I took pictures every day, not particularly exciting pictures, but photos nonetheless. It's been a very tough, busy week, and next week will be even more so. We went from -28 for the last three weeks to above freezing. (I understand the rest of the country has our cold streak now, you have my sympathy.) It got up to 44 the last few days. This included a snow storm in between -28 and 44 and then some rain, and now a huge wind storm. The snow/rain on top of our normal winter layer of inches of hard packed snow on every surface creates some dangerous situations. Wednesday was really bad, the roads were barely drivable, just ice skating rinks, a lot of stuff was closed including the schools. Naturally the library was open, and I made it by driving only about 5 miles an hour. Only a couple of people made it to storytime. Everything was melting and then turning back to ice, seriously dangerous. The library remained open Thursday and Friday, but the schools were closed. Thursday I could maybe understand, but today made no sense. Oh well. The library was a madhouse of kids with nothing to do. It got a bit stressful. I took this evening as a night off, not even going to the gym, I just couldn't be around people at all anymore today. We'll see how tomorrow goes, and then I get a three day weekend. Though I have so much to do to prep for next week that I would almost rather work.

And now on to the photos. They're all bits of miscellanea, random snapshots into my world.

( Year of PHotos, Days 10 through 16 )

And that does it for photos for this week. I'm off to revert to my comatose state.

I prefer the term New Year's Goals to New Year's Resolutions because rather than shooting for overarching grand life changes that have a high probability of failure, I am aiming to strengthen and maintain current life trends. So that being said, here are some goals of mine for 2009.

1. Do not get frostbite or freeze to death.
This is not as easy at it seems. Yesterday, I was driving home from work (yes I had to work on New Year's Eve, but the library was closed so as much staff as wanted could take leave, and I got to get some serious work done, bonus, I got to wear jeans and a tshirt), and it was negative 18. Yes that is Fahrenheit. And that is minus 18, 18 below zero. It's seriously cold. Even for Alaska. Well, considering I live in the "warm" part of Alaska. Driving in my car, wearing my extremely serious super thick gloves that I use for skiing, and my fingers were just aching with the cold. Your nostrils/nose hairs freeze. The cold air hurts my lungs and makes me cough. It's funny because I've adjusted pretty well. 20 is my "livable" temperature. 10 degrees I can deal with. 32 is warm enough I don't zip my coat. But -18 is seriously cold. I don't go out if I can't help it. (Which led to me accidentally missing an evening engagement, oops!) So my goal in 2009, is to get better at keeping warm. Particularly with my feet. I have a tendency to wear thin socks and most of my shoes are too thin except for my super warm boots. I need to upgrade my footwear for Alaska.

2. Continue to get healthier, exercise more and lose weight.
As many of you know, in September I joined Weight Watchers. It's been a really good change for me. And I have been doing well. When I have a weaker day, I know how to recuperate and move on without totally giving up. And I don't have to give up my favorite foods, just make good choices and plan for treats. I've lost just about 20 pounds so far. I want to loose more. And I've taken up cross country skiing which helps with the exercise (it's amazing full body workout). I really want to keep loosing weight and get healthier. Especially I want to amp up my exercise regime. But mostly I want to keep up healthy habits more than anything.

3. Get much better at Cross Country Skiing
I love XC skiing. My class was great fun. The group was fantastic. We had lots of fun using movie quotes and other nonsense to encourage each other. For example, when someone nervously said "I'll try", we'd all chime in (courtesy of Yoda), "there is no try, only do or do not". As we'd go down the hill, we'd be reminded to "snowplow" (point the tops of our skis together in a triangle shape) to slow down, but not to cross the skis. This of course led to people on the bottom of the hills (my remembrance, courtesy of Ghost Busters) to yell "don't cross the streams". (It would be bad, that's bad.) But most of the time you were simply exhorted to "ski like Michael Phelps". I do okay on uphills, and really pretty good on the straight flats, even can turn pretty well. Downhill is a problem, mostly because of my huge fear of going fast and feeling out of control. My goal is to work at that. Especially since I want to do the ski for women in a couple of months.

4. Read my Bible more faithfully.
I aim to read every day. I probably actually read (excluding at church) 2-4 times a week. I wish to do much better. And to grow closer to God. This is my most important goal.

5. Take a picture every day
I'd like to take a photo every day, just something that catches my fancy, and log on and share it with you all. I might do this once a week and share a week's worth of photos, or perhaps every day. This seems the goal most likely to be abandoned. But I'll try.

And on the note of the last goal, here is a photo of my bed and things hanging on the wall above it.
( click for photo )

Expect a post at some point with various bits and pieces I never got around to posting about from 2008. And check facebook for some more random 2008 photos.

