There has been a lot going on in my life in the last few weeks. I keep meaning to post, but no dice. Here's what's been going on, in a list, in no particular order.

• Fall has arrived. We've had tons of thunderstorms and rain which I love. Today was cold (and I didn't bring a coat) and rainy all day. Perfect cuddle at home with soup and a book day. I came to work though.
  
• In a four day period, I saw three dead cats along side of local roads. This made me sad.
  
• Last weekend I went to the renaissance festival with H. It was the last weekend for it so we braved it despite the four hours of rain on saturday morning. It was really muddy (like soup), but lots of fun, and very not crowded. The joust was horse-less as it wasn't safe for them, but we did get splat fairy mugs. (Beautiful ceramic mugs that when you turn over appear to have a squashed fairy on the bottom).
  
• My Garth Brooks tickets arrived a few days ago. Ticketmaster always sends tickets out looking like junk mail so your tickets aren't stolen (though you have to be careful you don't throw them away by mistake). So my roommate teased, looks like you got some junk mail today, and then we both did happy dances.
  
• Always fun to arrive at work, as I did this morning, start to catch up on four days lag of email, and have your coworker ask, "aren't you going to ::local school:: today?" Oops! I grabbed some books (and I knwo this well enough to do it basically off the cuff) and headed off. I love school visits and one of the kiddos from the school stopped by this afternoon to say hello to me.
  
• My hair feels weird texture wise the last few days, not sure what was up with that.
  
• I went to a wedding this weekend that was pretty fun. I did not participate in the bouquet toss (and fortunately wasn't forced to).
  
• David was in town for said wedding, so I got to hang out with him which is always much fun.
  
• Holiday Mart was this weekend. I worked my shift (required of all junior league members) and did some shopping. There are always neat vendors and I got some fun stuff, and a little bit of Christmas shopping done.
  
• Speaking of Holiday Mart, last year I saw this really neat home decor plate thing, and I wanted it. But I talked myself out of buying it because it was slightly more money that I wanted to spend on a whim. All year long I've thought (and talked) about those plates. And determined that anything that has captured my attention for over a year, I should buy. That retailor was back this year, so I did. And I discovered that their store is about three miles from my house. Well that's irritating. However it is a wire rack that you can change out decorative plates (about the size of coasters), and I only bought one set of plates. I can always go to the store to buy more sets as the mood (and finances) amuse me.
  
• As the weather grows colder (though often still warm in the day) it is fairly reasonable to run both the a/c during the day and heater at night. (Though today is the cold all day variety). We're doing neither in our house. I get a bit cold at night (especially if I'm too lazy to get out of bed, put on flannel pjs, and grab another blanket). I found that if I stay perfectly still as I sleep, my body heat warms up the sheets/blankets right around me, and I'm in a warm little cocoon (helped by the warm cat tucked into me). So when I roll over, I try to do so in a small little space so as not to leave my cocoon and venture into the bed territory that isn't warmed up yet.
  
• I have never cared too much for chai tea but at Holiday Mart I tried this absolutely delicious fat free chocolate chai blend. It was amazing. Too much to spend on a whim (catching a theme here), but I'm still thinking about it. I checked (getting smarter with experience) and it is sold locally. I may have to go get some. Of course the cold weather makes me crave this
  
• At home I have all the makings for grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup (my favorite cold weather meal save homemade potato soup) except bread.
  
• I made beer bread tomorrow edited to fix: yesterday. It is yummy and a good use for older beer.
  
• There is beer in my fridge that expired a year ago. Yep, I'm an alkie who drinks too much (or not quickly enough to get through a six pack).
  

There's more random chaos in my head, but that is a good start. Plus certain people tell me my entries are too long. That's because I update infrequently. So vote: update more frequently with shorter entries, or as I am now less frequent with longer entires?

As described here, I've been fighting this awful cold. Sunday night I took the Nyquil that had no expiration date on the bottle but was from the same cold (I think) as the expired prescription stuff. Monday night I purchased a new bottle of Nyquil Cough (and Dayquil, it was a bundle and I wanted both). New bottle has an expiration date two years out. However by Monday night (after purchasing before using otc stuff) I'm feeling unbelievably awful. The end result of all this coughing is how much it hurts to breathe. My chest just feels like it is being squeezed and the inside feels like it has been rubbed with sand paper a couple hundred times. As an asthmatic (now thankfully in remission but who went through awful times in childhood), I understand well the difference between not being able to breathe and hurting when you breathe. I was in the latter stage, though I did pull out a peak flow meter just to check. That's when I made a doctor's appointment.

