2009)
22. Bone by Bone by Carol O'Connell (3/10/2009)
23. The Big Clock by Kenneth Fearing (3/11/2009)
24. Agyar by Steven Brust (3/17/2009)
25. Inkdeath by Cornelia Funke (3/20/2009)
26. Downsiders by Neal Shusterman (3/21/2009)
27. Monster Island by David Wellington (3/24/2009)
28. Regenesis by C J Cherryh (3/26/2009)
29. Unwind by Neal Shusterman (3/28/2009)
30. Handle With Care by Jodi Picoult (4/1/2009)
31. Chocolat by Joanne Harris (4/3/2009)
32. The Sin Eaters by Andrew Beahrs (4/5/2009)
33. Japanland by Karin Muller (4/7/2009)
34. The Girl With No Shadow by Joanne Harris (4/11/2009)
35. In the Woods by Tana French (4/20/2009)
36. Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro (4.25.2009)
37. Monster Nation by David Wellington (4.26.2009)
38. The Last Bridge by Teri Coyne (4.27.2009)
39. Fragile Things: Short Fictions and Wonders by Neil Gaiman (5/2/2009)
40. Garnethill by Denise Mina (5/2/2009)
41. V: The Second Generation by Kenneth Johnson (5/9/2009)
42. Coastliners by Joanne Harris (5/16/2009)
43. The Science of Sexy by Bradley Bayou (5.19.2009)
44. Orchid Fever by Eric Hansen (5/21/2009)
45. America's Best BBQ by Artie A. Davis (5.23.2009)
46. The Burglar Who Thought He Was Bogart by Lawrence Block (5.24.2009)
47. Dark Places by Gillian Flynn (6.13.2009)
48. The Fortune Cookie Chronicles by Jennifer Lee (6.15.2009)
49. We'll Always Have Murder: A Humphrey Bogart mystery by Bill Crider (6.16.2009)
50. Generation Loss by Elizabeth Hand (6/20/2009)
51. The Golden by Lucius Shepard (6.21.2009)
52. Gentlemen and Players by Joanne Harris (6.27.2009)
53. Mark My Words by Mark Twain (6.27.2009)
54. The Lace Reader by Brunonia Barry (6.28.2009)
55. The Last Child by John Hart (7.1.2009)
56. Peak by Roland Smith (7.3.2009)
57. The Humphrey Bogart Murder Case by George Baxt (7.3.2009)
58. Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt (7.4.2009)
59. A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson (7.5.2009)
60. The Remake:As Time Goes By by Stephen Humphrey Bogart (7.7.2009)
61. Runemarks by Joanne Harris (7.11.2009)
62. The Temptation of the Night Jasmine by Lauren Willig (7.12.2009)
63. Leslie Sansone: Eat Smart, Walk Strong by Leslie Sansone (7.16.2009)
64. Vampire Zero: A Gruesome Vampire Tale by David Wellington (7.16.2009)
65. The Prestige by Christopher Priest (7.19.2009)
66. My French Kitchen by Joanne Harris (7.20.2009)
67. The Innocents Abroad by Mark Twain (7.21.2009)
68. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Seth Grahame-Smith and Jane Austen (8.2.2009)
69. Loon by AW Plumstead (8.4.2009)
70. American Pie: Slices of Life from America's Back Roads by Pascal Le Dracoulec (8.5.2009)
71. Jennifer Government by Max Barry (8.9.2009)
72. The Schwa Was Here by Neal Shusterman (8.12.2009)
73. Holy Fools by Joanne Harris (8.16.2009)
74. Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes by Chris Crutcher (8.23.2009)
75. Coraline by Neil Gaiman (8.23.2009)
76. Little Brother by Cory Doctorow (8.25.2009)
77. Jig and Reels by Joanne Harris (8.25.2009)
78. Raymond Chandler's Philip Marlowe by various authors (8.28.2009)
79. On Writing Well by William Zinsser (8.29.2009)
80. Nightmare Town: Stories by Dashiell Hammett (8.30.2009)
81. Jesus the One and Only by Beth Moore (8.31.2009)

8.28.2009

My 999 Challenge is coming to a close and while I do have plans to do the 1010 Challenge, that's not until January! So today I decided to participate in the Alphabet Challenge. Every participant has a different set of self-imposed rules. I'm just reading 26 books, each author's last name a different letter of the alphabet, but not in any particular order, and no time limit. My first one will be the letter Q! I never would have guessed...