And I leave with you a wish that I wrote for all my loved ones for 2009.
May 2009 bring you many blessings,
may you never fail to appreciate those blessings,
may the trials that come be borne with strength and grace,
may those trials be swift and few,
and most of all may this year bring you peace.
I love you all.
God Bless.

Winter is in full swing. We referred to it as a "warmer" day when it hit 17. And I'm stocking up again on my winter supplies. It's getting expensive. In no particular order here are some recent purchases and things I'm considering.

*New Parka I needed a new parka for skiing (cross country) and a more mobile one than my ankle length down coat. Definitely something warm needed. I found a columbia 3-in-1 parka (zip out lining) that retails for around $200. It's even pink and brown so very cool. I got a good deal at Costco on this parka, so cost: $150.

*Slippers My new place (which I love by the by) has stone floors on the first floor that are cold and covered with dog hair (even with constant vacumming). Both my roomies wear slippers and I knew I needed some. I was going to ask for some for xmas, but I found a cute pair at Bed, Bath, and Beyond (pink and super comfy), and I splurged. This will amaze my mom who spent years buying me slippers and trying to convince me to wear them. I never wore any she got me, but I love these (and need them more). Cost: around $16.

*Heated Linens The house is kept at around 67-69, totally reasonable for Alaska and perfectly comfortable. Except that when I slip between the covers, they're really cold. I would love a solution. Perhaps a heated blanket, but my roommate has a heated mattress pad and that is an awesome idea. Looked at them at Bed Bath and Beyond, and they're on the pricey side, $120ish for a Queen. Maybe for Christmas.

*Snow Tires I've tried just using my all wheel tires and four wheel drive but with my new neighborhood and the hills I now have, I need snow/studded tires. That is looking like that might cost up to $500. Grrr...

*New Hat I didn't need need this, but I got a cute new hat (also pink) for about $9.

*Shoe Clamps/Spikes Absolutely invaluable for climbing the hill to my stained glass class or parking lots in general. These are rubber things you slip over the soles of your shoes and they have little spikes that will give you traction in the snow/ice. I've already used my pair a bunch (and I'd never before seen anything like this when I lived in Kansas). Cost: $15-$20

*Gloves I have one really heavy duty pair of gloves (with my heavy duty hat and boots), but I would like another medium pair (fairly warm but not so bulky that I can't easily move my fingers) so that I can have a separate pair in each coat. (Easier for convenience sake).

*Heated seat cover I (quite sadly) don't have heated seats in my Jeep. Thus my roommate and I ventured to Wal-Mart to fix this. I got a heated seat that fits on top of the regular seat and plugs into my cigarette lighter and even does massage. Not strictly necessary, but it helps an incredible amount. Cost: $40.

So winter is expensive. And I'm sure I missed some. Fortunately when I was doing my budget, I forgot about my security deposit from my old place. I didn't need a security deposit for this place (this is the advantage of a more informal arrangement), and I get one back from the last place. I've got a (fairly flexibile) budget for the next few months that includes the new bedroom furniture, vacation (to Vegas tomorrow!), and Christmas gifts, but did not include the "income" from the deposit return. In my mind, I wrote the check and the money was gone, so getting it back is a bonus! I believe I will use that money for the snow tires, and the remainder for a gun (protection from bears and predators of the human persuasion) before politics changes so much that it is impossible (or too heavily taxed).

Last week winter arrived. It started last weekend (weekend before this most recent one, 11 days ago - Sunday). I had been admiring the fall colors (and took a picture of them that I need to post) and about an hour later the snow started to fall. The Sunday snow didn't stick. But the stuff that fell later that week did. On Thursday it snowed all day and it stuck and accumulated. I worked late that evening (til 8pm) and it was quite dark when I headed home. The side road by my library was pure ice. I fishtailed some on that road (nothing major, but enough to keep considering if I should be getting snow tires). It was cold, snowy, and dark. And I had my second panic moment since I moved here. It was something along the line of oh my heavens, I moved to Alaska, was that a monumentally stupid thing to do? What was I thinking? It's October 9th and it's snowing, and dark, can I handle this? I was starting to panic, but I took a deep breath, drove myself home, and drank some hot cocoa. I talked myself down. Remember you love Alaska, it's beautiful, you're making good friends, your church is a wonderful group, a family, this library is the best you've ever worked at in terms of staff support, you love it here, this is just a bad day. I was feeling much better my bed time and when I woke up in the morning, I was chipper again.

