The ABCs of Me

I found this over at Homeowner by 30! and I just had to do it too.

Age: 25

Bed Size: Queen

Chore You Hate: Vacuuming.  I really, really hate doing that.

Dogs: no dogs, but I do have a cat.  You probably knew that already. :)

Essential start of your day: Hitting the snooze button at least once, followed by trying not to fall down the stairs as the cat plays her favorite game, let's trip Mommy.

Favorite color: Depends on the day, but usually blue or red.

Gold or silver: Silver

Height: 5 feet, 6 inches

Instruments I play (or have played): I can't play anything.  I can sort of pick stuff out on the piano, but that's super limited.  I do sing quite well (if I do say so myself) thanks to 7 years of school choir.

Job title: Medical librarian

Kids: Hopefully lots someday.

Live: In the Heart of Dixie

Mom’s name: Susan

Nickname: E or Lizzie

Overnight hospital stays: Surprisingly none

Pet peeve: Ill behaved children in public places.

Quote from a movie: "Nobody puts Baby in a corner".  I know a lot more but that's just the first one that popped into my head.

Right or left handed: Right.

Siblings: None; I'm an only child.

Time you wake up: Well, the alarm goes off at 6:15, but I don't normally get out of bed until 6:30.

Underwear: Yes.  At all times.

Vegetables you dislike: Beets, turnips, collards, kale, cooked cabbage, lima beans...I think that might be it.

What makes you run late: Life.  I'm almost always late, especially if it's a morning event, probably somehow related to me oversleeping.

X-rays you’ve had done: Let's do this chronologically: shoulder/collar bone, wrist, wrist again, other wrist, foot, ankle, other ankle, neck, and then multiple sinus and dental ones.  I'm a bit of a mess and a little accident prone. :)

Yummy food you make: Too long to list.  Just go here.

Zoo animal: Lions were the first thing that popped into my head, so if we are going for stream of consciousness, then that's it.  But I'm also a fan of polar bears and penguins.  Oh, and all the other big cats.

That was fun!  You should do it to!

On Being Southern

Every once and while I get one of those emails that say "you know you're from Alabama if..." or "you know you're Southern when...".  I've always appreciated those lists because so many of them tend to be true.

In the movie Sweet Home Alabama, Reese Witherspoon's character, Melanie, says "you need a passport to come down here".  While that may not be true, living in the South, especially the Deep South, really is a whole other world.  We talk different, we move slower, and we still occasionally call it The War of Northern Aggression. 

I thought I would share a few of my favorite "you know" bits with y'all so we can all enjoy the little idiosyncrasies that make the South so special.

You know you're from the South when you measure distance in time, not miles.

You know you're a Southern woman if you can appropriately use the phrase "bless her heart" to mean both pity and insult, usually at the same time.

You know you're from the Alabama when grocery stores have buggies not carts.

You know you're in the Deep South when you order a Coke and the waitress asks you what kind.

You know you're from the South when you can correctly use "fix" as a verb.  As in, "I'm fixing to go to the store."

You know you're from Alabama when you know that the four seasons are really Almost Summer, Summer, Still Summer, and Christmas.

You know you're from the South if you say "yes ma'am" or "no sir" to anyone 5 years older than you.

You know you're a Southern lady if you never, ever leave the house wearing white shoes, pants, or dresses before Easter or after Labor Day.

You know you're from the South if you always call your father "Daddy" no matter how old you are.

You know you're in the Deep South when you pass a store offering bait, movie rentals, and tanning.

If you live in the South, what are your favorites?  If not, what's special/humorous about where you live?

No New Recipes Today

I don't have a recipe to share with you today!  My menus have been really boring lately and I haven't tried any new recipes (with the exception of the amazing pizza I made last week).  Part of that is because I've been going out to dinner a lot (for legitimate reasons) and because I've been trying to eat everything that's in my house to prevent food waste. 

I also set an April goal of not printing any new recipes.  While I haven't entirely stuck to this, I have been doing a much better job of not bringing home countless new recipes to try. 

