Return from Missioning

I'm back. (I love living in a house rather than a mobile home.)

I'm exhausted. (I love sleeping in my own bed.)

I'm nowhere near as sore as I anticipated being. (Apparently, shelving on low shelves and weeding share the same muscle set.)

I'm clean. (Using a grody school locker-room for daily 3-minute showers that are either 120-plus degrees or 50-degrees--but never both mixed together!--does not promote good hygiene.)

I'm footsore. (I probably walked 5 miles every day, and/or stood for 6 hours every day, this week.)

I'm appreciative of the weirdest, smallest things. (Privacy while showering, small mosquitoes, having just one child--and a son!--of my own, bedroom windows more than 10" off the ground, not having to shout a color every time someone burps....)

Yams

I am tired.

I am using a 'borrowed' laptop to type this--mine completely, and perhaps finally, imploded this afternoon after limping through the week.

I am leaving tomorrow morning on a whirlwind weekend trip to Vegas.

I am going to bed now.

(Have a great weekend, y'all)

Day off

Mood: OK
Hair: Who knows? I haven't looked yet
Eyes: Fine
Listening to: Sparky getting out of bed noise

I took today off work. It's Beast's birthday. I asked for it off last month some time. The only problem is that something came up at work for Beast and he's at the airport right now on his way to ... MEXICO! Yeah, the high here today is supposed to be 34F; where he's headed the temperature will be in the low 80s by the time he arrives. Next time, I'm dropping everything and going with him! Jeez, I even speak the language!

Instead, I'm having last week's birthday cake for breakfast and spending the day reading, blogging and catching up on selfish interests. Maybe I'll even do some online Xmas shopping and shipping. After all, we got Christmas presents from my sister over the weekend (extenuating circs--don't scream).

Don't feel too sorry for me: I got a wonderful massage yesterday, along with accomplishing everything on my to-do list. Things are going well, in spite of several occasional speed bumps that keep me honest. I'll miss Beast this week, but he'll be home soon, hopefully without any intestinal virus, and we can start planning for Thanksgiving weekend in earnest.

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Urban Word:

Song Binging: To binge on a song or artist.
The act of repeatedly and obsessively listening to a particular song or artist over a relatively short period of time. Periods of song binging are followed by extended periods of skipping the certain track or artist, leaving them unplayed.

One thing I won't be doing today is song-binging. I think I've outgrown that, though I may 'music binge' for part of the day.

I'm home

Mood: meh
Hair: braid
Eyes: fine
Listening to: "Egypt Uncovered" on ID (Sparky's choice)

Good things about the trip:

• Quality time with Sparky.
• I never reached the point of wanting to murder Jan. This is a major improvement over any other trip.
• I only felt lousy one day due to the cold. Not so bad.
• Got to see Mom, made her smile, helped her out with mealtimes, etc.
• I once again managed to drive through snow in the mountains. I loathe Vail Pass! Also large trucks.
• Got birthday schwag!
• Not having cruise control on my rental car was surprisingly difficult.
• Found Pea Green Corner. Took pictures.
• Discovered that the people who are a living in the house in which I grew up are Obama supporters. Got a good chuckle over Dad haunting them for that. hee

It was awfully hard leaving the nursing home yesterday after saying goodbye to Mom. Thank goodness Sparky was there for moral support.

Time passages

[anyone else remember that song??]

Mood: ok so far
Hair: clean and drying
Eyes: dry
Listening to: Sparky playing Zelda-something-or-other

So. In the past eight days in my family, Del, CC, and Marie have added a year to their ages. Also, Del & CC and Jean & Reg have celebrated wedding anniversaries, and Ellen & Dean's anniversary was in there as well. This is the month that caused me to call a moratorium on the cards (much less gifts!). August broke the budget and my brain every year.

Also, my childhood best friend's birthday is next week, and so is Jenny's. Amy's birthday was yesterday. What the HELL?? Why do I seem to (unknowingly) buddy up with all these Virgos? Maybe this is why:

If you’re sick, need some help or some good advice, Virgo friends are the ones to seek. They have a great concern for the welfare of others and are always willing to go the extra mile to help you out. Their solid, practical natures are great in many situations and their ability to plan with extreme detail is amazing. They are not shy in giving you their time or energy, but they are also not so shy in point out your faults, how you messed up or nagging you to better yourself.

All true, except for that last bit. I don't really have naggy friends, or they are so tactful I don't even recognize the nagging!

Anyway.

