it is time . . .

so today . . . i am thinking it might be time to take my relationship with my kindle to the next level.

i have had my kindle for exactly one month. i have purchased a cool purple cover for it. i have downloaded about 30 books. i have started a wish list on amazon with 56 more books on it. i have read the newest user's guide as well as another guide that i bought. i tried (sadly, unsuccessfully) to use my own pictures for the screensaver. i surfed the web (very slowly) a little bit. i checked out blogs i could subscribe to. i have done just about everything with my kindle that it is capable of doing . . .

. . . except to read an actual book.

i first heard the word "kindle" a year and a half ago when doug, our associate pastor (and favorite electronics junkie) got one for christmas. rollie was telling me about it, but i didn't really understand why a person would need one or want one. i should have known better, because doug is sort of like our drug dealer of electronics--he gets the latest electronic device, rollie watches him use it, he tells rollie how cool it is, rollie starts thinking about getting one, doug gushes about how he doesn't know how he ever got along without his, rollie searches the web, and soon a box from ebay or amazon shows up on our doorstep . . . and you know, when rollie gets a cool electronics device, he feels the need to describe it's coolness to me in excruciating detail. which, of course, leads to my burning desire to have one as well! so it was only a matter of time . . .

yes, we are somewhat co-dependent.

i thought i might get a good deal on doug's kindle when he got an ipad. (guess what sleek apple product is now trying to push it's way into our must-have category . . . but we are strong! we are resisting!) but he seemed to want to hang onto his. so i sort of gave up on it--i thought maybe one would show up under the christmas tree or in time for my birthday next year.

and then the price dropped. and rollie determined that i should spend my summer getting fully recuperated from all the sickness i battled last year. and he thought the best way to do that was for me to rest-and read! so he introduced me to my very own kindle.

and i love it! i carry it in my handbag. i play with it. i bought a reading light so i could read it in bed. but i haven't actually read a book on it yet . . .

i was thinking about this today and realized that for me, it is like having meat in the freezer. i never actually eat the meat in our freezer, but i need to know the meat is in there. it gives me security knowing that we have food--even freezer-burned, inedible food--just in case there is ever an emergency. in the same way, i like knowing i have books to read on my kindle, whether or not i actually read them. because if i actually start reading those books, then someday i might run out . . . and then what if we lose our electricity or i lose my job or i get really sick, and i need books to read?!?!?!

you see my dilemma.

but today is our one month anniversary, and i think it is time to get serious. it is time to stop shopping for accessories and books. it is time to stop playing around with user's guides. it is time to take our relationship to the next level, and put my kindle to the use for which it was created. yes, it is time to read a real book . . .

so this weekend, i will be hanging out in my backyard, on the lounger, with my kindle--as soon as i decide which book to read . . .