Last one, before I fall into a heap on the couch!

This is my tree. Right now it has all the ornaments that aren't in the show and tell, all the ornaments that are just pretty but to me have no real story. At dinner, I was telling my co-workers about this show and tell and my boss said she gave each of her daughters an ornament each year--they sometimes had more than one tree!!

Merry Happy Advent! (There are two more posts below, with pics too.)

This is where I wish it wasn't "newest post first"--Show and Tell Pt 2

Well, these aren't in any order. These are the "also-rans" in the "favorite ornament category."



When I got my tree (it used to belong to my Grandma) my mom mailed me a box of ornaments. Some of them are just familiar cause they've always been on the tree, and some, like the ones in this post, bring up certain memories. This bird is one of many, and it reminds me of a song on a Christmas album where birds are singing.

My mom made this for me. She's the one who doesn't tell stories in the family, so that's all I can say. It's at least 30 years old.
Does anyone else have one like this? My mom loved making things with crayon shavings--this is a plastic cup with crayon shavings, cooked in the oven. I vaguely remember making it when I was 4 or 5.

My memory card was filling up, so I put two in one picture: the "tree pillow" is one I bought and used as a dollhouse Christmas tree. The sparkly thing--I have no clue, but isn't it fun?

I don't know anything about this one either (did you notice the theme color is red?) but I think it's one of a set of two? I like it because it's foreign looking.

I'm trying to figure out the best/easiest way to upload images and well, there just isn't one. So that's why this is two posts, because I didn't want to have to move images around.

Okay, who was it that forgot to mention I might have up to 3 USB terminals on the back of my computer? and that I can keep my camera cord plugged in at all times??? (Then plug in the camera when needed.) It must have been a man.

It takes forever for these images to upload!!

Show and Tell ornaments n stuff, pt 1

My favorite Chrismas item. A baby Jesus that lived in my delicates drawer for years. I bought him in Krakow, Poland, with the thought that it would be the gift I'd give my husband on our first Christmas. Um, that was over ten years ago. A few years ago, I told a friend about my baby Jesus living in the delicates drawer and she said, why don't you bring him out? So I actually keep him out all year. Isn't he a sweetie?

My favorite ornament. I keep this out all year too--it's a wooden heart that on one side says "Ich liebe dich" and "I love you" on the other. It's my version of fuzzy dice, which is why the background looks dark and snowy--it hangs on my rear-view mirror.

I call these two "SL plays with lights." Still learning how to take pictures, you see. But I like the effects.

Is is just me, or do other bloggers go around all day, composing the blog posts as they go about their day? Today I meant to blog about

• getting my driver's lisc. picture taken
• slushy roads
• my allergist, who cracks me up

And then my favorite song comes on the radio: "King of the Road." So this pays for the fact I haven't heard Dominick the Donkey yet. Okay, gotta stop blogging and enjoy this!

The first time I heard that song was in the Poconos, at a cottage we sometimes rent. I was probably 13 or 14. It's not a song often played, so it's always a thrill when it comes on. One of the advantages of listening to "Nostalgia" radio.

Becoming my father...

Caption: darn blogger--anyways, this is my bare at the moment tree. Lights will come in an upcoming post, I promise!

This summer I posted about becoming my mom, by pulling clover from the lawn. Today, incensed with Christmas--yet another co-worker gift (other gifts: homemade biscotti, a picture of the co-worker's three gorgeous daughters)...this one was an actual basket, full of stuff!, and I'm supposed to reciprocate?? I have not the time or resources...so I am printing (ironically the ink I'm using may be the bigger expenditure per capita) out cards for my co-workers--I bought a flock of chicks at Heifer International and they each are getting a card that commemorates that act. I can't compete with the bakers and the crafters in the children's department, and everyone in the Tech dept got me a birthday card, so I needed to do something...at the OD this Advent, we've been talking about "alternative giving" and a Subversive Holiday Season. I didn't "buy the concept" until I saw the beautiful basket on my desk that there was no way I could reciprocate. So I'm printing and folding pieces of paper with a picture of an African child holding a chick. If I worked part time in one department, maybe I'd have a shred of creativity (I actually did buy stuff at Target and Giant Eagle to make up "goody bags") and time and energy. But I work full time, which parcels out to part time in two departments. (Which also means preparing two end of year reviews...) And I really need to buy new shoes for myself, not make another visit to Joanne Fabrics or the party store. Driving home in 8 degree weather at 11pm, driving past the Christmas lights, I was the closest to suicidal that I get. It seemed easy, you know, just crash the car. There is so much to be done before Christmas, for gifts, for people. There is so much to be done before the year ends, for taxes, for finances. And laundry? You can buy more underwear, yes, but that's not what's dirty! If I wake up early tomorrow, I can throw a load before I go to work....

