"When the acorns line the walkways/Then winter can't be far..."

Cheryl Wheeler, "When Fall comes to New England."


Although the sweater weather is SO not here (today's high should be 78 degrees Fahrenheit), the leaves are falling off the trees, which brings to mind that more famous Gerard Manley Hopkins poem:

31. Spring and Fall

to a young child

Márgaret, áre you gríeving
Over Goldengrove unleaving?
Leáves, líke the things of man, you
With your fresh thoughts care for, can you?
Áh! ás the heart grows older	5
It will come to such sights colder
By and by, nor spare a sigh
Though worlds of wanwood leafmeal lie;
And yet you wíll weep and know why.
Now no matter, child, the name:	10
Sórrow’s spríngs áre the same.
Nor mouth had, no nor mind, expressed
What heart heard of, ghost guessed:
It ís the blight man was born for,
It is Margaret you mourn for.	15

from Bartleby's, of course.

And another "fall" thought. Got this from Heidi--a spoof piece on Halloween that had me laughing from Kamp Krusty.

Fear=false evidence appearing real, or shadows...

It has been many days since I've had a morning walk.

And I'm grumpy--the light is changing, my life is changing, the towels need changing...

(At least I can do something about that last one.)

My walk is a devotional--it is a place where I hope to find myself and my God. I listen to worship music in my cd-player as I walk down past the tennis courts, into the park proper, up the stone stairs, through the grass where I look at the gingko tree planted in 1941 in honor of a Peabody High School biology teacher. I take lots of pictures of leaves shaped like hearts, because they remind me that I am loved.

Today, when I saw the shadow of the horse statue, I was reminded how silly some of my fears are--that I'm afraid of my own shadow, and of other people's shadows. It brought to mind this verse from Isaiah (my favorite Bible book), a verse that I first discovered during some hard times my junior year of college.

Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help,
who rely on horses,
who trust in the multitude of their chariots
and in the great strength of their horsemen,
but do not look to the Holy One of Israel,
or seek help from the LORD. (Isaiah 31:1)

May I always seek help from my Lord. May I not be afraid of shadows. May I move forward, "despite the pounding in the heart that says: turn back" (Erica Jong)

*************

Oh, and on my walk, I passed one more pregnant lady (and her husband, walking their dog.) So I'll add her to the list of babies we're waiting for.

Summertime and the living is easy...

Fish are jumping...

I go back to work today. Yes, folks, the vacation is over, time to face the job of being a children's librarian. Slog, slog...wait, I have tomorrow off?

God Bless those Founding Fathers, that's all I can say.

I thought I'd give you a vackay pic. More will come, I promise. This is the kind of picture I take, but you knew that. This is at Lake Missoula, Flathead Lake outside Big Arm, Montana.



We had just gone on a boat ride to "Wild Horse Island." More on that later. But Sis, observant that she is, saw this and knew it would be my kind of picture. When I snapped it, she crowed, "I knew it!"

Plunging hormones...

Mutter, mutter, complain a little...

The thing in Moon--was for academic librarians. I was THE ONLY Public Librarian there.

Then I had a tiff with my boss at the end of the day. Thank goodness for 6pm, when I said I was leaving. And I did.

And NH Sally saved me. I called and begged for leftovers and the screaming mimis were calmed by spaghetti, white wine, and girl time on the deck.

Then I went grocery shopping, and Walgreens and spent a lot of money, so it's no wonder I'm not in the best mood.

And my appetite has increased. I'm eating four meals a day. Charlotte and Miranda just had their "this baby shower is going to stink" fight. Right now Carrie and Miranda are sitting on Carrie's stoop and Miranda's talking about how she'll never be a good mother... (I heart SATC!)

There has got to be a sunny side to this all...well, I did get to go to the moon (Moon Twp, PA) today. AND I got free lunch. AND I didn't get lost going from Moon to our library.

Tomorrow I get to see my therapist, YAY! And eat at Cafe Ches Amis in Sewickley for lunch...maybe I'll take pictures...

One more picture. There are more...

