Reading is Fundamental (do you remember that old ad campaign?)

It's Friday? How'd that happen? I was talking to someone today and commented how glad I was that it was the weekend... and then I remembered that our weekends have been just as busy as the other days of the week, sometimes even more.

At least Robert doesn't have to go to work, I guess.

Yep - I've been busy.

Now that I'm actually working, I've been quite busy. And you know what's really funny? It wasn't until yesterday that I realized that yes, I've been working. Ha! Part of it, I guess, is that my unspecified business endeavor is actually fun ~ to the point where I actually feel a little guilty about it!

But as this week marked the end of the month, I have been busy submitting some unspecified business, reconciling paperwork, and planning for October. September was very successful, and ~ even though I've done this endeavor before ~ I've never enjoyed it as much as I have these past two months.

But it has kept me busy, that's for sure. Part of it is that I'm still green, still trying to get organized (and stay organized). Part of it is that I'm not used to doing this much, and to be honest, I'm tired. So blogging, unfortunately, has sort of taken a back seat to all the activity.

And when I've thought about posting, I've actually thought, what should I write about? That's unusual for me; I rarely lack thoughts and stories that I want to share. They're not all fascinating to read, granted, but I do enjoy writing and sharing both the profound (yeah, that happens often!) and the mundane.

Anyway... All is well here. Fall is upon us. Leaves are changing, the weather is cooling - even now the skies have darkened and we should get us a thunderstorm soon. The kids have settled into routines for school. Grace is the same ~ a blessing and a handful! ~ maybe I should call her my little handful of blessing! (She's told me twice in the last two days that she has worms in her butt. Hmmm... I see no worms, but at what point should I be concerned?!?) We're hearing news from family in other states ~ a bear is loitering around Dad's house again, and Mom barely survived Deb's golf cart driving... (literally!). Cousins, aunts have started new jobs. The Queen B read (and commented on) my blog (wow!). New babies have arrived. People have passed. An interesting season...

ANYWAY... when I sat down today and thought what should I write about? The first thing that popped into my head was books. (Yeah, I know some of you don't read. Well, you should. But since you don't, feel free to skip the rest of this blog as it will likely not interest you in the slightest. Even the readers among you may find themselves uninterested. I understand. Well not really, because I like to read, but - whatever.) So I had some things I've been wanting to share:

1. I have just finished reading Providence by Chris Coppernoll. To be honest, it took me awhile to get into it, but I was pretty distracted with all the stuff going on around here. But the last half or so was a pretty good story, and pretty interesting. Let me know what you think of it if you read it.

2. I'm pretty goal oriented, even with my reading. If I don't set a goal, I lose focus, and don't do it. (Anal, I know.) So I set a goal each year of how many novels or books for pleasure I want to read. (Really anal.) I also have a goal to one day read every book I own (that will take years, probably). A third goal is to own every Agatha Christie novel she's published, and my final reading goal is to read those Christie novels, in order, along with her autobiography and The Life and Crimes of Agatha Christie. (Fascinating, isn't it?)

Have you any reading goals to share?

3. Last fall I joined a site called Paperback Swap. There's a button on the sidebar, right. It's an interesting site, because you post books you no longer want, and when someone wants them, you mail it to them ~ that's your only $ investment in the site. And when you send a book, you get a credit, and then you get to "shop" for your own books (for free, because they cost a credit). So anyway... this has been cool... because the books that people are requesting of me are those weird books I've accumulated over the years that I can't imagine other people wanting (like Uncle John's Bathroom Reader, for example). AND I am finding books to read myself that I wouldn't want to buy, like the recent book we read for the town's reading program. But the best thing is that I am now the proud owner-to-be of 7 new Christie titles, all on their way to me from various parts of the country, courtesy this site. These are books that I haven't found in used bookstores, and I can't afford to buy all of Dame Agatha's books at their full retail prices (and a number are out of print anyway). Long story short - if you have a collection of books that will never be read again, consider swapping them on PBS. And let me know how it worked for you.

4. I had only intended to share the previous 3 thoughts, but I figured that while I was on the subject, I would also mention another very cool book site called Bookcrossing. I don't participate over there as much as I should, or as much as I once did, but I still think it's a pretty cool program. It's sort of like Where's George for books.

So... enjoy the cooler weather... snuggle up... and fall into a good book this weekend.