The snow fell in big puffs, like smoke pouring backward from the sky to the ground. The sky was silent, gray, looming.

A quick flip of the switch and the room became warm and friendly as the glowering sky retreated from the lights. She hurried in quickly. In preparing everything for her housewarming, she’d left the bookcases for last, but she had a half hour now to decide which books to unpack first.

She quickly cut open the tape on the first box. She smiled as she looked inside, and ran her fingers lightly over the spines. Fairy tales. She hesitated – would her neighbors understand an adult loving fairy tales? What message did she want her bookcase to convey to her new neighbors?

Who doesn’t love fairy tales, she decided, and gave them the shelf just below the middle – not too high for children, not too low for adults. Maybe one of her neighbors had children. They’d stop by after school for a muffin and a story….

Next came non-fiction, stories about all the social issues she hoped to help change. Those were definitely going in the bookcase. Second highest shelf, just above the reach of younger children, but in sight for the teenagers and adults. Philosophy came next, fitting comfortably next to the non-fiction.

Just enough time for one more shelf – she opened the box and frowned. Cookbooks. Did she really want those in this room, rather than the kitchen? Was there a place in the kitchen for them? She grabbed a few and went to see.

There was the counterspace…. but she needed that for preparing food. Windowsill? But she wanted the light. She settled for putting them in the bookshelf, but promised to think of a better solution later.

She stashed the opened boxes, did a quick survey of all the rooms – was everything in place? The kitchen table was close to full, but she’d left some open spots – Mrs. M– downstairs had promised to bring pie, and some of the other neighbors might bring food as well, so she had dishes on hand. Her mug tree was full, and although she had coffee brewing she was willing to bet her neighbors would want to try her home-pressed cider.

She took a deep breath. This was going to go well. The walls were colorful and warm, the dishes were bright, the food smelled wonderful, and the entire apartment smelled like perfectly spiced cider. If nothing else, the food would be a hit.

To be continued…

I remembered a book I left off the list yesterday! It was too good to leave off.

Front of the Class: How Tourette Syndrome Made Me the Teacher I Never Had by Brad Cohen and Lisa Wysocky

This is a really inspirational book, and it gave me a lot of food for thought regarding my own abilities as a teacher. It also gave me a much clearer perspective on Tourette’s and on how the general population reacts to disabilities, and why they react that way.

I haven’t written haiku in years, and never seriously. But for some reason I’m inclined to. This isn’t a particularly great one, nor does it exactly follow the traditional rules. But it’s a starting place for picking up my writing again.

Light through water glass

Wavering shine on ceiling

Cat’s head back and forth

During brunch at Barnes and Noble the other day, I watched a book club finishing up their meeting. I like the idea of a monthly book club.. maybe I’ll find one to join.

In any case, I thought I’d share my current tower of books The titles link to Amazon. This list does not include the books I haven’t started yet… that would be much longer. Actually, I’m probably forgetting some books that should be on this list.

The Twilight Saga by Stephenie Meyer

I consumed this four-book series in about a week, primarily in several-hour stretches at the cafe after work and on weekends. I will never watch the movie because I love the books. Sorry, Ema and Abba… the vampire fixation never wore off.

The Woman Who Can’t Forget: The Extraordinary Story of Living with the Most Remarkable Memory Known to Science–A Memoir by Jill Price and Bart Davis

When I picked this up, I was expecting something akin to examples from Psychology 101. I found this to be primarily a memoir with some interesting memory research thrown in. A fairly good book, but I didn’t love it.

Please Stop Laughing At Me…: One Woman’s Inspirational Story by Jodee Blanco

This book is amazing. It’s based in the author’s own personal experiences growing up and being bullied, but I think it could speak to anyone who has ever gone through the painful process of growing up and navigating the social hierarchy of school. On a side note, this is also a great resource I found: www.rachelschallenge.com

Gaining: the truth about life after eating disorders by Aimee Liu

I’m still in the first quarter of this book, but I’m enjoying it a lot. I’ve always been interested in this topic, and I’m learning a great deal. I think it’s a great book for enhancing personal self-awareness.

And for something more relaxed… manga! My current manga obsession is called chibi Vampire by Yuna Kagesaki