Musings of Library Girl

Moving Forward

2009-11-01T07:44:00.002-06:00

Today starts a new month, and it's been a little over 3 weeks since I lost my Jackie. I don't want my last blog posting to be so sad, so I'm trying to move forward by posting some fun pics from the past couple of weeks... it's been a busy time in Library Girl's world, and through the sadness there have been great friends, unwavering support, and lots of fun stuff to do.

Last weekend, I went to a Fall Festival w/ my parents and the nephews, Dub and Baby K... they are the cutest, as evidenced below by the pics... the lovely woman with them is my Mother. :) Dub thinks he's a REALLY big boy, now, and is pretty much fearless. It's kind of adorable.

Numb.

2009-10-11T16:04:00.002-05:00

I am trying to purge my feelings in an attempt to feel better.

I am devastated to report that my sweet cat, Hollywood Jack, finished his time on earth on Friday. He developed kidney failure and it was best to let him go quickly before pain began. Thank you for all prayers and thoughts. I frankly have no idea what to think, as I have been coming home to Jack and his yowling, prowling, overweight self for the past 11 1/2 years. It was very sudden. Pokey (my other cat) and I aren't sure what to do without our "Jackie", but I know we will move forward to a better place.

The only things I can say are that I feel in alternate moments overwhelmingly sad and then completely numb. I don't want to be home. But I need to be home b/c of Pokey. He's adjusting, too, and has been very restless today.

I can't even look at this blog in earnest b/c up in the left corner there is a pic of my Jack. He's the one sitting up. But I can't take the pic down b/c that would be admitting it, and admitting it isn't what I want to do. I am trying to be a good Mama to Pokey. But it doesn't change what happened. And it doesn't make it back the way it was before, which is what I really want.

Please pray for strength for Library Girl, readers. I need it. And I also need wine. Wine is good, too.

Many thanks.

Missing Blog Mojo

2009-10-06T17:23:00.000-05:00

Hey, readers,

It's been a long time! 2 months! I must say that I've lost my blogging mojo a bit. I have had many things to share (ran a 5K, Maks is still on DWTS, school has started nicely, my awesome library technology got indefinitely delayed, my Dad has been diagnosed w/ Type II Diabetes which reminds me that he is a human and not an invincible SuperDad, the cutest nephews ever are still adorable, and much more), but not the drive to do it.

I have moved to Facebook and Twitter and do that pretty regularly, but this blog remains pretty quiet. I'm not going to delete it, but at the moment, I have no energy to blog.

Hope all are well!

I am still reading LOTS of blogs in my blog reader... just not doing much of my own!

Best wishes! I'm sure I'll be back!

T minus 10 days and counting...

2009-08-01T18:25:00.001-05:00

I am desperately sad to report that with minimal blogging and much sun and fun, my summer is officially over in 10 short days.

Where did the time go?

I can't even fathom that it's time to return to school.

I do love my job, but you try taking 2 months off from work and then ATTEMPT to be chipper when the 5:40 am wakeup resumes! Just try it... and then you'll know how I feel.

It's been a glorious summer.

More later, readers.

Library Girl is off to dinner at LaVista with N. Yum!

So much to say, so little time...

2009-07-16T08:32:00.001-05:00

So much going on this summer - no time to blog about it!

Just got back from my favorite vaca destination... Cloudcroft, New Mexico. Beautiful, fun, relaxing, and family time! See pics!

:)

LC at BWB

2009-06-27T09:40:00.004-05:00

Last night, the best independent bookstore ever hosted LC. For those of you who aren't ensconced in the trenches of reality TV, that would be Lauren Conrad, star of MTV's Laguna Beach (no longer on) and The Hills (spinoff of Laguna Beach starring LC). After being on reality tv shows for the past 4 or 5ish years, she decided to write a book and of course, it was instantly published and has made a zillion dollars since its release on the 16th. The book is called LA Candy, and it's a story about a girl who moves to L.A. and gets picked to be on a reality tv show about her own life. Hmmm... sounds autobiographical, yes?