In which Sarah Louise goes to Phipps (Pt 1 of ?) [with spelling corrections]

Well, I'm not up for a long post with lotsa pictures, but this was my favorite scene at Phipps and believe me, I took lotsa pictures of this one scene, from many vantage points. But I figured I'd give you a little something. The artist, Chihuly (which I'm sure I spelled wrong) (Thanks CatStevens!), goes from place to place, doing art installations in glass. It's very cool. I was enamored with this boat full of colorful balls. It's just so playful.



And now I'm off to do some laundry. I might take a drive later. Lily and I had a lovely lunch at the Waterfront Pizzeria Unos and then we walked along the river. I'm going to the moon tomorrow. Oh, I mean Moon Twp. For training. And I think free lunch. I better double check on that. I promise more pictures to come.

Three in one day--no it's not a posting record. This post brought to you by the letter M.

There were no movies I wanted to see. Spiderman 3, while good, was kind of a downer, and it would be much more fun to see Pirates 3 with my sister.

So I went for the manicure.

First, though, I cleared out my car. (Gas prices being what they are, I don't need to be carrying any extra weight.) Whilst I was organizing, Mr. First Floor came out, on his way to one of his many gigs. (He's a free lance musician/piano teacher/etc.) He's a nice guy. We chatted a bit, and then he was on his way.

And moments later, I left, to get the manicure.

THEN I came back and spent the one-hour-where-you're-not-supposed-to-do-stuff-with-your hands with my neighbor Mini (yes, another M). She's a housebound octogenarian and up til now I would have not gone over, but GUESS WHAT? My cold seems to have gone away!!

So...that means I'm going to the barbecue for the (another M) medical students who graduated today. Jury's still out on the shower, Wednesday, and the wedding (prelude to a Marriage) on Saturday is also up in the air...

Oh, and I finally met the man who bought the house next door and one of the girls who lives next to Mini. Neither of them have M names, but they seemed nice anyways.

So...what do you think? The color is Whodoo Voodoo.

Memory is like a purse...

...if it be over-full that it cannot shut, all will drop out of it. Take heed of a gluttonous curiosity to feed on many things, lest the greediness of the appetite of thy memory spoil the digestion thereof. (Thomas Fuller)

This was the only purse specific quote I could find that I liked. Case in point, the last time I did a "purse post" I used the dictionary definition.

Note to self: next time save the google search and just use the Roget's thesauraus entry.


My new purse, full to the gills. Target, $24.99

My lovely OCLC pin that says Cataloguing is a public Service/Reference is a public service.

My wallet, purchased YEARS ago. Yet, they match! Looky that! And, this wallet had been lost in the abyss of my garret for many moons, so the aquisition of a matching purse is even sweeter as I reaquaint myself with my wallet.

80 cents at the library shop, read it and weep!! (Or watch it and guffaw!)

My last tulips of the season.

In which Sarah Louise agonizes over Station #5...

You can be radiantly certain of this: Difficult circumstances are opportunities for you to intentionally focus your faith in God and to see what he will do to give you hope and healing. --Jon Walker, from today's Purpose Driven Devotional.

This morning I awoke to the sound of thunder. The sunrise was orange on the East sky, but it was unmistakably thunder. So I came over to the computer and putzed and read some blogs and email. (Thank you, Nutmeg!!) Then it rained, a gentle rain. Then it stopped, I became angry with my computer (see previous post) and went for a short walk. By short, I walked down the block and up again. But exercise is cumulative, and I have so much to do that I daren't not walk, or indulge in a longer one. I'm learning to not be an all-or-nothing kind of gal! I said, I'm learning. BJ's sermon Sunday was about Paul's letter to the Phillipians, where he says, "not that I have it all together, but I press forward..."

It's gently raining again.

I've successfully done two stations before. (Can't find a link to our past year's--memo to me to talk to John about that...) Last year's station (#6, Jesus talks to the women of Jerusalem) was very well received, and so I think I'm thinking I have to wow them, live up to the reputation of last year's. Um. The station is supposed to be a part of worship, reflection, not my desire to be know as a craftsperson. (Hits hand upon forehead!!)

