She's a border collie all right

Well what a gorgeous day it was today! I had a terrific 'mental health' day with Ruby. We went to the Greenway and walked a bit along there and then discovered the dog park a little further along. Since neither of us had ever been before, I was a little nervous, but we had a great time. I ran into Val, an old neighbour of ours, with her 2 dogs so chatted with her while Ruby went crazy herding all the other dogs in the park.

What a riot! I was getting dizzy just watching her circle around all these other dogs trying to keep them where she wanted them (the fact that they were obliviously playing with each other didn't matter to her) and then tearing after any who ran off. Man, for an old dog she sure can run! I was afraid she'd have a heart attack.

But the poor girl was exhausted after the hour we were there; I wasn't sure she'd make it back to the car which was at the CNC. We did a couple of errands including stopping at the SPCA to pick up her spay certificate - yes the old girl is going to get spayed on Monday - and they made a fuss over her & were glad to see her. Then we went over to Westbank. She enjoyed looking in the window of Memories & More after I'd gone in to pick up a couple of things. So now we're home and resting up after a very busy day (although I suspect I'm more tired than she is!)

Well I'm feeling a little virtuous. Have been taking Ruby for a walk every morning. We go for about 45 minutes and some evenings I take her again but I try to get Greg & Holly to help out too. And this weekend I made 2 cards: a birthday card for my brother-in-law whose party was last night and I altered a pop-up card for Lois at work whose retirement dinner is tomorrow night.

And on Friday night I finally finished reading the book that's been taking me a very long time. It was a great book but not a pleasant read: The Great Stink by Clare Clark, set in London in the mid-1850s when the sewage situation was so bad that people were dropping like flies from cholera, diphtheria etc. and they started to build a sewer system. So that was the background to this tale of "murder and corruption".

So now I have to start reading the book for the next book club, which is Margaret Laurence's Stone Angel. I've read it before, years ago, so I'm hoping I don't find it too tough-going. I don't know what's with me. I used to be able to read a book every day or two but lately that's impossible (although I did read Janet Evanovich's Plum Lovin' in one evening, but it was a novella so doesn't really count). My powers of concentration are kind of lacking. Blame it on hormones!

Had a really fun dinner with my scrapping buddies last week, then dinner out last night and again tomorrow night. Oink! Good thing about those daily walks!!

oops

This smiley picture was taken earlier this evening, before we went for a walk and before she peed on the living room carpet. OK dog owners, what's with that? She didn't go while we were out, but comes home and then goes. We've already had one incontinent doggie and didn't want another one this early on! Any advice would be most welcome...

Day 3

This was the picture the SPCA had on their website and in the paper. Pretty perky looking puppy eh? The vet was just here and she agreed with the 'kennel boy' at the SPCA that Ruby looks more like 7 than 11. Good teeth, good shape overall, never been spayed and never had puppies - like how did that happen??

Sunday morning she let me sleep till 9:00 which was awesome; I wasn't sure how much of an early riser she'd be. Last night though she had an 'accident' in the hallway (at least I'm assuming it wasn't one of the cats). I did not sleep well (that makes 3 nights in a row) and dragged myself out at 7:00 this morning to take her for a walk. Greg says she started crying as soon as I let for work this morning - not realizing that he was still here. I hope she doesn't have any serious separation anxiety.

Welcome Ruby!

Last weekend Greg and I had stopped at the SPCA to say hi to Smokey (the returned foster cat) but he'd already been adopted. So we wandered around a bit and when we went to see the dogs we (well I) were quite taken with an 11-year old border collie cross. Since Layla died in 2002 we've talked about getting another dog, but weren't 100% sure. Then at one point we thought we'd take in a senior dog. We didn't want a puppy (no time or patience for training) but preferred a mature dog. So when we saw Ruby I was tempted. But it was close to closing time so we just left. Talked about it a fair bit this week and today Holly and I went in to meet her and take her home. She's such a good-tempered dog, haven't heard her bark yet, she likes cats (mind you they're not impressed with her!), other dogs, all people, car rides. That's what I know so far!

We first went for a little walk, then to Petcetera for supplies and then down to Greg's shop and to the library. She was a hit everywhere she went.

So when we got home I had to call AM and tell her. And here I am on the phone. Ruby already knows who her mom is!