That doesn't mean I haven't been spending lots of time pursuing new recipes.  I just haven't been printing them out.  Instead, I've been pinning them. 

My friend Ashley sent me an invitation to Pinterest forever ago, but I didn't get around to checking it out since early this month.  And now I'm obsessed.  And I pin things, especially recipes, obsessively. 

So what is Pinterest, exactly? Pinterest is like a giant bulletin board where you put up pictures of all your favorite things, except it's online and you are "pinning" things you find online.  You create boards, title them, pin your favorite new finds, and share them with the world (or at least, other Pinterest users).  You can check out other peoples' boards and "repin" their finds.  You can also "follow" other users and certain boards.  You can even add a "Pin It" button in your browser.  It's super cool and super addicting.

So instead of printing new recipes out, I've been pinning them to my recipe board.  I'm quite addicted and I think you should be too. :)

If you are already on Pinterest, follow me!  If you aren't on Pinterest, but want to be, email me at lizy1285 [at] gmail [dot] com and I will send you an invitation!

Disclosure: I am NOT affiliated with Pinterest and no one is paying me to say anything about the site.  I just think it's super awesome and think you should think it's super awesome as well. 

My Love/Hate Relationship with Spring

Love: Watching the daffodils bloom in February.
Hate: Watching all the daffodils die because we had another freeze.

Love: The first green leaves on the trees.
Hate: The smell of Bradford Pears in bloom.  Dead fish smell = disgusting.

Love: Putting on open-toed shoes for the first time in months.
Hate: My ashy, pasty skin.

Love: Seeing flowers everywhere.
Hate: Not being able to open my eyes in the mornings because my allergies are so bad.

Love: The smell of a clean spring rain.
Hate: Tornadoes.

What do you love/hate about spring?

A Bit of Randomness

I'm feeling a little scattered today so I thought I would upload a few random pictures I had on my phone of my house.  These are fairly horrible pictures as the iPhone (or maybe it's just me?) isn't the best camera ever. 

One of my April goals is to organize my office.  Why?  Because it looks like this:

Clearly, it needs some work.  You can't really tell, but I have all sorts of papers on my desk and on the chair.  That purple basket?  FULL of paperwork.  I need to get started on this ASAP. 

I recently acquired this chair for an empty corner of my room.  I think I need a lamp on the right side to hide those cords, don't you think?

A friend needed a place to keep her piano while she was looking for a buyer.  I volunteered my empty landing and Caty approves. 

I reorganized my bookshelf this past weekend and created a To Be Read (TBR) shelf instead of mixing them in with my other books, which are arranged by subject, then alphabetized by author.  This is good for the OCD librarian side of me. :)

Caty likes to get my attention by clawing at the carpet.  She only claws at the carpet on the stairs, and only on three specific steps.  No clue as to why and I'm not having any luck getting her to stop.  Any ideas?

What's random in your life at the moment?

Recharging the Batteries

All the work I've been doing for the past few months is finally coming to fruition.  But that also means this is a very busy week for me.  I've been running all over the hospital for the past two days helping to get everything set up for Research Week in addition to handling the work from both libraries as my coworker is a symposium learning awesome stuff for us.

Did I mention that I do all of this running in heels?  Ouch, my feet hurt.

So it's no surprise that I'm exhausted.  And sick.  Allergy season is in full swing and the pollen seems to be affecting me even more this week.  I look like I've spent all day crying, my eyes and nose are so red.

So I'm taking today (and potentially tomorrow depending on how things go today) off from any real blogging and focusing on recharging my batteries and getting some rest. 

Anyone else feeling run down?

Weekend Readings

I took trips to the library and a terrific (and enormous) used bookstore this weekend.

What are you reading?

A Little Bit of This and a Little Bit of That

I don’t really have enough for a full blog post today, so I thought I would just through a few thoughts out here today.

