Well get a load of me:

The Wild Rose Random Brutal Love Dreamer (RBLDf) Colorful, but unpicked. You are The Wild Rose. Prone to bouts of cynicism, sarcasm, and thorns, you excite a certain kind of man. Hoping to gather you up, he flirts and winks and asks you out, ultimately professing his love. Then you make him bleed. Why? Because you're the rare, independent, self-sufficient kind of woman who does want love, but not from a weakling. You don't seem to take yourself too seriously, and that's refreshing. You aren't uptight; you don't over-plan. Romance-wise, sex isn't a top priority--a true relationship would be preferable. For your age, you haven't had a lot of bonafide love experience, though, and this kind of gets to core of the issue. You're very selective. Your exact opposite: The Dirty Little Secret Deliberate Gentle Sex Master The problem is them, not you, right? You have lofty standards that few measure up to. You're out there all right, but not to be picked up by just anyone. "You're never truly single as long as you have yourself." ALWAYS AVOID: The Bachelor CONSIDER: The Vapor Trail. Link: The 32-Type Dating Test by OkCupid - Free Online Dating. My profile name: labrdr

3 days gone by

I love 3-day weekends but my expectations for productivity are seldom met. I had thought I would be motivated to accomplish great things at home and be a responsible homeowner during the Vet's Day weekend. It didn't quite work out that way. I feel I don't do my house justice, it needs more attention and care than I give it. Sometimes I feel my house is almost an animate object and that I owe it good care. It gives me such good shelter and provides me with a nice home and what do I do in return? Not a whole lot. The building itself could use some basic maintenance; the siding is in need of a few nails here and there and certainly it needs to be stained again sometime in the next 5 years. Since it's 2 stories, this is not a job I will do, and it will cost thousands of dollars to pay someone else to do it. I can't afford that. At least the roof is good, it's metal and should last a long, long time. I should wash the outside of the windows. I should put up some sort of skirting around the bottom. I should fix the hole in the kitchen ceiling. I should do some other things. But this weekend I did accomplish some things:

I washed the kitchen window and put plastic up on the inside. I don't like that stuff but it makes a big difference in my electric bill. I'm planning to do 3 of the 4 living room windows but I have to buy 2 more special kits for BIG windows, I only have one. I hate putting the plastic up, it's a real pain in the neck. I've put new weatherstripping around my front door.

I put away the flower pots on the deck--but not before one of them broke from the frost (it got down to 16 on Fri. morning), and I had to bring 2 of them in to thaw out, the dirt was frozen solid even yesterday, when it was in the 50's.

I emptied the 2 barrels full of waterlogged hardwood kindling. I did not dispose of the waterlogged kindling in a satisfactory way, though: it's just piled on the ground, to be dealt with later. At least it looks better in the yard now.

I messed around with my firewood, restacking the portion of the pile that tipped over and recovering the portions of the various piles that had come uncovered. Not a great situation, since they're only covered with plastic tarps and these tarps become miserable to deal with when covered with ice and snow.

I burned a lot of trash.

I filled the bird feeder. Come on, birds! There's food now!

I cleaned the fish tank and put in the new fish. 3 of them promptly died while I was adjusting the new heater. I now have two fish: one lonely danio and one peppy orange platy. I will buy 2 more tetras and one more danio. The danios only cost 99 cents, no great loss, but the tetras were $2 each. I now have the heater set at the right temperature and the water is clear. For some reason it was very cloudy after I cleaned the tank and it's taken 3 days to clear up. Geesh, this aquarium thing just gets more and more complicated.

I cleaned out my car, including washing the windshield.

So the weekend wasn't a total loss, but I slept a lot on Saturday, which was very disappointing to me. It was a nice day, fairly warm. Friday was a miserable day, 30's all day and spitting snow. I stayed inside, knitted and watched TV mostly. Sat. I had hoped to do outside chores but didn't. The dogs had a great time on Fri., went in and out all day. They were more bored on Saturday. Friday night I went out with Lin and Ralph, to our old haunt in Keeseville. It was great to be with them again, we haven't gone out in months and months. Ralph and I ended up reminiscing about our long-ago past, 15-20 years ago. That was really nice. Saturday night I ended up at one of the camps below my house, with two of my favorite people, along with Ken and Bill. The two men who hosted us were here for the weekend, for their Extreme Workfest. It's really just an excuse for them to come for a weekend in November and test their mettle. They love being here when it's really cold so they can say they did it. We had a great time and I love being with them. We had Sunday dinner together yesterday, too.

Yesterday was a beautiful day and I did my outside stuff in a t-shirt with no jacket. I loved it. I should have stapled plastic around the bottom of the house but I did the other things and felt pretty self-satisfied so went inside. I'm easily impressed by myself.

Last night it was so warm that I let the fire go out, so I had to take the time to build one this morning. The wind was really whipping, 40 mph gusts today, so even though it's warm right now it's supposed to get colder by this afternoon. I have a quick appointment with my psychiatrist then I have to go to the Black Brook town meeting tonight to show support for the AuSable Forks library (rumored to be having $2500 cut from the town budget). In between those two things I need to get my fish and put them in the tank, feed and pee the dogs and eat something, plus drive 30 miles home and 15 miles to ASF.

For some reason I relived a very unpleasant episode from the past with my former director while I was driving to work this morning. I can't imagine what possessed me to do this, it made me very sad to think about that and all the crap she put me through. Now it turns out she's here to go out to lunch with the new director and I just heard her braying laugh. ICK!! At least I don't have to see her (I hope).

And now I must catalog a whole bunch of videos for AuSable Forks. Perry Mason videos. I can just imagine the incredible demand there must be for those.

Good old-fashioned fish boil

The water in my fish tank was unusually warm last night so I turned down the heater before going to bed. Well, guess what: heater malfunction and this morning they were all cooked. Honestly, sometimes I think this aquarium thing wasn't meant to be, but I really like watching my fishies swim around. Now at least I can get the two tetras I wanted to get before, when I ended up with the big booger platy. But I lost the 2 danios I had. I have learned, however, that danios are easy to replace. They're just zippy little fish. I'll miss my dwarf coral platy but will get another one. This is a good opportunity to clean out the tank completely, the gravel is a little groaty. Last night I put in a new filter and changed half the water. I may have done something bad to the heater in the process, who knows. You're supposed to unplug it before exposing it to the air. I'm not really an ace at these things. This time I'll get a better heater, one that's not so fussy. So back I go to PetsMart tonight, invest $5 more in fish. You'd think they'd know me by now and throw themselves protectively over their tanks when they see me coming.

Let's here it for the Boy

Everywhere Bush campaigned, his candidate lost. That worked out well for the rest of us, didn't it. We had good results here too. The Democratic candidate for District Attorney won, in spite of (or maybe because of) the arrogance of the Republican incumbent. I was pleased about that. Very pleased about the governors in Virginia and New Jersey, although they were both incumbents so it's not really a gain, just staying the course. But still...I like to be an optimist whenever I can.

Having my car/horse serviced took forever yesterday, but part of that was getting an estimate on having 2 of the seatbelts in the back seat replaced. "How did they get damaged? Will it be covered under warranty?" Heck no, my dog chewed them. "What kind of dog?" Will I get a discount if I give the right answer? Anyway, it will cost $260 to replace them. They cost $75 each, and the rest is labor. I opted not to have it done yesterday but it took nearly 2 hours for them to service and wash the car. They did a nice job of washing it, though, and they tucked in the broken part of the fender that was hanging out, looking embarrassingly awful. So I drove away a winner, $100.50 poorer but feeling proud of my shiny machine.

