I haven't lived in my apartment very long and when I moved I had to leave my larger furniture at my parent's house till a truck could be arranged to bring it. This was a lucky thing when The Books came along because it meant I had room to fit them in. But tomorrow there is a chance for my brother and a friend to bring a truck up so you know what this means....
Time to move The Books again.
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Little Extras
As I unpack various boxes I am realizing just how much I was given that I didn't ask for. Last night as I attempted to sort some books I also uncovered an extension cord, a picture frame, a "High School Musical" dry erase board and a spoon. This was unexpected.
How did they get in there? I have my theories. I can vaguely remember the day when I was packing The Books to bring them home and the children who were helping me kept asking, "Are you taking these ones too?"
"Yes," I would say, with only a slight glance in their direction to make sure they were pointing at books. At that point we were on a deadline and I only cared that I got out of there in one piece.
Then there were also the adults who worked at Rescued Treasures, the store where all this went down. By the end they were only trying to get rid of things and each thing they could give me meant one more thing they didn't have to throw in the dumpster.
"You want these floor mats?" they would ask.
"Sure," I would say.
"Hey Bill, what are we going to do with these?" I would hear in the background.
"Give them to the lady with the books," someone would respond. It didn't really matter what it was because by that point I had stopped paying attention. Again let me say that my goal at that point was to get myself out in one piece.
So now that a couple of weeks have passed I can dig through and find out what I really ended up with. Looks like I have an extra spoon.
How did they get in there? I have my theories. I can vaguely remember the day when I was packing The Books to bring them home and the children who were helping me kept asking, "Are you taking these ones too?"
"Yes," I would say, with only a slight glance in their direction to make sure they were pointing at books. At that point we were on a deadline and I only cared that I got out of there in one piece.
Then there were also the adults who worked at Rescued Treasures, the store where all this went down. By the end they were only trying to get rid of things and each thing they could give me meant one more thing they didn't have to throw in the dumpster.
"You want these floor mats?" they would ask.
"Sure," I would say.
"Hey Bill, what are we going to do with these?" I would hear in the background.
"Give them to the lady with the books," someone would respond. It didn't really matter what it was because by that point I had stopped paying attention. Again let me say that my goal at that point was to get myself out in one piece.
So now that a couple of weeks have passed I can dig through and find out what I really ended up with. Looks like I have an extra spoon.
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Piles and Piles of Books
When I first brought The Books home I was in a big hurry. Rescued Treasures, the store I got them from, was closing down that day and they and they needed to be moved as quickly as possible. The solution at the time was to bring the boxes and bags into my livingroom and dump them in a big pile on the floor then take the boxes back for the next load. This happened right before Halloween so when I was done I had to quickly get as many books onto shelves as possible and shove the rest of the pile into my bedroom to keep trick or treaters from thinking of me as the crazy book lady. To be honest that may have happened anyway since I insisted on giving away books along with the candy but I wanted to at least try to minimize the crazy part of my image.
After Halloween I had company come to stay with me so there was a bit more shuffling around but also some distraction so books have been slowly popping out at interesting times. For example, I was in the livingroom one day and heard my friend Alicia shout, "THE POPCORN DRAGON!!!" from the kitchen. Turned out she had found a book she loved as a child.
And yes, I have books in my kitchen cupboards.
I've noticed though that as things slowly get rearranged The Books seem to be condensing and fitting into corners I didn't realize I had. I have mixed feelings about that. There is a real danger of living in something that looks like a house again. The fact is I need the space for living and whatnot but there was something pretty darn cool about having a pile of books heaped up on my floor. It was like some twisted fantasy come true. If things had stayed that way I may have eventually dived in and rolled around in them.
As I said to a friend, this is what happens when little girls grow up watching movies like Beauty and the Beast or Bedknobs and Broomsticks. Those both had fantastic library scenes and created what I thought were unrealistic ideas about someday having a library in my own house.
After Halloween I had company come to stay with me so there was a bit more shuffling around but also some distraction so books have been slowly popping out at interesting times. For example, I was in the livingroom one day and heard my friend Alicia shout, "THE POPCORN DRAGON!!!" from the kitchen. Turned out she had found a book she loved as a child.
And yes, I have books in my kitchen cupboards.
I've noticed though that as things slowly get rearranged The Books seem to be condensing and fitting into corners I didn't realize I had. I have mixed feelings about that. There is a real danger of living in something that looks like a house again. The fact is I need the space for living and whatnot but there was something pretty darn cool about having a pile of books heaped up on my floor. It was like some twisted fantasy come true. If things had stayed that way I may have eventually dived in and rolled around in them.
As I said to a friend, this is what happens when little girls grow up watching movies like Beauty and the Beast or Bedknobs and Broomsticks. Those both had fantastic library scenes and created what I thought were unrealistic ideas about someday having a library in my own house.
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
The Books
By a cosmic fluke I have ended up acquiring hundreds of books unexpectedly. (See Background for how this happened.) The Books are now clogging my small apartment as I attempt to deal with them while carrying on with the rest of my life. This is a mixed blessing as I always dreamed of this kind of thing happening but didn't see it coming and certainly don't have the room.
This event has been so epic that I have decided The Books deserve a blog of their own.
This event has been so epic that I have decided The Books deserve a blog of their own.
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