4.25.2009

Had a fantastic time today!

My LT buddy, RidgewayGirl, and I went to the FOL book sale. We spent four hours there - at one point just sprawled on the concrete floor with stacks of books around us. The G'ville News photog took pictures of us. It is so fun discussing books with her because we have such disparate tastes. She finished The Brothers Karamazov last week. We're reading our next book together soon, her pick this time. I stayed within my budget and even had 75 cents left over!

It's been a year since I resigned from the FOL and I was a little worried about how some of the people there would treat me. But I have to say, with one exception, they were all very nice to me today. Part of me wonders how much of that was because I had a guest present. But that's very negative thinking, so I'm trying to give them the benefit of a doubt.

After the sale we went to lunch at Chik-fil-A and spent another two hours there! I really enjoyed my morning out. I was familiar with the driving route so I wasn't nervous about getting lost, which helped. I'm beginning to take little steps at doing things by myself. It terrifies me at first but it is rewarding.

D and I spent the afternoon in the hammock. It was the perfect day for it. Not too hot, not too many bugs, not too breezy or noisy. It was lovely.

3.1.2009

I have finished The Brothers Karamazov! I am so happy it is finished. Now I just have to write my review of it and that could take awhile.

1.25.2009

Well, I'm a day late, but Happy 25th Birthday Macintosh! I have used Apple computers since grade school and they have undeniably been a fixture in my life. I love my Mac.

Fenimore seems to be doing a little better today. The crate rest is working. He is able to walk about a little without crying from pain and his posture is not as stiff. I can't stand to hear him shriek, it is like a knife in my soul.

I missed sending out my Birthday greetings in a timely fashion because we spent Saturday in Columbia. When I chatted with TE earlier in the week she surprised and delighted me with an invite to dinner.
Prior to being re-established with TE, Columbia meant one thing to me: books! So when I consulted with D about going, he teased me about dropping by Ed's Editions, one of my favorite bookstores. Just out of curiosity, I did a search for Columbia's Friends of the Library group and they're holding their quarterly sale this weekend. Needless to say, that was our first stop on Saturday. It wasn't as big as the Greenville sale is, but it was nice to scope out new territory. I picked up a collection of Alexander Dumas's short stories for $3. As I told D, I didn't even know he wrote anything under 500 words. D, witty as ever, told me those were the story ideas he neglected to give to his ghost writers. Probably true!
By happy coincidence, one of the comic book stores D likes to visit had moved, right beside the FOL sale. So we popped in there for a while to browse. D found what looks like an interesting treatment of the Rings saga.
Afterwards we finally made the trip to Ed's Editions. There D found the perfect pop-up picture book for little Miranda. I think it will make a fabulous first birthday present for her.
We killed some time in Kohl's and then went over to T and R's a little early. I wanted to be able to spend some good quality time with them. I am thrilled to be back in contact with TE. There is something about being around an old friend as opposed to a new one. I'm not sure if I can describe what I mean. I guess it's more soothing, more relaxing. Because you already know each other, there's less work. We played a few rounds of Compatability. I showed TE our wedding pictures while R and D grilled the burgers and then we watched a movie. I felt like I got to know R a little better. Next meet-up I'm hoping to have them come to FI. TE wants some Chicken n' Dumplings. I could go for another bowl myself.

So today I'm just chilling out with Feni and of course, reading. I'm working on four books at the moment and not finishing any of them. The newest is The Flat Belly Diet which is produced by Prevention Magazine. It's all about MonoUnsaturated Fatty Acids, or MUFAs and their relationship to visceral abdominal fat. The fat that is wrapped around your heart and liver and that contributes to heart disease, diabetes, cancer and some say Alzheimer's. Even thin people can have too much visceral fat, you can't see all of it externally. I'm finding it a very interesting read. I haven't been sticking to my calorie or exercise regimen very well lately, the holidays and the cold weather have really thrown me out of whack. It's time to get serious again! Daddy passed away when he was 11 years older than I am now. It's something I think about quite frequently, probably more than I should. But if it can motivate me to live healthier and extend my life, then maybe those thoughts aren't entirely bad.