Becoming my mom

I was thinking about my mother this morning, because I have become her, in the best ways (but that means in some not so lovely ways too, though I'd rather not uncover them)--I woke up at 7:50, got up, had breakfast on the porch, swept the porch, and (this is where my mom comes in) I pulled clover from the lawn. I just pulled a handful, but sitting there, I could remember a few years back when that was my mother's evening ritual, to sit on the lawn and pull clover. They have runners, and the trick is to get them at the root, not always an easy task. I thought, I like being my mother.

I remember at the time telling one of my co-workers at Barnes & Noble, that my mother's task of eradicating the lawn of clover was like Penelope unraveling the cloak she made for Odysseus--but I think that my poetry has proven wrong b/c my mother did get rid of large portions of clover and I think the clover didn't grow back. I read somewhere that working with dirt is good for your immune system--something about topsoil having all the antibodies...so I felt I was doing something for my lawn, something for my mother, and something for my health. Except I discovered that I really am allergic to grass, b/c it was freshly cut and I needed a tissue by the time I went back upstairs to shower.

I just finished a great book by Hilary Liftin, who wrote Dear Exile. This book is called Candy and Me: A love story. I picked it up on my summer vacation at Goodwill--I was drawn to the pink cover. The first few chapters were read, put down for later, but by the time I was half way through, I had to finish it. The book goes through different types of candy and the emotional significance they held for her, but it also was a memoir of her boyfriends up until her husband. I really liked it.

Today I went to one of my favorite libraries, a small township library on the way to work (at a larger library). At my library, I work downstairs and rarely go upstairs where the "grown-up" books and videos are. And I like a little anonymity--I'll go visit stores to visit friends who work there, but if I really want to browse, I'd rather go where I know no one. I got out The Firm, a pageturner if there ever was one, what my father calls an airport book (because you can get them at airport bookshops and they take about one long plane ride to read.) I also got a Grace Livingston Hill romance, the White Lady, and two others I wish I had a red dress, Mixed blessings, and In the drink. In the drink was recommended on a list of "if you liked Bridget Jones, read this..." What I never understand is why they don't make the lists alphabetical. Teachers seem to do this with summer reading lists too. I mean, if you take time to make a list, unless you are sorting it by topic, you might as well make it alphabetical so your user can just walk the aisles, list in hand. Ah the tight bunned librarian comes out!

Dinner break is over, time to get back to cataloguing. Tonight I get to check numbers, which I thoroughly enjoy...who knew that there was a specific number for Products of fibers and bristles (including brooms, brushes, mops). I think the DDC (Dewey Decimal Classification) is so cool! Gotta go!