Craig and I did some TV watching this week. First, I got him to watch Leverage: Redemption. We loved the original show, and while I miss Timothy Hutton (Craig doesn't, he wasn't a Nate Ford fan), and it took a couple eps to find its feet, we enjoyed it as nice, escapist fun. However, there are only 8 episodes available right now, so we needed something else to watch after we were done.
Enter The West Wing.
The West Wing aired here in the US from 99-06. We lived in the UK for the first five seasons (and it premiered after we were already there), so we never saw it during its original run. It's one of those shows I always meant to come back and watch but just never did. Well, now we have. And it's exactly what I was hoping for. Craig is a sucker for smart dialogue, and since this is Aaron Sorkin, I knew he'd get it. But he's been sucked in hard and gets annoyed that I won't just sit on the couch for hours on end to watch it. Still, we've done seven episodes already in the past couple days. It would be nice for it to last a couple months since it's seven seasons long, lol. I'm still trying to figure out why Josh/Donna is the most popular ship on AO3, though. And I'd had no idea Moira Kelly was on it at all. I'm guessing she doesn't last long. And baby Elisabeth Moss! God, she's so young in this. As soon as she came on, though, I turned to Craig and made him promise to at least watch an episode of Mad Men when we're done with West Wing. It's another I think he'd really enjoy, but he's always dragged his feet on.
Apparently, I'm still trying to catch up from our weekend away. I slept for four hours this afternoon after getting nine hours last night, and I see another good 8-9 hours tonight. If I wasn't vaccinated, I might be more worried since I know fatigue is a covid symptom. But I'm not running a fever, I can still smell and taste everything, and it makes sense that I could just be tired (especially because I'm anemic so it's harder for me to bounce back when I'm sleep-deprived).
And how sad is it that covid has had us second-guessing absolutely everything about our health now? I might've brushed this off as the onset of a cold two years ago. I have to think everything through multiple times now.
We got back yesterday from a four-day weekend in SoCal. It's the first time we've visited our friends after they moved, and it was just a real treat. The best part? I have ZERO allergies when I'm outside a twenty-mile radius where I live. I had an entire weekend of feeling completely normal. Then, we got home yesterday afternoon and I promptly felt like crap again. Sleeping sucks because my nose blocks up and wakes me. And the general ashiness in my head is back. I will definitely be pushing to relocate once everybody's done with college.
In other news...today was my last day at the library. It was bittersweet, because while I'm excited about going back to school and won't miss my manager, I do love everybody else there. I usually stick around for a bit chatting, but today, I just needed to leave. I was a tad teary and didn't want to lose it in front of everybody. They were all so sweet and nice, though. I got gourmet cookies for lunch, too, which was good because I hadn't gone grocery shopping when we got back yesterday and we didn't have anything for me to take in to eat, lol.
And on to the new adventure in my life. School starts in two weeks. This week, I have to get my application done for the CSU submitted in hopes I can start in January. I should have that done by Friday. I'm still playing catch-up from being gone, and we are going into SF on Thursday to see Hamilton so I lose half that day, too. As long as I get it done soon, I'll be fine.
I haven't posted this since March(!?!), so I won't make this insanely long by listing everything that's happened in my book world since then. I'll just go off the last week.
It was a godawful day at the library. We share space with the high school, and a group of freshmen boot camp kids had lunch on the lawn outside our doors. Not a big deal except that some of them apparently decided our bookdrops were trash cans. Water bottles, chip bags, wadded up tin foil...it was a mess. I am not going to miss messy high school students.
Add in a particularly horrendous load of work - Tuesdays are always our heaviest days because we're closed Sundays and Mondays, but today was almost double what our usual load is - and I was exhausted when I got home. Got nothing done except dinner.
Well, my county has its mask mandate back. Not a surprise. It's also not a surprise how stupid people are being about it. I'm so done with all of them.
I got on the scale for the first time since...our trip to Napa for our anniversary in May. Sigh. I had lost 15 pounds at that point. Seven of them are back. I was all bound and determined to start off today on the right foot and did well until...lunchtime when we realized how many unhealthy leftovers were in the house. Some of my favorite leftovers. Like fried chicken. And then Alicia and her boyfriend wanted ice cream after supper and well, let's say, my day did not turn out the way I had originally planned. Sigh. Oh well, I will try to make tomorrow better. I want to try and be good for the next few days because on Friday, we drive down to Irvine to spend the weekend with the friends we were in Napa with a couple weeks ago. There will be wine. And food. And more wine and food.
I ran short on sleep this weekend and it caught up with me today. I came upstairs after lunch to get some work done and discovered I couldn't keep my eyes open. I ended up taking a two and a half hour nap, during which I dreamt I had covid. It was so realistic that the first thing I did when I woke up was take my temperature.
Craig and I are almost down with season 3 of Westworld. Season 1 is still my favorite. At this point, I have no idea who I'm supposed to be rooting for. Everybody on this show is awful. With the exception of one or maybe two people. I know there's supposed to be a fourth season. I just hope it pulls itself together to be as brilliant as it was the first season.
Only five more shifts at the library, woo hoo! Granted they're spread out over the next two weeks, but hey, the countdown is real.
Today was supposed to be productive, but in reality, not so much. My arthritis has been particularly bad since we got back from Napa, and the pain makes it hard to concentrate. I'm not sure what's causing this flare-up. The fact that my eating has been crap lately certainly isn't helping. I tried to get back on track with a gorgeous salad for dinner tonight, but then Alicia and her boyfriend came home a couple hours later when I was starting to get peckish. I should've been strong when they said they were going to McDonalds. I wasn't. A McFlurry and fries later...
At some point, I have to stop stalling and get back on it with tracking my food. And getting some exercise, even if it's just strength training. I keep making excuses, like the pain, or the time commitment, or the kids, but that has to stop at some point. Why is it I can be so disciplined about certain things, but when it comes to food and exercise, it all goes out the window?
