April stats

Mood: Only 50 minutes to go!!

We added 845 volumes in April. I think that's like 170% of what we did in March. Yipes.

And another stack of boxes just arrived. I think nat's right. Curse that UPS guy! (wonder if he's reading my blog too)

Friday Five, courtesy of Amy (I'm such a junkie!)

1. List five things you'd like to accomplish by the end of the year.
I. Have home office organized.
II. Have pictures on walls at home.
III. Make a decision about scrapbooks, and find an orderly system for dealing with all the flotsam and jetsam that go with them (or not).
IV. Learn a better way to handle the preteen in my life.
V. Figure out CatMe.

2. List five people you've lost contact with that you'd like to hear from again.
...in no particular order...
I. J!m & S@lly Stu@rt
II. D@ve VAn D#r#n, or Dr#w & M!tch H@wn
III. K@ren H@rb@ugh
IV. Mrs. Grub#nh0ff
V. Gl0ri#
[I guess my dad doesn't count, eh? Or Ellen? Or Uncle Del?]

3. List five things you'd like to learn how to do.
I. Relax.
II. Read faster.
III. Not freak out so quickly (although I sometimes think I may be figuring this one out, slowly).
IV. Read Greek.
V. Read Hebrew.

4. List five things you'd do if you won the lottery (no limit).
I. Pay off the mortgage.
II. Tithe at least 10%, but I'm not sure if to my church or just somewhere generally worthy...
III. Buy a jeep (black or brown) and move west.
IV. Get Sparky set for college.
V. Give a huge chunk to my alma mater with a stipulation that they have to remain a strong liberal arts college or the endowment ends. Or earmark it for the English & History departments. Or just make them make me Dictator for a year so I can clear chaff...

5. List five things you do that help you relax.
I. Read!
I'm not even sure I can do the rest....hmmm...
II. Video/PC games (Sims, Civilization, Tetris) or crossword puzzles.
III. Watch TLC.
IV. Take a hot shower or bath.
V. Play with the guinea pigs, or go for a walk (stomp) around the neighborhood.

Friday...and all that it brings with it

Mood: Crap
Hair: The only positive on a crap crap crap day

Aha! I can flash my ALA membership card to prove I'm a librarian! Who else would join ALA? ('Course that means I'd have to pay for membership...hmmm)

On the other hand: I'm on service desks today for 4+ hours, of 8. So it looks like yesterday was the only day I'll actually get piles of work done this week. Today I'll just refgrunt all day. Lucky me, lucky processing people who won't get completely dumped on!

Q for this morning from me, a flaming Protestant from a no-godchildren tradition: What kind of gift am I supposed to give to a child having his 1st Communion? He's not our godson; we've done that already, so I have to buy something less than what we got the Godson, right? They are brothers, and sibling rivalry is a big issue. And I have to have it tomorrow afternoon.

More evidence of a crap day: No Friday Five today. And the past Fives are offline. Boo.

More questions

Mood: Wavering between cranky and above-it-all (hah)
Lunch: Taco Bell chicken quesadilla with a pintos-n-cheese and Diet Pepsi

Q: Can't people come up with another title besides The Amazing Egg for a kids' book about eggs?

Q: Is this CD playlist a sign of mental "issues:" PDQ Bach (WTWP Classical Talkity-Talk Radio), The White Stripes (Elephant), Kristin Chenowyth (Let Yourself Go), Live (Mental Jewelry), Paul Simon (You're the One) and Henry Mancini (The Pink Panther...).

Q: How does one prove that one is a librarian? The Scholastic Warehouse Sales are split between the ones that "allow" only educators etc. in, and the ones that all the hoi polloi can shop. Do I have to haul out the repressive SHHHH! look? Or take my diploma?

Q: Why does putting up a sign saying a door has an alarm on it mean someone (non-staff) needs to check to be sure?

Q: I've entered over 100 books into the database today so far. Why does the work cart still look full?

Let's not forget...

...the Thursday Threesome:
Hmm... Does anyone remember this song? ::Goodie Two Shoes::

Onesome: Goodie-- What is your your favorite "goodie" you treat yourself to when you've finished a project or maybe even just survived a long day? Ice cream? ...a long bath? ...a good book? Book in the bath with a glass o' wine. Or if the day was really bad, vegetative TV.

Twosome: Two-- Quick! Two things that make you smile! No thinking, just write! Jenny (ok, she's not a "thing" but she ALWAYS can get me to laugh) and puns. And almost any movie musical, in case you won't let me say Jen.

Threesome: Shoes-- ...and how about your favorite pair of shoes? You know, the ones you look for an occasion to wear! (Yes, guys that ratty pair of tennis shoes does count...) I'm wearing them: slides with pale blue suede tops. Who needs an occasion? I wear them all summer! I also like my Minnetonkas...and they are only 'inside shoes.'

OK back to work.

Questions

Q: Why do you suppose we would need 3 copies of a bilingual kids' set called Guía de Rourke para los símbolos de los estados? That's the third set of kids' Spanish books that I've cataloged this morning that we already own. Children's librarian = ditz ??

Q: Where should I stay in London? We are probably staying somewhere in Cartwright Gardens, Bloomsbury, cuz I'm cheap and it's close to a ton of stuff (including tube stations). But there appear to be at least 5 hotels along there...I've stayed in the George. Must do more research...on my own time.

Q: Why did Tech Svc. get an overdue notice for 7 items? They are all kids videos; and they aren't back here.

Q: When am I ever going to get everything done??!

Thursday

Mood: Glad to be at work
Hair: No time to do anything but clip it back at the crown

I love children. Not my own, necessarily, mind you.

1) Caught him playing GameBoy in bed, two hours after bedtime last night.

