Looking for the Pot of Gold

Many library employees applied for unemployment during the furlough week. We did so in case there was another furlough, which there will be. It has to be within the year, in my case by August 28, 2010, to be able to get help. Here's hoping.

This has made me start thinking about my resume. I did a couple of job contacts for the unemployment week--they said I should, just in case, although it turned out that I didn't need to after all. Makes me feel a little stupid to apply for jobs I don't want, then find out I didn't have to because I qualified for stand by--point? This; I should really update my resume in case there really is a time I have to start applying for jobs.

I have been looking around the web for examples and I will tell you that they all look very similar to what everyone sees for a resume. Librarian resumes do not look any different from everyone else's according to the internet gods. Two choices, chronological or functional. Contact info, goal, where you've worked, what you did there, degrees awards and affiliations. Personally, I think that is crap. I want more. I want a magical piece of paper that says "hire me! I rock!"

I am going to try out the Resume Builder that the library offers to patrons for free. It resembles one of those annoying job applications where you move from one step to another, inputting everything from your waist size to your first born's ailments, and end up with something that should be monstrous, but somehow isn't. Here's hoping the process doesn't kill me. I am sure it isn't as bad as I am imagining.

On a Lighter Note

THE 99 THINGS MEME (or as many as I feel like before I peter out, which will probably be only half) Stolen from Pop Culture Librarian (some answers will remain the same, 'cause I am lazy like that). How many of these have you done?

1. Started your own blog. Duh.

2. Slept under the stars. Yes, many camping trips, many times

3. Played in a band. Oddly, after my brother's wedding 7 years ago we went out to a bar for the after party and the band invited 3 of us on stage to play an instrument. So yes, I played the trumpet very badly with a band.

4. Visited Hawaii. I was 5 and went with my mom and grandparents. I remember little crabs running in and out of holes as the waves rolled in and out.

5. Watched a meteor shower. Many as a young'un. Mostly with my little red aunt.

6. Given more than you can afford to charity. I have, usually to KEXP.

7. Been to Disneyland/world. Yes! Once as a teen and once with my son last year. The first time was ok, the second time was a blast!

8. Climbed a mountain. Yes, a little one that didn't require much effort.

9. Held a praying mantis. Yes. When I used to wrangle carts for the grocery in Wenatchee. One year a bunch of them flew in, and for some reason liked to land on the carts. I removed one so it wouldn't get squished and it sat on my shoulder for several hours.

10. Sang a solo. Yes, not well. Choir from 7-10th grade.

11. Bungee jumped. Nope

12. Visited Paris. No, never been to France. There are quite a few similar questions below, so I am going to not bother answering them.

13. Watched a lightning storm at sea. I watched a storm that was over the sea while I was safe in my grandma's house.

14. Taught yourself an art from scratch.Yeps.

15. Adopted a child. Nope

16. Had food poisoning. More than likely.

17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty. Never been to the East Coast

18. Grown your own vegetables. Yes, currently as you all know.

19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France. See above

20. Slept on an overnight train. Yes, on a trip to Chicago when I was a child.

21. Had a pillow fight. Duh.

22. Hitch hiked. I would say no, but there were a couple of times when we ended up stranded where we had to hitch a ride. I was always with a parent though, when I was a child. One was a disasterous canoe trip, once our van hood flipped up and broke the windshield on I-5 when we were on our way skiing, and another time our van broke down (different van) on the highway and we got a ride to a gas station.

23. Taken a sick day when you're not ill. Mental health days are necessary from time to time to keep you healthy. Not often though.

24. Built a snow fort. Yes, both as a child with my sister and brother, and with my son when he was little.

25. Held a lamb. Don't think I have held one.

26. Gone skinny dipping. Yes.

27. Run a marathon. Nope, closest I have gotten is a sprint triathlon.

28. Ridden a gondola in Venice. See above (I know, it isn't France, but I don't care)

29. Seen a total eclipse. A couple.

30. Watched a sunrise or sunset. Duh.

31. Hit a home run. Both kinds.

32. Been on a cruise. Only one of those ones around the Sound.

33. Seen Niagara Falls in person. I don't think so. Maybe when I was younger with my Dad. But that might have been somewhere else.

34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors. Nope

35. Seen an Amish community. Nope

36. Taught yourself a new language. Any languages I've learned have been taught to me. I can't imagine learning a language by myself.

37.Had enough money to be truly satisfied. Getting pretty close. I was feeling better before this furlough. Talk to me in a month.

38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person. Nope.