By the way, this is a very bad time to get sick (though there never is a really good time to get sick). Monday - Bible Study (not skippable - I'd missed too many already); Tuesday - book club (for work), storytime, Junior League thing; Wednesday - big deal Junior League meeting, gave a workshop to a group of parents for work; Thursday - storytime, other stuff; Friday - big deal program at work. Oh well. A lot of that requires me talking which is getting hard with the cough tearing up my throat. On my Wednesday presentation, the lucky participants got to listen to an hour and a half of me sounding like an old woman who'd been chain smoking for years. Thursday's storytime was one of the worst I've ever done - I had no energy and my voice was awful, hardly carried and little inflection. I ended up leaving early on Thursday and just sleeping. Woke up long enough for CSI and went back to sleep.

My tuesday morning doctor's appointment conflicts with a Junior League thing, but I let it go and went to the doctor. My doctor is kinda funny. He knows me well enough, been treating me since I was a child, but he always does this options thing. He outlines like four possible choices in terms of medicine, treatments, etc, and then he stares at you. He never really expresses which he thinks would be best, sometimes a little bit of an opinion, but often he just outlines options. He says "this is more agressive" and hints that it might be better if you hold off on x option until you give other options a chance to work. I really appreciate that he is keeping me so informed and letting me have so much control over my own medical treatment. But he's the doctor, I wish he would show a little bit more about which he thinks is the best. Anyway I get more of the prescription cough syrup.

For the record, the prescription cough syrup has a one year expiration date, while the brand new nyquil has a two year date. Therefore if the Nyquil and the prescription stuff are from the same cold, as I believe they are, and the prescription stuff only expired in May, my old bottle of Nyquil was fine. However it was also almost empty, so it was good it was replaced. Thank you to everyone who voted on the previous poll though.

After sleeping for almost fourteen hours yesterday, I am beginning to feel better. I am still coughing, my head still hurts, and I'm still a little trembly, but not nearly as bad as I was. As my boss pointed out, this is the best I've looked in a week. I've got a huge major presenter coming for my program tonight, and then I'm going to go sleep the weekend away. Well not actually, I'm hosting the junior league dinner club tomorrow so I need to grab wine and clean my house, but other than that I get to sleep. And rest. And heal. Thank heavens. Other than pulling out dishes and such for dinner club, I should maybe think of a centerpiece idea. Except if you put food dishes there on the table, you have very little room for centerpieces, so I'll just do something fun with candles.

I'm fairly behind on my posting. Well, I'm not obligated to post, so I can't be behind. But there are things I wanted to say. Last week (two weeks ago actually August 16th - 19th), I had that rare thing of all rare things - a vacation. It's been a long busy summer, and while it has been very good, it also has been very stressful. On a "slow" week, I was doing four programs a week. Most weeks it was more than that. Plus the library was just so much busier because of summer reading program and such. It's our busy time, and it is a lot of fun. I love it, but it is fairly easy to reach critical burnout phase. And I was pretty close. I just needed a vacation. So I took myself off to Phoenix.

( read the adventure )
It was a quick visit, but in some ways it was the perfect length. There were a few things I didn't get to do that I wanted to, and not everything went exactly as planned, but it was a very good, low key, and most of all relaxing trip. I didn't need a super jam packed trip full of THINGS TO DO, I needed downtime and that was what I got.

So I'm back in Kansas City and I wonder, could I move back to Phoenix? The answer: probably. But not now, not yet. I'm happy where I am. I want a minimum of another year in my job, and probably more. I love Kansas City, love being near (but not living with) my parents, love my church, love my friends here. Not everything is ideal, but this is a good place for me now. And if I did move, I'm not sure it would be Phoenix. Washington would be nice (and has the benefit of family being there too), or Alaska appeals to my (newly emerging and growing larger by the day) adventerous side, going farther South (Texas or Georgia or Kentucky) also sound nice. However none of that is right now, now I stay in one place for career reasons, to give myself a chance to just be for a year or two. And because if I moved huckleberrycake would track me down and kill me. Plus I just made a two year committment to the Junior League so that ought to keep me in town. But that too is another entry.

Things I think you should know or that are popping around my head:

Daylight Savings Time - For the first time this year, the length of daylight savings time will be extended. We'll change our clocks (spring forward) on the second Sunday in March (March 11th - next weekend!) and change them back (fall back) on the first Sunday in November (November 2nd).


I leave town tomorrow very very early for a librarian symposium in California. I'm very excited and I'm not at all ready. So far I got my hair cut (trimmed and thinned) and went to the ATM. I still need to do laundry, transport the cat to my parents, pack, file away a few things, etc. Still this is the first time I've gotten to go to a major librarian event and I couldn't be more thrilled.


My cat, Jane Austen, is a cuddle kitty. I got her when I was in grad school and most of the time I was at home I had my laptop on my lap. Thus she got used to curling up against me. She also curls up around my legs when we sleep. Very rarely did she climb into my lap which I now realize was because it was very rarely free. After grad school, I get to spend more time just being with no laptop, and she has cheerfully reasserted her rightful place as the occupier of my lap.


