Be sure to wear a flower in your hair...

Tomorrow is the last class meeting of the semester, where I should find out my estimated final grade for Reference. Then S and I are going to crash at my cousin and his wife's apartment in St. Paul (Oh, the hospitality! Thanks, 'cuz!) and fly out to our vacation destination on Wednesday morning. Where are we headed? The mystery can now be revealed:

San Francisco!

We have very vague plans, but want to see a lot of the neighborhoods (Japantown, Russian Hill, Chinatown), Muir Woods for the redwoods, the park and the bridge, and eat lots of yummy food (noodles and sushi and Italian and Chinese and on and on...). We are going to Alcatraz on my birthday (Friday) and I don't know what else S has planned for that day. I'm sure it will be wonderful. I am very thankful to be going on a trip, to be recovering from my cold/bronchitis, to be getting older (yes!), and best of all, to have S as loving travel partner. I promise photos (as long as my camera doesn't break or get stolen) and stories when I return in about a week.

Until later, ciao!

Yet another one

Unfortunately, I have come down with a rather bad cold which has kind of turned into bronchitis, so I have been laid up for the past three days with not much to do except worry that this will ruin our trip (which we are scheduled to leave for next Wednesday). I really hope and pray my chest loosens up and that I can stop coughing and be able to breathe, because I certainly don't want to ruin this trip.

A critical error

I was on my break reading a back-issue of Glamour Magazine, and I found a perfume ad that seemed kind of good. So I rubbed it on my wrists and neck, thinking, "Oh, this will be nice since I have a double date tonight and a party to go to after that!"

Man, am I regretting that choice.

It smells way too flowery for my taste now that it's all over my skin. I tried using a wet-wipe to wipe some of it off, but I can still smell it. Thankfully, my co-worker Jessie, with whom I am going on the double date (with S and Jessie's boyfriend Joe) said she didn't smell anything, so I won't be an offense.

Here's hoping S doesn't notice when we meet up for church this evening.

You must face the gazebo alone

I'm sitting here at my computer, doing my homework, trying to ignore that it's sunny outside and that S is in the other room waiting to play and run errands with me. I need to find a short summary of Goodridge et al. v. Department of Public Heath of Massachusetts and about four sources for good information on Chechnya. Gah.

I like how I've already gotten two messages from classmates on this assignment, and one of the very clear directives for this is "You must complete the wirtten source exercise alone." Offering suggestions for each other isn't cheating, since I'm not giving out the answers, it's being a helpful library student!

In other news, I have no idea where to look for information on Kim Jong Il.

All things know

I'm doing my homework for Reference class, and this week's assignment has to do with government documents. We are allowed to use online sources only for this bit of homework, so that means I did not have to spend three hours at the nearby university library in order to do my homework, rather, I just have to search FirstGov and use Google's Government Search. Also, I am cheating and using Wikipedia a bit, too, because how am I supposed to discern what these government documents are saying about anything? They are written like by a committee on confusion, so for the question about NAFTA's Chapter 11, I had to go and do some background reading. I found the actual Chapter 11 quite easily, but had no idea what it meant. Harrumph. Guess I'm not the brilliant mind I thought I was. Maybe it's all those drugs I did in high school. (Note: the previous sentence is a joke. Have been and always will be drug free. Hugs not drugs!)

Anyway, so now I have to find the text on the opinion of the Supreme Court in the case of Silkwood v. Kerr-McGee, and if that isn't your idea of a great Monday morning, I don't think we can be friends. Additionally, if you are not aware of the Posse Comitatus Act, I'm going to have to skip our plans for Friday night. Tip: FindLaw.com to maintain our friendship.

As soon as I'm done here, I am going to make a very large, very well-dressed salad for my lunch/dinner at work at—where else?—the library!

Can I just say again how excited I am to go on vacation in two weeks?

Here it goes again

I finally broke the news to my mom about S's and my trip at the end of this month, and she was astonishingly calm about it.

"Well, I'm glad you get to go on a vacation!" was her response.

When did my parents become so... relaxed?

