We finally stopped by the library in town. It's distinctly possible we own more books than they do (certainly so in children's books), but there's a story hour on Thursday mornings that has me excited for the kids. The librarian and the other ladies I met there were very welcoming.
Our water softener has been chugging away for a week now, without incident. I had planned a funny post about how our water is half rock (coming in at a staggering 28.6 GPG) and with a reference to a certain scene in A Christmas Story