3 things I am currently pleased about

1) I returned a whole slew of library books to the book drop the other day and later that night I checked my account to see what the fine damage was and noted that it still had two books checked out under my name. I was quite sure I had had both books in my hand when I'd walked out to the car, so I double checked the car, and sure enough, one of them had slid between the seat and the door. But the other one was not between the seat and the door. It was not under the seat, it was not in the back seat. It was not in the car. It was not on the library book shelf in the living room, it was not on the cedar chest, it was not on the kitchen table, it was not in the various places books hide in my bedroom. I did not have the book. This was not a happy realization. So, this afternoon, I took the book that had been left in the car back to the library. The kid behind the desk checked it in and said I was still missing one. I told him that I would swear I returned it, and it's not anywhere in my apartment or my car. So, he went to check the shelf and lo and behold, it was there. Somehow it got missed when they checked in the books that day. So, he checked it in and it was off my account which reduced my fine by about 2/3rds, and I paid it and everything is hunky dory with the library again and I can go back to taking out books and forgetting to return them again.

2) The other day, I checked the cable company's website to check on some kind of maintenance they did on my cable box (remotely), and noted that they were advertising standard digital cable with RoadRunner for approximately $30 less than I paid. This did not please me. So I called them this afternoon and said, "hi, you're overcharging me dramatically, please do something about this". So I talked to someone who explained that the RoadRunner in the advertisement was RoadRunner Lite, which is slower than the connection I have now, but still faster than dial up. But that I could downgrade to that and get the lower price they are advertising. I said, heck, yeah, I can put up with slower internet if it saves me about $30 a month, yes please. So that loosens up the budget slightly (not a ton, but a little)

3) I get to go to a fancypants training in May, which is pretty exciting, because the organization doing the training is supposed to be one of THE best training organizations in my field, which is very cool. Their trainings are VERY expensive, but the topic is something that's really important for my organization, so we decided it made sense for me to go. I am happy because I didn't think it would fly, budgetwise, and I did want to go.

Risen

So, Happy Easter. I hope you had a blessed one.

Lent and Easter made me think about my Babcia a lot. I think that she felt very connected to those seasons of the year. This is the woman who owned not one, but two crowns of thorns*. This is the woman who taught me the idea of offering up your struggles to the cross. Yes, I think it is safe to say she was quite spiritually in tune with Lent. But I know she loved the joy of Easter as well. For some reason, I have more early memories of Easter than I do of Christmas. I remember the Easter egg tree she would put up by the front door. I remember going to the church to get the food blessed. I remember the butter lamb and the lamb cake that she frequently got without coconut for me because she knew I detest coconut. I remember standing in the back yard all dressed up in my Easter dress* with a hat and everything for photos. And Easter meant spring, for all that I can remember many Easters that included snow. And I remember going to church on Good Friday for stations and the adoration of the Cross. I remember being in the dim church and watching and praying. I was too young to understand, I think, at first, but later, I did.

It's not quite a year since she's gone, and really, honestly, I miss her. I miss her so much. I mean, no, I don't really miss the Babcia who was stuck in that bed with nothing but her DVDs and who could not remember that she'd watched something three times already. I know she is at peace now, and I am happy for that. But I do miss my Babcia who played with me in the back yard. Who took trips with me and my brother on the porch swing to Prauge and Peru. Who came upstairs singing when we'd be up in the bedroom giggling too much to go to sleep. Who always bought us chocolate donuts when we came to visit, and who would have done anything, anything in the world to make sure we knew she loved us. Sometimes that was stressful, yes, yes, it was. But I knew I was loved and she would have never let me forget that.

(As an aside- if you're reading this, Babcia, yes, yes, I know the paper around the photos on the display board are uneven. I know I should have done it over, because it looks sloppy. But I had limited resources to work with, and I'm horrible at straight lines, so it is what it is).





*Nope, not kidding. Yeah, I know.
**Easter clothing was a bit of a challenge for me. My poor mom had the misfortune to have a daughter with a severe lace aversion in the 1980s. Do you know how hard it was to find dresses without lace in the 1980s? Now, of course, it's not a problem.

mmm, tired

Long, long day, although nothing happened that was earthshattering. Just long and grey and not as warm as I was promised, which never makes me happy. Kids tearing around downtown in green, the old men sitting outside the coffee shop watching. A lunch meeting in the coffee shop, full of people coming and going and the college kids playing cards and studying. Staring at people's lips to pay attention to what they were saying in the noise. Interesting news, good news, and some small success. Confirm this meeting, reschedule that meeting, yes, I'm available those two days, no, I will not be around that day. Page through millions of house plans to find some alternatives to the too expensive one. Stare blankly at a google search page that doesn't tell me what I want. Write a letter, come up with a postcard for an event, make lists, make more lists. Listen to the choir warm up downstairs, over and over again.