Since then, for the last week, it has snow almost every day. No huge accumulation, mostly it's been melting, but constantly snow somewhere in sight. Cleaned off my car a few times. I need the clamp covers for my shoes (explanation in dealing with snow in another post). It's pretty and fun. The roads are kinda treacherous since it is that snow/melt/freeze/melt/freeze/snow some more cycle that results in ice and black ice. I went to a thing on Monday morning and there was a car accident. An hour later, same intersection, accident is cleared up and a new one has taken its place. I've seen two other accidents this week. My storytimes have dropped from an average of 76 people (with 4 to 10 turned away, the room only holds 75 by firecode), to 25 to 35 this last week. Apparently they don't want to drive in the snow (come on people, you live in Anchorage!). I expect as winter continues and we get more adjusted to it, the numbers will come back up. People just weren't mentally ready for winter. I know I wasn't. But I am now, mostly. There's still some surprise when I see the snow, a vague sense of unreality, but it's fading.

My microwave got replaced. Actually I am impressed by how well I survived (for almost three weeks) without it. (And yes I realize that isn't that long). As Tim mentioned he does, I used a tea kettle for hot water, primarily for my morning oatmeal and for tea/cocoa. The stove and toaster oven covered everything else nicely. My only complaint is the toaster oven is not as good at all-the-way-through heating without drying out leftovers as a microwave. But all in all, life without a microwave is doable.

When I logged onto my bank's website, the intermediary screen before you get to your account was a letter from the bank president assuring me that in no way, shape or form will my bank fail. That was rather the opposite of reassuring. And a good indicator of the general state of our economy and the fear level of our citizens. I'm also so sick of this election that I'm avoiding watching The Daily Show/Colbert Report just because I can't deal with any more of it. ..lesigh..

There are other things I would like to post about and a ton of pictures to share, but now I will sleep.

I have not been complaining. I've been smiling and going with it. Summer has been colder and more overcast and rainier than I expected, but I was not going to be complaining. This is in line with one of my new mottoes - Don't Be Wimpy! So I didn't complain and then the natives started complaining. That's when I learned that this is an abnormally cold and rainy summer. Actually we're currently the second coldest summer on record. If we don't get over 65 for another 10 days (we didn't yesterday and we won't today), we'll be the coldest summer on record. Last year there were 23 days that went over 70, this summer so far we have had 3. Lots of rain the last two weeks especially. I tried to go to a ball game (Alaskan Baseball League) but it got rained out. Sadly.

However I have been enjoying myself. This weekend I am going to "Camp" which is the camp operated by my church for Bible Camps and the like. I'm going to cook and be an extra hand in the kitchen for the Deaf retreat. I'm very excited. It's still cold and rainy, but it will nice to be out of the city and just relax.

I am aware that I live in Alaska and a certain amount of snow is normal. However a major snowstorm on April 25th (five days before May) is not normal. I woke up Friday morning and it was snowing. And it kept snowing all day long. My coworkers were starting to complain and that was when I realized that even the Alaskans were not used to such late spring snows. And it just kept snowing. We all sat there and watched it accumulate in awe. By the time we closed at 6 and got out to our cars, there was over a foot on the ground. It took me nearly 20 minutes to clear my car. Of course a part of that time was spent in a snowball fight with my coworkers (which I did not start). It was perfect snowball snow, very wet. I'd never seen so much snow at one time in my life. I'd never walked around in knee high snow. By the time I made it home I was soaked. Fortunately it wasn't cold, hovering right around freezing, so it wasn't terribly unpleasant. However many Alaskans were caught off guard and were not prepared.

All told, the official tallies show us getting between 15.5 inches and 17 inches of snow. Between 3 and 6 (when I get off work) it fell the fastest at a rate of 2 inches an hour and more.

And of course I took pictures. Primarily in the parking lot as we cleared our cars.
( click for pictures )

And thus was our Alaskan April Snow. We're almost into May now and we've warmed up into the low forties and much of the snow is melted.

Two weekends ago, I joined the church here in Anchorage. I'd been visiting for a few weeks. Initially I wasn't sure, but the more I went, the more I liked the church. The people are wonderfully friendly. I'm starting to meet more people my age who would be good to hang out with. (with whom it would be nice to spend time - if I want to avoid ending in a preposition.) Joining the church was super simple, just tell them, fill out a card, and they make an announcement during worship service. That Sunday was the monthly welcome/farewell potluck dinner. It is a huge military town, and so there are people who leave on a regular basis hence the farewell part. The potluck was a great deal of fun. Anchorage has a very large international community. In some ways it was a very traditional potluck, with many dishes you would find in any church potluck in the Midwest and the South. However, there was also hand rolled (and absolutely delicious) sushi, another Japanese dish, and other fun international delicacies. Of course since my denomination is primarily prevalent in the South, there was regular ice tea and an equal sized container labelled "Sweet Tea". A fantastic combination of down home and international, and the people are the same wonderful menagerie. I am really enjoying it.