2) Family meeting this morning was needfully prolonged to see if he could complete a thought out loud. [no]

3) Had to remind him twice to collect baseball clothes for practice after school today, and to do his other chores. His attitude, of course, is in the dumper because he isn't getting enough sleep. [He did admit he had been doing this off and on for a couple of weeks; points to him for honesty, I guess.]

4) On the way in to town to school, I (not he) realized he didn't have his baseball gear (bat, mitt, etc.). Great--he'll be all dressed up and nothing to do at practice! So we'll have to drive home after I pick him up and get stuff and drive right back. This is a minimum 30-minute roundtrip. So I have to leave work early. Again.

So frustrating. Which is why I'm glad I work; staying at home with him 24/7 for two years was truly brain-draining. I think it's great that some people don't feel this way, but I'm definitely my mother's daughter on this point...

And I have a GIANT PILE of books to catalog today. So headphones and nastyhat are on. BEWARE, CRANKY CATALOGER!

Politics never show up here....oops

Mood: Good

I just had to do this:

Abortion?:	It's my body, I get to decide.
Death Penalty?:	Nope. We make too many mistakes to take a chance on killing the people unjustly.
Prostitution?:	Legalize and tax it. And publish customer lists.
Alcohol?:	The companies should be using more of their profits to support abuse and health programs.
Marijuana?:	Oh, just legalize it already!
Other drugs?:	Will it kill me the first time I use it? No? Then legalize it and tax the hell out of it.
Gay marriage?:	Yes. I stay out of people's bedrooms. None of my business.
Illegal immigrants?:	They're here. Their kids are here. They probably aren't going back to stay. Deal with it.
Smoking?:	Ick. But see above re alcohol.
Drunk driving?:	I like the idea of breathalyzers in cars.
Cloning?:	Hmm, bioethics committee question. Yes, but read House of the Scorpion.
Racism?:	I'd like to say it's a non-issue for me. But I'm probably wrong.
Premarital sex?:	See Gay Marriage above, especially none of my business.
Religion?:	Mine is mainline Christianity, but I'm not about shoving it down your throat. And I've got some serious issues with some of the creeds.
The war in Iraq?:	Boo. Hiss. And now we're stuck there, I'm afraid.
Bush?:	BOO. HISS. [and repeat ad infinitum]
Downloading music?:	I don't do it. People shouldn't do it instead of buying, but they will.
The legal drinking age?:	18
P[o]rn?:	It would probably go away if we had a healthier attitude about our bodies. But NO KIDS!
Suicide?:	Dr. Kevorkian should not be in prison. There needs to be a way to legalize it for people who think through the whole situation.

What is your stand on..... brought to you by BZOINK!

Hump Day

Mood: Slowly waking up (ick)
Hair: YAY

From BlogDriveInsanity again, for anyone who needs to clear their minds before getting down to bidness (that would be, er, ME today!)...

This week free association - some fun with "I say, you think" with a crazy sort of Spring twist.
First, as a warm up, using the letters G-A-R-D-E-N reveal six things about yourself.

G = Garrulous
A = Attitudinal (is that a word?)
R = Reference Librarian
D = Droopy (mentally today, but also increasingly physically: gravity sucks)
E = Excitable
N = Nerdy

Now that you're warmed up ... Let's hump, shall we? Below are a list of words. Respond with the first words, words, phrase or insane idea that pops into your head!

1. hoe = weeds
2. lips = kiss (what else?)
3. butter = Mother Nature (as in "It's not NICE to fool Mother Nature!" [cue thunderclap])
4. pie = cherry (yum!)
5. groovy = 60s/W00dst0ck
6. hook = Captain
7. believe = Rich Mullins
8. fountain = From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler
9. bush = NICE VERSION: shrub // TRUTH VERSION: Jerk
10. sprout = Brussels

Well, this should help me get through an hour of cataloging picture books.

Tuesday Morning

Mood: Don't feel very good, but otherwise pretty fine!
Hair: Clean; Scarrlett today--woohoo (cut and color)

Great weekend. Not long enough, but since I didn't sleep much either night, I guess I should be glad it didn't last longer. I would have tanked and ruined it.

Got about 26 pages finished across Sparky's school book, the house book, and the 2004 ff. book. Not sure how; I don't feel like I did much at all. Must be the cold pills messing with my head. We only went off the deep end into gales of laughter once, about circumcision and what Paul said about it in Galatians (?), modifying it into 21st century language. The table next to us was a bit shocked, I think.

Had a massage Sunday afternoon and immediately undid any good she may have done by carrying all my crap out to the car 20 minutes later. Yesterday morning I was back to feeling like I did 10 days ago. Sooo...I spent yesterday on my back icing it after the chiropractor 'yelled' at me.

And then went to the All-District Band concert last night: 600 students, grades 5-12, from the school district in one room. A little crowded. I hate crowds. I only stayed in the gym for the boy's group of songs; then I stood outside--fewer people--and listened to the other three groups. V. good. Oh, and ran into a bunch of people I haven't seen for awhile, so had a chance to catch up with them. The Beast stayed for Sparky's songs, and then he left to play v-ball.

Home by 9:30, Sparky to bed, me to bed with Tylenol PM. Finally slept most of a night! Still feel crappy this morning. Ick. You should hear me, though--I sound even worse than I feel!

Just signed up for Gmail so we'll see if it's any better than Hotmail. Everything I get at that account I delete; it's all spam and/or ads.

Time to get back to work. Somehow, even though it's the end of our budget year in 3 days, I have a FULL CART of books to catalog. Don't people usually run out of money at the end of the year?? ;-)

----just heard John---must plan strategy---

The boss just handed me my "Self-Check" pre-evaluation sheet. Hmm, hope she thinks I've been working hard! Maybe I should go do just that...while I let the strategy percolate in the back of my mind.