I voted on the way home. My polling place is a former one-room schoolhouse, the cutest building you've ever seen. I was voter #95 at 5:45, which is a really high number for an off-year election. After voting I stopped at Ken's because he had his outside light on, which is sort of a signal that he expects me to stop. No, not this time--Bill had stopped after voting and the light was inadvertently left on. I stayed for an hour to visit anyway, got home at 7. The solar warming thing may have worked during the day, but it was only 56 in the living room at 7. It took forever to warm the room but I finally got it up to 70, cranking the fire up to an appropriate 500 degrees. Hooray! This wood doesn't seem to burn very hot so it takes a lot of effort, poking, bellowing (with bellows, not lungs) and arranging the draft to get a hot fire. But I was proudly successful last night.

The dogs were extreme in their "Let's Get Her Out of Bed" routine this morning. Tess hates it when I don't leap out of bed the minute I awaken, so she wants to lick me until I get up. I hate that, being licked in the face. They're not allowed to do that. She'll lick my eyelids--YUCK! Chances likes to hit me hard with her giant paws, than smash on top of my head with her butt as she does her dive and flip routine. So I wanted to lie in bed, pondering the state of the world and the cuteness of the guy who plays Dr. Shepard on Grey's Anatomy. Tess, when yelled at for licking, puts her nose 1/4 of an inch from my face and breathes at it. In and out, in and out warm moist breath. It's really annoying because I'm just waiting for her to lick me. Then the two of them sit up and stare at my head, like a pair of vultures. The are very cute when they do this, really incredibly cute, and I'd love to have a picture of it. They give me the most powerful "get out of bed" laser stares. Tess' final act of desperation is to drag the covers off of my body, which she did this morning. OK, that will do it. The hell with Dr. Shepard. Patrick what's-his-name.

And now I've just been asked to run the report I submitted to the director over, including the figures I deleted. I deleted the stuff that's not done by my department because I didn't want us to take credit for something we don't do. "Oh you're so noble," she said with a smile. But she really wants to know all the activity for the month of October, which is certainly reasonable. So I'll run the report, reformat it and make it look nice again. At least it's not cataloging classical music CD's for Lake Placid.

Another dream
Last night part of my dream was about horses:

Horse
The horse is a lucky animal in dreams, suggesting the dreamer is in control of her life.
Well, hurray for me.

But I also dreamt about blindness, someone else (who is close to me) being blind. This is supposed to mean that this person is deceiving me. This I refuse to believe. Instead, I choose to believe that I dreamt about blindness because my eyes have been bothering me a whole lot lately, probably a combination of allergies and the dryness that comes from burning wood. yeah, I like that a lot more.

Today I take my car (horse) to the dealer (vet) for it's 20,000 mile servicing (checkup). It will take 1.5 hours or so and I will get to spend the time drinking coffee and reading. It means my day will last from 8 until 5, but I'm used to staying until 4:30 or so anyway, so what's the difference? I'm just taking a lunch hour today, which I don't usually do. Right now I'm avoiding the cataloging that awaits me, nagging me from the manilla folder sitting in the middle of the nice empty area in the middle of my desk. My director came to my desk this morning and said--if you can believe this "I think we're going to have to have a 'Clean The Desk Day' sometime soon." I screamed. I told her that I had just spent an entire day cleaning my desk. Can't you tell? I intoned, implored, whined. Yes, there are still piles of things demanding my attention, but the piles are so small, and the contents are easily identified. The book piles will actually disappear one of these days. Guess that day had better come soon. Anyway, that was a pretty cruel blow.

I did not stoke the stove this morning because it's supposed to be sunny today and the living room will warm up all on it's own due to our perfectly sited southeastern exposured house. Cold weather is coming. Cold is such a relative term, though, meaning temps in the 40's right now. HAH! Won't be long before we'll ache for a 40-degree forecast.

Maeve Indeed, you are 79% erudite, 70% sensual, 66% martial, and 45% saturnine.

Maeve was once thought of as a historical queen but is now considered part of the Celtic mythology. She is usually depicted as either a winged sprite, a beautiful elf, or a human woman dressed in only the finest robes. She was said to carry two tree-dwelling creatures on either of her shoulders; the squirrel and the raven, resembling her closeness to nature and mysticism. She also frequented the area which was said to hold the entrance to the Otherworld, which is now called the Cave of the Cats. Maeve is known for an insatiable sexual appetite and boasting openly of sleeping with thirty men in one day. Once she meets the hero Fergus Mac Roich, 'Son of Great Horse' who himself has a sexual appetite large enough to satisfy her, the tale says that 'She used to know thirty men every day or go with Fergus once.' So that’s good for her. :3 She is most famous as a protagonist in the story of the "Cattle Raid of Cooley", which tells of another dispute between her and her husband, the Connaught chieftain Ailill, with whom she would constantly quarrel. The Fifteen Goddesses These are the 15 categories of this test. If you score above average in … …all or none of the four variables: Neit. … Erudite: Minerva. … Sensual: Aphrodite. … Martial: Artemis. … Saturnine: Persephone. … Erudite & Sensual: Isis. … Erudite & Martial: Sekhmet. … Erudite & Saturnine: Nemesis. … Sensual & Martial: Hera. … Sensual & Saturnine: Bast. … Martial & Saturnine: Ilamatecuhtli. … Erudite, Sensual & Martial: Maeve. … Erudite, Sensual & Saturnine: Freya. … Erudite, Martial & Saturnine: Sedna. … Sensual, Martial & Saturnine: Macha.

My test tracked 4 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender: You scored higher than 40% on erudite You scored higher than 10% on sensual You scored higher than 60% on martial You scored higher than 40% on saturnine

Link: The Mythological Goddess Test written by Nitsuki on Ok Cupid, home of the 32-Type Dating Test

I must say I'm disappointed about the 40% erudite, and I'm puzzled about being so sexual at this point and state in my life. But I'll take it. And the martial part? Go figure.

And now

I have 40 minutes left of the day. I spent nearly the entire day clearing off my desk. This meant I took 6, yes 6 full garbage cans full of trash to the big trash can outside. Now that is full and the cleaners will be unhappy with me because they won't know what to do with the trash they collect between now and Weds., when the haulers haul away the trash. I generated 5' worth of trash today. A combination of damaged books I had on my desk that needed to be discarded, old union stuff (the detritus of negotiating 3 contracts and 3 grievances), a year's worth of Kirkus Reviews, months' worth of Publishers Weekly and various prepub stuff from jobbers, notes from an incredible number of meetings, all of my leave requests from 2003 (which had been stashed behind my monitor)and a lot of goofy papers. Among the gems I discovered were 2 really important items I'd been desperately searching for, a manual I needed to write an article about and a bunch of stuff I was happy to find. Plenty of things I could file in folders, more stuff I don't know what to do with, some gift books I will have to deal with (everyone who writes anything about the Adirondacks insists on sending me a copy of the book, regardless of what it's really about--i.e., poems--and I have to decide if we really want it on the bookmobile), policy statements for the System from the 70's that no one knows we have, about 20 outdated sample collection development and weeding policies and a bunch of other stuff. But it's all manageable now and I have a big empty surface in front of me and on either side of me. Very exciting. Part of my journey. Only the people I work with can really grasp the magnitude of this.