Sarah's Louise's List:

• Laundry (and more laundry) (lovely thing about my apartment: can't shower while doing laundry--I think I'll throw a load with my alarm at 7 and then crawl back under the covers)
• Clearing out the foyer (which includes shredding junk mail)
• Folding the rest of the Heifer Project stuff
• Making/buying gifts for close friends (which I do enjoy!) (it's the obligatory ones I can't abide) (BB will tell you I am forever gifting)
• Finishing shopping for sibs and 'rents
• Wrapping and enveloping all of the above
• Christmas cards? are you daft?
• Finshing up holiday show and tells (I actually have decorations up now but you want an ORNAMENT?)
• Another trip to the basement for said ornament--I have to choose ONE???
• Choosing one ornament for Show and Tell
• Photographing said item and then doing the sitting on the floor cursing my computer tower
• Bringing up items from Target--(did I mention I live in a third floor walk-up) I finally broke down and got flannel sheets. It might be nice to sleep on my bed before Christmas...
• sealing up my skylight with cellophane (to the goal of above)
• picking up drugs at the pharmacy, making sure I have enough to get me through the holidays...
• Sleep? Oh that might be a good idea...

Did I mention it's like 14 degrees outside? So it's like 55 in my apartment, because the thrifty side of me turned the thermostat down when I left the house this morning.

Plus, I have social engagements every evening this week (my choice, don't cry for me Argentina) and I have Saturday off but as yet, no plans, because I'm never off on Saturday...I think I'll go to the movies. There's gotta be something I want to see. Because you are not getting me shopping, no sirree!! That's gonna be all wrapped up (metaphorically if not literally) on Friday, because I have the morning off. I'll get my Driver's Liscense picture taken, go to AAA and get a gazillion tour books for Dad (it's what he wants for Christmas, who am I to argue?), and maybe have a hot lunch at Whole Foods. They're having free valet parking next week, (the week of Christmas), I'm tempted to go just for that!!! I could go to a wedding on Saturday...a guy I used to be in a Bible Study with a few years ago, but I don't know...I mean it would be just for the wedding, I wasn't invited to the wedding or reception, but the wedding is an open thing (I think) at the church. I don't know...I'm not sure my calloused heart would be able to take going to a wedding right now...it's hard enough watching the babies and the loving looks my friend's husbands give their wives...I just want it to be January, dammit!!

I don't want to miss the season, you understand, but I long for the quiet days of January when I can curl up with my book. Which right now is Eat Cake, by Jeanne Ray, the mom of Ann Patchett, of Bell Canto and the Patron Saint of Liars. Ms. Ray is a treasure and I was stricken to discover I wouldn't have her as a dinner companion this evening as I had left my book at my bedside. It's the type of book you want to quote verbatim ad naseum because it makes so much sense. Oh look, it might be 57 degrees in here now!

If I quoted a sentence from Eat Cake, I'd have to quote the whole book. Too bad there isn't an imdb for books--I could link you to the "most memorable quotes of the book" instead of what you'll get, a bn.com review and some other folks thoughts on the book. Trust me, the real thing is so much more satisfying.

Last night Babelbabe and I went to the Christmas party at Taz', our local coffee shop. She lives a block away from Taz' and works less hours away from home than me (any mom is working, 24-7) so she goes there a lot, and knew a lot of the folks. I just found out I have extra vacation time and so I left work early, tried to squeeze in some shopping (foolish girl) and got to Taz' around 8:50ish, not bad since I said 8:45 when we spoke--I called her on my cell in the parking lot on the way to dinner at Wendy's. I love my cell phone. I truly do.

Don't mind the pause, I just moved my bookcase (full of books yes) so that some more heat might reach me. It occurs to me that sleep might be the cure for this whatever it is...

Oh, but anyways, it was just so nice sitting there with BabBab, just chatting, while there was a live string jazz duo playing Christmasy music. Thanks for being my friend, BB, and for being the squeaky wheel in my social life! Ladies and Gents, I'd like to nominate BB as friend extraordinaire. It's great, too, that her kids love me. What a true blessing, indeed. Okay, it's 1:24, and I'm weeping from good thoughts, so I think I'll wrap this up (truly, no Christmas pun intended) and get some shut-eye.

What happens when a crow loses it's voice?

Lost caws.

(thanks to Jack Prelutsky!!)

By the way: becoming my dad is by giving things like chicks from Heifer Project as gifts--he loves it!!

What a surprise! I'm Pumpkin Pie!

