Progress on New Year's Goals Thus Far

As I mentioned in a prior post, I have decided to read all the unread books I own before acquiring any new ones. This means no random books tossed in the cart while perusing Target, no trips to the library, no borrowed books on friends' recommendations. This hasn't been too hard, yet. I decided to start out easy. I have had the Anne of Green Gables series since I was a child and I've never read it. I realize this is insane because I think most little girls have read these by the time they're 11. I never got around to it. So, I have just completed the third book (Anne of the Island) in the series and they are delightful!

I did have a dilemma last month, however. I was taking a road trip to New Orleans (horrible place, I don't recommend it but I digress) and I love to have an audio book when I travel. But, I was determined to stay true to my goal. So, I got the first two books in the Anne series (Anne of Green Gables and Anne of Avonlea) on audio from the library. I continued to ponder if I was really reading the book if I listened to it instead. But, as my cousin Gary said, "When you read a book you acquire the information between the 2 covers and listening to a book affords you the same goal." My cousin Pam reiterated this, and she is the Library Director at Crichton College, so I consider her an expert.

So, now as the rest of the Anne series isn't on audio book I am reading the rest of the "real" books at home. I enjoy having an audio book while I drive from appointment to appointment (in sales, you spend a lot of time on the car) so I got The Secret Garden on audio for during the work day. Yes, I know it's a travesty I've never read it either. Don't worry, my childhood wasn't completely void of children's classics. I read and re-read the Little House series, all the Roald Dahl books and others.

After I finish Anne and The Secret Garden, I am going to start Sherlock Holmes.

Text Etiquette

When I text message I have to type out things correctly. I cannot send messages that look like the following:
where r u?
lol
omg
and so on and so on

I must always use correct punctuation and capitalization. Sure, there are a few times (ie while driving) where I might slip up and not capitalize. But, for the most part I must text just like I write. Am I the only person out there that feels this way?

Tourist in my own city

This past weekend my good friend Lisa came into town. We had so much fun staying up til 2am her first night, catching up. Friday we went to the Grizzlies game and Saturday we went to Graceland. Saturday night we went down to Hernando and cooked out and played games at Brett and EmilyBlair's house. Lots of fun! Graceland was awesome. I felt like Chandler on Friends when complains about going to the Statue of Liberty and all the touristy stuff in NYC and then comes back decked out in all the NYC merchandise and says "New York City is awesome!" I always say that native Memphians don't do Graceland, yada yada yada... But I forgot how good of a tour it is! They have put a lot of effort into it. Lisa and I found ourselves wanting to buy everything in the giftshop. We refrained and only left with Elvis 75th birthday koozies, magnets and matches. A good time had by all!

Grizzlies game

Graceland!

Lisa Marie Delozier with the "Lisa Marie"

Peacock living room

Stairway up to the secret upstairs they won't take you to.

Dining room.

Pool room. Note how the fabric on the walls and ceiling is the same as the furniture.

The infamous Jungle Room.

Me and Lisa with our 75th Birthday koozies on our Woodchucks.

I don't know why Bryan looks so unhappy, the boys won Trivial Pursuit.