Being Sick and Veteran's Day

I am home sick today and I feel regret about it. I got a free day off yesterday, which was wonderful, and now I have another because I feel rotten. I really like going to work lately. I love my branches and what I do, even with the rabble. Well, here's to feeling better tomorrow.

Dr. T has been feeling sick all week. I would like to say that I am a good girlfriend and have been taking care of him, but in reality, I have barely acknowledged his sickness. I just keep doing my thing and in my mind he is fine until I ask him something and his nasally tone comes back to me and makes me realize that I should probably offer him some tea or something. He is pretty self reliant and tends to do those things for himself when he wants them. I know it is nice to be taken care of sometimes though. Like right now. But he is away on call tonight, so I am on my own.

Being off yesterday made me think about all the veterans in my life and there are a few. My dad and step-dad, several uncles and two of my cousins have served. Actually, one of my cousins is still serving. He is stationed in Japan and pilots harrier jets. It is what he has wanted to do since we were small. He has a wife and their two children are growing up abroad and from the look and sound of things are adapting quite well. I envy them their travels--and I know they are loving it.

Another cousin who has served in the reserves got called up twice to go to Iraq. He had some really interesting stories there that I would repeat for you if I could remember them well enough. He has had some recent health trouble that ensures that he won't be going back. He is a brave man and I have always admired him.

I found myself wondering why we are in Afghanistan and what our presence in the Middle East even means anymore. The politics of the situations are lost on me these days while I am worrying about mayoral races (yay McGinn!) and city budget cuts (thanks to the city council for giving an additional $863,000 to the library budget today). Now that those two things have settled and the initiatives and referendums are where they should be, I can read a bit more about foreign policy again.

What's Going on with Your Sick Self?

I am home sick today, bored with Facebook (gasp!) and just put away my grocery delivery. I always wondered what would happen if Amazon Fresh went to the wrong door and didn't get an answer--evidently they just put it in bins and leave it in the usual non-attended spot. Thank goodness, I didn't want to think about having to go pick them up somewhere. Amazing! All I know is that no-one knocked between 8 and 9am and there were the bins, all stacked up. You know what else is amazing? They have never once forgotten something in my order. The one time there was a mistake, it was my fault. Somehow I ordered 3 bunches of 5 bananas. It was right there on my list. If only I had noticed sooner.

Enough about my grocery bliss. I am home with a cold, and I think it is the first time ever that I have been home sick and wish I was at work. This is definitely a head cold. Mentally I feel fine. Raring to go, really, and here I am, stuck at home so I don't pass this on to my co-workers or patrons.

There has been a lot going on lately. Talks of cutting hours in the library, professional development opportunities (a webinar spot in early January and a panel spot later in January), a blog post controversy--not here, obviously, but over there and over there. Can't figure it out? That's good. You shouldn't be able to. We are actually working things out to every one's satisfaction, it seems.

I have been holding off on picking the last of the tomatoes--there are a lot of them, really--but I can feel how cold it is getting at night, and if I don't pick them today, there might not be a tomorrow. I wonder if anyone would notice if I wandered over there in my jammies?

What else will I do today? Probably sip tea and read The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness. This book is worth staying home. It is YA, but adults will love it, too.

And I guess that according to the new FTC rules, I should mention that I got this book from the library...

No woman cann't help to getting laid with you

Now there's some good english. It appears that I am an object used to lay women with. Yikes. And this email came from "me". Love these email scams, they just keep getting better. I didn't open this one for fear that my computer would self destruct, that is just the subject line.

I am home sick again today and I feel like my head weighs 100 lbs. Mostly right behind my nose. You can imagine my mouth open so I can breath and my head keeps bobbing forward with the imagined? weight in the front of my face. Drugs make me weird, so I have been trying to only use them at night aside from the usual ibuprofen.

