Ouch! There goes Christmas. (Previously titled: We're gonna be blacklisted!)

I love the library. Ever since I was a kid I've always felt a little sneaky walking out of there with 4 or 5 books in tow (that I didn't pay for). I can never believe I actually get to take home as many books as I want (I suppose they might draw the line somewhere though I've yet to see it) and it doesn't cost me a penny. It is FREE. I'm really a geeky bookworm at heart and the fact that someone has put all these adventures, mysteries, tragedies, celebrations, etc right at my fingertips with no money out of my pocket sometimes just makes me absolutely giddy. For a book lover like me, its like hitting the jackpot everytime I walk through those doors. It sometimes seems too good to be true. And I've marveled and thought surely there are strings attached.

There are.

I've recently discovered a few strings, a few very long, very expensive strings.

Let me introduce you to the world of chewed slightly manhandled torn to smithereens damaged books.

A few weeks ago Pumpkin and I went to the library and I picked out some books for her. I purposely picked out the board books so that none of her excited turning of the pages would bend or dishevel them in anyway. She was even so thrilled about one of them that I let her look at it on the drive home and she was very very quiet which is a treat. But then again it's hard to make a lot of noise when your mouth is full of cardboard.

When it was time to return the books I walked sheepishly to the counter and told them I assumed there was a fee associated with chewed up books unless of course they saw the charm associated with sweet little baby teeth marks in a book about babies (hey I tried). They didn't see the charm. They charged me $12.41 for a book I can buy in "very good" condition on Amazon for a penny (plus S&H.) Ouch! There goes Christmas.

But we got through it and I promised myself to never leave Pumpkin unsupervised again w/ library books. And I mostly kept the promise. Mostly. Pumpkin takes her daily bath in my bathtub because its just easier that way for me. I also take my nightly bath in that bathtub and typically leave my books in a pile on the side of the bathtub which has never been a problem................until now.

Tonight after the water and bubbles had drained from Pumpkins bath, I went in to clean out the toys so I could relax in my own bath and curl up and read. Here are the toys I found that needed cleaning up:
The big book you see, the hardcover (cha-ching) just happens to belong to a little place we like to call the library. Me: "But don't you see the charm in this? Now the book is wet and turned to mush and barely recognizable and the book is about viruses that make human bodies turn to mush and barely recognizable. Librarian: That will be 85 dollars and 13 cents please.

Ouch! There goes Christmas.