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.

Family that Plays Together...

I started a post last week and realized it was all whiney, so I deleted it. And that's all I have for excuses.

We start our work furlough on Monday. The entire library system is closed from Aug 31-Sept 6, then also closed Monday Sept 7th for labor day. No pay, so I have been working on saving some money up and I think everything will be ok. Except for the speeding ticket I got on my way back from Spokane. And the doctors bills I have from my wellness and hearing check up (it costs a ton to go to the doctor these days, even with insurance!) Oops, there I am whining again.

Last night I went to see Tacocat with my dad's family. We went to the Funhouse which was a weird kind of treat. There is a basketball court in the back, so we played Horse and two on two with the monorail going by in the background and music pumping (do you say pumping in punk speak? Shows I am not a punk...) out the door. I played a lame game of horse, but made it up a bit during the two on two. I am a bit sore today from all that jumping around.

Tacocat was pretty good, but Used Kids did a longer set and weren't as much fun to listen to. The music was mostly a wash, but at least it was only a $5 cover and we had a great time otherwise.