You Are Pumpkin Pie

You're the perfect combo of uniqueness and qualityThose who like you are looking for something (someone!) special

What Kind of Pie Are You?

Joaquin Phoenix is Johnny Cash

Not once during Walk the Line did I doubt this fact. Reese Witherspoon was still Reese, I've seen her in so much that it was just wierd to see her without her blonde hair... but I think JP definately deserves the Golden Globe *and* the Oscar. Because for the two hours he was on the screen, he *was* the Man In Black.

Yes, you've been waiting for this...

Proof that my sneakers *are* indeed PINK! (plus bonus pictures of my *other* pink sneakers.) I know, this moment has been a long time coming, but hey, you're worth it! I braved the back of my made-by-a-man computer tower *for you,* dear reader.

Can't make out the stars

Caption: Bunny!!
Why I love This Side of Eve: you can tell they love what they do (and they do it well.) TSE is Alyssa and John Creasy, Bill Adams, Chris Hilf (now Nate whose last name I forgot) and Ian White. They played at the Union Project on Saturday. I'm listening to their album for a second time. When the first song is over, I can call my friend back (she said call me in 5 minutes, and their first song is 4:40...pretty slick on the time mgmt, dontcha think.)

she's telling me about this crazy eight sale at her grocery store.

Which is really crazy.

It was snowing, but it stopped.

Finally watched Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen. Wonderful diversion. I love the song "That Girl." The quotes are fun.

Okay, so on my wish list of movies/soundtracks: Legally Blonde 1&2; Ice Princess, Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen.

Oh look, it's snowing again.

What I loved at the concert (and most nights at the OD) is when the guitars just go off on their own...and all of a sudden, it's not "high art," it's boys with guitars having fun. So thanks, guys, for that.

Time to get ready for work--I spent the morning getting bloodwork done.

My life is becoming a blog conversation... (she writes instead of grooming for a party)

This is a direct quote from me on BabBab's blog concerning the whole Target/Planned Parenthood Bruhaha. Anything in [] is new to this posting. For the record, I am Pro-Life but I think abortion is a pretty personal thing, (it's one of those things I'd rather not discuss, right up there with bunions and ulcers and football.) As a rule, I don't like discussing politics, because well, I'm not good at it and it doesn't interest me that much. Quote starts here: I *have* stopped going to Citgo, [this refers to a the fact that they are connected to a South American dictator.] but I pretty much refuse to refuse to shop at places because I disagree with their politics. [I prefer to go to stores because I like their merchandise] I hate the idea of becoming a sub-culture. I want to be out there in the marketplace. As a Christian, I know a lot of people (some who are friends) who *are* entrenched in sub-cultures, don't listen to the radio or news or music unless it's on the Christian station, don't watch a lot of TV, won't read certain authors, etc. When Jesus said "I have come so they may live life more abundantly" (John 10:10) I don't think that's what he was talking about.

I've never been the kind of person who only had one kind of friend. As an adult, most of my friends don't know each other because I have met them all in different contexts. I firmly believe in the proverb that says better a friend that is near than a brother who is far. I am, as Barbara Streisand sings, "a person who needs people," and I am grateful for each one of my many friends. I probably disagree with each of my friends on at least one thing that would be a deal-breaker in a life-long mate, but most of my friends are women and married (definate deal-breakers right there) and I'm looking for a single man. I'd rather be friends than be careful. If you want a good children's book on this, read A Bargain for Frances, by Russel Hoban. The thing I like about this book is that Thelma and Frances remain friends at the end.

Right before this, Frances has turned the tables and tricked Thelma.

"Well," said Thelma, "from now on I will have to be careful when I play with you."
"Being careful is not as much fun as being friends," said Frances. "Do you want to be careful or do you want to be friends?"
"I want to be friends," said Thelma.

This is the credo I live by, and it has worked most of the time.

Oh look, it's snowing!!

New things: I have added my yahoo email to my profile. If you have info re: Boston, want to buy my shoes (I don't think I'm selling), or are too shy to "comment online," that's what it's for.

The People...have spoken

I love the Internet. And I love my friends. Earlier this week, I wrote a "personal essay" on The People's Regime, Marian's online community. Well, it isn't "her's" per se, but it's where she hangs out with a bunch of her college friends. I signed on a few months ago, and this week I was inspired to write this.

Interesting library note: just got a call from Iggle Video--someone returned our movies there. Ah well, I guess that's good enough scuse for me to go over to Target (while I'm up there...).

So now you know...

