Two, count 'em, two jobs at once

Well I'm just such a busy beaver these days. Since EGTB left I've been acting branch head which has been kind of fun, and kind of a pain in the butt. There's nothing like just starting one job and then a few weeks later getting appointed to another one as well. So I'm trying to do both, neither one very well I think. But since there was no training for either one, I don't feel too responsible. I'm just muddling along as best I can.

This past Saturday (you know, that day when we woke up in mid-April to SNOW!) we had organized, in conjunction with the local genealogy group, an 'ask a genealogist' day. It was pretty successful I'd say and I'm sure that if it weren't for the weather we'd have had even more people. Lots of fun though.

Wednesday this week the BC Book Prizes Tour will be here in town. The 4 authors and one illustrator will be doing readings at the library in the evening. I don't expect much of a turn-out for that. The Book Prizes people were supposed to do the PR and I haven't seen a thing. So the Friends of the Library had sent some stuff out; we'll see if it has any effect. I have low expectations but there's not much work involved either.

Of course I screwed up a few things in the preparation for both these events, but what the hey, I didn't know!

Other than work I don't really have a life these days. Very looking forward to the scrapbooking retreat in a couple of weeks and then a couple of weeks after that I'm off to Vancouver for the Canadian Library Association conference. In between my friend Marjory will be in town. So I guess I will have a social life in May. By then I'd really like to think we'd have a new branch head but I won't hold my breath.

Speaking of which, EGTB did not clean out her office when she left; you should see all the stuff in there! Everything from soup to nuts (and that's practically the literal truth...)

Another tiring weekend

Another garage sale weekend. For some bizarre reason, last week when we did no advertising and had only 2 signs, we were much busier than we were today when we had an ad in the paper & lots more signs up around the area.

Everybody is downsizing, nobody wants to buy other people's old junk (even when spelled junque) anymore. However I did sell some old scrapping stuff yesterday: some stamp sets & ink pads in garish colours. So today I brought out some more and only sold 12 pieces of paper! It's really not worth all the work. And the shortage of sleep.

Shame on those of you who accused Mark of sending threatening emails...! Of course it wasn't him. He was away from work but it wasn't because he was arrested; he was just sick, like the rest of us. We all had a bad stomach bug which was not a result of the potluck last Friday, although the way it spread through the staff made it seem like a possibility.

And just to show that you can make art out of anything... LED lights in the backyard.

Who said being a librarian was boring?

Yesterday was my first day as Acting Branch Head (EGTB's last day was Friday). And the day started off with a phone call from the RCMP about a threat made from a library computer. I told the person on Reception to forward the call to HQ. The Executive Director is the only person who can allow information to be given out about people using the library. A few minutes after that, another RCMP officer comes in the building, wanting similar information. Once again I referred him to HQ (and he was not a happy camper!). The Director was in a meeting in Vernon so there was much to-ing and fro-ing between management, her, and the RCMP and the curiosity was killing me but I never heard anything more.

This afternoon on Castanet I saw this story:

Threatening email leads to arrest
by Kevin Berar - Giant FM - Story: 38549
Apr 8, 2008 / 3:40 pm

The South Okanagan Secondary School in Oliver and nearby elementary schools were in lock down Monday due to an email threat.

Staff at S.O.S.S received an email from an unknown individual saying they were a student at the school and were going to bring a gun and shoot everyone in their path and then shoot themselves.

S.O.S.S notified Oliver RCMP, who investigated and arrested a homeless 33-year-old Kelowna man.

The man admitted to sending the threatening email, as well as a second email to a school in Westbank.

The man faces two counts of uttering threats and remains in custody pending a psychological evaluation.

So happy to see the library doesn't come into it at all (at least until I posted this!) but still very curious (and wondering if this is somebody we'll recognize!)

Merkaba Sunday

So last night while Holly and I were sitting in the dark for Earth Hour, Greg was in the garage making a merkaba (as he is wont to do from time to time). Today Holly and I painted it and generally hung around outside enjoying the sunshine.

Not enough time

I'm suffering from a severe lack of time. I would have thought that after having 5 days off last weekend I would have been happy to go back to work. No. I was kind of grumpy most of the week - and it was only 4 days! Now I'm supposed to go back to 5 day weeks!?

I've been to physio twice, not sure that it's helping. And the appointments are an hour long - I don't have time to stay there for an hour! I've got 2 more appointments this week, 8:00 Tuesday morning and 8:30 Thursday. I'm going to have to change the Thursday one - I've got a meeting at 9:30 and would not get there in time. Plus $220 for a week's worth of physio seems like money I could be doing something else with (like buying gas?)