I think the fact that S has a friend (Alexandra) he met in Alaska who lives near our destination who is excited to play tour guide for us for at least a day or so probably helped. We won't be alone in the city without knowing a soul. Or something.

In case you are reading and wondering where this potentially lovely vacation is taking place, you are not mistaken in thinking I have not mentioned it. For now, it's top secret.

This weekend, there's the usual Easter celebrations happening with my family, but I will be with S and his family. Since both events are happening in town, though, I think I can be in two places in one day. Of course, I am looking forward to the Easter Bunny visit, especially since we have a new bunny rabbit (appropriately named Luna Bean, as she is a little bean of a bunny) as a pet. Inevitably, she will be tucked into a basket with some candy.

Yes, it really is April 4th

And yes, this really is a photo of my front yard from about a half hour ago. Silly weather. Snow is for December! At the very least, it is sunny, but darn cold.

Sort of a note to self for work: on virtual content

The director of the library just approached me while I was on break to mention two items for me to bring to the next Virtual Services Team meeting, of which I am a member.

-Hennepin County Library's Bookspace offers recommendations, personalized lists, online bookclubs, and just has a really beautifully done website. We've discussed online bookclubs in the past, but this website is fantastic compared to what our library currently offers.

-Las Vegas-Clark County Library District's MyLibraryDV as part of their eMedia offers video on demand, which looks interesting. Would be especially useful if it involved popular titles which garner many requests, but I'm not sure that's the case.

I love when the director reads something and thinks, "I should tell Beth!"

Working it out

After a bit more hunting and investigating, I think we found a place to stay that will at least be okay, and airline tickets are probably as cheap as they're going to get for our destination, so we went ahead and bought our vacation package yesterday.

The day after my class finishes, we are headed to an as-yet-undisclosed location near the ocean for about a week. Some details are still to be worked out, some favors to be asked (Simon and Eve, this means you!), and some plans yet to be made, but we are definitely going, barring major illness or other unforeseen catastrophe. Whew. Exhausting! But exciting!

S's cousin Nate was there when we booked it, and seemed annoyed that we are going on this trip and he and his soon-to-be wife don't get to go on a honeymoon. I am sorry to say that we know of quite a few couples who have gotten married or are getting married and can't afford honeymoons, and I don't think I should have to justify this, but I have been saving up for almost a year in order to go someplace, and I can't think of anyone I'd rather go with than S.

Also, a wedding is not happening anytime soon, and is not a priority for me, or for S for that matter, therefore I would rather spend my money on a holiday now rather than save for something I don't really care about for later, that might not happen anytime soon.

Live in the moment and all of that. To the coast!

Deep breaths

Criminy, is it ever stressful to try to plan a vacation trip. I'm all, "I just want to go on a holiday for my birthday!" and the guidebook and the 8,632 opinions of everything available on the internet just confound me. Blimey! I don't know where to stay, but I know I want to get out of town.

It's like I'm perched on the handlebars of a blind man's bike

Things I am loving lately:

-Sue Grafton alphabet books. I'm up to her most recent, "S is for Silence," and I seem to remember starting back up in January by re-reading L through O, which is where I'm pretty sure I left off. I'm a little sad that I will almost be caught up entirely, but then I'm going to indulge in the Janet Evanovich number books, which I have been rationing up until now.

-Yarn and quick knitting projects. I got a few books from the library "Quick Knits" and "One Skein" and am getting inspired. I knitting up one and a quarter wrist warmers tonight using some stash yarn (woo!) and have some plans for some other stash yarn, and found a couple of (seemingly) great deals for yarn online which will lead to two projects I'm very excited about.

-The new Shins album, especially songs "Sea Legs" and "Split Needles," but pretty much the entire album is having me grooving and pleased about any car trip. Also, almost has me forgetting entirely the mediocre live performance I saw the Shins give at First Ave a couple years ago (sold out, too quiet, pre-smoking ban, etc. & etc.).

-The fact that I got into the required Management of Library and Information Centers course for first summer session (May 15th-July 3rd) with Marilyn Cathcart, the same professor who I had my intro course with last summer. Unfortunately, Liz, one of my back row cohorts from Reference class, didn't get in, but I hope fervently that this can be resolved. Cathcart is awesome, and once I'm done with it, I can take eight classes of pretty much whatever I want in order to complete the Masters in Library and Information Science. Whoo-whee.

