The hardest part of being in a new place is the distance from my family and friends. I have never been more than an hour away from my family my whole life. And now suddenly I am 1100 miles away. 17 hours of driving away.
And now I'm 24 hours away from my best friend.
I'm so far from helping all of them when they need me most.
:(
Yes, I'm 28 (or will be in 29 days) but I am not afraid to admit I miss my mama. She has always been my rock, even when we were at each other's throat. So to be 1100 miles away hurts.
Especially now that she has back problems, shouldn't be picking up my wheelchair bound brother, and is in the process of moving the last of the stuff from VA to WV with my dad. She is struggling and I am not there to help lift the burden. I always help, I moved in twice and helped out for months on end, even after being married and having a baby. Because if the roles were reversed my Mama would do the same.
So to be in Louisiana and not be able to help is breaking my heart. Hoping I can convince my husband to let me go for a few weeks just to ease some of her stress. And to see my little brothers and sister, my dad, and enjoy the mountain air of WV....
So I will let you all in on a not-so-secret secret. I LOVE LIBRARIES!!
I grew up reading. My parents read to us as little children. When we were still required to have naps we were allowed to lay in bed quietly and read instead of sleep. And as I got older, my love of reading expanded from picture books to novels, science fiction, non-fiction. To sum it up, I would be found reading my dad's "National Review" or a cereal box if I didn't have a book readily accessible.
To this day I have more books than I know what to do with. I spend so much time reading that it is rubbing off on my 1 year old. She will grab her books and "read" them- even if they are upside down.
So to me libraries are almost as sacred as churches. I love the peace I get when I walk into one. All that information stored in one building. All the opportunities to expand my world from the comfort of my reading chair is almost too much for me.
And the library in Thibodaux is gorgeous. It has the cutest children section with a little log cabin but right into the building. It is a play house for kids! There is checkers and coloring available, storytime and lap time, and always fun events scheduled for my little Munchkin!
And the selection for me is WONDERFUL! I can't get over how prompt they are in getting me what I can't find. If they don't have it, they will get it. Which works for me!
And I love coming into the library, seeing the librarians, and they know my name, my daughter's name, and they will chat away with me. It gives me the constant feeling of small town USA.
And the big bonus? FREE books. Not just the borrowing ones. They sell books that aren't being read for a certain amount of time to make space for more books. 5¢ a book, 50¢ a DVD, magazines are free. But every month or two they give them away for free. I have walked away with hundreds (yes, hundreds) of books in the past few months. Children's book, history, art, science.... you name it, I grabbed it. I even have a book in Arabic because the pictures were just beautiful. I may break my own rule of not destroying a book and rip it up to frame some of the pages for the hallway. They were that pretty!
So, to sum this all up- the library down here may be small, but it still rivals the ones back home in style, selection, and atmosphere!!!!