39. Gone rock climbing.Nope. Nope

40. Seen Michelangelo's David in person. Nope

41. Sung Karaoke.Yes--best times have been in the private karaoke rooms at Seattle's Best Karaoke or the similar place in the ID.

42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt. Yes, when I was married and drove to Oklahoma after the wedding, we stopped in Yellowstone and saw the geyser.

43. Bought a stranger a meal in a restaurant. No, but I have given a meal to a stranger on the street (person asking for money)

44. Visited Africa.Nope. And meme writer, it bugs me when people just say Africa like it's one monolithic place instead of a continent with a jillion different countries. In case you were wanting my feedback. (agreeing with PCL here)

45. Walked on a beach by moonlight. Yes, I don't remember when though. Probably a trip to Ocean Shores. Definitely down at Richmond Beach.

46. Been transported in an ambulance. No, thank goodness. I did have to take The Boy to the emergency room when crazy aunt let him take the rap for missing medication. That was fun.

47. Had your portrait painted. Nope

48. Gone deep sea fishing. No deeper than the Sound. Probably not deep enough.

49. Seen the Sistine chapel in person. Nope.

50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris. Oh my god, no, ok?

51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling. Nope

52. Kissed in the rain. Yes, and in the snow and in the sunshine...I could go on and on

53. Played in the mud. Ok, now the meme is just getting stupid.

54. Gone to a drive-in theater.Yes, lots of times. The first one I ever went to was Carrie (my parents were a little sadistic, my sister saw Aliens when she was 4 or something).

55. Been in a movie. Probably not.

56. Started a business. No, unless you count the freelance wordprocessing etc. that I did after I graduated from undergrad. That was pretty sporatic. I also did some house sitting. Neither was premeditated though. It usually just fell into my lap when I needed some money.

57. Taken a martial arts class. Nope unless you count play fighting with my cousin who was a black belt in tai kwon do.

58. Sold Girl Scout cookies. I buy them occasionally. Walk alongs I think--the carmelly ones.

59. Gone whale watching. Not on purpose, but I have seen whales in the water just like, on accident.

60. Gotten flowers for no reason. I have bought them myself for no reason other than I wanted them.

61. Gone sky diving. Nope, be looking for the suicide note if I ever do.

62. Toured the Everglades. Nope

63. Seen the Changing of the Guard in London. Nope

64. Broken a bone. Nope, just my front tooth.

65. Been on a speeding motorcycle. Yes. Boyfriend 10 years older when I was 16-18. Also, last steady before Dr. T, but he didn't speed. Never driven one myself.

66. Published a book. Had a poem published in a scam contest. Trying to get my money--it worked.

67. Bought a brand new car. Not myself, but my ex-husband did when we were married.

68. Had your picture in the newspaper. Yes, for sports stuff and playing with a goat at the fair when I was a kid.

69. Visited the White House. Nope, see above

70. Killed and prepared an animal for eating. Nope, well, fish.

71. Met someone famous.Yes, Paula Abdule when she was in Oklahoma for bulemia rehab--she came into the coffee shop I worked at. One of my co-workers husbands found out she was coming in and freaked her out by waiting for her to come in, then pouncing. He was weird.

72. Joined a book club. Yes, but they never lasted long

73. Lost a loved one. Yes.

74. Had a baby. Yup, but just The Boy. I think that is all I have in me.

Surprised I made it as far as PCLibrarian. But there you go.

Running with the Ball

I suppose I should update after my anxious post the other day. Nothing good has happened. Mentee ran away from the group home almost right after she was dropped off, essentially abandoning her baby a second time. She was supposed to go to court about whether she could get custody back on Friday, but since she didn't show up she will have to fight a lot harder later if she wants to try. Right now, her baby is in foster care and unless Mentee gives up her parental rights and allows him to be adopted, that is where he will stay until she gets her act together. Many of the homeless youth I see at the drop in center were from foster care situations. Mentee herself didn't have a family to take care of her. I want to bang my head on the wall right now. The child does at least have a chance to have a normal life and babies have an easier time in foster care, usually.

****

I saw my old friend today, and it was just like we had seen each other last week, instead of 7 years ago. We had a god time chatting and shopping and we plan to hang out again next week. I really thought I was going to have some abandonment issues with her, since she really just dropped out of my life one day--although I allowed it to happen. I deleted her phone number from my phone and decided I wasn't going to call her unless she called me first (it had been a one sided communication line for a while). She didn't call and the rest is history. No issues though, just talking and laughing and remembering.

