Three!

Three hand-knit gifts from Auntie K are in the mail! Well, OK, not quite in the mail yet, but they will be when I go to UPS tonight.

USPS can kiss my money goodbye this year, however. TWO irreplaceable, handmade-with-love-and-tears gifts lost in two years is more than a girl can take.

CHOCOLATE

Let's face it--drugstore chocolates are mostly el yucko. Someone recently gave me a box of Russell Stover candy, however, that was pretty decent. At work today there's a beautiful huge box of the same.

Thus, I've discovered that RS roman nougats and maple nut creams are pretty tasty (actually I knew this, but had forgotten). So imagine my delight in seeing that you can order single flavors and custom choice boxes from the Russell Stover Web site.

Or if you aren't picky, you could go for the Bloopers box instead.

Any takers?

A First

Despite all my big talk as a knitter, I haven't finished very many things (the first big project I finished was Jack's Christmas stocking, which went into the bin at the post office and was never seen by the likes of us again). So it was at least a mini-accomplishment to finish a scarf for the library student assistant party yesterday. It will be the first wearable item I've finished and given away.

The yarn is Lion Brand Homespun, which looks nice and comes in pretty colors, but is not very fun to work with. It does knit up soft and fluffy, so it makes a nice scarf.

In the list of finished projects, the scarf is #4, I believe. I finished one accessory for a Christmas gift last week, and hope to have #5 and #6 done soon. My goal is to someday have the "finished projects" list be longer than the "works in progress" list. I'm enjoying all the knitting and wish I had time to knit something for all of my friends.

Jefferson

Nice Surprise

I got to work this morning after a holiday break and a day of being sick, feeling less than enthusiastic about the day and week ahead. So it was a nice surprise to see that I cleaned my office (somewhat) before I left last week.

I know that to the uninitiated, the office still looks like a mess, but believe me--it actually looks great. I should be kinder to myself more often!

Things I Learned This Week

If you loan a library book to a friend, make sure it's desensitized so it won't set off an alarm when the friend comes in the library with the book.

Inventory your personal valuables. If the items are later stolen, completing police and insurance reports will be much easier with an inventory. If your jurisdiction uses LeadsOnline, you can store your inventory here.

Take and save photographs of YOU and your loved ones. If you always refuse to be in a photograph and then you die, the people who love you will wish they had more photos. If those people have lots of photos of you, they'll find comfort in reviewing the photos and remembering the good times you shared. Also, mourners standing in line at the visitation will have something to watch if your family puts the photos into a video.

If you're knitting a lace scarf and find you're missing a stitch, it IS possible to unknit several rows and recover quite nicely, even if you think there's no way you'll be able to unknit in pattern.

What's Up, Doc?

I think autumn has finally arrived in middle Tennessee, and not a moment too soon. Here's what I've been up to lately:

• Had a fun but short visit in KY two weeks ago for baby J's blessing.
• Caught a cold this week, and haven't had a voice for three days. My wonderful coworker A taught a class for me on Thursday and again on Friday. We'll see how Primary goes tomorrow!
• I also caught the knitting bug again, so I'm not reading much of anything, but I'm having fun knitting and poring over knitting catalogs.
• I'm completely and utterly unenthused about teaching library classes, and I'm tired of the students not paying attention or answering questions. I taught one class on Thursday, and it was awful. Fortunately, A saved me from my misery by teaching the next one (see above).
• I've been semi-busy preparing for M and D to visit, though we'll only have a couple of days together (while I'm still at work both days) and then I fly to see A1 and family for a few days.
• M and D's imminent visit is part of the reason I'm picking up and cleaning, but I'm also determined to get this house into shape once and for all. If you know what my house looks like, you know it's not a weekend project, but I'm going to stick with it until I see some results. First step--I have nearly all the jewelry off the dresser top and in a drawer where it's truly accessible and not in a pile. Yea me!
• I hemmed two pairs of slacks last week in the same evening. I think it's a personal best for productivity.

Perfectly Lovely

I don't have enough time to indulge in all my pastimes all the time, so I have to choose. For a while, I was reading a book or two a week, but now I'm knitting, with a bit of time devoted to crosswords (I can do Thursday NYT puzzles if I put my mind to it and cheat a tiny bit!). Of course, I don't just sit and knit, I sit and knit and watch a DVD, either The X Files (just finished season five), or my current favorite British crime drama, Inspector Lewis.

