Day 30: Done

I was looking for something else on YouTube to post tonight to celebrate the end of NaBloPoMo when I came across this:



These random things are why YouTube is so much fun. I think my childhood flashed before my eyes while watching this video--and it is long enough that I could get pretty much from birth to age 10 when I first saw this video. I'd forgotten how bad this song is and how uncoordinated most of those men were/are. Seriously, watch #4. Was he the kicker? Whatever position he played, thank goodness rhythm was not involved. I do enjoy the cheese-tastic graphics and fake instrument playing. That is totally awesome '80s right there. Back in the day, I probably knew 90% of the words (not using the term lyrics because that would assume that this was actually lyrical). Thankfully (and surprisingly), it is no longer taking up much-needed space in my brain.

And I actually was looking for Celebration by Kool & the Gang which is, like, one of my favorite songs EVER and I thought would be an apropos ending to the month. I tried to convince Paul to use it as our wedding recessional song. He completely balked at the suggestion. Later, too late for our recessional, he mentioned we should have used Mancini's Baby Elephant Walk. I so wish he'd mentioned it even on October 1 because I absolutely would have gone for it.

No baby elephants in this video on YouTube. Enjoy:


And thus completes one month (plus one extra) of posting. It wasn't as difficult as I'd thought it would be although I'll be the first to admit that some of my posts are pretty lame. I doubt I stick with the daily posting schedule but it's nice to know that I could do it. But tomorrow, I'm taking a day off.

Day 29: The End is Near

The Book Fair was delivered yesterday morning. Let the good times begin. I enjoy doing the book fair--it's just a really high-energy week for me. I started setting it up today for a Sneak Peek we're having tomorrow. It's mostly for parents and teachers but I imagine a few students will sneak in as well. I don't mind--the students who visit the library typically aren't the troublemakers. Even when the troublemakers stop by, they behave or they are politely asked to get the heck out which they always do with an "Ah, Miss. We were just playing." I honestly have very little discipline issues in the library. That's a definite perk to being the librarian.

Each of the language arts classes will visit the book fair as a class on Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday. I've got parent volunteers coming in to help throughout the week to help during lunches and student volunteers who help out during the class periods making certain nothing walks out and keeping things neat and tidy. The student volunteers get a lanyard to wear during their shift--it's as if that little plastic nametag with "Volunteer" gives them some type of power rush. It's amusing to see how serious some of the students are about catching possible shoplifters. But throughout the past 5 years that I've run the fair, we have caught a couple of students trying to take something. But as much fun as it is, I'll definitely be glad when next Friday rolls around and I get to pack it all back up. I'll be even happier on Monday when it's picked up and everything is back to normal.

It was downright cold outside today--I think I saw the high was right around 40, which isn't really that cold except it was a wet cold. It was overcast and the sky was spitting most of the day. Thankfully my heater was fixed yesterday around noon. The repairmen said it just hadn't been turned on but I know (and the custodian conferred) that it was on earlier. Someone probably got on the roof and turned it off--we've had random mischief like that before. I'm just glad it was an easy fix and that my little library is toasty warm now.

Today's random picture is from the record snow we had over New Year's. Paul and I took a walk to start the year off right. I don't know what he was doing. Surveying the scene, I guess. I never know what goes through his head.

Day 28: Tis the Season

I'm still itching to put up the Christmas tree and decorate the house. I'm holding off since some portion of our new furniture will be delivered on Saturday. We know we're at least getting the two chairs. Not so sure if the couch will be included. Couch or no couch, we're still hosting the neighborhood holiday party on Dec. 16. We'll just set up the folding chairs where the couch should be.

In the spirit of the season so far, I've put out a few little Christmas things and have purchased and wrapped almost all the presents. One of the only gifts I'm lacking is for Benjamin. I just haven't found that one thing that says it is exactly what we need to get our littlest nephew. I've got a few ideas but nothing that seems to be "It." I'm feeling the same way about my FIL's gift as well. We've ordered a gift for him that he can use on their sailboat but it isn't much and it isn't very exciting. So, I still need to work on those gifts. I've also got to make a phone call about Paul's gift. I'm going for Best Wife Ever with this present but it's something Paul has joked about doing for years. He works long hours and doesn't get to play much so we'll just let him play for a few days.

I've gotten all the gifts for Paul's brother and his family wrapped and ready to mail, including Matthew's and Sarah's birthday presents (which are 12/20 and 1/11, respectively). Paul found the gifts for both of them--Matthew, who will be 5, is getting a make-your-own rubber ball kit. I'm sure Alan and Julie are going to *love* that. Sarah, who will be 7, is getting a new game Paul found at a game store in Berkeley. I'll probably renew their Highlights subscription as well. I loved that as a child--not sure if they feel the same fondness for it because we never hear anything from Alan and Julie about any gifts we give beyond a note that reads "Thanks for the such-and-such. We appreciate it." I asked Paul if he saw anything we'd given them over the years when Paul was at their house recently. He said the rocking snail we gave Sarah for her first birthday was still out. Good--one thing we bought 6 years ago is still being used. Have no idea about anything else purchased since but the snail was a hit. Woo.

