Book Giver

World Book Night started in 2011 in the UK and is now being celebrated in the United States. It is an event to encourage reading with the giving away of free paperback books. I applied to be a giver several months ago and had a great experience talking to people about Kite Runner. After reading several accounts of book giving, I was a little worried about being rejected but that did not happen. Maybe I simply chose wisely, but everyone I talked to was excited to receive a new book. One girl told me she has an unread copy of the book but is planning to start reading after our discussion. I also gave several copies of the book to local organizations that are in need of book donations.

My Kind of Therapy

 Bruce and Jamie invited me to California this past week and it was just what I needed. Sun. Friends. Laughter. And more sun. Nicole picked me up from the airport and we went straight to the grocery store for supplies for the week which ended with us leaving meat at the counter and purchasing one of every cookie flavor available. I loved eating breakfast with the doors open and listening to the waterfall and then spending time outside while everyone got ready for the day. At night we spent time in the hot tub, enjoyed the fire pit, and watched tv through the open doors to the house.

 We traveled to Sea World one day and the weather was perfect and the fellow Sea World goers provided a lot of joy. I felt slightly overdressed and wish I had been warned that I attended "wear your tightest workout clothing" day. Oh well, next time. I feel that I should admit that I also provided some entertainment for the attendees at Sea World as captured in the picture below. In my defense, sometimes music calls to me and I must dance.

We fed sea lions and it was hilarious and a little scary to see the animals fight for the fish. The birds in SD are crazy and I never knew if they were part of a show or just there to annoy us and attempt to land on my head. I guess birds like my hair. Some people bring extra money to a place like Sea World for souvenirs, but we brought extra money to try the various foods. I won't go into detail about all the foods we ate, but we did rate each item on a scale of 1-10 so I now feel qualified to help others in planning a trip to Sea World.  

And what is a trip to California without time spent at the beach? Aunt Cole and Brayden had a great time building a sand castle. As we were setting up chairs and putting towels on the beach, we heard a loud sound and realized a bird went to the bathroom on one of the towels which is just our luck. I should have known the day would be interesting after I dropped my ice cream cone on my shirt as it fell to the ground. 

Housekeeping

The above picture shows items sent in a package from my sister-in-law. I recently traveled with my brother and his family and apparently, I left a couple of items at the hotel. Tennie Jo is now charging for the laundry service, which is somewhat appropriate since I'm sure it cost several dollars to not only wash and dry the items but also to send them via the postal system. However, the fact that she sends treats in the package will make me more likely to leave items next time we travel together.

A Home for Books

It's no mystery that I love and purchase a lot of books and needed a new bookshelf. Enter IKEA. I enlisted Meags assistance in picking out a bookshelf and we had a great time riding around the store and doing dance dares along the way. A shout-out to my hashtag friends who came to the bookshelf construction party only to discover a large dent in one side which lead to the return trip to the retailer for an exchange. I choose to focus on the calories burned from carrying the boxes twice rather than the black marks on clothing and random bruising. 

Bookshelf Delivery, Round I:

Making our way to the condo:

Assembling the bookshelf, Round II:

Putting together a bookshelf can be exhausting and at times, a nap is needed:

Me and my bookshelf:

I sent this picture to Lucy(mom) for a couple of reasons. 1- to show what I had done and 2- to enlist her help in organizing the books as I knew the librarian in her would go a bit crazy seeing how the books are currently placed.