I'm a singer now, not a worker

Okay, I'm not a singer, but I'm not a worker anymore either. The title comes from a family story. When my sister Carrie was little my sister Rachel found her sitting on the toilet wearing my dad's painter's hat singing "I'm a worker now, not a singer!" Then she took the hat off and sang "I'm a singer now, not a worker!" What a funny girl. Anyway, that is now an oft repeated phrase in our family.

So on to the real reason for this post: yesterday was my last day of work. I have left the workforce to be a mom. Well, for the next few days I'll be lazy housewife, but motherhood is my official excuse. Like all the upcoming changes in my life, it doesn't seem real. Yesterday was too busy and too normal to be a last day. I checked books in and out, told kids to be quiet, to stop using the F word, and did the usual library things. I prepared some things for my replacement, but I've kind of been doing that since September, so that wasn't unusual either. I'm not a big "goodbye" girl, so when it was time to go, I turned in my keys and walked out the door. There were no parades or anything, so it was all quite surreal I guess. Maybe it will sink in at 6:00 Monday morning when Troy is eating his cereal and watching Sportscenter and I can make a decision if I'm going to join him or not. But who knows when it will really click that I'm a mommy now, not a worker (don't worry, I know mommy actually requires a lot MORE work).

A not so welcome surprise

Look what one of my little darlings left in his algebra book.

Yeah. I get a lot of tagging, but this one probably took the cake. Actually I almost didn't want to erase it, it's so colorful (I don't usually get multi-colored drawings), but then I just got bugged at this crazy kid. Then I thought that perhaps I should simply remove the page, but decided I could probably take care of the problem with wite-out.

After two coats (and one on the back of the page), I got it presentable.

Gotta love bored kids in a math class (and the teachers who apparenly aren't paying attention).

Back to the grind

I certainly have not been a good blogger, but lately I've "rediscovered" my computer, so I'll really try to do better. The problem is that I never have much to say. Let's see. I had a churro and strawberry shake from Del Taco for dinner. That's an example of healthy eating for you. :)

I returned to work Monday after my month-long vacation. Frankly, I wasn't looking forward to it, but it's been a good week. I like it when I can keep the library doors locked and work on projects. When I started two years ago (it's crazy we've been in Blythe that long), the place was a mess, and I look forward to summers when I can pull all the crap out and organize things. I get a little more done each summer, so in a year or two, maybe I'll have the place just how I want it. But then I'll have to find more projects so I don't go crazy for the 6 to 8 weeks I work alone. Anyway, to sum things up, I love my job in the summer, even though I get a little jealous of Troy as he watches Lost and plays Guitar Hero all day while I slave away.

Speaking of Guitar Hero, I must say that I was making considerable progress on the game while we were in Utah, but since our return home, I've only played once. Our TV is at a difficult angle for the performer to see the notes and rock out at the same time (which is totally my style). Troy's solution is get a new TV stand and why not throw in a new TV while we're at it, but I think we're all talk. Stay posted.

Three Days of School!

First of all, I am very happy that David Cook won American Idol. Sorry to all my Utah pals, but Archy was a little to adult contemp for me. Rock on (right, like I'm a rocker).

Anyway, school is winding down, which means Troy is counting the days until his 3 months of almost zero responsibility and I am getting big muslces from lifting and moving all the textbooks pouring into the library. I like to be busy, so it's okay.

It's been kind of a weird week. We found out a couple weeks ago that my mom's cancer isn't as gone as they thought it was. Now the doctors are trying to figure out the best treatment. I'm still sure she'll be okay, but it's frustrating that we thought she was in the clear just to learn there's more to come. Bummer. All this craziness with my mom makes me miss Carrie, too. It's weird how things just come up that make me think of and miss her.

Thank You for Calling the Library

Have you gone to answer your phone at home and rather than saying hello or your usual at-home saluation, you greet the caller by identifying your place of work? Every time I'm about to answer the phone at home, I have to force myself not to say, "Library." And I don't even answer the phone at work that often! There have been a few times it slipped out and we all got a good laugh out of it, but it's really annoying to be walking around my house thinking, "Library, library."

Lights Out

Today during my lunch break I was doing my dishes (I know, not a great way to spend your break, but whatever) when I looked at clock and realized the power was out. Because we don't live very far from the school I thought, "Hey, maybe it will be out a work, too." And what do you know, it was. That was at 11:40 and school's out at 2:40 so I thought we'd catch a break. We didn't. The power stayed out but we still had school. We didn't have much to do, so for one period I read to my aides (we had sunlight in part of the library) and the other period we talked about livestock and fear of spiders. Very exciting. Anyway, I did get to go home 30 minutes early and when I get home I had power, so I think I just lucked out. Yay.

Monday I'm staying home because I have comp time I have to use by the end of the month, so although the school is having pajama day for Homecoming week, I'm have pajama day at home. Hooray!