Happy Valentines Day

Well I've always thought it was kind of an over-rated holiday. My friend AM asked what we were going to do to celebrate... go to parents' night at the high school. Nothing to be envious of that's for sure. But Greg did make a lovely dinner for the 3 of us and we had candles and nice napkins and dishes instead of paper towels & paper plates (don't ask).

And now - it's time for Lost!!!

This week at the library

Well Thursday we had a rousing discussion of Jane Austen's Emma (who would have thought?) at Book Club, where we squeezed into the storytime room since the meeting room was double-booked. I was the only one who hadn't read the whole book, shame on me.

Friday morning the HR manager came down to listen to our complaints about having to deal with the criminal element in the library. In the last month we've had blow jobs in the women's room, a guy masturbating in a teen magazine in the men's room (don't worry the magazine was promptly thrown out), drug deals, incontinence etc. Previous management team member who came down pretty much told us that it wasn't that bad and just to deal with it.

Saturday someone left their drug paraphernalia in the public washroom after cooking up some crack (burnt twigs on top of the toilet paper dispenser, left behind their bag containing spoon, metal plate etc.). Downtown Patrol comes and are just furious that this is going on in the library (as if we aren't).

Sunday - haven't heard anything about it.

Monday - one of our long term regular homeless alcoholics, who has been on the wagon for quite awhile fell off with a vengeance and also fell off his chair in the library. Downtown Patrol arrived too late to escort him out. Immediately after his departure the library director comes in and states that things don't look too bad.

Today we had the Downtown Patrol and the RCMP for a death threat that was uttered to a young man by an older one. But apparently the officer didn't think there was anything to it, and no one was arrested.

This is my new workworld. If I were close to retirement, I'd be outta there, but I'm not. Don't get me wrong, we have hours at a stretch when it's nice and library-like in there. One day the place was packed; all seats taken by people who were awake and alert and most even - gasp - reading!

On a happier note, I spent yesterday afternoon at the dentist getting a crown. The only reason this is happy is that afterwards I went to the mall and bought myself a new leather jacket! And a guidebook for NYC...

The high price of health

Whew, went to the naturopath today. Initial visit, just talking and filling in a huge long medical history form, was $95.00! Next on the list: 3 tests which will cost nearly $300 in total. Follow-up appointments are apparently $45 a pop. Yikes! Our extended health plan only covers up to $200 maximum for the year. What to do, what to do... Makes you appreciate the good old Canadian health care system that's for sure. But sometimes the pill-pushing GP just isn't the place to go, so then it's time to go alternative.

Went to see Dreamgirls last night. It was good but I'm embarrassed to admit that I didn't realize it was a musical. Like I knew there would be a lot of 'numbers' but not that people would be bursting into song at the drop of a hat. That one song that Jennifer Hudson sings that is really powerful and emotional but goes on and on forever... One of my friends had to go to the w.c. and make a phone call and couldn't believe the song was still being sung when she got back! We had a great dinner at Earl's first - I had the bento box which was delicious - and a margarita. Everyone in town seemed to be there before going to the Barenaked Ladies (would have loved to see them again too...)

Anyway then came home and Greg and I ended up watching a very quirky movie on TV till midnight so today I was wiped and am presently in bed (8:15 pm). I SHOULD be feverishly trying to get Emma read by Thursday but let's face it, it's not happening. I think this will only be the 2nd time in my book club history that I don't get the book read, kind of bad for the leader but there you go. It's a glorified Harlequin romance anyway... Who picks these books? oh yeah that would be me!

Friday night some of us are going for drinks after work but there's also a crop at the store so I'm trying to decide what to do. As my co-worker said oh yeah have a couple of drinks and then drive to Westbank, sounds sensible. Geez it doesn't have to be alcohol!

Enough blathering for tonight. A la prochaine!

tagged

Oh dear thanks a lot Kelli! 6 weird things about me eh? Well let me think...

1. I have some psychic ability. Yes I sometimes know things before they happen. Seriously.
2. When driving I often try to memorize details about the drivers & cars around me and plan escape routes in case there's an accident.
3. I remember phone numbers. From a long time ago. In fact I remember the numbers but don't necessarily remember who they belong to...
4. Nowadays, to remember numbers I use the Dewey Decimal System as a memory aid.
5. I used to choose birthday cards for my Mom by reading the ones in the store till I found one that made me cry. That was always the right card!
6. What's really weird? I just asked Holly and Greg for some weird things about me and they couldn't think of anything...