Craig and I have been watching Westworld since the Napa trip and it was recommended to us. We didn't have HBO when it premiered, so it was one of those shows that slipped through the cracks. However, it's been a win for us so far. We're almost done with the second season. We probably would be done if I let Craig binge it the way he wants, but I just can't stay sitting on the couch for more than a couple episodes. I will say, though, that I don't think the second season is as good as the first was. It's a mind trip, that's for sure, and I appreciate a lot of what it seems to be trying to do, but some of the nonlinear storytelling just isn't done as coherently as it could be. I will say, however, that the show as a whole has sparked some long debates and conversations between me and Craig, more so than a show has done in a very long time. That's an excellent sign.
Maybe if I start posting on a Monday, I'll get back into the habit of posting here. I have no idea why this keeps sliding. It's not like my life is any crazier than normal.
So what's happened...my birthday was on the 14th. That was a good day. My celebration was over the weekend, though, when Craig and I went back to Napa with our best couple friends. Her birthday was the week after mine, so it seemed like a great way to celebrate. Tons of fun.
I'm also - FINALLY - officially a college student again. I'm all registered at the community college to get the one class I'm missing in order to qualify as a transfer student to the CSU I want to attend. It was pretty nightmarish there for a while. Their admissions department is absolutely useless. I applied at the same time there was a huge mail update, and I never received the email saying I was in and what to do next, along with my student ID number. In spite of numerous, varied attempts to get that information, nobody ever got back to me with it. I ended up getting it when someone from their registration outreach program called me to see if I had any questions or problems registering for my classes. She ended up sending me all the details I needed, thank goodness.
I ended up with the advanced composition class I need for the critical thinking credit (why my multiple comp or philosophy courses from the first time around don't count, I have no idea, since they seem to be exactly what they want me to take now). I opted to take four classes in total to help get back into the habit of being in school. The other three are a website development class (I already know HTML, but I really need to redesign my sites and this should give me some solid CSS knowledge, too), introduction to criminal justice (to see if it's something I want to pursue at the CSU), and introduction to archaeology (just for funzies). I wanted to take a photoshop class for funzies, but it already had a waitlist by the time I could actually register. Since I had a list of twenty potential classes to take, I decided not to bother with the waitlist and just go to the next one I wanted to do just for fun.
And now I wait. All of the classes are online and start on August 23. I was supposed to stop working at the library on July 30, but my manager asked if I could work a few days in the beginning of August because she took her vacation at the beginning of July and hasn't had the chance to do any interviewing yet. Ironically, I got a raise on July 1 that she's put into motion before I turned my notice in. I found out about that last week. It's so funny because it keeps seeming like the universe is throwing incentives at me to stay at the library. What does it know that I don't, lol?
In the meantime, with Covid on the rise again, I've decided not to audition for 12 Angry Jurors (an updated version of 12 Angry Men) that our community theatre is doing. There's nothing else this season I'd be able to audition for, but oh well. I'll have school to keep me busy.
I made an appointment to see my ENT about my allergy symptoms, just to rule out anything serious. He confirmed, it's just a godawful allergy season, and my deviated septum is exacerbating my symptoms. He gave me a prescription antihistamine to use when it's really bad, which has been helping. On the bright side, he also said that my throat has healed quite a bit from all the changes I've made to fight my reflux. So that's good at least.
And I think that's just about it. I'm making no promises about getting back onto a schedule with posting, but I sure as hell am going to try.
With all the stupid crap that's happening in my body right now - inflammation is up, seasonal allergies through the roof - I've decided to try going dairy-free to see if that helps at all. I know the link between dairy and mucus is a myth, but it does increase inflammation if you have a sensitivity to it (which I do but ignore because of how much I love dairy). It really can't hurt at this point to give it a go for a few weeks to see if it helps. So back to my herbal and green tea, and goodbye to ice-cream (which my scale will most definitely appreciate).
The past 10 days have been busy and productive. Turns out, I'm missing a single class to qualify as a transfer student at the CSU I want to attend, so I'll be taking that along with a few others at the local community college this fall. I'm going to apply to the CSU in August and ask for an exception to be made to allow me to start there in January. The advisor I spoke to suggested it, saying I was an excellent candidate for the exception. She was helpful all around, frankly, and really lit a fire under me even more than there was. I have to take all online classes at the community college, though, because they start on the 23rd and Craig and I already have our flights to DC for the 27th. I don't want to miss classes at the very beginning of my journey back, lol.
The class I'm missing is a critical thinking class, and I have two real options for that, one of which is a philosophy course. Not my favorite as I hated philosophy back in the day, but if that's what it takes, I'll do it. I'm also going to take a science to get that credit out of the way, a photoshop class for funzies, and then 1 or 2 other classes that I haven't decided on yet.
The countdown has begun on my time at the library, but bonus for me, my manager is on vacation until the 14th, so I get half the month without her, woo hoo! The library opened up hiring in the county for the two positions above me that I qualify for, but I held strong and didn't apply. School is coming first. If I still want to go back to the library when it's all over, I can apply then. But who knows, I might not even be in this part of the state when that happens. Anything can happen before then, so I'm just going to have an open mind about it all.
Well, I did it. Yesterday, I gave my notice at the library. I'm going to work through July to give her time to at least get mostly through the hiring process of finding a replacement, but then I am out of there.
At the end of the day, it was both easy and hard to do. Easy, because I'm done with my manager and my frustrations about the mistakes my fellow aides are making (that I'm then forced to correct when I find) have been growing like crazy. Hard, because I love the library and everybody else who works there. Libraries have always been my safe space. Part of me is going to ache from missing it.
But it's the best choice for me, and I know it. I need to take 10 days off in August anyway to take Alicia back to school in DC, so now I won't have to ask for it. Plus, my mental health will improve. And regardless of whether I start school in the fall or the winter, I'll have time to get ready. The library was good about giving me back some of my confidence, and now it's time for the next step in my life.