And of course it is also very Alaskan. I was given a "welcome to Alaska" basket by the women of the church this week. It featured many homemade items (Alaskans are very crafty people, partially in defense against the long winters). There was homemade jam, a quilted hot pad, and a jar of what seems to be preserved salmon (undoubtedly caught by one of the church's men and preserved by his wife). There were also a number of maps and info about Alaska. The church has been so welcoming and wonderful. I'm going to play cards with some people tonight. At church after lunch last week, I was recruited to teach 1st grade Bible Class (formerly known in my world at least as Sunday School) over the summer.

Now I must go to work. It seems to be snowing. Well in a way. It's snow/rain, melting as it comes into contact with the ground. We had had just beautiful weather for the last, upper forties, I had been wearing just a light jacket. April snow. How fun. It's still above freezing, and we need the moisture.

Lately I've had a yen for a few things, and other random thoughts, and here they are in no particular order...

• Ham and beans, curry, stroganof. All of these are things I have great crockpot recipes for. My crockpot was one I got from my grandmother when she downsized to a smaller place. It was perfectly servicable, but difficult to clean because it did not have a removable liner. It was not worth it to move or ship it. A new one would not be that expensive, I don't know why I haven't gotten one. I could ask for one for my birthday, but that would be two and a half months. Or I could just get one.
  
• A hands free set for my cell phone.
  
• A new television. The sound went out on my television. Which came with the apartment and would cut the sides off the picture. I went to costco (got a new membership), and looked at televisions. I thought I was going to get the smaller one (either a 19 or 20 inch), but they just looked so small. I ended up with a very nice one, lcd, hd plasma. I love it, so much fun!
  
• I got all my laundry done and folded, just not put away. Which is why my cat is sleeping on some clean pajamas. She's happy, and it isn't clothing to be worn in public.
  
• I want to make muffins. I should get a good bran muffin recipe from Bri. Bran muffins are really what I am craving. Also I need my muffin pans, I just have some temporary ones right now.
  
• Also I want to buy furniture. I have some things I need to pay back first, but I just really like browsing for furniture. I have a furnished apartment that I really like. But I don't want to move at the end of my lease. I'm going to check with my complex and see if they'll move the furniture into a new apartment and let me rent this unfurnished. It may work since they don't want to have to re-rent the place. We'll see.
  
• I want some iced tea. I should pick up some bags so I can brew some.
  
• I think I am ready to have long hair again. I've not cut mine in a while so it is just a matter of time.
  
• I want more time with my guitar. Just a matter of making the time, which I mostly am.
  
• There are a ton of cute military guys in my apartment complex.
  

Okay that list rather went awry. We had our first real snow since I've been here. Before there have been basically sprinkles of snow, but just dustings that went away or never amounted to much. It snowed all day on Saturday and accumulated a bunch. It's warmed up and it is so sunny a lot of it melted. I was out in just a fleece today and thinking how warm it was - it was all of 36, but so sunny. Unbelievable amounts of sun.

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?

We had this beautiful spring weather, it was 80 (Farenheit) as a high and regularly in the 70s. Fabulous! And now - nothing! It's cold, as in freezing cold, record low cold. For Easter, it was a struggle to figure out what to wear. My boss said his daughters put away their pretty new dresses and wore Christmas dresses. I'm glad I haven't taken my winter coat to the cleaners because I still need it and it is still getting dirty. It's supposed to snow tomorrow. Snow! huckleberrycake and I cancelled our camping trip this weekend.

I'm not pleased.

I know - it's Kansas, I should always expect at least one switch back, but I'm eternal optimist. I always hold out hope.

It looks pretty outside, sunny, green, looks like it should be nice (well not today, today is wet and rainy, but the other days), and yet it isn't. It is cold cold cold cold cold cold cold cold.

Every spring, I fall in love. I adore Spring (and probably make a similar post to this every year). Overnight, the grass turns green. One or two early trees will blossom. A day or two later and every tree in the city bursts into flower. All of these changes don't seem to happen gradually, but rather overtake the area in a blitzkreig of color and beauty. I love it. From no where green stalks peep through the earth until you hardly realize it before blossoms are opening. One morning I wake up to find that the cold, drab winter world is gone, and instead it has been replaced by a glorious world of green and life. How fitting is it that Spring is Easter.* What once was dead, the trees, the grass, the earth, is now alive. The plants and it seems the Earth itself resurrects just as I feel I could endure the death of winter no longer.** Our savior died and was reborn in the spring. Spring is new life from death, an empty tomb and a Savior waiting in a garden. A garden. How perfect. For in the garden is the miracle of resurrection yearly witnessed. However hard a winter is for me spiritually (and this one was very hard), spring is a time of renewal and new life always. My soul rejoices with every blade of grass and flower. I see all the colors, the thousand greens, the white, yellow, purple and other flower colors, and I sing praises with my whole being.