And darn there's nobody left for me to tag...

But another thing on my mind: A co-worker of mine has a sister who is a scrapper & blogger. He has now found her blog and as a result, can get to mine. So I'd better watch what I say!! Oh don't worry Mark, I only have NICE things to say about YOU...

NYC Here I Come...

Well I just booked my flight to New York for May 11th. Going for a week this time (more duty-free to bring back!). I had such a fantastic time last year that I'm a little apprehensive - how can it be that much fun again? But I have a feeling it will be great. I'll be staying with my friend Mark again and will try to get in touch with a cousin I have who lives in New York - somewhere! And do more wining and dining, a show or two... oh yeah and maybe some shoe shopping!

The cat came back

Well actually he never left. We've been trying to get rid of Smokey for about 3 weeks now but he's just not leaving. First the SPCA called asking if we were ready to give him back but I wasn't sure. Waited a couple more weeks then called to say I was bringing him in. Is he still sneezing? Well (I cannot tell a lie) yes maybe once or twice. No good, he has to go for five whole days without a sneeze. So this week goes by and I never hear him sneeze so I call again yesterday and we have all his stuff packed up. Sorry we don't have any room, can you call back on Monday? No - it'll have to wait till next weekend then. sigh. I mean he's a really lovely cat but requires a LOT of maintenance which we're just not into. So perhaps next weekend he will be a goner...

gimp

So it wasn't middle age (well sort of), flu or whatever else I said. Bursitis! aka 'frozen shoulder'. Suddenly on Tuesday I found myself unable to move my left arm above my waist. Wednesday it wasn't toooo bad and I went to the doctor & got a referral to physio. The doctor also gave me some Celebrex, take one a day she said. Well it's one of those drugs (anti-inflammatory) that takes about 2 weeks to kick in and does absolutely NOTHING for acute pain relief. Wednesday night I'm in absolute agony and can't take anything else for it. So I stopped that and Thursday went back to good old ibuprofen (and the occasional muscle relaxant just for fun). So now it hurts and I don't care.

But after 3 days of non-stop Space Channel (it actually hurt to hold a book) I was bored out of my mind and so today went back to work. As one of my co-workers said "dearie you look like shit, why aren't you at home?". Well I can be in pain here as well as at home (plus it was only one day!) And I have to confess I deliberately didn't wear any makeup just to play up the sympathy angle. I was totally unable to blowdry my hair, had to wash it one-handed (interesting experiment) and going to the bathroom is no longer something to be taken for granted.

But - off to physiotherapy tomorrow and I'm hoping for some quick relief (I know, totally unrealistic). In the meantime, as Tara exclaimed in horror at lunch today: "I can't scrap!!!!"

too much fun

at the crop Friday night! I was amazed at how much I got done - several pages in my New York album. Not that they're anything fancy, not using any patterned paper, and it is only 8.5 x 11 so not many pictures either! But still I would like to get it done before I go again. Which I still can't decide about, but looks like May some time.

Felt pretty much like crap the last couple of days - migraine, middle age, flu - who knows? So today I stayed home. And I watched TV. To be precise I stayed in bed till nearly noon when Greg came home & scared me half to death (didn't hear him come in). He left shortly thereafter and then I got dressed and moved to the couch where I stayed for the rest of the day. I watched The Moonstone (DVD from the library), Andromeda, Stargate, and some British forensic pathologist/cop show. It was actually very pleasant. And now it's just about time to go to bed again once I nag Holly to finish her homework.

Oh I also nearly finished eating the leftover asiago & artichoke dip from Friday...

one good read

This is the book we did for book club last night. I LOVE this book. That was my 2nd time reading it and of course as I'm the one who picks the books I do have a certain advantage. Which I try not to abuse ;)

Most of us at the club loved the book, but there were a few who just didn't 'get it'. The discussion helped some, but not all. I just think it's so clever, the language, storytelling (story within story within story) and it all fits together. Plus it's hilariously funny. At least I thought so!

However I've been fighting a cold all week and last night just burned me out so today I'm at home. Although apparently it may snow tomorrow so I might have to bundle up and head over the bridge to my favourite scrapbook store for a little shopping therapy this afternoon.

How can you not love this face?

