A picture book can be fun AND educational!

NOOOO! That's not what I meant to cut and paste. Here's what I meant to enlighten yins with:

Be a lamp, or a lifeboat, or a ladder. Help someone's soul heal. Walk
out of your house like a shepherd. -Jalaluddin Rumi, poet and mystic
(1207-1273)

A friend of Max's who has befriended me (I helped her put together a list of kid's books for a MOPS presentation) sent me this quote. I rather like it. It reminds me of the guy from M L'E's A Small Rain, the guy who ends up being an Episcopal priest in the second book (A Severed Wasp). He called himself a "window-washer." I no longer own A Small Rain (bangs head agains proverbial wall), or I'd pull up a quote, and frankly, I'm too lazy and feeling the aches of Day Two (which seems to have shifted in my life to be Day Three) to walk over to the other room to find a quote from A Severed Wasp.

So there you have it.

(The title quote is from my wild and crazy friend Susan, the Usborne lady. I told her she was preaching to the choir.)

I'm going out of town this weekend and look at me, I'm procrastinating AFTER I've done most of the packing!! WH--at? I know! I keep thinking I've forgotten something. Well, a few things can't go in until the last minute--hairdryer, toothbrush. I haven't decided if I'm taking shampoo. (I'll be staying with the folks, and there might be shampoo in the guest bath, I can't remember.)

Monday will mark exactly four months to the day of our first "date." Kind of exciting/bizarre/wonderful. (Pinch me.)

Oh, and can I just say what a wonderful place a laundromat is? You get quarters AND cash! (Our in house laundry machines eat quarters, so I eventually have to visit a change machine as we don't have one of THOSE in house.)

Off to check the wash...

God grant me the serenity....

I have the Serenity Prayer (the whole thing, not just the part you find on magnets at Whole Foods*) taped to one of my doorframes and this morning, while moving between the bathroom and the bedroom, I read it outloud to the air and to myself.

Living moment by moment? That's HARD!

Taking...this...world as it is, not as I would have it;

What? I have to accept things, this world??? As it is!! You gotta be kidding!

But here's the payout:

That I may be reasonably happy in this life and supremely happy with Him Forever in the next. (Reinhold Niebuhr)

Oh, because this is my current home! And I should be happy here!

Aside: the word serenity often reminds me of the Seinfeld episode where one of the dads (George's?) is going to this guru who tells him when things go bad to yell "Serenity now!" Which is so opposite of the Serenity Prayer...it makes me giggle. I watch Seinfeld so much less now, and TV in general since they moved Friends to My Pittsburgh TV, a channel I do not get. I used to come home on days I worked until 5 and it would be Friends, Frasier, Friends, Seinfeld. Now it's Frasier, Simpsons, Simpsons, Seinfeld. I like the Simpsons, yes, but not that much.

I did the Stuffed Animal Sleepover Friday evening and yesterday. Then I hung out at NH Sally's and watched this week's Beth Moore video, which was all about rest, which I thought very fitting, since I'm going on vacation!! Then Marian (the Librarian) and I went to the Original Pancake House for lunch and then off to see Stardust. While we waited for our table at OPH, we talked about stuff, including the movie we were about to see. Marian said she had the book and I swear I heard her say it was by Neil Diamond. So I didn't say anything right away but then later in the conversation it came up, because she said something else about Neil Gaiman I guess, and I said, oh, I thought you said Neil Diamond and I guess I wouldn't rush to read a scifi book written by him either. We had a giggle about that.

One of the great things about our friendship is that we read entirely different books for the most part. Our one common thread is Meg Cabot's chicklit. So I can tell Marian about a book and say, "You're not going to read this, are you?" and give her the end, and she can do the same with me.

We also giggle about silly things like this one branch that has been caught in the telephone wires for MONTHS, on Rte. 19. I mean, c'mon. The floods came, the winds came, entire trees fell on people's trucks and houses, and the branch IS STILL THERE! Whenever we go out to lunch, we drive by it, and it's still there! It's sort of like that song, "The cat came back..." (Which, OMG, has its own Wikipedia page that is VERY thorough...)

