Is This Normal?

Did all of you hear me squeal from Indiana yesterday?  Three packages came in the mail for me, and I squealed with delight.  Wanna take a guess at what they might have been?

Okay.  I guess it's kinda hard to play a guessing game on a blog.  So I'll just have to tell you.

BOOKS!

Oh my.  I looked at each one's cover as I pulled them out of the bubble wrappers, oohing and aahing over the loveliness of them.  And I'm pretty sure my husband thinks I'm crazy by now.

I must say I'm starting to get psyched over becoming a book reviewer.  I mean, have I mentioned how much I really love books?  What?  I have?  Oh yeah, I guess maybe once or twice or ten times.

Thinking back now, I guess I've loved books for a lot of years.  I'm not sure when it started.  There were seasons when I didn't do any reading.  I was more into trying my hand at various crafts and sewing.  But I keep coming back to reading.

I guess my preoccupation can be traced all the way back to childhood.  My parents implemented a family reading time at night before bed.  My sister and I would crawl up into their bed while Mom or Dad read the Little House on the Prairie series to us.  Sometimes I couldn't keep my eyes open and would fall asleep, missing out on whatever was happening in "The Big Woods".

Recently I started recalling how we used to get the book fair catalogs in elementary school.  I had forgotten about that. Every time we received a new one I would look and look and look and change my mind about 8 times trying to decide exactly the books or posters I wanted to order.  I also remember being a bookmark freak, too.  I'm not sure why a bookmark was so thrilling.   Anyway, I knew I could only buy one or two items from the catalog, so I had to choose wisely. 

I've tried to understand what's going on in my head with such a desire for books.  I don't deny that I'm perceived as unusual because my heart starts racing anytime I get within two blocks of my public library, thinking that maybe, just maybe, I need to stop and see if there's a book on the shelves that is on my to-be-read list when in actuality I already have six novels awaiting me at home on my bookcase.

I know it's not about escapism.  It's utterly impossible for me to read when I've got problems on my mind, so I know that can't be it.  I just don't understand what it is that makes me do this.

Are you book readers?  If so, why do you read?  Are you obsessed with books like me?

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Books & A Hook (or How I Spent My Weekend)

I took advantage of the long weekend to get a lot of reading done, as well as work on a crochet project.  I finished one book to be reviewed and started in on another book just "for fun".  Don't get me wrong.  The books I review are for fun, too, but I have a long list of books I've been marking to-be-read for the last year.  So lots and lots of reading.

And then about that crochet project.  I was able to knock another book off my list while crocheting.  Turns out that my library's website offers a service of e-audiobooks that can be checked out.  I found  The Missing (Seasons of Grace, Book 2)and downloaded it to my computer, then transferred it to my Kindle.  I listened to a 9-hour audiobook while I crocheted. 

Spending hours with my yarn and hook, I became very familiar with the narrator's voice on my audiobook, so much so that I kept wanting to get back to my project so I could listen to her.  At first, I wasn't even that thrilled with the story, but it was something to listen to.  Eventually, though, it grew on me. 

Monday night I finished the crochet project and the audiobook.  I'm sure gonna miss my little reader gal, though.  She has such a pleasant voice.

So do you know what I'm doing now?  I'm looking for more yarn to start a new project.  And guess what the library has... the third installment of that Amish series on e-audiobook just waiting to be checked out.

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My Secret Project

I thought I would show you what the project was that I had been working on.  It's a good thing I never gave any clues out because the recipient of the gift I made has been keeping up with my blog.  Now that the gift has been completed and presented, I can show you a picture.

 

This is a baby blanket I crocheted for my friend Amy.  She's expecting her first baby in a couple weeks.  I was working on it fast and furiously to get it finished in time to present it to her when I saw her last week.

Don't you love the colors and the way the variegation ripples through the blanket?  It's so cool.  I just love it!

So Much To Do, So Little Time

I've been feeling so...so...unproductive in my interests and hobbies over the last month. While I'm working at the office, all I can think about is all the stuff I want to do at home. Here is the want-to-do list I've been composing in my mind for weeks:

1. Read - I brought home a Francine Rivers novel and a cat mystery from the library yesterday, and I would love to get them both read in the 3-week alotment that the library provides. Or at least within 6 weeks because they'll let me renew once. I also have plenty of non-fiction biblical books that I need to read, too. That list is too long to mention.


2. Crochet - I'm at the beginning of that one crochet project that shall remain unmentioned, and I also want to make some baby booties and bibs for an upcoming shower. I'm not even sure I can pull that off. It's 3 weeks away. Ugh! Not to mention the afghan I want to make for myself and the one my sister wants and the slippers I'd like to attempt...the list goes on and on here.


3. No-Sew Fleece Throws - I made two of these as Christmas gifts and now I want to make 1 or 2 or 10 more! I got an email from my fabric store today, and fleece is on sale this week. Hmmm...


4. Learn Web Design - Yep, I love all things internet, and I have a fascination with HTML code. I also picked up two web design books at the library and would love to read them from cover to cover. It's my dream to build a website from scratch.


5. Blog - I am addicted to blogging, but I'm not very good at it. I know I probably need to expand my mind and explore my feelings more so I have something interesting to blog about. As it is right now, I often sit down to a blank page and go, well, blank. I'd like to develop my skills in this hobby, so I'm going to keep working on it.


6. Sewing - I used to sew in the first few years of my marriage, but then I stopped. I don't recall why, but I'm sure it was because I started cross-stitching or scrapbooking or surfing the internet, you know, something real important like that. Now I'm starting to feel a tug to get back to it, and I think my first project would be outfits for my nieces. I'm still thinking on this one.


7. Baking - This is somewhat of a misnomer because I would let my bread maker do all the work. Ever since I got the bread maker for Christmas, I've been thinking about the recipes I want to try that came with it: wheat rolls, pizza crust, pretzels, quick breads, etc...

So what is on your want-to-do list that you just can't manage to get to? Leave a comment or a link to your blog with a list. I'd love to know what everyone else is up to.