You Have a Melancholic Temperament

Introspective and reflective, you think about everything and anything. You are a soft-hearted daydreamer. You long for your ideal life. You love silence and solitude. Everyday life is usually too chaotic for you. Given enough time alone, it's easy for you to find inner peace. You tend to be spiritual, having found your own meaning of life. Wise and patient, you can help people through difficult times. At your worst, you brood and sulk. Your negative thoughts can trap you. You are reserved and withdrawn. This makes it hard to connect to others. You tend to over think small things, making decisions difficult.

What Temperment Are You?

have yourself a merry little christmas...

First off, somehow my computer thought all I wanted to do was publish the title of this post.

I've been having bad dreams for weeks now.

I've been oversleeping for weeks now.

I do not have a wallet I like, I've been packing bags because of the snow (I thought I might have to overnight-it in the North Hills Thursday night so I packed an overnight bag) so my pills are wrong, my money is all over my purse and I've misplaced my debit card for the 2nd time this week. On Babelbabe's blog, we've been debating over whether one should shop based on politics (two posts, here and here) (Target apparently won't force their pharmacists to dispense emergency contraception, see Planned Parenthood link here.)

I have been sleeping on the couch coz it's warmer (b/c my bed is below the skylight which is not weatherproofed and I do not have flannel sheets)and I'm not addicted to sleeping pills but I am addicted to "You've Got Mail" and the TV is by the couch, ergo...

I've been fielding calls like "I lost my CPR card on the copier an hour ago" and people whose cards were doing wierd things. Frustrated with the system, I forgave $4.80 in fines. Merry Christmas--it made *me* feel better.

I'm currently awaiting my library director's news on whether she thinks I can go to Boston to the Public Library Association Conference in March. I know finding housing this late will be a BEAR!!!

Tonight will be filled with: (multiple choice) getting a wallet at Target (do I really want to go to a store? It's almost Christmas!!); going to Pep Boys before I go to my car guru's garage to change my oil; and going to a Christmas concert by This Side of Eve. I love Christmas but I'll be glad when it's over because frankly I just want to go home and read a book!!!

Earlier in Tech Services, we were oohing and ahhing over the new I spy Twas the night before christmas and but were frustrated when we couldn't find 3 ducks in a row.

My car looks like someone took it baking: It is smudgy with white instead of mostly red. Also, I am "illegally" parked vis a vis employee rules because it took a little longer at Wendy's because (see above) I couldn't find my debit card.

It's 2 pm and I just realized that Wendy's bag on my desk is my side salad! Wonder if it's warm yet (ick ick ick)--I'll have to go to the kitchen for a fork!!!

Have yourself a merry little Christmas
Let your heart be light
From now on our troubles will be out of sight
Have yourself a merry little Christmas
Make the yuletide gay
From now on our troubles will be far away
Once again as in olden days
Happy golden days of yore
Faithful friends who are dear to us
Gather near to us once more
Through the years we all will be together
If the fates allow
Hang a shining star upon the highest bough
And have yourself a merry little Christmas now

I love this song because it allows that life isn't perfect, even at Christmas we might have troubles.

But when oh when will I hear Dominick the Donkey?

Coming soon: show and tell of the artistic masterpieces at my parent's house, and a picture of my sister's bunny, whose name I will indubitably mispell.

Show and Tell--the real deal, with SL's new camera!!

Happy Merry Everything--it must have been a man who designed the USB hook-up to be already used by something (my printer? my DSL hook-up?) and &***## behind all the furniture. Kids do not try this at home if you have a broken tailbone. But hey, no Tylenol for 3 days, going on 4!!! What am I listening to now? Jill Sobule's "Good Person Inside." I'm picturing the man who designed my Dell Dimension Desktop.

So here they are, the my Xmas decors...I, like Babelbabe, haven't gotten started, but here's what I got so far...And you can match the picture with the caption, I am going to the coffe house. That's why they call it push button publishing!!

My favorite Christmas Movie

Haven't taken down the decorations from Independence Day (July 4th for our non-US readers).

Snow outside

My Christmas sweater (I own two, because my mom thinks every children's librarian should have one or two) (I own two different ones, but I obviously am still figuring out this digi camera/blogger thing-y)

Someone get me out of here!!

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow

Now, I hate driving in it but otherwise, I am a snow lover. My car guru says I don't need winter tires--after skidding around Pittsburgh on the way home tonight, I disagree. He says I need to slow down--I was driving under 15 mph in an inch or more of snow and I feared for my life!! It seems to have stopped, but they say it's supposed to start again at midnight. Anyways, very glad I left work early, and now, to bed (or sofa, as the case may be.) (This room is just warmer!!) BB gave me virtual flannel sheets for Christmas--maybe I need to scour Overstocks.com to see if I can score some actual ones.

Finished watching Elf--what a great movie!! It truly got me back in the Christmas spirit!!