My book club met on Monday. This is just for fun, through the Junior League, and has nothing to do with the library. (I also lead one for children as part of my job and it met on Tuesday). I love this book club, most of the women are older leaguers and higher up in the ranks. They're just fun neat women. This month we read Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte. We've decided to do a classic every other month. I never made it through Wuthering Heights before. Once I tried to read it because it was supposed to be such a great romance (about sophomore or junior year of high school) and once a year or two later I was assigned it. Never made it through, read the book notes and got an A on the test if I recall. Very few books did I not read in their entirety. And I still haven't made it through. I really did try. The problem (and all the ladies agreed) is that the characters are just so unbelievably unlikable. You don't want Catherine and Heathcliff together, you don't root for them, they're not nice people. I didn't like them and I wasn't really sure why they liked each other. Despite only one woman who forced herself through it (the rest of us made it about halfway through and then did notes), we had a great discussion. I like Jane Austen (obviously), I like the other Bronte sisters (loved Jane Eyre), but I just don't like Wuthering Heights.

I'm working today. It's not ideal, but I did get yesterday off and the next two days as well. All my Christmas shopping is done and wrapped and ready to go. (I know this is not a huge accomplishment on the 22nd - I finished yesterday - but humor me.) I've already had a great deal of fun in the holiday vein, including having the girls from high school over on Thursday. Not everyone could make it, but it was fun. We did a gift exchange and I made fondue using my new fondue pot I will be getting for Christmas (I liberated it early from it's place at my parents house for this occasion). Yummy cheese fondue and so much fun! Last week, my Junior League committee for our book drive had a holiday party instead of a committee meeting. With as much work as we did with the book drive in October and November (and some of December) we deserved it. It was fun. Last week, the girls from church had a holiday party too. It was a wine and desert party. Instead of bringing some silly gift, we had a fun theme. You brought a wine glass (I found a pretty etched one at Tuesday Morning) and filled it with something and/or deocrated it (I filled mine with homemade peppermint bark) and then we did an exchange "dirty santa" style. There was a lot of laughter and fun. The glass I ended up with is pretty, pink, sparkly, and filled with candy and lip gloss. Always fun.

At three different stores, I've been Christmas shopping at, I've run into people I know from their time as library patrons. It is always bizarre, but nice. Next week we have a ton of stuff planned for the library for the week between xmas and New Years since kids are out of school. I'm running a talent show. It should be a blast. Our computers were down most of this week at the libray which just sets the library a ridiculous amount back and creates headaches that are hard to explain to anyone who has never worked in a library. They came back online this morning though, so that is good.

And finally a little quizzie because I couldn't resist:

You Are a Gingerbread House

A little spicy and a little sweet, anyone would like to be lost in the woods with you.

Ooh! I actually made a gingerbread house this year! Okay technically I assembled one that came in a kit. I didn't bake and cut gingerbread, I used this nice all inclusive kit. However, I've never done that really before either. It's fun and pretty. The house is probably 80% decorated. After that I got rather bored, slapped the rest of the icing basics on and a few pieces of candy. The rest of the icing went on a brownie I happened to have. So except for a little bit on one side, it looks fairly decent. I think it is more fun as a group activity than just me on my lonesome.

Well first off, Happy Halloween!

Now why have I been so busy this month? Well October was just a rather busy month. During the week, I work, as usual. But I didn't just work this month, I also took a class. I graduated with my MLS in August and some of my friends were already taking bets on how long before I ended up back in school. It's either because I like to learn or I like to better myself or I like to punish myself. One or more of those. There's a reason this journal is called Masochistic Perfectionism. In my job, if I accumulate Continuing Education units, I can advance a class level (read more money for me). I have two years to accumulate x units. I took an online CE class over the month of October. It covered recent developments in Children's Literature and was only online discussion, no tests, no papers. But a massive reading list. And that took up many of my evenings in October. So even if you saw me online and I seemed distant that was why.

The thing that has kept me busy in the last two weeks is a grant related work project. We got a grant to do parent and caregiver education workshops. Those tend to get scheduled in the evenings when people are free. And that occupies my evenings to a certain extent. To a big certain extent. I have another one this week. But yay for accumulating comp time.

And Junior League has kept me busy. This month is our book drive. That's my committee/placement for the year. So I've been going to meetings, sortings (where we sort the books we receive) and such. Last year we collected around 100,000 books that were distributed to needy kids and to agencies around the metro area. I went to a sorting that was all League members and it was cool. It was an evening, everyone came from work, changed and dug in. We were moving stuff around in a filthy warehouse and no one complained. This is a "society" women type organization (like you see mocked on Gilmore Girls), but it is mainly professional women. And we're not afraid of some hard/dirty work. One of the greatest uses of those books is to homeless and battered women's shelters. So that when the parents are doing intake things, there are books for the kids to look at. Those are the at-risk kids who need it. It's a great drive, a great service to the community, and I'm proud to be a part of it.