In Need of Lunch Ideas

Yesterday I told you how I’m giving up meat for Lent.  Originally, I was mainly concerned about having difficulty going out to dinner and finding vegetarian options on the menu, but, when I was packing my lunch this morning, I realized how much I depend on meat for lunch.  I usually try to eat leftovers for lunch, but when I’m out of those (like today), I usually eat turkey sandwiches, frozen dinners, or soup.  The only vegetarian lunch options I could think of (besides leftovers) were peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and vegetarian soups.  I need some suggestions for lunches that can be easily and quickly packed and taken to work.  Any ideas?

Writing Cover Letters

I’ve been trying to write a post about drafting a good cover letter and failing miserably.  My cover letters were well written, but it’s been so long since I’ve written one that I’m having trouble coming up with good ways to explain it.  If anyone has any ideas, suggestions, or resources on writing cover letters for library jobs , I would appreciate it!

Boycotting Harper Collins

Have you been keeping up with the “Boycott Harper Collins” movement?  I have, but rather sporadically, mainly through Agnostic Maybe.  While I like the idea of a boycott, I wonder how much of an impact it’s really going to have.  Yes, libraries have a lot of purchasing power, but when compared to the rest of the country and all the bookstores purchasing Harper Collins books, libraries are chump change.  I sincerely hate the restrictions the publisher is putting on libraries, but I’m not sure that a boycott is truly the most effective way to make our voices heard.  But I also don’t have any better ideas.    

Medical Library Association Annual Conference

In case you missed it on Twitter, I’m an official conference blogger for the Medical Library Association’s Annual Meeting in Minneapolis in May.  I will be blogging twice a day on the official conference blog about what’s it is like being a new member participating in my first conference.  The conference runs May 13-18 and I will be sharing several of my posts here too so you can keep up with what I’m doing.

Speaking of Conferences

I’m also attending the American Library Association’s annual conference in New Orleans in June.  If you’re going to be there, let me know and we can try to meet up!  But the really exciting part is that I’ve been asked to be part of a panel on management, new librarians, and new managers.  The discussion panel, which is hosted by the Emerging Trends Discussion Group in the Human Resources section of the Library Leadership and Management Association, will be on Saturday, June 25.  I’ll share more details including time and specific location when I have them.  But if you are going to be at conference you should totally come and watch me attempt to public speak.  It should be highly entertaining!  

And just because...

…I love to show her off, here are two pictures of Caty being exceptionally cute.  

A Handwriting Meme

Cate tagged me in her version of this on Friday, and I thought it was so interesting!  Like so many other things (like my strange interest in what other people are eating for dinner), handwriting is something I'm nosy about.  I'm not sure if I believe that your handwriting shows who you are, but I really like looking at how other people form their letters, whether they print or write in cursive, how big they write, etc. 

I'm sure I'm not the only person out there who is nosy like this (please tell me I'm not!), so I'm showing you my handwriting by answering these questions:

1. What's your name/your blogger name?

2. What's your blog's name/URL?

3. Write "the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog".

4. Favorite quote?

5. Favorite song?

6. Favorite band/singers?

7. Anything else you want to say?

8. Tag three to five other people.

(You may need to click it to make it bigger.  Blogger posts pictures really small.)

I'm tagging Christine of Christine's Little Blog, Reese of The DIY Nearlywed, and Ashley of False Dandelions. 

What do you think of my handwriting?  If you decide to do this, put your URL in the comments!

"Where is the Love?"

When the Black Eyed Peas performed during the halftime show of the Super Bowl on Sunday it took me back to an old memory, that for no reason other than I feel like it, I'm sharing it with you today.

During the summer of 2004, I spent some time with my cousins who live in Georgia.  I was babysitting the two older girls, then 9 and 7 (they're high school now - ouch I feel old), and we were dancing around the kitchen to the new, recently released Black Eyed Peas's song, "Where is the Love".

The song ended and I was about to break into another dance, when the 7 year old stopped and asked me "what's terrorism?".  Before I could even process where she got that question (from the 5th line of the song, or the news for that matter) and form an age-appropriate response, the 9 year old jumped in with the answer.

"Remember those bad guys who flew those planes into those buildings?  That's terrorism."