Yawn...goodnight. Oh, and I'll fix the picture in "The Girl who Lived" tomorrow. Must sleep...

The Girl Who Lived--a blog tribute

(I'll work on fixing the orientation of the picture later!)

Well, today is Dec 8, the birthday of Joy Cherene, who died about 2o days later, in 1976. Premies didn't live in those days and I don't even know if men were allowed in the delivery room--but five year olds were definately not allowed in the Neonatal Unit. So I never saw her--just the grave, which is now flanked by the one for Peter (I don't remember his middle name) who died shortly after he was born, two years later. But this post is about Beppe, the Girl Who Lived. She was born at home, somewhere outside Tegucigalpa, and we think the home birth is why she lived. We were unaware of her birth...my mother always talks about how if she knew she was having a baby that day, she would have been happier--we all had colds and were trying to ski with them in Vermont.

Everyone has favorite stories and favorite pictures--this is my favorite story and my favorite picture. My life was never the same after March 31, 1982.

I knew my parents were looking into adoption--we had social workers come in and do "home studies" where they ask you questions about your family situation. But adoption and babies was the last thing on my mind when our maid Bertilia met me at the bus stop in our hill-side neighborhood in Tegucigalpa, which was called Las Professionales. It was a sub-set of Las Lomas, a larger "colonia" which was what the neighborhoods were called. Bertilia said to me, as I got off the bus, "There's a surprise for you at home." A bike, I thought? (even though at the ripe age of 34 I still have to teach myself how to ride every time I get back on a bike--at that time, I didn't know at all how to ride one.) We walked down Calle Guaymura (Yes, I am using all real names today--I got permission from my sister.) to the very end, where our white modern house was the second to the last house on the left.

When I got into the house, and up to the kitchen, I noticed that everybody was in the kitchen cleaning baby bottles and such. Something told me the surprise was not a bike. (Now, you have to know at this time in my life, I was not crazy about children, babies especially. I thought I might adopt a ten year old girl someday, sort of like Mandy or Anne Shirley.) I went up the four stairs to my room, dropped off my books and went across the hall to the spare room, where there seemed to be something (or someone) nestled in a dresser drawer, surrounded by blankets. I think I was not the one most surprised when I peeked in and saw the girl you see in the picture. I sealed my fate with those now-famous words, "Oh, she's the most beautiful baby I've ever seen. Can we keep her?" Not the response my mother expected, I imagine.

The whole story is a mess of details, from how my mother happened to have a baby in the house, a baby my father had not yet seen, to the exact day the girl was born. (Honduras uses the European style of dating, so 3/1/82 seemed to us about right--March 1st. She was less than 5 pounds when we got her, so 3 weeks old made sense. No--weeks later, in court, it came out that her birthday was January 3rd--which makes her living even more miraculous--to be less than 5 pounds and almost 4 months old!)

Our story is not the typical adoption tale, so I can't fill you in on how it happens in the normal world. How it happened for us was that Beppe was brought to the hospital for jaundice and never reclaimed. Somehow she got into the hands of the judge my parents were working with for adoptions and the morning of March 31st, my mother got a phone call from this judge, who from my memory was a woman. (Our family, parental units at least, are not good storytellers, so this is pieced together.) Anyways, she called my mom and said, "There's a baby here, would you like to come see her?" My mom was having lunch with a friend and said, "Sure, I'll stop by." When she did, the judge handed my sister to her and said, "Here, take her home, see if your husband likes her." My mother balked--she couldn't just take a baby without talking to my dad first!! But the judge had some urgency, and my mother finally relented. So my mom and Donna went to the grocery store with my sister, bought diapers and things, and brought her home.

All afternoon, I couldn't do my homework--I kept peeking in on our little treasure. Finally, I just set up camp by her, looking at her more than the math problems I was supposed to be solving. I don't know when my mother had the idea to take the picture above, but whenever I look at it, I think, (forgive me Beppe), she looks like ET! I think the hat makes her look like a Roman Centurian. I don't remember exactly what happened when my dad came home, but after dinner, we sat at the dining room table and thought up names. I wanted Laura or Mary or Caroline (Little House on the Prairie was my favorite TV show--I watched it dubbed over in Spanish). We finally settled on Elizabeth, since it offered the most amount of nicknames.

The rest is history...we soon got her to five pounds. I remember that because my dad would call her his five pound bag of sugar. The next surprise happened when, upon locating a duplicate baby book that I liked (the one from the Metropolitan Museum of Art), I asked if I could have it for a journal and my parents gave each other a glance and said, there's something we have to tell you. But that is a story for another day...he's now 23.

Marian the librarian rocks!

