My knitting spurt over the weekend didn't last long. Not because I didn't want to work on Juliet but because we started a slightly larger project: rearranging all the books in the house.

2 trips to ikea and 13 boxes of books donated to the library, we finally got them all to fit on the wall-o-bookshelves.

I'm totally in love. The picture is a little washed out but, in person, the colors are really striking. I wanted something a little different for the books and I had long ago seen this picture on flickr and knew I had to be a total copycat. I'm glad I did though I wish I had more colorful books than I do. We have three entire rows dominated by black and white books. Kind of boring.

The bottom row is wicker baskets that serve as all of munchkin's living room toy storage, by the way. Maybe some day she'll outgrow living room toys and we'll be able to recapture the book storage space.

What do you think? is it nutty? the Mr's concern was that it would make it difficult to find books on the shelf but we are mainly browsers--spending a long time choosing a new book rather than going to the shelf with a particular book in mind. I think he likes it in the end though.

Posted by fruitychick at 11:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Mr. Fruitychick and the Munchkin have flown off to St. Louis for the day to attend my sister in law's wedding. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to make it because of my craptastic back injury. I'm sad I won't be there--I haven't met her fiance/husband or her new stepdaughter (who remarkably looks quite like she's related to the Munch).

I'm making the most of my time at home though. I haven't accomplished a single productive thing and I couldn't have loved the day more.

So far, I've:

1. taken a nap. Seriously--a nap! I never get to take naps!
2. eaten lunch. A hot lunch--eaten on a whim. Usually my lunchtime is dictated by Munch's nap schedule but today I just made myself lunch and ate it--WHEN I WANTED! It was great!
3. Read. I got a bit into Rapture Ready!: Adventures in the Parallel Universe of Christian Pop Culture. So far, its pretty entertaining. I like these memoir type books though the author is certainly no Tony Horwitz, my favorite author in the memoir type genre.

I've been reading a lot lately--even joining a few book groups on GoodReads. I've been introduced to some pretty good books in those groups and I'm excited to see what the selections are for the upcoming months. I also joined a 50 book challenge for 2008. So far, I'm doing really well. I think I've finished 10 books in the last 13 days or so. I'm on a roll, baby!

4. Knitted!! Really! and you thought this blog was going to be sadly fiberless forever!

Its Juliet from Zephyr Style, one of my favorite pattern producers. Their instructions are always clear, customizable and fun. And they have exceptional customer service. I've ordered patterns and stitch markers from them and they've always been super quick to ship. The stitch markers are excellent--if you don't have a set of thier raglan stitch markers--get thee over there and buy some! I've used them a gazillion times.

5. (almost) Swam. Our pool is so close to being ready to swim in and I could not be more excited. I went out and stuck my feet in and convinced myself it was warm enough to get in. Somehow it cooled a bit by the time I got out there in my suit so I chickened out but a few more weeks people and I'll be a-swimming. I LOVE Texas!

6. Watched TV. I never watch TV while I'm home with the Munch. If its on, its tuned to cartoons (namely, Backyardigans and WordWorld. If you have a toddler, I have no doubt you know those two shows). I've watched a couple of shows and even a movie--Trekkies.

All in all, Its been a great day. I feel really recharged and ready for a little more relaxing this evening. The munchkin and Mr. get back tomorrow morning so I don't have a ton of time left to myself but I'm ready for them to be home. I miss my little family!

Posted by fruitychick at 08:35 PM | Permalink

I don't think I've ever really talked about Books here a lot on ye olde blog but I've always been a reader. My graduate school years took a toll on my love of reading. I found the books and articles I read for class fascinating but averaging 7 to 10 hefty nonfiction books a week (in addition to writing papers) for classes really took a toll on my pleasure reading. It was really during those years I developed my love of children's books. Then, it was a necessity--books like The Secret Garden, The Chrnoicles of Narnia, The Neverending Story, and Harry Potter were all I could handle above and beyond my school work.

Times have changed and my book burnout combined with my parent of a young baby exhaustion are starting to wane; I find myself spending more and more time perusing the bookshelves in our home and scouring GoodReads for recommendations for what to read next. I usually read nearly any type of genre from modern novels, classics, science and other nonfiction and a heavy dose of my favorite genre, science fiction.

There is still a problem though--when do you give up on a book? I try to give each book I read a good faith effort on my part. Its a fine line though--it has to be far enough into the book to get a sense of the characters and plot but not so far that I might as well finish, despite my apathy for the story.

I'm treading those waters right now with The Golden Compass. I don't know what it is--I don't care for the characters, the plot is developing so slowly I am getting bored and I despise the lack of grammar in the characters' speech patterns. I know it is a stylistic point but it is one that I abhor. "I 'ent..." (as in, I aint) is just not a proper way to speak, even if you are a young girl in a fantasy novel.

Page 139. The book is only roughly 400 pages. I think I've given it my all.

Am I wrong? Does the plot pick up? Am I going to be missing out on something great or is it just more of the same? The book was given such great reviews maybe my expectation were just too high. Am I a total quitter?

Posted by fruitychick at 10:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)