Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Bookstores and Chicken Broth

I have proud news to report on this my second day of greening my life. I went to the bookstore and left empty-handed. I do not believe that in the history of my life I have ever accomplished such a feat. See, I am a book addict. Specifically children’s literature. I devour it and my appetite is insatiable. I don’t spend money on things for myself, but books, that is my weakness. I have worked second jobs to support my habit. I am aware that there is such a place as the library, but I need to own my books. I love to gaze at them on the shelves, each a special reminder of how great an escape stories can be. I justified buying books to use in my classroom, but as a stay at home mom for the past three years, I admit I can’t stop reading and thinking about the day that I will again teach literature to children. Until then, I keep current in the kidlitoshpere (a real thing, google it!) and continue my quest to read as many new books as possible. Today though, all I could think about when I looked at the racks of new hardcovers was that I should really be buying used versions. The problem with that is that I have to wait, (I am not the patient type) and I have to remember to get on the internet to order them and wrack up my credit card bill. This makes all of my purchases traceable, therefore causing my husband to give me grief about my book spending habit, where if I forked over a 20 to the bookstore cashier, no one is any the wiser. I understand that I should just suck it up and go to the library, but this is not going to happen as long as I have children and intend to continue my teaching career. I envision my children in a few years being able to pull a new book every week from the shelves that house my collection and to know how much their mother loves books. There was another reason that I was in the bookstore, to purchase Christmas presents for my family. I love giving books and it is a wonderful excuse for me to visit the bookstore...again. But today as I looked at the glossy new covers beckoning me to buy them I knew that I could not. Never before have I felt guilty about buying books I know that my family will not care if the books I purchase as gifts are second hand. I know that I should be more responsible with my habit. Here is my question though. Is buying used books from Amazon.com better or worse than buying new books from an independent bookseller? I am at a standstill, I have bought books from no one. I am not sure how many more Office reruns I can watch before I am forced to drive through the night looking for an open all night bookstore.  


My other major accomplishment for the day is back in the kitchen, where I have had a blessedly drama free afternoon. I cooked a chicken for dinner last night (Apparently I cooked it upsidedown, how am I supposed to know the difference between the breast and the back? It was bad enough that I had to shove my hand down the cavity to yank out its packaged innards.) and instead of throwing away the carcass, I looked up how to make my own chicken stock. Apparently this is quite easy and even as I type I can smell the broth filling my home with an enticing aroma. My one concern, how much is the difference between buying chicken broth and making it when it has to cook for 4 to 5 hours. That seems like a lot of wasted energy.   

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