****

The Boy is playing football, which wreaks havoc on the weekend schedule. I get him on Friday, take him back on Saturday for his game then take him back to school on Monday. For those of you that don't know, it takes 1.5 hours one way to BFD. Good think I have books on CD to listen to. I almost want to go out and drive somewhere just so I can find out what happens to Jenna Fox. I have been meaning to read this book for over a year, and I can see what the hype was about.

Anyhow, he hasn't gotten to play a JV game yet and only played a few minutes in the first varsity game that I saw. His first JV game was canceled because the opposing team got stuck in traffic and couldn't make it. They will have a rematch in October some time. The teams seems really well organized this year and the coach has things well in hand. They play like a real team and they have won all their games but one so far.

****

I am baking bread again. Today was a semolina rosemary bread. It turned out a bit flat, but the texture and taste are amazing. No pictures until I get the rise right.

Babies Having Babies

My mentee was picked up on her warrant yesterday morning. She didn't have her child with her, but he was tracked down later in the day and is now in custody. My mentee is likely out of detention by now, but I don't know where she is or where she will end up. I have been playing phone tag and email tag with her social worker for the last day or so. The social worker's emails have been cryptic and uninformative, even though that used to be her preferred mode of communication. Now she seems to want to talk on the phone, but hasn't been available at the same times I have.

So I am frustrated and feeling ineffectual. My mentee's cell phone just rings and rings. I know that her family, what little she has, does not show support for her. She has messed up and I don't know how badly. She is only 17 and has never had a good support network. The foster family she lived with, that she lost her placement with, was the closest thing she had. She wasn't ready to be a parent, but she was doing pretty well, and now she may have lost custody.

Just biding my time until I can do something.

Odds and Ends

A while back I mentioned an old friend that I hadn't talk to for a long time. As I said there, I do a little online stalking now and then, and while I hadn't found much on her, I did find her daughter on MySpace. I didn't contact her because that would be creepy. Evidently the daughter also likes to find people online and she helped her mom find me. We have been emailing on Facebook this week and finally got to talk tonight. It amazes me how even though we haven't talked for 6 or 7 years, we were able to talk to each other no problem. I am not even good at phone talking with other people I know really well and see all the time. We are going to try to get together next week some time. I am pretty excited about it.

I have been to two of the DHS varsity football games now. They won both games and I was pretty impressed with the playing for a small town team. Dr. T was impressed too, which is hard to do with all the playing he does and has done. The Boy only played for a few minutes in the first game and not at all in the second, but he is definitely part of the team and he is proud of it. His first game for JV is on Tuesday, but I have to work late. I will likely make the game two weeks from tomorrow.

I finished up my last day of detox today. I feel accomplished even though I didn't go for as long as I initially planned. I think I was being a little silly with that. But there are aspects of this that I will continue. And I will cut back on the caffeine and not take my coffee for granted for a while. I didn't miss the alcohol at all, which was a surprise, but then I didn't go out either.

The garden is almost done. There are still some tomatoes growing and I have a few things at the house. I planted more potatoes in the planter, have some fennel growing, and some p-plants I started a bit later. I need to think about some winter plants that will return nutrients to the soil. The soil is so much better than when I got the plot--more like regular dirt and less clayey and rocky.

Missing My Coffee

Day 4 back at work and day 5 on a detox diet. The hardest thing has been no wheat products. If you know me, you know that I love to make scones and bread. Not really worth it without good flour--no offense to you that can't have it, I am sure I would make do with some gluten free substitute if I had to. But it is only a short while--and getting shorter as we speak.

Not just because time keeps movin' on, but also because I don't feel like going for a month, or two weeks even. I am thinking that a week is good enough. My digestive track reset itself right away, and actually wasn't too bad the week before. I think I just have to remember to eat at the right times, eat better portions, eat more whole foods. Baking at home is a good way to do that. Gotta stop grabbing the odd pastry with my coffee when I treat myself. Cut back on the rushing around and stay home more. I am not sure I will ever get the hang of that last one.

****

Work has been great. Wallingford is beautiful! I will take some pictures next week and add them to flickr. Everything is streamlined and new. We have 2 self check out computers that actually work and a staff only computer at the desk, which is streamlining delivery. The librarian's desk is way across the room, but it is good that I can see half the room and the circ staff can see the other half, so no shenanigans! We wave at each other every now and then, or dial the I/C and tell each other when we want our breaks. As the day goes on, I find more reasons to go hang out by the circ desk.

