it's only 54 days away
Walked up to Michael's today. It was a perfect fall day (and I'd better take advantage of it while it's still in the neighborhood!), and I even got a good Halloween scare from a cawing crow hiding in a branch. Anyhow, the displays totally put me in the holiday crafting frame of mind. I've decided to buy as few presents as possible this year, and make what I can, instead. My family hasn't benefitted from my giant scarves yet, after all :-)

Here's a budget-conscious holiday project I've been doing for five years now - and meaning to post for about two.
10/31/2002 09:46:23 PM  



keeping up
Sculpey Eraser Clay - becomes a real eraser when you bake it!

If I were still working at the hobby shop, I'd know about these little developments as soon as they hit the shelf. Of course, I'd still be making minimum wage.
10/31/2002 11:17:59 AM  



have it made
Has anyone tried Lands' End custom jeans or chinos? Pants that don't sit halfway up my back but yet have long enough legs would be heaven.
10/31/2002 10:45:44 AM  



happy halloween!
I'll be reading this today. Good stuff.

Yesterday afternoon, I found a flyer courtesy the establishment stuck in our door, with a sign to post if we'll be hosting trick-or-treaters. So we are doing that this year, after all! Luckily I've got some leftovers from school.
10/31/2002 07:50:17 AM  



momentary lapse
The past three days have been dedicated to the pursuit of nothingness, hence the same here. I've read a few books (even wrote an AR test for one), watched some TV, did some laundry, freaked out over what seems to be a rash of horrible photos of me in which my head looks like a bloated doughball, did a teeny bit of packing, started to make banana bread but realized I'd forgotten to pick up butter, got myself depressed over the prospect yet another (third, but who's counting?) holiday season without family, and talked to my mother on the phone and was momentarily cured. In other words, not much exciting or noteworthy.
10/30/2002 06:04:39 PM  



misery via microbe...?
Yesterday afternoon, I enjoyed a long, much-needed nap. My sleep deficit was seriously out of control.

When I stood up afterwards, a pain shot through the center of my neck and upper back like I'd never experienced before. It just fucking hurt (and yes, cursing is completely appropriate here, in fact seems like the only adverb that will do). I walked around all evening like a bad parody of a movie monster, shoulders and arms stiffened at unnatural angles.

"I hate you, [shockingly hyped and overpriced] bed. One day, you will die."

I'm pretty sure now that the bed, while not in any way blameless for a host of other complaints, was not the source of this particular evil.

I woke at around four a.m. to what felt like a meat cleaver in my spine. Carefully, I zombie-stepped my way to the bathroom. And made it halfway back to the bed before a wave of dizziness and nausea washed over me, sending me to the cold floor in a fetal position.

"Oh, this can't be good."

After shuffling out to the couch while miraculously not throwing up, I managed to find just the right pain-free angle to prop my head, and fell into a fitful sleep. I was mostly awake by seven, so I decided to hop on the 'net and find out what the heck could be going on.

In the short few minutes before the light from the screen sent my stomach into more convulsions, I came to the conclusion that I was the victim of one of two maladies:

1) Spinal meningitis
2) A tumour

After D. (who, bless his soul, bolts at the mere mention of Disease, or possibly just thinks I'm too much a hypochondriac to take seriously) left for work, I pondered this while half-watching Good Morning, America and part of Martha. At school, the word meningitis is one not to be trifled with, and all are taught to fear it early on in their career. Being the good mother's daughter, I could hardly except myself from the terror (and, seriously - if it's bacterial, it can put you out of commission within a couple of days). I took a shower, just in case I needed to be carted away by ambulance. And I managed to stand up for fifteen minutes with nary a swoon.

I've since downed a rasberry Yoplait, leftover mashed potatoes, and cold cereal, without the slightest hint of losing any of it. I've been taking my temperature religiously, and, last time I checked, I'd reached a stunning high of 98.8.

So was this morning's pass-out just a fluke? Do I just have a pinched nerve or something? I still can't move my head or arms much. If I don't see more improvement by tomorrow, I'm off to the doctor.

