In Which I Name Names

My name is Stephanie and I'm a bookaholic.

Wait. You already know that part.

And you also know that I have been trying to cure myself. You remember our little conversation--the one when I told you that I was running out of room to store my books and I promised to quit getting more.

Wait, never mind. I'm pretty sure that conversation was with Captain America. And I think he was telling me that I had run out of room and that I had to quit getting more. Whatever.

I have been trying, though. And backsliding. But it's not my fault. Honest. I am surrounded by enablers. Like the enabler nice library lady who called the other day to say they had 3 boxes of RDCBs with my name on them. How do you turn something down when they say "with your name on them"??

And there's my enabler friend, Kellee, who called the other day to say she had found some beauties on her vacation. How are you going to turn down books that someone schlepped around on their vacation just for you? And especially when she had to convince her husband that schlepping them around just for you on their vacation was a good thing. And especially when one of them was this big!

But she was right--it's a beauty!
Check out the embossed alphabet on the cloth cover...

...front and back.

Happy sigh...

And then there's my enabler pew-mate Taunya, who caught me at church the other day to say she had brought me a set of encyclopedias--a whole, beautiful set, with gold embossed spines. A set that glitters on my shelves waiting its turn to be transformed into a magnificent work of art. One set. I promised myself I could do just one set, and that would be it.

Until Karen called on Tuesday.

She said that someone had just brought a bunch of RDCBs to the church rummage sale and I could have first dibs at them if I wanted. She said they were waiting at the church in a box "with your name on them."

Karen knows just how to enable play me.

And man, check out these stunners that were in the box!

Seahorses! Seahorses, I tell you! Really, Captain America, how can you expect me to turn down seahorses??

And then Wednesday was the official opening day of the rummage sale, so I had to go back and see what else was available. Just doing my part for the church. Right?

And score!

This one's going to be another Eiffel tower.

And this tiny, tiny book has sparkly embossed edges that just might be long enough to fold one word.

And I found this roughed up, but still very foldable Complete Works of Shakespeare!

And I think I might spell "History" with this one for a favorite teacher or professor?

And I got this one because have you ever noticed how pretty pages can be when they are covered with standard mathematical tables? You can just get lost in them. And make beautiful flowers with them.

Or the word "Actuary."

Happy sigh.

And then I heard a voice coming from near the cashier table. "Hey, Stephanie, look what I've got for you over here." 

It was Kellee.

I tried to walk away. Honest, Captain America. In fact I thought about it for a good half second, before I realized she was holding a book, and I hurried over.

It was an RDCB. From 1961. My year. And check out those titles.

.

But I promise that was it.

Except for this one. I bought this one, too because, well, who else is gonna buy a book that big and I didn't want the church to be stuck with it. And I was pretty sure my original enabler, Barb, would approve.

And just as I started to feel the tiniest bit guilty that I had so many books, Kellee told me that she had convinced the other cashier to order two customized books. Whoo-hoo!

A new order! And two more books I'm going to have to replace.