Dog days, too, but there is much to celebrate in our family in August, as that is when my mother and both my sons were born (my uncle and sister-in-law too, I might add).  Not  surprising when you consider that August has the highest number of births of all the months of the year.  Really, it’s true.  You can look it up.

Wednesday, we feted my mother with a lunch out at Boscos at the River Market in Little Rock. But let me back up a bit to show you how this wordamour family celebrates a birthday. First, we stopped at the Main Branch of the Little Rock library where we trolled the shelves for the newest fiction, non fiction and manga releases and walked out carrying books up to our chins. We LOVE this library.

So, we had to put the books in the car first and then head over to Boscos, where lunch was delicious but, to my tween’s chagrin, the macaroni and cheese was the real stuff and not Kraft. Oh well, that was $6.95 down the drain. But I digress.

Next, was the Cox Creative Center across the street, a huge gently-used bookstore and cool gift depository we wandered for another forty five minutes–emerging with another smaller pile of tomes. Sadly enough, when we asked if they knew of any other used bookstores in the area, so we could continue our tour, we were told that there were no other used bookstores left in Little Rock. They suggested some in Conway.  But since we’re from Conway, and can go to those bookstores any old time, we decided to head for . . .

West Little Rock to finish up at Barnes and Noble. On the way there, both kids discussed what kinds of books they wanted to buy when they got there. “You know, ” I remarked dutifully, “just because we’re going to a bookstore doesn’t automatically mean you’re getting one.” “I know, I know,” they said, just as dutifully, humoring me all the while because they understand that in our family, unlike any other retail outlet, if we stop at a book store, it pretty much does mean you’re getting one. I just had to say the other stuff to keep up my image as a not too indulgent mama.

We all walked out happy, me with the newest Artful Blogging (which profiled two of my faves, Inspire Company and SouleMama) and Jill Butler’s Wandering Paris, the kids with their manga, and my mom with some education books (not very fun I know, but she’s getting ready to take over the helm of a k-8 private school in NLR so she’s gearing up).

Today is my tween’s birthday–and he is still a tween but not for much longer. He is pretty much as tall as me now. Sigh. It seems like only yesterday he was chomping on his winnie-the-pooh paci like a cigar. This growing up stuff is hard on parents. Anyway, the plan today is lunch at his restaurant of choice, school supply shopping, bowling, and a family dinner at his restaurant of choice. And gifts of course, more books, books books– The Time Traveler’s Journal, The DaVinci Kit and a subscription to shonen jump.
A day spent with family and books equals a day well spent!

Bye y’all,
SV
PS I just discovered my book, (with Kelly Ritter) on EBAY of all places. No kidding, the bidding is open until August 12. Check it out here. But god forbid, if you want to buy it, go to Barnes and Noble.com , it’s almost 4 dollars less. Sorry Ebay–but if it’s sold by a reseller, our sales don’t go up at all and we need every single sale we can get. Not that we get any money at all from it, we don’t; it was our first book and Heinemann was calling the shots. But if we want to publish any more, we need decent sales.
But Ebay . . . as an Ebayer myself, I find that weirdly exciting.