Better I be mocked for cautiousness (or paralyzed by a misguided spinal tap?) than dead, I suppose.
10/28/2002 04:08:08 PM  



our slightly strange bit of fall
Yesterday we went to Apple Hill. As I'd suspected, there wasn't anything left on the trees, but the crafters and crowds were still out in force, buying up the harvest. We, strangely enough, came away entirely empty-handed for once - we wanted to stop in Placerville on the way back, and didn't want any booty sitting in the car.

We stopped first at Plubell's, which had a nice little petting zoo (who knew?). The acrobatics of the newborn goat were adorable. They had the usual assortment of chickens, ducks, bunnies, sheep, and pigs, not to mention an ill-tempered miniature horse.

Grandpa's Cellar was a short but pleasant jog on the nature trail away. Upon which was found yet more proof that apple ranchers seem to have a very bizarre sense of humor.

A decidedly more rigorous hike in the opposite direction brought us for the second year to Bolster's, which is where we bought our tasty (and highly recommended) cider and berry wines last year. Very crowded, but not particularly interesting without the orchard open for picking. We returned to Plubell's and headed back down Larsen Drive to I-50 and Placerville.

We'd been through Placerville a couple of times, but never bothered to stop and look around. Seems like a typical little mining town, though perhaps with a slightly more grisly reputation than many (its nickname isn't "Hangtown" for nothing).

Apparently tourists don't eat in Placerville proper on Saturday afternoons, because not much is open aside from the Hangman's Tree Tavern. So we returned to Citrus Heights and had Fuddrucker's.
10/27/2002 08:54:35 PM  



celebratory clicks
Yay! I'm done! I didn't extricate myself without some ickiness, but who cares. On to the packing!

First, a few shots from the Faire:
Thespians 'n roses
Battlefield Folsom
The jousters
10/24/2002 02:20:55 PM  



they really were the friendliest
grumble grumble Safeway grumble

I wish Raley's/Bel Air offered delivery. Then I wouldn't need to be such a farking hypocrite.
10/24/2002 05:32:41 AM  



almost there
There's so much rudeness happening around here right now, it's unbelievable. Really tacky, disgusting stuff. And I'm talking about the adults. Luckily, the worst of it is missing me. The kids are naturally rude, and I'm finally starting to see that from the proper perspective. I can't let it fly - someone has to teach them - but I refuse to let it exhaust me.

Tomorrow's a short day, with half-hour periods, and I'm getting here early so I can just be done with it all that much sooner. Of course only after I scour the entire campus for empty boxes.
10/23/2002 05:56:08 PM  



grin
via Kristin
10/23/2002 06:23:18 AM  



just wait a few months, really
While I, too, would like to see Ringu, this may be a little desperate.
10/22/2002 05:50:50 PM  



jury redux
Remember, way back in August, when I received a summons for jury duty? I managed to postpone it, because of the whole wedding thing. And it turns out educators can postpone until their next break, so I did.

Of course, guess what I got for the week of November 7th.

I feel guilty for my dread of doing my civic duty. Even if it did make me choose between potentially losing 1/4 of my month's salary, or a week of my hard-earned off-track time.
10/22/2002 12:10:16 PM  



miscellany
The Ring - one of the spine-creepiest movies I've ever seen. Perfect Halloween fare. Too bad, in a full, otherwise quiet theater, we were next to Mr. Chucklegroan and in front of the Recap Twins.

The Folsom Faire was okay. Lots more folks dressed than I'd expected, in so many elegant costumes. I even enjoyed the jousting, which I never have before, really. Far too crowded. I took a couple of pics, but I haven't looked at them yet, so they may or may not be posted, depending on quality. The only pic you'll see of me is on the webcam ( <------------- )

Packing two boxes a day for the next month may prove my salvation in the end. Though I know I'll be saving the stuff that needs choosing (keep or throw away?) until the very last minute. Which may be my undoing.

Up to Apple Hill next weekend, come with us, you can buy yummy apple butter and cider and pie and wine and stuff! And does anyone know if the picking season is still going?

