Books are the blessed chloroform of the mind. ~ Robert Chambers ~

I'm sure you've noticed I haven't written anything since Friday. I'll let you in on one of my secrets: I love to read and when I'm reading a good book nothing exists for me, except my book and me. This past week, since I didn't have to wake up early to take the children to school, I've stayed every night till two or three in the morning reading a 1000 page book. Elijah wasn't very happy to go to bed on his own for six nights in a row, but he knows me by now and is very understanding of my other passion, one being him. There, I made up with him by stating he is my first passion. That's saying a lot knowing how much I love books, but I better stop there, before I dig myself into another whole. So, anyway, Saturday was spent finishing my book, Sunday we went to church, Monday was the day I had to do some extra schoolwork with the children (three hours after school plus two hours reading), and here we are Tuesday. I have to admit last week's entertainment left us little time for reading and studying. The tally for last week goes something like this: 4 field trips out of 6 days, only one hour reading per day to the children, no math or spelling, three cooked dinners out of 6, no laundry done, vacuum every other day, and the best, one long book finished (three to four hours reading per day; I was in heaven). Some of you have asked me where do I find my time to read. Well, if you noticed I don't watch TV. Elijah and I haven't watched TV in almost eight years. We watch a movie a month, sometimes two. I use the computer for my news, email and blog, altogether perhaps two hours per day. All this doesn't mean I don't like TV. On the contrary I absolutely love to watch shows, educational or just for fun. I used to watch not just history or national geographic channel, but a ton of other shows such as (here I'll expose my silly side which I'm sure you thought I didn't have) Golden Girls, Mash, Murder She Wrote, Friends, Everybody loves Raymond, 7th Heaven, Amazing Race, and many others. However, my passion for books is greater than my weakness for TV, and since I don't actually have time to do both, I choose reading. Reading for me is medicine for the soul and energizer for the mind. While I watch TV, my mind is passive, but when I read, I can feel my grey cells working in discerning, learning and imagining what the book is describing. Also, I retain more when I read than when I watch. Granted, not watching TV has made my laundry job undeniably hard (as opposed to folding clothes while watching TV). On the other side, I bet I know the African countries better than all of you (I have a world map above the laundry table where I fold, and the continent of Africa is on my eye level, and I can't help by look at those countries. It's getting boring actually, so I'll have to get back to listening to books on my ipod.) So, that's my short answer concerning reading time. It absolutely enriches my life. Just last night, I read to the children books that ranged from how to be a princess or a knight, to the lives of classical musicians, to how did Jazz start, to black death, to life during Renaissance, to Henry and Mudge, and ending with the amazing life of Jacques Cousteau. Isn't the world of reading electrifying? So, my last words for this post: Go and take yourself to a different place and time and meet new people with new strives and passions by reading a good book. (It would be great if you could share those great books with the rest of us, but make sure that they aren't over 1000 pages, otherwise Elijah won't be too happy. He needs his woman with him.) Have a great time!