It's getting harder and harder to go into work at the library. Now that I can see going back to school in my future, I just want it to start now. As it is, I think I'm going to put in my resignation at the beginning of July to work through the month so I'm out as of August. That way, I don't have to worry about a week off to take Alicia to DC for school. And I can be done with my manager for good. As Craig told me today, I could go in as a patron and help anybody who wanted help finding books without having to worry about overstepping bounds, I can organize shelves at my leisure since it's fully within my rights to browse, and I can leave as soon as someone (my manager) makes me uncomfortable. It's not like I took the job for the money.
Plus, the new couch has kind of inspired my muse. If I'm not working, I'll have more energy to write.
The next step in our new game/media room set-up arrived today. There's a big blank wall in front of the new couch, so Craig decided he wanted a bigass TV mounted there so we could watch movies and play games on it. He got an 85" with so many acronyms I have no idea what they are. All I know is that a) it's huge, and b) the picture is crazy sharp, and c) we don't have to hook anything into it except the PS and Xbox. Everything else comes through apps on the TV, including our DVR in the family room. It's not mounted yet, but it will be on either Saturday or Sunday when the mounting kit arrives.
I foresee a ton of time spent in this room in the future.
Lazy day. Alicia's BF spent the night, so they went out and got us brunch. Then we played Villainous after we ate, until his mom texted and guilted him into going home early to help her build something. Craig and I curled up on the couch after that to watch mindless movies (a rewatch of Edge of Tomorrow and then My Spy), and now I'm sprawled on the chaise of the new sectional, on my computer for the first time all day, trying to stay awake. I shouldn't. I should go to bed. It's not like I can't use the sleep. But tomorrow has a ton of errands that need to be done, including packages to be shipped and grocery shopping, not to mention finishing the laundry that I was lazy about today, and part of me wants to put it off by making today last as long as it can. Yes, I know that's silly logic. I mentioned I was tired, right, lol?
I've spent way too much money in the past two days. I renewed our SHN membership for 2021/22, since things are finally opening up again and live theater is coming back. I then went and purchased tickets for all of us to see Hamilton again in August before Alicia has to go back to DC for her last year of college. Then, I bought tickets for our local theatre company's production of Company that will be performing at the end of the month. Oh, and then Craig went out yesterday and bought a new TV to replace the one in the media/game room, along with a soundbar and speakers for a better sound experience. Those arrive on Wednesday. The goal is to spend more time up in the game/media room. We're not going to get the cable extended to the upstairs, so the family room will still be where we watch stuff on the DVR, but movies, streaming, and games will all be in the media room. It'll be even better once the kids go back to school because they won't be here to leave all their crap around. Alicia is notorious for burying the game table by never putting stuff away - which it is now since they didn't bother putting away all their Magic the Gathering stuff from last night - so I'm looking forward to losing that element. My house will be so much cleaner once they're gone. I'll miss them, but hey, I'm looking for bright spots in their absences as much as I can, lol.
Well, hell, I fell off the grid again. I didn't mean to. But we went to Napa, and then I came home and felt like crap, and then things got busy, and...I fell off the grid. Let's try to get back on.
I sent for my college transcript and got it this week, so I could finally make an appointment with the nearby CSU for pre-admission counseling. I'm way too excited about going back to college and finally finishing my Bachelor's. It was a little rough seeing my transcript, though. I got all sad about having the visual reminder of what a downturn my life took after my abusive ex entered it.
But that's all done and gone, and this is about moving on. At this point, I need to decide if I want to do something completely online or something more hybrid with the occasional class on campus. Both Craig and my mom warned me about how I'll stand out, being an older student, which I typically hate. I'm the kind of person who prefers to blend into the background, so they have a point, but I'm not convinced it'll be so bad about classes. I'm not sure I'll have a problem with the occasional in-person class. It's not like I'm ashamed of my past or anything. And I'm not stupid so I'm not nervous about that aspect. And according to Alicia's boyfriend, it's not like I'm out of touch with young people right now, which I took as a compliment. Mobility might be an issue if I have to walk far, though. At least one of the majors that interests me (biological sciences with a forensic science concentration) requires a ton of time on campus. On the other hand, I can do criminal justice and sociology as hybrids. I was headed toward an English major before, but I'm not sure I'm flexible enough now to finish that. I have very definitive likes and dislikes, and I'm less willing to bullshit my way through literature and writing classes that bore/annoy/piss me off. I don't want to set myself up for failure from the start. If I choose to go completely online, the options I like are hospitality and tourism management with an emphasis on event planning (which I would be AMAZING at) and human development with a concentration in adult development and gerontology.
But like I said. We'll see. My appointment is in two weeks, and I'll have more answers then. Right now, I'll keep looking through courses and drooling about the possibilities.
Dreaming and writing are Adam and Eve of the same process. Long before one ever writes a story…one works a story. You have ideas; and they stay there in your barely conscious mind; and you work them over. You masticate them like a puppy with a Christmas slipper until — finally — out comes a story. A significant part of that birthing process is informed by the dreaming. So the dreaming and the writing: elements of the same manufacture.
Oddly relaxing day in spite of another weird encounter with my manager. We've been getting a ton of new books in to build up the collection again since they stopped buying very much last year. A big chunk of those are kids books. Our new kids section is packed, so today, I was instructed to pull out all the books we got prior to November 2020 in order to make room for the cart full of new books to go on the shelf. Except...I removed fewer books than we have to replace them so this culling will a) do nothing to resolve our space issue if we get more new books in the next couple weeks, and b) not even allow us to shelve the ones we already have. I went through and manually counted how many other 2020 books we had (23 in total) in hopes that would give us more space (not really), then went to tell my manager. She was the chief children's librarian prior to becoming the manager and still plays a huge part with the collection.
