Families Are Like Fudge - Mostly Sweet with a Few Nuts

Time once again for my Early Bird Special version of Saturday Scavenger Shots! *Raaaauuggghhhhh! The crowd goes wild!* This week, everyone's favorite organizer of the good times, Tara, has chosen the word FAMILY. Simple elegance, no?

Here, for your persual, I present a couple of FAMILY shots.

This picture of my FAMILY must be about 6 or maybe 7 years old. You can see Secret Agent Man and Kick Back Dude up top, then Girlie Girl, my nephew, and Social Animal. Seated is my sister, Handsome Lad, and Lablahblah. I have always liked this picture of my FAMILY, which was taken at my dad's house in summer.

We have talked about this phenomenon before...the Work FAMILY! Here is part of mine out to breakfast together a few months ago. My 'sister', Milly, and my 'mom', KK...and you'll recognize me. haha! It is always nice to have a spare FAMILY standing by, when the other one is driving you insane :-)

I like to think of all of you as my Blog FAMILY! See yourselves pictured over thar >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> in the sidebar.

Thanks for stopping in. Could you take out the trash when you leave? Oh, and ask Terrible Tara who she's tagging! Ask her why she never calls me anymore! hahaha! Ah, FAMILY....

A Meme From the Mrs. @ Live Life Love Life (part Two)

Thanks for the tag Mrs. Big Hairy Woman. I do love memes and being tagged is cool. So here you go.

How to play:

1. Pick up the nearest book (of at least 123 pages).
2. Open the book to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the next three sentences.
5. Tag five people.

This is "Songs without Words" by Ann Packer. I just picked it up out of New Books and thought I'd give it a try. She also wrote "The Dive From Clausen's Pier" which I remember liking pretty well. I haven't started it yet though. I am just finishing "The Diving Pool" by Yoko Ogawa. I would have used that, but it is a slim volume of three novellas with only 105 pages.

Here are the next three sentences after the fifth sentence on page 123:

Did everyone in the world have to know? She'd made a mistake. She hadn't even meant it.

There you go. Intrigued? Dang, me too! ;-)

I don't really know who to tag, but if anyone is into it, feel free. I always thinks these little things are rather fun. Remember kids, keep reading!

For the Ladies. Two Words. Fire Fighters.

This morning I had my annual Read Across America program. We had about 80 people come out for it - parents, grandparents, caregivers, and very excited children, mostly under the age of 5. Was the attraction the very popular with the tiny crowd Ms. Laura? No, of course not. The attraction was that we had invited our local fire fighters to come and read. Yay! Everyone loves fire fighters! In an odd bit of randomness, a retired baseball player, Jay Johnstone, read about the event on Monday, called us, and offered to come by and join in. How could we say no? I think he was probably a nice enough guy and maybe some of you are fans, but he seemed a bit douche-y to me.
So...here we have ...one retired baseball player and four fabulous firemen!

Here they are reading and/or waiting to read. Aren't they cute?

As a library, we do tend to tie every event into books and reading. Makes sense, right? And the kids do enjoying having the fire fighters read stories and talk with them. However, they are really all just humoring us and waiting for this.... ...Their big chance to get up close and personal with a real fire truck!

*sigh* Firemen. But yeah, I do work for the city and so do they, so my fantasies are kind of blown when I see them at work functions with their wives or listen to them at workshops trading snarky comments with the police officers. You see my point? There is no room for reality in my fantasy!

Traveling at the Speed of Light

That is how I am feeling lately. Zoom! There goes another one...hour, day, week, month, year...zip! Sometimes it is just about being busy. You know how that is, when you are concentrating on all that needs to be done time can really slip away. Sometimes it has nothing to do with activity level and is just a function of my age, I suspect.
I guess I mention this because the weekend and even yesterday just vanished in the blink of an eye! Of course I worked Saturday and that is always hectic. Then on Sunday we did a little party for Miss Personality at Chuck E. Cheese's. Do they have these all over? Anyway, it was mega crowded, noisy, small children everywhere...perfect for a three year old's birthday party. We did many parties there when my kids were small, so I knew what to expect. The bonus about going in grandma mode is that you can sit back a bit more. I put myself on Love Bug duty and was thereby authorized to sit at the table playing with her and letting her conk out when the noise level caused her to do that shut down thing that babies are so good at. So, it was quite a day and it just flew right by. Bonus, I was finally deemed worthy to receive the official news that there will indeed be another little Kick Back Dude / Princess Diva collaboration arriving somewhere around September 22. I know they are feeling overwhelmed and I remember very well how difficult it can be to tell everyone that yes, you are having another baby, yes already, yes, haha, you know what causes that... Trust me, people can be very judgemental. Probably with good reason, but that is neither here nor there. Baby is coming, might as well look forward to it with joy and gratitude I say!
This concludes my blithering, doddering post about a big something with a little nothing thrown in for good measure :-)

