Book Fair

It's the most wonderful time of the year... for book-lovers in the St. Louis area, haha!

This evening I drove out to West County Mall for the annual St. Louis book fair. This year is the 65th year, who knew? It takes place on the first floor of one of the parking garages. This book fair is fantastic.

My dad and I went here for the first time two years ago. I was released from the hospital that day, and dad came to pick me up. He said he wanted to check out this "book fair" on the way home, so we stopped off to see what it was all about. Lo and behold, what was "just some book fair" soon became the coolest little book gem I'd ever encountered. There are tables and tables of books, hundreds of books, cascades, mountains of books, more books than you can ever read in a lifetime. My dad ended up getting a couple books and some records, I ended up with about six books. Holy cow, I thought, this is awesome! And it looks like this:

Photo from STLtoday.com. Starting to look pretty picked over.

Today was opening day and I decided I would go; I can't go tomorrow, I want to stay home on Saturday, and by Sunday it would be quite picked over. I got in line with probably 400 other book enthusiasts before the gates officially opened. Now, since it's opening day, I'd say many of these people were pretty 'serious' about it—kind of like Black Friday I imagine, except a lot more tame. People had boxes, crates tied to dollies, shopping carts, backpacks, suitcases, shopping bags, whatever to carry the many books they might end up buying. Some people will come and buy over 50 books. Myself, I brought along one very large canvas bag.

I ended up wandering around for over an hour between all of the tables. Everything is divided up by genre, and this year there were a LOT of mystery books, hardly any non-fiction, but a good selection of classics, fiction, and trade paperbacks. But outside of genre, there is no order to the books (there's no point in trying) so your head is permanently bent to the side trying to read titles.

Here's why this is the gem of book shopping here: I came home with 12 books... for 17 bucks ($27 if you include the $10 admission fee I paid for today [it's free every other day, but even so I still could only buy maybe two books for $27 if they were brand new]).

I actually got 13 books, if you count what I am calling the "mystery book"; I'll explain in a bit. And they are all in really good shape. They meticulously choose the books to sell, so they are all good or better quality. I scored a couple that are practically brand new.

However, I also learned a lesson today with my "mystery book". I bought what I thought was going to be The Devil in the White City, but once I got it home I noticed the jacket was just a little too tall and didn't fit the book. I opened it up and took it off... and the book inside was actually Sum of All Fears. So lesson learned: always double check that the cover of the hard-cover book matches the actual book. Oh well, it was only one dollar and at least it's a decent Tom Clancy book and not some off-the-wall book I would never have a desire to read.

Today's haul. 8 paperbacks and 3 hardcover books, woo hoo!

Anti-Paper-Receipts

It's Earth Day today, and in honor of this day I'd like to put one small Earth-changing suggestion out into the universe.

I wish more retailers would have the option to email receipts, or the option to not even print a receipt if I don't want one. The only reason my purse ever gets filled with clutter is due to the ungodly amount of receipts that get shoved in there for weeks on end. I never take them back out, I rarely look at them again, I don't do anything with them. They are a waste of ink and paper on me.

There are some items that just don't need a receipt either. When I buy a soda at the gas station, I don't need a receipt. I can't return the item, neither would I ever need proof that I bought it.

I realize some people might still want receipts to balance their checkbook, and that's fine. But if you're like us and you charge everything in order to reap the cash-back benefits, it's not as essential. Again, just email it to me, if I need to check it against what was charged to my card it would be so much easier to pull up a folder of PDFs than to dig through my purse of tiny papers.

I would gladly set up an email account with a phony name to use specifically for this purpose (in case the privacy concern crossed your mind, like it did mine.) Square has jumped on this idea, and I wish others would too. In this day and age, it just makes sense.

Wednesday Musings

My allergies have finally taken off... woo. I coughed so much overnight last night, and it continued into the morning. I took the dog for a walk yesterday, so I'm positive that's why I had such a rough day. Today, I've been avoiding the outdoors. I'm hoping to get more sleep tonight.

I refilled my bird feeder the other day and was excited to see my cardinals came back! Or maybe they never left—it's been awhile since the feeder had seeds in it. These two cardinals are such a pair, if you see the male, you can bet that his girlfriend isn't too far away.

A few days ago I also caught a couple mourning doves courting each other. I say "caught" because they really needed to get a room. The male dove was puffing himself up, trying to look like a good mate, making his feathers fluff up and stand on end (if you've ever seen turkeys strut, this was like the smaller, dove equivalent minus the fan of tail feathers). Then the girl started pecking at them, fluffing them up. Then they were "kissing" each other in a weird beak-to-beak way that resembled when momma birds feed their young. Then they flew off (rather, eloped) together.

We went to see the Muppets movie tonight, last chance before it leaves. Jeff came with us and we were the only three people in the theater! I've never had that happen before, but it was great (and a tiny bit odd, I must admit.) We could commentate and laugh as loudly as we wanted to. So now I've found the perfect way to go see a movie: go on a Wednesday right before the movie is set to leave the theater.