The phone at the store rang off the hook all week, and in particular, yesterday, was so insane that at 4:00, we stopped answering the phone altogether. Literally, from 9-3 when I left to go change and come back for the event, we'd be talking on both lines, hang up on both lines, and they'd ring again... over and over and over. We pre-sold around 650 books and sold well over 100 more at the event. Of course, we couldn't hold all of these people inside our tiny store, so everyone was out in the heat, dressed to the nines (I couldn't believe how some of these girls dressed up for her!), and salivating for their 5 seconds with her when she scrawled an L and a C across their book and occasionally made a comment about liking someone's outfit.

The downside was that her driver got lost and they were very late, which kind of screwed things up, but it still worked out, and everyone got their books signed by the time she flew out of here at 9:15 to catch a plane to Austin.

Overall, the event was spectacularly managed by V, C, and everyone else. Truly, for having nearly 1000 people in a parking lot with a celebrity on a hot and sultry Friday night, it went VERY well.

TALL Texans

2009-06-22T22:34:00.003-05:00

Where has the month gone?

I wasn't actually done w/ school until around the 11th or so, so it's really only been about 10 days of summer so far.

Last week, I went to a big Leadership Summit for the Library World of Texas called TALL Texans. It was up in north Dallas almost to Denton, and other than stinky dorm-ish rooms and bad food, it was pretty cool. Oh, the coffee was terrible so I snuck out each morning to get my own yummy McD's coffee! :)

Here's a Wordle that highlights some of what I learned - I made it by transcribing my notes from the 4-day institute. Anyway, it was really exhausting, but I did learn a lot. I'm glad to be back home now and spending some time relaxing at the bookstore and at home.

Yay, summer!

What am I paying Insurance for?

2009-06-11T08:25:00.004-05:00

Here's a slap in the face...

I have had some health issues in the past month that are now resolved. Everything is fine, so no worries.

However, in order to get to that diagnosis of "everything is fine", I went to the doctor 2 times, and had 3 procedures, one of them at a diagnostic center at a hospital. I paid my co-pay, and the claims for the visits and the procedures were sent to my insurance which I have through the school district.

I rarely, if ever, am sick. I rarely, if ever, claim anything on my insurance. The total amount that my insurance "agrees" to pay on these office visits and my procedures, apparently, doesn't cover what the office and lab charged for these procedures. So I now owe a whopping $700.00 for these procedures in addition to what I've already paid, which is upwards of $250 in copays.

Ummmm... excuse me?! I thought insurance was for this exact thing... to help save you from over and above medical bills and all that crap. This is completely and totally absurd, and I think there is absolutely nothing I can do about it. And now, all of my summer money that I make from my 2nd job is going to have to pay these people instead of be used to pay other bills.

sigh.

It never ends.

Catching Fire

2009-06-10T08:57:00.003-05:00

I just finished the most incredible and frustrating book. I don't even remember if I blogged about its predecessor last fall or not... methinks I did not, b/c my blogging is so erratic right now.

Back story: Last October, I stayed up until way past 2 am reading the most incredible book called The Hunger Games. It's by Suzanne Collins of Gregor the Overlander fame, but it's not really a book for elementary kids like Gregor is. It takes place in post-Apocalyptic North America and the US no longer exists. Instead, the territory is divided into 12 districts with a Capitol ruling over all. Each year, 1 boy and 1 girl are selected from each district to go to the Hunger Games. Basically, they throw all 24 kids into a giant arena (desert, mountains, beach, forest, etc.) with tons of danger, poisonous stuff, and all kinds of deadly things you can't even imagine, and only 1 victor emerges. Yes, readers... these kids have to kill each other or be killed by their surroundings until there is only 1 left. It's meant to be a reminder to the districts that the Capitol is in control. Oh, yeah, and it's televised to all the households in the districts like a reality TV show, and the participants are given celebrity status before, during, and after (if they make it out alive). It's abhorrent, completely freaky, and a very difficult book to read.

Now, when I type this, just like when I try to sell it at the bookstore, many of you will be thinking... "oh my God, how can we let our kids read this book/this is horrible/why would anyone write this"... well, I did some research after reading The Hunger Games and watched a video interview with Suzanne Collins about how she came up with this idea. Much of it is grounded in the knowledge that our young kids today are so de-sensitized to violence b/c of everything they watch on TV, their video games, etc. It's an exploration into that theory, and in all honesty, it's completely fascinating. In addition, I come to it with a 35-year old mind, and we forget sometimes that kids don't read as much into books as we do - they simply haven't had enough life experience as we have, so things don't ring as true.