After bemoaning all the recent evenings I've worked "late" or had to go somewhere after work, I had a perfectly lovely evening last night. I didn't get home until 6pm, but I still had time to watch a DVD, do some knitting, work on a crossword and finish off the evening reading in the Book of Mormon in bed, all before 11:45.

What's your idea of a perfectly lovely evening?

A Real List

My friend M recently published her list of 40 Things to Do Before I Turn 40, and she's already started checking items off. That got me thinking about things I'd like to do before my next birthday. So, if I were going to make such a list, here's what it would look like:

42 Things to Do Before I Turn 42

1. Lose one pound
2. Lose one pound
3. Lose one pound.........
42. Lose one pound

Something to Pique Your Interest?

I was unenthused by BookPage's September bestseller watch post, though I saw several gift ideas there. I'm more interested by their list of 25 most anticipated books for fall. Top of my list is Roger Ebert's Life Itself.

I've been in a reading funk lately. The only print book I'm actively reading* is The Hippopotamus Pool (Amelia Peabody) for the ?th time. But I'm hoping to break out of the doldrums with Before I Go to Sleep this weekend and I'm looking forward to Laurie R. King's Pirate King, out next week.

What's on your reading horizon?

*I'm also listening to Blue Blood in the car and loving it.

Making it Work

I'm terrible at drinking enough water to stay hydrated. Apparently, I just never had the right container. I bought myself a pink 20 oz Aladdin To-Go tumbler at Target. I fill it with ice and water before I leave for work, and voila! I'm drinking at least 20 more ounces a day, maybe even 40 or 50 ounces more, than I had been.

If only other health habits were so easy to improve!

Alert

Hell just froze over. How do I know? Check the calendar and look at my arm:

August Fools

Bet you looked at my shoes and thought Autumn had arrived, didn't you?

Naturally

The yard needs to be mowed and the house needs to be picked up blown up so I can start over again (the pest control man is coming Friday).

So I did the only logical thing in such circumstances--I made Scotcharoos. Want some?

High as a Kite

It was fun to see so many boys sporting back-to-school haircuts yesterday at Church. Primary was particularly challenging yesterday, partly because our half of the building had no air conditioning. Another factor was the presence of so many talkers in my class--everyone wants to tell a story about nearly everything we mention, whether its relevant or not.

Yesterday, however, C and E broke all previous records for crazy behavior, constantly messing with each other, skipping around the room, talking to each other, etc. When they both hid behind the table folded against the wall during the closing prayer, I pulled them out and took them in the hall while the others finished the prayer. C is 5 and about to start kindergarten. E is 6 and starting first grade.

After, the three of us talked about what might help them be more reverent and respectful in class, and it was obvious C felt bad about her behavior. I'm not sure E realized there was anything unacceptable about her behavior, but I can only tackle so many things at once. E said that singing an activity song before class would only give her more energy, but C said that she might feel better if we sing a quiet song. C is going to bring her Dad to class next week (her idea), and we'll try the reverence song.

Our class meets right after Sacrament Meeting at 10:15, and we take a water and bathroom break before class starts and let everyone share some news. We sometimes have pretzels or cheese sticks as a treat. I haven't kept track of whether treats affect behavior. But, I welcome any suggestions from my more experienced readers. Any ideas?

Safety Announcement

When television and radio ads warn you of the dangers of leaving children or pets unattended in a hot car, they usually forget to warn you of another vulnerable population: gummy worms!

Oh Well

I forgot to change my shoes on the way out of the house this morning, so I'm sporting my well-worn Reef Slaps at work today. Professional? No. Comfortable? You Bet.

Pencils

Neverending Story

No, we're not talking about the 1984 fantasy movie. We're talking about my life. Every day (practically).

I didn't find the missing Caffeine Fix, but I made some interesting discoveries during my search. The inner dialogue went something like:

North Texas tolltag? I didn't even know it was missing. And I never would have found it here!

Compact mirror. Sure wish I could make myself use it. Well, it wouldn't hurt to transfer it to yet another bag.

Wait a minute. Where's the bag I took to Day Camp last month? I haven't seen it since then. I better not have lost it there.

Aha! I knew I'd find you, rogue library Dogs and Cats book missing since October! Apparently I took you to KY at Christmas. Huh. This is a pretty good book. I should take it next time I see the children. Lincoln does love his "arfies."

Hello, running watch. This saves me a trip to my gym locker, since I planned to take you to FL tomorrow. But wait, maybe I should take this $14 fashion watch instead. Too bad the battery is dead.