We've been having meetings at work about statistics lately. Of course this was something that was brought up at the last reference librarians' meeting (last October) but nothing happened till the week before last and then we're all panicking 'cause it's to be done before the next meeting (this Thursday). Didn't we have 6 months to do this? So it's been a crash course in chart-making with Microsoft Excel for a couple of us.

On the bright side, I see the temperature is forecast to be 15 on Thursday! This is very exciting. Maybe spring is really coming after all. We did sit outside in the backyard yesterday for awhile which was nice. As long as I was in the sun it was quite lovely.

And we did it again today!

Tagged, Footloose & Fancy-free

Well I was tagged a couple of times in the last week or two, guess I'd better get on that!

1. If your doctor told you today that you were pregnant, what would you say? Medically impossible in so many ways!
2. When was the last time you flew in a plane? January 25/08
3. What did the last text message you sent say? Probably something like "How r u getting home? we can't pick u up"
4. What features do you find most attractive in the opposite sex? Sense of humour, nice hands & nails, happiness.
5. What is a goal you would like to accomplish in the near future? Be able to walk normally!
6. Shoe size? 11
7. Been to Mexico? Yup
8. When is the last time you had a massage? Long time ago...
9. What was the last TV show you watched? Enterprise
10. What are your plans for the weekend? WW, maybe shopping, and Easter dinner on Monday at the MIL's.
11. If your significant other asked you to marry them today what would you say? ummm let me get back to you on that.
12. What is in the back seat of your car right now? Crutches and doggie towels.
13. What were you doing at 8 am this morning? Getting dressed.
14. If you could marry any celebrity today who would it be? George Clooney
15. Have you ever been to a strip club? If I have it was a really long time ago.
16. What is the best ice cream flavor? I'm so boring - vanilla!.
17. What is the last sporting event you watched? You mean live? The Whitecaps back in the 80's
18. Ever go camping? Once again, many years ago.
19. Last phone call? To physio.
20. Are you allergic to anything? Creamy cucumber salad dressing & certain brands of toothpaste.
21. What is one thing you have learned about life recently? I think I'm about as grown-up as I'm going to get.
22. What do you do at work? Librarian.
23. What is your mom's name? Ellen but commonly known as "Dot"
24. Ever cried for no reason? probably
25. Can you do the Crank Dat dance? Not likely
26. What is your favorite color to wear? There's so many!
27. What is the longest plane ride you have ever been on? Vancouver to Oslo.
28. What is the longest road trip you have ever taken? Ooh I'm bad, haven't really done any. through the Kootenays and to Lethbridge I guess
29. What are your turn-offs? Stupidity and rudeness, irresponsibility
30. What was your last alcoholic beverage? Wine
31. What are you craving right now? Nothing, I'm full! (but note how we all assume this means food).

In other news, no more roboboot!!! I took today off work and went back to the Ortho Clinic at the hospital this morning. The doctor said the fracture is healing fine & I don't need the roboboot anymore. As for physio he kind of left that up to me but I'm going to go for it. My first appointment isn't till next Thursday though. Afterwards Holly and I had appointments at the hair salon so it was great that I was able to drive there myself...although I did notice that my foot was a tiny bit weak when it came to braking so I had to watch myself.

Holly got her hair cut & coloured today - and I had my roots done. So it was an expensive visit but worth it; she LOVES her new 'do and I have to say it looks terrific - a bit darker than her own colour with a few reddish-purple foils in it. Barely visible in the picture.

And the other picture, I just had to take - my office door!

Anyway hope everyone has a wonderful Easter weekend!

Whiny

That's how I'm feeling this morning. But I'm also a little smarter at the same time as it appears feeling this way can be spelled either whiny or whiney.

Anyway I'm just unhappy with my foot. I figured that by now it wouldn't hurt at all, but it still does. Perhaps pain is too strong a word but it's certainly uncomfortable, even as soon as I wake up in the morning, which is why this morning I'm still lying in bed feeling sorry for myself. When I did hobble into the kitchen to make myself a chai latte I had a cramp all the way up my leg. But I go back to the specialist in less than 2 weeks and maybe by then it'll be much better. It's not the broken part that hurts - it's the rest of it!

I was out yesterday morning, to WW and then out for breakfast & shopping with my friend Georgia so I may have overdone it a bit. Bought a new pair of pants to replace the ones I'd bought last weekend which had split up the side when I bent over to put on my roboboot!

And now everyone knows that EGTB has handed in her resignation: she's moving across the country to head up another library. The staff are all quietly happy. Of course who knows who her replacement will be! Hopefully my predecessor will not be trying to come back. I think the staff in my department are all pretty happy right now and I'd like to keep it that way.

later...a side note. I just realized that today would have been my father's 103rd birthday! Talk about coming from old parents...

