22
Feb, 2007

ch-chk!

that, my friends, is the sound of a checkmark being written decisively beside a to-do list item. today was the day one of my librarian friends and i did a presentation about this year’s summer library program for an audience of librarians who work in a different system than mine. in other words–the first presentation that i can remember doing in a very long time (possibly ever) for an audience of strangers. and, i think it went rather well. a lot of it was the same as the workshop we did last fall in my own system, but we added some new ideas and did the whole morning ourselves (instead of just 2/3… or maybe 1/2). it was so much more organized and compact than last time (not to say that it was perfect. i had a few moments when i started talking and suddenly thought, “y’know, this idea isn’t really all that great. why am i talking about it again???”) but mostly…. i’m glad it’s done and i can get back to not stressing out about it. although i think we agreed to present it one more time in early may…..

one more little happy for the day–when i got home this evening and was curled up in a chair watching american idol, my kitty, ginger, who likes to burrow, came up and tucked herself into my lap, under the blanket. pretty soon, my kitty maryann (her sister), who likes to sit on my lap, jumped up and sat in my lap–directly on top of her sister who began making strange squeaky noises. then, all was quiet and settled down and i had a double-decker kitty pile on my lap for a few minutes. until ginger (the squeaky cat on the bottom) decided she’d had enough and stood up. maryann fell backwards off of my lap with a startled look on her face. priceless.

Posted in laugh, library stuff | 1 Comment
20
Feb, 2007

musings on bingo

a friend once told me that someone told her once that it was a good idea to give your child a name with five letters because then you can teach them how to spell their name by singing it to the tune of b-i-n-g-o. interesting concept to muse. i noticed that her second child only has 4 letters in his name.

another friend, angie, recently told me that her son has been singing bingo, only his version goes “b-i-angie-o.” that cracks me up.

Posted in la la la!, laugh | 1 Comment
17
Feb, 2007

just right

rose
some years we celebrate valentine’s day and some years we thumb our noses at commercialism. in the past, i’ve kind of hoped that mr. happy stuff would be able to figure out on his own which kind of a year we were having (read: what kind of a valentine’s day i was hoping for–how selfish of me!), but i’ve learned how silly (and fruitless) those thoughts are. so this year, a few weeks before valentine’s day, i asked him if we could celebrate valentine’s day this year and he said, “sure!” (he’s so nice and accommodating!) so, the surprise of whether or not he’d remember was (hopefully) taken care of and i could simply look forward to the surprise of how we’d each interpret the holiday. in case you’re curious, we both (apparently) equate love with fine chocolate. beyond that, mr. happy stuff received a dvd compilation of 100 “classic” cartoons (with heavy emphasis on betty boop and popeye and a bunch of unknown cartoon characters) and for me, he bought this beautiful vase with a cute little rose. he made sure to let me know that he knows that roses are not my favorite flower, but that he thought it looked cute in that vase and thought i’d like the vase. what he doesn’t realize is that i only don’t like roses if they are purchased as the “default” flower. especially the kind you get from the bucket at the grocery store that are packaged with sad wisps of baby’s breath and ugly fern and that you buy when you’re picking up a gallon of milk because “oh crap, i forgot i was supposed to buy flowers” and it’s the last one left in the bucket. this little gem, cut short, combined with shiny leaves and in a spunky vase is not your average valentine’s rose. i love it! thank you, mr. h-s, for a lovely valentine’s day!

p.s. we also had a wonderful dinner at a “not-to-fancy” restaurant–one i’d never been to–which i was thrilled to discover had delicious hot and sour soup, egg rolls and sweet and sour chicken and super yummy curry dishes that mr. h-s enjoyed! the sweet and sour chicken was different than i’d ever had before–the chicken wasn’t breaded and deep fried and there were more vegetables on the plate than just giant chunks of onion and raw green pepper with a few token pineapple chunks. we may have found a way for me to get my “chinese food” fix (i put it in quotes because although i know it’s not authentic, the meal listed above is my standard order on our rare visits to chinese restaurants) without having any sacrifice on mr. h-s’s part (he’s not so fond of soy sauce based dishes–they do bad things to his innards). hooray! double hooray for valentine’s day!

