Oh my goodness – I bought a book! I did! I never do this! As in, if you come to my house you will see the smallest-ever little pile of books, because we are so incredibly selective about the ownership of said libros! I have literally never known of anyone who had fewer books! (Pssst, there’s this secret thing called a library, they totally give you books – for free! and then you don’t have to own them and have them clutter up your house! It’s crazy!)
But purchase a volume I did, just yesterday – and it arrived today (speedy!). The book: Sewing Clothes Kids Love: Sewing Patterns and Instructions for Boys’ and Girls’ Outfits (that is one decidedly non-catchy title, bro).
I bought the book for a two compelling reasons: 1. the styles, techniques, and layer-ability of the resultant garments are stellar matches for my children’s preferences and lifestyle (that is: active!), and 2. at $16 with free shipping, ten multi-sized patterns, and tons of directions for modifications and embellishments, the price and convenience of doorstop-delivery were “compelling… and rich”. Today at lunch as the kids colored their coloring books and worked on math worksheets I flipped through the book and drooled – the Manhattan Special Occasion Dress! The Avalon Jacket! – and reconsidered some of my upcoming sewing projects (my girl’s birthday, see below) to accommodate breaking into the pattern sheets.
In other news: we’re busy planning Sophie’s birthday festivities, which include a shared Unicorn / Pegasus skate party – Sophie (turning 8), and Michael, Ralph’s drummer (turning 22). If you don’t think this late-night roller skating party is going to be so incredibly awesome, well. You’re wrong. And stuff.
I am a book hog. I must own them. Like I want to conquer them or something. They give me joy. It’s a sickness.
Ugh. I want to come down and I want to bring Silas, but he’ll be at his dad’s and we wouldn’t be able to afford an overnight stay or drive home that late. Bleh.
I am a book buyer too. I have a stack by my bed that’s taller than boots.
I have 45 books out from the library right now.
I buy books I want to keep and library books I don’t know about. But if I buy them I always end up re-reading them, or parts of them. I am a fool for books. The pages, the words, the smell. I like to crack their spines and spill coffee on their pages and use them as step stools. I could touch 8 books from where I am sitting right now, about 30 if I actually leaned while reaching. Only one of them would I not miss at all if I didn’t have it. I also can’t imagine a life without reading books, not even a day. One of the most terrible things about Bootsy’s crazy medical birth extravaganza was that the drugs they had me on for a month or so made it so I couldn’t read right. I couldn’t hold the words in my head long enough to find meaning in them. So i did crosswords instead. Reading has saved my life more than listening to music has, and music is high on my list.
Out of all the things you could own, books seem like a good choice. Me, I like to travel light. It makes me crazy to have a cluttered house. So, no books. For now. Funny: AS I’M TYPING THIS my husband – who’s tidying up the house and is not aware I’m addressing this subject – remarks, “It’s nice we don’t have too much stuff. Makes it easy to clean up.” So, that’s that.
But this book? It’s pretty rad. And I love the idea now I own something I could loan to someone who might be interested.
Shelley, what’s the one book you could get rid of and not miss?