This is from my email to Kiki last night:

So far for the station for Lent for my church: Station#5: Simon of Cyrene carries the cross for Jesus. My thoughts, based on my research: It was a "hey you, there, carry this for him" b/c Jesus was so exhausted and not moving fast enough but they didn't want him to die on the road to the cross...

Cyrene (located in present day Lybia but was at the time of Christ in the Roman empire.) Before that, when it was Greek, it was known as the birthplace of Hedonism back in the 3-4th centuries BCE. Opposite of pleasure: being forced to carry someone elses cross... Cyrene had a large Jewish population, so Simon was most likely Jewish and there (Jerusalem) for the Passover. I had a chair that I made into half a cross (by taking one of the legs off) and on the nails, I put red paper to signify blood. I have soap bubbles (that you would blow?) to signify pleasure??

See, this is where I think, it's time to wrap it up for the night. Make some popcorn, finish reading In Her Shoes (interesting conversation with my chiropractor this morning--he said I saw, no, I had to see the movie that book was based on. I didn't think it was that good. Which, compared to the book, it wasn't. But if you look at both, the movie and the book educate each other. The movie is harsher. (The best friend is mean, the grandmother is mean). In the book, the best friend and the grandmother are both much nicer. Anyways, I think there is black pepper in this tuna. I must go make some popcorn with sugar, salt, and extra virgin olive oil.

Hugs, SL

Oh, and I have to have this thing finished by Friday morning before I go off to work. Too bad I have to work, too, and clean the apt in prep for the 'rents...ACK!

Plus, I had tons of compliments on last year's so I feel like I have to top myself which is NOT the point, the point is to give folks a thought about a moment on Christ's walk to the cross. It's NOT ABOUT MY ARTISTIC SENSE or Not.

Popcorn....

Some other thoughts: you know that Footprints poem? The one where the man dreams there is only one set of footprints and God says, "It was then that I carried you"? Well, here's a link. (Click on poem--and if your speakers are on, you'll get the sound of waves on the beach.)

Anyways, the whole thing about Jesus being fully human--um, this was the one time that someone was doing the carrying for him--there were two sets of footprints on the way to the cross, not one. (Well, except in John's Gospel, but he was a rebel...)

I'll post the pics of what I have so far, and then off to WBS...pray for me!! Last week I did okay...but I am so intimidated by some of those women!! (How did they get to be so successful at such a young age??)

Under certain circumstances there are few hours in life more agreeable than the hour dedicated to the ceremony known as afternoon tea.

(Henry James, Portrait of a Lady)

Artsy-Mama has invited us all to a tea party. So...

My one tea cup and saucer--the rest of my tea drinking vessels are mugs. This was one of the items I inherited from my grandmother.

In this shot, you can see the detail inside the cup itself.

My meal and tea companion at the moment--yes, I am re-reading In Her Shoes for the third time. I would love to have tea with Jennifer Weiner someday. I'm not sure I'm ready for tea with Marilynne Robinson (the author of Gilead), but while we're wishing...someday.

I just finished The View From Saturday, where four friends name themselves "The Souls," have tea on Saturdays and eventually become the first sixth grade team to win the Academic Bowl for their state. Finished isn't accurate, actually, as VFS is a book I have been reading since 1996 when it came out, and will likely continue reading for a long time. I just recently re-read it, as it was the Mother-Daughter-Book-Club book for March. In one chapter, Ethan, who is usually quiet, but is able to come out of his shell with his three friends, asks each of the other three what day they would most like to re-live. When it comes around to Ethan, he says, "Last week, when we first had tea. And now I get to re-live it every week." (This is not an exact quote, but my copy of the book is in the car, three flights down, and baby, it may be Spring, but it's still cold outside.)

So, enjoy, happy Spring! I know the sun has started to melt the winter that has been frozen in my heart. I hope where you are the sun is shining or at least the rain is feeding the soil, ready to bring tulips, daffodills, and green green grass.