I didn't sugarcoat it. I felt there was no need to. I said, "You have a problem," then explained the issue. She burst out laughing. When she was done, she said she thought it was hysterical that I don't hold back on giving her bad news. Which just makes my head spin. Because seriously? Is she trying to tell me she'd rather I didn't tell her things, then let them deal with the consequences later? Because it really feels like that, sometimes. And she doesn't deal with them. She had no solution to what I presented, just said they'll have to figure something out. But they haven't even figured out the space issue they had with the board books that was brought to their attention last week. All she had me do then was pull out duplicate copies and set them on her desk. Guess what? They are still sitting there, waiting to be deleted and sent back to Acquisitions. And the picture books that were pulled in January to check for condition (because our picture book section was too crammed and we needed room)? There's still a third of them sitting on a cart behind her desk that she hasn't dealt with. I've pulled a good twenty from it myself when requests from other branches have shown up for them.
*headthunk*
I'm very glad I don't go back in until next Thursday. It'll be interesting to see how they resolve the new kids section.
Alicia and I did some retail therapy tonight at Target because she had bought a few things from the new designer dress collection and needed to return two of them. The collection is bright, quirky, and size-inclusive, so it was fun going through what they had in the store. I ended up only buying one dress - this black polka dot one - and while I absolutely loved it (and was shocked at how flattering it actually was), the size I got was too big. Unfortunately, the next size down is already sold out, so no polka dot dress for me. I picked up a few other things and ended up keeping this blouse in blue and white (which I'm totally wearing to work tomorrow, it's so cute and airy) and this tank dress in black (though it's a maxi on me). I've gone a little dress crazy for the upcoming summer, since this is not the first new sundress I've bought for myself this spring.
And...I might pick up a couple more from Target considering how much I loved the items I got tonight.
My weight loss has been stalled out at around 14 pounds for the last two weeks. Part of that is because we've had a couple indulgent days where I go way overboard and then spend the rest of the week making up for it. Sunday was one of those days, as Alicia and I had brunch with vaccinated friends and then got pedicures. $5 Bloody Marys at brunch were my downfall, lol. So the rest of this week was supposed to be about being ultra-good because Craig and I are going to Napa on Sunday for three days to have an early celebration of our 22nd wedding anniversary.
Except nobody wanted our dinner plans, so we ended up getting KFC and ice cream. So much for trying to be good, lol.
I'm not that fussed, to be honest. Maintaining my weight during a time period when I know there are lots of extras going on is perfectly acceptable. What's important is that I don't gain. Tonight will not become a trend. I'm making sure of that.
Though I most definitely will be indulging while we're in Napa. We're hitting our favorite deli grocery on the way on Sunday, have a wine tasting tour scheduled for Monday, and reservations Monday night at what seems to be an amazing Italian restaurant. Since it's celebratory as well as our first real outing in over a year, I'm going to enjoy it all and deal with the consequences when I get home on Tuesday.
Holy crap, I knew I was avoiding posting, but I hadn't realized it has been almost a month. Yikes.
The last time I posted was right after I had the confrontation with my manager. I never talked to her about what she did, but instead focused on doing my job and running questions to other librarians in order to stay out of her path. Unfortunately, that doesn't work more than half the time, and I still manage to get sucked in. And I still get the occasional comment. Last week, I got sucked into an issue regarding a procedure that had never been established with our reopening, so I apologized to her about sidetracking her since that wasn't my intention. Her comment to me was, "With you, I just always expect to get sidetracked."
Sigh.
I can't say I'm very happy at work right now. She's a big part of it, but there's also the issue that it feels like I'm the only aide who gives a damn about anything. Things are slipping that shouldn't slip - including one of the aides not noticing for over a week that an entire section of New Kids had been moved and continued to shelve picture books on the shelf they were before, without realizing that shelf now housed easy readers - and I spend most of my shifts frustrated. I'm seriously considering quitting, to be honest.
After the confrontation with my manager, I started more seriously looking into going back to college. I was about 3/4s of the way done when my abusive ex-husband forced me to quit by moving us from Michigan to Florida so he could pursue his dream. Craig and I have always talked about me finishing my BA some day, but I expected it to happen after the kids were done with school. Well, he suggested I look into it now. It hasn't been easy. The school I went to in Michigan refuses to advise me about the viability of finishing my degree online without actively enrolling, and has been thoroughly unhelpful in regards to getting any of my questions answered. So I'm going to start looking around in California. At this point, though, I just don't know. I would be finishing for the sake of finishing. I don't even want to advance at the library at this point. I definitely wouldn't accept a promotion under this manager if she ever offered. But if I quit, and then I don't go back, what do I do? I'm caught in this gray area, unsure of what I want. I haven't written a single word in 2021. Do I even want to continue? But with the kids leaving in the fall for college, I'm going to have a lot more time on my hands so I have to figure out something.
And this ennui and stress is exactly why I haven't posted in almost a month. I just feel bogged down by it all, and while I recognize it's all first world problems, and that I should just be grateful that my family is healthy and we're financially secure, it's getting harder and harder to fight off depression about it all.
Three weeks back on Weight Watchers, and I'm down 10.9 pounds. I gained 19 pounds during the covid lockdown (seriously, I thought it was a little funny that I hit that number, too), so it's a bit of a relief to get over half of that off already. I had help with hormonal stuff this past week, but I'm finding it relatively easy to stick to the healthier choices so far. I even made a carrot cake with orange mascarpone frosting today and had a single small piece with no desire to eat any more. Not because it wasn't good, but because I had what I wanted. Getting rid of most of the sugar from my diet kills my desire for snacking, and my appetite itself seems a bit smaller when it comes time for meals. Most of the time, anyway. :)
In other good news, Alicia got her second shot this morning. So far, she hasn't had any side effects, so fingers crossed it stays that way.