Against All Reason There Is, In Fact, Reason

As always, I looked forward to finding out the word for this week's Saturday Scavenger Shots. Cricket chose this week's word...REASON. There are several ways to go with this, of course. I didn't give myself much time to prepare, so am making it short and simple and a little sweet even :-)

This is the collage of photos I have pinned to my cube wall at work. They are the REASON that I do the things I do. It isn't a great picture, but the sentiment is sincere.

Thank you for finding a REASON to stop by my blog. Remember, there is a REASON for everything. Be sure to see the awesomely fun Tara for next week's word.

To the Victor Go the Spoils!

I finally got a chance and an inclination to spend my famous Best Buy card! Thanks again AlienCG!

Today, when I got back from a boring four hours of Harrassment Training my prizes were waiting for me. Yay! I had thought about putting in some $$ and getting a little MP3 player, which I really need. Instead though, I ended up going for a quick and dirty music fix. Behold!

White Stripes - Icky Thump

Cold War Kids - Robbers and Cowards

So, now I am a happy camper. A happy non-harrassing employee of my fine city. A happy, icky thump. A happy robber and/or coward. A happy laura b.

Proclaimering It For All

When I saw that Tara had put up her favorite song lyrics to celebrate (late) a scheduled Taraday, I had to jump on that bandwagon. Lyrics! But then I had to decide which lyrics to post? There are so, so, so many to choose from. So then Evil-E posted his democratic Top 5 Long Songs list and it all became perfectly clear. Thus, I give you, the lyrics to.......

Proclaimers - I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles) Lyrics

When I wake up well I know I'm gonna be
I'm gonna be the man who wakes up next to you
When I go out yeah I know I'm gonna be
I'm gonna be the man who goes along with you

If I get drunk well I know I'm gonna be
I'm gonna be the man who gets drunk next to you
And if I haver yeah I know I'm gonna be
I'm gonna be the man who's havering to you

But I would walk 500 miles
And I would walk 500 more
Just to be the man who walked 1,000 miles
To fall down at your door

When I'm working yes I know I'm gonna be
I'm gonna be the man who's working hard for you
And when the money comes in for the work I'll do
I'll pass almost every penny on to you

When I come home oh I know I'm gonna be
I'm gonna be the man who comes back home to you
And if I grow old well I know I'm gonna be
I'm gonna be the man who's growing old with you

-chorus-

When I'm lonely well I know I'm gonna be
I'm gonna be the man whose lonely without you
And when I'm dreaming well I know I'm gonna dream
I'm gonna dream about the time when I'm with you

When I go out well I know I'm gonna be
I'm gonna be the man who goes along with you
and when I come home yes I know I'm gonna be
I'm gonna be the man who comes back home with you
I'm gonna be the man whose coming home with you.

-chorus-

I mean tell me that you can listen to that song without singing along and feeling good! BTW, I looked at an online dictionary and this is what it means to "haver": To maunder; to talk foolishly; to chatter. Aw! Thats cute, right? Foolish talk!

Hard Drive Death

Yesterday the hard drive on my work station computer died a violent blue death. Let us observe a moment of silence.... Thank you. Welcome new hard drive. May you live long and prosper. Lucky for me, I had all my work backed up. Yay! All I had to do today when my computer returned to me was to personalize my settings and re-do my Favorites list. It is sort of ironic...I had just written a blog message about social bookmarkers, such as del.icio.us, for that Library 2.0 project that we are working on here. Not a huge fan, I wrote. I could see how they'd be handy if you used different computers or browsers, but I just use my own Favorites folder...blah, blah, blah. Huh, well, my computer told me a thing or two! I was schooled! Damn. I probably still won't use del.icio.us though...I am just too lazy to get involved in one more internet tool or something...Besides this hard drive should be good to go forever, right? haha!