Still chilly outside, stop at the grocery store for cereal milk bread, come home. Unload groceries, put on yoga pants and plop down on couch. Shut brain off with the television. Muse about doing something productive and decide that no, no productivity. Tired, waiting for the rain that the sinus barometer says is on the way. Make brownies because I want them. Decide that this whole working out after work thing is obviously not working, given that I keep not doing it. Contemplate how early I'd have to wake up to work out in the morning, count backwards to determine bedtime and make face at going to bed before 10pm. Decide not to do that tomorrow. Maybe later.

Just Monday. No big thing.

Another List

So, let's see about another list...hmmm....Ok, here.

Five Things I Want To Do This Year:

1) knit a pair of socks- I'm working on one right now, and I think I've almost got it, but I think I also screwed the heel up to the point where it needs redoing, so I may start over (yes, I could rip back to where I screwed up, but I figure things out better when I start over and do it all together)

2) Knit a sweater or other garment that's not a hat, socks, handwarmer, etc. I've got the yarn for it, and I've got a pattern picked for it already, although I might go with another pattern I just found if it seems like I'd have enough yarn for it.

3) Read all the books I already own. I've read....mmmmm, 15 already? I'd have to count.

4) Participate in at least three Service Sundays at church (every second Sunday of the month, my church does a service project).

5) Finish organizing my living room. I'm waiting for part of my desk to come in, which should happen next month (the desk is comprised of shelves, which are now special order- they didn't used to be- which is what is taking so long). I also want to go through everything on the "office" shelves because honestly, do I need a whole shoebox full of post-its? No, not particularly. I also don't need 15 highlighters. Some of it I'll just take to work (we use a LOT of post-its at work), but I'll have to find somewhere to take some of the rest of it (we don't use highlighters much at work, for example).

There. Five things for 2008. Sounds good, eh?

Blizzard Done!

The blizzard is over. Everyone is safe and warm. Wanna see pictures? Of course you do: Blizzard 2008 on Flickr

Blizzard Warning

Yeah, so I wasn't expecting this. Yesterday evening, I discovered my county was under a winter storm warning until Saturday night. I was guessing at about 2-3 inches with some freezing rain, which would be about right, but would derail my weekend plans to some extent (I was supposed to go home and then to Cleveland with my parents to take care of some details up there with my grandfather's house). Obnoxious, but not anything to be concerned over.

This morning, I check the forecast and find out the winter storm warning has been extended and the blurb says something about "significant snowfall expected" and "5 to 7 inches today and 5 to 7 inches overnight with drifts up to 24 inches". Uh, what? That's not exactly what came to mind when I saw what was probably my tenth winter storm warning of the winter. I'd think it was hyperbole, but when I left for work at 20 to 9, there was no snow. When I left work three hours later for lunch, there was so much snow I couldn't tell the sidewalk from the grass. There was one point where I crossed the street and didn't have to step up to the curb because there was so much snow that it was all one level. And it hasn't stopped. If I had to guess, looking out the window, I'd guess maybe 4-5 inches now. Bother, I thought. Looks like I won't be going home.

Well, it is now *definite* that I will not be going home, because I checked the weather to see if it could tell me how much snow we've gotten so far and the radar and discovered that they've cancelled the winter storm warning in favor for a blizzard warning. Yes, a blizzard. I don't think I've been in a blizzard since...1987, maybe? Ice storm, yes. Blizzard no. There were big letters on the warning page saying DO NOT TRAVEL. STAY INSIDE. THE END IS NEAR (well, ok, maybe not that last one). Good deal that I stopped off at the grocery on my way home and picked up snacky things (bread and milk I got. But if I'm gonna spend all weekend snowed in, I want some chocolate). Apparently the rest of the village was as caught off guard by the 10-14 inches of snow prediction because the store was packed (and it's not that big of a store) and everyone was saying "did you know there was a storm? I didn't know there was a storm? What the hell?"

So, apparently, I get to be a participant in Blizzard 2008. Woo! Except not so much. Am cranky now.

List, listy lists

The theme for March for NaBloPoMo is Lists. I'm not officially participating, but doing it on my own, so I don't have to feel obligated to post every day. Thus, I'm presenting the top five items on my to-do lists to kick off March.

1) Have a lazy day (no problem there. Doing that right now. No work, no plans to do anything including getting dressed if I don't want to)

2) Clean up the kitchen and bathroom

3) Go to church tomorrow

4) Clean out the car (tomorrow it is supposed to be 50 and partly cloudy, so it's really the first opportunity I've had in over a month to do anything with the car)

5) Find out where the heck my shelves for my desk are. Because if they're not going to come in (they're semi-discontinued), then I need to figure something else out because I need to finish organizing that corner of the living room.

And with that, I'll go back to working on item number 1.