Now It's Mine, All Mine

Saturday is passing in a hurry, so I better get my Saturday Scavenger Shots out into the world! I chose this week's word, EGG, because I had Easter on my mind. Also, EGG is such a useful word. You can be an EGGhead. You can have EGG on your face. You can EGG someone on.  It is really rather EGGstraordinary, isn't it? EGGsactly!

Um, okay...I better stop telling and start showing.  Here you go -

Bright, colorful, traditional Easter EGGs in a basket.

Here are some very fancy EGGs and some jelly beans too!

I have one large-ish EGG and one small-ish EGG that live on my desk.

I can't remember why. Just in case, I guess....

Finally, if you need some information on EGGs and what comes out of them,

 check your local library! Dewey number 591.33 :)

Thank you for coming by for the EGGstravaganza. You really are a good EGG.

For next week, I am tagging the sensational Tara over at Eclectic Spaghetti. Thanks!!!

I'll Break Right Through the Irony

Choose and Defend Wednesday showed up on my doorstep again today! So, I thought I'd bring you all in to help me tend this thing. Pretty sure I've asked some sorts of variations on this...but not this exact question. So hand over this information about yourself (Choose) and then act like someone in the room just called you out on it...Defend yourself!

Are you more of....

A Follower / Indian / Worker Bee

OR

A Leader / Chief / Queen Bee

Of course I am aware that most people are sometimes each of these things, sometimes neither.  But as a rule, you tend to see yourself as one or the other, right? *Just say, "RIGHT!"*  Great, thanks. So now, all that's left to do is Choose and Defend!

War Wounds

Every Monday, a bunch of my family goes to McDonald's for lunch and to let the little ones explore the play area. I join them when I have a Monday off and it is usually fun and non-traumatic. I guess I missed a doozy yesterday though. Apparently, Love Bug had some momentum going when she came off a slide and kept running forward and bashed her little forehead right into a table. You know how head wounds are...the blood was flowing freely.

Love Bug needed four stitches. Aw!

I heard she was very brave and was in fine spirits later on that day.  Kids are so resiliant.  Here's wishing her a speedy recovery and that next week there is no bloodshed.

Tagged!

Mrs Hairy Woman tagged me for this week's Saturday Scavenger Shots word. Thank you, Mrs! The word is, as you might predict....EGG.  Go forth and photograph :)

This Musical Message is For Bleeding Our Colors

I'm Afraid You're Never Satisfied

I'm here! I'm here! Ready for a little ANIMAL action for today's Saturday Scavenger Shots. The word ANIMAL was chosen by the ever wild Mrs Hairy Woman @ The Northern Sky Chronicles...and we all thank you, Mrs! 

At this point in my life, I am not housing any animals, so I couldn't get off the easy shot. There are lots of animals in the world, but as usual, I put off this assignment until about 20 minutes ago. So you will get what you get and like it!  Or, um, not...

Walking through my livingroom I spotted this angry zebra.  An ANIMAL if ever I saw one! He lives here in peace with the other toys and the shoes and such. It couldn't be an easy life, but he lives it fiercely.

When I took Angry Zebra's photo, I saw Girlie Girl's monkey slipper perched there. Well, another ANIMAL, what do you know! There really are ANIMALs everwhere. Really.

Finally, I went through my phone to see what I had and I found these ANIMAL creatures. These are a couple of the geese that live at the park where Handsome Lad goes to practice cross country in the fall. I know I've mentioned these geese and ducks and my discomfort when they get too close to me. Yeah. I feel it a tiny bit when I see this photo.  

I hope you enjoyed or at least did not actively despise my ANIMAL photos. Maybe this next week I will plan ahead more. Maybe I will not. There is something fun about just doing it on the fly. All that is left to do now is check the blogs of others and leave delightful comments therein. Life is good.

Friday 5 - Stupid Animal Puns

Tired Friday here. I can't wait to catch up on my sleep a bit this weekend. Yes, that is the most exciting thing on my mind....sweet, sweet sleep.  In the meantime, how about a little Friday 5?  This is rather cute :)

1. What’s something you otter be doing right now? I otter be making a flyer. And I will be. Just give me a sec! Geez.

2. What’s something for which you are lion in wait? I am lion in wait for the chance to take a long, hot bath, crawl into bed, and stay there sound asleep for several hours. Oh yeah, I'm crazy!