Where on earth is that stupid bag? Now that I've thought about it, I really need to take it on the trip.

Four boxes of Puffs Plus? I knew I couldn't be completely out. Good thing I only bought three more and not another six.

Pathological

It's 8:50pm and I'm panicky over being unplugged for three days. I don't want to leave work because I'm fearful I'll get home and remember something I should have done that CAN'T WAIT until Monday.

No, I don't save lives at my job, but you wouldn't know it to look at the way I behave.

State of the Monday

• I arrived at work at 10 am today. Not as early as I hoped, but not terribly bad (10:30 is my official start time).
• I'm going on vacation in two days. A real vacation. At the beach.
• My toenails are painted for the first time this summer. Mrs. O'Leary's BBQ
• I brought my Primary bag to work today by mistake. This will necessitate a trip home pretty soon to retrieve the correct bag.
• I'm reading The Snake, the Crocodile and the Dog as part of my ongoing bid to once and for all reread and then finish the rest of the books in the series. It really doesn't get much better than Amelia Peabody. She's a great mood lifter.
• In other nail lacquer news, I can't find my bottle of Caffeine Fix. Hmmph.
• I watched the second episode of Zen on Masterpiece last night. Great! I'm now eager to read one of Michael Dibdin's books. If they're as good as Donna Leon's books, I'll be in heaven.

What's going on in your Monday?

Second Harvest

I hope to harvest enough tomatoes to can some of them.

First Harvest

First harvest, literally, because I've never grown food before.

Progress?

I just threw away 1/2 a bag of Cherry Cordial m&m's--they just didn't taste that good to me. Or maybe it had something to do with having to talk to my "health coach" soon.

Deja Vu--It's a Bad Thing

I was doing some email cleanup and found the following message I wrote nearly a year ago. Unfortunately, if you put 7/14/11 on it, it would still be true.

I’m just not thrilled with how my birthday week has turned out so far—I’ve eaten a ton of junk food and slept late too much. And I’m starting to feel the pressure of July being almost over, and then it’s August, and then the storm starts… You know. And I spent waaay too much money last month, which has me kind of stressed out too.

Almost All of the Family

I'll try to include little J on the next trip--the batteries were nearly dead this time. The middle child always gets a bum deal, doesn't he?

Squashed

If you carry a hard-boiled egg in your tote bag, it may end up like this:

(sorry for the unfocused photo--I'm lucky I even got the pic off my phone)

I May Be a Slob

but not THIS much of a slob:

Moving On, or, Going Out with a Bang

I finally closed my Audible account. At $14.95 a month, I decided it was a luxury I should forgo for now. I used my remaining 4 credits to buy:

• A Christmas Carol (narrated by Jim Dale)
• Macbeth: A Novel (narrated by Alan Cumming)
• Our Mutual Friend (Charles Dickens)
• Around the World in 80 Days (narrated by Jim Dale)

I feel like I'm listening to a Harry Potter book whenever I listen to Jim Dale, but I still love him

I also purchased two sale books:

• Adventures of Huckleberry Finn ($6, narrated by Elijah Wood)
• The Poisoner's Handbook: Murder and the Birth of Forensic Medicine in Jazz Age New York (I think the narration and production are not top quality, but it was only $1.20)

These ought to keep my busy for a while, or at least they will once I run out of audiobooks to borrow from the library!

I Scream, You Scream

I've decided there are few things finer in this world than a big bowl of Blue Bell Pecan Pralines 'n Cream. And a few of you are lucky enough to have known Blue Bell's Black Forest Cake, which is still one of my all-time favorites.

I also have fond memories of getting a birthday cup every year at Baskin Robbins (until I turned 12). Rainbow Sherbet and Mint Chocolate Chip were usually my choices, though Pink Bubble Gum was also tempting. I don't think Peanut Butter and Chocolate was around back then. It's my favorite BR flavor now, but if you too like it, I warn you to not read the ingredients list.

And then there's my best ice cream memory, the licorice ice cream my mother made with Richardson's licorice mints.

What are your thoughts on this versatile frozen dessert?


image: Colton, E.S. (1868). Neapolitan ice cream [broadside]. In An American time capsule: Three centuries of broadsides and other printed ephemera. Library of Congress, Rare Book and Special Collections Division.

A Day in the Life

BTW, that's my favorite Beatles' song.