The main reason I'm posting is because my nephew (Jesse) is here for a couple of days before moving on to Katherine and Alan's on Friday night. We were going to visit an outdoor museum today but it's supposed to rain a bit. We'll see. He's not even up yet--which is just fine. He looked more than a little haggard when we picked him up at the train station yesterday. Maybe we'll just sit in the house today and play video games. Katherine has Active Duty planned for him Saturday and Sunday: tours, regular museums, walking, shows, tourist stuff. I'm tired just reading her schedule! While they do that, I will work (Saturday) and supervise the thorough cleaning of Sparky's room (Sunday or Monday). Beast is heading back to OH tomorrow.

Also and completely unrelated to anything else: Bill Clinton is an excellent speech-maker. What a shame his follow-through is so suspect. He sure wows a crowd, though.

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WordSpy Word:

junior moment: n. A momentary lapse into immaturity; nervousness or folly caused by youth or inexperience.

I think I'm going to have to chalk up a lot of this month's angst about everyone's behavior to several people's junior moments, mine included.

Tho'ts from OH

Mood: ok
Hair: uh...well...it's still there
Eyes: dry and itchy
Listening to: the blower in my hotel room

Yes, I'm back in OH. Yesterday was a big milestone in my life: I drove all the Huge City interstates in daylight. Usually Beast does that stretch. I have done it, but it was at 3:30 a.m. or something like that. I made it yesterday. Obviously. I have to do it again tomorrow to get Sparky and me home, but it was a powerful moment when I reached The Crossroads of America.

Today I'm going to revisit a scene from my past. Beast and BIL have done a bang-up job on separating and sorting and packing to prep for FIL's move, etc. No one has really touched MIL's closet. That's my job today: sort, organize, and get rid of anything that can't reasonably be sold and that no one in the family wants to keep. I did this when my sister died.

I'm finding out a great deal about how mindset affects one's reaction to the death of someone close to me. I was not ready, not accepting, about the situation in 1994. This time, while just as emotionally difficult, I don't seem to be fighting so hard against reality, and I'm finding little jewel-like moments of peace and love.

Also: Baymont Inns are perfectly nice hotels, even if they did lose my reservation. My room is right next to the elevator...which is randomly in the BACK of the building in the middle of the wing with rooms. The stairs are towards the other end of the wing with rooms. And, while I didn't see a circus truck in the lot, I was assigned the room under the elephants. These elephants are early risers. So much for sleeping.

Also also: Advil doesn't on muscle spasms. I need to buy a bottle of Tylenol. My right shoulder is so tight I have to move my entire upper body as a unit to turn sideways.

Also also also: For some reason, FIL thinks we are the repository of all things vaguely electronic. I have a box in the car that contains what appears to be a setup for a Museuam of Computer Speakers.

Time to shower and hit the road.

---

Urban Words:

Traffic Tourette's: The uncontrollable urge to scream obscenities at other drivers who infringe on your space (whether real or imagined).

driving finger: Your middle finger. Usually refers to the one on the left hand so it can be displayed out the driver's side window to comment on another driver's behavior.

In spite of being on the road for seven hours yesterday, I didn't have any instances of wanting to use my driving finger, and the traffic Tourette's was pretty under control as well.

Funny ads

Mood: ok
Hair: unwashed
Eyes: fubar
Listening to: the carbonation in my pop can

These ads are pretty funny, especially for those who've ridden on the Tube. There is just something quintessentially British about them. My favorite, from the "only in England" files: "Thanks, mate."

found here

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Urban Word:

mouse potato: Someone who spends all their time on the computer surfing the net or playing games. Similar to couch potato.

It was bad enough to witness the devolution of humanity to mouse potato, but now that people can take their games with them, does that make them phone potatoes? Tube potatoes, in the case above?

What I did tonight

Mood: Pretty good, right now
Hair: Pony
Eyes: Sore and itchy (allergies)
Listening to: "Michael Phelps, Michael Phelps, Michael Phelps..." gaaaah (I like the guy, but JEEEEEZZZZZZ!)