A busy day in a good way. First off, I got to spend three hours with my friend L, to go shopping and then have a long chat over coffee. She's been vaccinated for months - she's a nurse - so it was just a blessing to be able to spend so much time with her. Plus, I bought her an early birthday gift that she wouldn't have bought for herself, so that makes me feel good.
I ended up getting home around 2:30, at which time Craig asked me, "Feel like going sofa shopping?" We want to replace the 15 y/o sofa set we have in the media room, and we have a couple very flush months coming up, so now is the time for us to buy. With Alicia's new boyfriend over at least twice a week, the media room is getting a lot more use and they really hate the couches in there. So it's time. Our only problem is there's nothing local we like. We ended driving out to Berkeley because Craig had found a store that also had a ton of Amish-made wooden furniture. It was a great store, but not for couches. However, when we replace our bedroom set (our current set is a solid oak set we bought used 25 years ago), we are definitely going back. Oh, and when we need to replace our dining room set.
We still had a ton of time, however, and there are a ton of shops in that area, so Alicia and I picked out a different store about a mile down the road to try. It's a custom sofa shop, so I'll admit, I didn't have much hope. But it turned out to be the best decision of our day. It's a small local business, but the owner was amazing. Never tried the hard sell, just told us about all the things he could get customized for us. Plus, it's all quality materials and built in SoCal, so we could have our order in four weeks. We walked out with a variety of specs on the sectional we liked best, but as soon as we were in the car, Craig said, "So we're coming back tomorrow, right?" Because not only was that shop perfect for us, but it's surrounded by all these specialty shops and restaurants. Within three blocks of the store, we found an Indian grocery, two Thai restaurants, a Pakistani restaurant, a Greek deli, two privately owned coffee shops, and a half dozen other shops I'd love to poke my nose into. If we don't go back tomorrow, it's definitely happening next weekend. The specs we brought home are perfect for the media room, and once the kids are out of the house, I'll be able to use it to work comfortably because the sectional has a chaise end.
Alicia wants to go to Disneyland. Apparently, they're only opening for California residents for the next couple months, at 25% capacity, and the fact that she will be fully vaccinated soon (she gets her second shot on Monday) has her wanting to get out a little. Plus the boyfriend really wants to go. We told her that if she wanted, we would drive to LA with her for a long weekend and just visit friends who have been vaccinated (that we haven't seen in 18 months), maybe do some shopping. But no way am I going to Disney yet. Not when it first opens after people haven't been able to go for a year. It will be insane, even at 25% capacity. They've had to create a queue system just for people to get tickets/reservations (because they're not doing anything at the door, you have to buy beforehand). Plus, too hot to be standing in lines. She didn't book anything yet, but I won't be surprised if she does.
Alex got his first shot yesterday and has had zero side effects. Another win. My baby sister, unfortunately, has not been so lucky. She's on her second day of low-grade fever and aches and is pretty miserable. Still better than Covid.
Work is work. It's been a little frustrating because the other aides aren't pulling their weight. We're supposed to be getting the library ready for reopening in ten days, which for us means making the stacks/shelves look good again. As of last Friday, there were only three more sections that needed to be done (and I'd done 75% of the sections that were finished). None of it happened this week. In fact, they're not even maintaining the finished sections, so now there's a fourth section that has to be redone completely. Craig is on my case for caring too much about a job that doesn't pay a whole lot, but damn it, it's not rocket science. I shouldn't be finding the stupid mistakes every single day. The same mistakes. Even when they've been told to be more careful. *headthunk*
An interesting day. We had to go close the library at 2 because of power issues so I got to go home early. Freaked out the family because they thought something was wrong or that I'd finally gotten sick of Sloth Girl and quit.
To take advantage of the fact that my weigh-ins are on Monday, the family and I ate out tonight, at a restaurant, for the first time in over 13 months. It felt a little weird, but it was oh so good. I even managed not to go over my points for the day with my food choices so maybe I won't have to work so hard the rest of the week to counteract the damage.
In better news, Alex is scheduled for his first vaccination shot on Thursday. It's such a massive relief to see the light at the end of this tunnel. The world is a different place now, but not being terrified that an unpredictable, contagious disease could hit and take a part of my family is worth any changes we have to live with.
I've been lazy about posting this week, but I can at least get my Sunday 7 done.
1. Craig and I booked our anniversary getaway to Napa. Three days, a Sunday-Tuesday, with wine tastings and downtown shopping and a fireplace in our suite. It'll be bliss.
2. Alicia was elected President of the GW Bands for 2021-2022. I'm so proud of her. :)
3. I'm officially all vaccinated.
4. I had suggested to my manager since we lost a staff computer on Tuesday, leaving me with much less to do, that I work a mid-shift on Wednesday instead since that is a heavier day for us. She thought it was an excellent idea, even though it left one aide all alone on Tuesday. Well, when I went in on Wednesday, I discovered just how badly things had gone on Tuesday without my presence. The aide on Tuesday - lets call her Sloth Girl, which is not an exaggeration - was even slower than she is on days when we work together. The adult/teen librarian told me he thought I pushed Sloth Girl to work harder with my presence. That's just scary because I've always thought she was horrifically slow. But on top of that, my manager decided it wouldn't work at all without me there on Tuesdays. She fought with the safety people who'd taken away our extra computer until they figured out a way to give it back, thus providing me with a station so that my presence on Tuesdays is actually useful. I go back to my original schedule next week, which I'm okay with. It's kind of a nice little ego boost, plus there's the added bonus that they got to see for themselves just how useless Sloth Girl really is.
I got my second vaccine shot yesterday morning. My mid-afternoon, I was really tired, but I pushed through and forced myself to stay up until 9pm. That's when I crashed and slept through until 9am this morning. That's a lot of sleep for me. I'm usually midnight to 7am. But I feel normal now, and my arm doesn't even hurt that much, so fingers crossed that was the worst of it.