How the World Looks to Me

This was my view over a great deal of my long weekend. Not all of it, but a healthy portion. And I am totally not complaining...just feeling mildly to moderately guilty ;-)

Go Ahead. Give In.

This week's Saturday Scavenger Shots are all about TEMPTATION. Evil-E says so. Sorry to post so early, but once again it came down to either early or late, with the super fly long weekend and all. Yo Washington and Lincoln! Anyway, early it is.


Oh, look! It's the TEMPTATIONS, singing and dancing their way into your heart! But that's not quite where I wanted to go with this entry :-)


Birthday flowers are pretty, but they are not a TEMPTATION in, say, the way a big hunk of chocolate cake would be. But that story is played, homes...

So. TEMPTATION.

I do find chocolate to be a major TEMPTATION. I know I shouldn't, but I do.


On blue sky days like today, there is always the TEMPTATION to just keep on driving, instead of turning in at work.


On occasion the TEMPTATION to talk arises. I give in to that one.


Each day brings with it the TEMPTATION to crawl right back into bed. And get yo mind out the gutter, because to my dismay it is always solo these days. *sigh*

Thank you for giving in to TEMPTATION and stopping by. Who will be tagged for next week's word? Only Evil-E knows for sure.

One Final Salute to Cheese

I saw this on Not Faint Hearted's blog and had to have it...even though the day is done.

Your Candy Heart Says "First Kiss"

You're a true romantic who brings an innocent hope to each new relationship. You see the good in every person you date, and you relish each step of falling in love. Your ideal Valentine's Day date: a romantic dinner your sweetie cooks for you Your flirting style: friendly and sweet What turns you off: cynics who don't believe in romance Why you're hot: you always keep the romance alive

What Does Your Candy Heart Say?

I like that at least when I answer Blogthings quiz questions I can still manage to be a romantic. Because deep down inside? I think I am.

Happy Day

Nah, dawg! Not me! In the new world order, I am happy and at peace with my life. Let me count the ways!

1. My two youngest kids remembered to wish me Happy Birthday this morning when they got up. That made me feel great.

2. I got text messaged Happy Birthdays from Princess Diva, Kick Back Dude, Secret Agent Man, and Social Animal. Sweet!

3. Milly made sure to mention in our full staff meeting this morning that it is my birthday. That was embarrassing, but still...who doesn't want everyone to know it is their "special day"?

4. Also Milly bought me lunch today. Thai...pad thai. Awesome!

5. My mom called to wish me Happy Birthday :-) Moms rule.

6. Team C wanted to get together yesterday, but my schedule made it impossible. He gets credit for trying.

7. I also got a voice mail and ecard from him. It made me happy...what can I say?

8. I have gotten many, many Happy Birthday wishes from all y'all, my online posse, so to speak. That also makes me happy!

Now, I realize that not everyone keeps a sort of running tally of who has acknowleged your birthday and who hasn't. Clearly, however, I do. It probably has something to do with my self-esteem issues. I promise to work on that this year :-)

Happy Valentine's / Singles Appreciation Day to you all! ♥♥♥

Edit...Tara's comment reminded me that I wanted to tell this funny thing about my co-workers. Usually within each Dept. we will do a little celebration with a cake or something. Two people in Children's are trying to diet. I'm not one of them....be quiet. Anyway, at their birthday's they wanted fruit or something "healthy". I have been saying for at least two or three months that I want chocolate cake! No fruit on my birthday! Today, what do you think? I got flowers :-) The Dept. Head, Smiley, told me that Drifter and Glenn Close Parker Stevens, the dieters, had both said they didn't want to be tempted with cake so...flowers! Dang dieters....