That's what has kept my weekdays busy. My weekends were busy too. First weekend was music weekend (10/1ish) with seeing a band in Topeka and the Rolling Stones*, second weekend was actually relaxing, shopping, cleaning, etc, third weekend was a Branson trip* (10/14ish), fourth weekend I worked and it was the Holiday Mart* (10/21ish), and you get the idea.
*update coming soon, probably

Here's looking forward to a calm November.

I moved this weekend. It went well thanks in large part to the help of Heather and Brion. Brion brought his truck and we got it all in two trips (using all our cars on the first trip). Then we had yummy Zarda bbq. I got all my books and such over this weekend. I hadn't actually planned to bring them for a few weeks, but there was room and willing arms so we did it. This puts me ahead of my schedule. Of course, they're just sitting there in boxes taunting me until I have time to deal with them. All the physical moving of boxes and furniture was Saturday. Sunday, there was church. Then during Sunday school thee was a meeting of the people interested in the library ministry. My church has a really good sized library, well organized and run. However the director is getting on in years and her health is not wonderful, she needs someone to take over. I was worried it would be just me, but two other women who are school librarians also volunteered. It looks like it is going to be a blessing to work with this ministry. One of the women is actually a school library that is in the service area of my public library. My job is to coordinate efforts with her, but I hadn't realized yet she goes to my church. It is always great to have those crossovers. I'm also really grateful that I have a chance to use these "worldly" talents, skills, education to serve God. I love my job because it is so service oriented. Even at a secular institution like a public library I believe I can be a servant and do God's work by helping people to find the books/information/etc that they need. I'm not explaining this well. This is better articulated in my head (which isn't really articulated since that means to verbalize, but you know what I mean). It is amazing to do this in such a focused way as that at church.

Heather (huckleberrycake) and I went to a scrapbooking class after church at Archivers. We paid $15 and made a very cute paisly mini album. I have no idea what I'm going to do with it yet. (I'm thinking I may round up years of Easter dress pictures and put them in there). However it was fun (and I priced the materias and such, the materials cost way more than $15 when you figure in inks, stamps, etc.) After that we ate a yummy late lunch at Sweet Tomatoes. The great thing about that place is it is a buffet, but it is a soup/salad buffet and that makes it all that much better. Then I moved 90% of my clothes over to my new place.

Monday, I worked and then moved the rest of my clothes and shoes. That was the first night I spent at the new place. Tuesday I bought groceries (since all I had at my new place was Diet Coke and Teddy Grahams not exactly the most healthy of diets), then worked the evening/closing shift. Wednesday (yesterday) worked then a Junior League meeting. I didn't know as many of the people at that meeting but I am always amazed at how friendly and nice everyone is at the league and how easy it is to sit down at a new table and start talking to people. Plus I am starting to recognize people and people wave when they see me, so slowly I'm carving out a niche. Now I just need to learn to remember names. Wednesday night got home (my new home) and there were plumbing issues. That is a separate post. There are still unpacked bags of clothes and many boxes. But the clothes are a bigger priority. They are mocking me. I hope to get them done tomorrow (my day off).

I woke up at one point early this morning with the phrase "charboiled grass" running through my head. I realized that didn't make sense and I racked my brain until I came up with "barbeque charboiled grass". Satisfied I went back to sleep.

Now of course I have no idea what that means, but it seems to have worked.

I am in Emporia for class and as a result not sleeping well. The radio part of the alarm clock radio in my room kept going in and out and I decided not to trust it. I turned it to the buzzer for the alarm (and of course set my cell phone as back up). I had tons of trouble sleeping last night, tossed and turned for three hours. When I woke up in the morning, the alarm sounded like an alert alarm in a ship or a submarine. Danger Collision! Or warning, Nuclear Meltdown! Had me wide awake, panicked, and heart racing. I realize how much I love my ihome clock that wakes me up to a selection from my ipod. I'm so spoiled. The night before when I didn't know exactly what the alarm would sound like, every little sound woke me up thinking that might be it. I woke up everytime from 4:30am on when the heater kicked on, or the compressor in the mini fridge, or the pipes whined when the person in the room next door took a shower. Not a lot of fun. I'm not well rested (good thing I have a two hour drive home after four hours in class). And people wonder what I crash and nap in the Sunday afternoon after I get home.