The sun warms us and I shed heavy winter clothes and coats. We turned off the heater and threw open all the windows to let the lovely spring breezes fly in and surround us. The sun keeps the house a mite too warm, but the open windows perfectly equalize it. I never used to like open windows, but in the last few years I've learned to love them. It helps that my street is a lot quieter than my old one so I am not so bothered by the noise as I sleep (though often I still close it). My roommate and I always laugh as we remember to close the ground level windows when we go to bed. Jane Austen (the cat) sits on the windowsils and presses her little cat face to the screen (they all have screens so she can't get out). She always has loved to sit and watch out the window, but now she sniffs and stares and can see and hear so much better. She often sits at a window and meows at me until I open the blinds or the window itself.

I too have become a window watcher. Fortunately my desk in the library has floor to ceiling windows with a beautiful view. I stare at the flowers, the trees, the bright green grass, and just smile. If I can't be out there, than at least I can see it.

If you need an ecstasy and an agony for balance, recall that allergies come this time of year too. My chest feels a little tight, in a way that I recall with great horror from my childhood. It actually hasn't felt like this in years. But I refuse to let that damper my spring.

*Okay, so I probably also make this analogy with Christ every year too, and I know that I'm about the 50 millionth person to make this analogy. As trite as it is, it is so true that it reverberates inside every part of me.
**I've just finished reading The Screwtape Letters by C. S. Lewis in which it is observed that as a trial ends, the humans always feel that they could not have endured it one day longer. Too true.

This was part of the earlier entry, but it didn't fit, and so it gets its own spin off.

The weather has gotten very bad in the last four days here. Ice storms, snow, sleet, freezing rain, etc. Plus temperatures haven't gotten above 15 degrees (farenheit). Over the weekend my windshield wipers broke. This made it very dangerous as I drove home in the sleet Saturday night from work. I skipped church on Sunday. Then dad came over and fixed my windshield wipers and drove me to the grocery store in his nice suv with the four wheel drive. The roads were pretty bad. My road hasn't been plowed at all. Monday was a holiday and we were off work. Yay! Tuesday a lot of the kids were out of school because of the cold cold temperatures and the difficulties the schools were having in de-icing the sidewalks and parking lots.

Here, in the beloved list format, are some random things that have happened in my life in the last few weeks:

• Thursday, on the way to work, I saw two separate car accidents
  
• Friday, was my day off, and I tried out a new recipe and cleaned house
  
• The new recipe was for curry, pork and apple curry. It wasn't too spicy, kinda sweet, very yummy. I found it while browsing for slow cooker recipes (crock pots) and I got to use the one my grandmother gave me.
  
• In my British Chick lit books, they are always eating takeaway curry and I wanted to try
  
• Heather and Dad came over and tried the curry. It was quite yummy
  
• On Wednesday it was crazy warm
  
• Friday night it got serious cold again (minor snow spotted in the metro area)
  
• Because of the heat earlier in the week, the heater was turned off. I forgot to turn it back on and almost froze to death friday night. Thank heavens I realized what was going on sat morning
  
• Saturday was Veteran's day, I did a program at the library and talked about the Christmas truce
  
• I also had a slide show looping with veteran facts, it was pretty cool
  
• my roommate has been house sitting so I've been on my own for the week
  
• I'm thisclose to finishing the afghan I'm making
  
• Mom's birthday was sunday, I got her earrings
  
• I host girl's Bible study tonight, I'm making perogies (using the frozen ones)
  
• there is more and I forget it
  

*****************************************************
"Noncooks think it's silly to invest two hours' work in two minutes' enjoyment; but if cooking is evanescent, so is the ballet." -Julia Child

It's flannel pajama weather, snuggle up under the covers with a cat and a book weather, wrap your hands around a big mug of hot coffee/cocoa with the steam rising up and tickling your nose weather. It's scarves, and gloves, and hats, and sweaters. It's fluffy sweater weather! It's winter coat weather. It's see your breath and a chilly wind that makes the brightly colored leaves dance weather. It's make afghans that are so long that you can huddle under them as you crochet them weather. It's invigorating and sad, beautiful and bittersweet. It's fall rapidly turning into winter.