On my way home I'll stop at Lowes to buy weatherstripping for the front door--in the winter the draft coming through there would blow out a candle. I'll get more plastic for the windows and a plastic step-stool for the heater to sit on in the cellar, since the wooden chair got too wet and has rotted. I'll get hose for my sump pump so I can replace what's there now, that has pin holes in it so everything gets sprayed each time the sump pump comes on (at least 20 times a day). This means I'll have to take off the old hose and attach said new hose. Not looking forward to that. The joys of home ownership. I'll go to the grocery store to replace the peanut butter that Chances ate. People were impressed that she ate the whole jar, but what they were most impressed with was that she got the top off. Heck, that's NOTHING. The dogs also drank nearly a gallon of cider, which I had left on the railing in the snow to chill. They dumped it out in the snow, then lapped up the snow, like sno-cones. The pigs. Right now they're eating the fermented apples on the ground under the apple trees along the driveway, but I see deer tracks there too, so there aren't many left. I'll also stop at the orchard and get myself another gallon of unpasteurized cider. I'll go to the liquor store for wine for Sunday dinner. Then I'll stop at Ken's for a visit and I'll finally get home, to carry in 2 loads of wood and start a fire. It all seems like a whole lot of work to me. I'd rather stay here at my nice neat desk, where my chair doesn't have holes in it and my dogs aren't jumping on me.

Friday, Sweet Friday

The end of the week. I've already felt that it was Friday once so far this week, so it's nice to finally have the day arrive. I woke at 5 this morning, which was very strange for me, but I went to sleep at 10:30. Unheard of. Can't explain it, it just felt right. I never go to sleep much before midnight so it was very strange but the dogs loved it. They would have me go to bed at 9 every night.

I let the dogs out at 5 and climbed back into bed, my warm, wonderful bed. I love lying in bed, where it's peaceful and I can look out the huge (4'x 6') window that opens my view into the forest and mountain. This morning I read the book my book group is reading, which is a wonderful book that I adore, even though Bad Things are going to happen. The dogs may have been flinging themselves against the front door, asking to be let in, but my bedroom is at the back of the house and I mercifully couldn't hear them. They usually run around to the back door, which is next to my bedroom, and REALLY fling themselves against that one, but this morning they were enjoying themselves doing whatever they were doing so I had complete peace in bed. I loved it, I savored every moment.

And I figured out my lifestyle change, painfully obvious to my dense self. I can be so slow to understand things about myself. The change in bosses is such a major change in my life, it has altered everything. I get to work half an hour early, my ride to work is completely different. I see different people--I sometimes see the people who live out by my mailbox, who walk down my road at 6:45 each morning. I chat with the guy who's fixing the coffee at the store and there are hardly any school buses on my route most days because they're not on the routes yet. I'm not in a mad rush to get ready for work. When I get to work I have peace throughout my day. The biggest change, however, is that there's someone who's paying attention to the work I'm doing, who asks me to do something and then follows up, remembering that she's asked me for it. Yikes, that's different. "Did you get that information yet?" Um, I'm waiting to hear back from them. "I think you should include another library in that project." Oh no, not them. Well, OK, if you say so.
She's a good director, though, and I don't mind telling her what I'm doing because I don't fear retribution or having the project taken out of my hands or being criticized, chastized or reprimanded. There's not a list of sins I've committed on the director's desk, waiting for me when I walk in the door. So yes, I am having a major change in my lifestyle. My traveling is very real.

Last night one of my friends was on the national news. It's one of the women I went to school with in Rockford, a member of the group who gathers at our reunions. I saw her in July. She runs a smoking cessation program at Harvard Medical School and ABC's news last night did a special on smoking in honor/memory of Peter Jennings. So they interviewed Nancy, and there she was, in my living room, talking to me. She looked great and sounded great. I was fun to see her. On Sunday night my friend Rush was on 60 Minutes, being interviewed by Ed Bradley, but I missed it. He (Rush, not Ed Bradley) called me afterwards to talk to me. Why didn't he call me before? So this week I feel very well connected.

I met with my clerks earlier in the week to start the outline of our department's Policy and Procedures Manual. Man oh man what a nasty job that is. Luckily this part, the interlibrary loan portion, is mostly procedural and they have to write it. Yeah for me. I'll have to write up the policies, though, and I suppose the Director and Board will have to approve them. Won't they be surprised when they hear what our policies are? The director freaked out when I told her that we spend about $1200 a year on one bookmobile patron's OCLC ILL requests for old mysteries. Now we're apparently contemplating a policy of not borrowing fiction on OCLC. Yeowie is that ever a radical departure.

I spent most of the week cataloging videos for two of our libraries. One library had current releases, which everyone else had bought on DVD's (what is with these libraries? This place refuses to make the "leap" to DVD's, another library refuses to make the leap from books on tape to books on CD's). The other library naturally had a bunch of crap that was boring and painful to catalog and took forever. I listened to music, Peace Out Radio, which sometimes causes me to type in rhythm to the music, but makes the cataloging much less painful.

Last night I couldn't get my house warmer than 59 degrees but for some reason it didn't bother me. What is with that? I had a hot flash in the middle of the evening, watching TV, but that didn't last long. I had the dogs next to me on the couch, but they weren't on top of me. I can't believe I was really comfortable at that temperature. All I was doing to keep warm was knit but that seemed to be ok. I can't imagine this tolerance will last much longer, somehow when it's -10 outside I need to have it closer to 70 inside. Right now, though, when it's 70 inside I can't stand it.

On to work. Today I was thinking I might try to tidy up my desk. The Director made a face when she came to me the other day with some papers she wanted me to file and keep track of. Uh-oh.

My favorite

Jon Stewart quote for the past week:

"Oh, if only lies left semen stains."

How dreamy

So I've had two travel dreams lately, both involving an impending trip with my sister and mother. They were good, happy dreams in which the three of us were preparing for a trip. We were going to Europe in one, needed to be at the airport well before the plane left. I had a clear image of the giant plane (this may have been prompted by news stories of the battle between Airbus and Boeing on what size plane people really want for future travel: huge, seating 850 or regular size), but I wasn't prepared for the trip, couldn't find my passport, wasn't packed. Dream #2 took place last night. Again, sister and mother and I were going on a trip. Was the afternoon/evening before the trip. Much to do, laundry--which wouldn't be dry enough to pack before leaving. I found my passport, but it had expired. Would they require a passport for this trip? Sister said no (she always the source of good advice) but I was nervous. Clothes all over the place, much tidying up to be done before I could leave. I wasn't terribly stressed, but uncomfortable.

So I'm a librarian, right, I turn to the Internet for input. Here's what a Google search (good old Google) turns up from a variety of sources, listings under "dreams having to do with travel" or some variation thereof:

Companionship may include known relationships or strangers. Generally, the companionship either helps or hinders progress toward the dream goal. The effect of your companions on your travel should be interpreted metaphorically as a symbol of that person's impact on your life. OK, that's good, the relationships are a positive thing in the dream and they were helping me.

