This afternoon I packed my water and plastic baggies and ran some errands. After a rough morning and no solid foods (again), I was tired of my teaspoon-every-20-minute Pedialyte feedings (I still have Jurassic 5's Quality Control lyrics run through my head every time I have a spoonful -- You baby MCs drink Pedialyte, my underground doesn't like you, the media might...) It took me a good 6 hours to bathe, get dressed and leave the house, but I did it!
Once I was out, I had to carefully plan my moves. First, I hit the post office. The Commodore may not get his birthday gift on time, but I tried (sorry!)... Next, it was on to the library.
Here's where I made my real escape. I like going to the library book store. It can be very rewarding. I found a book that I almost paid $12 for recently for $4 instead. Woo-hoo! That wasn't the best part though, the best part was when I wandered over to the children's section.
I initially moseyed over because I was looking for something fun and new for my nephew, who has probably lost interest in all of the stickers I've been sending him. He also has a little brother now, and while the little one is still drooling and not reading, I'm going to need to double my Auntie budget soon. Anyway, I realise it's far too early for me to be thinking about an additional library card or reading to a certain little person. But this didn't stop me from
thinking about it and making a personal select purchase.
For the nephew, I chose a family favorite. I got him a James Marshall book, which is in fair condition. We'll call it loved. It was $2, and I immediately remembered the characters when I started to read it, which I thought was definitely worth $2.
Since I wasn't feeling like I was going to hurl right there in the library at that moment, I looked around the shelf a little more and found two that I have decided to keep for myself... er, um, rather, I got for the Rockwell library. I can officially say the first book I bought for my first (nobody get too excited) child is One Morning in Maine by Robert McCloskey. I didn't really want the ducklings anyway-- Blueberries for Sal would have been fine too, simply for the Mainey-ness of it all. Just looking at the cover transported me to a summer in Maine, enjoying a [rare] sunny day on the dock, listening to loons on the lake, swimming in the water and trying to describe the way it tastes as it sneaks into your mouth a little. It was funny how easy it was to spot the navy and green cover and recognize the sketches inside. For just a little, while that book took me somewhere else-- exactly where I needed to go. And for $5, it was certainly worth it.
I am home and hoping I might be on to something. The other books in the home library I will build from now on won't be the first, but if I do this once a week, I'll have something to look forward to doing, and I can re-discover places I haven't been for a while... which will be a nice escape.
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