Meme

Mood: Time to go home, tg.

I'm modifying this meme I stole from hepkitten who stole it elsewhere.

[Has anyone noticed that my brain, for all intents, has shut down this week? I have no self-started thoughts and have become pretty much reactionary only, like the zebras At The Zoo.]

Anyway: Here goes. I'm only using some of the questions.

1: Stretch your left arm out as far as you can. What do you touch first?: My work cart and our new copy of Berlitz' Ocean Cruising.

2: What is the last thing you watched on TV?: It was on last night... oh yeah. I Love the 80s on VH1. They were doing 1989. Wasn't that yesterday?

3: WITHOUT LOOKING, guess what the time is: 3:50 p.m.

4: Now look at the clock; what is the actual time?: 3:53 p.m.

5: With the exception of the computer, what can you hear?: The fans blowing. Workroom door opening and closing. Someone washing their hands. V pulling shelflist cards behind me.

6: When did you last step outside? what were you doing?: Going from car to work at 7:15 this morning

7: Did you dream last night? Probably; I usually do. Do I remember anything. Nope. I was whupped.

8: When did you last laugh? This morning reading Amy's email. I have chuckled since them, mostly at other people's stupid jokes. Social titter.

9: What is on the walls of the room you are in?: Beige institutional paint. I've got two notes stuck to the wall right behind my monitor. Lots of other people also have notes taped to the wall. What's a bulletin board??

13: Seen anything weird lately?: 6 people standing around a printer trying to figure out why it's not printing. D'oh. You have to take off the protective tape.

14: If you became a multi-millionaire overnight, what would you buy first?: My house. The rest in the bank or to help with church building fund.

15: If you could change one thing about the world, regardless of guilt or politics, what would you do?: Make people mind their own business!

16: Do you like to dance?: Yes

17: George Bush: Dorkily dangerous trip.

18: Imagine your first child is a girl, what do you call her?: Josephine. Middle name negotiable (when I was pregnant we had agreed on Josephine Marie.)

19: Imagine your first child is a boy, what do you call him?: I still like Thomas Mason. But what we chose is fine.

22: Would you ever consider living abroad?: Depends where, but probably.

New site

Mood: It was better before I hit Frommer's.
Hair: Clean. Woo hoo.

While surfing yesterday I found the Thursday Threesome .

::A geek in the family::

A geek-- Hey, who handles tech support at your place? You? ...the six year old? ...or someone from outside? ...and how about in your web space? No, we're not looking for techs; we're just curious. Here at work, the infamous Sleek, from the Outside. Our webpage is done jointly by one of our librarians and the city's tech guy. At home...the grown-ups take turns. I'm Mistress of my own "web space." Such as it is.

in the-- computer? Just a curiosity for the designer types: what Operating System are you running? ...and which browser? Since sites can show up differently in different browsers it's more than a casual question. uhhh, I'll defer this to Sleek. Except he's not here to ask. I think it's Windows Professional or something like that. Now I feel bad; I should know this...

Family-- Do any family members read your place? Do they care? Do they have a clue? ...and how about your 'off line' friends? ...or do you supply a little bit of separation there? Just my husband, and he does all checking at home because of corporate snooping/firewalls. Ditto the last bit with other family I've told. Don't know if dh cares, unless I blog all evening instead of making dinner or riding herd on homework or the billions of other things I should be doing. Then he just rolls his eyes. Other friends, I have not told. Nor coworkers. I vent too much here. I will probably tell a couple of off-line friends about it once I get more comfortable with it.

OK it's your turn!

Tartar Mongrel Sqeerils

Only about 2 people will understand why I am now laughing so hard. And one doesn't read this blog. Yet.

Work? What's that?

Mood: Good. Really good.

What a fun afternoon. Too bad it wasn't all work-related fun. I have deleted the incriminating emails. Twice. heh heh.

My best fun was learning a new word, one I've seen around for months: Meme. Yes I'm a dork.

And I have a meme I was going to share today, but there's no time left today. So I'll do it tomorrow.

Hump Day

Mood: OK, but fading fast

A fun time-passer for mid-afternoon, from the folks at BDInsanity.

First, as a warm up, using the letters I-N-S-A-N-E reveal six things about yourself.
I - Informational
N - Not Hip
S - Silly
A - Apt
N - Not another N...uhm, Normal?
E - Extra-tired today

1. What's the best pickup line you ever heard and did it work? I don't think I'd kow a pickup line if it bopped me on the head. So I guess it didn't work.
2. If you were a character in The Wizard of Oz, who or what would you be? The scarecrow--"If I only had a brain..." With occasional Flying Monkey moments. I do know someone is lurking saying, "No, the Tin Man!" But since you never comment, Someone... :-)
3. If you were an element of weather, what would you be? Partly cloudy with a chance of rain. And windy (no comments from you Brits!). Some days I'm fine and some days I'm nasty--and some days I'm both at once, depending on which way the wind is blowing!
4. If you were a breed of dog, what would you be and why. If I have to be purebred, I'd like to be a collie, but I'm probably more of an afghan. No, I'm really a mongrel: very healthy and non-pedigreed.
5. If you were a toy or a game, what would you be and why? Chutes and Ladders. I'm a pretty linear thinker.

Your turn.

[Two people have received flowers today. What a drag. Which I guess makes me a bitch, eh?]

Wednesday

Mood: pretty good
Hair: hairclip

Random thoughts:

My brother loves The Sopranos but has never seen The Office. But his boss channelled The Office when he told him his job was ending: "The good news is I still have a job. The bad news is you don't." I unfortunately laughed when my bro told me; then had to explain, at which point he did see the humor. Talked to his son (my nephew) too. He's such a great guy; polar opposite of my WI nephews. Let's not go there...