Smokey really enjoyed hanging out under the Christmas tree, chewing on the branches (artificial - go figure) and then sneezing his head off. Well we've taken the tree down now and Smokey will be returning to the SPCA (or the bad cat house as Greg calls it) one of these days. I'm quite enjoying him but Vespers just hates him. Holly says she doesn't like him either. Guess it's just Timmy and I who are on his side.

He's just so damn cute!

Old Friends

This is me and Ruth, my oldest friend in the world. (It's a standing joke between us) We've known each other since Grade 7, when I was the 'new girl' at Dixon Elementary. She now lives in Australia, where she's been since I don't remember when, Expo '86 some time I think. Luckily for me, when her parents retired they moved to the Okanagan so when Ruth and her family come to visit, it's not hard for us to see each other. This only happens every couple of years or so. But this year - bloody winter! They're only in Summerland but you'd think it was still Australia with all the difficulty we've had getting together...so near and yet so far.

My phobia about winter driving, and lack of snow tires. Their lack of snow tires and, indeed, much in the way of winter driving experience at all. And all this snow and cold weather!! Ruth and I did have a nice lunch last week when she drove up but then it wasn't until today when I took the bus to Summerland (wussy I know) that we saw each other again and now it's back to work for me and back to Vancouver for them before flying home. sigh.

But it was great to see her, her parents, her husband and 2 lovely daughters. Their kids are incredible - both beautiful and clever. And if Holly had come with me I'm sure Kay and Stan would have felt like they were looking at Ruth and me 35 years ago.

It was only after I got on the bus home that I got a bit weepy. There was still so much catching up to do, we never even drank a bottle of wine! Next time guys - come in the summer!

And this was Boxing Day with Greg's mom, his nephew, wife & 2 kids. Fortunately the nephew knew how to set the self-timer on my camera so we were able to get this group shot (after a few tries). 

Fern's got a brand-new 'do!

I got my hair cut on Friday, kept the length but have layers now instead. I think I must have lost a pound or 2 as a result!

And I have to have a mini-rant about Yahoo Photos which I've been using for a long time but since I upgraded to IE 7, it no longer works. I can't upload photos into it at all. So, I went to Picasa instead and I have to say I'm impressed. Especially with the 'Blog This' feature. I could crop, fix my red eye and post it all in one easy step (well just about). 

Happy New Year!

Well last night has to have been the quietest New Year's Eve on record for us. Greg and I had a couple of glasses of champagne, but other than that we watched TV (Little Nicky), listened to Dick Clark painfully doing the countdown and then went to bed at 12:30! Whoopie...

But that was fine, I didn't really feel like doing anything. I've had an extraordinarily quiet & lazy Christmas holiday this year and although I'm starting to get a little stir crazy, it's not unmanageable.

Still and all, a little more motivation in 2007 would be a good thing...

Snow day

Well it certainly came down in the night didn't it? Greg is even staying home today. I don't think it's snowing right now but it's hard to tell. Maybe Holly will even wear her new cool hat outside; she certainly wore it all day on Christmas but seems a little reluctant to be seen in public.

Merry Christmas one and all!

We're having a great day...I know it's only 2:30 but Greg's into the wine & I'm into the Baileys. Claire is over and she and Holly are on the computer - doing what I'm not sure. Quake 4?? Lots of presents all round, and a big feed of french toast for breakfast (plus a little of the chocolate from the stockings).

So the SPCA called me on the 23rd wondering if we could foster a sick kitty over Christmas. Well of course and uh-oh for me, it was love at first sight. I don't think this kitty is going back...

I've never had a long-haired cat before, he's actually quite a tiny guy under there. His name is Smokey and he's the most affectionate bundle of love I've ever met. Vespers & Timmy know he's downstairs but they won't meet till he's not contagious anymore (5 days without sneezing).

Holly had her birthday party on Saturday, a very slow lunch at Red Robin and then to see Eragon. She had a good time. I had a good time sitting in the coffee place drinking my chai and reading People while they went to the movie. The restaurant staff had her stand on her chair, introduced her to all the diners and sang the birthday song. She tried to hide under her hoodie as you can see!

We're having the neighbours over tonight (Claire's family) for wine & snacks. They had their dinner yesterday; we have ours tomorrow so it works out well.

I hope you're all having a wonderful Christmas!

Holiday time

Today was my last day of work till January 8, 2007! Not that I'm gloating or anything...

