My literary weekend

It was an interesting weekend here in Crazyville. Not a lot of stitching was done, but I added to my book collection!

I took another trip to A Book Thing on Saturday morning. They were calling for 3-6 inches of snow and I wanted to get there early, so that I could get to work on time and not be trying to drive in bad weather. I am driving my husband's H3 now, because my car has developed major issues and I am not driving the kids around in that anymore, but just because it has 4WD and looks like it could fight a war doesn't mean  I should be skidding around on ice in it!

It's so easy to get to, but parking is a pain(I know, stop complaining about the parking to get free books, RACHEL!). Last time, I could park on Greenmount Avenue (right by the shop), but Saturday, I had to park a block over and walk through an alley to get to the store. Usually, I would not walk through an alley in a city, even the county seat here (especially not our county seat), but it didn't look unsafe and there weren't a lot of places for someone to hide, so I took the chance. And saved myself some walking.

I will have to post a picture of my haul later, but I got a bunch of books off my Amazon wishlist, and some other books that may be interesting companions to things I have just read. I wish I had a lot of time to look around, because they have a lot of books, even recent releases. I have really gotten into Anne Tyler lately, because she sets her books in Baltimore and she is a master of capturing the city. When I read "Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant," I just pictured the neighborhood it was set in and . . . pretty sure it's right near A Book Thing. I also found a nice copy of Widow of the South, which is a great book from 2006 or so, based on a true story. I think I ended up with 40 books or so--if you can, imagine me hauling myself through an alley with an enormous Disney Store totebag over my shoulder and my arms full of books!

It started snowing at about 2. One of the things I love about my job is that they understand I live in the back of beyond and need to be able to get home safely, so, as we are watching all this snow come down and beginning to accumulate, I made the choice to come home. It wasn't as bad up here while I was coming home, but we did end up with 2 or three inches and it was cold enough to freeze. So I settled up for a nice home, home with my family. And my new books!

Yesterday, I did the coolest thing. I live in a really rural county, but whoever is in charge of our library system schedules THE BEST programs. In October, they had someone from the Enoch Pratt Free Library in Baltimore (which is also the Maryland State Archives) come out and do a program on Edgar Allen Poe, and they always have REALLY GOOD authors come through for readings and book signings. A couple years ago, Wally Lamb came. He is my favorite living author (in case you're wondering, Pat Conroy is my all-time favorite), and I ended up crying in front of him while telling him how much I loved The Hour I First Believed.

Anyway, yesterday was Andrew Morton with his new biography about Wallis Simpson. I have read pretty much all of his books and really liked them. He was very nice in person. I have all my signed books personalized to my kids and he enquired after K's name. HOW COOL!  He discussed Wallis' life and even told us she spent time at a relative's farm out in this area.

I have already started on the book. It's really good so far. Easy to read and interesting. I will let you know how it turns out.

I tried

I came home last night with my finished Part 2 of CItA, and went to upload the photos onto here, so I could share my progress, instead of having to just describe it, and, not only was Blogger freaking out, my computer decided that, although the Internet connection was good, it didn't want to get on the Internet. Apparently, I am not meant to share my stitching, at least not right now. ARRRRGGGHHHHHH! I hate this.

As I said, I have finished Part 2, so I started Part 3 last night. It's a much easier stitch so far; fewer specialty stitches, and no metallic. Whoot whoot. I hate that DMC metallic. A strong word, but I dislike it immensely. I like the effect, just not the delivery method.

I'm on the last day of my epic work marathon. 12 straight days of work has got me beat. I know other people do this for far longer, and, as a youngun with vet bills for three kittens and a puppy, I worked far longer stretches than this, but I'm a lot older than I used to be, so it's harder on me. But, when I was fighting to not fall back asleep this morning, I told myself I have tomorrow off, and my only tasks are to take my car for emissions testing, go to the grocery store, and relax for the rest of the weekend. One good thing, at least these extra hours have put me very close to being able to afford my computer. At least my panic attacks are for something.

I did get a lot of reading done over the time though.

Half-broke Horses has been in my "to-be-read" pile for a few months. I read The Glass Castle and found myself so angry at the parents that I gave the book away right away. And didn't regret it. But this was a much better book, with an interesting pioneer woman, Lily Casey Smith, the author's grandmother. It did help explain how the mom in the the other book got to be how she was, but I still don't want to ever read GC again.

Exes and Ohs is what I'm reading right now. The author was on an MTV reality show I never watched. I have no idea why I picked this book up, but it seemed interesting at the time. I had a few doubts about the author when I started reading her tales of dating in the big city, but, really, how could you leave a book with a line like, "It was just a few days before October 31, and none of my friends had come up with costumes yet. . . I suggested we go as a group of something. My top ideas were the Golden Girls . . . the A-Team, or Pete Wentz."(71). This in a chapter when she is questioning why she never got the memo that you're supposed to dress trampy for Halloween. It's definitely on the low-end of the memoirs I've read, and I admit, it's embarrassing to tote a book whose cover is emblazened with condoms (she has a store of Magnum condoms under her bed because she was hired to host parties for the company, and it freaks out her dates) to work, but it's actually a funny book, and I do see parts of my dating life in her stories. It's kinda nice to read that I wasn't the only one who ever went through those experiences. It's a fun, quick, summer read, perfect for August.

I'm going to try to work out this stupid computer issue, but if it doesn't work itself out soon, I sense a trip to Best Buy in my future.