If I die today I may make it to nirvana. Living on bro's "It pays to be nice" (even if you get fired) mentality, I stopped on my way to work to help someone whose car was stalled. I saw the kids getting their backpacks out of the car about 4 blocks from the school on the state highway and thought "Hmm, that can't be right."

It will be a lower level of nirvana however: it's Sparky's best friend's Mom that was driving the car. On the other hand, as I passed her the first time, a cop car pulled out and around her and kept going! Oy. When I called 911, those were the guys that were sent back to help us. I told the dispatcher the problem and said, "You've got two women, one with MS and one with a bad back, lotsa traffic, and a car stalled. We need help!" He laughed.

LAST NIGHT:
--Did I get evangelism calls made? Nope.

--How about calling Mom? Nope.

--Well, then, the camera thing? Nope.

--CLUES?? Nope.

--I called Sherry about scrapbooking weekend, tried calling Jenny, and taught my 11-year-old how to dry dishes. How spoiled is he?! And we had a good dinner, together. A nice night.

Shoulders hurt. Time to work....but more later.

Meetings

Mood: ok, actually
Hair: braid (in)

Meetings suck. Especially meetings of peers when someone from Admin decides to show up, and (as someone just said) "bulldozed everything this morning for her own purposes." At least we have one person who dispenses with tact in all forms and calls 'em as he sees 'em. Which, mostly, annoys me, but this morning I actually wanted to cheer.

I saw a great sign outside of a church on the way home from R________ today: "Be as patient with others are God is with you." There's a goal to work toward. I didn't see a footnote to the effect of "except for ridiculous directors who remind you of psycho former bosses who ALSO are library directors." So I guess it means everyone, eh?

So good to see Kristen 'back.'

I have 4 evangelism phone calls to make tonight, and I MUST call my brother!! And my mom.

And then there's the whole figuring out how to get Wolf Camera to be able to 'see' the pictures on the CD so I can have them printed by Friday night.

And speaking of Friday night: MUST GET CLUES WRITTEN for scavenger hunt that night!! Oh, and pack for my weekend of scrapbooking....

Not going to be able to blog as much from home. Life is a little hectic for us in the warmer months. That's the RDC version, in a nutshell.

NUTS day--forget accomplishing anything!

Mood: wavering between crappy and lousy
Hair: fake 40s bouf

For lack of time and everything else, I am borrowing content from the Friday Five, c. July 5, 2002.

1. Where are you right now? At the children's reference desk at work. Not accomplishing anything (see top).

2. What have you lost recently? Well, let's see: my mind has been gone for a while... A pain-free existence? I don't quite see how people with serious chronic pain make it through the day! I have a whole new sense of clarity on that.

3. What was the first CD you ever purchased? Does that embarrass you now? First CD was probably either Howard Jones Dream Into Action or the Nylons (forgot the title). Nope, not at all embarrassed; still listen to them.

First album: The Force (a compilation album of bad '70s heavy metal "hits," most of which I'd never heard before...Bungle in the Jungle by Jethro Tull is the only one I remember now). It is long gone. My longest-currently-still-owned album is probably The Knack's first one. Did they ever do another one...? My favorite 'old' album is S&G's Bookends.

I can even do my first 45! "Seasons in the Sun," by Terry Jacks. I also inherited a bunch of cast-off 45s from my older brother, which I still have somewhere; among them are classics like "In the Year 2525," "Spinning Wheel," "The Boxer/Baby Driver".... I'm showing my age. :-)

4. What is your favorite kind of writing pen? I'm not all that fussy. I do like a good narrow 'felt-tippy' pen. But I'm pretty profligate in my writing collection. And pencils, frankly, rule! Really love pop-a-points.

5. What is your favorite ice cream flavor? Vanilla with butterscotch or caramel topping. Or at Baskin Robbins, either Peppermint Stick or Bubble Gum. I don't actually care that much about ice cream. Prefer cake....actually, skip the cake--just gimme a bowl full of buttercream frosting!

I must go eject the 4-year-old with the ice cream sandwich currently using the computers. What is his mom thinking...oh wait, she's NOT! [she's online]

Weird symmetry

Mood: Ow shoulder/back ow
Hair: ...hat hair...

Another stack of random books whose titles seem weirdly related to one another and my life:

- White Flower Day, by Steven Weissman
- Understanding Migraine and Other Headaches, by Stewart Tepper
- Weeping, by Shelly Reuben
- An Intimate Ghost, by Ellen Hart
- The Soul Thief, by Cecelia Holland

[Sorry folks. I can't link, it's just one more thing.]

Been waiting to hear about a referral for 3 hours now so I can get to the chiropractor. It will have to be tomorrow at this point--I have baseball practice to chauffeur, dinner to organize and phone calls to deal with at home. Maybe I can at least stop and shop for better otc painkillers.

Amazing how this saps my mental strength. I feel like a Sim who hasn't slept in "too long."

I'm b-a-a-ack

Mood: Pretty piss-poor again (too bad I can't blame this on PMS)
Hair: Hey, it's clean. Be happy!

Trying to perk up by listening to Mandy Patinkin. It works. Until I'm forced to take my headphones off and listen to people!

Mind you, I'm also wearing my "Leave me alone!" hat. And people still keep trying to talk to me. sigh...

OK, but I did find something amusing (check yesterday's entry). Which for some reason reminds me that I never posted a link to this.

And now I must work. Bleah

Well SHIT!!

Guess I should check my email before blogging--my brother is on the way to being (or already has been) laid off.

So a plea: if anyone hears of any jobs in the "marketing, contract/program/personnel management, emergency services arena" let me know.

To clarify: his background is in fire/rescue/emergency-services management, corporate to municipal to airport and probably places I've never heard/thought about.