In the more general sense of my job, I feel change coming. Not sure what yet, but something.

****

Dr. T and I found some cabinets that work very well. They are behemoth in size and are challenging for putting things in that you might want to find again, like food, or dvds, which is what we are using them for. I am sure we will figure it out though. Hopefully Dr. T will be able to get The Boy's bed uncovered by the time we get home tonight.

Eh? Whats that you say?

Rereading my last post, I realized that I never mentioned that Dr. T has moved into my humble abode. The basement seems a little smaller, but much more lovely. Also, no more of that pesky packing a bag to stay over, not being sure where my shoes are and getting woken in the morning by delivery trucks at the Lake City Library. I know, he lived right behind a library. Meant to be, no?

He has been a real trooper wedging himself into my place. He got rid of a lot of his furniture and we have bought a lot of new things to try to get his stuff in here. Right now we are looking for "the perfect storage cabinet." We have found a couple on Craigslist, but either they are taken or they aren't quite right. We found our new kitchen table right away though. I closed my eyes, clicked on a link and there it was.

Ooh, funny somewhat related story. It was rent time, and we had never nailed down a price for having Dr. T here. My landlords are awesome and good neighbors too (here they shall be called LL M and LL A, because I am librarian and we like acronyms). They have been very kind in keeping my rent affordable through the last 3 years. LLM came through to bring in the mail and say hi around rent time and I asked him how much he wanted. I will preface this by saying that I just got in from a 9 mile hike and was sweaty and dehydrated. I swear to you I thought he said a bajillion dollars. My brain went foggy and I mumbled something about having to talk to Dr. T about it and how I didn't think it would be that much. We exchanged a couple of pleasantries and he went back upstairs.

I was in a total funk. I had thought I had paying my student loans and getting a lesser paycheck because of the furlough licked and backed into a corner, but here were a few simple words that made me feel like it was 6 years ago and I was unemployed again with now way in hell to pay the bills. That monster was rearing its ugly head. I pouted around and when Dr. T came home I told him the news. He looked at me a bit funny and we decided to talk to LL M after dinner. I kept putting it off, thinking it was going to be the worst, but finally we went up and talked to him. I asked how much the bills were every month (because the increase was only supposed to include half the utilities) and he showed me. I asked him a couple more questions, then finally burst out with "but how does that add up to a bajillion dollars?" He started cracking up and said "no, I said $125 more a month." I almost died of embarassment. Dr. T made a joke about how I get my hearing tested every 6 months (which happens to be true recently). How silly.

A Furlough is NOT a Vacation

That is what our sign read on Monday as employees gathered in front of the Central Library to inform the citizens of Seattle of the impact of budget cuts on services. Mayor Nickels was there along with our City Librarian, Susan Hildreth and a camera crew. I was a little disappointed with the number of us that turned out--only 30-40 people came. There were speeches, I shook Mayor Nickels hand twice. I for one am sad he is leaving office. I feel he has done a good job getting things done in this city and put priority on services that need it. He has always been an advocate for the library.

I had several people come to the volunteer day I organized after and Dr. T and Sister R came along to help as well. We washed down and scraped old paint off the outside of UDYC, then painted part of the building and the hand rails. It was sunny in the afternoon so it got a little hot out there towards the end. We did a lot of talking about work as we painted. If only we were in charge, everything would be perfect ;)

On Tuesday, Dr. T, my Dad and I went out to the Olympic Peninsula to go hiking. First we stopped at SolDuc hot springs to pick up my bathing suit that I left there two weeks before. I had called ahead and they were saving it for me. I told them I would be coming to pick it up. But of course they didn't have it when I got there and digging through their bins of loaner suits, I found my bottoms. No top. Sigh. I was a little disgruntled and it was anti climatic because I had been sure after I left it there they would never find it. Their organization seems a little lacking. The only thing they said was "who did you talk to?" I don't remember but I am not sure I would say if I did. They seemed more interested in getting someone in trouble than helping me find my bathing suit.

Luckily the hike was about as perfect as it could get. We saw a lot of colorful fungi, the day was just sunny enough to bring out the green in the rain forest and the falls were beautiful. On the way back we picked huckleberries, which we ate in pancakes this morning, yum. We stopped in Port Townsend on the way back and had dinner at Silverwater Cafe. The food was wonderful and a great ending to the day. We took the ferry back to Edmonds and got home at around 10pm. It was a really full day.

Yesterday was spent putting more things away. We got a nice table off Craigslist on Sunday and we had to make room for it. The result is that you can actually get into the kitchen now.