Not too broken to shop

Well my friend Kelly was in town and she and I spent yesterday together. We haven't seen each other for awhile - and because we're getting on, we can't remember how long it's been! But probably a couple of years. So we went out for breakfast and then shopping. We did most of our shopping at Suzanne's at the Capri Mall. Not like I'm getting a commission or anything, but the woman who manages that place is amazing. She just looks at you, knows what size you need in what brand, is constantly finding things for you to try on, AND remembers your name. That's excellent customer service. So between there and a couple of other stores, we did quite well for ourselves! And nearly everything was on sale. I'm very happy to have clothes to wear again.

We were going to get somebody to take our picture but forgot. Kelly is "buff" (to quote her!) and I'm down 17 pounds so we're very pleased with ourselves, not having looked so good for quite a few years. Once I get this thing off my foot I can start my quest to become buff myself.

And today Holly and I hope to go to the mall and do some shopping for her.

In other news, something very good is going to be happening at work soon but I can't say what it is Mark because then everybody will know and it's a secret still. But believe me, we will be very happy!

Public Service Announcement

I went to Starbucks today after getting my hair cut and had my usual non-fat no-water chai latte. However I was hungry so I had a cranberry chocolate soy protein bar as well. Also today after going to WW I discovered that I need to lower my daily points total. Down to 20?! Aack don't know if I can survive that; I've been at 24 all this time. But this sitting around all day in my roboboot means less calories out, less calories in.

Anyway just made me wonder what there is 'healthy' to eat at Starbucks so I printed off the nutritional info from their site (where you have to search by store postal code, how stupid is that) and figured out the points. Here's my list of goodies with 6 points and under:

Chocolate caramel pretzel 6
Banana blueberry soy muffin 6
Reduced fat banana choc coffee cake 6
Multigrain bagel 6
Cinnamon straw 6
Cranberry choc protein bar 6
Low fat fudge brownie (vegan friendly)6
Lowfat cranberry apple oatmeal muffin 5
Sesame seed bagel 5
Wheat croissant (w/whole grains) 5
Cranberry bliss bar 5
Lowfat fruit bar 4

Everything else is probably not worth the points!

Get this thing offa me!

I guess I'm just not a good patient. That boot is driving me insane, presses down on my foot, weighs a ton (ok 2.8 pounds) and generally pisses me off. It is such a relief to get home from work and take it off.

I missed work most of last week but I went back on Friday. Actually I had stopped in on Wednesday and ended up staying and doing work for a couple of hours. It's just been so hectic with this new job...but time sure has zoomed by! Today I felt like I was getting a bit caught up. I've put away most of my stuff. Brought my camera with me today, intending to take pictures of my new office, but never got around to it. Plus it is the kind of thing you'd rather not do when people are around!

So it's just after 8 pm and I'm resting in bed. Going to read some, probably have a snack to use up the rest of the day's points and hopefully go to sleep early. By morning my foot will feel pretty well normal until I put it back in the torture machine.

Now playing - Robo Boot!

I am so happy! This morning I went to the ortho clinic at the hospital and they took another x-ray. There was a resident (in her first week) there too so we both learned that a fracture of the navicular like I have is very stable and does not actually need a cast. They cut off the cast and I went to pick up my Robo Boot on the way home. I can walk again! Still might need the crutches now & then but I've just been walking around the house without them today. I took Greg out to the Haven for Valentine's lunch to celebrate. He still has to be my chauffeur though; I can't drive.

So back to work for me tomorrow. I can't believe how excited I am. Not sure I would have survived 6-8 weeks in a cast. Or how the rest of the family would have managed being my servant for that long!

Spending the rest of the evening watching Lost and Eli Stone. Oh we watched a few good movies lately: Sixteen Blocks, Keeping Mum, and Across the Universe.

Big Day Out

Holy cow I'm wiped. We were out most of the day, doctor's appointments for both of us, blood work at the lab, I got my new lenses for my glasses, and spent a couple of hours at the library.

While at the library I used the wheelchair we keep there for elderly patrons and discovered that it was like driving a bad shopping cart. It desperately needs a wheel alignment! Actually all the office chairs are on wheels so they work just as well. My intention was just to drop in but I ended up doing some work and even answered a couple of questions. I hope to go in Friday for 4 hours.

My doctor agreed that my cast was not made correctly so when I go to the hospital tomorrow to see the orthopedic specialist I will be getting a different cast. (I have a walking cast but am not allowed to walk on it, not that I could the way it is right now.) If they don't change it I'll end up with a Barbie foot!

View from the couch

You'll understand that when I say I was home alone, I was not exactly alone!

itchy

My ankle is itchy already. I didn't think that would happen for awhile yet! I'm not in any particular pain, no drugs or anything. But last night my ankle started to itch. It hurt too, but because of my rheumatism, that's not unusual. Anyway I did not have a great sleep.

