BookSHELF

If I was working a Twelve-Step Program right now, this would be my confession: I admitted that I was powerless over [books, reading, paper-products, pages, letters, words, text, basically, anything that I can learn something new from], that my [spending, finances, money (or lack thereof), lifeline, means-of-survival] had become unmanageable. 

Okay, so that's the truth. If I'm going to bare it all here, I might as well be honest about everything. About two weeks ago, I tore my house apart looking for every last blank check with my name on it and I burned them all in a frying pan on my front porch while I cooked dinner and waited for Jay to get home from work. As April the first approaches, I have not written a check (whether that check be good or bad) in three weeks, and it's almost as if I have not picked up a drug. It is a celebration for each day that passes. I have put myself in a very bad financial situation, but I am working hard to pull out of it so we can focus on saving for our wedding and starting our married life together.

Why do you write so many checks, Vanessa? you might ask. Books. B-O-O-K-S. I love to read. I crave reading. When I'm not reading, I think mostly about reading; when I am reading, I think mostly about what I'm going to read next. I truly believe there is a legitimate problem here. There is something lacking somewhere, and books fill whatever this gap is caused by. There are three full-sized bookshelves in our spare bedroom. There are books behind, next to, and under those bookshelves. There are books spilling out of the closet and tossed across the floor. There are books piled on the kitchen counter and stacked along the fourth bookshelf that acts as our engagement shrine (as my grandmother likes to call it) between the living room and dining room. There are books by the television, in the bedroom, and overflowing from my nightstand. There are books in my school backpack and in my purse. Hey - you never know what might happen when you're away from home, right?

My kitchen counter with 'today's reads.' Notice the bread.

But something positive has come out of this - I HAVE READ TONS OF BOOKS THESE PAST FEW (like twenty) YEARS! I normally keep a book blog, but with all the stress from teaching, working on my Master's degree, and that little thing called life, I have really been lacking with keeping that blog updated. If I can get some new stuff organized and put up, I will create a direct link place on Good Riddance, but until then, you can check out what I've created, My Life in Books 2015.