I have a lot to do at work. My valentine's display is still up in the teen area and I need to finalize my summer reading programs. I have to change one date because of my sister's wedding. Which leads me to a somewhat amusing/embarrassing tale--to me anyway.

When I was looking at the vacation calendar to see if I could get the week off leading up to and including the weekend of the wedding, there was a note above the date that said "closed." I blame my cold addled brain that I thought that meant the library was closed, although I couldn't see any rational reason why. So I emailed the person that takes care of the calendar and ultimately approves vacation requests to find out. He, of course, emails me back to say that it meant "Maxed Out" and that he would change it to say so. I almost left it at that, but for some reason decided to email him back, joking about weddings planned at the last minute. He replied that a concession could be made for one day. I jumped on it, included my managers in the email requesting the week off sans Sunday, which I might get off anyway. He approved it right away.

Opps. Backwards. I am supposed to email my managers first and they send it to the vacation manager. I totally jumped them and did I feel dumb. Caught up in the moment with my excitement to get the day off and I was just starting this darn cold, I just wasn't thinking straight.

I hope that is the last dumb thing I do for a while. I also hope I am back at work tomorrow. I still feel like I have potential to do idiotic things in a situation where I need to use my brain, so it is probably good that I am at home.

Speaking of idiotic things to do while sick--how about ording things online? Amazon Fresh has come to my neighborhood! I totally want to order my groceries online!

Blame it on the Fever

Wow, 8 days without a post. That is a long time for me, and a lot has happened.

I had a program where we basically had a party in the meeting room. There were video games, board games, crafts and snacks. Everything was really popular and I had almost 30 people come. It was a lot of fun.

Went to Chop Suey to see the Bird and the Bee and they were great. One of the band members has another band, who opened, called Obi the Best, and I got their cd. Sister R and I went and met a few library friends.

I also went to Spokane for my niece's first birthday. She is such a sweetie. There were almost 40 people there, which attests to how well loved my brother, his wife and daughter are by their community.

Sister M got engaged last week, which is really exciting. We spent most of the rest of the weekend looking at wedding venues and dresses. It was fun to see her transformed into such a beautiful creature--not that she isn't anyway, but there is something different about putting on a wedding dress. Especially when you find the "right one."

Now I am sick. I went to work the last couple of days, but today really kicked my butt. I feel like there is a mass pressing into my head in the right side. Pressure is building... I just finished Season 4 of Battlestar Galactica and I don't know how I am going to wait for season 5.

Ooh, look at the pretty lights. Why is there a rock on my head? Who put that there?

That is how I feel today.  I should not be behind the wheel of a car or the keyboard of a computer, most likely.  Too bad I don't have any good tea or saltines at home.  I should really stock pile those for sick days.  I feel high and miserable.  I had weird dreams last night that left me feeling bad this morning.  And I can't really remember them, so feeling bad for no reason that I can remember.

I tend to avoid medicine when I am sick, aside from the usual (insert over the counter pain killer).  Anything stronger seems to send me into orbit--evidenced here, since I took the green capsules last night when I couldn't get to sleep and it is now 7pm the next day and I am still out of it.  Some of that is just sickness, but I wonder if I would feel this weird if I hadn't taken the stupid things.

So, I have stalked the Internet today, slept, eaten a weird variety of foods trying not to set my stomach to rebel without having to go to the store, slept, drank tea, slept, read Kelly Link (if you haven't, I recommend her--also, perfect when feeling mildly hallucinogenic), slept, watched the first 2 episodes of the Sarah Connor Chronicles.  Not in that order.  Oh, and talked to my boyfriend which probably sounded a little like this rambling post.  Luckily, he thinks I am funny.

Work tomorrow?  Maybe.  I hope so.  Get me out of here!  Snore.

Writing Workshops for Teens!

I am feeling much better, although I capped off my week with an infection in my thumb that had a red line going down my arm. Fun times spending a couple of hours in the walk in clinic. Thank goodness for insurance!