The movie was good, but not as good as the first one. There was more singing, and I'm not too crazy about that. As we talked about afterwards, I recall some of their earlier movies not even having singing in them. But it was still enjoyable and I laughed a lot (we all did). I'm happy to see the Muppets have been revived a little, and they seem to be in the right hands (don't get me started on that period of time in the 2000s where things got bad.)

No Go

The GO Saint Louis marathon is this weekend, which also means the 5k walk/run is on Saturday. I haven't mentioned anything about my 5k in a long time... because I'm just not going to be ready for it. I haven't been able to train as I'd hoped, and since I still haven't walked much more than 1.5 miles, I don't think it'd be wise to try for 3.1.

But that's okay. I will do a different 5k some other time. The good thing is plenty of these happen year-round, so I'll have lots to choose from. I wanted to do the GO one because I would get a medal for participating. It might not be a big deal for most people, but whenever I finally do this, it will be a huge accomplishment for me. Someday, I know it!

Pick yourself up, dust yourself off, start all over again!

4 Months!

Celebrate with me — it has been four months since I was in the hospital! It has also been four months since I've been on any sort of antibiotics (not counting the inhaled ones I do regularly.)

I don't know if there are words I can use to impart on you just how crazy-awesome-incredible this is. I mean... whoa! I had a hospital stay in August, and three months later I was back in during November. So I've already beat that. And I haven't needed any sort of oral antibiotics either, which is crazy. Usually I would need some in a month or two out of the hospital, or I would catch something and need them. From a medical standpoint, this is really good too. The less we need antibiotics, the better; the more my bugs and system can chill out so when I do need them, they're more effective.

Clearly, what we've got going right now is working! Life is great! God is good! Keep praying!

My Pet Has A Pillow Pet

A long time ago, at the first place I ever worked, there was this giant stuffed dog we had lying around. The owners had bought it at a toy show in hopes of making something like it. They never did, so this dog was just sitting around the office. One time when we were clearing some things out, it was time to get rid of the dog and I offered to take him.

Pillow Pets are pretty cute, though.

Do you remember the Pillow Pet toy fad of a few years ago? The animal pillows you can fold in half? They're still around, but not as heavily promoted. I recall seeing a lot of those commercials around Christmas in like 2011-ish. "It's a pillow... it's a pet... it's a pillow pet." Well, this dog turned out to be a Jumbo Pillow Pet, I've never seen one like him in stores. All of the stores sell ones that are maybe a foot wide, this thing is almost 3. I've been holding onto it all these years for no big reason, and last week I decided to try out a new purpose for it.

When Josie was about six months old, I got her a dog bed. I happily brought it home, but she didn't like it. It would make me chuckle: on numerous occasions she would lay down and curl up next to her dog bed, but never on her dog bed. Nope, she didn't like it at all. For a little while, we started leaving her in the laundry room with her dog bed when we were gone. We'd come home to find her laying on it. Hey! Maybe she likes it after all! No... it was just comfier than the tile floor. Finally one day we came home to find stuffing all over the place. Out of boredom, Josie had succumbed and chewed up her bed. Oh well... she never liked it anyways, luckily I didn't spend much on it (dog beds can run really pricey, for a glorified pillow.)

So last week I figured why not bring out the giant dog pillow. Despite her 'small dog' label, she actually needs a fairly big bed. If she lays with her legs stretched out, which is probably half the time, she can take up a lot of space. Ergo, the dog pillow was perfect for her.

I placed her onto it a few times, and then what do you know, later she climbed onto it! On her own! And then last night, she laid down on it all on her own too. I've caught her laying on it when I'm not even in the room, so my conclusion is she must like it! It makes me smile, partly because it's a dog laying on a dog haha!

Resting after a great walk.

It Was A Good Day

Tuesday was a pretty great day, all in all. The weather is finally decent. It got to be about 80° and the sun was out most of the day. I actually got a little sunburnt too, which is ridiculous; I guess I'm just that flippin' pale. Then after lunch, I brought my laptop out and worked outside on the deck which was fantastic. It was perfect in the shade, and I know the dog enjoyed being outside too. She sniffed around all over the deck for an hour or so, then finally settled down on her mat next to me.

After work, I had a dentist appointment and all is good with my teeth. That's always a bit of a relief, isn't it? And this is the first time they didn't ask me about my flossing frequency, which must mean I am actually flossing enough these days! Woo hoo! I'm averaging about once a week, really, but it's better than nothing. I'm not saying I can't try to do more, but I'm not talented enough to just sit on the couch and do it while I watch TV like some people suggest.

After that, Josie and I took a short walk, but it was kind of hot, relatively speaking with the temps we've had. I joined mom for supper and then we went for another, longer walk though this time it had rained. But we made it pretty far, and all uphill for a while, so I was satisfied. Josie was ready to go the entire time; I don't know if she didn't like walking on the wet roads (which are still covered in tons of cinders) or what the deal was. When we got back she had the zoomies and was charging all over the house for a minute.

Today it was 80° like I said, right now it's storming, the temperature is dropping overnight, and by tomorrow morning it will be 30° and snowing. Can the atmosphere quit having such mood swings?