Y'all, I look at those words now and I want to curl up in a ball and cry.  Even then, in my 18-year-old-fresh-out-of-high-school brain, I knew that no 9 year old should be able to answer the question with such a straight up honest answer.  And no 7 year old should even be asking that question.  

As I sit here and look at the pictures I just rearranged in my living room of my younger cousins (ages 9 months to 9 years), my heart bleeds for them.  What sort of world are they growing up in?  When I was little my biggest concerns were who was coming to my birthday party and what color my dance costumes were going to be.  Not real life bad guys who like to blow things up to make statements.

Maybe I'm idealizing my own childhood a little (hey who doesn't?), but I look at the world, what's on tv, what's being said in public, and I wonder where's the love for these little kids?  When I was little I thought the world was awesome.  Is anyone still telling today's kids that the world is awesome?  Or are we scaring them with talk of global warming, drug cartels, and terrorism? 

As I watched that Super Bowl performance, I remembered that innocent question, how I felt then, and how I feel now.  I hope that I carry this feeling with me the next time I see my sweet, innocent cousins.  Because someone has to tell them the world is awesome.  Someone has to pass along the love I had for the world as a kid.  And the love I have for the world now. 

Because no serious blog post is complete without a picture of my cat.  And because Caty would like to remind us all that my love (and yours) should be focused on her and scratching her tummy. 

I Don't Really Have Anything To Say...

So far it's just been one of those weeks. 

Work is really busy - the residents are working on their research projects and keeping me busy doing searches and pulling articles. 

The weather is super gross.  I'm sure many of you are snowed in or are dealing with some terrible winter weather.  Down here in Alabama we aren't getting any of that, just a lot of rain.  My office doesn't have any windows so I didn't realize it was raining when I left to meet my coworker for lunch.  Needless to say I was quite damp and irritated much of the day.

I think, along with the rest of the world, that I'm getting sick.  It may have something to do with the fact it was 73 degrees on Saturday and the high for tomorrow is barely getting out of the 30s. 

So, yeah.  It hasn't been the greatest week.  Nothing terrible has happened, but all of this has made me feel rather blah.  And very unmotivated.  Which may be why I scratched my dinner plans and made boxed mac and cheese and chicken nuggets.  :)  Sometimes we all need some easy-to-make comfort food.

On a slightly different and very random note: I think that flash mobs are awesome.  How amazing would it be part of one?  I've seen this one a few times and thought that I would share it in case you haven't seen it.  Enjoy!

A Celebration

Today is my 25^th birthday. 

For some of you that may seem incredibly young, for others light years away.  I thought it would never get here and, simultaneously, hoped it never would.  For me, 25 is accompanied by a quarter-life crisis where I make major life choices and discover tiny lines under my eyes.

I wrote the poem below several months ago, but never found the right time to post it.  I thought today was a particularly apt day for it.  If you are interested in the story behind it and the prompt, you can find it here.

*******************************************************************

I am from hair bows and scrunchies, from Toaster Strudels for breakfast, and reading books by flashlight under the covers.

I am from the brick house with green shutters, the big wooden fence, and a yard full of imagination.

I am from dandelion necklaces and wishes, from the overwhelming smell of Bradford Pear trees in the spring.

I am from rainy pajama days and stubbornness, from Nancy Lee and Rudy and Francesca.

I am from striving for unattainable perfection and loudly expressed emotions.

From believing in Santa Clause and “always do your best”.

I am from cradle Catholics and saved Protestants; from believing, doubting, and finally finding and receiving grace.

I'm from the heart of Dixie and the heel of Italy, from grits and too much garlic.

From the stories of orphanages and immigration, the anxiety of adolescence so similar to mine, and the feel of warm hugs.

I am from stuffed photo albums, handwritten recipes, cabinets and closets full of priceless memories.  From china figurines and the smell of burning candles.  From the one place where I will always belong.

It’s Time to Fall Back!

Daylight savings time is over!

This is just a reminder to set your clocks back 1 hour tonight. No reason to be an hour early to anything on Sunday or to miss out on an extra hours sleep!

Hope your weekend is fantastic!

