My Latest Obsession

I need to apologize to my husband and children for being essentially an absentee wife and mother since this time last week. I have been unable to clean anything, I have rarely cooked, and it has been plain, even to Amy, that my attention was somewhere besides here with them. See, last Tuesday I took the kiddos over to Mom and Dad's house to go swimming. When we were done in the pool and cleaning up after ourselves, I noticed a couple of books on Mom's shelf that my friend Reagan had mentioned in the past. When she first told me about them, what the basic premise of the story was, I was certain they were not something in which I would have any interest. But, as luck would have it, I have been looking for something to read, and then I happen upon the same books she had mentioned in my mother's house. Mom has pretty good taste in books; not that Reagan doesn't, but now I know of two or even three people who had read these books. I reasoned that Mom must have thought the first one was okay or she probably wouldn't currently be reading the third one in the series. So I borrowed books one and two. Folks, I read book one in about a day and a half, and the second one in even less time. Not short books, but five or six hundred pages each. I simply could NOT stop reading. After I finished those two, I was absolutely dying to get the rest of the story. The 4th book was released this past Saturday, and I certainly did stop on the way home from work at 7:30 in the morning (when I haven't slept in almost 24 hours) at my local Wal-Mart Supercenter to pick it up. Unfortunately, they didn't have book 3. I knew it would be available at Barnes & Noble or something, but it was still 7:30 in the morning and nothing was open. I knew Mom was still reading book 3 at home, but there was no way I could have waited for her to finish it so I could borrow that one too. So, I sent Phil out to the bookstore while I slept, he picked it up for me and I took it to work with me Saturday night. I had it finished by 10:00 the next morning. Once again, over 600 pages. So then I started book 4, which is the conclusion of the series. I finished it about 10 minutes ago. The relief I feel is incredible. And now I can go back to a normal life...maybe.

So what are these magical books that have held my almost undivided attention for the past week? The concept sounds so hokey--remember, I almost didn't read them based on how the concept sounded. It almost makes me cringe, but here goes...Teenage girl falls in love with teenage VAMPIRE. Chaos ensues. The title of the first book is Twilight by Stephenie Meyer. The others are New Moon, Eclipse, and Breaking Dawn. If you like Harry Potter, there is a good chance you will like these as well. If witches and wizards can exist in secret right along with "normal" humans, why not vampires? I am so glad I read these books, they are pretty entertaining, and not really what you might expect in a book about vampires, since that is not the main focus of the story.

I just realized that I may be telling you things you already know. Maybe I am the last person around who HASN'T heard how good these books are...hmmm.

Anyway, the obsession phase has let up, now that I have finished the entire story. I will no doubt read them again, but it shouldn't interfere with my life the way it has this past week, since I do know how it all ends. Once again, a big apology to my family. Mommy is back.