And on my Christmas gift list are.....

...books, of course!

The weekend before Thanksgiving My Daughter the Librarian hosted a book fair for the Clinton Prairie Library.  This annual event was held at the Barnes and Noble location in Lafayette.  I attend every year for several reasons.  First and foremost is to help my daughter raise money to purchase books, movies, games, and other items for the school library.  The other is to work on my Christmas gift list.  Plus a side bonus is to enjoy the atmosphere of the bookstore itself, to meet the students who interact with my daughter and son-in-law (who is also a teacher and the varsity baseball coach) on a daily basis, and to enjoy a beverage and a pastry from the Starbucks Café. 

This year I shopped primarily for my grandchildren.  Neither family had a copy of one of my favorite books, The Polar Express.  They will find a copy wrapped under the tree this year.  Landon, who will be 5 in January, is learning new things, including how to read.  I found a book for him that will stress learning new reading skills.  The Little Girl my younger daughter and son-in-law have in their home through foster care loves Peppa Pig and she will receive a book about that character plus a few picture books with new vocabulary words, which she loves to learn.  Cooper, who is just over a year old, will receive chunky books that his fingers can grasp and which have pages he can try to turn as he looks at the large pictures and bright colors.

My 88-year-old mother is difficult at Christmas.  She has everything she needs, but she loves to read, mainly Christian romances and novels with an Amish setting.   A boxed set of novels by an Amish author will be wrapped for her under my sister's tree in Cleveland.  My daughter and son-in-law love reading (do you know any librarians who DON'T like to read???) so they selected a few books for their gifts.  Plus my 12 year old nephew will turn 13 on Dec. 31 and every year since his birth he has received a book from Aunt Beth for his birthday.  Sports books are good for him, and there is a new one just released by an author he enjoys.  He did admit on Thanksgiving Day that he is enjoying reading more  now than he did, and he said The Fault in our Stars was one of his favorites!  Good to know!

I usually share novels or books that I enjoy with several friends and my closest neighbor.  I found a book titled A Redbird Christmas by Fannie Flagg that was on sale through Barnes and Noble online and I  ordered four copies for gifts (still credited to the Book Fair!). 

If there is a reader on your gift list, please consider purchasing a book for that person.  I remember looking forward to Christmas morning when I was young so I could start reading all of the new books I was adding to my collection.  Nancy Drew books were my favorite then, and I read all of them over and over again.

You can't go wrong with a book---unless someone you know is totally opposed to turning the pages and has other things to do with spare time.  Most people have some type of reading interest, from biographies, to novels, to best sellers, to self-help books.  If you need a unique gift, shop online at Barnes and Noble or Amazon or stop by your local bookseller and cross some names off your list.

Start 'em young - continued

As you may or may not know, I was attacked with the shingles virus two weeks ago.  Anyone who has had chicken pox as a child is susceptible to getting shingles as an adult.  The chicken pox virus remains in the body, so when there is stress on the body physically or when other circumstances arise, the virus takes advantage of the opportunity to attack.  A vaccine is available to adults once they reach a certain age, but I never took advantage of taking the shot since my mother always told me that I had never had chicken pox as a child.  While my sister did and we shared a room when we were young, I never had the first pock, according to Mom.  Well, she was wrong.  I did have chicken pox because the virus erupted again as shingles.  The eruptions were on the right side of my face, from my chin to my ear along the jawline and up into my cheek, and into my hair.  My right ear canal was swollen shut.  I still can't hear well out of the ear and the pain is continuing, but the eruptions on my face have subsided and, thanks to a homeopathic gel recommended by a friend, are disappearing.  Now instead of looking like I have had an elephant ear plastered to the side of my face, I look like I have had a bad case of poison ivy that is lingering.  And the pain continues.  Sigh.

All of this is leading to being contagious and not seeing my grandchildren.  Not only did I not want them to have even the slightest chance of contracting anything from me, I didn't want them to see me like I was.  In fact, each time I went to Arnett Clinic for an appointment with the doctor or the ENT, I sat in the corner of the waiting room with my head down while my husband checked me in and we waited to be called to the examination room. I didn't want to make eye contact with anyone and see the fear or sympathy of anyone looking at the eruptions on my swollen face.

Yesterday after the appointment with the ENT, stopping at Payless Grocery Store and stocking up on groceries, and an early lunch at Cracker Barrel, we also stopped at my youngest daughter's house south of Delphi to see our three grandchildren (and of course her and her husband too).  Landon (who is 4) was super excited to see me, peered at my face, and grabbed me around the knees and wouldn't let go.  Tessa, who will be 2 soon,  was excited as well, and she kept pointing at my knee, then at my face and saying "Ow-ee."   True...I did hurt.  Then Cooper, who is 1, was smiling and laughing and kept yelling "DADA!  DADA!" which Hilary said is what he is calling everyone.

As we settled into the living room after they finished their lunch,  it began.  The books started flying off the shelves.   Cooper was picking out books that had pictures with furry or shiny inserts in them. We had to look at each page, touching each cat or bird or dog as we turned the pages.  Tessa wanted to crawl up on my lap and read her action books.  She likes those because we 'do' the actions, then she giggles.  With each book we finished, they would jump down, or slide off my lap unto the floor, go to the bookcase, and pick out another book to read. 

How happy it makes me to see my grandchildren enjoying books.  They are learning animals, colors, textures, numbers.  But most of all, they are experiencing love.  Nothing can match snuggling with a little boy or girl who wants you to read to a book to him/her.  Nothing.