The Clog Blog of the Dancin' Librarian
Reading: 1001 Pearls of Buddhist Wisdom
Watching: Our 2007 clogging show (making the DVD)
Link of the Week: Cloggers' Delight
Current Terror Alert Level:
Help: 
Why lemurs?
Who am I?
9/29/2004
...you tear off the pages of someone else's "You Might Be a Redneck If" calendar?(0) comments
I have one of those calendars, the page-a-day kind. For the last 2 weeks, I have come into my office to find the previous day's page already torn off. Apparently the custodian is enjoying my calendar. I think it's pretty funny, personally!
9/26/2004
My dad got through the last hurricane with minimal damage. The current one won't affect him - though it sounds like it will affect us here. Great, just as the library doors are finally getting back to normal. And my sinuses aren't giving me enough problems already. What is with this hurricane season, anyway? And why can't one of them hit the White House? Anyhoo, we had a great weekend with Brian's family, some aunts and uncles who we never get to see were down. Had two clogging performances Saturday, both went well in spite of the fact that Ginger and I both have the sinus crud. Now I'm at work (yes, again) counting down until I can go home (2 hours and 36 minutes!) The sky is purple at the moment and it looks really, really cool. And I have been asked to teach freshman seminar again in the spring. I have NOT said yes yet, tho I haven't ruled it out either. We could really use the extra money, but I don't want to get hooked into doing the spring seminar permanently, and I know how things go around here. There is also the issue of our China trip, which could happen before the semester is over. Decisions, decisions.(0) comments
9/18/2004
That is, until today, when I attempted the seemingly simple task of entering the library. Let me explain...(0) comments
The library has two entrances. The back door is a standard wood single door with a doorknob. The front door is a pair of double doors, with vertical door handles with the things you push down with your thumb to open the doors on the outside, and push bars on the inside. The front doors are also wood.
All of the above doors swell tremendously when it rains. Well, since we seem to be averaging a hurricane a week lately, they are VERY swollen. Worse than I've ever seen them. Getting them closed and locked yesterday evening was difficult.
So I got here today. Normally staff goes in and out the back door. No go. It takes one hand to turn the key in the door and hold it turned, leaving only one hand to pull on the (wet) doorknob. That door wasn't budging.
So I went around to the front. These doors, at least, you can unlock and then put your keys down. I yanked at each door individually, then yanked both at once (they usually open easier that way). I braced my foot on one door and pulled on the other one with both hands. These doors were at least budging, if not opening, so I kept trying. After a couple minutes my student assistant got there, and it ultimately took her pulling on one door and me pulling on the other to get them open. Ack. I was really starting to think I was going to have to call campus police to come open the doors!
And I gotta close them back this evening. Damn hurricanes.
9/17/2004
The SO stands for Sort Of, since I have to work tomorrow afternoon, which takes a little of the relief out of it being Friday.(0) comments
So far this week, I have wrecked my car (fortunately not beyond repair, but it was my fault, and I'm still kicking myself even though it happened Saturday), which left me extremely sore for a few days; Brian unearthed a HUGE yellowjacket nest in the yard that we're still dealing with; I've gotten hepatitis vaccines in preparation for the trip to China; the new computers came in and we discovered that the floppy drives we ordered to go in them (required by the grant) don't fit; and yet another hurricane is coming through, causing my dad to have to evacuate (and hopefully not tearing up his house while he's gone), flooding our mountains, and probably drenching our plans to go to the fair this weekend. I had to teach a zillion classes this week, I have a headache, I'm tired, I have cramps (deal with it, guys) and I have 2 weeks worth of housecleaning and bill paying to look forward to this weekend. Yep, I'm in a grumpy mood.
On the bright side, I have a wonderful hubby, family and friends who love me, so in the grand scheme of things life couldn't be better. (Yep, feeling guilty about feeling grumpy...)
9/04/2004
We got a new Betta today. This one is a little guy, very pretty. So it's time for another name-the-fish contest! Send me your suggestions!(1) comments
Oh, and visit our China Dreaming blog for some great news!
9/03/2004
are here if anyone's interested. Although they might not make much sense if you weren't there! :)(0) comments
9/02/2004
(0) commentsLessons learned from the weekend's "mommy practice":
Mommy lessons, dancing, and dead fish
1. It is, in fact, possible to take a long car trip with a carful of preschoolers. Just get 'em up early enough that they sleep most of the way.
2. 1 broken bathroom lock + 4 small children = 0 privacy!
3. Can't soothe the sobbing 2-year-old? Pop M&M's into her mouth.
4. Even if there are 6 other adults watching the little ones in the pool, they can still slip underwater unnoticed. No amount of vigilance is too much.
5. Asking 3 times "Are you SURE you don't need to pee before we get back in the car" is not enough. You must also ask "Do you need to poop?"
6. A 110-lb woman is capable of carrying a 3-year-old on one hip and a 2-year-old on the other.
7. It is possible to play pool with air hockey pucks.
8. Eat the pancakes in your pajamas. Then you and the two-year-old won't have to wash your good clothes immediately after breakfast.
9. There is nothing quite like morning snuggles from a little girl!
The preceding lessons came from last weekend's trip to Maggie Valley, taking our dance group to see a clogging show. About 20 folks from the group went including 4 little girls 5 and under. We stayed overnight in a tiny cabin at a campground. Everyone loved the show, and loved getting up to dance during it (about half the time the audience was invited to join in). Everyone had a good time, it looks like this might become an annual event. The four little ones all seem to adore me so more often than not I had at least one of them on my lap or in my arms. I got in some mommy practice and also a good reminder of why we are going through this long adoption process!
On a sad note, our Betta, Sushi, died on Friday. Phooey.
Other than my trip, life for both me and Brian lately has pretty much consisted of work, work, and a little more work. Oh how we love the start of the semester.