Thx.

Guinea Pig news...

We have currently 5 guinea pigs (remember the March miracle?), 2 girls and 3 boys. As of about 7:30 p.m. the 'extra' 3 have been spoken for--we just need to get their future owners over here to pick out their favorite.

Problem? We're keeping two, but we like the daddy and the daughter best. So we obviously have to give up one or the other or we'll be going through more guinea pig lamaze and adoption before June rolls around!

It's amazing to discover that it only takes 4 weeks for the babies to hit Hormone Highway...actually 32 days exactly for the boys (I think the girl got there sometime last week). So we may already have more pregnancies.

OY, it is so time for bed.

More mindful surfing...

Mood: Tired, sore
Hair: ugh

Love this quote, from the Fark forums re librarians arguing against filters: 'An interesting line I read recently about librarians vs. politicians (I think this was about the USA PATRIOT Act, but it applies here) - "Politicians need to realize that they are up against a formidable force when dealing with librarians, and that they are unbelievably outclassed in terms of intelligence, honor, and credibility." '

This one's pretty good too: 'They are subversive. You think they're just sitting there at the desk, all quiet and everything. They're like plotting the revolution, man. I wouldn't mess with them..." -- Michael Moore on librarians'

I love these guys; here's another one: 'there have been numerous instances of librarians getting together and wielding crazy amounts of clout for free speech. unbelievable amounts of clout, and I'm still not sure how. but I know that you do not fark with the librarians.'

My favorite? 'Dear Any Librarians Reading This: You rule. Thanks.'

Here's the thing: we librarians really don't take sides in determining good/bad/icky/whatever. We'll don't even care if you must involve yourself in a site such as little green footballs (which I was going to link, but don't want to give it ANY credibility personally). Ick. But if you feel compelled to give this guy any of your time, it's not my job as a librarian to stop you.

[as a human, however, THAT's a different story...]

Pretty funny

If YOU want to be the puppetmaster for awhile, feel free to put words in his mouth here. And they'll even print it up for you as a magnet.

And I'm not at all sure why this site is called Subsurvient Chicken but I think it should be called Strange and Rather Scary Chicken.

And, ONLY in Russia.... Hey, it's a big place!

Back to work

Asinine Day

Mood: Lousy, thank you very much
Hair: Best left unsaid

Is today a national holiday for the mentally challenged?? If so, I missed it; I wouldn't have come to work today had I known!

No, not just the tax-form-challenged; although they are here too. And they fit right in.

Ref. Desk was nuts this morning! Suffice it to say that I need a shower. Ugh.

So, my desk is next to the fax machine in the workroom. At some time today, between 9 and noon while I was at Ref., someone put paper in the fax, printed off the 30+ pages of accrued faxes (!!!), dumped them on my workspace in a messy heap and left them. All mixed up. In my work area. Which, by the way is about 14 square feet of space. They weren't there when I got here today at 7:30. So I've just spent 30 minutes sorting out the "Vacation in the Bahamas!!" faxes from the articles requested from a couple of libraries which were mixed in with the publicity notices proofs and the requests for renewals from offline libraries. All jumbled together. I am FUMING!

My back hurts, A called in sick for the third day so we're all covering double shifts at Ref., including the director, I have a buttload (thanks for that word, Trud) of books to catalog, and it's crazy-person day at the library (staff included).

Did I mention that the pain in my shoulder, which was killer yesterday, was better this morning, but has now taken over the whole of my upper back?

I have tons of phone calls to make by, oh, YESTERDAY, and I just got an email that the Director from Hell at CV is coming to the next cataloging meeting instead of the cataloger.

Oh, and the hubby went out of town today for 2+ days. Of course.

Tomorrow night we begin Little League practice. What more could be going on this week??

Can someone just shoot me? Or give me vicodin...

Fun, then work

Mood: Good (my shoulder seems to be better)
Hair: Down, curled

From icontemplate:

1. Grab the nearest book.
2. Open the book to page 23.
3. Find the 5th sentence.
4. Post the sentence, along with these instructions.

(first book I grab--Reflexology--has only 3 sentences. It's going to be one of those days!

"To appreciate what the inner lives of great scientists / mathematicians / metaphysicians are like, we need only lie here and try to form a truly rigorous and coherent idea--as opposed to a fuzzy or Newsweekish idea--of what we really mean by 'omnipotent,' or 'integer,' or 'illimitable,' or 'finite but unbounded'. Everything and More, by David Foster Wallace [emphasis in original]

Hey it was that or Madame Bovary: "Right at the bottom, under the spruce bushes, a plaster priest was reading his breviary."

[I cheated a little; the second book I picked up was Jeremy McGrath's Wide Open. It was so incoherent, I just couldn't use his words.]

Mindless wandering around the Internet

Mood: Good
Hair: Down and dirty

Here's what I've wandered through this morning:

via CatalogueBlog-->via Languagehat: Vocabula computatralia. For all those times you want to impress people with your Latin skills and still talk techie.

Saturday's post on this blog is fascinating. For all those aspiring writers, go nuts. Me, I'm just wishing I could see into my mirrors!

Best choices for the 11th commandment here. And from the same website, if anyone is thinking about gifts for me, there is virtually nothing here that I would like. The Bobble Heads would be acceptable, but only if you're desperate...

And still trying to find out about guinea pigs, as in do we have boys or girls? Having the daddy sniff around them all is somewhat helpful, but not exactly rocket science.

This has all been my reward for updating our address lists (Christmas and online). I THINK they all match now...till someone moves again...

So.

Time to get to work.

Ciao.

Easter Saturday at work

Mood: Hungry
Hair: Hair clip (but in a good way)

It's cold in here today. I keep taking my jacket off in hopes that it has warmed up, but my hands are cold.

