One Foot on a Banana Peel

…the book wagon, that is.  Or maybe I’ve been runover by the bookmobile?  I try to be good when it comes to books.  Really.  I do.  It’s just that books are so darn addicting.  I finished reading the books I got for Christmas and was in need of some new material.  I only had to work for about 20 minutes this morning (only the private school I pick up for in the mornings went today) so as soon as I was done, I shot into Barnes and Noble.  I figured I didn’t really have anything better to do today, Megan’s in school (ha, ha!), and life is blissfully quiet at the moment with Matt and Ashley gone back to the ‘Burgh after being here for four days.  So, why not treat myself to a trip to my favorite store?  I spent an hour and a half browsing through the whole place.  It was wonderful!  I ended up getting four books, but before you start yelling, I did behave myself kind of good.  Three of the books were on the bargain shelves and the fourth is a paperback.

The weeks ahead will find me lost in:

 "Hey, Cowgirl, Need a Ride?" by Baxter Black.  I’ve never read any of Mr. Black’s books, but the cover caught my eye and the description on the back made it sound pretty funny.  I love books that make me laugh out loud.

 "Gods in Alabama" by Joshilyn Jackson.  The first words inside the cover snagged me…"There are gods in Alabama: Jack Daniel’s, high school quarterbacks, trucks, big tits, and also Jesus.  I left one back there myself, back in Possett.  I kicked it under the kudzu and left it to the roaches…"

 "Hemingway in Cuba" by Hilary Hemingway and Carlene Brennen.  Hemingway lived a fascinating life.  I love to read about it.  This book is filled with personal stories and great pictures of the man, his family, his friends and his adventures.

 "Lizzie’s War" by Tim Farrington.  Lizzie is the wife of a Marine in 1960’s Vietnam.  It’s a story of how she survives in his absence.

Now the big problem.  Which one to read first?

Man, I wish I had a video camera or at least a working digital camera to record the puppies’ training process with the new invisible fence.  When faced with an electric charge, they are neither as stubborn or as dumb as I’d given them credit for.  According to the training manual, convincing them to stay in the yard when off the leash should be a two week process.  It would appear that a mere 3 trips out into the yard has convinced Elvis and Scooby.  In fact, the bigger issue seems to be convincing Elvis that it is okay to even come outside.  At least, I don’t have to worry about them running away any more.

I love books.  If you’ve been with me for any amount of time you know this.  I like new books and used books and antique books and I will read any genre.  Garage sales and auctions with their boxes of old books draw me like a moth to a lightbulb and the library has rows of old books lined up that I must pass through on my way into and out of the place.  These books are a mere 50 cents and I have found some real treasures over the years.  On my last visit I found the book I’m currently reading, Simple Living-One Couple’s Search for a Better Life by Frank Levering and Wanda Urbanska.  I read a lot of books like theirs in my quest for a more simple (and frugal) life.  This morning I read something that I think captures the "rat race" better than anything else I’ve read: "Money, we imagine, offers the freedom, contentment, and respect we crave.  Spending it, we discover that what was new and better is soon old and inferior.  To stay in the race, it’s soon time for another purchase, time to discard what we haven’t long possessed.  Rather than acting of our own free will, we’re making passive, predictable decisions.  Rather than being comfortable with what we own and who we are, we become restless captives to a vicious cycle of earning enough bucks to buy what we think we want."

Thoughts?