Library - Under my Bed?!

Recently, I was talking with my mother about books, which we often do, and I was mentioning that I really missed having bookshelves in my house. I hadn't been able to get any and I want ones that are skinnier so that they blend into the wall so as not to take up much room. I guess I'd really like them built in. I know I'm probably being too picky, I'm sure, but I like an open, clean look around my house - although you'd never guess that if you saw my house right now but anyway... She gave me a great idea!
My mom has dubbed herself the "Paperback Queen" and she has a lot of paperbacks! Anyway, she has used ordinary boxes and cut them to size to fit under her bed. She has filled them with books and she reads all of them eventually! She told me once that she has read as many as 25 books in a month!
This is really incredible for her as she became overlooked in school and she didn't really learn to read until she was in the 5th grade! She said school was so challenging for her until she learned to read! Reading was something magical and incredible to her and she conveyed that to us as children, I believe. I remember when I was young, she always stressed reading and she made sure that I knew how to read. She took us to the library often. Reading and gaining education, even a self-education, was so important to her even though she doesn't have a college degree. I think she helped me realize this and I am so thankful to her for that.
She buys all of her books on sale or at thrift stores like I do as well. It's become sort of a hobby - collecting books and we share what we read often. When I go visit her, I take some of my books for her to borrow and she gives me some too. It's been fun to do this!
So, now I've been cutting up boxes and organizing all my books. I've enjoyed this little task and so now I have a library under my bed. Perhaps, I'll sleep better now. Anything you'd like to check out? You're welcome to it!

Just for fun, here's a funny little blog post out of UK that is sort of about Heathcliff, one of the classic characters from Wuthering Heights that I'll never forget:
Look!

Honeybees and Stings Part 2

This is completely ironic since I just wrote about my memories as a child with honeybees recently, yesterday(Sept. 4th), I was stung by a bee! So, I now realize that I forgot how much it really hurts! Ouch!
I called my dad, since he's a beekeeper, to ask him about it since I'm limping around and it's swelling so much. I had told him how the bee's stinger was stuck in my knee where it stung me and he asked if I had pinched it out or scratched it. Well, I had pinched it out and apparently that releases more venom into the area so that's why it has swollen even more. If the stinger gets stuck in you then you are supposed to scratch it out instead. So, there's something to remember - scratch the stinger out! I know I'll be fine and I feel bad that the bee most likely died since it lost its stinger but I want to scream also. Hopefully, in a few days, it will stop swelling and heal. Then I'll forget about the hurt of the sting once again and go back to liking honey.
I was with Hope when I was stung by the honeybee because it happened at the dentist office parking lot. I started to reminisce and this experience took me back in time to 7th grade when I was stung by a yellow jacket about six times at the school bus stop. It had crawled up my pant leg and became trapped and just kept stinging away. It was in the same knee, my right one, and I remember it swelling pretty bad too. I had to actually pinch the yellow jacket in my pant leg until it died and stopped stinging me. I was afraid to let go of it on the bus full of jr. high school students. I didn't want to scream out or draw any attention to myself about the situation or risk the very real possibility of being teased. So, I held the yellow jacket firmly in my pant leg until I got home and let go. I saw that it was huge and then I screamed. My mom was scared and came to help me. I can still feel the cold ice packet that she put on it. I was relieved for a bit. She still remembers that experience also. I've lived through being stung a few times now, I can do it again. Wish me luck!
Btw, Hope did great at getting her filling at the dentist. She was a darling patient and didn't have the laughing gas either by her own insistence, they told me. Hope, you always impress me!