Bliss

You guys! There are neighborhood boys mowing my lawn right now!

Yaaaa!! This is so awesome! Ok, I paid them, but still! Cheap, local labor! And they're going to EDGE.
I've only owned a house for a year, why haven't I thought of this yet? Have you ALL been doing this and not telling me how great it is?!

I haven't asked Michael if it was okay if I paid these kids to do it. He's asleep but he asked me to wake him up after only 6 hours of sleep so that he could mow the lawn. So now he gets to sleep! And did I mention they're going to EDGE?? (We don't have a weed wacker, so the edges of the lawn have just been GROWING and GROWING).

When I paid this kid he said, "Sweet, now I can get that extra part for the lawnmower." I don't know why, but I find that adorable. I think it's because he's being responsible with it, whereas I would have run out and spent it all on pop rocks. Plus, he talks like droopy dog (remember him?). He also has a little brother following behind him around the lawn like woodstock trailing snoopy. I know, why all the cartoon dog references? Because it's all so awesome!

Has anyone else experienced the bliss of paying neighborhood kids to do chores that you don't want to do?

Blogging Class Date Change

I was told today that the blogging class will actually be on Tuesday nights in August, and will start on the second Tuesday... so sorry I was way off. So it will start on August 10th and run through the 31st. Still at 7:00pm.

Blogging Class

I will be teaching a new blogging class series at my library this August. Registration is now open to anyone, not just library card holders, so if you live in the area and would like to attend, let me know and I'll register you (it's also fun to bring friends or older children).

Classes are on Wednesday nights at 7:00pm, and there are four classes total (August 4, 11, 18, and 25). They usually go until about 8:00 or 8:15.

Classes start with the basics - creating a blog, posting, images, comments and safety, as well as more advanced topics - settings, formatting, design, blog promotion and stat trackers.

Plus I'm teaching, so you know it will be fun! (jk)

Mockingjay Release Party

My library is holding an awesome release party in August for the last book of The Hunger Games series. You don't need a library card with us to participate! I will totally be going to this, so come hang with me. If you haven't read the first two books yet I can loan them to you, just let me know soon!

We need a librarian in the OR, stat!

I'm assuming that most of you know about the unfortunate news of Gary Coleman's death. I've read that he fell and hit his head, and was taken to the hospital, where his condition worsened until he passed.

I'm not trying to make light of the situation here, but it brought about a perfect example of how odd my job can be at times. Because on the morning that this happened, one of my co-workers got a call at the library and was asked, "So what's the update on Gary Coleman?"

Excuse me? Let me just run down to the ICU and check. We're not working in a newsroom, people. Do you need a book? Or would you like to know how late we're open? I can help you with that.

Not that she didn't look it up for him. She did. I've actually had patrons tell me that people tell them if they ever have a question about anything, just call the librarians at the _____ library and they'll look it up for you. And it's true, we will. But if it's especially ridiculous we WILL make jokes about you for awhile.

*Just a note: things I do NOT consider ridiculous: trashy romance novels, books about how to make love, how to identify a strange skin fungus, or anything that you might be scared to ask a librarian. I'm a professional and when I get questions like these I don't think any more of it than I would for a copy of Harry Potter. The things I do think are funny are the people who call and ask for the price of apples at a local market or the example above. So breathe easy and go ahead and ask your librarian where to find the Star Wars section.

Information Age

Sometimes I use an online recipe planner called TastyPlanner.com. I like this site because you can choose what recipes you want to make for the week, and it will build a grocery list for you. Many users have submitted their recipes and you can search for something, or you can add your own recipes and keep them public or private. The whole grocery-list-aspect makes it tempting to put everything on the list that you will need to buy for the week. I came across a good example of this the other day:

Bowl of Cheerios

Ingredients
2 cups Milk, 1 cup Cheerios

Instructions
Put the Cheerios into a bowl, then cover them with the milk.



I found it pretty funny, but then I saw this in the comments:

Rappo
wrote on March 05, 2008

I tried to make this, but I just couldn’t get it to turn out right at first. Some things I’ve learned:

- A bowl is essential. I tried with a dinner plate first and that did not work.

- The Chef failed to mention this, so I thought I’d help you guys out: you need a SPOON — forks do NOT work.

- This dish does NOT keep well. I wanted to get a head start and prepare my meals for the week and save them. Needless to say, this didn’t keep as well as I thought (and yes, I tried freezing too!).

So helpful! Isn't it great what you can learn on the internet?

Movie glue

While looking at my new favorite site today (1000 awesome things), I came across an intriguing post - what are your "Glue" movies? The movies that you get stuck on while you're flipping channels, even though you've seen them 10 times already. It got me thinking about what mine are:

Pride and Prejudice (2005) - hands down. I will watch it. I don't care that it was just on last week on another channel. I don't care that I am sitting through commercials when I own the movie and I could just put it in because it's RIGHT THERE. I don't care that I know all of the lines and scenes so well that I can tell when the network is editing out parts. Give me the idyllic settings, the regency clothing, the way-too-gorgeous cast.

The Incredibles (and by extension, most Pixar films) - this movie is just so visually stunning to me that I get sucked in each and every time, and I will wait through four minutes of commercials just to get back to that eye-popping goodness. Not to mention the aces storyline and action.

Zoolander - this movie gets funnier each time I watch it. The punchlines get better, and if you can watch it often and memorize them so you can repeat them later, even better. Plus if I'm catching it on TV, they will always blissfully edit out that stupid scene where ben stiller is getting a massage - the one marr on a great movie, in my opinion.

The Parent Trap with Linsey Lohan - I don't care what Lohan's done since, this movie is charming, and that scene where she sees her mom for the first time always makes me cry. (But I do change the channel for the stupid scene where the lizard crawls into that chick's mouth. No one needs to see that.)

Then there are some movies that I really don't like, and I can't understand why I keep watching them when they come on TV. A few examples: Mean Girls, Legally Blonde, and Miss Congeniality. I'm really really annoyed by these movies but I get sucked in! Maybe it's because nothing else is on?

There are a lot of others that could go on this list, but I have to stop somewhere. What are your glue movies?