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!

Woe is me

I decided to stay home today. I was heading to the shower before work when somehow I crawled into bed instead... It's what I need though. My sore throat is actually feeling somewhat better so if I rest up today I hope to be fine tomorrow. We're going for drinks after work to celebrate my supervisor's new job.

I took my name off my blog the other day after I came down with a case of paranoia. Just in case some people that I work with can't be trusted to keep certain acronyms to themselves!

Oh I think it's nearly time for another nap...

Congratulations

Well this morning it was back to work...back to Askaway which I haven't had to do in a couple of weeks. I was in the middle of my first question of the day: how to conjugate some French verbs with the pronoun 'qui' - when my phone rang. It was the HR assistant calling about the reference supervisor posting; to tell me I was the successful applicant and would I accept? Yippee, no interview necessary! And by the time I got back to my computer, my patron had found the answer in his textbook. That was a really good thing. Spend 5 days speaking Spanish & then come home to conjugate French verbs? I don't think my brain ever recovered.

The position starts on the 11th. Oh and get this, EGTB wants to 'mentor' me! Give me a break!!

I finished the little scrapbook on PV that I started Saturday night and brought it in to work with me today. I've certainly never accomplished that so quickly!

Unfortunately I still feel pretty horrible - nasty sore throat, kind of achy & headachy. It'll either go away or get worse I guess! I hope for the former.

That was sooooo relaxing!

The good thing about being so spontaneous is that you don't have time to develop any expectations! I didn't do much, some shopping, lots of walking around, hanging out by the pool and one afternoon at the beach. A few great meals out, plus prawns & ceviche at the beach and awesome shrimp fajita-type things at a roadside stand. I enjoyed it a lot. AM & Di were VERY surprised to see me but I think it went OK. Now that I've sampled a winter getaway I think I could make a habit of it!

Off to Puerto Vallarta!

Holy cow I can't believe I found a flight - I leave Kelowna 6:00 Monday morning and come back Friday night. (Have big plans next weekend so had to be home for those!) Now I'm just hoping AM checks her email again tonight & calls me. If I can't sleep on their couch, I'm hoping she can find me a hotel room close to where they're staying.

God I have a stomach-ache - the nerves...the spontaneity!! Now I have to try on my summer clothes!

Not Those Winds I guess

Gee I've put my life on hold these last couple of weeks & haven't even posted anything! So I applied for a job as a branch head. Many, many people expected I was going to get it. But. I didn't.

My supervisor got it instead. She had not told anyone she applied so it was a complete surprise although I had a feeling she might have. So I wasn't totally blind-sided. I celebrated my disappointment by having an absolutely crappy sleep last night and not doing any work whatsoever today. In fact I spent a large part of the day trying to find a cheap flight to Puerto Vallarta for next week! Unsuccessfully sad to say. AM & Di are there right now and I thought it would have been cool to fly down and hang out with them for a few days.

So now I have to apply for the supervisor's job... I'd better get it. As she said to me, who else would want it? Prior to this branch head carrot dangling in front of my nose, it was my dream job, so I have to drum up some enthusiasm. And EGTB is still there but we've got our fingers crossed.

In other news, it's back to WW tomorrow. I've lost 11 pounds so far and my clothes are loose so that's awesome. I got my hair cut last week, an excellent cut but of course I can never get it to look as good as Rose does.

I still have done no scrapping for months but there's a crop next weekend I'm going to and I should have my last Pick of the Patch kit by then, so maybe inspiration will strike.

Well now I'm going to search for cheap cruises....

Changes blowing in

Last night when I got home from work I was so excited I couldn't sleep! There's some stuff happening at work that might mean a big change for me (keep your fingers crossed!) and a few other job postings coming out this month. If we're lucky, EGTB (it's code) will get a new job and move away. So even if things don't turn out for me, there could still be some good things happening.

So tomorrow's a very busy day for me. Stopping at WW before work - I'm not sure how that's going to go. As I said before, it wasn't the most vigilant week for me, and I just had a yummy Lindt 70% orange chocolate bar (the little one: 4 points) for dessert. Then it's off to work and then from there to my LSS for a night (actually weekend) of inventory. But it looks like all my buddies will be there so really it'll just be a very fun time.

I never did any scrapping over the holidays although I did kind of clean off my desk. But I now have the printer hooked up to my laptop so maybe I can actually print a photo now & then as the mood strikes!

Happy New Year

 

Here's Holly and Myla on Christmas morning - one of the few photos taken that were actually in focus!

So I'm not a big New Years person. The last time I remember going *out* for New Years was in the late 80's! And I don't do resolutions either. This year I did manage to stay up till past midnight. Greg started his partying fairly early in the day; I don't think he stayed awake much past 12, but he'd gone downstairs before then and we didn't see him again. (His computer was giving him trouble so he went to the laptop in the basement instead.) Holly had slept for awhile earlier in the evening, but got up about 11:30. She and I watched Air Farce, wished each other a Happy New Year and went to bed! Needless to say, she and I felt just fine the next day. Greg, however, did not! No complaining, but he spent the day on the couch.

I only made one resolution - to keep a record of books as I read them. Especially for a librarian, this should be an obvious one. So far, I'm doing well. Not that I've read more than one book in the last 36 hours...I included the ones I'd read over the holidays.

I was feeling that 2007 hadn't been a very good year, but upon re-reading my blog entries I guess it was pretty good after all. Just been out of sorts the last couple of months. I do feel better now though. And I'll be kind of glad to get back to work tomorrow. I work the next 2 Saturdays so will miss the WW meetings, however I'll still weigh in before work. Hey did I tell you? 10.6 pounds! At least up until this past week - we'll see what this Saturday brings. I got into the cheese & crackers big time. Oh there might have been some chocolate too...

Speaking of Myla, we've reached an agreement where Linda (her 'real' mom) is going to come and take Myla out a few times a week. She had her for a couple of hours today and may come back tomorrow. It's good 'cause Linda's been pining for her and God knows the dog's not getting enough exercise with us. Plus we've decided that come June we will be giving her back (although I haven't told Linda yet). I think she really wants her back too. She's a great dog, but basically she's just too big for us. She needs more obedience training which I don't feel like doing, at least right now; I've got too much else on my mind. So I can't take her for a walk on-leash. She chewed through the halter I bought and also through Ruby's old leash. So we spend a lot of time at the dog park, which she loves. Don't know why though; the minute she walks in the gate she gets humped. This happens without fail every single time we go there. She's just some kind of magnet I guess. But she's so good-natured she puts up with it. Most of those dogs, if she nipped at them, would back right off but she just stands there. Funny girl.

Snow Day

It was snowing like crazy when I got up this morning. The animals were ambivalent about going outside. Myla and Timmy thought they wanted to go out, but when it came down to it, only Vespers was brave enough to venture forth.