Library Debate

As the week winds down I am having an obstinately difficult time concentrating on my work. So here I am at my blog, taking a break. Don't turn me in for wasting company time - I do get my work done! ;)

One of my favorite blogs - Mental Floss - had a link to a blog on one of my other favorite topics - libraries and reading! (I see M. rolling his eyes or shaking his head in mild disgust right now...) The blog is called MyLibBlog and is written by a librarian in Colorado. The specific post that was linked in my Morning Cup O'Links over at Mental Floss was a letter to a library patron who challenged one of the books in the children's section of the library. The book in question is Uncle Bobby's Wedding.

The library patron was challenging the book because she felt it promoted homosexuality and that homosexuality is not a topic appropriate for children. If you read the reply Jamie, the author of MyLibBlog, has written, I think he makes excellent points about how the book deals with subject matter that is very relevant to children in today's society and that it is the parents of the child who need to decide if this book is appropriate for their children. I agree with these points even though I have not read the book in question.

I've not explored the MyLibBlog thoroughly yet, but plan to add it to my Google Reader selection for now to see if it's something I want to keep up with.

Best Wishes and No Farewells **EDIT**

7/28/08: Had to write an edit worthy of my little brother this morning. By the way, as my brother so lovingly <insert major sarcasm here> pointed out, he is 25, not 26. But he will be 26 at the end of August. I just subtracted 3 years from my own age and ended up a month and a half off... Anyway, back to this post's edit.

M. was reading my post last night at home and said, "You've never been to the west coast?" At that exact moment I remembered I have been to the west coast, once, briefly, back in 2003 or 2004. When I was in graduate school I attended a conference in San Francisco. I didn't see a lot of the west coast, but was there. So, I amend my post. I've never been to the northwest coast...

Portland, Oregon. This is likely a city I would never have thought of much in my entire life if the past couple years had not happened. In the past couple years I've had two dear friends whom I met at work go through some life-changing events and then decided to move on to Portland. (And how ironic is it that the book I started on Saturday is set in Portland and the movie M. and I watched last night is as well?)

The latest friend, Ms. E., will be taking a flight out there on Tuesday to start her new life. We had a get-together Friday evening at a bar for her. M. and I went, not planning to stay long (bars are not our scene), and ended up being the last ones standing outside the bar with E. as the warm, sultry night air enveloped us. We stood there, finding one last thing to say after one last thing to say to delay the inevitable hug before parting ways. Finally, we had to let her go. But this is just best wishes to E. - not a farewell!

I for one plan to keep up with E. as she makes her way our there on the west coast. M. and I will also try to make it out there next summer for a visit - stopping first in North Dakota to see my family and my brother's new house. I've never been to the west coast, so I'm already excited and want to plan the trip NOW.

Dearest E., email me often, send lots of pictures, and don't forget to use chat! I send you best wishes for a safe flight tomorrow and for a wonderful life in Portland. All warm snarkies today are dedicated to you. Don't forget about us back here!

PS- thanks for the 'Free Fla-Vor-Ice' sign - almost didn't see it this morning!

Aprons and Green Tea Bathes

Pioneer Woman Ree did a post today about a cute cowgirl apron she just got on her Home & Garden blog. When someone on one of the blogs I regularly read posts about something they found online I head right over to the website. In this case, PW's apron came from Sommer Designs. They do have cute aprons, but the ones they have available for sale right now are hostess aprons, you know, those ones that tie only around your waist and don't cover anything up top. Now, this just isn't practical for me. When I cook the most likely place for me to end up with slops is the area this apron doesn't cover - both because of my height (or lack thereof) and an ample chest. Sommer Designs' full coverage aprons don't go on sale until mid-October, but that's okay because I made my own apron some time ago - I just have to remember to put it on when I am cooking! And my apron covers me all the way down to my knees!!

What I really liked on the Sommer Designs website - and it came as a shock to me because typically I am not really into this kind of thing - was the handcrafted handbags. But, wouldn't you know it, the Malaga Bag in lime paisley which I just love is sold out. :( The Del Cerro Tote in Toile fabrics are pretty cool too - just not as much as the Malaga in lime paisley...

And while I am doing a post on stuff I like online, when I visited my parents in North Dakota earlier this month, my mom set out some Cru de Provence green tea bath products that came in a gift basket her boss bought her. I used the body wash and lotion during my visit and just love the scent! She gave me the travel size lotion and body wash to take home since that is about all I was allowed per airline security regulations on liquids and gels. Once home I did some research and found out these products are sold by Wind Country Gift Baskets. Mom got the lovely 'Day Off' basket. (Her boss spoils her employees!)