Deep Thoughts by Jack Handy

This is my last day as a 44 year old. I'm not feeling too bad about that. It is tempting to wallow in the bad stuff about the rapid passing of time, but I think I can resist that particular temptation. With this coming year I want instead to renew and strengthen my resolve to live my life joyfully and with gratitude. I know anyone reading my blog would find it hard to believe, but that really is my goal :-) There are things in my life that are not as they should be. There are things I can, should, and will change...and then there are the other things. The things that for now just ARE. Even with all my complaints though, my life, like all lives, is miraculous in its own way. I am going to work hard this year to remember that. I guess that will have to be my birthday gift to myself. I hope this didn't seem too corny or stupid. I suspect it might (thus the title for this post)...but once again I thank you for bearing with me as I navigate my way through my own moodiness.

Imagine My Relief

You Are Fairly Normal

You scored 60% normal on this quiz Like most people you are normal in some ways... But you aren't a completely normal person. You're a little weird too! Why You Are Normal: You find the Macarena to be the more embarrassing dance You rather be screwed over than screw someone else over You would rather be pale than tan You prefer the sun to the moon You prefer fiction to non fiction Why You Aren't Normal: If you had to, you rather live without laughter and still have music You would not eat meat from a cloned animal You know a little about many subjects You think fishnet stockings are sexy You would rather be a movie star than an astronaut

What's Normal About You... And What's Not?

60% Normal seems pretty reasonable to me. Some days I feel 0% Normal, so in this instance Blogthings has reassured me. All hail Blogthings. You know I'm joking right? Just because I like to do Blogthings quizzes doesn't make me weird, does it? Well, only 40%, um, Not Normal....

What a Long Short Weekend

I guess I need a bit of venting space, so please bear with me.

My weekend (if I write it down, hopefully my head and heart will clear)

Friday
WTG kept Handsome Lad out of school without telling me. Pretended he was taking him to school, called me and told me he would pick him up...and really he took him to work with him. Let me count the ways in which this bothers me.
1. They both lied to me. Directly and by omission.
2. I didn't know where my ten year old son was all day long.
3. Today (Monday) is a day off school for my kids...WTG could have taken him to work today (and did). It wasn't even remotely necessary to miss school on Friday.
I was forced to nastily tell WTG that I will now be having the school call and notify me each time Handsome Lad isn't there. He was extremely pissed, but frankly, I couldn't care much less about that.

Saturday
I worked and that was fine. It was a very reasonable day for a Saturday. I went out for dinner with Kick Back Dude and his family, and Girlie Girl. Everyone else was busy with their own stuff, so I wasn't neglecting anyone by going out to eat. Still WTG and I managed to have a HUGE fight, mostly about what a horrible person I am. His fondest wish is that I would disappear, but somehow leave my income. Yeah. Well, whatever. It was a very nasty fight though, and both Handsome Lad and Girlie Girl heard most of that. I don't feel good about that, but WTG does like an audience for his own weird reasons. At least after all this time I have learned to stay perfectly calm and answer his accusations as reasonably as possible.
Later that night, after everyone was going to bed, Girlie Girl came in my room and made me promise not to tell a secret she'd been told. It seems Princess Diva is pregnant again. Love Bug is only 6 months old...*sigh* Lord knows I'm not one to judge about the having of the babies...but it is still slightly surprising. And since I am not meant to know yet, I have to now wait until they chose to tell me about the blessed event to be able to talk to anyone around me about this! Thank goodness for you guys.

Sunday
I had my family birthday brunch. (For those of you keeping track, the actual day is THURSDAY - mark your calendar - haha!) My dad and stepmom came and took all who wanted to attend out to eat at a nice family restaurant. I wasn't expecting WTG to go, although we do attend the same family parties from time to time, of course. I was hurt though, that he took Handsome Lad off for an "adventure" first thing Sunday morning and he didn't attend. That bothered me a lot. I also had to cry a little to get my sister to come. She has some old thing with my dad and doesn't care to see him that much. I reminded her that it would be for me and that we probably wouldn't have any other time to get together in the near future with both of our schedules, wah wah, she kindly came. Social Animal had to work, but the other three kids were there, plus the little ones. Also, my mom came along...for me, as she'd prefer not to spend time with my dad and stepmom either.
Do I sound like the whiniest beeyotch ever?
I did get some good swag. My dad and stepmom gave me a $100 gift card at WalMart. That is a lot of inexpensive goods! My mom gave me some cold hard cash, always a good fit. My sister gave me a $25 AMC theater gift card. Maybe one day I will actually go to a movie again!
Anyway, Sunday dragged on and on. Much like this post. Kick Back Dude and Princess Diva both didn't feel that well, so they stayed at the house aaaaallllll day, so that they could rest and I could keep the babies entertained. I love them all, but it did make for a long, long day. And I kept waiting for them to break down and tell me their news...but they didn't.