Marian and I went to the lunch counter at the local drugstore today. (I love the North Hills for being so old fashioned!!) She suggested the new name, "Pink Sneakers N'at" which solidly places it in the Pittsburgh realm of things, while being a short and distinctive name. Go Marian!

Unshelved, my favorite librarian comic strip, is sent to me via email each day. Right now they're doing a series on blogging, which is fun. From their blog, I gleaned this link, in which Scott Adams deconstructs comic strip humor to a formula. I'm still not sure if Scott Adams is the Anti-Christ, but at least I can stand to read Dilbert--I think I've changed more than he has, which is a little bit scary...

I read somewhere that women have journals, while men have blogs. While it rankled me, it sort of makes sense--I think women are more likely to write whether or not they have a cool link or have just read a great book, whereas men seem to focus more on saying something when they have something to say. It reminds me of the play Trifles, which I read when I was at Carlow, in a class on American Plays. (I loved the classes at Carlow!) The focus is of a murder investigation, which the women figure out by looking at the canary while the men are stumped and the men say oh women just think about "trifles." I had to read it three times before I figured it out--that's the difference between reading and seeing a play, I guess.

Baby, it's cold outside. Funny, how songs cycle through--last year I heard that song almost daily and this year is I think is actually colder and I haven't heard it once. Maybe I was listening to more of the Christmas songs until it's Christmas radio stations last year--I've been listening to more of WYEP lately, although last night the DJ was fawning over something like, Chemical Brothers which I had to change because, well, it was too wierd for driving home music. I couldn't believe it *was* YEP the other day when they played "Wedding Bell Blues"--I thought my radio buttons must have been messed up. Their range is broad, I'll say that.

Well, it's almost time for me to get off this desk...I should have been working on my staff year end evalutation and instead...oh well. This afternoon I'll be watching Elf with the teens. Depending on how well it goes, at the end of the day I'll be saying I get paid for this? or I get paid for this? (the inflection and smile or lack thereof can't really be expressed via a non-audio blog post.)

Walk the Line--a great flick. I love the book Bright Lights Big City because my life could never be that crazy or horrible and yet it ends sanguinely. I feel the same way about WTL--I doubt I will ever wake up from a stupor in the woods and see my dream house in front of me, but I have to say, that is a moment of going from the bottom of the barrel to the beginning of the top of the heap. Why do I like bio-pics? So I can say, if they did all that and look where they go, look at me, I'll be okay. (I remember a former boss being aghast at my description of why I like BLBC, but it works for me.)

It's too late...baby

Warning: this is ordinary living stuff. If you want links, move on!

Post title refers to a Carole King song, gotta love her. My dad got me the Living Room Concerts 2 disc set for my birthday.

Uhhhhh. So I worked until 9:30pm, had a half hour lunch, so I acrued an hour of comp time today! Last year I didn't work the full year so I didn't accrue all the vacation so this year it's been playing catch up with sick leave and vacation days and all that...it sucks working every Saturday until forever but when I have a Saturday off I am so bored...life is always always greener on the other side. Always!!!

There is this beautific gorgeous house by my bank--Christmas lights we're talking--the whole house must be covered in lights--I swear it glows. It is so beautifull!! Take Siebert off McKnight, you'll see it on the left.

Tomorrow (in 15 minutes it will be today--yikes!) I'll be hosting a table with brownies and information about volunteering for MOPS at the college fellowship at Bellefield. A wonderful woman in my Bible study is baking the brownies--bless her heart!!

So I've been paying off my credit cards with the money from my Grandma's house...geesh it goes fast!! My mom wants a report every time I pay. I need to get her off my back but more importantly, I need to know where the money has gone...so Babelbabe got me this really cute address book for my birthday, it's pink (of course) and has a band to keep it closed. I don't need another address book, but it is just too cute!! So...I have transformed its use from address book to reciept book--just like the heroine in Enchanted April, I am going to start writing down every time I spend money. And I have the cutest little book to use!! Thanks BB!! I think the best part (aside from its cuteness and its pinkness) is the band, which keeps it shut, holding in reciepts until I can staple them in.

I've been sleeping in my bed, an improvement over the couch except that my sheets are so cold when I first get in that it takes forever to get warm. I need a bed warmer--didn't they use hot bricks in the Caddie Woodlawn/Laura Ingalls days? Tonight I may revert to the couch and think about covering (must I?) the skylight with cellophane. It will still be clear, it won't obscure the view the skylight offers, and it may mean my bed is warmer at night...

Okay, this has gone on long enough. It is already tomorrow (or today) Wednesday.

I'm hungry...

Mama went to jail...

...for the vote.