If your dream about traveling, expect some changes like separation from a close friend or a break with old habits. Dreaming about a trip usually reflects your desire to start a new life, find new places, begin new projects This one is tough to interpret--I don't think I really want to start a new life. The only thing resembling this is my new director and the onset of winter. Need to complete preparations for winter season (damn firewood), plan to build interior wall (major change in house)--what symbolic changes can I think of?

A sudden substantial increase in status and/or income is forecast in a dream of traveling for pleasure Needless to say, this is my favorite one!

To dream of getting a passport indicates an approaching opportunity for profitable travel; to dream of losing a passport suggests a depressing lack of progress due to unappreciative or hostile influences around you. Try to find a new channel or a new environment for your activities But nothing about having an expired passport. Combination of losing and getting one, I guess. I hate to ponder a "depressing lack of progress," although I still haven't finished stacking my firewood and that really does depress me. It's there to remind me every time I pull up to the house. Hostile influences? The rain. The only new channel I would find would be on the TV

So I am not good at taking advice offered by my dreams, although this morning on the way to work I was trying to think of different ways to arrange furniture around my dinner table. It occurred to me that I don't need that ugly green bureau there and if I could figure out a way to get it to the dump I should take it there. So there's a creative outlet, right there. A small chest would to, all I need is a place to put napkins, extension cords and light bulbs. A huge ugly bureau is not necessary. My goal is to buy a new dinner table, a new couch and to have my father's chair re-upholstered. I need a second income for all of that, however. I would also like a set of snow tires. And I need $300 to have my car get its 20,000 mile check-up. I need, I want, I need. My fish and my dogs are so much easier to please. They just want food, a place to poop and pee and a couple of Nylabones now and then.

So I was:

36 years old during the fall of the Berlin Wall
33 years old when the space shuttle Challenger exploded
31 years old when Apple introduced the Macintosh
30 years old during Sally Ride's travel in space
28 years old when Pres. Reagan was shot by John Hinckley, Jr.
26 years old at the time the Iran hostage crisis began
23 years old on the U.S.'s bicentennial Fourth of July **and Jenica was born**
21 years old when President Nixon left office
19 years old when Alabama Gov. George C. Wallace was shot
16 years old at the time the first man stepped on the moon: I remember really well
15 years old when Martin Luther King Jr was assassinated
12 years old during the Watts riot
10 years old at the time President Kennedy was assassinated: kids in my class cheered
6 years old when Hawaii was admitted as 50th of the United States: I remember this
4 years old when the Soviet satellite Sputnik 1 was launched: we used to watch it in the night sky
not yet 1 year old at the end of the Korean War: but I was alive already--YIKES!


And I am:

19 years 10 months younger than Yoko Ono, age 72
11 years 7 months younger than Bob Dylan, age 64
9 years 5 months younger than Mick Jagger, age 62
7 years 8 months younger than Eric Clapton, age 60
4 years 7 months younger than Stevie Nicks, age 57
2 years 10 months older than David Lee Roth, age 50
5 years 8 months older than Madonna, age 47
9 years 3 months older than Jon Bon Jovi, age 43
14 years 3 months older than Billy Corgan, age 38
17 years 3 months older than Mariah Carey, age 35
21 years 6 months older than Alanis Morissette, age 31
29 years 0 months older than Britney Spears, age 23


NINE years older than Jon Bon Jove? 29 years older than Britney Spears? (I knew there was something I REALLY didn't like about that girl)

and then,

When these songs were topping the charts
and these events occurred your age was:
Rock Around the Clock, Bill Haley and His Comets: 2
Don't be Cruel, Elvis Presley: 3
Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper die in a plane crash: 6
The Twist, Chubby Checker: 7
Big Bad John, Jimmy Dean: 8-- I remember this really well
Sherry, The 4 Seasons: 9--I remember this even better
The Beatles first appear live on The Ed Sullivan Show: 11--This was a monumental experience in the lives of me and my sister. We watched it, in black and white, in the basement of our house in Rockford. We were stunned.
Downtown, Petula Clark: 12
The 8 track tape player first offered in 1966 Fords: 12
Hey Jude, The Beatles: 15--Another monumental event
Woodstock Music Festival: 16--I was away from home that summer, living in the Adirondacks. My brother wanted me to go to Woodstock, and suggested that we meet there. Can you imagine if we had tried to?
Me and Bobby McGee, Janis Joplin: 18--My freshman year in college, one of the most confusing times in my life. I was madly, deeply in love
ABC TV premieres In Concert: 19--Ah yes, Don Kirschner. Paul Schaefer used to do the most incredible impression of him on SNL
Time in a Bottle, Jim Croce: 21--I never liked that song
I Shot the Sheriff, Eric Clapton: 21
Silly Love Songs, Wings: 23--Why would this even be included?
Elvis Presley Dies: 24--I was already a librarian
Do Ya Think I'm Sexy, Rod Stewart: 26
Another Brick in the Wall, Pink Floyd: 27--By now I'm old
John Lennon is shot to death: 27--I was glued to the TV at a friend's house, in shock and terribly, terribly sad
MTV makes its debut: 28--And me without cable. I watched it EVERY chance I could, and had a friend who used to tape hours of it for me and give me the videos. It used to be just videos, hours and hours of videos. I loved it.
Who Can it be Now, Men at Work: 29--That guy with the wierd eye
The recording of We Are The World: 32
Nothing Compares 2 U, Sinead O'Connor: 37
Fleetwood Mac perform at Bill Clinton's inauguration: 40--And man was I excited when he was elected! Someone close to my age was President!
The Sign, Ace Of Base: 41--I don't even recognize this
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum opens: 42--My goal in life is to go here.

8", 12"--what does it matter?
Once you get that much snow in October it's all just a pain in the neck. The trees are no more prepared for it than I am, they all bent way over to the ground under the weight of the heavy, wet snow. My theory on this is that, once the sap freezes the trees can handle the weight because (obviously) their trunks and branches are firmer and thus stronger. Right now the sap is not frozen so the trees are like rubber. When I drove down my driveway yesterday morning I had to drive through a jungle of branches dangling from 20' above and reaching to the ground.

We got at least 8 inches of snow by yesterday morning. Ken said we had a foot of snow. I don't think it was that much, but I guess you can trust a 91-year-old's estimate. Anyway, I started leaving for work at 7 a.m. I managed to get to the end of my driveway--no small task in a Honda Civic. Alas, my road had not been plowed. I gave it a shot, though--I consider an unplowed road a personal challenge. There's just the slightest hint of a hill about a third of the way to the hardtop and of course my car couldn't get up that. I tried twice, got stuck twice (once almost for good, skidding sideways to be nearly perpendicular to the roadway: the position of ultimate defeat). I backed up to my driveway, dejected, walked to the house and called the town garaged and begged them to plow my road. "Is that your camp, you mean?" No, it's my year-round house. "On the girls' camp road?" yes. "We can't plow that road, with all the rain we've been having it would ruin the road." But I need to get out. "I'll call the boss [the Highway Superintendent--an elected position, thankfully] and we'll call you back." I wait 15 minutes and "Bob" calls back. "We're sending someone right out there. You need a big plow or a small plow?" small plow is fine. "We're running about 2 hours late, is why we didn't get there." as if. I fall all over myself thanking him, praising him and promising him a huge raise and eternal life. I make another cup of coffee and wait what I think is a respectful period of time for a plow to get from town (15 miles away) to my road, then walk to my car. I sit in the car, listening to my book on CD for another 15-20 minutes. FINALLY the plow arrives, scraping about 4" of dirt from the surface of the road along with the snow. It takes him 10 minutes to make the perfect piles of snow at the end of my driveway (Oh for God's sake, just push it around, it'll all melt in a few days anyway!) and finally I can drive to work. Total amount of time it takes me to get to work from beginning to end: 2.5 hours. And no, it's not beautiful, not a winter wonderland, it's just a bunch of trees all bent over with snow on them.