Fall TV Round-Up

I realize this is a bit of a weird topic for me, but I have a confession.  I love watching TV.  I just adore it.  Nothing makes me happier than catching a NCIS or a Bones marathon early in the day and settling in to watch it.  I even admit to watching marathons of Project Runway and America's Next Top Model.  

What is it about marathons that are so appealing?

I actually discovered two of my favorite shoes through marathons.  Soon after USA (which is my absolute, hands-down favorite network) starting airing reruns of NCIS, I watched an episode when there wasn't anything else on.  Four hours later, I realized that I had found an amazing show and vowed to never leave my couch.  I did the same thing with Bones a few weeks ago.  I had always heard it was a great show, but had never really watched it.  Well now I love it so much, I've incorporated it into my fall TV lineup.  

Yes, I have a fall TV lineup.  Don't judge me.  :)

I haven't yet allowed myself to have a show for every time block.  And really if I ever get to that point, I may need to be committed for TV addiction.  This is really the first year in a very long time that I've been able to get excited about new shows and watch them when they actually come on, instead of online like I've had to do in the past.  I've always had work or class at night and in undergrad there was way more interesting things to do than watch new shows.  

So this year, I've been able to dive into 4 new shows without fear of missing an episode.  My only problem is that some of them come on at inconvenient times.  Lucky for me, we have OnDemand, which allows me to indulge myself and catch up on my shows during the weekend. 

So what is my fall TV line up?  Here it is:

Mondays:

7-9:00: Dancing with the Stars (I totally blame my addiction to this on my parents as they were the reason I started watching in the first place)

9:00: Castle 

Tuesdays:

7:00: NCIS

8:00: Alternate between NCIS LA and finding out who gets kicked off DWTS

9:00: I'm in the market for a new 9:00 show.  Any suggestions?

Wednesdays: 

7:00: Undercovers (if you haven't watched this yet, do so immediately.  It's awesome.)

8-10:00: Reruns of NCIS on USA

Thursdays:

7:00: Bones

8:00: Grey's Anatomy (I can't help but watch it.  You know you love the drama.)

9:00: Waiting (impatiently) for new episodes of Burn Notice, which come back on in November.

I don't have any shows that come on over the weekend, so that's when I watch Chase and  The Event (I'm really confused but determined not to miss anything in case it does become the new Lost), and anything else that looks really exciting/interesting.

When they're on, I also enjoy White Collar, Covert Affairs, Royal Pains (I told you I had a thing with USA), Rizzoli and Isles, and The Glades. 

So clearly, I really like to watch TV.  I admit I'm not totally sold on Chase or The Event yet, but I'm willing to give them a shot.  I know there are other shows out there, but I either haven't found them, or we don't get that channel on demand.  

What are you watching this fall?  Have you discovered an awesome show?

Am I Back for Real This Time?

It's been a long time since I've blogged.  A lot has happened.  My library moved (and I survived!).  I started seriously looking for a house.  Fall came to visit for a few precious days before leaving us with a quick summer burst.  I let myself get into a funk again.  I discovered way too many new shows on TV.  

But I also did the usual things.  I baked.  I prayed.  I cooked like crazy.  I spent time with my family.  I did a lot of reading.  I watched a lot of football.

I'm going to really try to get back into my routine.  I already have a Tasty Tuesday post ready to go.  And I'm going to need to bake bread soon, so I'm still anticipating doing a step-by-step bread baking tutorial.  On Wednesday, I'm going to share my tips for moving a library without a lot of stress.  I'm doing two small speaking engagements soon, so look for my thoughts on that soon.

I also really want a new blog layout.  Is anyone out there who can help me?  It's time to break away from the sweet and uncomplicated.  I'm open to any advice/tips you have and any recommendations about who to turn to for good layouts.

What have you been up to recently ?  Any news to share?  What plans do you have for the next month or so?

Relax.

I haven't abandoned you, dear readers.  I'm just suffering from a massive case of writer's block (combined with a minor case of the blues).  

So until I can think of something relevant to talk about (any ideas??), take a look at my newly updated page on my reading list. (No, I haven't finished it which is why the name is now "The Reading List" as opposed to "Summer Reading".)

