She's back, for now

Some people have complained that I've cut down on the frequency of my blogging. I'm always surprised that anyone would miss these comments and reports on my life, but my friend M. said my blog is better than a phone call: you can take it any time you want to and you don't have to respond. Plus, I see how often I check blogs of the people whose lives I'm interested in, so I guess I should pay more attention.

Anyway, I mostly blog at work--pretty exclusively, given my dial-access toll call connection at home. Guess I've been busier at work, or maybe more motivated. There's not a lot of new or different or exciting stuff going on, just maybe some other cataloging things than normal. I've been going to Saranac Lake once a week, for half a day to catalog the Adirondack Collection there. They have a really extensive and special collection there and everyone's really excited to get it into the data base. I've never been welcomed with such enthusiasm, and certainly my cataloging has never been appreciated more. I can only do it for 4 hours, though, no earphones, no getting up to walk around, no soda to drink, no conversation. When I tried to do it for 7 hours I started to fall asleep. So I work here for a morning then drive the hour there, work and leave for home. The drive there and to home from there is beautiful.


Things at home are fine, not as peaceful as in the past. I'm not sure why I feel compelled to stir things up when they get settled down but that certainly is my pattern. Twice when I had harmony with two dogs I adopted another dog, both times with bad results. This time at least I only got a cat. And she's a sweet cat, but cats are more demanding than I thought and I'm still working out details of the Peace Talks between canines and feline. Dottie is really getting brave, but the dogs flex every muscle and are poised to pounce when she struts through the room. They get gold stars for restraint. I throw her outside every morning when I go to work and she has finally stopped trying to get back in the house, now trots away from the house. GOOD! I'll not have a fat indoor cat. She seems to be getting fat, too, but so far she's only pooped in the litter box once. NO POOPING IN THE HOUSE!!


Meanwhile I'm still the only one catching any mice. I caught numbers 16 and 17 last night. I assume I caught #17--the trap was missing, so I'm guessing mousie dragged it away somehow. Like the one that got its leg mangled but was otherwise free. Yucka-pucka that was really awful. I opened the kitchen drawer and KAZAM! there it was, eyes as big as, well, let's see, how big can mouse eyes get? Anyway, both of us had a big shock. Worst thing ever in mouse trap lines is not killing one. I put mouse & trap in a plastic bag, took it outside & opened the trap. Super icky. Mouse ran really, really fast (on 3 legs) and took a flying leap off the deck. No longer my problem. Some people stomp them, but I sure am not one of those people. No, I do not want to see them die, I can only deal with their already-dead bodies.


Summer people gone at last. I love everyone dearly but I really want my life back. Columbus Day it's huge social fest, as usual. This year's added bonus was M's son's wedding, a true highlight. Rain didn't really seem to make a difference, except the poor bride never really got a chance to show off her dress properly. I took a picture of the huge table of pies, which I'll give to M. Too fantastic to believe. Lin and I had a great time being social butterflies, even though we knew absolutely not another soul.


Have some issues to deal with but am handling as well as I can. Glad to be doing it on my own, privately. I feel as if I sometimes share too much of my stuff with too many people. Geez, a girl has to keep some parts of herself private, doesn't she? Where's the mystique? I like keeping this to myself, it feels good. My sister has always been good at keeping things to herself, and I've admired that. I've never, ever been capable of that, have always had to blat things, appropriate or not. Which is part of this problem. Well, if I don't want anyone to know about it, why did I bring it up? I guess so people will know a)why I've not blogged and b)if my behavior is different.


Autumn is here. We had our frost but it wasn't really convincing. I brought in some plants and had fires in the stove. I'm really pleased that the elbow of the stovepipe was NOT filled with creosote flakes the way it has been for years in the fall. Means I've been burning good wood at hot enough temps. Anyway I have an appointment to get it cleaned on the 9th of Nov. Am taking the day off, which gives me a 4-day weekend. Yahoo! Funny time to have 4 days, but I really enjoy mornings in my house. Lately I've been getting up at 5:30, which is truly not like me. I get up in total darkness and feel like being up. I have my really neat sunrise alarm clock that lights up the room gradually, like the sunrise. It's great and works, if I don't wake up first.


Am trying to adjust to my fall and winter life but need to get into the routine a little more convincingly. Slept nearly all weekend, recovering from the week and the weekend before. Linda and Erd. were here all week, plus I went out with Lin and Ralph Sat. night. Had a wonderful time, haven't been with them in months and months. It was so nice to have the three of us together again.


My niece (Jamie's sister's daughter) has returned to Africa, where she spent some time several months ago, working at a school there. She's really religious and emails about god and His purpose and love for all of us, which I find really alienating and can't relate to at all. This week, though, she had a long email about two of the children she loves a whole, whole lot. Apparently she's never loved anyone as much as she loves them. I found this pretty sad, having missed out on such a deep and wonderful love until being in your 20's. I joked with Barb yesterday that, by the time I was 23 I'd already felt that about 3 times. Well, twice that really counted. Anyway, Keela is doing really well and certainly feels she's doing what she was meant to do, which is a rare thing. My sister is pondering this whole concept: doing what we were meant to do. Although I never, ever thought of myself becoming a librarian before I went to library school, and I totally fell into it serendipitously (my college advisor--who called me Betty, that's how well he knew me, said that, with my B.A. in history and an M.L.S. I could get any job I wanted. HUH?), I have felt that this was probably the best thing for me to have done with my life. Would I have felt that way if I'd chosen something else to do? Yes, I think so. Like, I argue so well that I might have been a really good lawyer, but when I look at it from here I think that's really depressing because arguing was one of the most pronounced symptoms of my bipolarism. Anyway, I've never thought of any other profession, wishing I'd chosen it instead. No regret about being a librarian. I've thought about being a school librarian, working with elementary kids and watching them discover the wonder of reading and information, plus having summers off, but then I think about public libraries, and here I am. Only it's better than a public library because there's no public! I get to help people who work in public libraries figure out how to help the public and how to run their libraries, plus I get to build a collection for the bookmobile (and the inmates, always the inmates). So I've got it made here. And I've been doing it for 23 years without regret. 30 years in the profession. Thank goodness for the Internet, is what I say. This profession is always changing and gets more interesting all the time.


Long-winded, no? Speaking of fascinating work, I just cataloged kits with things like checkers and beans in them, intended to teach children various things like counting, numbers, who knows--I just made up subject headings I thought might be remotely related to them. Now I have to catalog lucite boxes with seashells and rubber animals in them. I kid you not. I've been putting this off for at least 6 months. Subject headings, anyone?