Regardless of its violent premise, I highly HIGHLY recommend this book, but only for upper-middle school and up. Truly. It was completely addicting, and I couldn't stop once I started, as I was rooting for Katniss (the girl main character) and Peeta (the pivotal boy character) and all of the side plots. This book is a deep and difficult exploration into the senseless violence that our kids are exposed to today, along with the insanity of what our television viewing has become, what with all the reality TV crap that's out there.

This brings me to my post today... last week, my good friend C went to BEA, the big Bookseller's convention, and she brought back to us at the store an advance copy of the 2nd book in the Hunger Games series, which we've all been trading around feverishly. It's called Catching Fire, and it's just as good, if not better, than the first. And the most frustrating part of the book is that it ends COMPLETELY unresolved. I mean, surely they meant to put another 300 pages in this thing, right? It comes out on September 1, and I can't wait for fans of the first book to start reading it.

And how can I possibly wait a year or more for Book 3?! I perish the thought...

If any of you decide to read this, please comment and let me know. Truly, it's an incredible series by a master author.

FINALLY!!!

2009-06-07T09:38:00.004-05:00

Readers, I have an announcement:

SCHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLS OUT FOR SUMMER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Summer is the best perk of the job in Education... and I do love my job, but I also love my summers. We had a strange school year filled with Hurricane Ike, a crazy spring flood that interrupted TAKS testing and gave us an unexpected day off (which we had to make up on Thursday), and the crazy swine flu (although no schools in my district were affected). It was a good year (my 12th year), but a long and slightly crazy one.

My first official summer activity was spending 2 hours and 45 minutes in the salon chair of my amazing hair stylist, Gene. He cut 9" off my hair at its longest point in the back and gave me the cutest swing bob! I haven't had short hair in many years and it's a great change and a great start to summer.

I never share pics of myself on this blog, but I thought I could put one up today to show you how good Gene is... the first pic is the pic of Katie Holmes that I took him to show him what I was looking for... the 2nd is ME!

Gene's pretty darn good when he wants to be!

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh, summer.

1 1/2 days...

2009-06-02T13:52:00.002-05:00

I frequently buy flowers at the grocery store to cheer up the condo. I love tulips and carnations the most, and buy them more frequently than other kinds, but I also love the roses. This week, the roses were on sale at HEB, and I had to buy some. I love how all of the roses have different names - sometimes the name is the reason I buy the roses. Friendship, Big Fun, Confetti, etc.

This week, I picked roses that symbolize the last week of school... they're called FREEDOM!

C A N N O T W A I T ! ! ! !

New Moon Madness!

2009-06-01T10:27:00.005-05:00

Thank God for MTV and the movie awards. I giggled my way through that INSANE show last night just to see all the Twilight awards that were given. And then, the Gods smiled on us and we got a little tiny taste of what's to come in New Moon... can November get here already?! Oh, and if you can't see it, take the link... it worked, then it didn't, so I'm not sure what the deal is...

THE TWILIGHT SAGA: NEW MOON trailer in HD

Oh. My. Edward.

2009-05-28T18:52:00.003-05:00

I thought a long time about the title of this post and couldn't think of a good one. What could bring me out of my blogging slump for the past few weeks? You guessed it, readers... something Twilight-related. :)

This time it's New Moon-movie news... for the past few months, New Moon has been filming in Vancouver and they are now over in Italy where the climax of this book takes place. Ancient vampire royalty, Bella/Alice, stolen yellow Porsches, Edward potentially doing himself in, and all kinds of other fabulousness.

This 2nd movie in the now "franchise" has a different director and a bigger budget. I wasn't sure at first, but after watching all the leaked photos over the past few months, I feel certain that Chris Weitz is getting it right. They are ALL getting it right.

In particular, this week in Italy, they've shot the big moment... the moment where Bella runs across a crowded courtyard to save Edward and seal her eternity with him. And the pics from the shoot are... well... I have no words.