A Few Observations

One thing I like about being a librarian is all the stuff I get to listen in on. Other than the gym and the football field, the library is the biggest gathering place on campus, so most of the meetings are held there. And because I have no where else to go, I just listen in as I do my work. Every month each school in the district has a site council meeting. They didn't have them in Utah (at least not that I'm aware of), so it's a new, interesting thing for me. This committee basically decides how to spend the school's money. Well, that's a little broad, but they do make a lot of decisions. Being a meeting junky I love to listen in. Today's was especially interesting because this year there are some vocal people who are experienced with school funding and stuff so I learned a lot listening to them today. I would have liked to stay and hear some more, but Troy was anxious to get home and when I drove by the school 1.5 hours later I think they were just getting out. Yikes! I'm not that much of a meeting junky.

Another something different between Utah and California is the influence of unions. Utah is SUPER anti-union. I remember hearing a teacher bashfully admit that she was member of UEA and then a guy went on to tell her how all the problems in the schools were because of eduation unions. Here you really don't have much choice. One of the first things Troy did when he got to Blythe was join the teacher's union. Once I started working joined the classified union. They take dues out of your check whether you're actually a member or not (because you still get representation and benefit from salary negotiations) so for $1 more a month I qualify for discounts and services all over CA. It's just interesting the difference. I went to a union meeting on Monday to hear the candidates for school board speak and was facsinated by all the other stuff that went on. It's just a reminder that everything is politics and I love it. Well, when I'm watching from afar and not caught in the middle of the drama.

A Cupcake Story

Two posts in a day? I know, it's crazy.

Yesterday was one of my TAs' birthday and I always bring cupcakes for everyone on birthdays. Well, Saturday I didn't feel like going to the grocery store to get a cake mix and frosting, so I just decided I'd be domestic and make cupcakes from scratch on Sunday. Sunday night comes around and I get on the net to find a recipe for chocolate cupcakes. I found a good one and was going down the list of ingredients. Got it, check, check. Then I get to eggs. Oh no! I used the last of the eggs on french toast who know how long ago (I'm not a big egg eater). Of course it's Sunday, so I'm not just going to run to the store and pick up some eggs. I can't change things up and make cookies because they need eggs, too. What a dilemma.

Troy and I decided we'd just go to Albertsons before work in the morning and get cupcakes from the bakery. Well we went at 6:30 this morning and they had cupcakes, but holy crap-o! The smallest amount I could buy was 20 and they were all fancy (because of course you're only going to buy cupcakes when you want them to be extra special because it's not that hard to put some batter in a pan and slop some frosting on), so we spent $11 on cupcakes when if I had only had a measley carton of eggs I could made them for about 2 bucks. That teaches me to procrastinate on my grocery shopping (seriously my fridge is near empty and at 5:00 I still haven't gone to the grocery store)!

Peterson Update

Well, I guess the biggest news is that we've decided not to buy a house. We've decided to hold out and make sure Blythe is really the place we want to be. We're just gonna save, save, save. Hopefully I can become a miser. That might actually be kinda fun.

Other than that, there isn't much going on. It actually felt like fall today. It's 4:24 and we've yet to hit 80 degrees. If you're going by my mom's rules when I lived at home, that's not even warm enough to wear shorts. The kids were so funny as school today. They were complaining, "It's cold, it's cold," when it was never before 70 degrees after 8 o'clock this morning. I should send them to Utah. It would be very entertaining.

Today I'm making cupcakes to take to work tomorrow because one of my TAs is turning 17. Yay! Actually, I just want an excuse to eat cupcakes all day long. What fun.

Speaking of A/C

I promise this is not all we talk about in Blythe, but this is big news! The transformer at work is basically shot and is in danger of flaming (yes, as in fire) any time during the taxing afternoon hours. So until they get it fixed tomorrow afternoon, school hours are at a minimum. That's right minimum day tomorrow! We should be out around 11:00 a.m. Can I tell you how excited I am? It's a good thing I finished handing out books today so my schedule doesn't get thrown off. When I was in school in Utah we always dream of snow days, but in the California desert we get heat days. Yeah, I know, it's not really that great, but any time you get off work early is a plus! Happy working to everyone else!

Thank Goodness for A/C

Well, it's 113 degrees right now. During the last hour of work I guess some the classrooms were without A/C, but not my library, as far as I could tell. Thank goodness! I had enough hotness last week when the A/C at my house was waiting for repair. Good things I have great in-laws in town that we could stay with. Anyway, one more day of textbook distribution on a massive scale and then I have to find the stragglers. Hope I don't run out of books. Keep your fingers crossed!

I had a great time chatting with some friends online last night and was even bed by 10:30, but am so groggy I had to have some kids repeat their ID numbers three times today. Good thing there's nothing on TV tonight that I'll be tempted to stay up late for.

Yesterday my mom faxed a copy of the proof for my sister's headstone to me. Even seeing her name in stone in the picture doesn't make it same real. I've heard people say that when the actual headstone is set at the grave it hits them, so we'll see. It's almost like it's a task that has be completed without feeling. That's how it was before the funeral. There was so much to do to get things ready that we didn't have much time to think about what had happened. Something I don't think you can understand if you haven't experienced it. I know I didn't.