Yesterday I had lunch with a member library director who has also become a good friend. She is having problems with one of her trustees, who is treating her much the way my former director treated me. I had lots of counseling and advice to offer her, plus lots of sage words of wisdom to share about boards in general. I felt good about what I said to her and she seemed to feel better after our hour and a half together. Boards are funny, they often act as a body and will do strange things together when they know one of them is acting like a lunatic. What they almost always want is to avoid confrontation, so they will sometimes do things that seem so obviously wrong or idiotic to the rest of us, all in the name of keeping the peace. That's what's happening to her right now. I told her this may pass, and a lot of what's going on is personal between this one board member and her, but not between the rest of the board and her. And that we always have to keep in mind that we really, truly enjoy doing our jobs and we are happy to have them and want to keep them. She agreed with that completely. That's what got me through the last 8 years: the love of my work. No, not that my work loves me, that I love my work.

I went to the doctor on Tuesday. Bad news all 'round. Gained four pounds. But surely winter shoes, corduroy pants and a cotton sweater weigh more than the clothes I was wearing 4 months ago? My cholesterol level is way up. Much speculation about what could have caused that. Finally the probable culprit was identified: the vanilla-flavored creamers I was putting in my coffee each morning at the Mobil station in Redford en route to work. Doctor's dictum: NO MORE CREAMERS. The choices have been Half & Half, cream or those little containers of flavored Half & Half. Now they put out milk so I've switched to that. Let's hope this does it. He's giving me 3 months to get the level down or he will increase the does of my Provachal. And he identified the mystery spot on my back as actinic keretosis, what my father had on his bald head. I was surprised by that: usually AK appears on faces, arms and hands which have been excessively exposed to the sun. He's going to talk to a dermatologist to see what to do next but his first inclination is to do nothing for now. These spots can turn into skin cancer so I'm a little concerned but will wait until my next appointment to see what he says. I adore this doctor and trust him a lot. Apparently there's no tremendous hurry to do anything if this is indeed AK.

My good friend Linda bought me a book and had it shipped directly from Amazon this week. I love opening my mailbox and finding treasures like that. It's called Marley and me : the story of the world's worst dog. Guess what kind of dog Marley is? Why, yes, a Labrador retriever. He looks just like Jackson, big and lunky and not particularly attractive. He behaves a lot like a cross between Tess and Chances at their worst. Overly affectionate, demanding and needy like Chances. Creatively destructive like Tess. Does that proud lizard body wiggle when he has forbidden treasures in his mouth. I sat right down and started reading the book, have been reading it every night since. My first thought was that this man wrote MY book, until I realized that, as a journalist he wrote a better book that I would. He remembered details I would have neglected to include. He has a nice style. He realized that a book needs more story lines than just details of a dog's life, so he's also including the story of the development of his family. Well, that would be hard for me--I didn't have a miscarriage and two children during the time I had my dogs. Only a divorce and development of learning the great joy of living a wonderful solitary life. So maybe someday I'll write a book, who knows. I'll have to figure out what I have to say that enough other people would want to read about. Anyway, I'm really enjoying this book.

And today I will finish the batch of CDs that was snuck into last week's delivery. They are all elevator music. Blissful Relaxation, Rejuvenation, Forest Floor Symphony, etc. Yegods.

I actually started writing our Collection Development Policy, which is supposed to be finished by the end of the year. Take a little from this library, a little from that library and bingo! There's our policy!

Apparently there's a secret stash of CD's because another box of them came to me in Friday's delivery and was waiting for me yesterday. Haven't opened it yet. It's a small box, but HONESTLY! Enough is enough. I'm getting really good at this, though.

Sun, rain and snow over the weekend. Excellent foliage on the far shore and on Silver Lake Mountain, truly beautiful. Saturday morning was sunny and bright, the first sunny day I'd had to enjoy in a long, long time. The temperature in my living room was 48 when I got up, though, when the sun was still low in the sky. It took a long time for the wood stove to get the temp up to 60. I enjoyed the morning, stacked some wood, then went to camp. Emptied the two refrigerators there. What is with my relatives? Why do they leave food behind? Who thinks a pint of peppered horseradish is something anyone else would want? And why leave a two-gallon tub of ice cream in the freezer? Who is going to eat that? I took a big gob of stuff to the dump. I closed the boat house, sadly. At least it wasn't snowing and freezing, although of course the sun had disappeared by then and the wind was whipping. I don't think I've ever closed the boat house when it was actually warm. I just have one more trip to make down there to pick up the clothes I told Anna I'd send to her and to pick up another bunch of clothes I left there. Other than that the dear sweet building is set for winter, as is main camp (thanks to my former in-laws, who are now merely my cousins).

I spent the late afternoon watching a DVD called Wicker Park, which I'd had for months and months. I'd read good things about it, and it was supposed to be about a man who went home in search of an old girlfriend and visited with an old friend, etc. Well...not so much. It was about two lovers who'd separated under false pretenses and were still in love but couldn't find each other and throughout the whole film they were desperately, sadly trying to reach each other. At least it had a happy ending, but it left me crying for desperation, lost love and a dead brother. Not what I had in mind for the day.

Sunday morning we had snow on the ground. I started the day by cleaning my fish tank: I siphon about half the water out every week or so, to get rid of the ammonia in the water generated when the fish pee. I didn't know fish peed, but when I started reading about having an aquarium I discovered this. Anyway, one of the danios was incredibly curious about the siphon, sure it was food, and ended up getting sucked into it and stuck halfway in it, with his innards being sucked out of his body. Dead danio. I mourned his death because they were a good pair. Two fish in my tank is a sad sight. But I gamely went to Sunday dinner. Fred was there and he was exhausted from trying to keep warm at his camp with just a fire in the fireplace and an electric heater.

Sunday afternoon was the joy of our book club, which was nice in spite of the constant rain. We had our usual 45 minute discussion of the book, with some really nice insights. Then we had our 2 hour marathon discussion of life's issues and comedies. That was good.

Yesterday I spent the day in Saranac Lake with member library directors at their meeting, giving them information and guidance about a number of things. They are a good group and I really enjoy being with them. All women, though we now have 2 male directors (who didn't show up). It was a long day but a good one.

I stopped at Walmart (shopper's remorse) to get plastic to cover my windows, the good kind of mousetraps, tarps to cover my wood piles and Halloween candy for Ken to hand out. Then I got to go to PetsMart to get new fish. After much agonizing I picked out the kind I wanted to go with my new danio only to find out that I'd have to get two of them because they were tetras, schoolers who don't like to be alone. So I switched to another platy, and ended up with one that is really kind of too big for my taste, and is yellowish-orange, a lot like the other platy I have. But now I have two danios again and they really like each other. The two platys don't spend any time together. I sort of wish I'd bought the two tetras instead. They were smaller and were yellow and greenish. Well, such is life. I like my fish.