Tenebrae was really good last night. And quite a few people were there, which was heartening.

Tonight we'll dye our eggs, unless The Beast caves in and does them with the boy before I get home today.

Can I make it till tomorrow morning? I'm very grumbly-tummy right now.

I should be cataloging; I have a full cart of books waiting behind me, not to mention that gift cart full. So I think I'll get back to doing that.

Oh, we had a call this morning from a patron. He wanted to talk to the director because his daughter was here yesterday and some guy exposed himself to her. She was so freaked out (it sounds as if she's quite young) that she left, went to the Square, found a cop and told him. Well, great.

Apropos of that--but clearly unrelated in a direct way--the librarian on duty this morning mentioned that we now have Panic Buttons at all the service desks. Good thing I was informed. Not. She only told me in passing, assuming that I already knew.

See, I need to catalog more. My mind is wandering all over the place!

Fake books

Mood: It's time to go home....whaddaya think
Hair: see above

And so, to finish the day, someone just asked us why we don't have any fake books with classical music. Since this is "my" section to purchase in...I must find some (don't worry, I have already). That seems like a good hint to leave though. It offends my delicate sensibilities.

Ta ra--off to the eye dr. tomorrow. [yuck]

Good lyrics

Mood: good so far
Hair: down and funkycurled

This goes with something the guy doing the workshop said yesterday that all teenaged girls (and boys, I think) should be clear on: "you can't love someone unless you know them"

Chelsea Lovers (Dave Stewart)
The Chelsea lovers
oh how they can talk
with their tongues connected
and their skin like chalk
Chelsea lovers
they're joined at the hip
with the power of madness
at their fingertips
Chelsea lovers
with their limbs entwined
making moon sized promises
from their molecule minds
stardust lovers
in a Ziggy cartoon
two solemn lovers
in a Chelsea room.

Very Bowie-esque.

If this isn't high school romance, I don't know what is!

Tidying up

Mood: Tired but ok, amused and grossed-out
Hair: don't ask

It's definitely time to go home. Eight-plus hours is enough time here. I've organized everything so that Thursday morning I should be able to come in, sit down and start plowing through my cart: gifts, backpacks, original cataloging (the dreaded Bottom Shelf), and weird authority issues. And I need to clarify whether I am actually signed up and paid for the OCLC workshop in two (three?) weeks.

Just after the director went off to a meeting, we had a visit from an administrator at one of the middle schools in town. He just wanted to make us aware of a little fact that some of the kids at that school have apparently "discovered" that our basement is a great place for them to explore the great world of 0r@l s#x.

So we have stepped up patrols for the day/evening shifts, and talked to our tech guy(and wasn't that embarrassing! Poor guy) to see if he's noticed any kids wandering around back by the computer room. He did say he had yelled at a few kids who followed him back there....

Since we aren't sure how the director will handle it, we don't want to start wholesale panic, which will occur if Some People are told. So the two of us who are in on "the secret" are wavering between annoyance, hilarity, and "EEEUW." However, since my son will be in middle school next year, I think we need to have yet another Talk. The girl who narced to the administrator is in 6th grade; that's 12 for those of you trying figure the age group.

The things that happen in libraries. People are always amazed. Heck, I'm frequently amazed!

It's also a beautiful spring day outside. Not only do we have tulilps coming up in our garden, but also hyacinth and crocus. I think we'll toss the baseball around for awhile before dinner.

See why I want to go home?

Life's not fair

Mood: ok
Hair: for a change, it's washed, blown-dry and decent-looking

I'm sad about Jen!c@'s dad's death.

I'm also very aware that I'm alive right now: I'm hungry. Ravenous.

And I have a workshop--on YA Lit--to attend tomorrow, so I fully expect to be back on the track of getting nothing done this week. At least not at work.

I had "frank" conversations with two administrators and a teacher yesterday. 46 days left of school.

Time to find something to eat besides chocolates people brought back from vacations.

Pizza time

Mood: hungry and tired
Hair: baretted (and needs a wash)

I was set to really blog for awhile. Then Pizza Dude showed up (early! I love P*ul##'s Pizza). So never mind.

Suffice to say...

...the sky is a lovely blue, and NO WIND
...Jen!c@ is home
...I will be bearding the principal in her den tomorrow

G'night.

Saturday

[Trying something new here]
Mood: pretty good
Hair: yanked back and clipped

Reading in bed, in the morning, how luxuriant! I finished one book, worked on another, and still had time to make pancakes for breakfast. Haven't done that in months and months (never at all in this house).

I've also been browsing through Smithsonian Journeys. The people who send me this kind of thing are evil; now I'm desperate to got to Rome and Florence (again), Egypt, Venice, St. Petersburg, Kenya/Tanzania...

Instead I'm going to the grocery store and Home Depot.

Mess on my desk

"Welcome back! Please do the holds on demand order first." from the boss. Trouble is, I can't find the demand order ANYwhere!

We added about 580 items last month.

The pages had time (??) last week to scour the shelves for missing/lost/etc etc etc. items and found about 30 (out of maybe 300). They are stacked up here.

I must box up and send back the D&B and the S&P Directories. They are on the floor by my desk.

These *#$)&^ telecourse videos are still (#*&$ing sitting by my desk. Damndamndamn.

I don't know where to start. I'm at the Reference Desk for 5 hours today; why should I start, actually?

4/1

• I am cratered; asleep till 8:30! Beast's still in bed an hour later! I take Sparky to daycare and then head to Sam's Club.
  
  
• Home, unload and l-o-n-g bath.
  
  
• Pick up Sparky and head to dentist where I get a grade of A+ and he gets a grade of B- (needs to brush more, just like mom says....hmmm). I hate the ultrasonic cleaner.
  