That's not actually true... I have tons of words... they are spectacular, amazing, super-sexy, and completely and totally my mental image of this pivotal moment in New Moon, my favorite of the 4 books.

You can see this fabulousness in all its glory here, and here, and pretty much all over any Twilight or entertainment site on the web.

Yes, readers... it's the simple pleasures that get me through. By now, you know this well.

p.s. 4 1/2 days left until SUMMER!!!!!!!!!

The Fridge Debacle

2009-05-12T17:10:00.004-05:00

Man, I tell you... Boot Camp has completely zapped me of blogging mojo. I come home 3 nights per week and I am completely exhausted. This is the first day in weeks I've been home in the 4:00 hour.

Let me update you a bit on the fridge... I could not write last week b/c of my insane anger toward Best Buy and the new fridge. You'll remember I took the entire day off to wait for my new refrigerator which I was so excited about.

Well, they did come on specified day, but when they got here, they would not deliver the fridge b/c it wasn't in the notes that the condo is on the 2nd floor. Ummm... excuse me?! I very clearly discussed w/ every single person I talked to, including the delivery confirmation guy the DAY BEFORE, that I lived on the 2nd floor and am hard to locate b/c I'm in a courtyard. I begged, pleaded, and offered money to no avail. Apparently a 2nd floor refrigerator delivery is a 4-man job. Well, great, Best Buy Delivery... since I told you 14 times that I lived on the 2nd floor, it was YOUR fault you didn't get it on the order paper. Jerk Delivery Guy left with my fridge, me with an entire wasted day, and nearly 10 classes unable to visit the Library.

Livid, I called the delivery people to re-schedule the delivery and insist that they come back that evening, the next day, etc. The following things happened:

* Was treated condescendingly (which included a comment similar to "Well, since you can't take off work again, can your husband or boyfriend sign for delivery?" to which I responded... "I DON'T HAVE ONE!"
* Was hung up on
* Called back and no one answered - let it ring over 40 times
* Called back and got voice mail
* Called back and no one answered - let it ring over 20 times
* Called back and got voice mail
* Called from NEIGHBOR's phone and a very cheerful voice answered. mmm hmmm. Oh, yes they did.

Long story short, after talking to the regional manager, the only thing I could control was "first on the truck" for last Thursday morning.

Good to their word, they arrived bright and early. I was already ready to leave for school. I finally have my fridge. And they wouldn't hook up the water and ice b/c the water line wasn't "directly behind the appliance", but my SuperDad came over on Friday morning and did that for me. Several days later, I am now enjoying my ice and water and my fridge that isn't hot to the touch anymore like the old one was.

sigh.

I just can NOT believe the way I was treated by Best Buy. I've bought other appliances/electronics from them and always had great service. I called and spoke to the manager of the store where I purchased my fridge and detailed the way I'd been treated, and I got nothing from them. Not even an apology.

Best Buy and I are no longer friends. From now on, all condo-related items will be purchased from Lowe's.

Thank God it's over.
p.s. 15 1/2 days of school left! :)

Brain Dump

2009-04-29T19:14:00.003-05:00

Hey, readers... long time no blog! Busy busy busy.

Today is one of my (what seems to be monthly) brain dumps here on the blog... move on if you're not in the mood for slight whining and a bit of stress and worry.

Good News: We had an unexpected day off yesterday!
Bad News: The day off came b/c of torrential hurricane-like rains that literally poured all over West H-town and I'm certain we'll have to make up the school day.

Good News: I got to wear jeans to school!
Bad News: I got to wear them b/c it was TAKS testing.

Good News: hmmmm....
Bad News: It was TAKS day. There is nothing good about that. And there are 2 more coming.

Good News: I got to school super early today so I could do my little bible study to calm me before the day began.
Bad News: I walked into the Library at 6:55 am and there was NO a/c.

Good News: My fridge is coming next Tuesday!!
Bad News: I had a sub lined up b/c I had to pick a weekday b/c my Saturdays are too crazy for the next few weeks. Today, the sub cancelled. I HATE leaving the Library unattended and having to shuffle classes. Everyone is always great and flexible about it, which is awesome, but it makes me feel SO guilty.

Good News: My fridge is coming next Tuesday!!
Bad News: I am leaving the Library unattended b/c I can't get a sub. I re-scheduled everyone to other days of the week.