I'd been putting off pulling out my winter coat until the last possible day. That day was today I decided. Part of this is stubbornness and part of this is forgetfulness. It takes a few weeks for grabbing a coat to become a normal part of my out-the-door routine again. I only remembered this morning (before opening the door and getting hit with a blast of cold) because my roommate left three minutes before me in her winter coat. My coat felt strange as I put it on. It was too heavy, and it felt like it was enveloping me, swallowing me whole. The weight of it felt odd as I donned it. And yet I know in a few weeks, it will feel natural again. So much so will it be natural that when I shed it in the spring I will feel light and slightly naked and vulnerable. But for now, I feel as though I am carrying an unexpected burden, a weight and a heaviness that I am not yet ready to bear. I am atlas with the world upon my shoulders, weighted down, no longer able to soar. (yes, I'm mixing up my mythology, ignore it and move on). I love this season, love the leaves, and the crispness in the air, love the bounty of apples, love pulling out sweaters I've not worn in a year and burying my face in their softness, and I hate it, hate the bite in the wind, hate the desolate ways the trees look naked and bare after the leaves fall, hate the sense that winter looms just around the corner to taunt me.

I haven't done one of those "this is what I did in the last few days" posts, so here goes. Yeah, list format so it doesn't have to be chronological or logical.

• David was in town, hung out with him some. That was fun. We tried to go clubbing, but rather chose two wrong clubs in a row. It was okay because we still got to chat and visit and that was nice.
  
• One of the things I miss most about Phoenix is this really amazing Middle Eastern restaurant. I finally tried the cafe down the street from me. Talked David into it for lunch. It's good, almost as good as the one in Phoenix. And it is very reasonably priced. I may have a new favorite and standard restaurant.
  
• When I crash, I'm tired, please don't ask me if I'm upset/depressed/angry with you. No. However, I will get irritated if that question is repeated. (Of course if I don't say I'm tired and give a smart aleck response, assume I'm tired. My sarcastic persona comes out then.)
  
• I had Friday off since I worked Saturday.
  
• We were busy at work Saturday.
  
• I saw Invincible with Adam. It's a pretty good movie, but then I'm a sucker for the inspirational sports drama and for Greg Kinnear.
  
• Church this morning we sang a lot more hymns than anything else. Have you noticed how very few people, almost no one, writes hymns anymore. It is all praise songs. There are no more hymns with four to six verses and a chorus.
  
• I had yummy Sunday Dinner with Heather and the family. Yay for homemade fried chicken, mashed potatoes, gravy, etc.
  
• Got to use some coupons and had fun shopping with Heather. It is rare to find a friend who will be honest with you when shopping. That is why I like shopping with my sister. She's honest with me. She also does a good job of keeping me from repeating my wardrobe too much. I tend to be drawn to the same type of pieces over and over again. As Susan said, how many pink striped button up shirts do I need? And most of my clothes are pink, black or grey. Today I got a greenish sweater that is an unusual color for me, but that I am told looks good with my coloring. It seems gentler somehow.
  
• Happiness is a rainy Sunday afternoon, a new book by one of your favorite authors, and nothing you have to do. I chose to do many things (including the dinner and the shopping) so I didn't get to read too much, but it was still happy.
  
• I am so desperate for Fall. I have pretty much decided that I hate all my summer clothes. I'm just so sick of them I could cry. I'm weeding my closet of clothes that are too worn out and need thrown away and things I don't wear anymore. I almost pulled out all my winter clothes, but next weekend is supposed to be in the 80s again. I have some more fallish stuff out now that I'm going to stop wearing. It's just that it is cool in the mornings and warm mid day and the evenings. It is a toss up to what it will be in my library.
  

Tomorrow, well everyone knows what tomorrow is. If you don't, look at your calendar. I'm not even sure what to say about it. I'm sure most people's blogs will be filled with thoughts, reflections, reminisces, etc.

I worked this weekend, my last weekend at my current job. Since I worked the weekend, I get Friday off. Friday morning I was lying in bed listening to it rain. It was pouring, storming, fabulous. You see, this last week or so has been unbearably hot. Over a hundred with a heat index much higher. Hot and humid and miserable. The library was so busy as people tried to escape the heat and avoid being trapped at home. Plus one day one of our compressors decided to quit and we got pretty warm too. Thus hearing the rain on Friday was the sound of (to be a little bit cliche) sweet relief. A big storm like that will break the heat. And it did. 76 as a high instead of 106. A thirty degree difference. There was a beautiful breeze, felt marvelous. I didn't have anywhere to go and just lay there and enjoyed how my bedroom already felt cooler, pulled up the comforter, and enjoyed the sound of the rain and the luxury of just sleeping in. (Okay, I was up and at my parent's house by 9 to get laundry done so I didn't sleep in that much.)

In other news, I saw the pirate movie. Yes it is an obvious set up for the third movie. Yes, it didn't have just tons of plot. And all of the other criticisms set down. But there were lines and moments that made me laugh. It is supposed to be (I hope) farce, cartoonish, and thus it was. Taken as nothing more than popcorn summer fare, it was lovely and I enjoyed myself. Plus I got to go with the always wonderful huckleberrycake and what could be better than that?

