The Sunday Salon

Let’s see, this week I’ve been friends with a snowman and a rabbit. I’ve b,een to Papau New Guinea, Boston, Czechoslavakia, and the Congo. I’ve lived in Kabul and Pakistan in a time women had no rights. I’ve been enraptured by the stories of a second-grader in Watertower and China. I’ve been out to the county fair, where we ate swamp fries, roas’nears and elephant ears, and drank lemon shake-ups to our hearts content. AND, yesterday morning, I took Maggie for breakfast at her favorite place, The White House.

Okay, the first four sentences were things I did in books, I read and reviewed The Rabbit and the Snowman, The White Mary, A Thousand Splendid Suns, and Gooney Bird Greene.

But we did go to the county fair and we really did eat breakfast at the White House. Of course, when the county fair is open, you have to go more than one day. You have to see the animals and the merchants one night, and do the midway on another night.

So Monday was roosters, rabbits and merchants night, which is my favorite. I love going through the merchants buildings and signing up for every single drawing every business, church or club offers. In the past I’ve one a DirectTV satellite package, Avon baskets, shirts, and other stuff I can’t remember. This year, though, so many were offering gas cards. That kinda sucks, since I don’t drive… but I signed up for them anyway.

On Wednesday, we went for bracelet night at the midway. I even got a bracelet, which is stupid because I have vertigo. Maggie and I rode an up and down kind of ride. It didn’t spin, so I thought I’d be safe… wrong. But I know to focus on one spot to keep from getting sick… Maggie, poor Maggie, did not. She quickly exited the side of the ride and lost her lunch. She was pretty much ready to go home after that. I have a question for any med-savvy people, Maggie has eczema that flared this week, so she’d taken Benadryl, can that make you more prone to motion sickness? I told her that’s why she got sick.

Oh well, we went to look at the horses after that. We scratched several piggie’s backs and made our way back to the midway for our last ride. By then Mag’s stomach was settled, and our tradition is to save the Ferris wheel for our final fair event. The thing creaked and groaned and scared poor Maggie, who thought with certainty we were going to plummet to our deaths. I told her it just needed some WD-40 and we were safe, though I secretly agreed with her and I never get frightened on rides!

We lived.

Breakfast at the White House… I’m sure you’ve been dying to know. Here in Logansport, there is a restaurant called “White House”. It is owned by Lester, who has been cooking at the White House since my momma was a little girl, and that’s saying something! Mags and me, we always order the same thing, eggs over easy, toast with extra butter, smoked sausage and bacon, home fries with onions, chocolate mile for Mags and coffee for me. We always have the same waitress, Karen, so we never actually have to tell her what we want, unless we are adding a pancake with peanut butter like we did yesterday. Mag’s loves Karen, who’s watched her grow since we had our first breakfast there when Maggie was three. Like most places Maggie goes, she gets away with a lot at the White House… she brings flowers and a smile, and all the orneriness she can muster!

Also this week, I found FRED, where Julie shared the Fart in the Duck, Fyrefly asked Where the Hell is Matt and Suey shared her addiction to Vlogbrothers.

My First Ever Giveaway!! is winding down… only 11 days until it closes! Right now, I have 584 entries, and am giving away a $20, a $10, and a $5 Borders gift card. 16 more entries will add another $10 gift card, and at 700 I was going to add another $5, but I’ve been thinking… that’s such a great number, that it might be more. So… if you haven’t entered to win yet, do it now!

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Booking Through Thursday -Vacation Spots

Another question inspired by the Bunch of Grapes on Martha’s Vineyard having burned down on the Fourth of July.

Do you buy books while on vacation/holiday?
Do you have favorite bookstores that you only get to visit while away on a trip?
What/Where are they?

 

Okay…  I’ve not been on “vacation slash holiday” in a few years, so reading everyone’s posts will, I’m sure, fill me with insane jealousy… but I shall move forward and do my best to not let it show…You suck! You Suck! YOU SUCK!!!

Actually, I’ve never considered buying books as souvenirs from a vacation and, other than if I wanted the book and would’ve bought it anyway, have never bought one while vacating.  ACTUALLY, even, I’ve never taken a book on any vacation except summer camp.  Shocking! I know.

I’ve never made a special trip to check out a bookstore while on vacation, though if I came across one while at a mall I might duck into it and look around.  The farthest-from-home book-shopping I’ve done has been it Indianapolis, where I used to hit the Half Price bookstore on the way home from work.  But if I’m in Kokomo (about 40 minutes from my home), I usually whip over to Books-a-Million to see what they’ve got that my Waldenbooks doesn’t have.

All this bookless vacationing was before my current bibliomania, but I’d have to say… If I were going on a family vacation next week, I’d still probably not pack nor shop for books.  I wouldn’t have the time because I’d be too busy spending time with my kids and sightseeing to think about books.  This week’s fair excursions have proven that.  I’ve finished one book that I had started last week, I’ve read the first story of One More Year, and I’m almost half way through A Thousand Splendid Suns… that’s it.  That’s all the reading I’ve managed to accomplish this week. 

Animals, merchants and rides, O My! Elephant Ears, Lemon Shake-Ups, and roas’nears (that’s grilled corn on the cob for those of you not fluent in Hoosier).  Books… they’ve taken a back burner.