Rainy Sunday.

It's a rainy Sunday, and I was pretty productive for the first part of the day with church, the gym, and lunch. I should be tackling my to-do list. Much to do between now and Tuesday morning to get ahead for school and grad class work.

Instead, I keep finding myself here.

Cozy. Curled up with Belle under a quilt my mom made, reading a book. The book is the February book club book and told by a dog. I love it already because I love doggies. My mom made the quilt with all of my favorite Alpha Chi t-shirts, and it is Victoria-long enough for snuggling with a book and Belle.

I'm proud to say this is my third book already for the month of January. Abbey loaned me a lovely book, Day After Night, when I was home at break. It's the story of Jewish women after the Holocaust and their new lives in Israel. They were actually forced to live for awhile in an internment camp, and it is a neat piece of historical fiction. It was fun to read while I have been teaching the Diary of Anne Frank because my students were actually sort of interested in the book their teacher was reading. Normally they could care less about the books I read. Sigh.

This morning I finished Pearl S. Buck's classic, The Good Earth. In 2008, I had it checked out from the Johnson County public library for about 5 months. Sometime during 2009 I picked it up at my favorite used bookstore on the whole planet, Capitol Hill Books. (I'll take you there if we go to Eastern Market because it is marvelous.) I really did enjoy The Good Earth, but I still haven't decided why. It wasn't scandalous like the Chinese fiction written today by Lisa See or Anchee Min. But it was sort of epic and the words were well placed.

I might will myself to make soup now. Or these chocolate & cherry cookies I've been eying. Then head back to the quilt, my book, and hopefully Belle.