note added later:  the restaurant mentioned here is vientiane (not sure if that’s spelled right)

Posted in reviews, stuff that makes me smile, yum | 1 Comment
14
Feb, 2007

slow down and breathe

a few years ago, i heard a sermon from which one tiny tidbit has stuck in my head and still pops out occasionally and i’d like to share it with you. the preacher talked about how sometimes when she gets stuck behind a really slow-moving vehicle on the road, her first instinct is angry frustration, but her second instinct is to take a deep breath and thank them for a gentle reminder to slow down. perhaps she was driving too fast or perhaps it’s just a good reminder to slow down in general. i have taken this to heart so that i too, become less frustrated (sometimes) when i find myself in slow traffic.

i’ve also recently applied this concept to the water fountain at work. when i’m trying to fill my water bottle, it takes a little while for our water fountain to fill it completely. instead of getting impatient and tapping my foot, i find that it’s a great reminder to take deep breaths, be in the moment and be thankful for a small reminder to slow down.

anyone else feel like life moves at the speed of craziness? what reminds you to breathe?

Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments
11
Feb, 2007

hi-ber-nation

lately, i’ve been really tucking in and cozying up and not really leaving the house unless i need to. i’ve spent a lot of time reading in my hammock swing, a lot of time sitting in the basement watching tv and movies (mr. happy stuff introduced me to the television show “heroes” which i’m rather enjoying, plus, american idol, season 6 is in full swing and i am ashamed to reveal that that show is my one trashy-tv-guilty pleasure.) so part of me is struggling with guilty feelings of laziness, but another part of me keeps reminding the guilty part of me that taking time to relax and rejuvenate and veg-out is an important part of a year’s cycle of energy. being lazy now will make being active and busy when spring arrives feel so much better! perhaps i’ll avoid burn-out! anyone else feeling drawn to the couch lately?

Posted in winter | 2 Comments
09
Feb, 2007

3 graces


in my afternoon storytime, there are only about 10 families that rotate in and out whenever they can, but 3 little girls who come regularly are all named “grace.” the first time i noticed the coincidence, i thought that perhaps i had mistakenly forgotten someone’s name and was calling her grace because the other little girl’s name was grace but… nope. they are all named grace. so i have the three graces in storytime. this reminds me a little bit of an anecdote from my childhood about the first time i saw (presumably a copy of) the sculpture pictured above. i was at some outdoor event and saw the statue and my dad told me that it was called “the three graces” and i said (referring to their scantily clad bodies) “more like the three disgraces!”

Posted in stuff that makes me smile, trip down memory lane | Comments Off on 3 graces
04
Feb, 2007

tiny pancake stack

hotcakes
i’ve written before about my love of multiple pancake topping options, but i had to share this photo of this morning’s breakfast. yes, i made mostly normal size pancakes, but there’s something extra tasty about “silver dollar” pancakes and they’re so cute! mr. happy stuff was, of course, finished with his first two pancakes by the time i got these topped with peanut butter and banana and syrup and all balanced and then photographed…. but i didn’t care. they were so cute i just had to take a picture! and they were extra delicious.