We've started buying only one gift for Alan & Julie's family. We see them so rarely so we don't know what they like/want/need and honestly, their house rivals Toys R Us for the sheer volume of toys. This year, we bought a 16-disc DVD set of classic children's stories and some of the books that are in the set. I also always purchase a Christmas book for our nieces and nephews. I don't know if they appreciate it or not. Again, we never hear anything about it beyond a cursory mention in the thank you note. And that's it for them--three boxes for four children. They can duke it out on Christmas morning as to who is the odd-man-out when it comes to ripping the wrapping paper. I guess if I was a good aunt, I would have considered the child-to-present ration. But it's all boxed up and ready to go so it's a little late now. My goal is to head to the post office on Saturday with all our Christmas cards and packages to mail. And I know I seem rather cranky about this but it really hits a nerve. I try to put a lot of thought into the presents we give people and I love finding that *perfect* gift. But honestly, the most well-received gift we've ever given Paul's brother and SIL was a Pottery Barn gift card that required exactly 30 seconds worth of effort on my part. So to not hear anything about all the things we've given that I have put consideration into is quite disgruntling but obligation means we'll continue to send them gifts. I guess I'd just appreciate a comment about the present at a later time or pictures of the child with the present later (even if it is the one and only time they touched the item). Just makes the effort seem more worthwhile.

Today's random picture isn't too random since it is a Christmas picture. This picture was taken in 1977--we're 6, 3, and almost-2 and we are in our red velvet Christmas dresses. Amy's dress originally had a bow as well until she pulled it off. (To really tug at the ol' heart strings, this was our one Christmas without a dad.)

Oh, and it was nice to hear the Christmas carol "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year" when I was driving around this afternoon. I'm never sure if I just invent lyrics and that song has lyrics I always think I invented until I actually hear the song and realize that no, there really will be the telling of "scary ghost stories" along with all the other cheery things that happen during the Christmas holiday. Strange.

Day 27: Three Days Left

I can do this. Just four more posts and then I can stare at the computer and not post if I decide I don't have anything to write about. Like today.

I was going to write something spectacular--I was thinking of doing another list of 33 more fascinating/fun/interesting things about me. But I've taken a rotten headache and could only come up with two.

1. I drive a Subaru Forester. I have no idea why I thought that would be a good car because I'd never ridden in a Subaru and only knew two people who owned them when we bought the car almost four years ago. I totally {heart} my car. It's not fancy or flashy or anything but it's the perfect "Carrie car." I talked it up so much, one of my coworkers decided to test drive one and he and his wife also bought a Forester.

2. I really, really dislike when people misuse the word "y'all" in speech or writing. Oh, and I really, really, really dislike when they misspell it. I think that's more theEnglish teacher in me rather than the Texan I am. It's a contraction of you all, people. It's just like is not becomes isn't and the appostrophe replaces the omitted letter.

Eh. Here's a random picture for today. Amy was a freshman and I was a sophomore at Tech and we'd gone to Lewisville to visit Donna one weekend during bluebonnet season. We had to stop to take a picture:

I still didn't have heat today--it hovered in the 50's in the library all day. The sun was shining today so it did warm up a hair--from 50 to almost 58. I had classes scheduled (they didn't stick around long) and students coming from classes to use the computers for work so I couldn't escape much. I love the coworkers who come in, recognize that it's cold, see me in my coat and gloves and then ask why I don't turn up the heater. I couldn't think of anything clever to quip back so mostly I just stared at them.

I did go to Target during the lunch break to warm up. I figured I could sit in the office or go shopping. Shopping won. My principal called maintanence again to tell them that this is unacceptable. Obviously that didn't light any fires under them. Hopefully it will be fixed tomorrow. The book fair is being delivered tomorrow and I'd hoped to set it up on Thursday for a sneak peek on Friday. I guess I can do that with no heat--it will just be a chilly sneak peek.

Here are two links that were shared with me today:

Greenpeace is naming to a pack of humpback whales. You can guess which one we voted for (it also happens to be the one in the lead).

Another teacher shared this one with me. Paul doesn't like to play word games or trivia games with me because I spend too much time doing stuff like this. But at least my newfound useless knowledge was gained for the good of the world.

Day 26: More Random Things

The picture of the cat is totally unrelated to anything I might post about today. It's a picture from one of the holiday parties we hosted last year. I wanted to post a picture and I haven't gone through the pictures from Thanksgiving yet.

Last week before we left for break, I told the secretary that my heater didn't seem to be working. We had a very slim hope that it would be fixed Wednesday, especially since there were the predictions for cold and snow. The former didn't happen but the latter definitely did.

Today, it was about 5o degrees in my library all day. I told the secretary that I was going to stay in the office until I got in trouble for loitering. I spent most of the day doing work in the library for an hour or so and going into the main office to warm up. The principal came into the library during 3rd period to make copies in the workroom. When I'd mentioned during 1st that the library was cold, she thought I meant it was cold because I'd turned down the heater over the break not "Holy cow, it's freezing in here! Why is there no heat?" cold. She put in a service call directly rather than the remake the request via computer. It didn't make any service people miraculously appear but it made us both feel a little better. Not any warmer but at least she understood the reason I was just hanging out.

That's about the extent of my day and brain power today. I should have gone to the gym but I didn't. I do need to go to the grocery store because there's no food in the house aside from a vast assortment of crackers. Paul and I are both snackers and crackers fill the bill. We're cracker snackers. HA! There are honestly seven types of crackers in our pantry although none of those are saltines. Strange.

And finally, our new heater at home works fabulously (which is great since I was frozen by the time I got home). It's very quiet as well. Two thumbs up for that home investment.