• Filled the gas tank in the trunk and stocked up on bottles of DDP
• Washed last night's pots & pans
• Texted Beast about 6 times
• Wrote a couple of Thank Yous
• Stripped beds and washed sheets
• Washed towels, too
• Remade our bed (Sparky's will be addressed tomorrow)
• "Made dinner": Bing cherries, 12 Wheat Thins, 6 small chunks of cheese, and far too many kettle-cooked salt-and-pepper potato chips. Also, two vodka-tonics.
• Caught up on some blogposts and the one forum I read (unchecked for two weeks)
• Caught up on memes
• Talked to Beast on the phone

Tomorrow:

• Church
• Unload dishwasher
• Work, alone, at work
• Dinner with Katherine and Alan (which will include me gritting my teeth and not punching her in the face)
• Talk to Beast at some point
• Several project things around the house : family archives, budgeting stuff (for work), tidying up the front closet, putting Sparky's bed together again)

Did I mention that Beast and Sparky are in Ohio for at least the next four days? Sparky may stay on with his Grandpa after Beast heads home. FIL needs to have someone in the house with him; he fell in the night last night and couldn't get himself up. Not good.

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Urban Word:

bad fuel day: The mood or feeling one experiences after having just filled his or her vehicle with $4.00+ per gallon gasoline. (Usually consists of a sense of great economic despair, impending doom, anger, frustration, depression and/or a combination of all the above)

Today was yet another bad fuel day, one of many we've had lately. We are going through gas this month like we can magically produce more.

Off the grid

I will probably not be posting here this weekend. We are headed to Ohio to check on Beast's parents, who are generally not doing well. Mom has thrown in the towel on the day-to-day household stuff: laundry, dishes, etc. She is also generally having trouble with fluid retention. Dad's bloodwork is all over the map.

[That's the VERY abbreviated version of everything.]

Head up, shoulders back, forge on.

FYI and stuff and more than

Mood: mmm...okay, I guess
Hair: clean, styled...takin' names
Eyes: meh
Listening to: The Blowers (it's freakin' COLD in here and I forgot my new shawl. Again.

So, this is directed at the librarians who may be reading. I just left a semi-snarky anonymous comment on the latest very snarky post by The Annoyed Librarian (that phrase, in pink, is of course as redundant as can be), which is about the ALA conference. Apparently, she was at a different venue from the one I attended. Entirely. 100%. Note that I'm not linking. She's not particularly hard to find, but I've discovered that Pure Snark gets to be Purely Tiresome quickly. On the other hand, my comment is not obviously snarky, so at least I haven't descended to her level. Hah. (oh, the irony) And see my previous post re pomposity.

Oh, well. Just sayin'. If you haven't got anything nice to say, shaddup. So I am. Goodbye.

---

Urban Word:

Shituation: n.: a bad situation, 2.: a dramatic, usually negative happening resulting in utter shit in one's life.

Houston, we have yet another shituation in the family. But since I don't want to talk about it--yet--I'm taking out my frustration on other annoyances in my life.

Pffftttttt.....

Conference People

Mood: Good, but a bit jet-lagged
Hair: whatever
Eyes: ditto
Listening to: ads, and "Deadliest Catch" (Phil is coughing up blood and refusing medical care)

So, yeah. I was in Anaheim, across the street from Disneyland, for the last 4-plus days. (see below for best cynical description of the conference) I had a blast, learned some stuff, ate a lot of rubber chicken for lunch, and appreciated the California weather if not the smog. I now feel totally less stupid about what's coming up in the future of my job. We use far-too-freakin-many acronyms, by the way.

I also gelled my sense that lots of people in the profession are pompous asses. By the way, there's no age exclusion for that--there seem to be just as many asshat 30-year-olds as 55-year-olds. I'll match you name for name. You start. Go on.

People are fun to watch, though. My feet hurt. I shipped 10 lbs. of stuff from the exhibits, and could have done another 10 easily had I wanted to stand in line for another box. Instead, I just practiced better packing principles...and used two of the six free bags I picked up.

Glad to be home. Don't really want to go to work tomorrow...because I got the most retarded email EVER from Schedule Nazi while I was gone. She is 100% idiot. {{newsflash}} Not really: it's common knowledge.

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Urban Word:

interesting: (adj) Something which arouses no interest at all.

Used to politely avoid admitting this, which indirectly expresses your indifference.

When attending a conference with 25,000 other librarians, sometimes the best thing to say is "Gee, that was interesting."

Oh. My. God.

Mood: good
Hair: NOT in a ponytail, braid or knot! First time in a week!
Eyes: good
Listening to: ads (watching Password in spite of Regis

I just realized this afternoon that I'm leaving for the ALA conference on Friday. I thought I had another week before I left. OMG. I'm really nervous about the arrival Friday night, but after that I think it's going to be fine...mostly thanks to artcat, who is my roomie for the weekend (props to her--my lifesaver!).

So. I have a bunch of work I need to do before I leave.