I heart Dolly Parton (and Lorrie Morgan)

On the bus ride home, a song was spinning on the jukebox in my mind,
"Except for Monday, which was never good anyways,
Tuesday, I get a little sideways,
Wednesday, I feel better, just for spite,
Thursday and Friday take too long,
Before I know it, Saturday's gone,
But it's Sunday now
And you can bet that I'm alright."

Okay, so it sounded like Dolly Parton to me! It's Lorrie Morgan.

On the drive home tonight from child watchin' for Sally (East End Sally, not North Hills Sally) I was thinking how Day Two is code that almost all women understand. (Thank you, Badger!!) As I got up from the sofa where I'd been watching shows on CBS (my house don't get CBS), she said, sofa feel good? And I said, "It's Day Two. I took a bath before I left Virginia, and I took another one before I came over here to watch your kids." Even my mother (who never got a cramp in her life!) understood when I said, "It's Day Two." But I got me the heating pad and since I can't take Ibuprofin or its cousins, and I am home for the night, I have me a Corona, and no one's the wiser.

So I took a lot of pictures this weekend...on the Greyhound. No, we didn't even see the eclipse, it was too cloudy. No, no pictures of the bunny, or my sister, or my mom's new birdfeeders. Me, playing with the digi camera, on the bus. Yes, this is what I look like, bored on the bus. Pictures are from Thursday's trip down and today (Monday's) trip back up.

Along with the Corona (Light) and bite me! It's a half decent import, and cheap!I'm eating the entire box of Samoas. A girl has got to have her chocolate on Day Two.
My day old manicure clutching my newest book form of crack: Sisterchicks books by Robin Gunn Something.
My new manicure examining the stitches on my Liz Claiborne purse.
The seats on the bus. Look, they have little blue dogs on them!
My bracelet. My nerves (Day Two) were too shot for me to wear the bracelet, so it lived in my pocket, except for this beauty shot...
The open road, with snow. Can you say GRAY???

Can you spot the Spanish in this picture? The USA Today? The pink sweater? The cross of the purse straps?
Yes, I've seen the movie. I am now reading the book (though not ON the bus) and listening to the movie's soundtrack. Which is quite lovely. (Which I did listen to on the bus, three times!)
My wallet...
So, do you like my funky tights?? I have them in black too.

Be mine...

Show and Tell: A Valentine: new or old

Flowers from my parents. The card reads, "Happy Valentine's Week. Love, Mom and Dad."

Cards from two girlfriends. So that's why she wanted my address!

I also got a few fun e-cards. Hope you got choc'lit...oh, and Happy Birthday to Marian the Librarian, who is again celebrating her 29th birthday. (tee hee!) Tomorrow (the today of you reading this--Thursday the 15th) is Sally's oldest's birthday. I held Zack when he was two days old and living in the neo-natal unit at AGH*. I talked to Sally briefly today (to see what the roads were like in our neighborhood) and to let her know I'd bring something by for Zack soon.

*Allegheny General Hospital, on the Nor' Side.

I'm glad to be home again...

Yeah, I actually don't think it's going to work out, but I'm pulling for you, Ru.

(Phillip Seymour Hoffman as Sandy Lyle in Along Came Polly)

I love this line from Along Came Polly, a movie I only watched because a co-worker recommended it, who loves Ben Stiller. This guy, Reuben (Ben Stiller) is a risk analyst and he does everything cautiously. In walks Polly (Jennifer Aniston), who walks to the beat of shall we say, a different drummer? Polly introduces Reuben to Latin dancing, spicy food, and her blind ferret.

The whole movie you're right there with Phillip (we're likethis) saying "I don't see this happening." I mean, c'mon!!

**********SPOILER ALERT****************

Ben and Jen end up together--it's a beautiful crazy chaotic thing.

******************************************

I've been thinking about age lately (well, I did just have a birthday.) And it occurs to me that if you were to count my life in growth spurts, I'd probably really be 25. I've had to spend so much energy smoothing out my bumpy road that I haven't really been doing things that women my age are doing: buying houses, having their third child, getting job promotions.