One of the shows Craig and I watched last night in an attempt to keep me awake was Ozark. I've loved Jason Bateman since I was in junior high, and the show seemed right up our alley. We're three episodes in, and we're both really enjoying it so far. It doesn't have as much humor as I would like to counter the darkness, but it's definitely got its moments. Craig's only problem with it so far is that he sees Laura Linney and immediately thinks of her from The Truman Show. Especially in those first couple episodes. She got more of a backbone in the third, so hopefully, she will break away more for Craig to appreciate what a good actress she really is.
3. This photoshoot of Danny Ramirez. Craig and I started watching The Falcon and the Winter Soldier this week, which he's on. I really like this kid.
4. After one week back on WW, I'm down 6.4 pounds. Yes, it's water weight, but I'll take it. :)
5. This video of Robin Williams and Carol Burnett made me laugh out loud:
6. Through her boyfriend, Alicia has discovered how much fun playing Magic the Gathering is. She has since become obsessed, so on a whim, she started checking some of my old cards (I played in college and in my 20s, and have held onto all my cards from back then) to see if they were worth anything. So far, we've discovered over $1000 worth in about 25 cards. The most valuable one so far sells for $400. It'll be a nice piece of change when we're all done.
7. I surprised the kids with Easter baskets today for the first time in ten years and shocked the hell out of them. We'd had a tradition the past decade where the kids take the money I would've spent on the baskets and go shopping the day after Easter. They liked getting more stuff and thought the surprise of finding out what was left over was fun. But seeing them so genuinely delighted with the surprise basket today pretty much made my whole day.
Last weekend, I rejoined Weight Watchers (WW). I did the online version with the access to all the livecoaching. What finally prompted me to buckle down? I got on the scale on Saturday and saw that the number was higher than it has been in a decade. It was my final straw.
It's been going well so far. I know this is all water weight this first week, but it helps to see the scale drop so dramatically. It's still 13 pounds over where I started covid lockdown at, but I'm confident I can get it off. I'm feeling extra motivated about it all.
In other news, Craig got his second shot today. Twelve hours later, he still doesn't have any side effects, so fingers crossed tomorrow is just as good. I'm so relieved he's fully vaccinated now. Since I get my second on Monday, we've been talking about what we want to do for our anniversary this year. It's on Memorial Day weekend this year, but I don't want to fly anywhere yet if I don't have to. That meant something drivable. We considered Vegas, but the show I really want to see isn't slated to reopen until August so I vetoed that. Reno was the next possibility, which would be great to see manoah since she'd be fully vaccinated by that point, too, but then Craig said he'd much prefer to go to Napa - only an hour drive from us - and spoil ourselves rotten. It's still almost two months off, so things might change, but it's looking like Napa will win. Sorry, manoah. I will figure out another way to come up to see you.
Snagged from scripsi, but I'm not going to tag anybody specifically to do it. Just go for it if you feel the urge.
Rules: List the first lines of your last 20 stories (if you have less than 20, just list them all!). See if there are any patterns. Choose your favourite opening line. Then tag 10 authors!
PATTERNS 1. The biggest pattern is a single line of short, untagged dialogue. I do that a lot, both in original and fanfic. 2. Most of the rest are a balance of internal mood and setting the scene using as evocative words as I can manage to grab the reader.
My favorite of all of these is #13, because it both sets the scene with sensory information and detail, and informs about who exactly Arthur is.
I've been hit so hard with funky moods lately that I've decided I need to start doing the Sunday 7s again, so I can find/focus on at least seven things that made me smile or happy during the week.
5. I got two new bookshelves for my bedroom, and after I've finished rearranging the furniture, I'll be able to shelve a good portion of the TBR books I've stacked up in my closet. That, in turn, frees up space for other stuff. I'm so excited.
6. I'm killing it on getting forms done for future releases. It's such a relief to get these off my plate.
7. And a gratuitous Tom Hopper pic that makes me salivate...( Read more...Collapse )
Craig's birthday was today. He's officially 49. And how did he spend it? Working on projects in the garage with the kids as helpers who aren't allowed to whine or complain about having to help. That's his preferred way of celebrating his birthday, believe it or not. He was saying the other night he wished the kids had the same interests he did so he didn't feel like he was coercing them into spending time with him. I tried telling him it's not like that, but I kind of get what he's saying. They don't share the enthusiasm, and that's obvious.
As for me, it was cleaning and administrative stuff for upcoming releases. I'm trying to get all of that out of the way before I try to get back to writing again. They always seem to interrupt my flow, and I know what's needed so might as well get it done. And the forms I had to submit today were surprisingly easy. Hopefully the rest will be, too.
Tonight, Craig wanted to watch a movie and picked Jupiter Ascending. It's a guilty pleasure in this house. I don't know what it is about that movie, but we all love it. Frankly, it's just a sci-fi romance novel in film form, but oh, it's so much fun. Incoherent, but fun. Though now I'm on a Channing Tatum kick. I told him we're watching 21 Jump Street tomorrow night, lol.
I can't get one of the books I'm reading - Ghost Planet - out of my head. I dreamed about it last night, I keep finding excuses to pick it up and read a couple more pages, I'm thinking about it at random times throughout the day. I don't know what it is about it, other than it's fascinating and insanely readable. I'm almost halfway through, and the romance is still pretty bare bones. It's mostly about the world she's created and the heroine I adore.
Maybe I'm obsessing over it because I've been in such a funk. I'm frustrated at work because it feels like I'm spending half my time correcting work others screw up. I'm trying not to be a nag about it, but it's getting worse and we re-open in a month. I'm starting to think maybe I don't want to stay on since I'm only there because I love the library. Every shift feels like another reminder that I'm insanely overly qualified for the job I have, but there's no opportunity to move up because the lockdown screwed over staffing growth. Everybody has had to cut back.
It would be so much easier if I didn't care so much.
Good news today. The governor announced that the success of our vaccine rollout so far means that all adults 16 and over can get appointments for the vaccine starting April 15. Since Alicia was able to get her vaccination appointment on Monday, that means, fingers crossed, all of us can be fully vaccinated before May 1 if we can get Alex in soon enough.