Good News: My fridge is coming next Tuesday!!
Bad News: The water line is not RIGHT BEHIND the fridge, so the guys might NOT connect it, which means that I might not have ice and water (my main desires) for several days until the Best Dad Ever gets back from Vegas to help me figure it out.

Most Important Good News: I love my new nephew, Baby K Dub, so very very much.
Most Important Bad News: Baby K Dub is currently in the hospital with an unexplained fever and has had every test in the book, including a spinal tap and a swine flu test, and he has a little IV in his little head, and although many tests are coming back negative and the doctor thinks it is a strange virus, we are all very worried and my sister-in-law is beside herself. It makes me so sad. If you pray, please pray for baby K and my sis-in-law N. Or at least send them some good karma.

sigh.

Ok.

I can now move on. Thanks for listening, readers. ;)

Frigid-air

2009-04-19T20:43:00.003-05:00

The condo has a crappy refrigerator. It has since I moved in. However, the washer/dryer were even worse, so they were the first appliance up on the list. I love my beautiful Whirlpool Duet Sport stackable HE washer and dryer. They make me so happy. I also love that I got to put them on the Best Buy card w/ 18 months no interest to pay it off, too. Alas, the 18 months are up in June (I can't possibly have lived here nearly a year and a half, can I?). I took my tax return and paid off the washer/dryer. Ultimately I would NOT have put anything back on the Best Buy card, but again... the condo has a crappy refrigerator. It's gotten even worse since Ike. The freezer regularly defrosts itself, thus melting and re-freezing everything in there. It's hot to the touch on both sides. It's almond in color. It's time.

I have spent forever looking, thinking, measuring, looking, thinking, and measuring some more. I've asked other people about their refrigerator experiences. I've carefully considered what I WANT with what is AFFORDABLE (very rarely the same thing). I finally decided... I wanted a Whirlpool side-by-side fridge with ice and filtered water in the door, in black. As this is the first kitchen appliance purchase for the condo, this is the time when all future appliance colors will be decided. Now, if you hate black appliances or think I'm insane for not going with white in a relatively small kitchen space, I CAST YOU AWAY... 'cause it's already bought. Thank you, leave your stainless and white opinions to yourself. :)

What should have taken 30 minutes since I knew what I was going for actually ended up taking 4 hours and resulted in a call to the Best Dad Evah with a cry for help. What makes him the Best Dad Evah is that he rapidly responded to my anxious phone call and agreed to meet me back at the condo (I am a hideous measurer) and subsequently return to Best Buy to assist and approve in the final purchase. See... although I *think* I have a lot of fridge space, in reality, I do not. ALL refrigerators these days are at least 35" wide and usually between 68 1/2- 70" tall. Go ahead... measure your fridge... unless it was special order, it should come in around those dimensions.

Which brings me to the problem. I couldn't go to 35" in my space. :( Bye bye, Whirlpool. Hello, Best Buy Online stock. I ended up with a Frigidaire side-by-side with ice and filtered water in the door and a minimum of 2 weeks of waiting. But I bought one! And it also has 18 months no interest!

Did you care about this blog post? Probably not, but I do. Every purchase I make, every drop of paint, every carefully chosen frame or candle make this place a little more mine. It's not the thirty-something life I thought I'd have, but I have to say it's pretty darn good.

I'll post pics when it finally gets here... here's to successful delivery!

We Lost, but I Swear We WON!

2009-04-15T19:23:00.004-05:00

I DIED today out at Boot Camp. We did our instructor's version of The Amazing Race... which was basically thinly veiled torture designed as a game.

We divided up into teams of 3 and had to go through 12 of the activites we've done in the past 3 weeks as fast as we could (running the track, push ups, bench dips, plank holds, various weight exercises, and more and more and more). I was in the group with my friend D and our other teacher colleague, B, who ran the H-town Marathon in January. Yes, readers... I was on the same team with a VERY competitive MARATHONER. Those of you who know me know that this is both hilarious and daunting, all at the same time.