This last week was pretty good. This is my busiest semester yet, but if I can get through it, I'll be within shouting range of being done. I haven't done anything at church or with my church group in a week and it will be another week or so. Wednesday instead of Wednesday Church I went to a Junior League meeting. It was interesting. It was the voting meeting for the board, new leadership positions, and the budget. As a new member I can't vote, but it was still informative. I got a fun little compact mirror that says Junior League on it.

This is my children's class (we're on break), and it is a lot fun. I didn't go out last night like I usually do in Emporia, stayed in and watched made for tv movies and read. Fun.

Today at the gym, I had my ipod going on my "work-out/upbeat" playlist (and yes the ipod nano is the new toy I got that I've been having so much fun with). I was going pretty strong on the song "Barbie Girl" by Aqua. (If you don't know it, it is pretty funny). The next song to cue up was "Redneck Woman" by Gretchen Wilson. The first line of that song is, "Well, I've never been the Barbie doll type..." It made me laugh, which made the girl on the machine next to me look at me strangely. That was the most crowded I've ever seen the gym, but new years resolutions, plus it was around 6pm so prime time, all equal to a busy busy atmosphere.

There were some other funny/insightful/random/semi-important/meaningless thoughts I was going to share with you, but they've left me.

The last day I worked was the 30th (and I was sent home early for sickness). I had a shift at Junior League Resale Boutique today, which is like half work. I work the next 11 days in a row, and then I go to class in Emporia. No fun. None at all. And only one of my classes has the syllabus posted which is really irritating. I need to order text books and start prepping.

My hair desperately needs cut, it is all straggly and irritating me. Even with long hair, it is easy to tell when it is overdue for a cut.

And I have an awful cut on one of my fingers on the inside of a knucke and it hurts.

Having (kinda) thoroughly mastered the key of G and (most) all its related chords, I am moving on the key of E and a whole new set of chords on guitar.

I turned my last paper in for school for this semester on Sunday. I should be less stressed. But I'm not. It takes me about a week to destress, detox, debrief, dewhatever, just calm down and come down from the adrenaline and stress that carries me through the last three weeks of a semester. After every semester of undergrad, I would get extremely sick as soon as it was done, I was home and relaxing. One semester I finished finals, attended my roommate's wedding, caught a flight home for my siblings' graduation, and woke up the morning after the last of their graduation activities (a full week after my last final) with a 104.2 fever. That's pretty standard for how I deal with the end of stress. (Here's hoping my wedding isn't that stressful, or the honeymoon won't be any fun.) In my life it seems that stress is the status quo. I don't think my body knows how to cope with a lack of stress. Right now I can not relax. I keep almost inventing things to stress about. I'll probably be better in a few more days, but right now it is hell. I'm jumpy and edgy. I can't sit still and focus on a simple conversation, my mind keeps racing thinking I'm supposed to be doing this and that. All my Christmas shopping was done. Then I got an email saying that my Junior League small group social is high tea on the Plaza this Saturday (very late notice since the email came Tuesday) and includes a gift exchange. So now I need to go grab something for that. For some other people I am making a pack of homemade various occasion cards, but I will not get those done in time for Saturday to do additional cards for the gift exchange. (In the future I'm starting my giveaway cards in June). I think I am going to pick up a set of wine chams (little rings with charms that you attach to wine glass stems at parties so people can tell whose glass is whose). It's a $10 limit thief (white elephant, but with good gifts) exchange. I'm looking forward to it, but not to gettng the gift. Also on my list of things to stress about (which I shouldn't really stress about, but like I say I can't seem to not stress) is finishing xmas cards (I've finally started to mail some), wrapping presents, finishing giveaway cards, and I want to make some holiday candy. That last one may be the one that gets skipped. None of that is crucialy important, but I still can't seem to relax. I am working the two jobs today and in between them, I was going to clean the turtle cage, but I may skip that and instead go work some sweat and stress off at the gym.

First snow of the season. Cold and wet and mushy. Melted immediately of course. I drove all over town in it. Cold, cold, cold. But pretty, and probably overdue as we have been setting records for high temperatures.

First day working at the Junior League Retail Boutique. This is one of our major fundraisers and does a lot of the overhead cost of the league so that our other fundraising efforts (namely holiday mart) can go 100% to charity without any administrative costs. And since it is primarily league members who donate items (we all have a minimum, but it is easy to get to), we have lots of really nice quality, designer things. Anything not as nice of quality goes to a homeless shelter. I may end up buying quite a few things. I have to go in on Tuesday every week for three and a half hours until February. It was okay this time because there were some other women working with me, but it will be dull when it is just me as it most likely will mainly be. Also had orientation this evening for everyone starting their retail boutique this quarter. The JL year is divided into quarters and all new members spend one quarter working at the retail boutique. Retail boutique is a fancy way of saying thrift shop which I had been making fun of, but it really does seem to be much nicer than any other thrift store I've ever been in.