Until I think of something to write, have fun in your adventures! 

~Elizabeth aka LibrarianLizy aka LibrarianRx~

Twenty Things You Didn't Know About Me (And Probably Wish You Still Didn't)

Remember a couple of years ago when the thing to do on Facebook was post a note with a list of things people didn't know about you?

I was playing around yesterday and came across the note I had written for my "16 Things".  I thought it would be fun repost it here, with a few additions and some changes.  

Enjoy! 

1. I have random attacks of OCD that make me alphabetize things, put things in straight lines, or write long lists immediately. 

2. I am excessively wordy.  It is impossible for me to write concisely.  I had a major problems with this in college when my professors wanted 4-6 page papers and I would give them 8 pages at a minimum.  

3. I sing really, really loud in the car, even in traffic, when I know people are looking at me.

4. I sing show tunes in the shower and practice my Oscar acceptance speech.  You know, just in case.

5. More than anything in the world, I want to be a stay-at-home mom.  

6. If I can't be a stay-at-home mom, then I want to own my own independent bookstore and encourage people to shop locally.

7. If numbers 5 and 6 don't work out, then I'll have to actually write more than 2 chapters of a romance novel and then get it published.  

8. If I don't talk to my mom at least once a day, it feels like something is wrong.

9. I almost never take pictures, but I almost always have my camera.

10. I've been known to start and finish two books in a day.

11. I am socially awkward - anyone who knows me in the least has witnessed at least one example of this.

12. I cannot spell at all.  If spell check didn't exist, I would be in serious trouble.

13. I collect recipes from magazines and blogs like it's my job.  I have two binders and a folder stuffed full of recipes that I may never get around to making.

14. I refuse to eat anything that has coconut on it, in it, or near it.  I don't even like to talk about coconut.

15. My greatest fear is that I will grow up to be a crazy cat lady.

16. It irritates me when people who have only been blogging for 3 months have more followers and commenters than I do.  What am I doing wrong?

17. My favorite part of the day is sitting down with an excessively full Google Reader and reading about other peoples' lives.

18. I hope to be on Jeopardy one day.

19. I am unable to be on time.  I'm either early or late, but never on time.

20. I am terrified of heights.  I had a mini meltdown on top of the Empire State building, I refuse to ride roller coasters, and I can't sit in the upper decks on a football stadium because I'm convinced I'm going to fall.  

Clearly I'm strange and should probably be seeking therapy.  Instead, I think I'll stay here and share my eccentricities with you.  

If you feel the need to share 20 things about yourself on your blog, please do so and then put your link in the comments!  Or just share a few things in the comments.  

You know, so I'll feel better about number 16. 

Tasty Tuesday, A New Feature, and Bread Q&A

For the past two weeks, I've been participating in Tasty Tuesday over at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam.  I hope that you've stopped by and taken a look at some of the wonderful recipes that get posted every week.  This week I'm sharing my recipe for Easy Fruit Cobbler as sort of a tribute to then end of the summer fruit season.  If you haven't already, be sure to take a look at the recipe because it's super easy and super delicious!

I've added a new feature to this blog - a recipe index!  Since I've posted over 30 recipes, I thought an index might be useful in locating some of your favorite recipes.  Right now the recipes are divided into 4 categories (main dishes, sides, pasta, and baked goods) and are arranged according to how they were posted (newest first).  Hopefully, I'll be able to alphabetize them at some point.  I hope you like this new feature.

Lately I've been getting some questions about bread.  What types of flour/yeast, how to store, why didn't my bread rise, etc.  I'd like to do a question and answer post with some of your questions about bread!  So if you have a question about baking your own bread, please leave it in the comments or email it to me at lizy1285 (at) gmail (dot) com.  If you email me, be sure to put Bread Q&A in the subject line. 

I'm excited about all the new stuff I have going on around here! I hope you are as well.  Don't forget to leave me your bread questions and I'll be answering them sometime next week!