Well, actually, although it was hard as h-e-double hockey sticks... I did pretty well. B, the Marathoner, pushed me to my limits, for sure. Although we only completed 11 of the 12 activities, and technically came in 3rd place... I don't really think we did, b/c the team who came in second was doing MODIFICATIONS of the activities. For example, instead of running Suicicide Drills (to the 1st cone, back, to the 2nd cone, back, to the 3rd cone, back - all running - 3 separate times), they SPEED WALKED instead. And instead of "rocket" lunges, they did standing lunges, which was NO WAY as time-consuming as our "rockets" were.

And the team that won... well, they did do all 12 activities, but their 3rd team member had to LEAVE halfway through, so they only had to wait for each other... not a 3rd person.

We won, dammit. We did.

:)
p.s. Although Boot Camp has done wonders for my psyche, my heart, and my feelings of overall healthiness, it has done NOTHING for the scale. I'm at 1.4 lb loss over 3 1/2 weeks, and that's IT! :(

Bright enough for you?!

2009-04-14T20:51:00.002-05:00

Definitely need to change this one... but I am too tired to do it now. LOL.

p.s. Mark Ballas is King. ;)

FNL

2009-04-04T16:51:00.002-05:00

Have I ever blogged about Friday Night Lights? I don't think I have, and it's way overdue! I have loved this show for all of its 3 seasons, while it's moved from night to night, all over NBC.

How much do I love thee, let me count the ways...

* Coach Taylor (Kyle Chandler)
* Show set in Texas
* Tim Riggins (Taylor Kitsch)
* Fabulous acting
* Tammy Taylor (Connie Britton - I can't believe she doesn't have her own photo folder on the NBC site - shame shame on them, unless I just couldn't find it)
* Great storylines (I'm not sayin' they're all plausible, mind you, but that's not always why I watch TV)
* Centers around High School Football, most of which I spent my adolescense doing, too, as I was in the band and I have my own Friday Night Lights memories
* Sometimes N and I watch together over chinese food and wine, and solve all of our life mysteries, and it's one of my favorite ways to spend a Friday evening.

Earlier in the week, N came into the library at school to give me some AWESOME news. FNL has been renewed by NBC for 2 more 13-episode seasons!!!!! This is amazing, b/c we just KNEW that they were going to cancel it this year and that we were counting down all of the weeks until the show's demise. Thank You, NBC, for keeping a gem on the air, no matter how high or low the ratings!

Now, if I could just find a Coach Taylor for me and one for N, we'd be set.

My Day in Pics...

2009-04-01T19:53:00.004-05:00

I went downtown today to the first day of TLA. When I parked in the garage, I was pleased to see that Edward Cullen was also in attendance... ;)

I always notice Volvos now... especially ones that are *identical* to the one described on Stephenie Meyer's website as belonging to my literary boyfriend.

Secondly, and more strangely, below is a pic of the top shelf of my refrigerator. I was cooking dinner tonight (broiled tilapia with spring tomatoes and garlic - yum) and I noticed the bread in the fridge. I don't keep bread in the fridge. No one in my family has ever kept bread in the fridge. I don't remember putting the bread in the fridge. The last time I had a sandwich was yesterday when I took one to school. Let me remind you that in the condo, it's just the cats and me. Hmmmmmm.....

I guess that since this likely occurred before 7AM and before Starbucks, anything is possible.

Maks Who?!

2009-03-31T11:45:00.002-05:00

Ummm... did you all watch DWTS?! Did you see Gilles and Cheryl and their Argentine Tango? I have no words! (Well, I have a few... many years ago, in college, I became obsessed (me, obsessed? Never) with the movie Evita. More to the point, I became obsessed with Antonio Banderas and his spectacular presence. He is also a wonderful dancer, as was evident in several scenes in Evita.) The Argentine Tango is a much more sensual dance than the typical Tango. It has beautiful curvy lines, and just looks so intimate.

Last night, Gilles turned into Antonio Banderas and took my breath away... watch and see for yourself!

Baby K Dub!

2009-03-29T18:44:00.007-05:00

At 3:10 am this morning, my cell phone rang and woke me out of a dead sleep. Since Tuesday, I've been preparing for this call. My brother was announcing that he and sis-in-law were on the way to the hospital to deliver nephew #2! It took me an hour to fall back asleep.