Just a quick post this afternoon to take a quick break from work! :)

My Poor Lu

When Luigi had his dental surgery last week a piece of the gum the vet cut off was sent to a lab to be analyzed. The vet called me with the results today. Luckily, no cancer. However, they are not sure exactly what is going on. It could be one of two conditions - neither of which I can pronounce. I asked the assistants to write them down when I went in this afternoon, but they said they would be on the receipt printout. I didn't notice until they were closed that they are not on the printout so I will be making a call tomorrow so I can do some more research on what might be going on in Lu's mouth.

The analysis of his gum showed more neutrofills than stomas which the vet said is good. This leads her to believe he probably has the lesser of the two conditions and if that is what is going on, he has hyperactive gum growth due to a reaction to tartar on his teeth. Luigi doesn't have very much tartar buildup on his teeth, but the vet said even a little can set off this condition. If that is what it turns out to be Luigi will likely have to have the dental procedure he had done last week done at least once a year.

The gum analysis did show some presence of stomas - at least that is what I think the vet said. This could indicate the more severe condition in which the vet said the only remedy to keep it under control is to extract all his teeth. This totally freaks me out because my Lu cannot keep that soft cat food down. So what happens if he has no teeth and can't chew his food? I asked the vet this and she basically told me it's not time to freak out yet. We are going to treat him with regular teeth cleanings with some kind of dental gel I picked up this afternoon and a special food that scrapes the teeth to remove tartar.

As long as his gums stay under control Luigi doesn't have to go back to the vet for 4 months. We have an appointment in November to have his gums and teeth looked at again and can determine at that time if another gum analysis is needed or if the teeth cleaning and special food is working. Wish my Lu luck with his itty bitty teethies!

Teen Workers Are Peoples Too!

Listen here Ms. Higher Up, don't tell me that you have urgent, urgent work for our teen helper to do when she is in the office, withhold the list of files you need pulled, and then when I come request the list because our teen helper is in the office today snark at me like we are bothering you. Don't tell me, "Teen Helper will just have to wait," in that condescending voice of yours. You are the one who said this needs to be done ASAP. I can't help it if you are busy and don't want to deal with this right now - you are the one who ignored my previous requests for the list like it is some coveted list meant only for your eyes.

Our Teen Helper was right outside your door when you made that snarky remark and I hope it didn't hurt her feelings. I know you probably really don't care about that because you think she is working this job all loosy goosy, but from my standpoint, she's done a good job when she's here and a lot of it has been nasty, hot attic work, so why don't you just step down from your high horse and take a Prozac or something?

Since you weren't ready for her, I now have her working downstairs where it is cool until you deem it appropriate to grace us with your superior highness...

Tales of the Pumpkin

Okay, I originally started this post way back on 5/29 when one of my coworkers came into work a wee bit late because her car had a flat. This made me think back to the time I had a flat tire. It was when I was in high school. But then I realized I did not have the right photos to go with the post. I called up my brother who is 26 years and still speaks in sarcasm (hmm, does that run in the family?!) I asked my brother to email me the appropriate pictures, but of course he didn't have any, couldn't take any, and their scanner was broken anyway... so I got my own photos while I was visiting at the end of June and have saved this post until now.

But before getting into my original intent of this post, I thought I would also give you that update on the end of my trip that I'd been mentioning for so long. I sure am glad I have something else to post about at the same time because now that I look back on what I've already written about my vacation, I realize what I have left is not all that exciting.

So, my last day in North Dakota mom, dad, and I all get up at the insane hour of 3 AM since my flight departs at 4:40. My brother works a job from 4 PM until midnight and he still wasn't home when we left the house. I saw barely a glimpse of him the whole week I was there! So I went through security at the airport, boarded my flight to Minneapolis and dozed. Got into Minneapolis just fine, but then the flight I had to my next stop before ultimately arriving home could not land because of thunderstorms. When we finally touched down I had about 2 minutes to get on my last flight. Naturally, the gate I landed at was no where near the one I was departing from... so I began my hurried trek through the airport to get on that last flight and get home. I paid attention to no one and nothing save the signs directing me to the gate I needed. Then, suddenly I felt my Crocs stick to the floor, my upper body starting projecting forward and downward at the same time and I found myself taking a skid, head first, into the airport floor. No, I did not trip on something on the floor and therefore cannot sue the airport for negligence in having dirty floors that tripped me up. I tripped over my own feet - the darn right one to be exact!