Happy Saturday

Yesterday morning an inspector from the city came for the inspection of our basement. I didn't know what to expect, but it didn't take very long. Josie could hear him talking to Jarrod in the basement and she kept running down the steps, stay down there for a little bit, give a frustrated high-pitched bark, and run back up. It was funny. Anyways, yay we passed! Jarrod said he had a few suggestions on things, but he passed us. So thank goodness for that, the first phase is officially DONE and in the books. On to phase two.

I finally came up with a Lenten resolution on Wednesday. It's twofold and it will undoubtedly help my health in some way. I decided that on the days I don't go to rehab, I will exercise immediately after work, no waiting around saying "I'll do it later." Then I make sure to get it done and also, hopefully, get in the habit of doing it this way.

The second part deals with eating. It's hard for me to write about my weight, not knowing who might read this. I know so many people are trying to lose weight, but my life depends on me trying to go up on the scale. Let's just say that in order for my BMI to be where it needs to be, I need to gain 10 pounds. If you know how hard it is to lose ten pounds, then flip it around and I guarantee that it is just that difficult for me to gain ten pounds. I know I won't gain that much during the season of Lent, but I need to start eating more as I've been a little lax on snacking and my Ensure drinks lately. So part two deals with that.

Alma Mater

This evening I drove down to Maryville. I went for the Senior Show, which is a design showcase of the senior graphic design students' work. I like to go if I can, the work is always fresh and inspiring. I also go to see my former professors; it's kind of like seeing an old friend every year or two.

As I was nearing the school on Hwy. 141, seeing the lit buildings behind the trees, I was reminded of the anxiousness I'd feel when I was returning as a student: driving back on a Sunday evening after a weekend at home, just ready to get back, finish homework, and get settled in my room again. 

As I pulled onto campus I was greeted by construction and reminded Oh yeah, they tore my old dorm down. They demolished Duchesne Hall, which is where I spent the first 1.5 years of my college career. I say 1.6 because for 0.4 of my sophomore year, I lived in an apartment with three other girls. Things fell apart and two of us moved out by Christmas. We lived at the bottom of a hill and I left partly because of the drama and mostly because when I wasn't feeling good, it was very difficult for me to walk up that hill to class, to lunch, to anything. 

As I took a right, I then passed Gander and remembered the first time I toured the place. It was a Friday and hardly anyone was around because, lo and behold, most of the students don't have class on Fridays. But it was a nice day and I liked the small size of the school instantly. It seemed like it was going to be a good fit, and ended up being the only school I visited.

I drove past Cedar, my old apartment, where I lived with two different girls two different years. Ami turned out to be the best roommate I could have asked for, and then Ashley turned out to be completely absent all the time and went home to Gerald every weekend. I wonder what they're both up to these days.

As I continued on, I remembered going to the chapel late at night to play on their wonderful baby grand piano. By senior year, turned out I wasn't the only one who did this as I had a couple times where I ran into people. I wonder if people still do that... I wonder if the chapel is still unlocked all the time...

And then I finally reached the Art & Design Building, the ADB as I called it back then (I was a pioneer in shortening phrases into series of letters, lol). That is one building on campus that hasn't changed, and I doubt it will very much, there's not much room to add on. I was able to talk with all four of my design professors that I had for most of my design education and they were all happy to see an alum. The first thing one of them said to me was "I love your hair!" I spoke with another for a while as to how I'm doing and what I'm up to; we need to do lunch together sometime.

The work was good and colorful as always. I saw a few other alums hanging about too. There were three students that really stood out to me. Lots of hexagons this year too, haha. But I was really caught up in one student's capstone project. He called in BeFriend, and it was a hypothetical program that would work with the ASPCA to place pets with people who need them, as in the lonely, the elderly, anyone who could really benefit from having a pet. It's funny, because just two days ago I was thinking of this exact thing and wondering if there was a program out there like that... and here it was! It had everything. Beautifully designed, too. I can attest to how much joy my dog has brought to my life, and therefore I am a big supporter of people getting pets for therapeutic reasons.

I talked with the designer and told him all of this and that I loved his project. I stopped short of pulling out my phone and showing him a picture of my dog (I didn't want to seem too crazy.) I remember how much it meant to discuss your work with other people when I was in his shoes five years ago (five years? Holy cow) and I don't think he was just being polite while he was talking to me. He was passionate about it and I gave him a heart-felt good luck and told him she should really pursue it, even if it's just locally. He thanked me for the kind words, and I really hope he can do something with it.

Speaking of my pet, I should probably stop writing this blog and go play with her. I know she's dying to play ball. Tootaloo blog fans!

Lent Eve

I'm not a huge fan of New Year's resolutions; they're over-hyped, no one sticks to them anyways, what's the point? But I am a big advocate of Lenten resolutions. However this year I am really struggling with what mine should be.

Here I am, the night of Fat Tuesday, and honestly I still don't know what I want to do. Last year I resolved to read the Bible every day and exercise every day. I've got the exercise covered this year, and I guess I could read my Bible again every day, but I've been trying to come up with something different. It's been really tough. I've sat in silence trying to figure it out but it is just not happenin' this year.