Skating on Thin Ice

Curly and her parents are here for a visit this weekend. (Grandma gave Curly's mom an early birthday present of tickets to see Les Miserables tomorrow night.)

So far, the big news of the visit is that it only took the beast 3.5 hours to sink his teeth into Curly's hand. I wasn't home to witness the incident, but reports are that Curly dropped her pacifier in the vicinity of the beast, and when she stooped to retrieve it, he interpreted the action as an overt threat against his tennis balls, and he struck out. The beast was promptly booted outside, and once Curly's hand stopped gushing blood, the beast was allowed back inside but banished to the front of the house, on the other side of the baby gate, until Curly went to bed.

The amazing thing is that once she recovered, Curly kept smiling and waving at the beast, wanting to play with him. I would say, however, that he's skating on thin ice. If he's not careful, he might get himself shipped back to Africa where he came from!

I Passed

Well, when you're least expecting good news, it shows up!

A week ahead of schedule, I got the e-mail saying I passed the Capstone Examination.

Now, maybe I'll check my other e-mail account and find an invitation to interview?

ps - Graduation is August 12.

Pushover

I really would never make it as the stereotypical hair-in-a-bun, mean, old librarian.

1. My hair is too short for a bun.
2. I'm not that old.
3. I'm too much of a pushover.

Case in point: A patron at one of the public computers is talking on his mobile while he's searching online for job leads, apparently getting searching help from the person on the other end of the line. I really should gather up my courage and go tell him that cell phone users need to go to the stairwell or outside to talk on their phones. Of course, then he can't job search at the same time. And, since I don't want to have go help him search (jobseekers tend to be a bit emotional and frustrated), I'm sitting here at the desk hoping 1) he will hang up soon and 2) another patron won't come complain about the noise.

I've interrupted cell-phone users discussing legal matters and callers arguing with their boyfriends, but I really don't want to mess with a jobseeker. Maybe I'm not a pushover, but just a chicken.

The Hiccough

Now that it's over, I can tell you about the potentially major hiccough I faced this week. I think most of you already know (and thank you for your support and prayers), but if not, read on.

Monday at 6 pm I logged into the Capstone course and realized I did not complete the End of Program Questionnaire that was part of the "Capstone Experience." Yes, that questionnaire, the one that closed at 5 pm Monday. I was at work, and of course had a small panic-attack. I emailed the course instructors, determined that I was not the only person who didn't do the survey, and then waited. And worried. Would this keep me from graduating in August? Would they wait until they see if I even passed the essay exam before they responded to me? Is it no big deal?

This morning, Thursday, I finally got word that the survey had been reopened for another day or so. I stayed right there at the computer and turned it in.

Whew. Major crisis avoided.

Now, I just have to pass the exam.

And find a job.

Audio-less

Did you notice that the Off the Shelf feature in the right hand pane shows I am currently without an audiobook? I'm not very happy about it. Despite diligent catalog perusing and careful management of my hold list, I'm currently stuck waiting for even one of my library holds to come in. Of course, I know that when one comes in, it will arrive along with one or two more, so that I won't be able to listen to them all in the checkout period. Although I've been known to read more than one book at a time, listening is a different matter.

Of course, you think that with my healthy-sized cd collection, I could get by commuting one day without an audiobook. On the other hand, I'm fickle, which means that I want what I want when I want it, even if I do have other options available. Today I listened to the Beatles on the way to work (thanks, Mary!), which I guess was the next best thing to another Narnia audiobook. Maybe on the way home I'll give Elizabeth Zimmermann's Digressions a try. I'm sure it's good, it's just that it isn't what I want right now.