Weird off-track month this time. Three weeks off, one week on, five days off for Thanksgiving. That starts on Friday. I am once again resolved to find the perfect meatloaf. The stuff I made over the summer was too mushy.
10/21/2002 12:39:03 PM  



today
Stray (most likely a girl)
Willow which grows just outside our new place, the branches so close to the balcony we could nearly touch them
10/19/2002 06:07:42 PM  



fightin' words
Didn't know about Google Fighting 'til today. I've been having fun:

Jennie vs. Jenny
Darin vs. Darren
Parkay vs. butter
Johnny vs. Devil
Bounty vs. other paper towels
Jarad vs. Dude you're gettin' a Dell
Martha Stewart vs. not martha
10/18/2002 05:27:32 PM  



beggar queen
I'm all grown up now. Yesterday I wrote my first grant proposal.

And growing up means becoming jaded, apparently. I never for a moment thought, before I came to the public school system, that I would have to beg and borrow for every tiny gain, for every bit of book tape and glue and staple. It never occurred to me that I would need to spend my own money to do my job the way I feel is right, and would be forced to guard my "territory" like a hungry dog from similarly desperate people with dissimilar scruples. It never once crossed my mind that, someday, I would bring my own cleaning supplies to school, and play my own maintenance staff, because the statewide cuts have cut us to the bone. It wasn't even in the realm of possibility that my benefits would be reduced. And of course I had heard the stories, about places where libraries were given the lowest priority, and technology came before reading. In my University library haven, where there were always hundreds, thousands more books than we could handle, these stories were vaguely interesting at best, and had little to do with me and my well-stocked supply cabinet and more student staff than I knew what to do with and a contract that I was satisfied with back then but seems like a fortune now.

My proposal goes out next week, to compete with hundreds of underfunded libraries from across the state.

Wish me luck. Or, really - wish us all luck.
10/18/2002 12:52:46 PM  



movin' on up
Things I am looking forward to in the new place:

* Christmas with a fireplace and vaulted ceilings high enough to accommodate our big tree
* Afternoons on the patio watching the ducks swim past
* Trips to Old Sac on the water taxi
* Eating breakfast at the marina
* Only four apartments in our building
* Living in the school district I work for
* Little closet in which to hide all evidence of cats
* I-5 will be two blocks away (as opposed to driving through twenty minutes of heavy traffic just to get started on a trip)
* Lots and lots of trees
* The exercise that I'll get going up stairs every day

Things I will miss about our current place:

* Walking to Michael's, Target, Quizno's, and Beverly's
* Brand-new, full-size appliances
* The walk-in closet (though the only real closet in the place)
* The super-friendly stray cat* we've been feeding (who was on the porch waiting for us to get home yesterday)
* Our extremely easy-to-remember phone number
* Folsom/Fair Oaks

Things I am not looking forward to:

* No good grocery store or Target in neighborhood
* Changing my address for the zillionth time

Things I'll be so happy to get rid of:

* People walking past and staring into our first-floor windows
* "Stompy-stomps"/screaming at 11 pm/6 am
* Pedestrian-killing traffic on Sunrise and Madison
* Paint that flakes off the wall if you look at it the wrong way (or melts off, if it's above the shower!)
* The car thefts on our property, and the lack of proper lighting that probably caused it
* Idiotic management
* The dangerous blind curves in the parking areas (that people insist on whipping around)
* The monthly inspections
* The malfunctioning smoke alarms
* The malfunctioning entry gates

* If anyone would like to adopt a beautiful orange cat with pale green eyes, medium length hair, and the sweetest disposition, let me know. I can get a picture later. Sex and neuter/spay status undetermined. He/she has been living in our parking lot, sleeping on and under cars, for about a year, and constantly attempts to follow us into the apartment and sometimes my car. In dire need of a bath and a family.
10/18/2002 09:43:41 AM  



die, telemarketer scum
New apartment, new phone number.

This time, it will be done right. Unlisted. A very short list of friends and family will receive the number. And places of work, insurance companies, and others that won't cough up a necessary service unless they have it (and still, in some cases, I may lie and issue, say, my inactive cell number. I believe D. - or "Mr. P----" to the occasional and quickly disposed-of moron - prefers accidentally transposing numbers). Need-to-know basis, baby. Need-to-know.

This is how desperate I've become not to receive those calls each and every day. The ringing, while I'm drinking my morning coffee on a Saturday (have they no shame?). Two or three "CLICK... bzzzzzzz" messages on the machine when I get home. I feel like I'm being stalked. Which, I suppose, is nearly true.

