Saturday, May 17, 2008

Kill the Blues and Your Pocketbook Too

Well I'm back at it again. That age old remedy that women are so fond of using to cure a case of the blues. I went shopping. At Amazon.com!

This past week, along with a lot of the US population, my government rebate hit my bank account. :) Yes, I now have a little extra cash. Part of me wonders how we are going to end up paying for that later, but I loathe political commentary and discussion almost as much as I hate shot needles, so we aren't going there. I promptly put the money in my savings account. Now I've spent about a 3rd of it. On what you ask? Silly question. Books of course!

For a while now I've been wanting a New Zealand Prayerbook. It's all JS's fault. If she hadn't posted that beautiful prayer from it when I needed it so much, I'd never have known the darn book existed. When I realized how cool the book was I went looking around for one. Those things just never go on sale. There seems to be a standard price for them which is about $31. The other day I was telling my friend Susan that I thought an apartment blessing by Robert, my priest, might help me fend off the blues when sitting at home alone. The reason this place gives me the blues is another long story but I got that idea from two sources at once, my PC and my own heart. So I'm planning on having one in the not too distant future. And Susan told me there was a lovely house blessing service in the New Zealand Prayerbook. So now I had another reason to get it. And suddenly I have cash! Oooohh! Google and find the cheapest prices, there were none, so Amazon.com here I come.

Once at the Amazon site I promptly located the much desired book. Yes, I'd checked out the local bookstore too. It had way too many books and not enough info. Amazon offered free shipping. When I looked down the page for shipping details and other stuff (always read the fine print from the editor/publisher), I discovered it was also sold with a celtic book of some sort. Then I remembered when we had that wonderful celtic book sale at Church after the service by Reverend Newell.


There had been a Celtic Daily Prayer book. And if I remembered right, it had Morning Prayer, Evening Prayer, Eucharist, and communion in it. So with dreams of doing a Celtic version of Morning Prayer I went looking for that one too. Amazon had it and low and behold, it was on sale. At 30% off! Now it's in my shopping cart too. Yay! I can do all kinds of prayers and healing services. It didn't seem to have any Celtic House Blessings but I'm sure something can be adapted. One of the reasons I selected this particular book instead of another one by a well known author is because it is by an entire community and seemed to have some extras in it. By all means go and check out the look inside that Amazon gives.


Then I remembered that good Sir Paschal, had suggested The Artist Way as a book to inspire and help one maintain an air of creativity and spirituality. So I went looking for that too. I found lots of versions but one was The Complete Artists Way. This one had 3 of the books and when I looked inside there were lots of small chapters and exercises too. So, of course that was put into the shopping cart too. It also was on sale. By now my total is well past the $50 mark. I told myself I should pay my bill and leave. But my sensibilities told me I had one more necessary purchase to make.


For the past few weeks I've been carrying my beloved digital camera around in my tote bag taking it to work with me. I'd not been able to find time to wander outside to use it but it was there nonetheless, building the good habit of taking my camera with me at all times(Thank you, David!). The bad thing about that is the tote bag was filled with all sorts of stuff and not a safe place for camera view screens. So I badly needed a camera case. That too is available from the font of all shopping mavens. Searching for a proper camera case for my Canon PowerShot, I found too many extravaganza's with lots of extras I didn't need, and very few real cases until I typed in the model. Then I had 5 choices of which 2 were cases, one of which was out of stock. The instock one was leather and promised to fit my model. But it had no photos. The unavailable one looked exactly the same but in a different color. Oh well, I looked anyway. It had pictures, uploaded by a past customer. And it was the exact same case but in blue. Mine will be gray. It was also available used for about half the price. So of course it is on order too. Now I'll be able to attach the camera to my belt or something suitable and protect it from mishaps while having it available. I feel good about that.

So you think I might be done shopping? Probably not! I need some milk products from the grocery store and I have a really cool 15% coupon for Barnes & Noble, plus a membership, and there is surely a wonderful next book in one of the various werewolf, or vampire series I seem to be so fond of reading these days. That will probably be my next stop. Besides, it's right around the corner from Bath & Body Shop and I just happen to be out of soap. On top of that there are some awesome movies I want to see, among them are Prince Caspian, Indiana Jones 4, and Spiderwick Chronicles.

And I've got still more blogging to do. A while back Terry tagged me for a meme I've not gotten around to. So that's next on my list. You can't say no when it's a friend. Then David suggested that because my dad is writing his memoirs on the web site of the 100th Bomb Group (yep, a genuine first source for you history buffs, just look for posts by Bill Kennedy) and I mentioned that I'd run link trainers when I was in the Navy that perhaps I could write a post on that. So I've said okay to that too. Looks like I'll be busy for a while.

12 comments:

Sandi McBride said...

I think that would be amazing my dear Lee...and I have enjoyed reading your Dad's entries, plus others...I have a thing for History...my son's major in college was history and no one can figure how he became a Newspaper man...course he tells them that todays news is yesterday's history...did I rear a smart kid or what? I can't wait to read about your Naval experiences...but then I could be biased...yeah, I think I am...
hugs
Sandi

murat11 said...

Nice little trip through your shopping brain there, Lee.

NZ BCP + Celtic BCP = A liturgy for ALL of us.

Lee said...

Sandi, I'm so glad you like my Dad's stuff. I love reading them too. Every time I do I learn something new that seems to tie me and my father closer together and proving just how much I resemble him both genetically and through upbringing.

Yes, it does sound like you've raised one VERY smart kid! Congratulations.

You biased? LOL Well, my dear, when it comes to you, so am I.

Hug fest!

Lee said...

Thanks, Paschal! That's my hope. I'd really love to see Robert do another Celtic mass and I know that I can do a Celtic Morning Prayer sometime when it's just me...which it usually is come to think of it. :-)

Peace! Hope! & Joy!

San said...

When the going gets tough, the tough go shopping. I heard that on a sit com in the 70s I think. Must be a germ of truth in there.

"The Artist's Way"--I read that quite a few years ago and really enjoyed it. I should look at it again. Your other books sound nourishing too. I'd forgotten about your dad's stories. Thanks for reminding me.

Question: what kind of soap did you buy?

Lee said...

'Tis true San! Shopping makes you feel better. And it's easier on the waistline than some other sources of comfort.

Let me know your favorite parts of the Artist's Way will you? I'll share mine.

You're welcome. Hope you got some good stories out of my dad's writings.

Moonlight Path Moisturizing bar. It's a lovely creamy pale lavender and smells so good!

Hugs!

Unknown said...

Thanks for visiting my blog and leaving a kind comment. I appreciate that. You have a great blog here, nice stories and great photos.

Have a nice week!
Greeting from Norway.

david mcmahon said...

David Livingstone would be so proud of you - exploring the Amazon!!

Been enjying your Dad's writing too - please do tell him that.

Lee said...

John,

Thank you for the kind words. And for coming over to visit. Please feel free to visit any time you like.

Peace!

Lee said...

David! Thanks for the cheerful accolade. :)

I've forwarded your comment on to my Dad. Thanks ever so much! We're very proud of him!

Cheers!

Cath said...

And long may your busyness continue! It is us that benefits when you are busy on the blog.

Nothing like a good shop though. Especially books - go girl!

Lee said...

Thank you, Cath! You're kind words mean so much to me.

I'll let you guys know when the books get here. :)

Joy!