I won!

I am a voracious reader, and my recent flare has given me a chance to indulge this pastime even more than usual. I love many genre's, but am huge fan of the Classics, especially of Jane Austen. I have read and re-read her works, watched the BBC's mini-series on Pride & Prejudice too many times to speak of, and have enjoyed biographies and books written about the characters and stories Jane Austen created. I came across a wonderful site by another blogger, who shares both my love of reading and of all things Austen. Her blog is called The Written Word and I encourage you to check it out. The blogs owner, Stephanie, had a contest going linked to an interview she had done with author Laurie Viera Rigler, who wrote Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict as well as Rude Awakenings of a Jane Austen Addict. I entered and was lucky enough to be selected as one of three winners who will receive a copy of each book! This was just the pick-me-up I needed while feeling so awful physically! I want to thank Stephanie as well to encourage others to check out her site and the 2 books written by Laurie Viera Rigler.

An Ode To Public Libraries

We are all faced with trying to find ways to cut back on our non-essential spending during these difficult economic times. Since I love to read I have had to be more careful about purchasing books, magazine subscriptions and other media items like DVD's. OF course I am a HUGE fan of the public library, and am blessed to live where we have a terrific selection of items at our library. This is my number one source for all of the above. The nice thing about the library is you can try new authors, new genres and movies you might not have seen otherwise because they are free. If you don't like them, you haven't lost anything. I have discovered some great authors simply by browsing the shelves of the local library. I have also found TV shows that I didn't watch when they were on, that have now been released on DVD, and discovered some real gems that way. I encourage you to make your local library a regular part of your life.

Another wonderful thing I have found at my library are the free programs they offer. They have everything you can imagine - from classes and lectures on every theme imaginable to live music and plays. Most of these are completely free, and if there is a charge it is usually very nominal, a few bucks at most. You can learn how to make jewelry, all about another culture, see a Shakespeare Comedy or listen to Do-Wop music under the stars! If you have little ones, just about every library offers a "story time" for the kiddos - a great way to get them interested in books and reading, even before they are old enough to actually read!

Reference Librarians are another great resource of your membership. They can help answer questions on a variety of subjects and point you in the right direction for finding information on whatever you might be interested in. When I first started blogging, my local reference librarian was able to find many books not only blogging, but also on the social networking sites, like Facebook, MySpace and Twitter. Any books they didn't have at my branch were simply ordered from another branch and sent to me. He even had some ideas for books that I would never have thought of, many of which have helped me a lot.

Lastly, our library system offers free passes to some of the major museums in our area. Because I live just outside NYC, that means I can get into many of the major museums in the country, like The Museum of Natural History, The Museum of Modern Art, and The Metropolitan Museum of Art. With the cost of admission for a family easily reaching over $100, this is a big savings and a cultural goldmine. Check with your local library to see what types of passes they might offer for local cultural attractions nearby.

The best part of all this is the library card, completely free, and in the words of a certain credit card commercial we all know, "PRICELESS" !

Whew, Is It Really only Tuesday?

Hectic week (again) with doctors. Tomorrow I am having a renal scan with Lasix, aren't you all jealous?! LOL!! Hopefully this will provide some answers as to what may be causing the nephritis and whether it is anything to worry about. I have a friend who has had the test, so I have a pretty good idea of what I am in for and I am NOT looking forward to it.

On the brighter side, tomorrow evening I am going to my first book club meeting. My girlfriend has been a member of this book club for years and is bringing me. I even read the whole book, 'The Flamenco Academy' by Sarah Bird, so I should be able to discuss it. I am looking forward to meeting all the other women and having some discussion that doesn't deal with medical tests, doctors or prescriptions!

Tonight we finally got all the Christmas decorations and the tree down and away. The is the latest I have ever had things up. It couldn't be helped, but it was driving me crazy. I am still on antibiotic for the sinus and ear infection. If that clears up, I am due to finally get this tooth pulled next Tues. The pain is incredible and I hope it all happens. I am so sick of doctors, tests and the like. I cancelled an appointment on Monday morning because my vertigo made it impossible for me to drive. The doctor called because he was upset that I had cancelled on short notice. I have cancelled on him before and I guess he thought I just didn't want to see him. I wish these doctors could get a sense of what day to day life is really like for us. I have reached a point where I really try not to schedule more than one doctor a day. I just can't do it anymore, physically or emotionally. And of course, I have my mother living with me as well, so I attend her appointments as well as my own. That means that everyday we are at one doctor or another. All this and feeling poorly too.

I had wanted to participate in Wordless Wednesday this week, but alas, I don't think I will get a post up before the test tomorrow. If I feel well enough after I may try, otherwise, it will have to wait until next week. I miss all my Wordless Wednesday blogging buddies! It is fun to do something different and not focus on the health stuff.

More About Books

Several of the comments I received about yesterday's post talked about using audiobooks while traveling. That got me to thinking about the store Cracker Barrel, which has many locations throughout the country, usually right off a major interstate. In addition to having a great restaurant, they have a country store attached to each one with all sorts of fun items. But why I am mentioning them today, is that they have audio books (they used to be on CD, but it has been awhile since I've been to one so that may have changed!) that you can "borrow". You pay a small deposit, and you pick out your book or books on CD. You take them with you for as long as you want. then you can return them to any Cracker Barrel and either get your money back or take another audiobook! This is a terrific thing when you are traveling. I know I used it for years and always found a good selection of books. Again, it is a real money saver, because you don't have to purchase them and you don't have late fees to worry about! Check out their website through the link above for locations near you.