The first line I adore and when you look at the cover picture, you'll understand:

"I hate these bloomers, Mama!"

This post brought to you in delayed time, due to a DSL outage

Last night I went to a party. The hostess is a woman I've know a few years from a Bible Study we were in together. She also goes to the Open Door. She employed the e-vite to get us all to come, a electronic invitation that until this time I thought vapid. Perhaps it was the people who used it before that I didn't like--because it was winsome ? or something, getting an email every couple of days saying, you still haven't responded. Finally I registered as a "maybe." It was a Scottish "Meet and Ale" party, and so the designations for maybe and no said, I may be a wanker, I am a wanker. It was inventive and fun, much like she is. When I broke my tailbone, she sent me an electronic card. For my birthday, she sent me an electronic card. She is a treasure of a friend.

There were people I'd hoped to see at the party, and they weren't there, but there were people I hadn't even ever met and people I liked and knew but hadn't realized would be there. So it was a good surprise all around. I only stayed a few hours, but it was nice when people said "Oh you're leaving?" I *was* exhausted. I came home and fell asleep to my sister's birthday gift to me, "Love, Actually" on DVD. I awoke at 1 am (a blessing, as I'd forgotten my pain meds) to the annoying singsong of the DVD front menu song.

Sex and the City is now playing at a TV near you! They've taken "Just Shoot Me!" off the Saturday at 6pm slot (a slot I enjoyed watching the past 4 years) (I miss that show...I loved the theme song...) (And the show grew on me...) So Carrie now inhabits my imagination, I find myself thinking about her relationship with Big as I do dishes, as I brush my teeth. When I get a DVD player, I'll take a weekend off and watch them all--thank goodness for libraries.

Playing on the radio right now: When you wish upon a star...I love Disney, despite everything.

I need a new name for this blog. I want pink in the name somewhere, since it is so "me," but I feel I've outgrown my first name (pink sneakers and pocket books) and the new name (if pink is the new black...) is too long.

Here are a few I've thought of: Bread and Roses; Pink Stars; Pink Candles...

I love the idea of dancing. I love dancing, period. I'm not crazy about slow dancing or cheek to cheek with strangers, which keeps me from swing dancing or salsa, though I have friends that invite me often. I often think of the dancing at my wedding and have toyed with what song I'd choose for the first dance as Mr. and Mrs. X. A few I've toyed with:
May I have this dance for the rest of my life, will you be my partner, every night?
Save the last dance for me (you may dance with...but remember who's taking you home...)

When I daydream like this, especially in my blog, I think, I must be ostracizing any male readers and I must be "Crazy" (as in Patsy Cline). Alas, this is me, Sarah Louise, fanciful and daydreamy...

Maybe I should call Verizon and see if we can get this Internet connection working again...(this is being composed in Notepad) Something in me says, but it's Sunday!!

So I'll go...groom. I'm still on the fence about joining Babelbabe and company at St. Andrew's, although the snow has dampened that a bit, especially with my injury...Yes, the snow has blanketed the roads and the cars...

Swinging with Sinatra is on the radio. I think I need to change the station or put on a CD. I don't mind Sinatra in small doses, but a whole hour can put me in a stupor.

Going now, really.

See, I'm gone...

Really!

Bye!

Why I dig (and attend) the Open Door

A post a long time coming...but tonight gave me some good fodder for blogging on this very topic.

1. My friends are there. People are always glad to see me, don't you want to go...where everybody knows your name (sing it with me) and they're always glad you came... Well, it's true. I was one of the last people to leave tonight cause I just like hanging out with the people at the OD.

2. We sing loud. I have been to a lot of churches where only the choir sings. Catholics are notorioius for this--and they will only sing the first (maybe second) verse of a hymn. C'mon, is that worship??? I like singing loud and I like listening to other people singing loud. I love watching grown men sing their hearts out and raise their hands while singing "The First Noel." (I'm not kidding.) The guys in the band are great too.

3. We meet at night. Which has meant that I've had choices for Sunday morning--I can do nursery at Bellefield, spending time with wonderful pre-toddlers, or I can go away Saturday night to Sunday afternoon, or I can go to church with Babelbabe and co. I love going to other churches--having evening services means I can go to other churches and still go to mine!!

4. There are a lot of men there. This may sound shallow, but I am a librarian. (We are a vocation that is peopled mainly by women.) I am a children's librarian in a public library. We have 1 male librarian in our building and 5 other men who work in our building. Our patrons are mostly women (more so in the children's department.) When I worked retail, my co-workers were male, my customers were male...I just like having two perspectives. I like men--it's rare to find a church that has so many nice ones. (Okay, this is a crude stereotype, so brace yourself: men at church are often milk-soppy--the men at the Open Door drink Guinness.) (Disclaimer: when you link off this blog, you are encountering opinions that may or may not be endorsed by Sarah Louise.)

