No Rubbing!

Claire and I had a busy day planned. After a trip to the gym we had a beach date this morning with two of our favorite families. This afternoon two of our friends were going to come over to make homemade play-doh and Valentines while their mom went to a doctor's appointment.

Sadly, those lovely dreams did not come true because Claire woke up with a case of pink eye. Hurrah! We've been to the doctor and she's already had her first set of eye drops. So instead of sunning on the beach and showing off our domestic goddess skills we're having a slow day at home catching up on laundry and after she wakes up from her nap we'll walk over to the library to pick up the books we have on hold. Now before moms and librarians alike start mentally composing hate-mail I should say that I know the library is not a good place for sick children. We're just picking up books that we have on hold (which they keep next to the front door. Really, we won't touch anything and Claire will stay in her stroller the whole time).

Claire's Reading List.
We're picking up this book (and CD) for Claire which comes highly recommended by two of her aunties*. We are always looking for good reading material for Claire and if you have any suggestions please please send them our way.

My Reading List.
I wasn't kidding when I said that I was trying to make it through 30 years of Pulitzer Prize winners. I'm at least half way through the list (which I am reading in no particular order) and this little gem is waiting for me at the Library.


I'm also picking up this book.

By the same woman who wrote The Glass Castle which I loved. If any of you are looking for a book to reinforce the normalcy of your parents you should pick it up. I don't care what kind of parents you had. This book will make them look normal. Half Broke Horses is a book that my old book club is reading. When we moved I left behind a book club that I loved. Lovely girls who read books that are challenging and made me think. Even though I can't attend discussion night I try to keep up with the reading and I'm always happy when I do.

Those of you who like reading challenging books should pick up one of these and we can read them at the same time. Then we can email each other all of our thoughtful insights! An e-bookclub of smart thoughtful people who read challenging books. As Liz Lemon would say, "I want to go to that place."

The good news is that even if none of you want to do that I will pretend that you do. I'll make up wonderful things that imaginary readers would say. "Jen from Milwaukee said, 'this book changed the way I think! Life will never be the same.'"

I am returning this book to the Library.





I really liked it. The book centers around a polio outbreak on the east coast in the late 30's (maybe it was early 40's hard to remember now). I found myself wiki-ing polio and reading all I could about it. I also called my mom and talked to her about her memories of what polio was like. It was nice to talk to my mother about something that influenced her childhood that had absolutely no bearing on mine (maybe it will be like me telling Claire all about my memories of VCRs when she gets a little older).




*aunties are any number of women who love Claire because they love me. They consist of college roommates and old and new friends alike. They are the kind of women who would take care of Claire and take the time to let her know what her mother was like if anything happened to me. So, of course, we take it very seriously when they make reading suggestions.