The $1 Book Store

Have I mentioned this used book store nearby that sells $1 books. Every book in the store is $1. I know you are super excited about this if you like to read. So for me, I get all giddy when I head to the store. Sometimes I can't find anything and other times I find all sorts of stuff.

I recently went last Wed on the way to meet EZ before we headed on to the beach. I keep a list of books I want to read on my iphone, so I bring it up while I am there and start searching. I found a few other books that seem interesting plus 6 of my books on my list! How excited I was. I am on a mission to read a bunch of "classics" and I found some. I was super excited they had Midnights Children as I have wanted to read that book for a while but hadn't gone out to buy it yet. I now have created quite a collection of books in my house that I haven't read, but it is just too good to pass up $1 books! Eventually, my library of books will get read. And of course you can also bring in used books for 50cents credit.

If you live nearby, the store is in Mebane. Although it is not nearly as big as Edward Mckay's used book store, you can't beat the $1/book price tag! Just take the exit towards downtown Mebane and when you cross the railroad tracks, go past one more light and the store in in a building on the right had side of the road.

The Beach

EZ and I headed to Myrtle Beach for Thanksgiving this year. Mostly because EZ wanted to just get away from the house. He was sick of all the things he had to do around the house and so we packed up and drove to the beach Wed afternoon. It was quite different being somewhere for Thanksgiving. We celebrated by going to Medieval Times, which was a unique experience.

We spent our time doing some shopping and putt-putt and go kart racing, along with some nice walking on the beach and the marsh walk and lot of food and football. Too bad Arkansas didn't pull out the win last night against LSU. I am really excited about our team for next year as we have a very young football team.

It was quite chilly at the beach and to our surprise today when we got home it was beautiful and warm and sunny! EZ was able to finish up a few of the outdoorsy stuff that still needed to be done. Maybe next weekend we will go out and buy our tree and do some decorating.

I did manage to finish reading The Picture of Dorian Gray and I really liked it. Very interesting story and it was extremely captivating. I also listened to Marley and Me in the car which was a nice fluffy book that made me cry, but even though I am not a dog lover, I would still recommend the book to anyone who has pets. Alright, off to finish some work.

Trees

We finally bought some trees and got them planted in the yard this weekend. I say "we", where really, I helped pick them out and EZ dug the holes and planted them. Oh and I helped decide where they would go. Our neighborhood (for those of you that don't know) is one of those new neighborhoods, where they clear out everything and then build the houses. So for two years now we have been living here with a beautiful view of a lot of of neighbors yards and houses. We also have a lot of just empty yard space which looks odd. So we bought a few trees to beautify our yard.

We planted a purple leaf plum and a flowering cherry tree in the front yard space (one on each side) and then a red maple in the bad for some shade and privacy when we will be on the deck and then a holly tree on the other side where we hope it will provide some type of screen when we sit on the patio. Right now the trees are maybe 10ft tall but no leaves no since it is almost winter, but we are hoping that they stay in and take root and will begin to bloom next year. I meant to take pictures today but it started to rain so i wasn't able to get outside to do it.

Only two days of work and then of to the beach for a nice mini vacation!!

Beautiful Weather

We have had some great weather over the past two weekends. Of course we did have 3+ days of cold rain and wind in between from Hurricane Ida, but it was well worth it to have the weekends free of rain and to have the beautiful sun shining.

Not much has been going on around here. EZ's parents were in town last weekend and we did a little trip to WFU and the gardens and a trip to one of the wineries near they which was beautiful. And this weekend entailed some relaxing, football, UNC basketball game and some time outdoors. EZ finally finished putting up all the siding on the house and now the deck/house looks complete. We picked out trees to get delivered to plant in our yard next week and slowly but surely it is all getting done. The house/deck looks great and we still need to find furniture for it, but that can wait.


The patio will have to wait until spring which is fine and we'll see how EZ is feeling by then. He has worked so hard on the deck/house that he is quite exhausted of having his weekend/evening tied up and will debate putting the patio in himself. I told him no rush, we won't use it over the winter anyway, so he can relax for a few months before he decides.

I haven't been reading too much, just have been way to busy. I finally finished a book I have been reading for over a month called Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, which I really enjoyed. It is the story of two girls in rural China and become lifelong friends and it follows the story between them and their growing up, through foot binding, marriage, ect.

I am currently reading two books, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society that Monica let me borrow and then The Picture of Dorian Gray (on my Iphone which I downloaded for free from the app Stanza). I read that whenever I am sitting around waiting for something like in a doctors office or I have been reading it when I got up to the gym and ride the bike. Both books are good so far and I am about halfway through each one.

Alright, off to do some work and teach some calculus.

Neverending Semester

I thought my fall break would revitalize me and it did for that week and a few days and now it has all come piling back up again. Last weekend I took home papers to grade that were a total of 3 inches thick. I managed to spend a lot of my weekend grading papers to then on Monday give three more tests and continue my pile.

I don't know which is the worst part...the fact that I bring my work home at night and on the weekends or just the fact of grading papers.

Work is just getting the best of me this semester and I am once again looking forward to the end in just 6 more weeks....ahhhhhhhh. Then I can get some good sleep.

Did I mention that this morning I tripped over my computer laptop cord in my office which pulled my laptop crashing down to the floor... :) I have a huge crack in it now and broke a piece off...a couple buttons now are broken. One of my colleges has volunteered to bring it home with him to try and repair everything. Hopefully come Monday, it will be healed.

On the positive side of things, it is Friday and EZ and I are taking a mini vacation down to Myrtle Beach over Thanksgiving. Just us, to get away and relax at the beach, should be a fun time!