Kids really get in the way of getting a lot of reading done.

After I made my list of books that I have already, I decided to start with my Martha Grimes murder mysteries. They are fast reads, and I figured I could knock my list down a bit fairly quickly. And I did get two books read in 2 days. Not bad, huh? Unfortunately (for my book reading, not in any other way), my kids came back from their dad’s on the third day. They had been gone for 4 days, and I was so glad to see them. I even had the rest of the week off, from Tuesday to Friday, not to mention the weekend, to spend extra time with them. So, I did. We had lots of fun, visiting Max’s daycare that is closing so that he could say goodbye to his teachers one last time, finishing our Christmas shopping, visiting Santa (where we got a great picture, btw—I will have to figure out how to post it here), visiting friends and family, and just generally hanging out together. Did I mention shopping? You know that has to include a trip to the bookstore, so now, after a little over a week and with 2 books completed, my list has gone from 42 books-to-be-read to 43.

The kids went back to their dad’s on Sunday, but I have still not finished the book that I started before they came back. Part of the reason for that is that I actually started another book during the time they were here. We were at home, and I had left my mystery in the car, which was all the way down in the garage, three flights of stairs away, so I started one that I had in the apartment. Then, there were all the family activities that occur around Christmas to take up my time. And after I finished with those, I went to Max’s new daycare and painted, to help them get ready for the licensing walkthrough that will be taking place tomorrow. And somewhere in all of that, I watched 4 episodes of Babylon 5 on dvd. That was a lot of fun, but I really don’t have time for two recreational activities!

So, maybe I am not being fair to the kids. Even after they went to their dad’s again, I didn’t manage to finish another book (although I did commit to the mystery and get much further in it). And, hey, I read Two Little Trains, by Margaret Wise Brown, all the way through. Plus, Millie Moo and Tickle the Duck. See, the kids are good for me completing books, not bad!