I used to harbor a mild aversion to the phone. Now I hate it. Thank you, Mr. "You've won an all-inclusive vacation package! You just need to come down to our office and view a two-hour presentation and take a survey."
10/17/2002 06:37:31 AM  



tired, lazy, take your pick (while I take a nap)
The thought of a three-hour drive down to Hollister just isn't doing it for us.

We're tackling something a little closer to home this weekend. Sure, it'll probably be cheesy. But it's fifteen minutes across town. And I still get to wear my new garb and eat a big turkey leg.

P.S. Silpat rocks.

P.P.S. Seven more days left of the trimester.

P.P.P.S. We're finally moving next month. You can come play with the paddleboats on the "lake".
10/15/2002 10:26:43 PM  



test and getting testier
10/15/2002 10:06:52 PM  



and they're off
Mr. Hatter is off to a smashing start with his fantasy film - he's tied for 28 out of 1,923!

Only three of us have scored income so far. We won't talk about my placement. But with Harry Potter, The Two Towers, and the Matrix movies coming up...
10/14/2002 05:28:58 PM  



discover this
I don't have particularly strong ties to my tribe. Not even officially enrolled until a teenager, the fact that my ancestry is heavily native has always been afterthought, at best.

But the righteous indignation I can muster over today's "holiday" is truly astounding.

I was proud of our students today. After being spooned the well-meant outdated load of eurocentric pucky, a surprisingly large minority exclaimed "That's not even true!"
10/14/2002 01:20:13 PM  



the life of any Halloween party
Check out the paper mache Satan at Cockeyed. You can even bid on the finished product.
10/13/2002 01:31:58 PM  



silicone sans cleavage
Today we went to the Folsom Outlets. Which of course means a stop at Le Gourmet Chef (or "The Kitchen Store," in our vernacular). Chock full of gadgety goodness.

The Exopat has been on my wish list intermittently forever. Finally, I broke down and bought two decent aluminum cookie sheets and perfect Silpat liners. I've always been dead serious about the business of baking cookies, so it's about time I splurged on some proper tools. A big nonstick cooling rack and I'll be all set.
10/12/2002 07:58:37 PM  



mini you
Order your very own custom action figure from the Neiman Marcus Christmas Book.

Only $7,500.

via Ellen.
10/11/2002 02:59:36 PM  



the mouths of babes
The character education teacher had her students write a paragraph about their favorite teachers/staff. I just had to share this pearl:

"Dear Teachers,
Thanks for giving up well paying jobs and good mannered people to come and have to put up with us, every day, without exploding or quitting your job. I know it might be hard because you dont like some of us, but we have to put up with the people who we dont like too. So stick with it."
10/11/2002 12:35:35 PM  

candy candy candy

Which would you most like to find in your plastic pumpkin? Milk Duds SweeTARTS Pixy Stix Tootsie Rolls Blo Pops Black n' Orange Peanut Butter Taffy Fun Size Bar Candy Corn Nerds Smarties

Current Results

10/10/2002 12:54:10 PM  



that time again
It's Spirit Week. Monday was Jersey Day (time to get out the Quiddich jersey), yesterday was Crazy Hat Day (biggins, what else?), and today is Wacky Wednesday.

It's loads of fun to startle dozens and dozens of people when they think the raven sitting on the shoulder of your husband's Edgar Allan Poe t-shirt is real.

Tomorrow's only Blue and Gold Day. But Friday... ah. Pajama Day.
10/9/2002 02:33:34 PM  



the library life - literally
As if Portland didn't have it good enough with Powells:

"The Hollywood Library, Bookmark Apartments, and Caffe Uno, which all opened in May, create what is possibly the country's first joint venture between a public library and a private developer."