-A possible birthday vacation trip to someplace interesting and fun which will include nature and urban life within budget constraints for me and my wonderful, ever-loving boyfriend.

Quick and lovely

Doing the library delivery went well this morning. It's not as warm as it was yesterday, but it is bright and nice nonetheless. I probably should have had some caffeine before setting out, but I am looking forward to getting a treat for my drive to St. Paul later for class, and Beth + too much caffeine = a bad thing, a very worried and overenergized thing while sitting in class.

I am also looking forward to sitting outside in the sunshine for a little while, and probably eating a salad for lunch, and starting the next book in the Sue Grafton series. Additionally, I will probably see S sometime today, as it seems that if I do not see that man at least once per day, it is as though I have gone without oxygen for an equal amount of time.

Oh, the excitement

This past weekend, my parents were out of town for one of my cousin's weddings. I'm tellin' ya, that's what my cousins do: get married and have kids. Can't go six months without someone doing one or the other, which I think is causing me to want to resist all of that, but anyway.

S and I kind of got to play house for a few days. The whole thing was pretty much a great success. We went grocery shopping on Friday night after going on the downtown Art Crawl with some of my library co-workers. Saturday was spent meeting up with one of S's college friends and going to mass, staying up late to watch "Super Troopers" with my sister and our friend Soren.

Sunday, we slept in and S went to work in the afternoon while I did my reference homework on the local university campus. I'm trying to work ahead a bit on the homework front, as I know my motivation will decrease as the warm weather increases.

Tomorrow, I get to do the library delivery, which was a last-minute thing, and I'm looking forward to it. And it's also back to class after having spring break last week. Excellent.

I want to remember this

From "The Ten Commandments: Laws of the Heart" by Joan Chittister, on the 9th commandment, the law of self-control:

The Buddha taught that "Just as a tree, though cut down, can grow again and again if its roots are undamaged and strong, in the same way if the roots of craving are not wholly uprooted sorrows will come again and again." It isn't what we have that makes us unhappy; it's what we want that leaves us dull to the present, unaware of what we have.

Blogs

Sometimes I think it's kind of interesting to know which blogs people read. Lately, I have been trying to avoid the blogs I read that make me worried about the people writing them, and focusing more on the blogs that just give me information I need/want and entertain. So, just for fun, I will post some of what I have in my Bloglines feed.

Tame the Web, Michael Stephen's Librar* blog, Library 2.0 proponent, and faculty at Dominican University in Illinois, posts a lot.
Dooce, the blog everyone reads. Can't get enough Leta. And stories about poop and boobs.
Mason-Dixon Knitting, my favorite knitting blog.
Stitch Marker, Larissa's blog from Portland, Oregon. Makes me want to live in Portland, Oregon, and knit a lot, with a cute baby like Sebastian and a cute dog and a cute husband. Dangerous and lovely.
Wilful Sunflower, in Malaysia. Christian, but makes me worry about her.
Sweet Juniper, and don't ask me why I read blogs that are mostly about babies. I love little Juney. And Dutch and Wood seem cool, too.
Greek Tragedy, Stephanie Klein's now mostly about Abigail and Lucas, her twins, but just a very honest writer. Love it.
May December, Melissa Morris's preppy blog from New York. I love the pink and green, I love Monty Monday, and I love her advice and recipes. She's like my Martha Stewart—I can never be that wonderful, but I like that there's someone who is.
Mimi Smartypants, whose true identity I accidentally discovered a long time ago. I started on Diaryland the same day as she did, but she's still with them and I can't stand their design compared to Blogger, but her writing is freaky good.
I also read Unshelved nearly every day, which is a comic strip set in a library.
And I check PostSecret every Sunday, along with everyone else.
And I can't wait for Jessica Hagy's Indexed book to come out.

