Swash buckling pirates and their duals

At our house, when you've got time and a some good pirate hats, anything's possible.



Paige and Andrew went back to school today. Nose back to the grindstone. Maddi began day one of her three weeks off-track, and Collin is a man of leisure until the 11th. After the 11th, his Mom and Dad are kicking him back out into the world of work to earn his keep. He is having his friend Emily come to Colorado for a visit from the 7th -11th. One last long drink from the romantic well before the mission.

My days of freedom are numbered. I signed up for my next French class today and start back to school on Jan. 23rd. I'm excited to start back up again, but I'm going to miss reading. It has been so fun to read for pleasure again and not for an assignment. I've been such a book worm since I got out of school. Right now, I am in the middle of three books. I also finished two since vacation began. ("Eat, Pray, Love" was the book that helped me survive jury duty and Daren gave me, "For One More Day" as a Christmas gift.)

When I read, I read with three purposes in mind - to nourish the imagination (fiction), to nourish the soul (self-help or compatible) and then to nourish the spirit (something to feed the testimony.) This helps me keep balance. They are not all books, a lot of times I can get good information from magazine articles.

It may seem methodical, but it works for me.

Right now, there isn't much time left to my vacation, so I'm multi-tasking. This pirate aims to dual the clock for some last rites of freedom. (Did I really write that ridiculous statement?) I'm reading a historical fiction novel called, "Suite Francaise" (the fiction), "The Creative Habit" (the self-help) and "House of Glory" (the spiritual). It's taking some effort, but I'm loving every minute of it.

I know I won't come close to finishing all three books before the 23rd. Maddi and I will be making crafts and taking field trips during her break. Crafts and field trips are cool and absolutely essential to survive three weeks of no school. So, to TRY and finish three books I had to get organized. (Here is also where this post gets really weird and maybe TMI, but if you're still reading this post, I am assuming you are curious.)

I keep the spiritual book in the bathroom. Hey, it's quiet and usually I can count on the uninterrupted time. I can almost always get a good chapter or two in during the course of one day depending on how willing I am to use the same bathroom every time nature calls.

The self-help book is on my nightstand. I read it whenever I'm around my nightstand. The self-help books always take the longest to read. It's probably why I need so much help.

The fiction, I keep with me. It's the book that travels. It goes with me in the car when I wait to pick up kids after school. It's the book that goes with me when I wait for a child at a piano or dance lesson or if I have to wait during an appointment. Four kids affords lots of wait time.
It is also the book that takes a bath with me every night. But you already know that from an earlier post.

So, you can clearly see that with a little organization, you too, can be a book nerd! Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a bubble bath waiting.