Day 30 - Story Time

Again, a book is the answer. Maybe I read to much?!

This particular book was actually a gift to my sisters and me when we were young children back in 1978. I have held on to it, because well I consider the book mine although the inscription clearly says it is for all three of us. I love fairy tales - another reason I love romances - grown up fairy tales.

I enjoy researching some of them sometimes and seeing the different versions out there like the common ones we know. I have held on to an old English text book because it has a section comparing different Cinderella stories. I love watching the Sci-Fi channel when they show stories that are similar to fairy tales, horror movies made based on the fairy tales (I can recall one about Snow White).

I have started to pass this love on to my daughter as she likes me to read the stories from this book to her. I often have to alter the story as some of them are just a bit to graphic for her right now at the age of four; or I try to read a different story to her because several of the stories are very long. I am glad that I am passing on a joy of reading and writing to my daughter though.

This book has been so well loved that a group of pages at the beginning of the book are loose and you have to handle the book with care so that the pages are not lost, something my daughter learned quickly when she handled the book roughly and almost lost the pages.

Day 29 - Silliness

So, I was sitting here reading and thinking about the prompt for this day and it occurred to me that other then my husband and daughter one of the things I find humor in is my books. I have started to sense a theme recurring throughout this challenge so far and am starting to think I have to get out more often. My daughter and books have been my response for many of these prompts.

I wandered over to my library and took a picture of the author's name of some of the books I have purchased because I know they are hilarious and sometimes you just need to lighten your mood. I find the Janet Evanovich books just hilarious. I have started her Plum stories - but prefer listening to them on audio tape so haven't gotten past the first couple even though she is up to what.. 13?? Since she has gained in popularity they started publishing her older hilarious romances - and sometimes I am laughing so hard I am crying.

Nothing better then a light-hearted read after a stressful day!

Day 11 - What Fun

It was nice to get a prompt that took me almost no time to find an answer too. Some of the funnest things I do are online - chatting, scrapping, web surfing, shopping, facebooking, and gaming.

I found this game, Runescape, through Facebook and eventually turned my husband and mother-in-law onto it. I don't play it often anymore, but it is a great escape and I can spend hours improving my character and doing a quest or two!

I would have taken a picture of a book - however that escape is often very short lived for me and provides an escape for only as long as I'm reading the book which as I've mentioned before doesn't really take me that long! I play many computer games and this is the only one I play live online.

I have found one of the downsides is the fact that most of the players, at least that I run into, are under 20 and therefore I tend to keep away from most other players.

I find I do the same thing offline too and it is a big struggle for me to reach out and encourage interactions with others. That is one of the things I love about new job, I was already friendly with my now co-workers and making the change from patron to co-worker has been easier then any other position I have ever had. I have already gone to a couple of parties and will be joining them on one of their "Ladies Nights" and I've been there less then 5 months.

A huge change in my life since I am usually in a position for a couple of years and still find it hard to socialize with my co-workers outside of work.

Day 3 - Collections

Day 3 took me awhile to come up with something. I will freely admit that I am a low grade compulsive hoarder - I always feel I can get to a project and be able to do something with whatever it is I have in my hand.

I have had many collections over the years - key chains and pins/buttons are two of my biggest collections. I have been able to go through and give away or throw away many items; however, I will admit there is a box in the garage that still contains many of my keychains because I still find it difficult to give them away. Even if I did not personally purchase them I can generally remember who gave them to me.

My pins are similar in fashion and at one point I took it a step farther and added name tags from friends and families to conferences and places of employment (I still have one of my mother's volunteer name tags from the American Red Cross, an old conference badge of my fathers, and the name tag of a close friend -at the time- when he was the assistant night manager at the golden arches - a friend I have not seen or spoken to in years!) I also used to ask employees in businesses who were wearing buttons if they had extras because of this I have buttons from several different promotions from video rentals, grocery stores, and even use to have one from a bar about asking for your ID. All of these brings smiles to my face and over the years I have been able to sit down and throw some away. I eventually removed them from the item they were hanging on and now like the key chains they sit in a box.

Some collections are collections I did not personally start but were started for me and carried on by various friends and family. Such is my R2D2 collection. I love the little guy, especially his beeps and blurps - however this collection is such that I have Pepsi cans with his photo (I will admit that one was me!), a 3D puzzle that includes a sound box (my favorite part of the puzzle), a Walkman (I even used it!!), little Lego and various other items. Some are still in boxes and maintain their close to original value if not higher now. This is not a collection that I generally add to on my own; however, I have displayed these items with pride at one time - but at this time they, like the keychains and pins, are now in a box in the garage.

The challenge I faced this time wasn't only in looking at myself and what do I really collect, I struggled to move past the immediate thoughts of the collections I have started for my daughter (my obsession with pins and buttons showing up there - although I will admit that at least I have been putting them in frames immediately and she does not have boxes of "TO DO" "TO MAKE" lying around!) I thought of what my daughter would say she collects, but as I have made this a personal journey of discovery I bit my tongue and did not ask and kept thinking about it.

It was not until I got home and grabbed my phone to go and take a picture of the keychains and the buttons that I realized what I truly collect is books. I do not have pictured here the books I have on crafting, sewing, religion, school books, yearbooks, research books, hard backs, magazines, or the how-tos that I have. This picture only shows you a portion of the "fluff" - the romance novels.

I suddenly realized the one thing that I collect and even having a hard time letting go of - is my books. I'm a reader, a huge word gobbling, voracious reader. When I was a teenager, and to a great extent today, I could not put a book down once I started it until I finished it. Generally, at my prime reading ability - when left alone I can read around 100 pages an hour. I generally have a hard time remember titles and authors but can tell you a plot line in great detail (a great help if you miss portions of movies but don't expect me to remember what the characters name is!)

So, for this challenge I took a pictures of a portion of my library. It is a lot smaller then it was even five years ago. After meeting my husband, I have slowly been able to let books go, mostly to a local library where I smile when I come across them on the shelf. A trip to the library is a joke in and of itself - when I go with the purpose of actually picking up books my husband knows that I will not do anything that weekend and that the 6 or more books I take with me will be ready to go back by Tuesday.