I input the calendar entries for my computer workshops this summer. They probably won't be posted for a couple more weeks. I am sure that their workload with all of the Summer Reading Program stuff must be overwhelming.

I still have two writing workshop dates left. Here is the lowdown:

'Writing the Supernatural Story' workshop for teens at the Wallingford Branch Saturday, May 3, 2008, 1 - 3pm

Event type: Class
Where: Wallingford Branch
Audience: Teens
Language: English
Summary: A writing workshop with Mindy Hardwick covering the art of writing a supernatural story.

Full Description: Ghosts, vampires, and surreal stories that scare-come explore the world of the supernatural. We'll explore elements used in creating the supernatural world, including: developing strong atmosphere and moods with setting, establishing ground rules for the ghost, and building character when our characters are not of this world. We'll look at stories by children's writers Avi, Jane Yolan, and Paul Fleischman and try our hands at a few writing exercises designed to find the ghost lurking in our stories.
Class Notes: Library events and programs are free and everyone is welcome. Registration is not required.

'Creative Journaling for Young Writers' workshop at the University Branch Saturday, May 17, 2008, 1 - 3pm

Event type: Class
Where: University Branch
Audience: Teens
Language: English
Summary: Poetry, art, and writing—come explore the many ways of creative journal writing, taught by Mindy Hardwick.

Full Description: Poetry, art, and writing—come explore the many ways of creative journal writing. Whether you are currently keeping a journal, or have never kept one, this workshop will give you new ideas for how to express who you are through writing. Participants are encouraged to bring a journal to the workshop.
Class Notes Library events and programs are free and everyone is welcome. Registration is not required.

If you know any teens interested in writing, send them my way!

Sick :(

I am home sick today, roving the internets, staring at the screen with bleary eyes. The gigantic headache that I came down with yesterday just before my gaming program (yay :( has mostly subsided now and I am left with a raspy voice, puffy eyes and achy-ness. I set up for the program and high tailed it home to my bed. I slept most of yesterday--probably the most sleep I have gotten since the last time I was sick--whenever that was.

In my delirium last night, I pre-ordered Mario Kart for the Wii. Luckily I was going to do that anyway, so it wasn't a terrible thing. I got an extra wheel and we will probably end up using it for our tournament this summer. I hope to have most of the races unlocked by then, although I am unsure how to transfer that between Wii's.

And from way back in March, here is a link to a YouTube video of some of my family making sillies of themselves attempting an Irish brogue (stolen from Monkeyhead).

Update on poor Robby. To add insult to injury, Robby has sprung a leak of baby spiders. Here she is, struggling along anyhow and I come to find little specks crawling all over her. I think they must be inside her, because I can't find them anywhere else. They seem to particularly like the screen. I keep squishing them and they just keep coming. Usually I hate spiders, but these are really just moving little dots. Reminds me of an old video game, trying to make sure none of them make it to adulthood.

Babies Abound and Other Stuff

I may have mentioned a few posts ago that several of my family members and acquaintances are having babies. First, a cousin I grew up with had a baby girl a month or so ago. She is a real cutie. Now my brother and sis-in-law have adopted a baby girl, who is just adorable. I am very happy for them, because they have been wanting a child for a long time. They were picked by a girl in Florida to be the parents of her child. She was only 17 and wants to go to college. Bro and Sis went to meet her and her parents a month or so ago and everything went well. They prepared the nursery, packed a bag and other baby essentials and waited. Two days ago, they got the call. The girl had gone into the hospital to deliver the baby! They flew to Florida and got there a few hours after the baby was born. 7lbs, 4oz, 19" long beautiful baby girl.



This is my new niece! My first one ever. We are going to go see her in mid March. That might seem like a long time, but it might be that long before they are able to bring her home from Florida. They have to wait there while the paperwork gets worked out. It is really expensive to adopt and it takes a long time and there are so many uncertainties. I really admire Bro and Sis's perseverance.