Via rawbrick.net.
10/8/2002 06:43:12 PM  



tick tock
Last year we missed the Ren Faire because we simply ran out of time before we knew it. Only two weeks left this year - we're tossing around this coming weekend. Anyone else game?
10/8/2002 10:02:19 AM  



now that's recycling
Michelle gives an AOL CD tin a makeover.
10/7/2002 05:57:19 AM  



now you have the privilege of standing in line for your reaming
"Her voice gravelly from lack of sleep, Micallef said she is fed up with the home-buying frenzy in the Sacramento region -- but not fed up enough that she would walk away from the chance to buy a new house. So when her number came up at a home-buying lottery in east Elk Grove, she ignored an overnight jump of $11,000 and bought an unbuilt $253,000 house, anyway."
10/6/2002 07:21:07 PM  



no, wait - love is a toolbar
The Merriam-Webster toolbar. What with that and the Google toolbar which I now could not possibly live without (no way, no how, unh-uh), I can't help but feel the sweet god of all things cybrarian must be smiling down on me.
10/6/2002 12:44:19 PM  



love is green
How was I blind to your existence before Thursday? How did I live, unaware of your saline avocado[ish] crunch?

Oh, Guacachip. I am yours.
10/5/2002 01:02:04 PM  



SOS
I'm at a knitting impasse that is about to have me quitting.

The devil for me, apparently, is in the ribbing. I've started at least twenty times on 2x2 ribbed scarf, and it's always effed up beyond recognition after four or five rows. Now I've looked at the purling diagrams, and I think I'm doing it right, but it looks like it's the transition from knit to purl thats screwing me up. I've consulted my books, I've searched online, I've ruined a couple yards of decent chenille.

The frustration is immeasurable.

I'm going to go kick something now.
10/5/2002 10:17:34 AM  



lose the lampshade
Almost wishing I had bare lightbulbs to cozy up like ljc.
10/4/2002 05:38:50 PM  



shooting gallery
A few pics from around campus, taken with the Argus.
- The new campus looks more and more deserted every day
- Remember parachutes in P.E.? It was one of my favorites because it was so non-competitive
- Eeek! A bat in the library!
- His name is Edgar
10/4/2002 05:17:03 PM  



sight for sore eyes
If you need a little fall color...
10/3/2002 09:50:18 PM  



and more bookish Sacto news
Judy Blume will be in town on Saturday! Hoorah!!!
10/3/2002 11:22:30 AM  



anyone there?
I don't know if any California school librarians/staff/people really, really interested in school libraries read my blog or not. But if you're out there, I'll be attending at least one day of the CSLA conference next month, and, if you weren't planning on going because of cost (I can only afford it because my boss is squeezing a day from her own budget), I can get one exhibit-only pass, which I would gladly give to you. Word on the street is the exhibit hall rocks, and is worthy of attendance on its own merit.
10/3/2002 08:52:29 AM  



just strange
Message on the answering machine yesterday:

[rustle rustle breath rustle] jenniejenniejenniejenniejenniejenniejenniejenniejennie PELLLLLLL-keee [breath] a-jenniejenniejenniejenniejenniejenniejenniejenniejennie PELLLLLLL-keee [breath] jenniejenniejenniejenniejenniejenniejenniejenniejennie PELLLLLLL-keee.

All presented in a jovial, semi-musical mood.

The caller ID says it was from a telemarketing company. It sounded as if there was a small group of titterers in the background. What the heck.
10/2/2002 04:39:37 PM  



topic du jour
I love decorating for Halloween, especially in the Library. I've already got a bat with a 10' wingspan that covers half the ceiling (the charm of which is in size and not in quality, as it was $1.49 at Walmart, at least that horrible trip was worth some little thing). I've got a collection of window clings (have I told you about my addiction to window clings? no?). And a couple of years ago I made several different character pumpkins out of construction paper, which I put up in nooks around the stacks. They're starting to show their age a bit, so I'll probably make a few new ones.

Have to figure out what to show during lunch. Year one was "The Monkey's Paw," and last year was "The Canterville Ghost" (didn't go over quite as well). Maybe I'll just buy the Peanuts video, since I've been wanting it, even though it's not very literary.

I don't want to get too wrapped up in a costume, since we never seem to manage to have a thing to do for Halloween, unless we go out to a club. And D. doesn't really get into the whole dress-up thing, boohoo. I hate to buy costumes, but if I need one at the last minute, that's probably what I'd end up doing.
10/2/2002 04:30:37 PM  



extension
The folks at the Fantasy Film League have extended signups (and the start of the new season) 'til Sunday, Oct. 6th because of an ISP switch this week. Six of us so far - why not join the fun?
10/1/2002 11:18:14 AM