I will begin by saying that it is still a bit chilly (mid 50s) but sunny and beautiful. Since today is my late day at work (go in and work noon to nine so I can close as opposed to 8 to 5), I had a nice free morning. I watched an Everwood episode I'd taped (so very glad my show is back), worked a teensy little bit on school, partially cleaned the turtle cage, and took the puppy on an hour long walk. She was diligent and left no scent unsmelled. I didn't remember that Tuesday is trash day in our neighborhood. Sally is getting really good at the "Leave it!" command. The only thing she wouldn't leave was a beer can. There was some beer still in the can and she stuck her nose into the can and was trying to get it all out. She also tried to pick up the can and carry it away. We may have an alcoholic puppy on our hands.

And now part two of my adventures of last week. Tuesday evening found me finally arriving exhausted in Manhattan. Wednesday morning, I get up early and head toward campus of K-State. I find it (yay!) and the information booth where I am to pick up my parking permit is not yet open. (I had gone through a ton of hassle to determine where I could get a parking permit to later discover that they were pre-reserved for us.) I pay a meter and join beeform for coffee. It was nice to get to know her and put a face with words. Then got my parking permit, and toured campus in my attempt to find a parking place near the library (I was still quite a bit early). Originally class was supposed to last from 8-5, then 8:30-4:30, and it finally ended up being 9-4. Class was okay, the subject was professional development. The morning was good, but the afternoon was too geared toward academic librarians to be of much interest to me. After class I met buffyholic and oneechan19 for coffee. Then a nice drive home going a much easier, more convenient way than google maps had led me there by.

Thursday, I worked.
Friday, I worked part day and drove to Emporia. Class on Friday and Saturday were good. Did a group presentation where everyone did their part and was relaxed and cheerful about the whole thing. This is in such stark contrast to my last experience (which I have not blogged about because it is still too fresh, too raw, and too personal). I got to go to the chocolate cafe again, so that is always extremely pleasurable. Saturday afternoon, our class had an amazing guest speaker. This elderly man indexes historical newspapers just for fun. He was really good and kept sharing all these fabulous stories he had found in the old newspapers.

Class was cancelled Sunday because our professor was ill so I got to come home Saturday night. I went to church Sunday morning. Instead of Sunday school (or Bible Class as they insist upon calling it), they had a ministry fair. All the church's ministries had booths set up and people could learn what the church is doing and volunteer for things. I maybe accidentally volunteered to be the church's library coordinator. (I was trying to volunteer to come in an hour or two a week and help label and shelve books, but how can I say no to the ninety-year-old, hundred pound woman?) Then I went to lunch with the singles group which due to work and class I don't get to do too often. Following that I took a nap (in the middle of the day, so decadently wonderful) and went shopping with Heather (huckleberrycake). We hit all the home stores and had such a blast. I am moving (more details later) and getting a bigger, queen sized bed (more details later). I found a beautiful comforter. It is pink and navy and girly without being over the top with flowers and old lady things. Heather and I had a blast just looking at all the home stuff. Such a relaxing, restful day.

More to say, but this is too long already. Later.

I work in a public library in North Eastern Kansas. I'm sure you all saw that we had quite a bit of fun severe weather yesterday. (Side note: I always love watching the news shows after we've had tornadoes to see what gap-toothed, slack-jawed yokel they found to represent us. Let me assure you that there are many people in Tornado Alley who do not live in a trailer park, possess all our teeth, and are capable of putting together a complete, coherent sentence without the word "ain't".) Our library's policy is simple: keep the weather radio on, monitor the weather via the little program installed on our computer, announce thunder storm warnings, and tornado watches. Evacuate in case of Tornado warnings. (For those of you who don't know: watch is lower than warning and simply means that the conditions are right for these things to develop, we do not announce thunder storm watches.) All day yesterday, we are on a tornado watch and mid afternoon the sirens go off and we are upgraded to a warning. Immediately, we begin informing people.