Now here's the reason why I am glad I work on Saturdays: I have no idea what to do on a Saturday afternoon! And it occurred to me that it's because I've been working almost every Saturday since 1995. So yesterday, when I came home from the movies, I lay down (because I am becoming my father's daughter and fell asleep for 5 minutes in the movie). But I wasn't THAT tired, so I got up and had a snack. Then I tried to watch TV. But it was either baseball, golf, or baseball, and I couldn't find the remote (so I can put the TV on channel 3) so that I could watch a video. So I lay down and took a nap. Then I got up, called my Mom, called NH Sally, went to KFC for some dinner (finger lickin good!) and came home, ate dinner, and lay back down again. I set my alarm for 10:15 to take my meds and I didn't get up, so when Max called around 11, I took my meds. He said he thought he was on the edge of it being too late to call and I said, it's okay, cause I've been sleeping all evening! And now I just took my meds!

Next week we'll both be in the land of unreliable cell coverage. I tell you, (as I told Marian) it is SO weird having a boyfriend. I mean, someone that calls me at home while they're on vacation? Someone that I say stuff like, "It's nice to hear your voice" to? I tell you, it's pretty bizarre. But I like it. (Grin.)

I think I'm going to Bellefield this morning. In part because hey, it puts off packing, but in part because it gives structure to this day and so I know that when I get home, I HAVE TO PACK! Plus, I haven't been there in ages, and I like checking in with folks. PLUS, if I see Kelly, I can give her the Beth Moore video, which saves me a trip to Greenfield today.

I read Everything and a kite by Ray Romano yesterday. He cracks me up. (I have to read two humor books for the library's summer reading program.)

Oh, and I said I might go to the work picnic...but I'm not packed...I do really want to see Janice and her baby...You know what, we're crossing that one off the list. Because that will take at least two hours out of this day and I DO really have to get my oil changed. And I'd rather drive up on an off day and see Janice and her baby and be able to visit, really visit. Whereas the picnic will be like going to a wedding and pretending that you'll be able to talk to the bride. And really, who wants to go to a WORK picnic the day before vacation? Not me.

Okay, so now that I have THAT worked out, I think I'll go for my walk.

You know the scene in Walk the Line where Reese Witherspoon is going through her bag to get to this book she wants to lend to Johnny Cash?

Here's the line: (Johnny Cash): You got a library in there, June. (You can thank the fine folks at imdb.com fer that.)

That's gonna be my carryon bag. Another thing I have to do today. Figure out which books to take...

Oh, and Stardust was good. If you like scifi movies, you'll love it. It didn't have enough conversation for me, which is probably why I fell asleep. Marian loved it, so I know it is a good movie.

So here's the docket for today:

1. go for walk
2. eat something, probably toast
   
3. go to Bellefield
4. get lunch
5. get oil changed (possibly BEFORE Bellefield, to put off the crowds)
6. pack: meds, books, and some clothes. My bathing suit is already in.
7. Pay bills that will be due while I'm gone
8. Make a box for my mail. (Thank you, Ms. Second Floor!)
9. Catch up on a few emails
10. researching if it's too late to buy Windows XP (a conversation with Marian got me worried) (I don't want Vista!)
11. going to the OD
    

Plus, spending the night at NH Sally's on Friday was like a dry run for going away. I remembered my toothbrush!

The day awaits. It is time to embrace it. (If I must....)
___________
*But I do have one of those magnets too.

You are not surprised... (updated)

Well, I'm going on vackay next week and guess which visitor has come to tempt me off the path of efficient preparations of packing my meds, doing laundry, sorting through which books to take, etc...

You guessed it, PROCRASTINATION! Well, and I didn't have a day off yesterday, and I was so grumpy last night as a result.

I MAY have found a sofa on Craig's List (a new experience to me) which would then require organizing burly men with trucks and me offering lots of pizza. It's been twelve years, yo, since I've had to coordinate something as big as a sofa out of my third floor walk up and a sofa back up. But I have Saturday, since I have set that aside for vackay after the Stuffed Animal Breakfast.