Visits... Heather is coming to see me! Well technically she'll be in town for a job interview, but she is staying extra time to visit with me! So very excited! So many exclamation marks! I really have missed her a great deal. As she'll be here after thanksgiving, I must show her the plaza lights, they are just so beautiful.

Visits... I am very seriously considering going to Phoenix for New Year's. I'm thisclose to booking the flight. I've already talked to some of you I want to see there. But anyone else who wants to visit with me? Jessica are you free cause we should definitely get together.

New icon!

The wind is blowing something fierce.

I have a variety of things to say. For example this weekend in class, we were sitting and talking about the importance of having a diverse staff in a library. This class of future librarians was over 30 people, 1 man, 2 women of Asian descent, and other than that a bunch of white, midwestern women. Diverse!

Last night I went bowling with my Junior League small group for our October social activity. I won a yummy scented candle for being the best bowler. Years ago in middle school and high school I was in a series of bowling leagues, plus we bowled in gym class at school. My mother made me take lessons in basically everything (for which I thank her as I am more or less competent at most things which might come up socially). I even have a couple of custom drilled bowling balls, though they are smaller weights than I prefer now. So I can bowl without embarassing myself, but I am not especially good. I got a 133 so that was fun. We talked about how Holiday Mart went, gossipped, laughed, drank bowling alley beer, etc. I really enjoying hanging out with those girls. Holiday Mart was last week. I mentioned previously that it is this huge shopping extravaganza with over 200 retailors from all over the world. I went in on Thursday to do my shift. I was assigned to be a reatail floater and at first I was hoping for a sit down job. But it was wonderful. I was assigned a few aisles of booths and I had a list of which retailors were on their own. I would check in with the booths, see if people had questions, concerns, and give breaks to people who were on their own. I loved talking to all the vendors, seeing what they had for sale, it was great. I had such an amazing time. I need to choose my placement for next year. I am torn between holiday mart and something in children's literacy. I also don't want to committ to holiday mart until I know for sure that I will be here next year. Holiday mart was great because it put me in a pleasant cheerful holiday mood without the stress of holiday crunch time. I got some stuff for myself as well as Christmas presents for a couple of people. My mom went on Saturday and didn't have as much fun, but she did get me an autographed book. I'm aquiring quite a selection of autographed books, mainly children and young adult authors.

I'm watching the first season of Fraggle Rock on DVD that I got from my library. I'm very pleasantly surprised as to how it is as good as I remember. I love the music. In the episode We love you Wembly, they sang this great song about how to love a wimp. I need an mp3 of that.

I'm worried about my turtles. The big one (Guilly or more properly Guildenstern) seems to be fine, but I never see the little one (Rosie or more properly Rosencrantz) eat. He doesn't seem to be in ill health, but it is hard to tell with turtles. Also they are quite a difference in size which makes me think that either the one is ill or they're different sexes. I may need to separate them in the next year as I don't want to get baby turtles. Fortunately Jane Austen cat is doing well, though she does seem fascinated with the turtles. She's very cute and a good companion.

I've been working my tail off for school. I have five major assignments due next week!

I've been working so much. I worked a ton last week to cover a coworker who was out of town. Not a ton of fun, but good money. I need the money. I've been applying for various other jobs. Partly I need the money, I'm ready to move on, and I'm trying to see what is out there.

This weekend I had class in town. It was good, cataloging, and I really enjoyed it. I survived and really enjoyed my time alone. It is nice to live with people, and nice other times to be alone. Jane Austen certainly thought she was a neglected (and starved) little kitty. Normally my father feeds her a great deal of people food and so this has been hard for her, and he is still gone.

Also this weekend was buffyholic's wedding and reception. It was very nice and I'm very happy for her. Congrats!

Speaking of cats, bri had this on her journal, and it is a fun waste of time... Kitten War. Yep, vote for the cutest kitten.

Today is my parents anniversary. Happy 26th Mom and Dad!

I had more to say, things to journal about, and nothing is coming to mind. Normally on wednesdays, I meet people at a local coffee shop for Bible study and socializing. I show up on time today and wait 20 minutes (I naturally have a book in my purse, so it is okay), and no one shows up. Usually people trickle in, and often I'm not on time, but usually someone is there. I don't have everyone cell's number. I call one number, give up, and go home. I really needed to do some homework anyway. Basically all I've done the last few days is homework and the gym.

This monday my library paid for me to go to a library workshop all day in a neighboring city (about an hour and a half away) on young adults. It was taught by a leading expert. Very entertaining and very funny. About half a dozen people went from my library system so we took a library van (well a mini van), which was fun. We had a ktag (an electronic device that pays the toll), but didn't realize it at first, didn't know how to use it, etc. Very amusing. The convention was at an upscale hotel and the lunch was much better than they usually are at these things. I'm really glad my library sent me.