Now I am the first to admit Kansans are fairly jaded about tornadoes, but most people do take it seriously, we just don't panic. We are supposed to immediately discontinue service and put little signs on all the desks that say that we've evacuated and where to go to get to the shelter. I'm trying to inform people that they have two choices: leave the library or come to the shelter with me. I was amazed by the arguing I got. Questions such as: "Are you sure there is a tornado warning?" Yes, can't you hear the sirens and our weather radio going crazy? "Won't I be safe enough here?" Nope, the architect decided to make an entire wall of windows which you're standing in front of, and every book on the shelf is a potential flying projectile. "Can you just check these few books out to me first?" Nope, policy is we don't endanger staff lives. (At this point people began to make a line at the self check machine, but they were still angry as it does not process DVDs.) Finally the person in charge had to order the clerks away from the desk. Staff was going to the shelter, and finally most of the patrons followed us. We didn't get a tornado that close to us (though many of our neighbors have a great deal of damage, the University of Kansas had to close and cancel classes), but this is our policy. The library's attitude is that in case of emergency staff makes a fair effort to warn people and evacuate, but if they choose to leave with our books, they leave with our books. The library also has a responsibility to protect their staff. I believe people would argue with us to check out their materials first even if the building were going up in flames in a dramatic, Backdraft style. We were only in there for 15 minutes before the all clear came, but it was a weird 15 minutes to just sit and stare at our library patrons. I've heard from my coworkers that they have been in there as long as an hour and a half.

I sent in my intent to graduate form. I will finish my degree in August. However, graduation ceremonies are only held in May and in December. I am choosing to walk in May. Master's students get to go first (or second after PhD candidates, but there are only a handful of them) and then I can leave (without sitting through a zillion undergrads). I wasn't going to do it, but I think I will. There is always the chance I'll regret it if I don't.

I need a professional level job, and I've started applying and interviewing different places. When I look at the type of positions that I am eligible/qualified for, they are a lot of responsibility. It will be the most I've ever been asked to do. I just need to make the mental adjustment, I am an adult, I have a professional degree (or will very soon), I am qualified to make budget decisions, to supervise people, to make total programming decisions, buying decisions, etc. However I don't always feel qualified. But a lot of my friends are married. I went to a baby shower for a girl I went to high school with last week. I'm an adult, go with it.

It's been highs in the teens lately. Cold cold cold.

Yesterday, I was doing storytime. My pants are too loose (and yes, I know that is good and I've been loosing weight) and my shirt was a normal length, it probably overlapped my pants by two inches. However during toddler storytime, when we're doing reach tall tall like a tree and I stretch up my arms. My pants are loose and slip farther and farther down my hips, and my shirt rides up, and a couple of inches of belly are exposed. Not great. And the pants are not of such a type or cut that they would look good belted.

I'm back in Emporia for yet another class. It's been snowing off and on this morning. Just that little dusting snow that doesn't cover much. When the wind picks it up and swirls it around, it is pretty.

Yesterday a coworker was out of town, so instead of doing one storytime and covering the desk during the other two, I did all three storytimes. We were pretty short staffed. I don't normally get to do the preschool storytimes and the kids are so in to it, it ends up being a lot of fun. They've got much longer attention spans than my toddlers. Also one of my kiddos brought me some candy. Yummy!

I've been meaning to update about last weekend. I didn't go to Emporia, just worked, so that left me with some evenings free in which to actually (gasp!) socialize. Friday night huckleberrycake and I went to First Fridays in the Crossroads Art District. I used to go to these in Phoenix. All the little galleries open up their doors for free and you wonder from gallery to gallery looking at the art. Many places have refreshments set out. Apparently during the summer, there are thousands more people, live jazz, and just a party atmosphere. There was a pretty sizable crowd that night. We got to see some Dale Chihuly. I've always seen pictures and never seen any, it was very amazing. We saw some other pretty things and some not so pretty things. My favorite painting was one of birds sitting on a telephone wire. Heather loved a painting of a very masculine hand dumping a coffee cup full of red liquid (the painting was entitled blood and/or wine) onto a very pristine white on white brocade couch. It made us both laugh. Some of the art wasn't so pretty, some was very political. I don't have anything against political artwork as a rule, though I always wonder if it is going to age well, to withstand the test of time. I suppose I'm not a sophisticated art connesieur, whatever that means, or however you spell it. Every now and then I see an art piece that makes me tilt my head to the side and go, huh. Or it gives me a very visceral reaction (which is I believe much of the purpose of art). But mostly I like art that is beautiful, that makes me smile (or even gasp) in appreciation. There is so much negativity and ugliness in the real world that I want art to be an escape method, to transport me somewhere else, somewhere where beauty reigns supreme.

Also I went to a superbowl party that my church singles group sponsored. I came late (because of class) and left early (so I could study). I'm the life of the party, that's for sure.

I took my Jane Austen cat to the vet and she now weighs twelve pounds! She was just under three pounds when I got her at the end of July. She is probably fully grown and just under a year old. Since she is a rescue, we don't know her exact birthday, but we assume sometime around the beginning of May. The doc said she was healthy and not too big (though we shouldn't let her get any bigger). We're switching her to adult cat food (and feeding her less per day since she doesn't need all the calories kittens need to grow). My baby's getting so big! And she is still the perfect cat.

Break's over! Back to paying attention to class.