Sparky starts Driver's Ed tomorrow. I am making 12 DinnerByDesign meals Tuesday. We are all getting haircuts on Wednesday. Beast is going to hang curtains this week; today he fixed the (almost completely GONE!) brakes in my truck.

Life is good. Except for the 194 posts in Bloglines related to library stuff...but I'll get through those eventually.

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Urban Word:

earlybirditude: the (often annoying to others who don't share it) overly happy attitude of early birders - often associated with a great eagerness to call 7am committee meetings and to embark on sales-related shopping trips that mimic dawn raids on enemy encampments

OK, I'll admit I have tendencies toward earlybirditude in my work life. My apologies to the owls I know.

Upcoming quiet week here

We are about two hours away from leaving on our mission trip for this summer. We are going to a city where Beast and I used to live, and where Sparky was born. If you are so inclined, any spare prayers would be welcome.

See you on Friday. Or Saturday, depending on how long it takes us to get sorted out when we return.

For accounts from previous weeklong mission trips, go here, here, here, here, and/or here.

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Urban Word:

iPhone-a-friend: n. The act of using a regular cell phone to get information by calling someone who is sitting at a computer and can surf the internet by proxy.

Since we will be computer-free this week, I may have to use an iPhone-a-friend with one of you to get current information.

Newsbreak

We're home.

Now back to our regular scheduled programming, Entropy.

Whee!

NO
MORE
WORK
TILL
NEXT
TUESDAY
!!!!!

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Urban Word:

über : The ultimate, above all, the best, top, something that nothing is better than.

I am über-excited about being away from work for four straight days, in spite of what I know I will face on Tuesday when I return.

Drive Time

Up this morning at 3:20 (yes, a.m.), out of the house by 3:55 on my way to a meeting on the other side of the state.

There are a surprising number of people on the road at that time. Really.

Anyway. Met up with a colleague partway there, in the city where she lives, and then we carpooled the remaining 3 hours, enjoyed most of the time spent at the meeting. Lots of good food for thought--if you like thinking about libraries and technology. Well worth the time. We were done by mid-afternoon, eventually found the car (when we parked we just followed all the other librarian-looking people rather than actually paying attention to where we were going), and drove back to our meeting place and thence home. We only got lost twice. And that was just cuz I missed exits. I'm a dope. All-told, over 8 hours in the car, for a 6-hour meeting.

Weird? Yup. Fun? Bolshoyst da. I have a little crush on one the presenters, but I'll get over that at some point. We cats had a lot of extra-fabu conversation in the car.

And tomorrow, back to the trenches.

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Urban Word:

googleganger: Similar to that of a doppleganger, it is another individual with the same name as you whose records and/or stories are mixed in with your own when you Google yourself.

The unfortunate thing about having a relatively common name is that when Googling the aforementioned crush-subject, lots of really weird googlegangers showed up along with the person I was trying to stalk online.

Calm

We are a bit becalmed here. That's not necessarily a bad thing. It's not necessarily a good thing either. It just is.

I'm trying to keep the rantiness to a minimum. I'm trying to find the positive spin on things. It helps that I'm going on a (work-related) road trip on Friday, and that I am only working four hours tomorrow--and in the process of working that out, I have maneuvered a "screw you" move on Schedule Nazi. See what happens when you take so much comp-time? You lose. Bitch.

[There are reasons I'm particularly blunt about her right now. I'm not going into them. It's just more of the same shit.]

The road trip will entail 8 hours on the road and a 6-hour meeting. It doesn't sound fun, but it will be spent in good company, and that is worth a lot more than sleep.

Another positive thing is that I emailed a friend with whom I haven't 'talked' in months. It's not like we don't work less than 1/4 mile away from each other.... However, we are both so swamped with end-of-the-school-year (and family) stuff that setting a time to get together is proving to be a challenge. We're into July at this point.

Speaking of school.... Well, I'll just say that a) kids are stupid, and b) sending kids to public schools nowadays is a bit scarier than it was in the 70s and 80s. I'll go into detail, perhaps, this weekend. It's not about Sparky, though.

My family (of origin) sux, by the way. I've about reached my last nerve with them. Just...go 'way. This is probably the healthiest feeling I've had about them in awhile. I don't feel particularly guilty about feeling this way, though I do feel badly about Mom.

Monday night, we watched Dirty Jobs; last night we watched Deadliest Catch; tonight we're watching Survivorman and Mythbusters. Network TV? Only on Thursdays.

I caught up my reading lists last night while watching people fight on crab boats. It took awhile; I'd let it slide for quite a awhile.