  
• Home, clean guinea pig cages. Daddy g.p. briefly in cage with mommy; he decides she's ready for more babies...GET THEM APART! Chaos ensues. Cages are eventually cleaned, after about 45 minutes.
  
  
• Leftovers from last night for dinner. And I've been blogging ever since.
  
  
• Tomorrow I have to go to work. Boo. But I've already checked my email and there's only one 'real' message there. I shudder to think what my work area looks like. Luckily, there is chocolate coming (I shipped to work so it wouldn't sit on our porch and melt).

VACATION RATING (1-10): 8

3/31

• Wake up, shower and pack. Everything fits. Somehow.
  
  
• IF ANNOYING MAN ASKS ME AGAIN IF I WANT COFFEE, I MAY HAVE TO KILL HIM!!! [he's the reason I don't drink coffee...]
  
  
• We stop by Mom's before going on to the airport
  
  
• Sparky buys ham sandwich: I buy bumper sticker
  
  
• Another bumpy flight. Like riding a bull. Only, thank God, we didn't fall off. And my breakfast stayed down. I resolve to fly to Denver and DRIVE OVER THE MOUNTAINS the next time we visit!
  
  [We miss the notice that it's Idiot Day in Denver...]
  
  
• We have 40 minutes between flights. We try to buy gum and souvenirs (for Sparky's friends) but the computer is dead. Time continues to tick past. We give up and I do the unthinkable: put everything in my hand (gum, keychains, etc.) into the stuffed animal bin and leave the store.
  
  
• It's lunchtime; no food will be served on the plane, so we must stop at food court. As we set things down to put straws in the drinks, some Gigantic Backpack Lady decides NOW is the time to spin in circles. She wipes out Beast's Coke. We're out of time and run to the gate.
  
  
• We pass another store that sells drinks. Since it's right by the gate, Beast has time to grab one after all. We board, first seating (love those frequent flyer perks Beast gets).
  
  
• We are NOT, despite promises, in Economy Plus; we are in Economy (minus). Squish. The flight is ready to leave; the attendants are coming down the aisle closing the overhead bins. The door to the bin in which are bags are sitting suddently comes crashing down on Beast's head. Now we have to have the Union Mechanic repair it. The Head Flight Attendant tells everyone what's going on. The guy flight attendant who broke the door moves our bags to other bins. The Co-Pilot tells everyone we're waiting for the Mechanic. The Mech. finally arrives with Mechanic's Friend: Duct Tape. He takes the door back down (yes, it was put back ABOVE BEAST'S HEAD for awhile, just resting there), then puts it back up, and duct tapes it in place. We can leave the City of Idiots. Finally.
  
  
• Totally uneventful flight. No bumps at all.
  
  
• Dinner at J!mmy's Ch@rh0use on the way home.
  
  
• We drive home; normally I sleep. Both Sparky and I are still wide awake upon arrival. I call Colorado and tell everyone we made it safely.
  
  
• I'm asleep by 9:30 (and yes, it is good sleep, with just the usual lower backache when I wake up).

This took the piss outta me today. I've never been so glad to be home! What is this summer's trip going to be like??

3/30

• Laundry day. Woo hoo. [hah]
  
  
• We avoid Annoying Man whenever and however we can, all day.
  
  
• Sparky and I play a few rounds of Boggle.
  
  
• Sparky and Jan go swimming in Delta till noon.
  
  
• We're out of food, so off to Merc. to restock.
  
  
• The Beast and Sparky bag up the pine needles and take them to the street for garbage pickup tomorrow.
  
  
• The three of us go to Surf@ce Creek W!nery. We want some of his cherry wine shipped, and some chardonnay, but he can't find the shipping schedule/rates/whatever. Don't we sound like lushes?? Headed back to Ced@redge, we stop at the soda fountain where they make up cones, malt and sundaes to order. Yum. And don't take our money till we're done and walking out. Love small towns. We sit on stools facing the fountain, probably the same way people have done for 70 years; I know the cabinets are at least that old. Neat.
  
  
• We start packing. [sniff]
  
  
• Beast cooks brats for supper. Mom brings her own (leftover) food instead, and once again has to leave before sundown.
  
  
• Sparky, Beast, Marie and I play Boggle till the boy's bedtime. Beast and I tie.
  
  
• Marie, Beast & I talk for about 3 hours after supper. I find out that not only did Dad want Mom to have an abortion when they found out I was on the way (which I knew--and Mom has been telling everyone she meets all week, which, by the way, is a great way to stop conversation!!), but that he wanted nothing to do with me after I was born. Obviously, that changed somewhere along the line. Whew. Sometimes talking to older siblings is rough. Especially when they are SO much older than you.
  
  
• Best night's sleep. Don't think I woke up once. Still: sore back.

Another Great Day. Kind of repetitious, isn't it? Annoying Man IS VERY ANNOYING!!

3/29

• Sparky is once again up at dawn with his uncle; today he does the Ouray puzzle before I get up! Since today's the day we're going to M0ntr0se/Ouray; good timing.
  
  
• On the way south, we hit R^ssell St0ver. I go hogwild. We ship several pounds of chocolate back home (all our Easter candy, essentially).
  
  
• Once in Ouray, we wander from City Hall to the Beaumont, sadly closed for Spring Break. The bookstore isn't. Beast rolls his eyes; I buy things. What else can I do??
  
  
• We eat at one of the only two restaurants in town that are open. Some things don't change. Things never used to be open in the winter back when we used to visit.
  
