Five Things: Rainy (Stormy) Friday Evening Edition

Doesn’t it feel like November all of the sudden? A few leaves left over. It’s dark early and this year, I am all in. As soon as we get home, we light candles and turn on the fire, the girls tell us their highs and lows at the dinner table, and we snuggle in for the night. Yesterday I may have had my pajamas on at 4:00 PM. It was a particularly stormy day though and the girls and I were in for the evening at 3:45. We had a tea party with our pajamas on shortly thereafter.

A mid-week Veteran’s Day is actually pretty wonderful. A slightly weird but wonderful mid-week break. Telfer and I tagged-teamed the day. The girls just wanted to stay home. We made this gingerbread turkey from Trader Joe’s in the morning. SO cute! I almost texted my mom and sisters to say that we could forgo pumpkin pie this year and I could save this turkey for Thanksgiving dessert. Good idea? The girls so love this type of thing. I stayed with them in the morning and early afternoon until Telfer got home and then I closed the shop while he stayed home. Then I brought home Indian takeout to enjoy with Telfer after the girls went to bed. Pretty much a great day. I did manage to shear off my key in the shop door while pushing in our red carts. Not my finest moment. Those carts are heavy and the push in is on an incline. I could tell a cart was stuck on something but that didn’t stop me from pushing as hard as I could. My arm muscles are still sore! Had to call the locksmith the next morning. Classic me. Just keep pushing until *something* happens…

All I have to say here is how cute are Cate and Jane’s school pictures this year?

This last week I did a Pinterest project that actually turned out well. I used tie-dye on these tags. I plan to use them at the shop for our wrapping and at home for our personal Christmas presents. They turned out so pretty, maybe especially in person.

Telfer has been traveling again this week – he comes home tonight! I spent yesterday evening paying bills, doing paperwork and catching up on email and all the little detritus that comes back and forth from the shop to our house. My home office has a comfortable chair for reading and a desk area. It’s only a closet (with a window!) but it’s my favorite space in my whole house. Even an hour spent here makes my whole day better. George was sleeping on our bed, Jane on the sofa outside my room and Cate in her bed next to our room. Such a sweet couple of hours, to be quietly working with most of my loves nearby.

Confession: I am finished with my Shelf Project #2 except for these two books. Ann Patchett told me to read Independent People. She said it was her favorite and very brilliant and I tend to listen to Ann Patchett. I have actually fallen asleep in the BATHTUB trying to read Independent People as well asleep on so many nights in my actual bed. And I am on page 47. I am not saying Ann Patchett is wrong or that I am a useless reader but during this season of my life, Independent People may not be for me. As for the Penelope Fitzgerald biography, maybe I should have read the bio first and then the novels? I read the novels and my Penelope Fitzgerald moment has clearly passed. Again, maybe during a different season. It’s okay to postpone. Of course there will be a Shelf Project #3. Stay tuned.

This is such a cliche but this bookseller spent an evening this week watching You’ve Got Mail while messing about with boxes and boxes of books. The inventory project is going well. I would say overall, the shop is more than 70% inventoried but the online books are more like 90% inventoried. I think I have said this before but the previous owner used an extensive sticky note and handwritten notebook system to keep track of the online books. I could (can) barely deal. I am now on notebook #4 of #4 and my goal is to be done by Friday. I had to take down all the online books and start from scratch, finding each one of these books on the shelf, but I am happy to report the descriptions are better and sales are amazingly higher. It’s such a gratifying and concrete project. Next up: decorating the shop for the holidays. Such a busy and fun time of the year.