An Adventurous Weekend

I had big plans this weekend.  Well, big plans if big plans can be translated to mean cleaning, ironing, and baking.  Ahem.  Those are big plans in my book. 

But my big plans were interrupted/canceled by my good friend, the lightning storm.

Yes, Friday night we had a major summer storm complete with heavy thunder, lots of lightning, a freaked out cat, super humidity, and very little rain.  Welcome to summer in Alabama.

But let me start at the beginning.  As I mentioned earlier, my dad had a tooth extracted and an implant put in its place on Friday.  Now, bless him, but being a man, my dad isn't the best patient.  He likes to try and do more than he really should.  He actually did pretty well, stayed relaxed and rested, until everything hit the fan.  

Thursday, as per our usual agenda, Mom and I planned the menu and wrote the grocery list for the upcoming weekend and week.  We planned carefully for Dad's tooth and made sure there were plenty of soft foods he could eat.  I went grocery shopping Friday afternoon and cooked dinner (risotto and shrimp).  We settled down for a nice quiet evening. 

I was reading (big shock I know), Mom was watching tv, and Dad had fallen asleep thanks to some pain medication when the storm hit.  There was a huge crack of thunder and burst of lightning that had me jumping in my chair and the cat streaking downstairs to hide.  The thunder seemed especially loud, as if it was right on top of us and was accompanied by a crack that didn't quiet seem normal.  But we didn't think much of it and went back to our activities. 

I went to the back of the house shortly after to check on Dad and heard a weird noise coming from what sounded like outside.  I alerted my mom and we investigated quietly.  Mom determined that the noise must be coming from the sprinkler and that the valve needed to be switched off.  Well, we didn't know where the valve switch was so I had to wake up my dad.

Which resulted in mass hysteria. 

Dad shot up out the bed and goes running outside (in his pain medicine-induced state and in his pjs I might add) to discover that lightning had struck the ground somewhere and water was now spewing fast and mighty out of the main water pipe that goes into the house and creating a river out of our driveway. 

Did I also mention that it was raining?

We ended up having to shut the water off from the street which meant we spent the better part of Friday night and most of Saturday without water.  (Have you ever been without water but still had electricity?  What a strange adventure that was.)  The plan was to go to bed, get up Saturday morning, and Dad and I would repair the broken pipe.  Great plan, except that it rained for 5 straight hours on Saturday. 

FYI...it is very difficult to fix a broken pipe that is buried in a hole full of water while it is raining. 

Saturday afternoon found us ankle deep in mud attempting to repair the broken pipe.  A temporary fix has been made, but now we are waiting on something permanent.  I am not one for getting dirty so I was not pleased when it became my job to scoop the mud out of the hole so the pipe could be replaced.  No fun at all.  Nothing felt as good as that shower did after we were able to turn the water back on Saturday evening. 

Sunday brought us the news that not only had the storm damaged the pipe, it had also some how fried our router.  The internet was down on Saturday, but Dad thought he had gotten it fixed.  But instead of internet, we ended up with a fried router that had be replaced.  Thank goodness for warranties. 

I finally got around to baking and ironing (which was part of my big weekend plans) on Sunday afternoon, but we still need breakfast foods, dinner rolls, and I really need to run the vacuum.  But thanks to Mr. Great Big Summer Storm, it will all have to get done another time.

So that was my weekend.  How was yours?

"Librarians Rule": An Affirmation for Librarians

Whenever I'm feeling down or depressed about my job or when I feel like I'm not valued by my users and coworkers, I always turn to my favorite blog post about the awesomeness of librarians.  "Why you should fall to your knees and worship a librarian" is the perfect pick-me-up for a day when I'm feeling unappreciated. 

I think my favorite passage is 

"Librarians are all-knowing and all-seeing. They bring order to chaos. They bring wisdom and culture to the masses. They preserve every aspect of human knowledge. Librarians rule."

Because librarians do rule.  We know this; our patrons know this (or they would if they actually thought about it).  But sometimes we just need a little reminder.  So next time you are feeling a little undervalued or not getting any respect, check this out.  And remind yourself that librarians rule!