Don't hold back

The past few days I have been feeling kind of bored, so I went to the tanning salon (gasp! skin cancer! in five minutes!) and bought some hair dye (dark brown). It's been drizzly and misting all day but refuses to rain. On Sunday, when I didn't have to work, it was cloudy and grey all day, and, back to work, Monday and Tuesday it was sunny.

I think I have spring fever. So I'm sitting here with hair dye on my head, waiting for it to be 5:17. I think I need to sing and do some yoga and possibly drink Bailey's out of an old shoe. Or a lime-gasm. Or just get over this cold that has been haunting me for more than a week now.

Ugh

So I am sick with yet another illness this week. This time, a regular honest-to-goodness (or awfulness) cold virus. I have been taking the NyQuil and the DayQuil and generally trying to lay low while also seeing to my responsibilities (see: work, school, boyfriend) but it's kind of rough. At least I can sleep, thanks to the medication, a humidifier, and my weirdly messed up brain. When I am healthy, it takes a lot for me to get to sleep, but when I am sick, it's lights out almost as soon as I hit the pillow. Go figure.

Today after work, I called S, and he informed me that his cousin Nate would be picking him up to go flying very soon, and he would like it very much if I could go with to Buffalo with them and possibly even go up in the plane. What else was I going to do this afternoon, with next week as my spring break from class? Nate is working on getting a real job as a pilot—he needs more twin engine time to apply for jobs—and also one of my former high school classmates. Kind of weirdly cool to go up in a little plane with the kid I sat behind in history class in 10th. Good times.

Now, to let the medication kick in once again and try to kick this bug.

A sad day

I got a call from my sister Andrea this morning. She was crying, very upset, and through her tears, she told me that her pet bunny rabbit, Sugar, died during the night.

Sugar wasn't sick, but she recently turned 7 years old, which is a good life span for a rex rabbit. She was a very good pet. When let run loose in our yard, she would never run far, somehow knowing what was "her" yard. She was litter box trained in the house and in her outside hutch. She liked chewing electrical cords, which angered our father. She loved oats and carrots and parsley and even Oreo cookies and graham crackers. She liked laying around the house, hopping through snow, and staying in the shade in the summer.

I don't really know what else to say. It's a pretty sad day.

Evidence

I don't care what anyone says, I definitely have the best boyfriend ever.

I have been bugging S to watch "The English Patient" with me for at least two months. Tonight we were hanging out, doing nothing, and wanting to do something, but not really go anywhere. S said, "How about a movie?" and went into the family room and put something in the DVD player before I could object.

It was "The English Patient," at last.

We paused it just now to take a break, and I suggested going out to get some ice cream. S said, "I don't really want to go anywhere and leave the movie. I'm really enjoying it and I don't want to leave it."

I said, "Are you serious?" and he insisted that he was. "It's really good!"

And this proves that I do indeed have the best boyfriend ever.

Racking 'em up

I got my first graded source assignment back in Reference class last night. S and I were running late because we stopped at an art supply store on Grand Avenue so S could look for a planner, which will come in handy when he's back in school.* Then, we were both hungry and decided to stop at a pizzeria four doors down from the art supply store. Even though we got a thin crust (so it would cook faster), I was about ten minutes late to class. Apparently, the professor had my assignment at the top of her stack to return, and when she called, "Beth?" and I wasn't there, one of my sit-in-the-back-row cohorts said, "Tardy!" Thanks, Liz. (I find this quite hilarious.)

Anyway, I got a A-, which was super satisfying, no joke. I worked hard on that assignment, answered all the questions (we only had to answer 6/9, but to attempt an A, we had to answer all of them) and found answers for every question, spending hours at the St. Cloud State University Library. We turned in our worksheets on using Dialog and as long as we answered every question, we got an A on that, as well. That's three A's so far! So, barring any unforeseen problems, and as long as I keep going to class and participating (%10 of the grade is participation; can you imagine, me, no participating in class? I think not!) I should have a nice grade for this course. Sweet.

*S got into college! He's going back to university (SCSU, home of the huskies, my alma mater!) to turn his BA in Political Science into a BS in Social Studies so he can be a teacher. At least, that's the plan right now. He's going to start with summer classes, and I am so proud of him, I could burst.