Saturday, February 7, 2009

The mysterious incident of the dog in the night


We were in crisis mode last night. Close to world ending, no less. Here's the story: The dog went out when Ron went out to get some work done on the garage. After about a half hour Ron came back in to get ready to leave for our planned evening and asked if I had let the dog in. I hadn't. So he went back out and called and whistled and hollered and whistled some more. No dog. I bundled up and went out. I hollered. (I can't whistle) I hollered some more. I walked around the block. I walked around two blocks. I hollered more. No dog. We still have quite a bit of snow on the ground and it's soft and slushy. Buster isn't fond of it, so he had limited places he would possibly go: All the streets in town. We jumped in the truck and drove through the neighborhood, and the next one. Past Pizza Ranch (with all those yummy garbage scraps that sometimes miss the dumpster and lie in the alley) Past the golf course (where during the summer there are unbelievably delicious smells for him) To the park (snow covered and uninviting). By now nearly an hour has past and we are late for our supper date. I am near hysteria thinking I couldn't possibly go out and leave him on his own outside. He hates being cold. Like I said, a crisis. He didn't even have his collar on because he wasn't supposed to have left our yard. We thought perhaps the next door neighbor may have let him in their house because sometimes he just runs over there for a visit with them. They are his second family. But they weren't even home. But when we pulled into the alley after our second around the immediate neighborhood drive, there he was standing on the back sidewalk, waiting for us. As if to say, "Hey, where have you guys been? I've been waiting to get inside. I'm cold". And that's as much as we know about where he may have disappeared to. Crazy dog. See if we don't keep him on a tether the next time he's out with one of us. Oh, and we were late for our supper date, but not so much so that we missed out on any food. Phew!

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

What If....

"Last night while I lay thinking here
Some whatifs crawled inside my ear,
and danced and partied all night long,
and sang their same old whatif song.
What if.....
That's me, for sure.

I spent a couple of night on my own this week. I have been used to having Ron travel and thusly, being on my own on occasion. Not a bad thing. So it would be me, work and the dog. I could live with that! Anyway, that first night, even though I had the whole bed to myself, I woke up several times...what if the furnace breaks down? (it was 13 below zero, it would be just like a brand new furnace to break down, right?) What if tomorrow's the day that they fire me? What if I oversleep? (I can't turn on the alarm clock) How come I can't get warm even with the dog in bed with me? Shoulder pain, what was I doing today? Tuesday, shortly after I got home, I was supposed to be involved in a Bible Study. Instead I got stuck in the snow as I backed out of the driveway. Well, I know I have good neighbors anyway. There were 5 of us out there digging, and pushing. So much for bible study. At least with my second night I didn't entertain any 'whatifs'.

Monday, February 2, 2009

Library routines

Every month I get to report to the Library Board. This is made up of 7 members of the community of varying ages and walks of life. We have 3 guys and 4 gals on our board. I see them occasionally at the library on other days, but I am getting to know them best in the context of our monthly meetings. This is my 5th board meeting. I have gotten up every morning just before one of these meetings thinking "Oh, my. Tonight will probably be the night that they fire me." Well, that's not on the agenda but Its a whatif that's firmly ingrained and very worrisome. But I can tell you that it went well tonight. I just have to figure out how to help the Supervisors let loose with more $$$ for us.
There's my life for this week anyway. I need a grandson fix.

Sunday, February 1, 2009

Fun things to do

So this is for you who need something creative to do while everyone else in this country is watching that Super Bowl thing. Here is a website that will let you play and create to your heart's content. oh My. http://www.mrpicassohead.com/create.html

Thursday, January 29, 2009


Yes, and it's still winter. The wind blows. It's cold.I don't really get warm until I crawl into bed at night. Hurry hurry Spring.
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Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Budget Talks

Budget hearings for the library today. My first one in some time. I really needed a joke to lighten things up. Otherwise I am taking myself way too seriously. ACH. Today I had the 'sick to my stomach' 'gut ache' that comes with having to make hard decisions. It lasted pretty much all day. How to decide if staff should be cut? What about all those dollars we don't get from the county? I wanted in the worst way to try and get dollars due to the library from the smaller county towns but that wasn't even on the table. It really frustrates me. And somehow, though I really did 'dodge a bullet' as far as staff reductions for the library was concerned I don't think I did so well in being gracious to other county librarians. Oops. And I think it might make the paper. I knew that. What possesed me to diss them? Well, I was really dissing their lack of cooperation. At the end of the hearing, I knew that it's not the end of the conversation. I'm getting a pass for the moment. But Money problems will probably only get worse. Hopefully we can weather this one easily, and it won't turn into a hurricane of major porportions.

Sunday, January 25, 2009



ok I couldn't help myself with this. It feels sort of like a 'flip' book. I'll refrain from the 'mix and match' aspect of this. Anyway, you gotta notice the detail of their faces. Memorize the lines. The smiles. The eyes. The curve of their ears. And look at that double chin! He does like his carbs. They're brothers. The same, yet so different. They are just a couple of neat kids. I think you'd say so too if you knew the details of their lives.
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