Anyway, for those who wonder what I do at work when I'm not blogging, gossiping, or surfing the Internet, here's a visual aid: http://screencast.com/t/HABoXPPi7rQ You'll need speakers or headphones to get the full effect.

I produced this video on the fly while answering an online chat question from a student who simply wasn't grasping the Article Linker steps. I'd like to say the student watched the video and went on her merry way. Unfortunately, I produced the video at the 25 minute mark in our chat. Thirty-five minutes later, the student still hasn't showed signs of moving on. *sigh*

Easter Monkeys

Wouldn't It Be Nice? A Non-Illustrated Post

Because I often don't get to work at an early hour, I usually turn on the computer while I'm getting ready for work and monitor my e-mail, reply to a few messages, etc. It eases some of the guilt about being such a late starter.

Is it a surprise to anyone that I would rather sit in my bedroom all day and work from home in my pajamas rather than make myself presentable and go to the office? It's actually the "make myself presentable" part that I detest. If I could wake up, do the essentials (bathroom and teeth), and get in the car, I'd be happy to go to work every day. I might even be one of the first ones there (well, maybe). But I've been known to go to great lengths to avoid showering, putting on makeup, and fixing my hair.

If I stink, will you please tell me? I don't want to be offensive. I'm just mourning the slow realization of the ultra sonic shower machine (think George Jetson).

A Post

I'm embarrassed to post after a three month absence, particularly because I don't have much to say, and that's why I stopped posting in the first place. I actually have had some meaningful observations lately, but posting about them seemed like such work that I didn't do it.

Perhaps I'll get around to talking about one or two of those ideas sometime soon. In the meantime, the news of my life is:

My new Kindle has cracked my literary world wide open. I've only bought two full-price books*, but I'm downloading oodles of samples. For those who wonder, I chose the Kindle over the Nook (the only two readers I considered) because the page refresh is faster and I found navigation on the Nook to be difficult. I do wish I could put library downloads on my Kindle without hacking it, but the page refresh issue was a deal-breaker.

I went to Cub Scout Day Camp again (last week), this year as the camp administrator. It was a nightmare job involving 2+ weeks of little to no sleep every night. In fact, I'm blogging right now as a way of procrastinating some camp paperwork I need to do tonight. I think if I do it again, my parents will disown me and my friend Gwen will have me committed to a mental institution.

I'm growing vegetables (and fruit) for the first time, all in containers. One tomato plant appears to have been struck down by blossom end rot, but the other two plants look good. All three pepper plants have fruit, though only one plant looks healthy; the other two look anemic, or whatever is the plant equivalent of anemic. Two of the six strawberry plants are dead, but the others are alive, if in varying states of health. The strawberries are all fruitless and growing at microspeed.

I'm taking a break from British crime drama and British period drama miniseries on Netflix to watch all of The X Files. What a great show.

I'm in a book club that is about to have its 5th monthly meeting. So now I can say I have a social life.

I finally have a go-to meal for taking to sick families: cheese lasagna with green salad and (store bought) bread. I'm no longer in fear of having to take a meal to someone. It isn't the most economical meal, but it's fairly foolproof and simple.

Yours in shallowness,

Auntie K

*The Price We Paid: The Extraordinary Story of the Willie and Martin Handcart Pioneers

Freedom Riders: 1961 and the Struggle for Racial Justice

Math Error

I just realized that five into thirty is six, and not three. Glad to know that yesterday's double dose of Robitussin DM didn't do any damage.

Maybe I need to find a new fantasy career(s). Nurses and pharmacists, even fantasy ones, shouldn't be making errors like that. Or perhaps this is salvageable after all, if Lippincott will agree to include a basic arithmetic table in their next Nursing Drug Guide. Under every entry.

You Know You're an Adult When

you're sick but can't sleep, so you get up and do housework instead.

Four out of Five

"Burnout is characterized by emotional exhaustion, and negative attitudes and feelings toward one's co-workers and job role. Burnout is associated with job dissatisfaction, low commitment to the job and absenteeism."

Susan M. Wilson, "Avoid the Burn." gradPSYCH, March 2011, Vol 9, No. 2, p. 17

What?

I spent the entire work day, from the moment I hit the door, either prepping to teach a class, teaching a class, or working at the reference desk (I did eat a very tasty green banana somewhere in there).

Now, even after an hour of a bit of Internet browsing and sending Cub Scout emails, and eating some yogurt, I still feel like I've lost an entire day. I'm awarding the label "time warp" to this post.