I ended up skinning up my forehead, messing up my right knee, and bending my glasses out of whack. I didn't even have time to look around to see how many people witnessed my intimate tryst with the airport floor, I just picked myself up and trudged on. When finally arriving at my gate I saw the door was closed. The screen still showed my flight leaving at it's regular time, so I was sure I had missed it. I stood anxiously behind a group trying to get rerouted to New Orleans to find out how I was going to get home. This gave me enough time to think about my plunge and how horrendous I must look - red from rushing through the airport, up since 3 AM, head skinned up, glasses all cockeyed... Finally the airport lady asked me where I was headed. When I told her my destination, she said that my flight had been delayed. Whew! Wish I would have known that before spilling myself in the middle of a big city airport! I did eventually make it home a couple hours late and spent the rest of the weekend resting up for a fun and exciting work week!

Now back to the original intent of my post... Like I said, a coworker had come in late because of a flat tire and that made me think back to the time I had a flat tire.

I don't know if I've mentioned it here before, but when I was in high school and my first year of college I drove a 1980 Ford Pinto. And it was orange. It was 'The Pumpkin-Mobile.'

My dad bought this car brand new for my mom and it was the car she learned to drive on. It was also the car I learned to drive on since my mom had moved on to better vehicles since then. This car is almost as old as I am and my dad still drove the thing up until a year or two ago! It is now housed in my dad's large storage building.

My sister and I were heading home one day after school and the car was driving a little funny. I didn't know what was going on, and being a teenager wanting to get home after school, it didn't even cross my mind to stop and take a look at the car - I didn't know anything about cars anyway, so how was I going to fix whatever was wrong? I was focused on getting the thing home to dad; he would know how to fix it. So I continued to drive it very slowly towards home.

I know I have mentioned that I grew up in North Dakota and graduated in a class of about 45 students. The high school I attended was in an itty bitty little town in the middle of no where. This town was so small that the only things in the town were a bar and the high school and the surrounding area was all farmland. The school was about a 45 minute drive from my home.

Because I was driving so slowly, several of my fellow students, also intent on getting home, or where ever they were going, passed me. Some made some weird gestures as they did. I had no idea what they were doing until one got me to pull over and told me I had a flat tire. I had probably drove on the flat for about 5-10 miles at that point. Because I was a teenager and was still about 30 minutes from my home and my dad who could repair the flat, and because I knew nothing about flat tires other than they were a bummer, and because cell phones were not all the rage at the time I was in high school, I was still going to attempt to drive that thing home!

Fortunately for me a county sheriff was driving along and pulled over behind me. While my sister and I stood there in the brisk North Dakotan wind he changed the flat tire for us so I could drive home. I am pretty sure my little stint on the flat tire ruined the previous tire - luckily the wheel was not damaged. Dad was not impressed.

He wasn't too impressed the time I backed the Pinto into a deep ditch and over a culvert outcropping tearing a hole in the gas tank either!

I've had lots of interesting, not-so-fun forays in the orange Pinto. It kind of makes me sad to think it is now gathering dust in a storage building. M. even got a dose of the Pinto when he came to visit me in North Dakota after we had gotten together online. M. rode the Amtrak by himself (and got robbed of a couple Mountain Dews in the process) to come see me for Valentine's Day. I don't remember why, but I took the Pinto out that morning - probably to either pick something up or just to make sure I knew where the train station was so I could pick M. up later that evening. That darn Pinto blew a belt or something and left me stranded right in the middle of a busy street during the winter. I put on my emergency lights and panicked about what I was going to do.

Being the nice people they are in that North Dakota college town, no one stopped to help me. After several minutes of wondering what I was going to do, I walked up the street to a gas station and called my dad collect and asked him if I should get the car towed? He said I would have to since he was 5 hours away and there wasn't much he could do. So I had the car towed and spent all of Valentine's Day at a service station waiting for my car to be fixed. When I finally got back to my dorm room to top things off there was a message from my ex-boyfriend whom I had broken up with several months before (but he'd only recently gotten the hint). I deleted the message and then went off to pick up M. And I sure did have an interesting Valentine's Day story for him when he got off the train!

For those of you who followed my blog during my trip to North Dakota, you know my grandpa's van went up in flames. Here's a few pictures of it after it was moved to its final resting spot!

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And who knew I've had the secret to great skin in my household practically my entire life?!

Thinking about my boys...

The Mental Floss Morning Cup O'Links this morning featured a few links that had me thinking about my boys - Clyde, Luigi, and that wonderful M.

First, we have this lovely cat animation by Simon Tofield that reminds me mostly of that little Lu living in my house, but with some Clyde thrown in. I watched the video at work this morning, so no sound, but still, it was hilarious! My poor little Lu had dental surgery on Monday and his brother is not being very nice to him since he smells all vetty. Luigi had gums growing down over some of his teeth so the vet cut them away and did a cleaning. I also decided to microchip the little bugger while he was down because I can see him slipping past us, out the porch door and running off into the sunset. He is so wild sometimes! His surgery went well, but we are still waiting on a lab analysis of the gum to make sure it is not cancerous. If it's not (let's all pray...) then the vet doesn't know why Luigi's gums are all hyperactive and he may have to have this surgery every year. Still, I would rather plunk down a couple hundred dollars a year than deal with cancer...