3. When did you last have reason to feel sheepish? I feel sheepish when I try to justify certain ways in which I indulge my two youngest children. (Doing Girlie Girl's laundry, driving Handsome Lad around at his beck and call.) I feel like I have my reasons, but I know I look slackerish and talking about it makes me sheepish.

4. What’s something toucan do better than one?  Well...let's see...toucan fold a blanket, move a couch, and cuddle better than one. There are probably other things too!  :)

5. What’s something you have recently been forced to grin and bear? I am forced to grin and bear all the changes going on at work. I know you guys hear my guff, but I try to be a little more magnanimous in the trenches. 

Have a great weekend, all y'all!  If you can, stop by tomorrow for Saturday Scavenger Shots. By pure coincidence, the word is ANIMAL. Isn't there something so right about that?  There is.

So Break Into My Story

Welcome to Choose and Defend Wednesday. For those of you who joined me for Whine and Complain Tuesday, thank you. It truly helps to get it out there. I am in a better mood today and I think it is partly because I feel my complaints were heard and acknowledged...so thank you again.

Today I thought I'd ask you about an entertainment preference. For this question we will put money aside. Either imagine that both options cost the same or that money is no object. Whatever, just ignore the financial part. Also, imagine that release dates are somehow the same for either option. I just want to get to what you most enjoy! Just go ahead and Choose based on what you like most and Defend your choice by telling us why.  You know that game :)

Would you rather -

Go Out to a Movie

OR

Stay In For a Movie

There you have it! All that is left is for you to Choose and Defend! Thank you. x



Messy, Smelly, Noisy.

You all know how I love my job. But I find I need a moment here to blow off some steam. So...fair warning. Tedious rant to follow.

The administrators recently made a decision to allow food and drinks in the library. I was opposed, but my vote doesn't count. It was a personal opposition. It is true that people often snuck things in, but we could ask them to take it outside if we came upon someone with food. Now, everyone walks in with their giant drinks and bags of fast food. It is worst in the Children's Room, because those kids are hungry after school.  Totally get that...but have your snack, THEN come into the library. Seems reasonable.  But no, we want everyone to like us...libraries have self-esteem issues, for sure. 

Okay. I guess I have three main complaints surrounding this issue.

First, I admit that I worry about the books.  While it is true that when people check out books and take them home, they will certainly have food around them.  However, if they bring them back ruined, we know who to hold accountable! In here, things can get wrecked with no accountability, unless an employee chanced to see it happen.

Second, the smell is horrible. I mean, the Children's Room can get rather ripe just with the adolescent bodies crowding the place...they can't really help that. But add in bags of El Pollo Loco and Carl's Jr.  OMG, you guys, I love fast food, but this place gets disgustingly full of food smells that are not pleasing...and the smell has no where to go. It just lingers. They throw their trash into the little cans around the room (best case scenario, by the way)  and it SITS there. Smelling.

Third, it changes the whole feel of the place. I have seen it over the past couple of weeks. The kids, not even thinking about it I'm sure, behave totally differently. They are in the cafeteria, the courtyard, on a little picnic. They are so much louder! They don't feel like they are in a place to do work and be respectful of others. I spend so much more time now walking that fine line of keeping the room under control, yet being friendly and welcoming. "Hey, kids! We love having you here, but you could you possibly shut the fuck up?" Um, sorry...that is the fantasy I have been reduced to lately.

I guess that is my rant. And I guess I will adjust, because that is the nature of life. We adjust. Ugh.

This Musical Message is For Girl You Better Have Fun

Even Your Emotions Have an Echo in So Much Space

Thanks to the lovely Silly Rabbit @ Silly Rabbit's Hole we are getting CRAZY today for our Saturday Scavenger Shots. This worked out well for me, because today I presented a program at work and that is always a CRAZY experience :)

Here we are, gathering together to begin. So far...not CRAZY...

except for my glowing shoes.

