Ex libris

The other night Michael and I decided to be productive with our time and spend the evening going through boxes in the bonus room. These are random boxes stashed away there from various events, some left there since the move and some shoved up there to get them out of the way when guests have descended. We opened the first box and started unloading books. In the process of trying to determine whether these were books destined for giveaway or simply looking for space on the overflowing bookshelves, we started paging through the books. And, hang it all, rather than make any progress whatsoever toward de-cluttering our lives, we spent the whole evening on the floor of the bonus room reading our respective books.

I read Miss Manners' Complete Guide to Excruciatingly Correct Behavior, giggling repeatedly at the witticisms and reading occasional extracts aloud to Michael, who had heard of her but never read her writing ('She's kind of like a modern-day Jane Austen, without the British spelling'). Michael read a book on some particular WWII battle, occasionally pausing to show me interesting pictures or read some commentary. All in all, a thoroughly delightful evening. But not nearly as productive as intended.