I have class in Emporia this weekend. Joy. I get to give up a weekend, spend money on hotel/food, fun fun. It should be a good class though, good prof, interesting subject.

And this weekend, I'm missing holiday mart which is the biggest Junior League fundraising event of the year. Basically this one event (a massive ticketed shopping extravanganza held at a local convention center, over 200 vendors) supplies all the budget we have for charities for the year. (Operating budget is covered by the retail boutique, which is what they call the thrift store.) They're having ballet members on Sunday going around and doing Nutcracker things. On Saturday they're having Vivian Walsh (a children's author) in. I can't go to any of those things. I'll work my shift tomorrow. At least I will get to do my shopping early. Sometimes the popular vendors run out of things.

So on Saturday, I didn't get to enjoy the nice weather too much. I went down to the trolley tour as mentioned. And then I ran to the plaza to drop some clothes off for the Junior League thrift store. (Have a donation quota which I've more than met now.) They were having a pick up at the Lill studio which is this really neat make-your-own purse boutique. Really cute stuff and now I have a discount coupon. Even with the coupon, it still might be rather pricey, so I am still debating.

Sunday skipped church to work on progress review. That afternoon went to Oktoberfest for the church singles group. Had hot dogs, burgers, brats. Played volleyball. Watched the Chiefs game. Oh, and I made funnel cake. I am a veritable funnel cake master. I'm not quite ready to throw away my life and become a carnie, but it is a good skill to pull out and use for fun days like that.

About noon yesterday the weather changed. Early this week, our high was 88. That is ridiculous for October. Now it is cool, and fall feeling. Fabulous. I was so ready for this change of weather. In about a month and a half when it is freezing, I am sure I will be complaining. However, right now, I am loving it. One of the guys said last night that he loves this weather because he can smell football in the air. Eh. I'm not smelling football. But I have plenty of other fall wondeful associations.

I have been looking for a dress for buffyholic's wedding next weekend. I have a lot of spring/summer dresses, mainly sundresses, but no fall dresses. I usually wear a sweater and a skirt. I want to go a little bit nicer for this. I found this one from Nordstrom's which I really like, and I ordered it. But it won't get here in time. It won't even ship until after the wedding. I may try to go find something else. And when I get it, I'll see if I want to keep it or return it. I don't know.

Life has been crazy. Well then, it too often is. I turned in my progress review which I believe I mentioned before. It is this huge big deal portfolio thing for school. They review and if I pass I get to stay in school and fulfill my dream of becoming a librarian. No pressure at all. Great.

This weekend I did manage to put a couple of other things in between massive writing bouts for the progress review.

Friday's storytime was not so good. Two Fridays ago, I started storytime up again. I used my guitar and played and sang, "If you're happy and you know it" which was a huge hit. They really got into it, and I was really pleased. This time I played, "Old MacDonald", and I didn't do as well. There were some major hiccups, but the rest of the storytime was okay, I hope.

Friday evening was buffyholic's bachlorette party. We went down to a club at Westport, but didn't have too much fun. It was okay, but we're not really club girls. Came home for ice cream and to watch Sex and the City.

Saturday, there was a new member event for Junior League. We went on a trolley tour of the city. The trolleys are a big part of the city and the old area, and I've never done it despite living here most of my life. I thought we would see the pretty areas, and we saw some of those, but we also saw a lot of the less than nice areas. The tour guide was a sustainer member, former president of the League. As we passed each place she explained the League's involvement in that area. There are a ton of really cool things that the League has done over the years. They're very impressive. In the 1980s when there was nothing known and a lot of fear about HIV/AIDs, they were down there in the projects, rocking AIDS babies to sleep. I sat next to a girl I've talked to before. We've got a lot in common. I'm really enjoying all the women I am getting to know in Junior League and the more I learn about it, the more I am impressed with the amount of good work they are doing.

Saturday was an amazingly beautiful day. We drove through brookside (a cute artsy district) and there was a fundraiser/walk going through for the shelter where I got my kitty. There was this girl with her friend and a dog walking through, going to little boutiques, and it looked like so much fun. I wished I had a dog so I could take it for a walk. Instead I went home and worked on progress review.

I have more to say about the weekend, but gotta go. More later.

Sunday, I skipped church to work on progress review.

It is Talk Like a Pirate Day. Argh... Enjoy... I have a pirate storytime coming up in a couple of weeks... Tried to post this this morning and it wouldn't go through.



I had a very busy weekend. Very busy. Here is the run down.

Friday I worked and then I didn't do anything that evening in preparation for what was to come...