Things get a little more CRAZY when we introduce some audience participation.

Here we are telling the story of the Good / Bad St. Patrick's Day.

At the end, we get to do our crafts. The people in this community are

CRAZY about crafts! I always have to count on at least 45 minutes for everyone

to feel that they've completed their crafting experience and can leave.

It was fun sharing my CRAZY afternoon with you guys. I really do have the best job in the world. Just have to remember that on the days my boss seems to be staggering under the weight of her extra CRAZY.

Hope you're all having a fun and CRAZY weekend. The good CRAZY.  Happy St. Patrick's Day from me and my Arcadia Public Library crew!

Let Me Feel Your Lovin' Charms

Here we are at Wednesday where it is time, once again, to Choose and Defend.  Today I thought we could talk about communication. Some people are better at it than others...and there are a lot of complicated issues when it comes to communicating. But for now, I am going to take it down to it's most basic level; simply, the facility to technically understand what is being said.  You get to Choose your gift today! Which of these abilities would be most useful and/or enjoyable to you?

Understand All Animals

OR

Understand Every Human Language

Choose, and then practice your communication skills by defending your choice! Choose and Defend...because that is what Wednesday is for!

Cash is King and Winner Takes All!

It has been a rather long Monday. For the first time in quite awhile the alarm woke me up. That is just due to the time change...the darker mornings fool me for awhile...but it is well worth it for the light later in the day. I LOVE that it is still light when I get off work at 6 pm.  Not that I am a riot of activity necessarily, but there is just something disheartening about walking out into the dark every day.

We had a really nice weekend.  Yesterday (Sunday) was pretty quiet. It was a good day for just lazing about.  On Saturday, however, DR and I went off on a little adventure.  Recently, we've become rather addicted to Storage Wars. Anyone ever watch it? It's pretty entertaining. Anyway, when DR saw that some of the people that they feature on that show were going to be at the Orange County Marketplace (a giant swap meet) he suggested we go out and have a look around.

It turned out to be a good idea.  We got to meet Darrell "The Gambler" Sheets and his son, Brandon -

We also met Jarrod and Brandi -

They are the kind of "celebrities" it is sort of weird to meet. They are only recently recognizable to the public, I think, and still aren't very adept at doing the meet and greet. They were all nearly as shy as we were!

After we had our little photo session, DR and I cruised the many stands set up. I do like a swap meet...more for looking than for buying. DR did end up buying himself some new sunglasses and a pair for me as well.  We also got this very pretty wind chime made of colorful squares of shell. It was a fun way to spend the afternoon.

Hope you all had a good weekend too. Let's all enjoy the extra evening sunlight and be glad of the arrival or eminent arrival of Spring!

This Musical Message is For I'm Just a Crosshair

Everything That's Cold and Grey is Gone

Hey, hey. Sorry this is so late to arrive. I tend not to be on the computer machine when I am home...but that courtesy is fairly wasted and singular :) So, here I am with my couple of sorry little Saturday Scavenger Shots!

This week's word was chosen my Mrs Hairy Woman @ The Northern Sky Chronicles  She gives us SPRING! And what could be more perfect? 

Here is my SPRING, which I am slowly realizing is actually beginning....

Here is one sure sign of SPRING.  Girlie Girl begins wearing her little shirts that cannot handle the rigors of the dryer and must be hung out on the line behind the building. I know hanging laundry to dry is all the rage again, but I don't like the way a lot of my things end up feeling stiff. But SPRING and summer to follow, does mean that some delicate little numbers will indeed make their way on to the line.

What is this? You may well ask. This is the body of DR. He does not SPRING out of bed to face the day. Not a morning person :) heh heh!

SPRING is a wonderful place to be and I am so glad to have nearly made it though the winter blahs. Hope you are all feeling SPRING-y and hopeful too!  Can't wait to see what comes next!

Friday 5 - String

Goodness gracious, I am so glad the weekend is nearly here. How about a nice easy post to ease us on into a nice easy weekend? Friday 5 never fails to deliver!  Check it -

1. What’s a film that always tugs at your heartstrings? Lots, for sure. I get very emotional watching movies! Most recently I watch Mother and Child and it did make me weepy. It ends on a fairly optimistic note, but there is so much emotional pain thoughout that I felt just gutted. Also, FYI, I cry pretty much every time I watch an episode of Grey's Anatomy.