And now I will stop. It is all out there, but I'm not sure yet if it helped. Comments almost always help though, so go for it, please. Thanks for letting me babble. You're da greatest.

99% Perspiration, 1% INSPIRATION

Hello, all. Today's Saturday Scavenger Shots word was chosen by moi...for reasons that elude me now :-) Upon reflection, I realized that I find INSPIRATION in unusual places. Sometimes INSPIRATION is abstract, but for me seems to be most effective when I can....
See itHear itSmell itTaste itand Touch it for myself
Not sure where I was going with this. I guess just that for me, INSPIRATION is all around me, if only I take the time to notice.

For next week's Saturday Scavenger Shots I tag the esteemed Evil-E to choose the next word. So, go to him when you are ready for further instructions. This post will self destruct in 10, 9, 8, 7....

Xin Nian Yu Kuai

That would be Happy New Year in Mandarin. The year 4706 begins today (or yesterday, depending on where you are in the world). In Chinese astrology this is the Year of the Rat. Even the Google homepage is celebrating! Do you know what animal you are? Probably most people do, just from going to Chinese restaurants and reading the placemats. Still, you may know that I love me some Blogthings quizzes, so here you go...

You Were Born Under:

Delicate, timid, and attractive - sometimes you really do act like a bunny. You're very compassionate and protective of those you love, sometimes too protective. Your home is really your castle, and you make sure your home is comfortable and well furnished. You don't like to argue - and you prefer a quiet, peaceful life. You are most compatible with a Goat or a Pig.

What Year Were You Born Under?

Everything they say seems pretty accurate in my case. Attractive? Why, thank you! I'm not so sure about my home being my castle...it is comfortable, but I prefer to think of it as my burrow. Any Goats or Pigs out there? We're compatible!

Can You Read My Mind? Test Yourself

I couldn't get on top of the whole "writing" concept today, so I went to Goggle Images for help. Here is a picture:Now, your job is to see if you can guess what word or phrase I put in the Googlizer to find this image. Ready, go!

Perverts of the Library

This post comes to you by special request. I will not mention any names, unless the individual responsible feels so pleased with himself for bringing this on that he comes forward bravely. I give you...Perverts of the Library. You may or may not know about the, shall we say, unsavory types that hang around at public libraries from time to time. It can be a regular rogues gallery.

Creepy Middle Aged Dude Who Sits in the Teen Center You aren't really doing anything and we have no reason to ask you not to sit there...but do you have to? Clearly you aren't reading that book you have propped open in your lap. You keep staring, not so discreetly by the way, at the young girls scattered around doing their homework and leafing through magazines. And please quit...shifting weirdly in your seat, you perv.

Crazy Lady Who Parks Herself at a Table in the Children's Room for Hours Not sure what is going on with you and you aren't being disruptive, so there you sit. Why are you in the Children's Room with no children? Could you please quit watching everyone so closely? It makes parents feel vaguely uneasy...staff too, but you aren't doing anything...except looking like a psycho who'd like to take a little unattended child back to your gingerbread house or your cave or whatever rock you crawled out from under, you perv.

Guy Who Sits in His Little Shorts With His Junk Showing Okay, you may or may not be doing this on purpose. Sometimes it seems unintentional...you are just a poor dresser and unaware of the fact that you have let the mouse out of the house. Sometimes though, you have to know what you are doing! Why does anyone even need to sit with their legs so splayed apart anyway? Yes, guy, we get it. You have a penis and testicles between your legs, but come on! We don't need to see it to believe it, you perv.

Guy Who Uses the Unfiltered Internet in Inappropriate Ways in a Public Place Dude. Clearly you love the computer. You are on it all day, somehow. Yet you can't spring for one at home? Okay, probably you don't work...because you are on the library's computers all day. Whatever. Listen though, even with the privacy screen, when we pass by you, sometimes we can see what you are looking at. Or rather...maybe it is more like we can see the effect of what you're looking at. Got me? No one wants to see that. No, really, we don't. Get off the unfiltered station for awhile, go outside and get yourself some fresh air while we spray your area down with something highly antibacterial, you perv.