Cue Rascal Flatts' song, God Bless the Broken Road...

And I am fine, working the mommy track at the library (yes, that's what this laissez-faire system of flex time is called.) I am happy at my job. I am happy in my apartment. I do not want to have to pay for a new roof, furnace, or think about siding.

I've been reading this great book, The Joy of Doing Things Badly. Actually, I haven't been reading it lately, because it is lost somewhere in my apartment. Probably in a purse I haven't used in weeks. But when I find it, I'll tell you more about it, because that Veronica Chambers is my hero. She is not afraid to live her life.

Right now, I'm still reading How to be Perfect by Jean Kerr and loving it. Oh, and I finished Good Will (the second novella in the collection by Jane Smiley called Ordinary Love and Good Will). Heartbreaker, but oh so good.

(That part was written in November.)

I have now just finished Gilead. It was so good that from Etna to twenty minutes later--it only takes me seven minutes to get home from Etna--I was sobbing. The first three quarters are slow and plotless but meandering. Best suited for audio books, actually. Believe me, it is SO worth the wait. And last night I had dinner at C&A's. Cameron has finished it, Amber has not, so we couldn't fully talk about it, but, we were able to talk about another amazing book, East of Eden. And then my phone rang. It was my dad, calling from Dallas. (They're most likely in Austin now.)
Today will be cooking, something, for the community dinner, and breakfast. I need sustenance! So here are a few pictures:

To remind me to work on my writing...

This was taken at my library, from the parking lot...

I think boys kids are playing hockey on Lake Carnegie. I would if I was a boy kid.

So, yes, yesterday, I worked a full day, I finished Gilead, I walked on water (albeit frozen) and had a lovely evening among friends. Maybe February isn't all bad. Lilly and I have sworn off boys and are going to Panera or something for Valentine's Day.

What, are you chicken?

This chicken is also a kitchen timer.

This makes me happy. So I had to take a picture, naturally. Happy Thursday.

Show and Tell: A chicken

And I found some more gifts I bought for the sibs--one is a chicken for Sis!! (Which will not be shown here until after I see her which will be Feb 28, my mama's birthday!!!)

Oh, and in case you were keeping track, it's 4 degrees out there. Ugh.

"Nice brain"

Show and tell: bumper stickers

I didn't say it had to be on your car!! This was a gift from my boss. If you can read the small print, it says, "In books we trust." Apparently I at one time mentioned that I liked hers (on her bulliten board at work) and so when she was at ALA's Midwinter Conference, she got me one.

If it weren't really cold outside and I didn't have a touch of the sniffles, I'd take a picture of my own car bumper. On it are four bumper stickers. They are: Lemonjello's, Sunoco, Union Project, and "Love Falls Church."

Lemonjello's is this coffee house in Holland, Michigan. My brother's band played there. My brother's band was called The Nixon Administration. Isn't that a cool name for a band? (Stay tuned for corrections: I may have gotten the wrong president.) Sufian Steven's best friend owns Lemonjello's, stay tuned for a Hope College post.

Sunoco? No, I do not care that they sponsor NASCAR, (sorry Paula) but they were sponsoring a contest a few years back where if they spotted a sticker on your car, you got free gas. Um, I drive at least an hour each day (to and from my workplace), so that sounded cool. You'll see some trucks with four and five Sunoco stickers.

Union Project? The building where my church, The Open Door, meets. Plus, it's a cool logo.

"Love Falls Church"? It's a play on words, sort of. Falls Church (Episcopal) is the church for which the town where my parents live was named. George Washington, our first President, was a vestryman there. The bumper sticker is vague: are you supposed to love the church or the town? Well, I love the town, I hope my parents never move, (unless they move to Pittsburgh).

My father is against bumper stickers. On your car, at least. So my brother had at least ten on the minivan that he drove in college.

My dad and I have been talking about third world debt and the IMF. I am so grateful to have him to talk to about these things. I invited him to come speak at the OD, which he had already considered...he was at a book signing yesterday for Tony Campolo ('s new book, I assume) and since there were only eight people there, he got to ask TC a question. So he asked him about the IMF. My dad is the greatest.