2. How long would it take you to come up with a six-inch length of string if someone needed it right now? Since I'm at work, I could come up with it almost instantly. If I were at home, I might be cutting up old towels or something if we were desperate :)

3. What are your thoughts on string cheese?  My thought are that it is one of the best snacks ever! I love pulling it apart. I love its kind of rubbery texture. My thoughts on string cheese are all good and happy thoughts.

4. Among people you know, who’s the best guitar-player? My nephew is a very talented and hard working guitarist. He's completely devoted to it.

5. What memories do you have of Silly String? Not many memories to speak of. It has always seemed like one of those things that is more mess and trouble than it is worth. Bah humbug! ;-)

As always, I invite you to play along in comments or on your own blog.  I am interested in your views on the string in your life! I hope your weekend is all tied up with fun and laughter. Don't forget that tomorrow is our SPRING (not string) Saturday Scavenger Shots...hope to see you here, there, and everywhere.

I Promise I'll Do Anything You Ask This Time

On this Choose and Defend Wednesday I am feeling quite out of sorts at work. Actually, every day lately is another chance to be pearl clutchingly offended about some new harebrained scheme my weird boss has. Anyway, when I am in a snit there is one thing that almost always helps.  Okay, two things....but today we are just going to talk about the one that it is more socially acceptable to talk about in a public place...chocolate.  I enjoy talking about chocolate, because I love it. I am not much of a chocolate snob. Sure I can taste the difference, but you won't hear me hating on some Hersheys! One of my bigger fears is that someday I will develop a sensitivity to chocolate. My mom did, when she was maybe 60 or so. Doesn't that sound awful? Well, maybe not to some of you. As I understand it, some people have no particular interest in chocolate!  If you could see me right now, I'd be shaking my head in disbelief...and maybe a little envy ;)

Moving on to my original point, Choose and Defend Wednesday, and a choice that must be made!  Which is your favorite?


Dark Chocolate

OR

Milk Chocolate

Choose your favorite and then Defend it passionately!  If you aren't a particular fan of chocolate, the passion may be harder to work up. My suggestion is to think of it as a simple exercise in persuasion :)  It is a great skill to have, for reals.

Thanks for stopping in and enduring my grouchy self. Choose and Defend!!!

Fire Fighters

Here are the Fire Fighters who came to visit at our Read Across America event last Wednesday. Since it was Leap Day, I asked one of them to marry me.  Guess which one.  You may also guess his answer.

You will probably also guess that I'm kidding :) But I do love the Fire Fighters...... 

This Musical Message is for Peter Pan Up In the Sky

Stop Talking to the Neighbor's Dog

It is Saturday, so I've come to pay my respects to Saturday Scavenger Shots. The very adorable Tara chose this week's word - COOK.  Good one, eh?  DR is the COOK in our house and he is very good at it! When my kids were growing up, I was the COOK, but I can't say I loved doing it. For the past few years, with just me and Girlie Girl and sometimes Handsome Lad I haven't done that much COOKing at all...we became a restaurant / fast food / prepared meals kind of family. However now, with DR around we get some good home COOKing...and I have to say it is pretty awesome.

Here is where the magic happens!  We don't have much counter space, so sometimes an appliance has to share with the stove top.  DR can still COOK up a storm here! Not pictured is the oven, just to the left. More COOKing glory is found there...

Here is the lunch I brought to work with me today.  Last night, DR COOKed us up some delicious dirty rice, with chicken, bell peppers and onion.  Mmmmmm.... So delicious. As I mentioned before, and will probably mention again, DR is a great COOK! You know those aprons that say "Kiss the COOK"? Yes, please!

What did you manage to COOK up today? I hope you entire weekend is COOKing with fun and relaxation, in the proportions of your choosing.  Tara, should I choose a word or shall we try passing it off to another of our participants?  I will leave the decision in your capable hands.  And now... I must go see what you people have to say :)