We also had a town hall meeting at the library today regarding our reopening in a month. They had one of the county health professionals there to update us on everything covid related and to answer our questions, too. Dr. Tzvieli was pretty great, and the info we got was encouraging. Our county numbers have dropped significantly in the past six weeks, so much so that our R number is now less than 1 (finally!). He also confirmed what we all knew about transmission and helped alleviate fears regarding the vaccine's efficacy, as per the latest studies they've received. All in all, while it doesn't resolve my biggest issue with reopening (which has to do with them removing terminals and not safety concerns), it was all excellent information.
When it comes to Craig ranting about work issues, I tend to understand and agree with 95% of what bugs him. In those times, I'm supportive and commiserate. Today, he came out of his office, ranting about a problematic new team member, but from the way he told the story, Alicia and I agreed that maybe he had a tiny bit of the blame in this particular situation. We had to listen to him argue with us for almost 15 minutes before he disappeared into his office again. He wasn't mad, just frustrated, but later we both apologized to the other because I failed to recognize he just needed to vent and he realized that we were right in acknowledging he'd made a mistake, too. So all is well and good on that part.
But what made the entire situation hysterical was when he emerged from his office half an hour after his original rant. He had to run to Walgreens to pick up some prescriptions. I was in the process of gathering my stuff to take to work, so just waved at him as he walked out the door. A minute later, he came back in, yelling, "You and Alicia have failed me!" I thought something might've happened regarding the problematic employee and walked into the front room to ask what was wrong.
His response? "You and Alicia both failed to notice that I put my pants on inside out this morning."
For the record, they're black track pants. He finds them the most comfortable, sitting in his desk chair all day. And he didn't even realize they were on inside out until he tried to put his wallet in his pocket on the way to the car. But he still thought that Alicia and I should've noticed and said something about it, in spite of the fact that even when he knew, he didn't bother fixing them. "I'm just going to be sitting in the drive-thru anyway," was his justification.
They were still inside out when I came home from the library hours later.
I have no idea where the last week went. I kept thinking I should post, but then would have no idea what to say that would be even mildly interesting. Because it's the same old, same old, every day, with very little thinky thoughts and variance. Work on galleys and forms. Feed family. Go to the library. Sleep. Not very exciting.
The library did get a re-opening date, though. We will be back open to the public on April 27. I'm not excited about it. We've taken away all the seating, all but one of the public computers (and that has a 15-minute time limit), with 25% capacity who can stay for a maximum of an hour. The specific reasons I'm not thrilled about it are twofold. First, they're removing two more staff computers for being too close to patrons. They have yet to tell us where the replacements will be, but none of us can figure out what other options there are other than their current locations. It means up to two people EVERY SHIFT will not have a computer to do work. Including me on Tuesdays. That's my second reason, along with...what are we supposed to do if we can't get to a computer? I can shelve books, but I can only do that if nobody else is in a row I need to get to, the children's picture book area, or our periodicals/large type section. It's very likely I'll spend more time waiting for an area to clear than actually doing any work, which means everything is going to back up.
All of that could change if they find places for those two computers they want to take away. I guess we'll see. I'm not holding my breath for a miracle.
First vaccine is done! Everything went smoothly. I was out for a whopping hour, and half of that was driving. I got the Pfizer and my second appointment is booked for April 5. Then on the way home, I picked up breakfast for the family. It was a good morning.
The only side effect I've had so far is my sore upper arm. I expected that. It's no worse than when I got my flu shot last fall, though, so some heat, maybe some acetaminophen, and I'll be okay. I'm not looking forward to sleeping tonight, though. I sleep on my side, switching back and forth during the night, and this is going to hurt to lay on which means disrupted sleep. Not that it isn't usually disrupted for other reasons, but it would be nice not to add something to the mix, lol.
Of course, now my sister and mom are talking about getting together this summer since everybody will be vaccinated. We're in wait and see mode. Though I will admit I'd love to be able to do it.
In fandom, did you see that signups have opened for Seasonal Spuffy? If you haven't already signed up, there are still plenty of spots open. And the world can always use more Spike and Buffy.
Question for artists: I have never dabbled in graphics like fic banners. I know nothing except what I like. I've been tempted to learn, though. How did you get started? Are there tutorials out there that help people who know nothing? Do I need to teach myself a graphics program first before even considering something like this? Inquiring minds would like to know. :)
Our county opens up to the next tier tomorrow, but a lot of businesses and people decided it was today and were open and out and about. Apparently, downtown areas of a lot of neighboring towns were packed to the gills with people strolling down sidewalks, eating out, and shopping. It makes me fearful, if I'm honest. Not enough people have been vaccinated yet. I understand that people are tired of being cooped up, but they seem to lose brain cells as soon as they're offered a teensy bit of freedom.
If nothing else, Covid has really heightened my disappointment in people's common sense and selflessness.
At least I get my first shot of the vaccine in 12 hours.
In unrelated news, I realized that my freezer had too much stuff in it, so pulled out the oldest piece of meat to cook last night. Turned out it was a massive pork shoulder, which means I have a ton of leftovers of cold pork now. Not shredded, which frankly would be easier to get my family to eat. And it won't shred easily now without losing even more moisture. Anybody have any good leftover pork recipes they'd like to share? The kids won't do regular sandwiches, and I already have a ton of chili in my freezer. I'm coming up blank.
I got some good news this evening. California extended vaccine eligibility to library staff with occupational exposure to students. Considering our library is actually located *in* the high school that starts a hybrid model next week, we now qualify for the current tier of vaccinations.
The one problem with that is that there are no appointments anywhere around here. So I'll have to wait for something to open up. But it's nice to be currently eligible, that's for sure.
