Where are they? How do you find one? Or set one up?
I would give just about anything to belong to a book club with my peers. But where do these elusive clubs advertise? Do they exist? I have heard that they do but I can't seem to find one anywhere. A old co-worker of mine said that she used to belong to a book club who's motto was "Our book club can drink your book club under the table." Ha! Now that is a book club I can hang with.
I know that my cousin's mother in law has a book club, but do I really want to crash a club of retired teachers and librarians? Perhaps not.
I have googled 'til my fingers are numb looking for a book club but to no avail. I have found an occasional online book club but I have found the discussions are clumsy and I don't feel that they build the camaraderie around books that I would like.
You see, I ADORE books. Really. I can't get enough of them. I am always in the middle of several, at the same time. And I usually have an audio book in the car to help pass the time in my commute.
We have a very large bookshelf in the spare bedroom overloaded with books, each shelf has a line of books two deep. When we finally got the bookshelf in the house (through the second story window!) and I loaded my books onto it, my ever clever fiance says "the library is now open." We live in a very small farm town, without a dedicated library. I would love to have enough books to suffice as a small town library. Just having them near me makes me happy and content.
I have considered a time or two to host one at my house but I am not sure that I would have enough people willing to drive at least 30 minutes each way to my house. And would they like the books that I picked? I have an eclectic library and I wouldn't want to read only one genre. Would we have enough attendance to make it worthwhile?
But what fun I would have! The food, small bites to be passed around, wine to be sampled, made in Michigan of course, and books to be discussed! I would be in heaven. I can imagine the many recipes I could try out. Fiance is not very adventurous when it comes to food so I would have an audience to try out all of these dishes I have saved but have been not allowed to serve.
Friday, June 22, 2012
Thursday, June 21, 2012
The Knot...Helpful or Overwhelming
So one of the first steps in planning my wedding was to go to theKnot.com. It can be a fantastic site with a trillion wedding ideas, they even have helpful tools to keep you organized: favorites lists, guest list manager, wedding website builders, budgets, and a checklist of to-do's before the big day.
I look forward to getting married and I have enjoyed, to some extent, the wedding planning.
However, I don't buy all of the hype the wedding industry has put on the planning. It's one day, one really big party, probably the biggest party of my life (Unless Princess Kate and I become best friends like I am sure we could be). But doesn't marriage afterward deserve just as much effort? Theknot.com doesn't have a checklist of compatibility, or what to expect your first year, or "Marriage, it's not for wimps" articles. They do however have articles on hair, makeup, handling unruly guests, picking colors and themes. Do these make a wedding great? Or a bride overwhelmed?
When I first started on theknot.com I had over 200 to-dos on my checklist and those were just the generic wedding checklists based on a timeline, not any of the items I felt were necessary. And though we are only 3 months away (ahhhhh!) I still have over 100 of them on the checklist and it's adding to my stress, to see a visual of all of the things that should be done and (heaven forbid) a little alarm clock next to some of them indicating I am behind schedule. I do not need to be reminded that I am behind in these things. But I do appreciate the organization the site provides.
And thus I continue my love/hate relationship with theknot.
So what's bride to do?
I look forward to getting married and I have enjoyed, to some extent, the wedding planning.
However, I don't buy all of the hype the wedding industry has put on the planning. It's one day, one really big party, probably the biggest party of my life (Unless Princess Kate and I become best friends like I am sure we could be). But doesn't marriage afterward deserve just as much effort? Theknot.com doesn't have a checklist of compatibility, or what to expect your first year, or "Marriage, it's not for wimps" articles. They do however have articles on hair, makeup, handling unruly guests, picking colors and themes. Do these make a wedding great? Or a bride overwhelmed?
When I first started on theknot.com I had over 200 to-dos on my checklist and those were just the generic wedding checklists based on a timeline, not any of the items I felt were necessary. And though we are only 3 months away (ahhhhh!) I still have over 100 of them on the checklist and it's adding to my stress, to see a visual of all of the things that should be done and (heaven forbid) a little alarm clock next to some of them indicating I am behind schedule. I do not need to be reminded that I am behind in these things. But I do appreciate the organization the site provides.
And thus I continue my love/hate relationship with theknot.
So what's bride to do?
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
The First
I have considered starting a blog for sometime but never quite felt like I had anything noteworthy enough to put out there. I read so many blogs on so many different topics, travel, adoption, food, books and reading lists but what would I have to say about any one of those subjects for any length of time. I love to travel but other than the upcoming honeymoon; have no plans to do so. We enjoy our foster baby immensely but she will be adopted by a family in PA this summer and we will only have updates via Facebook. I love to cook but I tend to be not quite as adventurous as the recipes I see featured in so many of my favorite blogs. I read incessantly but do I have an opinion on those books that anyone else would want to read? Not to mention the pictures they post...does everyone who has a blog have special photography skills too?! But... But...But and the self doubt sets in.
Recently, an old colleague of mine stopped by my new office and asked if I was still writing. Writing? Professionally, no. I was the Communications Director and the Editor in Chief of a State trade magazine (award winning!) for years and we worked together on a number of articles. She then asks about writing personally? She says "You've got talent, you should keep it up." Really? Talent? Me? Writing? Not a sentence I ever expected to hear however it really got me thinking. An author I will never be BUT maybe there is something to this blog thing. It's an opportunity for me to keep a journal of sorts, however public or private this may be. It may be my opportunity to chronicle my thoughts and feeling on things that are changing right now. Which it seems everyday more is changing than staying the same. Maybe it can be a bit of therapy, a bit of adventure, a bit of self reflection. And I love all the mommy blogs, maybe one day I will be among them.
Recently, an old colleague of mine stopped by my new office and asked if I was still writing. Writing? Professionally, no. I was the Communications Director and the Editor in Chief of a State trade magazine (award winning!) for years and we worked together on a number of articles. She then asks about writing personally? She says "You've got talent, you should keep it up." Really? Talent? Me? Writing? Not a sentence I ever expected to hear however it really got me thinking. An author I will never be BUT maybe there is something to this blog thing. It's an opportunity for me to keep a journal of sorts, however public or private this may be. It may be my opportunity to chronicle my thoughts and feeling on things that are changing right now. Which it seems everyday more is changing than staying the same. Maybe it can be a bit of therapy, a bit of adventure, a bit of self reflection. And I love all the mommy blogs, maybe one day I will be among them.
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