amazing day

Wow, Today has been amaaazing. We've gotten three compliments from patrons today (including.. gee, I love my local library. You guys go the extra mile.) and I haven't had any crabby people. The only reason I can think that my day has been so good is that I went for a swim this morning before work. I know what I'm doing from now on!! Might not make a real difference, but like a batter with lucky socks, I'm going to work this streak!

The Best day EVER!!

Today is going to be an amazing day. Tonight Ben, Chris, and I are going out to a "casual elegant" place where we're going to watch one of my favorite comedians. That alone lets me know that the day will end well. What makes it better is the phrase I got to wake Ben up to.

"Honey! Man Job! Squirrel in the catbox!"

I woke up to the dogs trotting out of the room in as if on alert. Needless to say, I followed. When I got to the catbox/composter barricade, they were both going insane trying to get in. I cracked the door to see what was inside, and found.. you guest it... a very scared squirrel cornered in the cat box. Classic! (Especially the look on Ben's face as he tried to actually understand what I said)

The squirrel escaped before we could get a picture.

Great things heard in the library

You have to love it when you hear, " OK.. no more quacking!"

Usain "Johnny" Bolt?

So I was talking to my sweetie this morning about how after the walk I needed to do more triathalons. (BTW If you would like to donate, I'm still accepting!) I told him that all the walking was helping me strengthen my legs for the running and that the biking I do on cross training days would help the biking, but that I needed to swim more. His response? " I need to practice cheering you on! It's hard going from station to station! Especially when I had to follow Mr Rodosta! He's fast! It's like trying to keep up with Usain Bolt!" Alright Johnny!!

Barring people from my office

I really wonder if there's a way to keep people out of my office. One staff member comes in whenever she works and kvetches. Today she came in five times to complain about five different things. (We shouldn't keep so many new books when they're past a certain date...we shouldn't recover rentals..why don't we have DN on the labels it made it easier to shelf read.) I forget the rest She doesn't like my answers. (Recover them this time, I'll look into before the next round, which is four months away/I've gotten to many complaints about the lack of quantitiy none about the age of books/HQ sets the label standards, if they don't want it, we don't get it.) I am SO tired of being nagged at everytime she's in!! The worst part is that my office doesn't have a door.

Interesting reference question of the day

I had a very cranky lady call up and ask how much it cost to educate a student from K-12. It took me a while to figure it out because everyone has the cost per year but not the full cost. I finally gave her the following information:
Capistrano School District: $7,614/pupil/year
Orange County: $8,267/pupil/year
California: $8,736/pupil/year
US: $9,769/pupil/year

Wierd huh? The facts stated above are from the California Dept of Education website and the US Dept of Education website.

Feeling proud

Just to toot my own horn for a sec, my boss just gave me an extra hour off award. Woo hoo!! Makes me feel wonderful! Sorry, back to my normal humble self now.

Ben's winning

It's been almost a month since Ben last upgraded the security around the composter and litter box. I'm thrilled to say that my composter is churning along happily and hasn't been eaten.
Meggie the wonder stomache, however, did take a taste of Ben's wasabi. We came home tonight to find the bottle in the living room opened, but barely touched. When we looked at the dogs, we noticed that Meggie had tear streaks down her cheeks and very droopy ears. I guess we finally found something she won't eat!

Librarian rant

Ok. So, I'm having a bit of an issue with something. I keep getting complaints about our new book section and how we should emulate a different branch. I ran the report, and it turns out that we have MORE new books than they do!! Ours are just mostly checked out. Grrr! It especially bugs me because I spend a lot of time reading reviews and choosing books that our patrons will like. I also try to make sure we have any and all best sellers. So, if you go into your library and aren't pleased with the selection, give the librarian a flippin break! She might be doing a great job and choosing just what the patrons want and you've just got bad timing.

A librarian moment: Flat Stanley

How cute!! We just had a dad come in with his son to take a "Flat Stanley" picture! If you don't know what Flat Stanley is.. here's a link http://www.flatstanley.com/ One of the cool things about this one is that the Flat Stanley was over 3 feet tall and came from Wisconsin. Too Coo!

Too Cute!!

First, the picture...If you look above Nanner's ear you'll see that she has a flower behind her ear. Too Cute!!!

So anyway, I think you've probably noticed that I haven't posted a lot about working out in quite a while. Basically, I haven't done much (other than an awesome bike ride on my speedy new bike.) I've been on a great diet that had pounds melting away for most of Jan. Unfortunately, I also had dizzy spells so I didn't feel comfortable working out. Feb and Mar were full of stress, moving, weddings, birthdays, anniversaries, and tons of junk food at work. To be blunt, I got lazy and ate a ton.

I have to face the weight loss doctor next Friday (the 23rd). I've only gained a couple of pounds since I last saw him, so I hope to lose the pounds before I have to face the music. It'll be OK if I'm stable, I'd hate to have gained. Too embarrassing.

So anyway, I re-started the couch to 5k program this morning. It went well. Nanner was ADORABLE! When we started running, she ran sideways looking at me, as if to say "Are we really going to run?!?!?" She then started to run backwards for a while. After the run, Nanner walked through a flowering bush and decorated herself with the purple flower above.

Ben vs Meggie - Meggie wins this round

So, we finally left Meggie alone with the chained closet door and the pizza. When we came home, one of the doors looked slightly off track, but nothing major. The general thought was that we'd won that round.

That is, until I decided to check the piece of pizza on top of the composter. No pizza.

Apparently, Meggie was able to get her skinny little head in far enough through the door that she could grab the pizza.

Ben is currently installing a wooden bar held by brackets in front of the closet. You can see the bar in the bottom of the picture...

I'd love to see the look on the burglar's face when they break through the chains and bars to find the most protected thing in the house..... the cat box... oh and the composter.

Meggie vs. Ben

So, the Meggie vs Ben saga continues.

A couple of weeks ago, Meggie ate my new composter. (Grrrr) The company was wonderful and send me a refurbished upgrade. (Woo hoo!) So, we're trying to make sure that the new place for the composter is Meggie proof. Our first try (twine and keeping the door from sliding with a piece of wood) was tested by a box of chicken strips. Meggie got them by pawing out the wood and breaking the twine.

Now we're trying a new method (chains on both sides) and baiting it with pizza. We'll see how this works. Ben is thinking of putting an iron rod in front of the closet to keep Meggie from pulling the door out. The cat box should keep her from pushing the door in.

Library behavior

Ok. This isn't a triathlon post but it is a library etiquette one. If you are in the library, it is not considered kosher to lean over the desk, stroke the librarian's cheek, and tell her that she's cute. Just an FYI because apparently, not everyone knows this.