EDITED TO ADD: Half an hour after I posted, Craig and I got emails from our hospital provider to schedule our vaccines. It's got to be completely unrelated to the library eligibility since he's included, so we have no idea why we're being offered appointments, but we scheduled it anyway. So perhaps the best piece of news for today is that I get my first dose on Monday morning, woo hoo!
Another spot of brightness: I actually managed to finish the chapter on a WIP that I've been trying to finish for five months. I was just stuck on how it was going to work out, but I got an idea on Tuesday, and yesterday, I put down the final 1k to finish it up. The story only needs one more chapter, and I can set it aside to look at it in a month to edit before sending it to my publisher. It'll be the first new piece of fiction I've submitted in almost two years. I've been so busy getting the backlist out that new stuff has felt like an indulgence. But fingers crossed I don't have to wait two years for the next story to wend its way out of me.
I haven't watched Bridgerton because, honestly, Regency-era romance bores me to tears. And it's based on books by an author I don't particularly enjoy.
But then I saw some pics of Rege-Jean Page and damn.
Yesterday, I saw this article about a fic that's created a ton of drama over at AO3 because of its exorbitant number of tags. I hadn't heard anything about it and haven't run into it (and am not going to go looking for it since it sounds horrendous), but the article was fascinating.
Has anyone else encountered the fic or suffered from running into it? Personally, I think the author is being awful in how they're abusing the system. Plus, it's kind of hard not to get a little angry if this actually transpires: "But if the site’s tagging infrastructure is altered or a blocking or filtering function is added, it will be hard not to see this episode through a cynical lens: That the OTW systematically rejected and bypassed the sustained voices of so many fans, including Black fans and other fans of color, for months — until their needs and desire for a safe space abruptly aligned with other fans’ annoyance and inconvenience."
I spent two hours cleaning my bedroom today, which was long overdue. I am in dire need of a new shoe solution. Traditionally, I've stored shoes in their original boxes with pictures on the outside of the box to identify its contents on a shelf in my closet. I like that for efficiency, but in practical terms, I get lazy and don't put shoes back in the box or bother taking them back upstairs again. Which means, the shoes that get worn all the time end up getting left next to the couch or under a table downstairs and 80% of my shoes get forgotten (when I know I would wear them if I only saw them more often).
I've cleared out a lot of shoes I know I'm never going to wear, but I still have a ton left, and I just don't know how to handle it. My ideal solution would be downstairs, but I don't have anyplace practical for it except the guest bedroom. And that would be pointless when we have guests. One possibility is on the back of the closet door, but I'd never see them because that door doesn't get shut. I'm considering shelving units in my bedroom, but I was hoping to use that space for books.
My poor body is taking a beating lately. Today, it was my left thumb. I broke the nail on it at the library today - not an uncommon occurrence, in spite of keeping my nails very short. It was no big deal at that point.
Then, when I was peeling carrots for dinner tonight, I decided to peel that same nail. I peeled down to the bed on almost half the nail. It's wrapped up in a bandaid, due to the slightly heavy bleeding, and it hurts like hell. I've been icing it on and off all night which helps. But it's going to have to stay wrapped up for a few weeks while the nail grows back.
My allergies have been awful the past two days, compounded by the fact that both of my humidifiers broke over the past week. By 2 this afternoon, my head was pounding, in spite of my Flonase and Allegra, so I took some painkillers and laid down. Next thing I know, it's after 6 and Craig is nudging me awake, asking if I want him to order something for dinner. I feel better now, thank goodness, and new humidifiers are on the way so hopefully things won't be quite as bad for the rest of the week.
That meant my productivity was pretty much nonexistent today. Which sucks because I needed to get stuff done. But self care comes first, even when I'm reluctant to accept it. Which means I'm in online organizational stuff. Which needs to be done so at least it's something.
Well, it turns out we're going to hold off on getting another dog for now. Yesterday, we went into SF to meet Lulu, a sweet Rottweiler/pit mix from the same rescue we got Chico from last summer. They said she was incredibly sweet and gentle, and based on what they knew about Chico, would be a good addition to our home.
The first part was true. She was so friendly and sweet, coming right up to us for pets when we approached, standing patiently as we met her, nuzzling against us when she realized we'd brought a water bowl.
The second part about Chico, however, was not. As soon as she tried to sniff at Chico, Chico went after her. Craig had him on the leash, of course, but Lulu is part Rottie. She went right back at him to defend herself, and we had to pull them apart. This happened three times, at which we knew Chico wasn't secure enough to handle Lulu in our home. We're not sure why. He got along with Lucy just fine. Not once did he go after her. But Lucy was smaller, and Lulu, while weighing less, stood a couple inches taller than he did. Maybe he was intimidated. We don't know. All we know is that we're going to hire a dog specialist and see if this is something we can fix or if this is just how Chico is and will have to be a lone dog in the household.
It made me terribly sad for Lulu, though. She was absolutely darling and so deserves a good home. The fact that she's a big dog doesn't work in her favor. I can only hope that somebody eventually ignores that and meets her to see what a real sweetheart she really is.
Though it's only been a few weeks since we lost Lucy, we've decided to get another dog. Chico needs a friend, and the house seems empty without another animal running around. We reached out to the rescue where we got Chico for two reasons: they know Chico so it would be easier to know who he might get along with, and it saves us time on the application process. They came up with a couple possibilities, and we're going this weekend to meet with our favorite. Her name is Lulu and she's a Rottweiler/pit bull mix. She seems really sweet and is the queen of naps, apparently. They think she'd get along great with Chico, too. Keep your fingers crossed for us.
It's been a dramatic few days in my town. Have you seen the news story about the school board that was caught on a hot mic, complaining about the parents? Well, that's my hometown. I personally know two of the board members who resigned. Oakley isn't that large - roughly 40k people - and the school board oversees seven elementary schools and two middle schools (the high school my kids went to is technically part of the neighboring town's school district in spite of being in Oakley; don't ask, it's a long story). And this drama has been consuming our community.