At 7:45 am, my Mother's call woke me again. She was announcing that she had talked to my brother and that Baby K hadn't been born yet, but should be in the 8:00 hour. Knowing that it was an hour away, and I'd likely miss it, so I went ahead and proceeded with my morning routine and even stopped at Starbucks on the way to Kingwood to see the post-partum family.

At 9:30 am, I arrived at the hospital in Kingwood, and Mom announced that I hadn't missed it! :) She and Dad and I, and eventually Dub and his other Grandmother, waited, and waited, and waited...

At 12:29 pm today, Baby K Dub was born into our family! 9 lbs, 2 oz (my teeny tiny sis-in-law sure does have big babies), all are well.

Welcome to the world, KWL!

We are blessed to have you with us.

Aunt Library Girl is happy! :)

Authors, authors, and babies

2009-03-28T09:08:00.006-05:00

There have been several authors at the best independent bookstore ever lately, where I work on the weekends and for special events. I love meeting authors b/c I am always so star struck when I get to talk to them. I mean... I think that writing a book is like pouring a little bit of your soul out into the world for all to see. That's a huge risk, extremely brave, and wonderful for those of us who get to read those books.

Last night, we hosted Laurie Halse Anderson, who has written several amazing novels for Young Adults, including Speak. She is touring for her new book, Wintergirls. It's a haunting, disturbing, and ultimately redemptive tale about a sad teenage girl dealing with anorexia. I read it last December and it was incredible. Laurie was incredible, as well. She was inviting, warm, comfortable, and I saw, on the faces of the young girls who attended, that they knew she "got" them. It was a pleasure to meet her and hear her talk about her books.

Side note: My favorite local author, Tera Lynn Childs, was also in attendance, going slightly incognito and not telling anyone that she's written 2 adorable books that we love (Oh My Gods, and the soon-to-be released Goddess Boot Camp). I found out last night that her first book was not in B&N and Borders b/c it had too suggestive of a front cover. Let me say, folks, that this one is worth your amazon order (gasp?!). Better yet, come into the shop if you live nearby and buy one from us! Also, I got to chat with her about writing and contracts and manuscripts and stuff, and it was super enjoyable and I wish I saw her more often.

Side note #2: No baby yet. Nephew #2 has not yet decided that he's "done", although my sis-in-law is sure ready, and we all are, too!

Boot Camp, Vandalism, and Babies

2009-03-26T19:33:00.003-05:00

* I have been to 3 boot camp sessions. Today, it was finally not so hard. In fact, I loved it a little bit. My body, although it doesn't naturally look it, actually craves powerful exercise. Ahhhhh, I love endorphins!! :) (I am still so sore I can hardly walk or lift a glass of water, and I won't even mention the ever-so-gentle seating process to use the restroom, but it's great!)

* I returned from Spring Break to school on Monday and discovered that 3 laptops, a digital camera, a video camera, and the power cord to my docking station in my office (bizarre) had been taken. And there were no broken locks or windows. And now I don't want to leave anything in my office ever again without me being there. It's very violating, and it bothers me muchly.

* Yesterday, my car was vandalized at school. Someone (kid, likely) spray-painted the side of my new sparkly black Edward car with neon orange aerosol paint. (Where is my Edward when I need him?!) Luckily, it was not actual spray paint, which is permanent... probably some other type of compound, but still a spray type of paint. Thank God it came off with a dry towel and some elbow grease. I have worked there for 12 years. 1 other time, my car was vandalized. 185 days x 12 years is a lot of days w/o vandalism. However, as above, it's very violating, and it bothers me muchly.

* Most importantly, for the next 5 days, I am "on call", so to speak. My sis-in-law is preggers and nearly ready to pop w/ baby #2. You'll remember my adorable nephew B Dub, who is no longer a B (baby) and is now just Dub... well, their #2 is on the way. And I will literally stop my life as soon as I get the call to head to the hospital and wait for the arrival. All plans are tentative for the next 5 days. Yay, another baby in our lives! :)

Back to Black

2009-03-25T14:12:00.003-05:00

Mourning yet again the loss of Maks and his assets.

Denise Richards didn't deserve him.

Woe is me. Week 3 and he's already gone?

At least Mark looks to remain for some time, with his adorable little gymnast.

sigh.