The good news is, I go to see the specialist on Thursday. I have this fantasy that he'll say it's not really broken and I can switch to a tensor bandage. Yeah right, keep on dreaming...

Tagged again?

This one seems kind of complicated. You must post the rules before you give your answers. You must list one fact about yourself for each letter of your middle name. Each fact must begin with that letter. If you don't have a middle name, just use your maiden name. After you've been tagged, you need to update your blog with your middle name and answers. At the end of your post, you need to tag one person for each letter of your middle name. (Be sure to leave them a comment telling them they've been tagged and need to read your blog for details.)

My middle name is Ellen. hmmm what can I say about that?

E - Educated? Many years of post-secondary education, but not in the basics, like walking down the stairs without falling.
L - Librarian. duh
L - Lame (as in gimped)
E - Early riser, at least lately
N - Norwegian heritage on both sides

If anybody wants to carry on, feel free. Let me know if you do.

bored already

I don't think I'm going to enjoy this 6-8 weeks in a cast. It's very frustrating not to be able to do things for myself. I'm not in any pain to speak of so it's just the nuisance factor of this stupid cast. Tomorrow I have to call to make an appointment with the orthopedic specialist which should be next week. But in the meantime I made an appointment with my GP to find out whether I should be off work and for how long. There is a wheelchair at the library so if I can use that I should be fine to work. Peter (who is in a wheelchair) and I can play bumper cars.

In the meantime I guess I'll stay home.

broken?!

I just can't believe it. Earlier this evening I was going downstairs to get dog food and somehow slipped on the bottom steps. There was a lot of screaming & wailing (from me and the dog who sensed her food was no longer top priority). After the initial shock I crawled back upstairs, put ice on it, tensor bandage etc., complained a lot and finally decided to go to Emergency. We all packed up and didn't have to wait there too awfully long. It was starting to feel better by the time I got to X-Ray so I was totally shocked when the doctor announced "it's broken". "Me??" "Yes that's why you're in a wheelchair".

So I have a lovely purple cast, a willing slave in Holly, and won't be going to work anytime too soon. oh boy. Guess I'll be doing a lot of scrapbooking in the next several weeks... We'll see what the orthopedic specialist says when I go see him next week. In the meantime I hope the crutches get easier because I don't have a real knack for them.

How to spend that money

So, 20 cents an hour means an extra $7.00 a week (as opposed to the extra $43.75 I'm getting this week)... This has me thinking what could I do with that $7.00. I could have 1.5 Starbucks grande chai lattes, 2 days of parking in the library parkade, a package of WW Sweet & Salty bars, maybe a magazine. Not bad really!

Anybody have any other ideas of how to spend my raise?

Yikes - tagged! Five Things

Five things I was doing 10 years ago...
1. Not keeping a diary
2. Taking Holly to kindergarten
3. Working part-time
4. Being at my all-time highest weight
5. Going to a family reunion & meeting my half-brother for the 1st time

Five things on my to do list today...(it's now after 9 pm., I don't have plans to accomplish anything)
1. clean up kitchen
2. do time slips at work
3. start cleaning out my desk
4. go out for lunch (which I forgot; sorry Beth!)
5. turn in my acceptance letter

Five things I will do when I'm a millionaire...
1. quit working (if I'm a multi-millionaire)
2. buy a new house
3. travel travel travel
4. be a volunteer
5. open my own stationery & office supply store

Five things I'll never wear again...
1. my fat jeans
2. a wedding dress (good one Kelli!)
3. garter belt
4. contact lenses
5. synthetic fabric in hot weather

Five of my favorite toys...
1. camera
2. laptop
3. MP3 player if I could only find where I put it
4. Solitaire on the computer
5. Cropadile

Five banes of my existence...
1. dog hair
2. cat puke
3. dirty old carpets (but good considering #1&2)
4. EGTB
5. intoxicated library patrons

Anybody who wants to can consider themselves tagged...

Time to start earning the big bucks

So this week I'm enjoying $1.25 an hour extra in my capacity as 'acting' Reference Supervisor. I'm enjoying this week 'cause next week when my new position is officially in effect I'll get a whopping 20-some cents an hour increase! Whoo-ee let the good times roll!

Of course I'm in it for the power, not the money, so what does it matter right? (ha!)

I don't quite know how I'm going to get my desk cleaned out and my stuff moved into my new office by the end of the week. I've got about 6 hours of 'free' time to get that done and I don't think it'll be enough but I certainly don't want to have to come in on my own time to do it, which is what my predecessor did.

And it's time to update my Life as a Librarian album... need to take a picture as soon as I get my name put on my door!