Then a couple links that made me think of my beloved M. The first was a guide on M.'s favorite reptile - the SNAKE!! I've mentioned before how much he loves those critters! That coral snake is kind of cute - bet M. would love it if I picked one up after work as a pet. Then we have the Geek Cakes. If M. liked cake, a nice electronic-styled or Star Wars cake would be perfect for him!

And, unrelated to my boys, I saw a link on the Mental Floss blog that took me to a style quiz. The first thing I need to do is 'pick my favorite brands.' What if I don't have any favorite brands? What if I've never even heard of most of these brands? What does that say about my style? Why aren't Old Navy and Target listed as brands?! Today I'm wearing a little Wal-Mart as well... Okay, I picked a few and then I had to rate products I'd never seen... and then you have to create an account to get your style result. So blah, I'm not giving them any of my info. I guess my style will forever remain a mystery...

Belated Warm Snarkies

Two late warm snarkies this morning to two great people who had birthdays yesterday, July 13th. CH and AB, no super duper images for you, but wanted you to know I didn't forget your birthdays! Hope they were good ones!

Nine Years?!

To My Dear, Dear M.,

Nine years ago today we stood in front of family and friends and took a vow to love and honor each other for the rest of our lives. It is hard to believe it has already been nine years! Time with you passes in a way in which I hardly even notice it is gone.

I remember meeting you in that chat room oh so long ago in a time when internet dating wasn't even a thing. There was no eHarmony or Match.com. All you heard was horror stories of people who had met online and met disastrous consequences. I am so proud to have a successful story to tell featuring you!

I know our parents collectively worried. Worried that we were too young, that we didn't know each other well enough - that we had met on the internet for goodness sake! Our friends thought we were just crazy. Yet, they all stood with us on my parents' lawn this day nine years ago and were witness to just how much we love each other, how dedicated we were to one another. And still, almost a decade later, we are happy, crazy, spunky in love.

And how ironic that Buckcherry's Carousel is playing on my iPod at this very moment! I know, M., that you probably have never heard the song since I am the Buckcherry fan, but take a minute tonight and listen to it. I dedicate it to you on this day, our 9 year anniversary. I love you!

Forever Yours,
Lil'Seed

Random, useless workday thoughts...

We have a couple single-seater restrooms in the back of our building. The doorstop in the lady's room is one of those metal rings with the rubber ring on the inside. I can't help looking at it when I'm in there and wondering how much bacteria has gathered in that rubber ring, or do small insects find it a suitable, dark place to build their homes?

Also, several people in the office are wearing bright, limey greens today. Yea! I love green...

And, check out the new header at Suburban Turmoil. I love the picture. The look on little Bruiser's face is priceless!

To Someone in the Front Office

Dear Someone,

When we have office staff out we all need to pitch in and help cover that person's job. I take a good portion of duties for the particular person out this week. Did you know last weekend was a holiday weekend and there were emails and information requests piled up from 3 days not only for the person who is out this week, but for me too.

I understand that you, Someone, also take a portion of this person's duties when they are out. What I did not know is that you need to sit at this person's desk to perform these duties. Well, guess what? I have to sit there too to do what I need to do. Yesterday I admit I was at that person's desk for a good portion of the day, but you try going through almost 200 emails and making sure everyone gets the correct information sent to them and let's see if you can get it done in half the time I did.

You could have told me that you needed to sit at that desk since I did not know what you were covering required it, but instead you decided to complain to a 'Higher Up' so this morning I was chastised for helping out and doing someone else's job. Well, poo to you Someone!

Since I am an office goddess, I will kindly transfer everything I can to my own desk so you can sit at the other's desk all day long if that is what you need. I hope your day at the office stinks!

Sincerely,
LilSeed

PS - to my regular readers, I still plan to do a vacation wrap up post and have a few more pictures to post from my trip. I think I will have to break down and actually write that post at home.

Ack!

I have a story to post about my travels home after my trip to North Dakota, but no time to do that right now. I did have to take a momentary break from my work this morning to bring you this very snarky post.

I love having a summer helper around the office. It is especially exciting this summer because I am organizing her work. But seriously, Ms. Higher Up, if you want me to do the workload organization, then let me do it!! Let me know what needs to be done and what kind of priority the job has. Don't try to add bits and pieces here and there and then act like I am ignoring what you want done. I know what jobs are on the list and I can make sure they get done in a timely matter.

Thank you!