because every special occasion should involve books

Thank you all so much for the lovely anniversary wishes! We had a fairly uneventful, but relaxing day. Which, of course, involved books. :) We headed out to B&N during the afternoon. Each of us grabbed a huge pile of reading materials to look through and then headed to the cafe. The kids sat at one table drinking juice and reading, while Rich and I sat at another drinking coffee and perusing. For some reason, it just felt so utterly decadent to be whiling away a couple hours doing nothing productive. And of course, we couldn't escape without buying books. All of us. We may just need professional help. Of course, Rich had given me a gift card for our anniversary, and to not spend it would have been just plain rude, don't you think? ;)

I love the wonderful little assortment of books I got, and believe it or not, I don't have a single point of blame to award. (Never fear though, I've received quite a pile of books in the last week, some that do have points attached...but I'll save those for another post.) Anyway, here's what I bought:

Elf Realm: The Low Road by Daniel Kirk. I should probably be embarrassed to admit that I've never heard of this one before, as it was published last year. But when I saw it, I was helpless to resist. It not only sounds like a very fun read, but it's full of beautiful full-page pencil drawings. Done by the author.







Panic in Level 4: Cannibals, Killer Viruses, and Other Journeys to the Edge of Science by Richard Preston. I've been wanting this book since it came out last year. Finally just broke down and bought it. No idea why I am fascinated by this kind of stuff, but I am. Annie on the other hand, picked up this book and after reading a bit, stated, "You know, maybe I don't want to work for the CDC after all."




Science Under Siege: Defending Science, Exposing Pseudoscience edited by Kendrick Frazier. This is a collection of essays, divided into three main sections: Science and Skeptical Inquiry, Critical Inquiry and Public Controversies, and Understanding Pseudoscience, Investigating Claims. So many of the essays sounds incredibly good...can't wait to dive in!







How to Be an Explorer of the World by Keri Smith. Another book I've wanted since it first came out last year. I absolutely love her! And her books. She's just so inspiring. I have Living Out Loud: Activities to Fuel a Creative Life, and the wonderful, oh-so-creative herself, Jean, bought me Wreck This Journal for Christmas. I hate admitting that I've spent far too little time nurturing creativity the past few years. If this book doesn't help, it will be solely my fault, not the fault of this lovely book.



Ah yes, I'm so very happy with my lovely new pile. :D


I'm also happy with the reading I did last evening. I imagine you're quite sick of my bitching about how I can't seem to finish a book. I've been laboring through these same 7 very long, slow books for far too long. And while I'm enjoying every one of them, I just feel so bogged down by them. So last night, I decided to just push them all aside. Instead I grabbed Blueberry Girl, The Day I Swapped My dad for Two Goldfish, and The Wolves in the Walls off the shelf. Now, we all know that Neil Gaiman is a freakin' genius, but I feel I have to say it anyway! This was the most relaxing little bout of reading I've had in a long time!

I've read Blueberry Girl several times before. And I read it a couple more times last night. I think I could read it several times every day and still never tire of it. And still get those tears of sweetness and joy in my eyes with each reading. As much as I've enjoyed everything I've read of his thus far, this may well be my favorite book of all. As if the words are not perfection enough, Charles Vess adds the most beautiful drawings. It's perfection times two.


This was the first I'd read either of the other two, however. Both of which are wonderful. Both of which are delightfully silly. Both of which are filled with Dave McKean's incredible art. Both of which have cameos by the Queen of Melanesia. And both of which I positively adored!

a bittersweet day

I know I've posted before about what a bittersweet day August 4th is, so I won't go into it all again.

But I did just want to say, "Happy Anniversary, Rich! Never once in these 18 years of marriage have I doubted the fact that I am the luckiest woman in the world! I love you!"

And to Casey, "We miss you, sweet little one! And we love you dearly!"

joy and sadness

August 4...undoubtedly an extremely emotional day for me. A day of extremes. Joy and sadness.

On this day, seventeen years ago, I became the luckiest gal on earth. Yes, seventeen years ago today, I married Rich. And it has been the most wonderful marriage I can imagine. Is he perfect? No. And of course, I am far from it. But we both believe with all our hearts that we are perfect for each other. Oh yes, I am so extremely blessed! So, of course, it goes without saying that this day brings me incredible joy. My goodness, we were really young once:



As for the sadness, it's a sadness we share. We wanted children from the time we got married, but felt we needed to be responsible and wait until we were more "settled" and financially stable. Rich was in school and we had no insurance. And that was okay. But eventually, we after a few years (despite the fact that Rich was still in school), we decided it was time to start trying. (We at least now had insurance.) But it wasn't as easy as just trying. To make a long story short, we battled infertility for a few years. The problem was endometriosis. But I finally had surgery, and then immediately got pregnant. We were blessed beyond measure to have Annie. A year later we decided it was time to try to add another child to our family. But again, it just wasn't happening. As I was now nearly 35, we didn't wait so long to head back to the doctor. He did surgery again. But this time no immediate miracle. So another year went by until we were finally blessed with another child. A child we weren't sure we would ever have, but a child we had loved nonetheless from the minute we decided to try. And wow...his due date? Our 10th wedding anniversary! What a tremendous anniversary gift, huh? But, it wasn't to be. I miscarried. Casey died before he was born. I know that different people respond to miscarriage in different ways, but it was absolutely devastating to us.

Anyway, this day, the day Casey was "due", brings so much sadness with it. We always miss him, but today, as well as the day we found out that he'd died, are always the hardest.

Back on the day he was due (our 10th anniversary), Rich and I bought a beautiful little tree and planted it for Casey. We didn't have our own home then, and we happened to be visiting his parents then anyway. His parents graciously allowed us to plant this tree in their yard. And when we bought this house, they brought Casey's tree to us. Here is Casey's tree today:



I love you, Rich! And we love you, Casey!

happy anniversary to us...

Not our real anniversary. But 20 years ago today, Rich and I had our first date! Someday I'll have to tell the goofy story to go along with it. We'd been best of friends for quite a while before we went out. But for today, I'll just say Happy Anniversary to us! Love you more than ever, my sweetie!