Weather forecast called for 3-6" of snow in "higher elevations" (that's me) but now they've changed it to "up to 3" this evening. Great, I don't much mind that and it will melt by tomorrow afternoon.

And now I have a meeting, then I'll dive into those CD's. Tomorrow I'm having lunch with a member library director who wants to talk to me about problems she's having with her board. She's coming to Plattsburgh because she doesn't want to be seen in her town with me, afraid someone will see her and hear our conversation. Thursday I got to Elizabethtown to meet with the new director there and offer him the benefit of my years of accumulated wisdom.

This afternoon I go to the doctor, who always makes me laugh. He will tell me if my cholesterol levels are high or low and we will joke about what an idiot the President is.

I finished cataloging the CDs yesterday, so what will I do today? The ultimate insult was in the final batch I did: a bunch of 10 year olds singing hits of Elvis Presley. Honestly, it was just awful. High, screechy voices wailing about blue suede shoes and jailhouse rock. ugh. Anyway, that project is done and now I move on to the next--Plattsburgh Public's yearbook collection. That is just monotony, not a challenge.

The sun finally came out today. We had a heavy frost this morning so I can clean up my plants and put away all my summer furniture (OK, I could have done that sooner). It'll be nice not to step on cherry tomatoes that the dogs have dragged all over the place. Plus it will be nice not to be looking at ratty flowers in pots all over the place. I took in my house plants last night and will spray them with insecticide this weekend. I have no place to put them but I'll figure something out.

I've been fantasizing about putting up a wall at the end of my downstairs and making a room out of what I call the library. It would save so much money on heat and would make my living room so much warmer. It entertains me to do this because it is so much like my mother to think of what I can change about my house next. I may ask for a quote on the project, it shouldn't cost too much, just some studs and drywall and a door. It would be sooooo much warmer in my living room this winter, and sooooo much less expensive to heat my house. It would be hotter in the summer, too, though. And then I think about how it would look, and it definitely wouldn't look as nice, except it would hide the piles and piles of junk I have there, since all use that space for is storage. It's a nice space, with an ash floor, 2 nice windows and a glass door. Something to think about, but if I want it done before winter I'd better haul ass.

I've been burning the wood I bought in June that's stored in my wood shed. It's hard to get a really hot fire going, but last night I managed to get it up to 500 degrees, an ideal temp. At last. This winter I'm going to need to have it that hot every night, so I need to familiarize myself with this wood and how it burns. Every season I have to get to know the wood I've bought and how it burns and how get it to burn hotter. I'll stack wood this weekend--on Saturday and hopefully Sunday morning, since it's supposed to rain on Sunday but maybe not until the afternoon. Book group meets in the afternoon. I have GOT TO get the rest of that wood stacked, it's truly horrible that I haven't done it yet!

12 days of rain and still going strong

Amazing, but at least my well is nice and full. My sump pump has been running with some regularity, which is music to my ears. Like money in the bank. Icing on the cake. Creme de la creme. A full bowl of dog food. I can wash all the clothes I want to without cringing and waiting for the well to run dry. It's the simple things that make me happy. If I lived near a river I'm sure I'd feel differently, but I'm on a hill with a mere hole in the ground for a cellar.

I'm still cataloging worthless CD's. Yesterday had two highlights. The Royal Philharmonic is still hard at work, this time recording the Greatest Hits of Madonna. Yes, Like a Virgin and Material Girl with plenty of stings. Then there was The Best Darn Drinkin' Songs, which included the perennial favorite The Girls Get Prettier at Closing Time. And that's how I spent my day. Not even anything good to listen to while I cataloged them. I did listen briefly to 60's Flower Power, which included Herman's Hermits' I'm Henry VIII. That reminded me of Henry's first car, which was an old, old blue VW van. He spray painted "HVIII" across the front of it and boy did he love having that vehicle. He drove all over the East Side in it, and even let his sisters ride in it. In the back, where there were no seats or windows, but ride in it nevertheless. He was a good brother.

It rained all weekend, even though it wasn't terribly cold. I got three lobsters for dinner Friday night and ate them with Linda and Erdvilas. They were surprisingly good. According to the guy at the store they came in that morning. Lobsters you get in Plattsburgh come from Maine. Anyway it was my final evening for the year with L & E, so we said our farewells. They left Saturday morning. I spent Saturday doing not much of anything, unfortunately. I don't know if I'm depressed or just not motivated because I'm sick of drizzly gray skies. I had a nice, long conversation with my mother, who had sunshine and 60 degrees at her house. She sounded well, better than last week.

I fell asleep for just a few minutes late Sat. morning and awoke to a funny "thump" sound. Tess had gotten up on the kitchen counter, where I had left a plastic half gallon of milk, retrieved the milk and carried it to the living room. She dropped the container, spilling most of the milk on the floor and rug, and she and Chances were industriously lapping up the milk. I yelled at them both, picked up the milk container, then shrugged and said, "Well, you might as well lick up the rest of it." They wagged their tails and obeyed me. Not as much of a mess for me to clean up but now they smell like Resolve carpet cleaner every time they lie down in that spot. And, oh, isn't Tess clever?

Erdvilas gave me custody of a big carton of liquors for the winter, ones that would freeze if left in camp. There are many small bottles of assorted things, and I've left the carton on the kitchen floor. Every day Chances seems to want to try out the contents of one of the small bottles because I find a small bottle in the middle of the living room floor. OK, so I forget to move the carton to a place where she can't find it, just as I neglected to put the milk back in the refrigerator.

Sunday was rainy too. I cleaned my living room and did some laundry then went to Sunday dinner. Quiet dinner, just Bill and Ken. Ken had his wood stove cranking so it was HOT and both Bill and I got very sleepy after dinner. I had my stove going all weekend, too.

Sunday night I was watching TV, looking forward to my regular shows. It was incredibly windy outside and I was really enjoying watching the trees bend and wave, listening to the amazing noise and at 8:30 the power went out. I sat there in the dark for a few minutes, letting it sink in. There was just a bit of light from the moon through the clouds so it was very peaceful. I always know where my flashlights are, and I know where my Coleman lantern is so I'm always in good shape when the power goes out. This time, though I wasn't in the mood to read. I tried. It was really hot sitting in the living room next to the lantern, so I moved into the bedroom, where the temperature at night is about 50. I lasted until about 10 before I fell asleep. I woke up at 4 when the power came on.

Monday I went to an all-day workshop in Canton, waving hello to Jenica as I drove through Potsdam (wasn't alone, so couldn't stop). I gave a brief demonstration and talk on patron-initiated interlibrary loan at CEF. Of course I made a mistake, but I can always make fun of myself so it was fine. I got dragged away from the podium before I finished what I had to say. There weren't very many people there but it was a good group. The afternoon session was interesting, about a collaborative effort in the Albany area, but it made me realize that other regions are still trying to do what we've been doing for 15 years as far as resource sharing goes.