I have another very dear friend that is due in the next couple of weeks. Babies are just flyin' round, round here!

A lot of my weekend was spent working on my computer. There was something wrong with my display driver and for some reason, the newest driver would not install on my computer--the install software could not find the video card...it was a "known error" but they didn't have a fix for it. I decided to go ahead and do a system restart and repartition my hard drive. I forgot how much work that was! It needed to be done though. After finally getting everything the way I wanted it, I deleted the display driver, went to the Sony site and downloaded the original driver. I am hoping this will do it.

I also stayed home sick today. I have a terrible headache with an achy neck and throat. I had to get a filling this morning too--it fell out this weekend. Ever tried gettting a filling when you have a headache? I came home and slept for several hours. I think I could sleep for several more.

Love, Loss and Disappointment

I am feeling much better than I was this weekend. Thank goodness for a lot of rest. I was so excited that the season 1 of Twin Peaks came in for me that my plan last night was to sit and watch as much as I could before I dropped from exhaustion. Unfortunately, I got it home and disk 2 was missing. I should have checked when I picked it up, but I was so excited. Then I was so bummed. So I watched disk 1, thinking I could skip disk 2 and watch the others, but of course there was a cliff hanger at the end of episode 2. Totally not fair! I am taking it back today and will probably have to wait a couple of weeks for another to come in. I hope someone turns in the missing disk.

A friend of mine was talking up the new Terminator show. I was skeptical, but when I heard that Summer Glau was in it, I had to see it. Luckily Fox was running the second episode online--wish they had the premier...--and it was really good. I like the actress playing Sarah Connor (Lena Headey), and John Connor (Thomas Dekker) is suitably cute in a teenager sort of way--he also played Zach in Heroes. There was a lot of action and the special affects were great. The story was good too, even coming into the second episode cold. So that is what I stayed up late watching instead of Twin Peaks.

I just finished reading Options by the Fake Steve Jobs. It was interesting and annoying at the same time. I enjoyed the writing but I really wanted to know what was real and what was fake in this parody of the Apple CEO's life. I hear that this book came out of a blog by the Fake Steve Jobs (AKA Daniel Lyons), which I can see being a fun thing to check out every now and then. This book covers the time when a lot of companies in the Silicon Valley were being targeted by an investigation by the government for options fraud. If you like sarcasm and imagining the neuvo rich as supreme a-holes, I recommend it.

wh00t!

Yay! I am gainfully employed! For the first time since 2003, I have a real job. Not that I didn't love and appreciate working as a waitress or in the school computer lab or in circulation for Sno-Isle Libraries, but none of that ever felt real. Didn't help that most of those were barely 20 hours a week. Working for SPL the last year and a half has been great as well, and I have learned so much there. I am so happy to be staying. And to make the libraries I work in a part of my life.

Yes, I know I am gushing (gross!).

If I weren't sick today, I would be out shouting to the world. But as it is, I have a stuffed up head, sore throat and I am dizzy as all heck. Probably not a good idea.

There will be a party.

Now I am just waiting for my boyfriend to bring me my phone charger and Pho. :D Good to have such a person in my life.

Holiday Delight

The Boy is letting his grades fall again, and evidently his papa thinks that the way to deal with it is ignore it. Not cool. However, I will let him speak for himself before I get to crazy-mad. The Boy seems ok with missing out on sports this year to let his grades go to basketland. Not ok with me. He has to have something he cares about or he will be a deadbeat living off disability when he gets older. Ouch, my back... ;(

I have been sick all week and finally went home early yesterday. Realized today that I left my cell charger there...blah. I don't want leave the house, but I don't want to be without phone usage either. I just want to lay around, crochet and get better.

Oh and watch Wonderfalls! What a great show! If you like Pushing Daisies, you will like this. The library has it... Put it on hold, enjoy! Thanks to LA Jen for recommending!