For those who missed it

You can read the article in the Capital News about the letters found in the old house here and here's the rather odd photo which accompanied it. One of our staff members did tell me the other day that it was nice to see an article in the paper about the library that was something other than normal publicity. Yes folks, this is the kind of stuff that we actually do here.


By odd coincidence, this photo of my friend James was in a paper from the coast awhile ago. He is a house genealogist in Vancouver. Separated at birth? At any rate I feel a scrapbook page coming on...

Only 1 week to go...

and today I finally got Greg to call his mom so we know what we're doing for Christmas - having dinner on Boxing Day with her and Greg's nephew & family. Whew... I love having nothing to do on Christmas Day; it's so liberating!

Holly and I made our first gingerbread house yesterday. Fortunately it was from a kit 'cause that was as much as we could handle for our first time out. It's killing her that we're not letting her eat it all right now.

But I know it won't make it till Christmas!

So, here at last is the photo from our dinner at Chutney's on Wednesday...I was going to try to crop most of myself out of it but gave up. What the heck, there's only a few people going to see it! That was a fun evening, great food - maybe except for Heather who turned out to regret being so adventurous, right? And wonderful Christmas presents too. And we topped it all off with an action-packed trip to Wal-Mart where we saw somebody make off with a big screen TV. Who knew that WM employed tiny little old ladies as security guards? She must have been 80 if she was a day and she nearly caught the guy too.

And of course we can't forget the meeting of the boots! I even got to wear mine out again today, as Holly didn't leave the house. They really are wonderful...

In other news, we had our library Christmas lunch on Friday, tons & tons of food. I'm sure enough left over to feed both the Saturday & Sunday staff. My Secret Santa gift obviously came from someone who doesn't know me very well - it was kitchen stuff! Silicone mitts, trivet & mini-muffin pan. Very cool and I have used the mitts already. Thursday night's book club Christmas party was a fairly small group but we had fun anyway talking about the book (Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None) and a variety of other things. And last night was the Sons of Norway Christmas party which was a surprisingly good time, and there were more than 80 people there which was a shock. It was for adults & kids and the young kids were so funny, they just had a blast. We sang & danced around the tree (Norwegian tradition) and the Julenisse came with gifts for all of them. The Julenisse definitely needs a new beard, he was looking pretty ratty.

So, Holly's 13th birthday coming up on Saturday. A few kids are going to Red Robin for lunch and then to the matinee of Eragon. It sounds like fun and I guess I'll just try to stay unobtrusively in the background, coming out in time to pay the bill. Unfortunately they're too old for the children's menu now...

These boots were made for walking

Holly has had a bit of a growth spurt recently - in her feet! Poor dear now wears size 10.5 - and she's been hobbling to school this week in my late mother's size 9.5 boots. So a few days ago I let her wear my boots and she absolutely loved them - I wear size 11. Then the fight was on - who got to wear MY boots? So today we went boot shopping. We agreed that if I found boots that I liked, I'd get them and she could keep mine. Well we found these. Romika. They're like slippers! Incredibly comfortable. So much for the deal. She tried them on and decided she would have those, I could have my old black ones back. Hmmph. So I had to get a pair of dress boots for myself as well.

snowman

Holly made this cute little snowman out of plasticine. He's only an inch tall! And it has nothing to do with having small hands; hers are nearly as big as mine.

I'm going to drive to work today (which I haven't done since Monday - instead Greg & I have been going in together in his truck). But there's no way I want to be taking the bus home at 9:00 tonight!

false alarm

I found out today that not everything from the troops' box had been stolen. It had been put in another librarian's office for safekeeping when people were SPOTTED helping themselves. So yes people are jerks but we were prepared!

Hey somebody's coming from the Capital News tomorrow to take a photo and do a story that follows up on the one in the paper a couple of weeks ago - a fellow doing reno's on a house found some old (1897) letters & other stuff in this old house. Well a regular patron came in and had found the marriage registration for these people. Then between the two of us we found out who their children were, who they married, and from there she tracked down the descendents. So I guess there might be something in the paper in the next week or so. It was pretty cool...

it was red

Well I made it out to the retirement place this morning for my little talk. I'd been fretting all weekend about the driving but it was fine. And the meeting was fine too, very informal and quite fun. And yes the lunch was quite good too, including the jello...