Posted in yum | 1 Comment
02
Feb, 2007

three sisters

yesterday, my co-workers invited me to join them for lunch. they were going to a little cafe called “three sisters” and apparently it was tortilla soup day. i am a big sucker for tortilla soup (i had actually brought leftover homemade tortilla soup for my lunch!), so i jumped at the chance. we’ve never gone out for lunch together and it was fun! they ordered tortilla soup and sandwiches and i ordered the “hot beef lunch special” and when the waitress left, they said, “you didn’t order the soup?!” then i was told that it was lovely and creamy and delicious (i had only held back because i figured i’d have too much food if i was already ordering the hot beef) and although it wasn’t a “pretty” soup (“it’s served with a dollop of sour cream and i think the secret ingredient is velveeta” said one co-worker) it was realllllllly good. so, i asked the waitress to bring me a cup of the soup and it was, indeed, delicious. it’s much thicker and creamier than my recipe and the flavor sort of reminds me of the cheese dip at my favorite mexican restaurant in oklahoma city. yum! then, my lunch arrived and it was a pile of delectable roast beef chunks on white bread, cut in half and smothered in brown gravy with a side of mashed potatoes and a “vegetable” (corn was the veggie of the day. somehow that feels like cheating.). waaay too much food for one meal, so i, virtuously, ate only one half of the sandwich, half of the potatoes and half of the corn and saved the rest for a later day (although i’m not sure what effect time will have on gravy and white bread…). then, as i was happily realizing that i’d made it through the meal without over-eating, my co-workers revealed the final surprise–three sisters is famous for pie! i went to look in their cooler and they had cherry pie, banana cream and coconut cream. i love a good cream pie. we didn’t have many cream pies when i was growing up (my family tends more towards fruit custard pies) and i have the same affinity for them as i do for pudding cups (something else i never had growing up, but which i love and only occasionally indulge in). smooth, creamy, thick and delicious. so, i ordered a slice of coconut creme pie. i have no idea why i thought i had to finish the whole slice (didn’t want to carry two leftover containers?), but i made a valiant effort and finally (wisely) decided to stop when i still had about 4 bites left. (i did end up taking home two styrofoam containers). that was some really good pie. real whipped cream on top, sprinkled with toasted coconut, thick, coconut creme filling with shredded coconut laced throughout …. oh man. i may need to go back sometime just for the pie. the whole experience was sort of like the tortilla soup–thick, creamy, delicious, not necessarily “pretty” (think, homestyle diner where no one is super concerned about interior decoration–at least not more recently than the 80’s) but definitely worth repeating.

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30
Jan, 2007

connecting people with books

today, a homeschooling mother came to the reference desk and told me that her family loves to read books together and asked if i had any good reading recommendations. joy! this is my favorite kind of question to answer. so, i took her to the shelves and introduced her to some of my most favorite series. generally, once i’ve given people about 3 options, i stop because otherwise they get this glazed-over look on their faces and they can’t decide which book to take first and we both end up feeling frustrated. so, when i asked the woman (after she had three books in hand) if that was enough, and she said, “no, you’d be surprised!’ i was delighted. i kept throwing book after book at her with honest reviews of each one (some of them i love, some of them i have parts that i love and parts that i have reservations about recommending) and she said, “this is great! keep giving me titles–i don’t know what shifts you work and i don’t know the next time i’ll have access to your advice!” so i told her my name and assured her that she could always ask for me if i wasn’t at the desk and she said, “oh, aren’t you the one who created that lemony snicket read-alikes booklist? i remember seeing your name at the bottom of the bookmark, but i didn’t know who you were! now i’ve got a face to put with the name.” wow! she remembered my name from the bottom of a bookmark i’d created like 4 months ago! i’m not sure why this struck me as completely amazing (maybe because i just assume that everyone just throws bookmarks away?), but it made me feel just the tiniest bit famous.

Posted in library stuff, stuff that makes me smile | Comments Off on connecting people with books
28
Jan, 2007

ah, pond hockey


yesterday morning was the first day this year that i could get out on my ice skates on the local pond and hit a puck around with a stick (or, more accurately in my case, flail wildly at a puck and be thrilled if i made contact at all–regardless of whether the puck went where i wanted it to). it felt great to glide around on the the ice again! i still can’t skate backwards very well and stopping suddenly doesn’t happen unless a wall or a fall is involved, but i had a great time! i did fall on my elbow once, so that hurts a little, but my volleyball kneepads served me well on my knees. this morning…. i am a bit stiff and my throat a bit sore. but i am still happy. there was this one moment especially when it began snowing and it was just so beautiful that i grinned from ear to ear.

Posted in sporty stuff, winter | 2 Comments