And who knew--those feathers Native Americans wore in their hair? Served a purpose besides vanity and decor. I *heart* Les Stroud.

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Urban Word:

refrigerator blindness: Selective loss of visual acuity in association with common foraging of the refrigerator [or freezer]. Predominantly seen in children and males.

Ten minutes ago, Sparky stood in front of the fridge and asked if there were anymore bagels in the freezer up here. A severe case of refrigerator blindess has obviously hit him.

Things found while wasting time exploring

I was joking around earlier on my memes site about having magnetic hands, but it occurs to me that when one surfs around sometimes the things we stumble upon feel a bit like the debris picked up by magnets. Now, some of it's junk, clearly. But some of it is worth passing along. Unfortunately, like most situations in life, I don't always remember where I found this stuff.

• EveryBlock--only available in New York, SF, and Chicago now, but really cool. So, I searched SoHo in NYC and this is what came up: current photos, building violations, crime, news, business reviews, inpections... Kinda cool if you live in the right places.



• If you stay in hotels, you probably already know that the rooms are cleaned in a somewhat superficial way. Bedspreads are not washed that frequently, and dustballs accumulate, and so forth. However, I ran across and icky thing on Snopes about the glassware in hotel rooms. Gross. BYODrinking Cup from now on!!



• Thanks to Jed at Lorem Ipsum who did a lovely post on women in fiction and movies that really struck me as critically important for so many reasons. I love the so-called Bechdel Test: Does the work (1) contain two or more women, who (2) talk with each other, (3) about something other than a man? Yeah! This could be why I don't go to the movies very often....



• Now I'll whine: Why don't the forums on Wordsmith and Word Wizard have RSS feeds? I don't want to register anyplace, and I don't want to get more stuff sent to my email address. Gimme a feed!



• Speaking of words, have you played Free Rice lately? Why not?



• Using this wonderful setup, I can now access my computer at work from anywhere else with an internet connection. That means that, in theory, I could catalog from the comfort of my house. Hee.



• Another thing that I am absolutely LOVING is having access to Sparky's current grade situation. Our school system is using Home Access Center from SunGard to provide this info for parents (and students), and it is wonderful!

OK, I think that's all the useful debris I've picked up recently. Happy surfing.

Bummer

Mood: Pretty good, surprisingly
Hair: I combed it this morning
Listening to: The Patriot-Charger game

I don't feel good today: headache (which actually kicked in yesterday) and an unpleasant stomach. I was awake for three hours last night waiting to throw up, which (thankfully) never happened...but it got down to -10 outside and my feet were still freezing cold at 8 when the alarm went off. Beast got up and went to church with Sparky. I was still in bed when they got home, finally dragging myself downstairs at about 11. As soon as I save this, I'm going back up and curling up in bed some more. I want to watch the Pack--shocking, eh??--tonight, but I'm not sure I can stay up to see it all if I don't take a nap.

And yes, I do know how old that makes me sound!

Tomorrow, I'll drive 3 hours up to Dean's with a stop at an outlet mall for clothes for Sparky and me (and Packer sweatshirts for everyone including Dean if they win), also some new school folders for Sparky for second semester. Then it'll be 3 hours back home, hopefully before Beast leaves for Ohio.

His mom is having a chat with her oncologist tomorrow, requested by the doc. Her other son will be there. I don't think Dad won't be at the meeting; he was admitted to the hospital Friday morning. Beast has to be the area for a customer visit this week anyway, so he's just going to arrive early so he can stay with his parents for at least a day.

(And, WHY, why...10 minutes into the game, are the New England fans BOOING their team?? Wow, them are some sucky fans; y'all should be ashamed of yourselves!)

Au revior.

Whatever

Driving at rush hour through horizontally-falling snow is not fun. The DTs suck and watching someone go through them sucks too, even if the person suffering them is unconscious and fully sedated. Golf is a stupid game, and it makes people swear a lot. If you don't have a will, a medical power of attorney, and a legal guardian for yourself in case of accidents or whatever...you should. Go get one.

Now.

Mood: Tense, emotionally exhausted, and unhappy (in no particularly order)
Hair: STINKS! I hate cigarette smoke!
Listening to: Beast swearing at his Tiger Woods golf game

World Blessing Generator has this to say to me tonight:

May Wisdom and Happiness compete to see which can do you the greatest favor,
and all of your relationships be blessed with balance and harmony.
Continue your spiritual practice no matter what happens or what anyone does to you.
Pray and
accept.