I spent part of this afternoon counting up the statistics for the 'typical week survey'. The provincial government wants a public library survey done once a year and last week was the week. Good thing it wasn't this week or the numbers would have been even lower than they normally are. We don't understand how they pick the dates they pick - they couldn't pick a deader time if they tried.

However if I hadn't had stats to count this afternoon I don't know what I would have done; there wasn't exactly a huge crowd in the library today!

Oh I forgot - we've been collecting things for the troops for the last month or more, toiletries, food, books etc etc. Well on Sunday somebody helped themselves to all the food & toiletries and left only the books & frisbees in the box. And the food bank is only 2 blocks away - why they needed to steal this stuff is beyond me. Grrrr

Safe driving in the snow everybody...

the day wasn't a total loss

I did manage to use up the rest of my gold cardstock on some Christmas cards. The picture didn't come out that well, but you get the idea. SU cardstock, embossed with snowflake embossing powder, and I was very surprised to find some 'cardstock glitz' in my stash and some appropriate fibre too! See all that shopping comes in handy sometimes...

a little bit grumpy, this feeling inside

OK this is a really weird story. Very similar to the fellow here in Kelowna who was found in his apartment after being missing for such a long time.

It's snowing. Looks nice but I hate it. Specifically I hate driving in it but it's not usually as bad as I think it's going to be. And I have a headache (which has been with me for a few days now). Guess it's the change in weather. I wonder how many people will turn out for my talk tomorrow. I know I wouldn't go!!

And it's nearly noon, Holly & Greg aren't up yet. Maybe I should have stayed in bed too...

what is it about blogging

if you don't have anything to complain about, you don't say anything?! All quiet on the library front (well ok the police were called today but it didn't have anything to do with me!!). I'm preparing to give a talk on Monday to the local Seniors Outreach group about starting a book club (since I run the one at the library). And then I get to stay for lunch afterwards! Mmm Mmm haven't had good retirement residence food for a few years now.

Had a fun time at Kelli's last night making little CD calendars, going to another SU class tomorrow night. Then Gen's class at the library on Saturday afternoon where we're making a very cute little 6x6 album - why aren't all you guys (you know who you are) signed up? I know it's billed as a beginner's class, so what...it'll be fun!

joys of librarianship

I just have to talk about my crappy day at work...as you may or may not know (if you ever go to a library), there's a lot of 'odd' people who hang out, especially as the cold weather comes on. Among our newest crop is a boy of about 13 or 14. Last week I think it was, he and his friends built a 'fort' out of all the chairs that were not occupied. Yesterday he was driving/riding on one of the wheeled chairs (belonging at the computer stations) whizzing up and down the aisles, and generally having his own little racetrack on the 2nd floor. So yesterday I managed to corner him on the bridge upstairs (by standing right in front of him so he was FORCED to stop) and told him to cease & desist. Today he was back at it again. So once again I cornered him and lectured him (along the lines of 'how old are you - old enough to know better etc etc') and then woke up one of his buddies. Shortly afterwards Jean, the lab assistant, kicked him & his sleeping buddies out.

So, a little while later, he and a friend are back again. I go over...you're not allowed back in here today. Eventually he leaves - for about 2 minutes - and he's back again, in his original spot and eating a cookie. I go over - do you think you're invisible or something??? (my voice is getting progressively louder as the day goes on). You have to leave. No food allowed, etc etc. He tries to make himself more comfortable and I say, if you don't want to leave alone, I can call somebody. No he'll go... gets to the elevator and whines 'why are you kicking me out'. BECAUSE YOU'RE PISSING ME OFF AND BREAKING ALL THE RULES!! Yes I did say this out loud. So then he called me a c---t and the doors closed. Off he goes again. For at least an hour and he's back in the building. I call over - just turn around and leave! I'm looking for somebody he says and I thought oh screw it I'm going home in 15 minutes. Let the evening shift deal with him.

So then, because I'm in a crappy mood, I take it out on a hapless mother & daughter. They come up to the desk looking for info on a couple of native bands. Mom's doing all the talking but teenage daughter is hissing "i didn't have socials today". I ask which one of them is doing the project. "She is" says Mom. I try to ask daughter questions, mom answers them all. I try again, mom is still doing all the talking. So then I say to Mom "what school does she go to" (thinking surely to God the daughter can answer for herself) but Mom tells me. so I mutter to the daughter ' just seeing if you could speak'. oh shit I can't believe I said that!! But neither one of them seemed to get it. And the daughter never spoke.