Saturday morning, got up fairly early and went downtown to sort books for Hooked on Books. It is a Junior League thing co-sponsored with the local newspaper in order to collect books for underprivliged children. We had received quite a few books from the drop sites and also from the Scholastic Warehouse (though admittedly those seemed mainly to be books they were attempting to get rid of). Some people stuck little stickers in them that said the name of the charity. Then we sorted them by grade level and other people boxed them. I didn't want to be all look at me, I'm an expert, listen to what I say about grade level appropriateness. And they had little signs to help people determine what reading level they were. My small group was there and they all knew that I am a children's librarian for a living, and people figured it out pretty quickly. Mainly I just did my thing, occasionally moved books from one pile to another, and answered questions. (I knew the woman in charge and she was telling people to clear up confusion with me). It was mainly new members doing the sorting, most of whom were younger and had no children and were quick to admit that they didn't know what grade level the books were. It was a fun thing, I got a mini-placement credit, did some good work, and got to hang out with the girls in my small group. They're a fun group and I am enjoying getting to know them. I left a little bit early.

I left early to head to my church were I manned the cotton candy booth for the Fall Fest. Cotton candy is a very weird thing, yummy, but weird. And really sticky and messy when making it. Then I grabbed a hot dog and hung out for about fifteen minutes. I went home, quickly changed, and went to buffyholic's bridal shower. Always fun. She is one of my oldest friends. After the shower, we hung out for a bit at her house and I got to meet her fiance. Then psycho_hedgehog and I went out to dinner. After dinner we met up for drinks with Katy and fiance. I was so tired. I had a fairly busy and tiring day. We went home after a little bit of hanging out.

Sunday woke up for church which was nice. We had a group called Watershed, the Jesus Painter, all special things since it was friends day. Then there was Sunday School. Then I led my book club. After book club I met up with a girl from Junior League. We had lunch (I spilled half my soup on myself). Then we went to DEAF sunday at the school for the Deaf. There was a deaf comedian and it was really funny and very interesting. I almost bought a quilt at the silent auction. Went home, took a quick nap, did some homework, and then went to Lifegroup. Very long tiring weekend, but good. All things I enjoyed doing.

Susan is getting married in two days. I only worked monday this week so as to be helpful. The stuff really starts tonight with a bridesmaid dinner. We've folded hundreds of programs, and put thousands of M&Ms into hundreds of little boxes. I also helped assemble the veil. That was kind of fun, and the sort of crafty thing I'm good at. Plus I figured out how to use the leftover rhinestones in a scrapbook page about making the veil. There is something seriously wrong with me. Tomorrow is the nail appointments, rehersal, rehersal dinner, and bachelorette party. And then Saturday, well saturday is hair and make up appointments, wedding, reception, so on and so forth. I wrote my maid of honor speech. We're all so stressed and I think just ready for it to be over. Or maybe that is just me. And we got word that while Hurricaine Emily did blow through Susan's resort, she should still be able to enjoy her honeymoon.

I have a paper due Sunday. I think I'll finish it now.

Last night was my small group meeting for Junior League. We have to have a small group meeting at least every month where there isn't a large group thing. We met at a brewery/restuarant and had drinks and appetizers. Eventually we will have a notebook and have to go through all these things such as JL policies and voting and history and such. We were put in groups by commanalities, so everyone in my group is younger and single and fun. After making sure we knew about the retreat next month, we just socialized. The women seem really nice and I'm pretty excited about it.

Here's a great link about the "pirating" of the new Harry Potter book. Rowling, who is being called a luddite, has not released an e-book form of it, and so fans created one. Pirates of the Potter-ian from Wired.com. I have an ebook reader client on my palm and it came pre-loaded with The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and The Last of the Mohicans. I haven't used them yet, but it is something to consider.

This week was my new member orientation for Junior League. For those of you who don't know it is a women's organization dedicated to training women and serving/building communities. My chapter has a ten year focus on children's literacy. Since our new member class has 125 people in it, they have placed us into small groups by commanalities. Everyone in my group is young and single. Talking to them was a lot of fun. It was good to hang out with professional, smart women. One of the girls is hosting a party this weekend and sent us all an evite. Very nice of her. I'm not sure if I will do it, I am waiting to see if other girls from jl are going.

It's been thunderstorming all day. Very fun.

I'm behind with school. I'm studying constantly and I'm behind. I may shoot myself.

Okay, I'm not going to shoot myself.

I keep seeing all this cool scrapbooking stuff. I don't have time for the next four weeks.

Susan's wedding is in three weeks.

In four weeks I will be drifting down a river in the Ozarks, bliss.

I got cool new librairan tshirts.

My sister wants me to buy her ipod so she can buy a new one. I'm not sure why I shouldn't just buy my own new one. I've flirted with the idea of buying an ipod, but I haven't committed to it yet.

Victoria's Secret semi-annual sale, hit that yesterday. Much fun.

My guitar playing keeps getting better.