My Third Place

Show us a candle burning.

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Guess what?  My hubby has decided to start blogging and has joined Vox.  Go on over to his site and give him some Vox love!

451 Press is holding a commenting contest from now through January 31st.  If you leave a comment on any 451 Press blog (a quality comment-no spam!) you are automatically entered into a random drawing.  One lucky commenter will win $500 and five other commenters will win $100 each.  You can read the details here.

Seriously, this is such an easy way to get some fast cash and maybe recover a little from the holidays.  Why not jump on over to 451 Press now and leave some comments?  You can start at Tot TV Watch (shameless plug) and then check out some of the other great blogs over there.  Who knows?  You might just find some new daily reads.

What is one of your addictions?
Submitted by Paperheart.

My biggest addiction is the internet!  Even when I should be diligently working away (like right now) I find myself checking e-mail, blogs, and even news sites to see what else is going on in the world.  My day is not complete until I have logged on for a while.

Audio:  Share one of your favorite songs from 2006.

Show us your pride and joy.
Submitted by ::c::.

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I've written this entry about ten times now and it just doesn't seem to come out the way I want it to.  Basically, I want to tell you all to please come visit my new blog.  I have accepted a blogging position over at the new blog network 451press.com.  The new blog is called Tot TV Watch and I'll be writing about children's TV shows.  Please come visit and leave me some love.  I know it's not the most interesting topic for some of you but I could really use your support.  The site is covered in ads, but that's how I get paid so I hope they aren't too bothersome.  Feel free to click on as many as you would like.

The scary part about all of this is that I'm using my real name and leaving my anonymity behind.  I would like to make one little request though.  Please don't mention this blog if you leave a comment over there, okay?  I'm going to share the new site with my family and would prefer that they stay over there and don't end up here.

And, if you are so inclined, feel free to check out some of the other blogs over at 451press.  I've already "met" some really nice people over there.

Love, Pain & the whole crazy thing

Keith Urban

I am loving Keith Urban's newest release, "Love, Pain & the whole crazy thing".  I especially love track # 7, Stupid Boy.  It reminds me of a relationship I was once in.  If you get a chance you should check it out.

I tend to be a collector.  Some people call me a pack rat (okay, even I call myself a pack rat) because I collect so many things.  I think I inherited this tendency from my maternal grandmother.  She was fond of collecting things too.  In fact, when we helped her move from her house into a smaller apartment several years ago I was amazed at the amount of stuff she had crammed into her small little house.

I remember going to my Grandma's house when I was a kid and wondering why she had so much junk laying around.  Her house always seemed to be a mess because there was stuff everywhere.  It was so bad at times that I didn't even want to be there.  There was hardly anywhere to sit because all of the stuff was taking over.

Now I walk through my own house and feel the same way except now I understand a little better.  I like my stuff.  I like my collections of things.  Whether it be things from my childhood, my Coca-Cola memorabilia, my pens, my guitars, or even my books, I just like my stuff.

I have recently been going through the house and digging through my things trying to get rid of some of the junk that seems to be taking over.  As I sort through boxes of old memories I get so nostalgic.  I want to get rid of things, but I am just so attached to them.  I can't bear to part with the things I have been collecting throughout my life.  Some things are easily tossed, but others just have too many memories attached.

One of the collections I have been trying to sort through is my book collection.  I love to read, but rarely have the time to so when I find a book I want to read I buy it instead of checking it out of the library.  It generally takes me months to get through a book so it just makes more sense to buy it.  The result of this is that I have shelves and shelves full of books that I have purchased and never read.

When I was in college, I got into a Stephen King phase and purchased about 12 of his books that I really wanted to read.  A few months ago I started sorting through them and realized I had only read about 3 1/2 of those books.  I started on a couple more of them but never was able to really get into them.  Even though I enjoy the books more, it is so much faster (and easier) just to watch the movies.

I have so many books laying around that I have never read.  I look at them and think, "Wow, I've had that book a long time.  I should really read it." but then I never do it.  So they sit there collecting dust.  Then I find a new book that I'm interested in, buy it, and let it sit around until one day I decide to pick it up and read it.  The good part of this is that when I'm really in the mood to read I always have something on hand.  The bad part is that I have stacks and stacks of books laying around my house all the time.

Recently, I've really been in the mood to read.  There are some new books that have come out that I'm very interested in as well as a few that I've had my eyes on for a while.  Thanks to the Amazon gift card I won on Blingo and the 30% off sale that my book club was having, I was finally able to purchase a few of them.  Two of them have already come in the mail and I am anxiously awaiting the other two.  The only problem is that I'm in the middle of 3 other books and I won't let myself start another one until I finish at least two of those.  One is a cheesy romance novel that my sister gave me but the other two are a little more serious and are taking me longer to get through.  To be perfectly honest, I have only gotten through the introduction of this one.

I am hoping that this weekend, while my husband is out of town, I can find some quiet reading time and try to finish up a couple of those books so that I can move on to my new ones.  I just can't decide which one to start reading first.  Here are the choices:

Any suggestions?