got books? a story

Giddy, I tell you.

Want the whole story?
(That would be the In My Head story.)

So one of our neighborhood libraries (not The neighborhood library, but one of the six that we visit that is within five miles of home) is closing due to being torn down and completely re-done.
"Sale, sale, sale!", they said.
And it's not only that library, but it's being combined with the county's annual or semi-annual "clean up", as well.
"Rrrr?" lifts Mama's left brow -and ears- and out comes the ScoobyDoo sound.
First day (yesterday) I went... drug with me the babes and Eric, so's he could dance attendance at the adjoining park while I browsed and Dug In.
I thought it would be rather lax, and plenty of room for hemming and hawing, and the babes would shuffle, and throw things into the bag, saying, "I want this, Mama!" Fine. Then they'd be done while I looked at my leisure. Thus Eric and the park.
Don't know why I thought that. Looking at books is never "At My Leisure", so don't know why I supposed it would happen now.
But, you know. I did.
Ever the optomist, I spose.

There was a line.
A wait to get in.
A fifty-minute wait, actually.
I tell you this not to bore you to tears, but to wave my fist and stamp my slippered foot tell you to Persevere!, friends. :)
Anyway.
Got in there.
Behind the E-Bay people with their little electronic ticker gizmo thingies and Bins and Bins (truly) lying upon dollies.
Around me -in the line- were people fussing and mad at them...
I'm pleased to say that I did not play into the Fear, and thoughts of "They're going to be after Exactly what I'm after, and snatch it right out of my hands and cheat me" that seemed to be floating about the heads of the Crowd around me. Not a judgmental accusation, you understand... just an observation.
"You have twenty minutes!" called the Powers That Be.
Now twenty minutes sounds like a long time, doesn't it?
It's not.
Well, not in Mama World, anyway.
I swear I was in there for two, and they called "Ten minutes!"
There were people lined up down the block, you see, and we each got twenty minutes to pack our bags (or sixty gallon totes, as the case may be) with our treasures, then we get kicked into the checkout line.
No time to open the books and peruse the contents, if I saw something interesting, it went in.
I didn't do too bad. I ended up with one I would have skipped over under more leisurely circumstances.
"But where are the Science books???" I was thinking.
I ended up with Ancient Rome.
Babylonians.
And Superfudge
and Vikings
and Wetlands.
And lots more along that line.
Not bad.
Actually.... pretty great, as our Who's Who, places, and history library is embarrassingly shameful and practically non-existent pretty thin.
So...
Yeah. It's all good.
I can feel good about that.

But...
Let's go back later.
So I did.
(Why not? It's close. In the neighborhood. It's my birthday. I'm one of those funny souls who might just actually believe He Who Dies With The Most Books wins. I spent seven dollars the first time and got an armful that was too heavy to carry for long.)

The Powers That Be said they were rotating things in throughout the next two days.

A few more.
National Geographics.
More of the same, history and ancient history.

And yeah, I went again -third time- just before closing.
Nothing new in the children's section-- the same two piddly tables. Hmmph.
Not one book, that time.

I was thinking then that I wasn't sure I wanted to brave A Saturday.
But I came to the conclusion that those Science books (nature, animals, experiments, crafts, ecology, etc) had to be brought out eventually, and I may as well try again.
I figured since Opening wasn't so good the day before, it might not be strictly necessary on a Saturday afternoon... so I was pretty much relying upon any good Mojo or Karma I might have coming from the Universe.
Noon, I thought.
Lunchtime seemed a logical no-crowd time.
As it turned out, the center was closed.
For re-stocking.
Until 1:OO.
It was ten after noon.
Wanna wait?
(This would be the conversation starter in my head.)
"Uummmmm..."
Really? You might not find anything.
"Well... I'll stand here and wait until I decide."
I talked to the guy behind me. He was nice. And intelligent. And charming. And accepting that my husband and I were home educators. And not interested in children's books.
We talked about The Vultures (his word, but to which I did not object).... those souls that were first in line with their Bins -- the same ones from yesterday. We admired their incredible timing-- their ability to be very first in the door.
I still refused to be afraid.
I didn't have a ticker.
All I had was a homeschooing mama's instincts.

And that's all there is, Friends.
Just me
and my children
and the things I'd like to see Upon Our Shelves.

No timers, this time.
First in line after the re-stocking - well, technically I was probably #14 or so -
I waited for about forty-five minutes
and damn if I didn't get my books.
Yes I did.

Today's find:
(top to bottom)

Diary of a Wimpy Kid (fiction)

Dora's Chilly Days (x 2 - the extra is going to a little friend)

Dora's Custume Party (fiction)

Earthsteps: A Rock's Journey Through Time

Awesome Dinosaurs: Armored Giants

Old Thunder and Miss Rainey (fiction)

Joan of Arc

Aladdin & The Magic Lamp (fiction)

American Girls: Samantha's Special Talent (fiction)

Rosa (Rosa Parks)

Games for All Year: 100 Games for Winter

Games for All Year: 100 Games for Fall

Pocahontas

Paddington Goes To Town (fiction)

The Minotaur

Thomas Jefferson Author of the Declaration of Independence

Magellan

Community Builders: Thomas Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson

The Importance of Abraham Lincoln

Symbiosis

Helen Keller: Toward the Light

Thomas Jefferson

Oxygen

Young Scientist Concepts & Projects: Astronomy

Watching Desert Wildlife

Elephants

Geology Crafts for Kids

Science Starters: Magnets and Sparks

Children's Guide to Endangered Animals

DK Eyewitness Books: Evolution

Rocks and Fossils

Journey Under the Sea

Animals Under Threat: Peregrine Falcon

Death From Space: What KIlled the Dinosaurs?

Children Save the Rainforest

Outside and Inside Bats

Science Fair Projects: Chemistry

DK Eyewitness Books: Force & Motion

DK Eyewitness Books: Seashore

DK Eyewitness Books:Life

DK Eyewitness Books: Jungle

King Tut: Tales From the Tomb

Stacked on top of yesterday's find:

The Elements: A Visual Exploration of Every Known Atom In the Universe (from Barnes & Noble)

Five National Geographics

Zoo Books

National Geographic for Kids

You Are In Ancient Egypt

Pirate Diary (fictional)

Ancient Civilizations: Rome

Perspectives: You Are In Ancient Egypt

Growing Up In: Ancient China

The Vikings

Calliope - Exploring World History: The Babylonians

World History Series: The French Revolution

The Lewis and Clark Trail

History Makers: Rulers of Ancient Rome

Neil Armstrong

Mohandas Gandhi

Galileo Galilei

Beethoven

A Picture Book of Thomas Alva Edison

Consider Love (fiction)

Superfudge (fiction)

Greece

Germany

Exploration into India

All About Wild Animals: Hippos

Hydrogen

Wetlands

History Dudes: Vikings

Alexander

Fast Forward: Egyptian Mummies

Illustrated History Encyclopedia: Ancient World - How People lived in the Stone Age, Ancient Egypt, Ancient Greece, and the Roman Empire


* * *

Seventeen magazines
(5 National Geographics, 3 American First: Watercolor magazines, 2 ZooBooks, 1 Ranger Rick, 4 National Geographic Kids, 2 Spider magazines)

nine soft covers

and sixty-four hardbacks.

Heh.
Thirty-three dollars.

Dude...

Dude.