The trip to Canton was really pretty, especially the first part (up into the hills). From my house I drive up to Lyon Mountain, where there used to be a huge iron mine. When we were kids my grandfather liked to drive there on his Sunday afternoon drive and we'd poke through the slag (leftover) piles. Now there's a huge, huge slag pile in the middle of town. I love Lyon Mtn. because it's sort of monochromatic. The mine buildings are brown/gray and the huge slag pile is totally devoid of color--gray. There's a long row of company houses down the main drag, all identical but some painted a couple of different colors. They're some sort of stucco, which is really rare here. There's a minimum security prison in the middle of the place and a Mobil station, and that's all there is to the town. It's not really a town. My drive takes me through a place called Standish, which is just a cluster of houses, all run down. The trees were so brilliantly yellow and orange that it was as if the sky were lit up. It was so bright on both sides of the road, it was just fantastic. I love this time, the end of the color, when it's so incredibly bright that it feels as if the sun is always shining (especially nice when you haven't seen the sun for 12 days!). I always say that if my neighborhood gets too crowded--that is, if houses go up across the road from me--I'll move to the road going to Standish. There's an area there called High Banks, and from one side of the road there's an incredible view of the mountains. Of course, the growing season is about 5 weeks long.

The New Director (N.D.) is doing well. She's still reasonable and sane. I'm working with her on a personnel issue I'm having with one of my clerks and it feels really good to have someone who sees things from an organizational perspective rather than working against me personally.

And now it's on to more CD's, starting with Feng Shui: Harmony, Balance, Energy. What in the world can be on that CD?

THE DAY THAT WOULD NOT END

Is it really only 1:30? I have been cataloging (now, we're talking original cataloging here, because no other library in their right mind would have these in its collection) CD's for 2 days straight. This is a collection of 100 free, yes, free so they must be good, CD's that a patron gifted to one of our member libraries. I can tell he's giving them as a tax write-off from his company because they're all produced by the same company out of Plattsburgh. So far our favorite is "The Royal Philharmonic Plays the Hits of U2." I'm sure Bono would be thrilled to hear what this sounds like. "Desire" and "Sunday Bloody Sunday" heavy on the strings. It's truly awful. So far this library has 4 recordings of "Okie from Muskogee" sung of course by Mere Haggard, 3 recordings of his great "Mama Tried," a recording of "Oops I did it again" by a kids band whose lead singer truly, truly can't carry a tune, a CD of birdsongs in the rain (never mind that birds don't sing in the rain), and 7 CD's of gospel music (so far). As I say, there are 100 and I've only done about 60 so far. Now, wait a minute, I've done 1.5 boxes and the last, unpacked box is half again as big as the box I'm working on now, which holds at least 40. I'm no Einstein, but that's going to add up to waaaay more than 100, the sneaky little snark. Gag me with a maggot.

And it's raining again, surprise surprise. The nicely stacked firewood I have, which should by rights be drying and getting ready to be burned this winter is thoroughly soaked now because I didn't cover it. I guess the sun might shine on Monday. Monday I have to give a presentation on patron-initiated requests, using our catalog. This morning I had to teach myself how to be a patron and initiate some requests. Let's hope I remember how to do it in front of an audience on Monday.

Tonight I'm buying lobsters for Erdvilas and Linda, hopefully live ones. Finding live lobsters in this town is no small task, though. I told L. last night I would do this, since we will not be going out to dinner the way we usually do. There is just too much food in her fridge to warrant spending the amount of money we would spend in a restaurant. Instead, I will treat the Midwesterners to seafood they can't get in Michigan, even though I think Plattsburgh is a funny place to buy lobster. First I will make a quick stop at Ken's because he has called me to "see how I'm doing and what I've been up to." That means he misses me and I should stop by.

This weekend looks pretty dull. I did not get the last disc of The O.C. in the mail, nor did I get any other DVD's. I have a film called Wicker Park to watch and that's it. Let's hope there's a good Law & Order marathon on. I need to go to the dump, that will kill an hour or so. Linda leaves on Sunday, I think, and I can always watch my fish. They're feeling neglected, as are the dogs. I've been at Linda's every night this week, but I have to take advantage of the semblance of a social life when it presents itself, don't I? I took Chances with me on Weds. but she was unbearably attentive to everyone there and wouldn't settle down. They have the 3 pugs, who have been cuddling me to death each night. They insist on being lap dogs, which I am not used to. When we did the crossword puzzle the other night, one of the clues was "Not a handsome dog," and we had the last letter of the 3-letter word as a G. Wasn't hard for me to figure out that the 1st two letters were P and U, but Linda was shocked to think that anyone would think a pug was not handsome. Are you kidding me? With those snouts and curly tails? But they're very dear and sweet little dogs. They just snort too much. Like, all the time.

What Is Your Animal Personality?
brought to you by Quizilla

It's going to rain for the rest of our lives
We seem to have gone from one meteorological extreme to another. Hard to believe that a week ago I was roasting in the sun on my deck, then sitting in a cool breeze warmed by the sun on the boat house porch. It's rained for 6 days and the forecast is for 6 more days of cloudiness with a chance of rain each day. Yikes. I wanted to cover my wood pile last night but discovered that I had given my tarp away. Then I remembered the time I gave it to Ken because I was sure I wasn't going to use it. Well you can't be generous and use the things you give away at the same time, can you.

Columbus Day weekend was much quieter this year, which would have been nice if I'd made good use of the time. Instead I spent the weekend on the couch watching DVD's of last seasons "The O.C." and other worthless things on TV. I wanted to stack my wood but my belief is that it's not a good idea to stack wet wood because then it will stay wet and will take much longer to dry. I did sort my t-shirts, producing a big pile for the Salvation Army and a smaller pile for Erdvilas, who said he wanted all the x-larges I was getting rid of. Now I can actually see what clothes I have on the shelves in my bedroom. There are more piles of clothes screaming for attention (sometimes so loudly they keep me up at night) but I will get to them. I will leave hidden the pants that are 1 and 2 sizes smaller than I am currently wearing in the hopes that I will lose enough of the 20 pounds I gained back after I lost 40 pounds two years ago. Miracles happen, don't they?

Linda and Erdvilas arrived Saturday for a week. I have spent a lot of time with them, enjoying their company a whole lot. Last night Linda and I did the NY Times crossword together, laughing the entire time. It was great. Doing crosswords with another person is fun but tricky.

Saturday afternoon there was a cocktail party that I didn't have to host. It was supposed to be on the porch of a camp owned by a former camper, at one of the nicest camps on the lake, but he had it inside instead. There was a big crowd, bigger than the crowd I would have had at the party I was planning. I had a really nice time and liked being with all my friends there.

Sunday night was the fancy party for Bill's birthday at Plattsburgh's best restaurant. One of the highlights was that I got to sit in the new MiniCooper owned by one of our friends. She offered a chance to drive it but for some stupid reason I declined. Now I wish I had driven it. Anyway, the party was nice but not spectacular. Twelve of us, all very good friends, some of whom have known Bill for 45 years.

Monday night Linda cooked dinner for Rush, Annie and me. We had a great time. Rush loves being with his Hawkeye friends, taking a break from being a Congressman, so he is always in rare form. Annie loves being here so she is always warm and loving. It was a nice evening.

Last night Linda cooked dinner for Ken, Bill and me. Our usual Weds. night fete. We had a nice time and I ate too much but did not drink too much.