I was really happy when 5:30 came along.

Career change anyone??

RIP raccoons

Greg just told me that shortly after the raccoons were dining chez nous, he and Holly found them on Gordon Drive, both hit by a car. God that is sad isn't it. I hope they enjoyed the cat food...

Since I never ever post pictures of anything I have scrapped, I thought I'd better give it a try. This is me as a baby. Daisy D's paper & rub ons, MM flowers & foam stamp.

I still have that dress (not that it fits LOL)

Laughter is the best medicine

Well I've been feeling a little under the weather the last few days, just tired & listless I guess you'd say. Today I feel some better, which is miraculous between getting stressed out during Askaway again this morning (damn those grade 9's in Surrey) and then being subjected to paint fumes mysteriously permeating the Reference area this afternoon. But now I've just been laughing uncontrollably while reading Rick Mercer's blog. If you're a fan of his, you have to check it out!

post-sugar fatigue

Well Hallowe'en has come & gone and I never even took a picture of Holly in her costume (blood spattered apron, chef's hat & butcher knife). In fact I didn't even see her that night. She was gone before I got home from work and then I had to go out to pick up my friend AM at the airport so I really missed the whole thing. Never mind, trust me the blood spatters turned out really well. I found a recipe for chocolate blood online and it lived up to the hype.

AM was in town for a conference at Manteo which went really well and the facilities were awesome. Good ole Kelowna, nice to hear everything went well. They also had a wine-tasting at the Wine Museum which was a success.

We were out shopping all day yesterday which was tiring and I'm still tired today! But back to the grind tomorrow. I had taken last Wednesday off work which was great, I think I might do that again a time or two before Christmas. Have been eating like a pig for the past week or 2, not going to Curves. So time to get my act together again.

BTW the picture is in our back yard a couple of weeks ago before the weather turned cloudy. (Since I have nothing more relevant to post!)

we had company tonight

I got home from work and while I was in the kitchen getting ready to open Kelli's card (thanks Kelli!) I glanced out the deck door to see these guys helping themselves to Vesper's food. Timmy was inside hissing at them, I waved my arms around but they just looked up at the dinner theatre and kept eating. Greg chased them away when he got home a few minutes later.

bye-bye Cookie

He went back to the SPCA today. We've known all along that we couldn't keep both our foster kitties; it would just be too much for Vespers. But we have had them since the beginning of August! Anyway Cookie is a nice cat but the more aggressive of the two so he was the one to go. And who gets to do the dirty deed? Me of course. I was fine, got him in the carrier no problem, he was kind of unhappy in the car but seemed fine once we got to the SPCA. But then when I had to fill out the papers to adopt Timmy I started to cry. Geez I'm too sentimental for this stuff... I'd decided I would donate extra money so that Cookie could be neutered, then he can be in the communal cat room and I heard they were more easily adopted from there. But when I go to tell the SPCA lady this I burst into tears. Nearly had her going too...

If we ever do this again, Greg can return the kitty!!

Frustration

OK I've tried to post a photo to my profile. But can I make it work? It was there last night and today it's been transformed into a little red x. What does this mean?? ...later I've pasted in a new URL and the picture shows up in my profile but not on my blog. WTH??

Anyway I'm trying to get inspired to make Christmas cards so thought I'd post some pictures of previous years'. Maybe it'll get me going...




OK here I'm going to post the picture of me after I had my makeover at Saks in New York in the summertime. That was so cool...

how could I forget?

How could I have neglected to post this????



And I really like this picture

It's unfortunate that all the pictures of me (at least those I've seen) are UG-LEE!

back in work mode

How can a weekend which was so much fun become a distant memory so quickly?? I even unpacked my bags (well most of them) right away, showed off my stuff. In fact I took Andrea's little flower card in to work & put it on my bulletin board to cheer me up.

Askaway is now official, the government announcement was yesterday morning right before my shift...it was brutal! The questions were flying in fast & furious. Usually there's just 2 of us on for that shift, yesterday there were 6 and many were juggling 3 & 4 questions at once. I quite hated it. And my heart was just pounding! Real 'in person' reference is so much easier. You can tell if the person is serious or joking for one; if it's a bar bet they tell you; they can see you're working on it & haven't vanished into the ether. No need for 'hello hello are u still there' and most don't have the nerve to ask rude questions in person! But it is nice to get the occasional thank you - I was even told I was 'aswome' by one grade 8 - I took it as a compliment...;)

Anyway Lost is on in an hour so I'll be off.