Leave Request

Dear Boss,

I have a lot of things to do at work this afternoon. However, I respectfully request permission to leave early in order to address a real emergency.

You see, I borrowed the new Charles Todd novel at the public library two weeks ago. I didn't start reading it, however, because real life intruded (and I was depressed and busy solving crosswords). Now, the book is due today and I can't renew it because two other patrons submitted holds.

I am sure you will recognize the gravity of my situation and allow me to go home and start reading.

Thank you,

Auntie K, dedicated reader, if not a dedicated employee

Help!

What do you do when the only thing that will make you happy is a donut* and you don't think you can make it through the day without one (or more)?


*or thumbprint cookies from Julias' bakery, or a slice of coconut cake, or a piece of cheesecake--you get the idea

Interpretation, Please

Should I be concerned that I dreamed I had aloe vera plants growing from the backs of my hands?

In the dream, I had done it deliberately, but as the plants grew my hands started to hurt, and I was stymied over how to get rid of the plants without injuring my hands. If you have any first hand experience with this, please let me know.

Speaking of Books

The local library's OverDrive site needs an advanced search option that lets users exclude erotic romance novels from the search results. I like to browse the lists of recently published e-books and audio books, but do not like scrolling through page after page of newly acquired titles like Her Texan Temptation or Cinderella & the Playboy. Ugh.

My latest book blog discovery is Chamber Four. Any site that claims "Dan Brown is a hack" is part of its constitution is A-OK!

Comfort Reading

We all know about comfort food (yum), but do any of you comfort read?

When I'm depressed, I often don't feel like reading (real bad for my library account), so I end up doing a lot of crossword puzzles instead (Four-letter word for "copycat" is APER).

There are, however, a few titles I can turn to that always appeal.

• Persuasion (read this last week)
• The New Testament (3 Peter and 1 John last night)
• Mary Poppins (haven't read this in a while)
  

Ides of January

On this auspicious day, all before 8 am:

• I didn't have to scrape my car windows despite the 18 degree outside temperature.
• A boy half my age called me "doll" and "darling."
• Ginny offered me first choice from a box of donuts (powdered chocolate cream filled).

I'm already dreaming about the afternoon. Maybe I'll:

• Win the lottery.
• Find out my house is built on a large vein of gold, oil, AND diamonds.
• Find that I've been chosen to test drive, with no cost involved, a Nook, Kindle, iPad, and Verizon 4G LTE USB.

Or maybe not.

It's in the Bag

Last night, the Relief Society met to make pillowcases/bags for children taken from their homes by CPS. The idea is that a homemade bag is a bit more comforting than a garbage bag when you're taken suddenly from your home and have to pack whatever you want to take in just a few minutes. Later, you can use the bag as a pillowcase.

This was part of an Eagle Scout project, and I was impressed by how many people were there. I took my sewing machine, and arrived about 30 minutes late, by which time most people were set up and working, usually two machines to a table with several people each cutting fabric.

I'm not sure how I expected things to work, but the cases were cut loosely to size, more or less straight, and in the middle of things they started pinning the tops to make a deep hem. No ironing. No measuring. No cutting board or rotary cutter. No regard to grain. (They did iron the finished pieces.)

I'd like to say I rolled with the punches and cranked out a bunch of cases.

Instead, I can say that I finished two pieces during the two hours I was there. I went back out to the car early on to get my rotary cutter and mat, and evened things up as best I could. I waited to use the one iron to get out the worst of the wrinkles. I did a bit of pinning. I'm not sure how comforted a child will be by an oddly-shaped brown or tan poly gabardine pillowcase, but so be it.

My two cases apparently passed quality control and made it to the finished pile. I took home two in-process cases and quite a bit of fabric (corduroy and a western-themed print cotton) to make a few more during the week.

Here's what I learned:

• Next time you volunteer for a sewing project, take your own iron and cutting tools, not just your machine. Take your own round head pins also.
• Try to set yourself up to work alone. Because I was late, I was able to do that last night. So, people might have wondered why I kept cutting on fabric that was already cut, and why it took me 40 minutes to finish one case, but at least they weren't wondering that while sitting right next to me.
• Attention to detail and demanding personal standards can be a drawback.

Actually, I knew that last bit already. However, as much as I don't always like that part of myself, I don't think I can do much to change it at this point.

More on a different kind of pillowcase next time.