I had the first fire of the season in my wood stove on Saturday. The temp. in my living room was 59, and though I wasn't really cold in the morning I knew I would get chilled eventually so I set about starting a fire. Well, it turns out that when I had my last fire in the spring I just shut the door to the stove and left it. So I spent 45 minutes cleaning the ashes and stovepipe before I could light the fire. But now all is set for the season. I know the stovepipe from the elbow to the top outside is ok because I had it cleaned last winter and it's the kind that doesn't need to be cleaned often. So I had a fire, a good warm fire, and it got to be 75 in the living room and the dogs were panting like mad. It stayed warm all weekend. Last night I lit another fire because when I got home from work it was 56 in the living room.

Tuesday we had a reception for our new director from 3-6 and I stayed for the whole thing. It was really nice and drew a good crowd. Lots of member library directors and a few member lib. trustees came, which was great. The N.D. is very nice and so far seems fair-minded, with some new ideas that are ok and will work out for us. I had a long meeting with her yesterday about my job: what I do and how I do it. She said I had a lively personality. That's one way to put it, isn't it. So far we've had a lot of nice conversations about many things. And I'm not nervous about saying the wrong thing, or revealing too much, or making myself vulnerable when I talk to her. What a novel situation to find myself in with a supervisor.

The perfect day
is what I had yesterday. I took the day off, knowing it would probably be my last (no, really, my last) chance to enjoy autumnal warmth at camp. Weds. was Bill's actual 60th birthday so Fred, Ken, Bill and I went to dinner at our new favorite restaurant, had a really nice time together and ate too much food. After dinner I fell into a stuporous sleep on the couch. When I woke, late at night I took the dogs to the boat house and slept there with the doors to the porch wide open. Unheard of in October. It was wonderful. I woke yesterday morning to a sunny haze and three loons parked in front of the boat house. It was fantastic. I spent a couple of hours sitting on the porch, drinking tea and reading. The dogs loved it, I loved it. The lake was like glass and I had the world to myself. I went to the house for a couple of hours of reading in the sun on my deck, but it got too hot (too hot! in October) so I went back to camp and spent the rest of the day on the porch. I'm reading our book group book and enjoying it, although I was struck by how poorly the first part of the book was written and thought that was really interesting. The guy used the word myriad 4 times in 50 pages.

I went home at 4:30 and spent half an hour stacking firewood like a good girl. Very proud of myself, it was hot and buggy and I didn't really want to do it.

Last night I syphoned out half the water in my fish tank and replaced it with fresh water. The danios survived and zipped around like mad fools in the new water, but the platy hid behind the filter for about 1 1/2 hours afterward, totally traumatized. Later in the evening the orange fish relaxed a bit and was swimming around--whew!

So today is Friday, and this weekend is Columbus Day weekend, when lots of people are in the neighborhood. Linda and Erdvilas come tonight, Rush and Annie will be here, and I found out today and another couple who are bought a camp a few years ago will be here as well and are having a cocktail party on Sat. afternoon. Joe and Martha will be here and our really good friends the Neals will be at Bill's camp. Plus another couple. So I'll be busy keeping up with everyone. Sunday night is the big party for Bill in Plattsburgh, the final (I hope) birthday celebration.

And now I have to get going. I just spent half an hour on the phone with my college friend Doug, who lives in Connecticut. He and I agreed that if we ever won the lottery and had millions of dollars we would give each other a million. And he told me I should figure out a way to have a well drilled this fall. I have air in my water lines, somewhere, which may mean trouble with the foot valve in my well. This could mean big problems this winter, or it could just continue the way it is. Life is full of crap shoots, isn't it.

I talked to my mother last night and she said "At least it's quiet in your neighborhood now that everyone is gone." Oh no, I said, the people in the camp below my house are here for the week, and next weekend is Columbus Day, one of the busiest weekends of the year, and Linda and Erdvilas will be here for a week after that. I can't (well, shouldn't) complain, these people are my best friends and I thoroughly enjoy their company. They are wonderful people. I just need to get my life in order, to clean my house, finish stacking my wood, get myself primed for winter.

The weather doesn't help--it was nearly 80 yesterday, sunny and HOT. I hosted, and cooked Sunday dinner at camp. I made meatloaf, mashed potatoes, corn off the cob and apple crisp with whipped cream. Fred, Bill and Ken were there for dinner, with four more joining us for dessert. It was really great. The four who joined us for dinner were the people from below my house, former campers who've known Ken, Bill and each other for 45 years or more. At one point all of them were sitting on the porch visiting and having just a wonderful time together and I felt so fortunate to be able to host a great event like that in such a great setting.

After dinner I cleaned it all up and sat on the boat house porch for a bit, reading and dozing. Heaven on earth. There's a bit of color in the mountains, but very little when you consider it's already October and we're usually just past peak at this time.

Last night I made honey cake, trying out a Martha Stewart recipe. It's for a potluck luncheon we're having in honor of our New Director (N.D.), who starts today. She is very, very nice. I don't know how the cake will taste or even why I decided to make it. The batter tasted sort of good but mostly just interesting. You're supposed to put carmelized pears on top of it but I'm just putting Cool Whip on it instead.

Friday night I had dinner at Linda's camp with Marykay and her son Eli and their two dogs. Eli adopted an 8-year old female dog who is probably a cross between a Lab and a chow. She is a wonderful black dog with a purple tongue. I love that tongue. We had a nice evening and I enjoyed myself. Linda called while I was there and it was great to hear her voice. I wanted to talk longer to her but M. was tapping her foot because dinner was ready at that exact moment and you don't let her dinners get cold, apparently.

I had a negative dog experience over the weekend. Saturday was a gorgeous sunny day and I was sitting in the sun in my yard reading. Dogs went bluff-climbing with strangers, but Chances came back. Tess did not, was gone for hours. I had to leave at 4 to go to a dinner party for Bill's birthday in Plattsburgh, transporting Ken. Tess wasn't back yet and there were 5 cars at the bog, signaling a lengthy visit for her with strangers. The dinner party was nice, good food and excellent view because the house is on Lake Champlain. When I got home Tess was waiting outside the door, as I had hoped she would be. There were two voice mail messages, however: one from someone who had Tess at the Beach House, more than a mile from my house, and had climbed the bluffs with her. He said he was trying to find my house. The second call was from an unidentified woman, most indignant, who said that I was not taking good care of Tess, that Tess is a very nice dog and that either someone was going to steal her, or she was going to be hit by a car, or someone would sue me because she was bothering them. Then she said that she understood my last dog was hit by a dump truck, so I'd better take better care of Tess, and hung up. Well, I have to admit she was right on all counts (except the part about being sued). So I have to take better care of Tess. I can't let her leave my property, and I certainly can't let her climb the bluffs with strangers anymore. I have worried about her being stolen when she disappears for long periods of time. Sometimes I'm not a good dog owner, I admit. I would mind very much if anything happened to my little Tess.

So today is the first day of a new era at work. The era of Ewa (pronounced Eh-va). It's an adjustment and everyone here is very quiet today. I went into her office and said good morning, welcome, we're happy to have you here and we think it's really cool to have a car with Alaska license plates in the driveway. She off to Elizabethtown this morning with our Account Clerk, who will no doubt try to indoctrinate her and convince her that he is indispensable and always right. But so far she seems to like me. And it's a gorgeous, sunny, warm and wonderful day.