  
• After lunch, Sparky & Jan go swimming at the hot springs, Beast takes off on a photo crusade, which eventually finds him hiking the Cascade Falls trail (puff puff) and we girls stop at the used bookstore, ably staffed by Big Bluff Guy and his three purebreds: a Newfie, an Alsatian, and a Chow. We have coffee (well, yeah, I have tea since I don't/never have/never will drink coffee), chat, let Mom rest, etc. Then we drive through town, essentially unchanged. Yeah, a few more houses, but not awful. There's no place to put them really. We do get a chuckle out of the $500,000+ pile being built...in a flood plain that is washed out every spring. Like clockwork.
  
  
• We go pick up Sparky & Jan at the pool, Beast and I drive out to take pictures of Our (former) House, and then we head back to M0ntr0se.
  
  
• Stop at H0ward & S0ndra Ch!lders for a visit. He was my first pastor. They are salt and saints of the earth. St. James was really blessed.
  
  
• Dinner at Pizza Hut in Delt@, with the Fruit@ high school girls' soccer team.
  
  
• Mom ready to drop so we take her home.
  
  
• Sparky asks me to read him to sleep.
  
  
• I FINALLY SLEEP! But still woke with a terrible backache.

Great day! Really wonderful. Mostly because I didn't spend much of it with Annoying Guy. Who is getting annoying.

3/28

• We go to church. In an attempt to jump-start everyone and remind us of the New Covenant, we sing songs this congregation doesn't know, and some we don't know either. The last one was yucky. The rest were ok, but Jan insists the modern ones are pablum. Whatever. I like them, especially the ones we use at home...
  
  
• After lunch, Marie drives Beast & me, with Mom around backroads. There is such a vast spread of wealth (or not) in this county. I hadn't realized there was a reservoir 10 minutes from Cedaredge called, prosaically (and not at all poetically) enough, Fru!tgr0wers Reserv0ir.
  
  
• Dinner. We take Mom home again. See, she really isn't a vampire. She does love playing the martyr though...
  
  
• Sparky eventually corrals all of us for an unscored game of Balderdash. Pretty fun. He's nearly old enough to really understand adult games like this. He stumped all of us a few times with his "definitions."
  
  
• Better sleep, (exhaustion?) but now my back is so sore it can't recover over the course of the day. I'm longing for my own bed, a sure sign of middle age!

Generally, another terrific day. More great weather. A few cracks in our Annoyance Rejection Facade; he's wearing us down. [If you don't know what I mean, picture an 8-year-old in an adult's body, with some ADHD characteristics thrown in.]

3/27

• We spend the morning lounging around, then Marie drives us to the St0ney Mes@ winery. They have fab wine; we ship Gewurtztraminer again. The tasting person is ably assisted by Cassie-and-Jason: golden retriever and 3-year-old grandson. When J gets tired of us, he goes outside where we can see him stomping on ants. They don't have a chance. With the level of enthusiasm he shows, I suspect he gets paid by the pound.



• On the way back home, we do our Main St. shopping. Mind you, there are approximately 8-10 shops on Main Street, plus a bakery and the requisite bar. Outside the bar sits (apparently daily; we saw him later this week too) The Bar Guy, looking as if placed there by Central Casting for an old Hollywood western...except for the oxygen tank hooked up to his nose. Then as we cross the alley 20 feet from him, I get a wafting lungful of pot fumes. At which point begin snickering because of the lunacy of all this. We go into "my" pottery shop. Sad that I have to go over 1,000 miles to find good pottery. And, there is a potter in the store, checking out her stock. We chat; I suggest using extra scraps of clay as book weights similar to our "whappers" at work. We'll see.



• On the way back to Marie & Jan's house, we drive through town. There are quite a few more houses than the last time I was there. Still, it would be nice if people wouldn't build the same schlock there as they build here; some architectural styles just don't work in that area of the country!!



• When we left earlier, Sparky was on his way to find Surf@ce Creek. Upon our return, he 'shows me' how to find it, I take pictures of it, him, and the San Juans. They are visible from the end of Marie & Jan's driveway, framed nicely by Scotch pines and pinon bushes. There are no words; breathtaking and beautiful are the best I can do.



• Marie, The Beast & Sparky rake the pine needles into piles in preparation for bagging them. I supervise (not enough rakes. Really). "Why are we doing this, kid?" "It's a fire hazard." Such a good Colorado boy!



• Mom comes over for dinner again. After much coaxing ("don't want to be a bother" etc., etc.). Since we picked her up, she stays past dusk and we all talk.



• Again, not great sleep. Cold, Hot....see last night. Menopause sucks.

Perfect day: weather, the activities, everyone seems to be getting along....

3/26

• We all forgot sunglasses, so we hit the Sunglass Hut @ the airport. $85 later, the boy & I have clip-ons that would have cost less than $25 at Target. But the woman running the kiosk told us to 'have a blessed day.' Is that worth $60? I guess...



• Our flight is delayed; we are put on another one departing two hours later. Thank goodness for the Red Carpet Club!



• The MTJ leg was not fun. Let me just say that if the only reason to use the lav on an SMB-80 turbro-prop is for an emergency. Which it was. Small? Uh-YEAH, but made more spacious by the WINDOW (yeah right)--with a shade to pull down if you don't want to moon the birds flying past. If you should experience turbulence? Just brace yourself by pressing your head INto the ceiling while zipping.
  [I must add that generally I don't hate flying; this trip was the worst I've had in a couple of decades, pulling even with some of those Aeroflot flights.]



• First stop upon arrival: the Merc for Dr. P



• Amazingly GREEN fields, willows are leafing out, really nice weather (actually it was hot walking to the plane at DIA)
• Mom comes over for dinner, driving herself. We eat, and she has to leave right away because the sun was setting. She is NOT a vampire; she can't drive at night. So she says. :-)



• Hit the sheets and slept really badly (Cold, then Hot, then Blanketless, then Hot....multiply by 12 over the course of 9 hours in bed)

Not an auspicious start, except for the weather, and the company we're keeping.