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Thursday 21 January 2010

Before and After, or Books Books Books

* books on pregnancy mentioned *

A while ago I wrote about wanting to move my bookcase down to my entrance. One of these "little" projects in getting my place ready. So I stripped the bookcase of all the books, piling them up in the centre of the room, took the shelves down, gave it all a wipe, and.... nothing! Couldn't get on and felt completely stuck, was in a catch 22 - thought I would ask a male member of my family to help move it, but was not going to let any BIL of mine see my place.. On the other hand, I really couldn't start doing any work while all the books were in the centre and the bookcase was still here, they were just too much in the way (probably more mentally than physically).
And then, last weekend mother said lets do it! We can move the bookcase ourselves. And so we did :-). Took all the books outside to give them a wipe before putting them back on the shelves. Truth is I let my mother do most of the arranging of the books on the shelf, as I knew I would get lost there, not know how I want to do it, know how I don't and again be stuck (and while it is not right how they are arranged, I will leave it for now as it is. Really don't have the energy to start re-arranging). We (well I) did have time to worry about, as I "damped" all the books outside and needed it all done by day break. It started of as a nice and sunny day, but gradually got colder.. The next day (Sunday) it started to rain (well actually in the evening) and has been wintry ever since (notice my coat? I think I wore it about 4 or 5 times this winter!), so it was a good thing we got it done.
Showing here pictures of the before and after. Well not really before, more midway, but I'm not showing anymore "before" than that!

before


after


And books.. A while back I asked my sisters for pregnancy books. Sister#3 had just one book to give me (What to expect when expecting. Didn't like it at all as it is all the time talking about things to worry about. Thank you very much but I prefer not occupying my mind with what can go wrong and all) and sister #6.. well she gave me some booklets published by baby stuff manufacturers, one or two books for afterwards, and a book about pregnancy that I gave her! Was kind of disappointed. Anyway the other day she came with a whole load of books! So I'm now slowly reading into them all. One place they were talking about the history of knowledge, and it was quite funny to read how they once thought the baby was created solely within the female and the male just gave it nourishment, and then there was the thought (after seeing the sperm in a microscope for the first time) that the baby is entirely within the head of the sperm, and the female's job is summed up with providing the surrounding! And then (I think in the 16th & 17th century) these two theories were battling each other! But it is amazing how far we have gone in our knowledge. I mean that book was written in the 60s and conceiving through IVF was unheard of. And ultrasound images weren't around (though this book [and another one from the same time] is full of pictures of baby in womb. I guess they did have the technology back then, but it was not for "everyone's" use (not that the images we have today are close to the beautiful pictures in these books!).
And some of these books (as you might guess by them being from the 60s) were my mother's when she was expecting. Nice to have a little glimpse into her world back then. I mean I do ask a lot of questions, but nothing like peeking into the books she read..


And now, ladies and gentlemen, please go over to Mel's Show and Tell and read and look at all those lovely pictures and posts people are posting!

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

I had forgotten how many pregnancy books I'd accumulated over the years. It's amazing how much has changed in just the 10 years between my 2 babies!
I bet you're happy to cross one more little task off your list by getting that shelf moved!

Unknown said...

Doesn't it feel good to rearrange and get things organized? You've reminded me that I desperately need to buy some bookshelves. I got rid of my old ones when I moved into this place because I hated the old ones. Now I've had my books piled in boxes for nearly a year! lol

Once A Mother said...

i love the feeling of accomplishing getting something organized.

The Steadfast Warrior said...

I did the whole rearranging the bookcases thing. It was work! Good for you for getting it done. Doesn't it feel good? Have fun digging through the books- hope you find some good ones.

battynurse said...

Looks like a lot of work. I had some pregnancy books back when I first started trying but I've gotten rid of all of them. I'm with you though on reading the about what could happen stuff. Thanks, I already know way more than I want to thanks to being a nurse.

Jess said...

wow, you have a lot! and I love the rearranging you did.

Lollipop Goldstein said...

Mmmm--nothing makes me happier than a neat bookshelf. Congratulations on getting it moved and set up again.

Kristin said...

Congrats on getting it done. One pregnancy book I always found amusing was .

..Soo.See.. said...

Yay on getting it done! It makes me want to do mine, except my bookshelf broke in half, when HunHun decided to move it across the house w/ books still in it. It got caught between 2 floor tiles, and there went the top half on to the ground. :P So, it's been put off for a year, but this makes me want to get it done! Good job, momma!

Christina said...

Oh, I love love love bookshelves! They can be such a great focal point, plus organizing them is great fun to me!

Congrats on getting the "small project" completed!

Lori Lavender Luz said...

Congrats for clearing space.

Anonymous said...

Sounds like a fantastic collection of books.. I have so many pregnancy books its scary lol

Well done on finally getting the book case moved. :)

kate said...

Wow. Way to go! I'm in the midst of changing our office into a nursery, so I can appreciate what an overwhelming challenge that pile of books can indicate! But it feels AWESOME once you get it done. In our house, the Get-The-House-Ready-For-Babies project has meant a grand overhaul of most of the storage spaces/bookshelves/cabinets, etc., and it is a major task, but one that makes me feel lighter with each completed step. Aaah!

Paige said...

Looks good! You'll be ready.