Oh and Audrey, I'm not having any contests so you won't be winning anything here! LOL

Retreat

Here's Min's make & take
Gen & Dawn
The vogue girls: Tara, Min & Audrey
More of Min's make & take

Just wanted to post some photos of this weekend. Look what you're missing...;) I tried to post these to the store's forum but the files are too big.

a little bit more on technology

I just got monthly parking at the library parkade this week and I am totally enthralled with the device mounted behind my rear-view mirror which opens the entrance & exit gates for me. That is sooo cool! Also today a patron showed us his flash card which folds open and you can plug it directly into a USB port. Also very cool.

...not only that, the internet is back up & running at the library. The regulars are all relieved!

Oddly both DH and DD are sound asleep this evening. I'm the one with the splitting headache - why am I awake?? Because Lost is on in 40 minutes, that's why!

technology

Well first of all I love technology. My darling husband brought me home a card readers from work today (so handy to have connections in the computer business!) so I can now upload photos straight from my camera to my laptop! Love it love it love it... That's why the 2 pics I took at the cemetery yesterday are here already. BTW I'm not a religious person but I chose Mom's plot to be close to the statue of Jesus so it would always be easy to find again! And the flowers were still there...

But, back to technology. I hate it. This new automated system we've migrated to at work is a pain in the you know where. Some things are easy enough and others are just not working. Plus there's been some unexpected side effects - which are apparently coincidental - so we can't get into our online databases and the authentication software doesn't work so the public internet computers are down. Oh boy, how the word on the street gets around! The place is deserted. The folks who are usually running up the stairs when we open at 10:00 are nowhere to be found. It's been down since Saturday and I don't know when it'll be up again, I hope later this week.

And I had my shift on Askaway this morning. There's something wrong with the computer we use, so we have the problem of no databases compounding by an inability to get into any library catalogue using Horizon. Everytime we click on a link in a catalogue we get a page of gobbledy gook(sp?). It makes the old card catalogue look pretty good!

Thanksgiving weekend

Happy Thanksgiving everybody. We had our dinner yesterday at my MIL's place; just the 4 of us so it was kind of quiet, but on the other hand, we didn't have to share the leftovers with anyone else! A quick trip to Costco after that (we had our meal at 12:30) and then home.

Got this cool scrapbooking cart, 12x12 size that I'd heard about on bcscrappers. So I came home and cleaned off my desk (again) but then I got distracted by stuff as I always do, so the cart is still sitting unassembled in the hallway. However I did do a bit more work on my "life as a librarian" album so it was a fairly productive evening.

Today I absolutely have to get prepared for the retreat next weekend. The only other time I have is tomorrow night. Wednesday is parent teacher interviews, and Lost, Thursday I work till 9:00 (and it's book club) and then I go straight to the hotel after work on Friday.

Thursday would also have been my mom's 86th birthday - she was supposed to live till she was 86, that's what she believed as both her parents died at that age. But it's been nearly 21/2 years since she passed away. I've been missing her a lot these past few days. She would have LOVED the reunion last week. And then I always associate Thanksgiving with her birthday 'cause they always fall so close together. I might go up to the cemetery today and see if my flowers are still there. The last batch went missing this spring. And if they are there, I'm taking them home for the winter!

family

Well we're back from our whirlwind trip to my aunt & uncle's 50th wedding anniversary. It was somewhat of a family reunion as well and I met a bunch of relatives for the first time. It was great to be able to put faces to names (and finally figure out where they all fit in) and see people I hadn't seen for a long time. The family dynamics on this side are a bit 'odd'. As one of my 'cousins' (OK 2nd cousin strictly speaking) said, when she realized that her 2 grandmothers were sisters: gee that's ... weird! Yeah it is. But it makes the family genealogy a lot easier to discuss; everybody knows everybody!

The kids of this family, my cousins, are a bit younger than I am. They always used to come to our place for Christmas and the oldest one, who is my age, used to come at Easter break & summer holidays. We had so much fun together when we were kids! I don't see her very often now, but her brothers & sisters - well I think it's been since high school for one and later in the 70s for another! And they're so damn tall now!! When did that happen?!