I Did a Bad, Bad Thing.....Again

Hello, my name is Kristin and I'm an addict.  My addiction is to books.  I'm a bibliophile and there doesn't seem to be any rehab facility catering to that addiction.  No matter how many moratoriums I put on the purchase of books, I fall off the wagon and paper cuts ensue.

My Mom (aka Betty, Betty Jane, La Bette, The Queen Mother) reminded me yesterday there was a time I came home from school and announced I didn't want to learn how to read.  Intelligent woman that she is, she decided to pull a little reverse psychology and told me, "That's fine, but then when you grow up and can only get a job as a topless waitress you won't even be able to make your truck driver of a husband a box cake because you won't be able to read the directions."  And with that, she went back to doing whatever she was doing before my oh-so-full-of-my-six-year-old-self made my grand declaration.  As we all know, mothers get blamed for everything.  So, my addiction really isn't my fault, it's my Mom's.  Thanks, Mom.


Yesterday the happy box with my next fix arrived.  Inside, underneath the lovely packing pillows full of air, were Farmer Jane: Women Changing the Way We Eat by Temra Costa and Twelve By Twelve: A One-Room Cabin Off the Grid & Beyond the American Dream by William Powers.  (Reviews to follow in the coming weeks)

Sometimes reading can be dangerous....at least for people like me.  After reading only three chapters of Twelve By Twelve and doing some searching on the Internet, I asked Dan just how crazy he thinks I am. Usually when I ask him something like that he looks like a deer caught in the headlights waiting to hear what I did or asks in his best Desi Arnaz imitation, "Lucy, what did you do?"  I had found the perfect place for us to buy in Maine!  The sweet, little cabin is located in Freedom (love the names of towns in Maine; Freedom, Hope, Liberty, Friendship, and Unity) on 17 acres and is only $59,000!  I've learned to lead with the things that might grab him.  Sadly, he knows me too well and quickly pulled it out of me that the "rustic" 400 square foot cabin has no electricity, no water, no heat....the one bright spot?....it does have an outhouse.  For some unknown reason, Dan didn't think this property would work for us.  Go figure.  It wasn't until later in the day that I realized no electricity means no television, no computer, and no Internet.  Maybe he was right.....this time.

Next stop.....Freedom, Maine

P.S.-- Before we went to sleep, I asked him again just how crazy he thinks I am.  This time he answered, "A whole lot crazier than I thought you were before you showed me that cabin."