Sorry for that, but it had to be done. Now, go take a hot shower.

You Can Go With This, Or You Can Go With That

Lots to cover, kids, so settle down and listen up. I can do the little hand clap thing to get your attention if need be...no? Okay, then...

Item One: Jones Soda, Happy! Apparently, Jones likes to make up all these kooky flavors, sell them for awhile, then discontinue them. It's fun! I know that Happy isn't around anymore, but in my webcrawls I still haven't come across a description of what Happy actually tasted like. I drank that bottle about five years ago and my memory isn't what it used to...um, what was I saying? Oh well, anyway, my current favorite Jones flavor is Berry Lemonade. It is a pretty light blue color and very sweet and tangy. Just thought you might like to know. I'm not sure why I thought that now....

Item Two: My weekend! Well, no exclamation point was really necessary. My weekend. Yeah, more like that.

a) Friday evening I tended the grandbabies while EVERYONE else in the entire family went out here and there, mostly to the movies. We three ladies (I use the term loosely) had a pleasant evening amongst ourselves. As a bonus, by the time their parents got home I had bored both of them into deep, dreamless sleep.

b) Saturday it was quiet and rainy. I can't say I got much done, but can't find it in myself to feel bad about that. Kick Back Dude and his family showed up unexpectedly in the evening, just when I thought I'd have the house to myself. They hinted fairly subtley about leaving the girls with me again, but I didn't bite. I love watching them, but p-p-please don't take advantage of me, you two crazy kids!

c) Sunday was my mom's birthday. My sister and I had decided to take her out for brunch or lunch or something. So, we did. We picked her up and carted her off to Applebees. Girlie Girl and my nephew, Screamo Boy came along as well. As did Kick Back Dude and the family who never miss an excuse for a free meal. (haha! I kid, affectionately! Really!) They really messed up our order and we ended up getting comped for a little over half the bill. In the end, the meal was fine and they were sincerely apologetic about the mess ups. And getting comped does make up for many sins.

sub c) Girlie Girl and I were required to stay away from the house most of the day. Secret Agent Man was having his very own Super Bowl party. I believe only Social Animal was allowed to be in attendance. GG and I stayed over at KBD's just hanging out and watching television. None of us are great football fans (I know that in some quarters this could be considered blasphemous, so apologies). We sort of accidentally watched the last quarter, as we were waiting for the very special showing of House. So, that was kind of cool to see. And House was, as always, super. After that, we figured it was safe to go home. The place was quite tidy. You'd never have guessed there was a party earlier and that made me happy.

Item Three: I have been tagged by Cricket over at Churp Churp to choose this week's Saturday Scavenger Shot's word. I have a million ideas, but most of them aren't so inspiring. So, how about INSPIRATION? Must be something you can do with that! INSPIRATION. Let the photo sorting begin!
Note: If you are interested in playing along with Saturday Scavenger Shots and are unsure of WTF it is, drop by founding father Evil-E's Random Crap for all the info. All comers are welcome!

In Closing: Damn, I sure love a good exclamation point, don't I? And I (heart) :-) smileys, even though I am not, in fact, a teenage girl. Just so you know. Thank you for reading this long, random post. I appreciate the effort.

Friday Scavenger Shots (Because Saturday Just In't Happening, Man!)

Because it is not last week or next week, I am doing my Saturday Scavenger Shots today, 'kay? Cricket the Churper chose this week's word....CURIOUS. Seems a most excellent word to me and makes me think of Alice in Wonderland..."Curiouser and curiouser!", she cried.

And awaaaayyyy we go!

Is there anyone more CURIOUS than a baby?

Well, maybe an almost three year old :-)

For years now I have kept this Jones soda bottle. The flavor? Happy. I am CURIOUS, even though I did drink it...what the heck flavor is Happy? I remember that it was yellow and tasted good...but not exactly what it was! Anybody?

I hope I have sated your CURIOUSity a bit with my photographic essay on the CURIOUS.