Wednesday Miscellany

I have a cold and so am spending the morning lazing around...as usual, I feel a bit guilty for taking sick time, but rest and peppermint tea are about the only cures a pregnant woman can take advantage of, so I think it's in Kaylen's best interests for me to be a slacker today!

And that's right -- no more Talulah, since we've decided on Kaylen and announced it to our families on their Christmas gift tags. :)

All the bloggers I follow seem to be making goals for the new year, which I like. Goals vs. resolutions, I mean. Goals seem doable, but resolutions are notorious for getting broken. I'm still thinking about what mine should be, but one is to eat more fruits and vegetables. I have a nice long grocery list planned out -- now I just need to feel up to going to the store! The nice thing about being sick is there's plenty of time to browse the weekly ads. (I usually do that anyway, but not at such a leisurely pace.)

Being sick also gives me time to a) add items to Kaylen's gift registries and b) look at crazy things like organizational blogs. I love the *thought* of being organized, but need some motivation to actually take the time to do it....

I've also been reading Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (the kindle version), by Mindy Kaling, who plays Kelly on The Office. She's a good writer and really funny, so it's the perfect book to help recover from a cold.

The Books

Yesterday I thought I'd finally get around to unpacking a box of books...but once I started, I just couldn't stop. It took about four hours total, but I got them all unpacked. And now I feel reunited with some old friends (and ready to start reading!).

Now for some gratuitous book pictures...

^ Top shelf of bookcase one: a mix of poetry, old books, and travel journals. Followed by several shelves of fiction which I have mostly all read.

^ Bookcase number two: a couple shelves of non-fiction (these are mostly Jason's, i have to admit, but there are lots of interesting-sounding ones), and three shelves of kids' books. Which i read about as often as I read anything else...

^ Art books, big books, and the Calvin & Hobbes collection

^ In the hallway there's a little nook that was built for a telephone (back in 1955). I love old houses! I stuck all the small books there.

^ And then excess books had to go downstairs on the bookshelves already conveniently built. Here are my old English books that I am far too much of a nerd ever to part with. (The Medieval lit and History of the English Language are my favorites.)

^ And there are so many books that I can use them in decorating the living room.

So if Billings friends want to borrow any, please stop by. I've realized even if I don't buy another book, Talulah will have enough of a library in young adult fiction alone to keep her busy for quite a while! Might have to cut back on those library book sales for a while....

Food & The Hunger Games

I spent a lot of time reading when I first broke my foot. One of the series I got hooked on is The Hunger Games trilogy, which I just finished last night. (No spoilers, but it took me so long to finish it because I'd heard Mockingjay was a disappointing end and so I was in no hurry. I found it pretty satisfying, though.)

Anyway, the premise of the first book is basically survival at all costs. But reading it still made me hungry! The heroine, Katniss, likes food, and in every chapter she's describing what she had for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. In her home district, she lived off the land; when she goes to the Capitol, she gets to try out more exotic dishes. I loved  the details about both.

And then it starts up again at the end of Mockingjay. Here's one of my favorite sections:

   "I'm starving and the stew is so delicious - beef, potatoes, turnips, and onions in a thick gravy - that I have to force myself to slow down. All around the dining hall, you can feel the rejuvenating effect that a good meal can bring on. The way it can make people kinder, funnier, more optimistic, and reminds them it's not a mistake to go on living..."