(IMF=International Monetary Fund. Our church recently had a speaker from Jubilee and a bunch of us are wondering if Jubilee is the best way to go in terms of social justice. From my dad's considerable research, it seems not. It seems that Jubilee would be one of the organizations rioting at the IMF meetings.)

The IMF has conditionalities (like balanced budgets) and from what my dad could see on the Jubilee website, Jubilee doesn't like that. I have more info in emails from my dad if anyone's interested. (And wouldn't it be great to have my dad speak at the OD????)

And this just in: HP #7 will be out on 7.21.07. Read up on Book Seven, thanks to Gina (who is writing again at BTS, woo hoo!)

Some pictures...

My life is awash in ponytail holders. I like the pretty colors... (my car, Melody)

Hot Chocolate at Tazza. I couldn't help but notice how the swirls in my drink looked like the cover of my notebook.

The writing (far right, you can read 1998 and -ark) is my written testimony at the bus hearing yesterday.

More snow!

I can spend hours in a grocery store. I get so excited when I see food, I go crazy.

I spend hours arranging my baskets so that everything fits in and nothing gets squashed. (Cameron Diaz)

For years, I have been wondering why no one has ever thought of this:

The Giant Eagle at Shakespeare Street!

I mean, as a singleton, I often go in thinking I'm just going to pick up a carton of milk and then I decide midway to pick up some yogurt, and there happens to be a sale and then I'm stuck with a carton of milk and six cups of yogurt, with no cart. Someone was thinking here--it's multi-functional, because not only do you have carts near the tiny cups of yogurt I couldn't carry in my arms alone, you also have a sign reminding you that milk is now around the corner. I remember when this GE had an Iggle Video. Sigh.

And, not being one to usually take pictures in stores, this made me think of Blackbird, who is forever showing us pictures of stores.

Show and Tell: A very useful thing.

Memo to me: What's Show and Tell this week?

Ooops! Sarah Louise had a bad hair day yesterday. (It was not pretty) In the midst of all the teasing and hairspray, I forgot to post a show and tell topic!!

So, multiple choice, since you have no real lead time.

a) a very useful thing -- in or outside of your house
b) a very un-useful thing -- in or outside of your house
c) free for all -- I mean, I gave you no lead time!

Rules of engagement: post "I'm up" after I post mine tomorrow morning. I'll visit them by the weekend, and we'll all have fun!

Oh, and it snowed today. Not so as you could tell now, but my car sort of looked like this (well, okay, not really, this is an old picture from December (I think).

HOPE is the thing with feathers

HOPE is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune without the words,
And never stops at all... (Emily Dickinson)

On my walk, I said Happy New Year to all, and they to me. It's around 50 degrees (Fahrenheit) and quite nice, although the wind'll hit ya! Everyone was out walking their dogs.

Any day that I see men playing tennis in the park side courts, I have hope. And what a better way to start the new year, than with hope, and joy.

Resolution: to get better at taking pictures of people with my digi camera.

This just in... (updated with photos of Rte. 8!!)

The seventh Harry Potter book will be entitled Harry Potter and the Deathly Gallows.

The Pens are off the market and Lemieux is considering taking the Pens away from the Burgh (say it isn't so!)

Four lanes for Christmas--I think so! The Mae West Bend at Rte. 8 is almost done--I'll post pix when I get home tonight.

Look, there are cars on the South and Northbound lanes! (I'm northbound.)

Look at the rest of the Norhtbound lane, being readied for two lanes in one direction...

The lack of machinery and construction men--it makes my heart go pit a pat...

Look!! Road that will be part of two lanes in the SAME direction!!

Yes, my geek flag is flying high tonight. But hey, when it's the road you travel to work 90% of the time, it makes a HUGE difference!!

Oh, and I was stopped in traffic--I did not take pictures whilst in a MOVING car. Since we're still one lane each way, I was able to take four pictures whilst we were STOPPED.

Back to your regularly scheduled lives...