5. BJ Woodworth. I've known BJ since forever--he did Cornerstone which is the college ministry at Bellefield and then moved on into other roles. When he was starting up the think team on the Open Door, I joined to a large degree because he was heading it up and I liked his ideas. (I later left to become Catholic for a year, but that's another story.) BJ believes in me and in my abilities as a writer and a librarian. That means a heck of a lot. BJ has an amazing wife, Katrina, and the most adorable kids.

6. John Creasy. I got to know John better this summer as I attended Trialogue and volunteered at the Open Door table at the Union Project Farmer's Market. He is a great guy and a wonderful musician. As a member of the Arts thing-a-ma-jig, I worked with John on the labywrinth we had last year for Advent and the stations we had this year for Lent. I also love his wife Alyssa and their cute as a button baby Teah. (rhymes with Princess Leia) Oh, and he and Alyssa are in this super cool band, This Side of Eve.

7. Bible Trialogue. This is a meeting on Tuesday nights at the Quiet Storm, a local coffee house. Basically, the idea is to meet and discuss the text for the sermon two weeks hence. It is a great way to really dig into the Scriptures and this summer got me out of the rut I was in about the book of Acts (I really didn't like it.) (But now I do, and I have had many discussions on the churches in Acts because I spent all summer going to Tri.) I've chosen to go to a women's Bible Study at Bellefield Tuesday mornings, which means that I work Tuesday evenings, so I'm not attending Tri at the moment, but I long for the summer when I can re-join the conversations there.

So that's the Cliff Notes. I miss dressing up on Sunday morning for church, but on the other hand, it's nice to show up in jeans, rumpled after my Sunday afternoon nap, and fit right in. Tonight a guy I knew from library school (let's be honest, he was my professor) came up and said do you remember me? Wow! I spend so much time trying to reconnect with people from my past, I hardly ever have someone approach me with that line!! The sermon was all about pride, and I thought, if I have pride, one place is about the people I hang with: they're pretty cool. But if I think about where I met these folks, it wasn't at a "pick your friends club." I met Babelbabe at Yoga! I've met a lot of friends at the OD (and that's not a God thing?). After years and years, I am still talking on the phone (sometimes daily) with my best friend from high school! I think that borders on miraculous, don't you? And another friend thing: tonight on the way home, I went to Whole Foods to get some dinner (their hot bar is great!). My friend Amanda had said she was stopping there on the way home, an hour (45 minutes?) previous. She was still there when I got there, and we got to sit down to dinner. It was a divine appointment--we hadn't talked for awhile and it was just good to reconnect. The best part--I didn't even realize I had parked right next to her car!! (I have a bad memory for what cars my friends drive--so thanks to Blackbird for Friday's show and tell, at least know I'll know what Babelbabe's car looks like.) What I'm saying is I need to remember that God has chosen my friends, has wrapped them up like many beautiful gifts. Pride is forgetting what God has done. Remembering what God has done is the beginning of humility.

BJ read some quotes from CS Lewis (the Narnia guy) about pride. One of them said that humility before God is forgetting about one's existence or thinking of oneself as a small dirty object. This BJ commenting on the quote: "So where are you going?" "I'm going to go feel like a small dirty object, wanna come?" BJ had a ton of fun with British accents while reading the Lewis quotes, and I am reminded of another reason I love and attend the OD: I love to laugh. The sermonists at the OD love my laugh and I've even been told that one of the best things about giving a sermon at the OD is having me laugh at the jokes. (Thanks, Jake!) When Lou Mitchell was at the helm at Bellefield (oh how I miss those days), he would stop after I laughed and say, "Oh good, Suzi's here!" (I have a very distinctive laugh.)

I guess I'm rambling, and I know it, but I feel like I'm right in the middle of a ton of questions in my life, which is right where God wants me--because as long as I'm asking questions, I'm engaging God--it's when I think I know what the road ahead holds that I often forget to ask for God's map. We sang this awesome song tonight, "Jesus You Alone" which we sang forever it seemed--I've been feeling dry, like I haven't been talking to God enough, or listening, and this song was my heart-cry.

So thanks for a great Sunday (in which I had pancakes cooked by Babelbabe's hubby)
(in which I had a 3 hour nap! which might explain my awakeness at 12:17 am)
(in which I sang loud and stood tall)
(in which I reconnected with friends new and old--one is silver and the other gold)
(in which I finally called Verizon and got my DSL back on track!)

Guten nacht (which means good night in German).