book sale success

The Friends book sale raised over $8200 for our library! Wowsa. Ponder how many books that is when nothing is over $2.00! What we didn't sell in nonfic and our unsold, older fic was donated to Goodwill afterwards. Bookstore set up starts Monday!!

In other good news, our first soccer game yesterday was cancelled, a team withdrew at the last minute. We won our afternoon game 6-0. We play this morning at 8 and then again at 1:30. The oldest and I will miss the afternoon game....but I'm sure the middle kid will 'represent.'

friday recap

Worked the presale set up yesterday and pulled enough books to fill 6 boxes. I need to pull more today as by the time I get there Saturday, some real gems may be gone. Which isn't bad, as the money still winds up in our accounts, but I do want the bookstore to have some quality items for that first week.

Today I'm at the sale from 10-3.
We have 4 soccer games this weekend.
We have a big church activity for the oldest kid on Sunday.

So between books, soccer and church the weekend is totally full. Next week I'll be in the store stocking and organizing every day from 10-2.

I haven't written in weeks now....although I am reading about it:) I found Stephen King's writing book yesterday and snatched it up. I've wanted to read it for a while now and at $2 it was a major deal. I may just keep it in the car for those moments in between soccer games.

banned books

Just read a list of challenged books reported by the ALA. Banned book week is coming up....one of my favorite library holiday events. I was proud to see that several of the newer books on that list were items I ordered and added to our library's collection during my tenure. Yes, I love to stir the pot and having banned books and challenged books on the shelves is doing my part to keep the pot stirred.

Off to the book sale today. We are still setting up. I worked yesterday on getting my manuals put together for the store. Today I will be organizing and pulling books for the store. Should be a fun day.

Had a small article appear in our big regional paper. Always fun to see my byline:) Even after all these years, it still brings a smile to my face:)

full plate

Never did get around to blogging yesterday and it wasn't because I never found time to be online. Now that we are in the final approach to the bookstore opening day, I'm scrambling to address a range of issues. Nothing major and nothing that can't be resolved, just lots of small fires.

I did manage to read Diana Gabaldon's latest Lord John Grey book. Overall impression, the book had it's moments, but I so loved her Outlander series it is hard to let that go. The high point for me in this new novel was the inclusion of Jamie Fraser in the storyline.

In addition to the bookstore stuff, the Friends are also having their fall book sale this weekend. To top that off, the kids now have a soccer tournament to play...with two 8:00 kickoffs. Nothing like being on a soccer field at 7:15 in the morning!! Thank God for good coffee.

Needless to say, I may not post for the rest of the week.....too much on my plate right now and while it is all keeping me very busy, it isn't the stuff of interesting reading.

mixed messages

We had house guests over the weekend and one of them left the latest Oprah magazine. I'm not a big magazine subscriber. In fact, the two that I receive, The New Yorker and More, are both gifts from family/friends. So, after I finished folding the tenth basket of laundry last night, I poured myself a diet coke and flipped through Oprah's latest.

Perhaps it was the frame of mind I was in, laundry can do that to me, but I really felt the entire magazine did nothing to make most women feel better about themselves. The articles are all focused on self improvement, but I'd guess the examples provided are fairly unattainable for the majority of the readers she is targeting. The icing on the cake was Oprah's essay at the end. She waxed poetic on taking the summer off and recharching her batteries while lounging in Hawaii eating fresh produce and watching 28 consecutive sunsets. Wow.

Good for you, Oprah, so glad you can step away from your media empire and recharge. Most women who read your magazine and contribute money to your brokerage accounts would settle for a day out of the house.

I tend to get a bit peeved at celebrities informing us how to be more fulfilled, how to recharge, how to look, eat and dress. They don't represent reality and the message they send isn't helpful or even healthy, although they tell us it is.

I used to watch Oprah and I've even been to her show. Heck, I sat in her chair on stage. After spending time on her magazine last night, I can't say I appreciate the message she has to offer. If I ever get to Hawaii for a month, maybe I'll change my mind.

whoa, it's friday?!

Yesterday's blog covered the whole choices conundrum I'm in right now with my writing. Oddly enough, while I was at the library yesterday to hold my last bookstore training session, I was offered a job. Yep, they want me back as the part time adult reference library associate. I toyed with the idea for a few minutes, asked if they would triple my salary, joked with the director (who's a good friend) and then declined.

I want to go back, but the time isn't right. I know that in my gut. I have to get this bookstore off the ground and functioning in some sort of routine. The hubby is traveling quite a bit. The kids are more busy than ever.

Sometimes forces outside of ourselves nudge us along. Sometimes decisions are clear cut and easy. Sometimes we flounder. This was an easy one to turn down.

My time will come again to man that ref desk and help folks find that perfect book or navigate the Dewey decimal system.

choices

One of the agent blogs I read just asked the simple question: what are you currently reading? The responses were as varied as the number of cereal choices at the local grocery store. I go through reading spurts. Right now I'm totally in love with the Dante Valentine series. So much so that when I finished the third book and had to fall back on the bedside table stack for something to read late last night, I was totally bummed. I want more Dante.

Which brings me to my title for today's blog. Choices. We all make them, from the minute to the huge. From what book to read, to what to wear, to what to eat for breakfast. Writers have choices to make every time they open up the current WIP. Or whether or not they open the current WIP.

I haven't opened either the Maddy file or the Lani file in a while. I've lost steam. It is extremely difficult to stay motivated when I feel like I'm leveling a mountain one teaspoonful at a time. My crit bud is in the same spot.

I have the bookstore to fill my spare time. She has a budding photography business to fill hers. Most writers have other hobbies, jobs, things to take up those hours we could spend writing. So, it comes back to choice. I'm reaching the point where I need to choose to either get serious about this writing stuff or let it go. The proverbial fork in the road.