I wonder if it's my monkey mind, though, looking for something to do that doesn't involve the gruel of packing. I mean, once I get down to it, packing doesn't take very long, because I do a million procrastinatory (is that a word) things first and then I have to hustle--wouldn't it be more efficient for me to PACK first and then I'd have time to do other stuff?

And I'm not leaving until Monday morning...but if I did it now, I wouldn't have it hanging over my head...

And if you saw all the books I've amassed in my car and requested through the library online...you'd think I was going away for weeks and weeks instead of five days.

And because of schedule changes, I am eating dinner at 4. Or maybe at 4 I'll have a snack and then I'll have dinner at 9:30.

I have 45 min before I have to be at work. I'm not really hungry, but if I eat lunch now, I'll get that out of the way...and then I can at least bring my bag out and do a rough draft of packing... (besides, if I'm going to be hungry for ANYTHING at 4, eating something now behooves me...)

The pills are the worst. I mean, I take meds 4 times a day and I usually set pills out 4 days in advance...I guess if I was able to do it for Yellowstone n'at I can do it again--that was for 7 days.

Okay, the writing helps. Thanks for reading about the minutia of my life. I promise, once summer is over, I will start posting pictures again. Also, I need to figure out how to transfer my Picasa account and make it an online account...but NOT THIS WEEK.

FOCUS, thy name is packing for vackay. Which this time, I am very excited about. It's the Lake, and the woods! (Now, admitedly, I am a sea and shore girl, but this has been our family tradition for over 20 years...)

Oh, and soon enough I'll write about Nick Hornby's latest novel, Long Way Down, which is AMAZING!!!

Okay, so lunch will make me want to work...and if you believe that, I have some ocean front property in Arizona...

*********

Well okay, so while my lunch was microwaving I pulled out my bag and put a few things in it. And now, I'm reading About a Boy again (reading and eating lunch go together and High Fidelity must be in the car...oh, no, there it is...so I'm on a Nick Hornby binge I guess...)

Friday's child is loving and giving...(even though it's still technically Thursday)

So my parents finally called--they thought I might call them. Um, they are on vacation, a different time zone and this is the craziest time of my work year? Yeah, I think I'll wait for them to call me, thankyouverymuch.

This is one of those very boring posts, but I'm too tired to care.

Still working down the list. (Which seems to be growing--is that possible??)

Got caught in torrential downpour this afternoon whilst doing errands. (Happy Solstice!)

Both bosses (and possibly our director) are either at or en route to the American Library Association Conference in DC.

I'm going to sleep. I am EXHAUSTED. Sis seems to be feeling better, though still tired. In the packing/laundry race, she's winning. But I have tomorrow evening and all of Saturday morning to do that--although t-shirts need time to dry...I'll do laundry Friday night. Um, and compete with my housemate, Ms Second Floor.

I gotta go to bed. I can't process all this.

Oh, and I seriously need my sister to come and fix all my electrionics. The clock in my car is still in Daylights Savings Time, my answering machine thinks that it's Monday 6:48 am, and my computer, well, there's no help for that. (Although I just checked and it's not too far off. Earlier this week it was like a half hour off and I went bonkers.)

Must. go. to. bed.

Buh-bye.

I promise at least one more interesting post before I leave you to search my archives whilst I frolick in Montana for a week.

ACK!! (and some lovely sassafrass leaves)

spoon

fork

mitten

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

Paula always does it up nice with pictures, and I haven't posted any since my camera decided it didn't want to communicate with my computer. But now that I have Picasa (not that I know how to use it to post pictures) I can at least see my pictures, not just the lined up folders. So here are some pictures from last summer. Maybe posting these will make me feel like I can move forward, take a walk, eat something, and continue working on

• packing
• booking the airport motel for our return at 11:30pm on July 30
• packing

Nope, I still want to sit on the couch and eat bon bons. Well, it was worth a shot...