...or Northeast Texas, Fall 2005.

JACK, youngest brother of this diarist, has arrived at a small-town Texas elementary school for a couple of weeks of instruction during the family's period of evacuation. His AUNT, a librarian at the school, is showing him around and introduces him to LIBRARIAN 2. LIBRARIAN 2 is painted in what AUNT calls "East ( Read more... )

Scene: Mom's study, mid-morning. MARGARET is working on her laptop. Normally, she would be in her room, but they are putting up drywall there. The foot traffic is heavy in this room, but our heroine does not complain (too much) about the interruptions.

Enter MOM, who notices MARGARET's handy-dandy-notebook.

MOM

Oh, can I have one sheet of paper?

( Read more... )

Got back from the family reunion yesterday. We stayed at Lake Fausse Point. In the 50+ years that they've been holding this reunion (always on odd years, on the weekend closest to my great-great-grandparents' anniversary), I think this was the first time it wasn't at Sam Houston Jones State Park, which is still recovering from Hurricane Rita ( Read more... )

Am about to leave for a family reunion far removed from TV or internet, and I'm so so so glad that the last piece of news I've heard will be that Paris Hilton is back in jail.

Judge Sauer for President!

I thought if anything did me in this past weekend, it would be allergies.

Wrong.

Last night, I started my leg shaving routine with the ankle - always the trickiest and potentially bloodiest part. This time, with my mind elsewhere, I forgot to un-point my foot for the delicate task. I now have five short, albeit deep cuts, one after the other, like a ( Read more... )

Allergies were hell until about a week ago. Then, out of the blue, they began clearing up. Something evil must've been in bloom...that, or my trusty friend, Immune System, decided to collapse after an exhausting semester of fending off (almost) every infection that came my way.

More later. Today: work, library, post office, read. I love summer.

...when I'm feeling sad,
I simply make a mix of my favorite tunes
and then I don't feeeeeeel
soooooo
ba-aaa-aaaaad!

In honor of the gloriously inclement weather last night, I present

1. Singin' in the Rain - Gene Kelly
2. My Favorite Things - Julie Andrews
3. Box of Rain - Grateful Dead
4. Bad Moon Rising - CCR
5. Buckets of Rain - Bob Dylan
6. Shelter from ( Read more... )

Well, that ban on nail-biting was fun. Lasted all of 72 hours, until I forgot and submitted the fingernails to a little tooth-and-nail manicure a few minutes ago. Let's try again next year, shall we?

1. Summer in the City - The Lovin' Spoonful
2. Mama Told Me (Not to Come) - Three Dog Night
3. Shambala - Ibid.
4. Joy to the World - Ibid. (tied for 2nd place with 2 other songs in my Top 25 Most Played)
5. Cherry, Cherry - Neil Diamond (Hot August Night, Live) - one of the best live recordings I've heard
6. Loose Lucy - Grateful Dead
7. Barbara Ann - ( Read more... )

From fridayfiver:

1. Turn your head to the right -- what do you see?
Window, window sill (needs dusting), and bulletin board

2. Stand-up -- do you like how tall you are?
Yeah, it's okay. I'm not abnormally short (5'2"), but I wouldn't mind being taller - makes it handier for reaching overhead storage bins on planes and trains. Still, a low-end-of- ( Read more... )