Thursday, March 31, 2005

MoMo

My little nephew has been calling me Aunt MoMo since he learned to name family members. My name is hard to say and the grown-ups in the family already called me Mo.

He and his parents have been living in Japan since last August. There, they found out that MoMo is a common girl's name. It means "sweet peach." Which is extra appropriate now that I'm a resident of Georgia, the peach state.

Being a proud aunt, I think this all proves that Kail is a smart little boy.

Saturday, March 26, 2005

Rainey Boogerhead M----

That's the cat's full name. He is often a boogerhead, so he earned his middle name. Recently, he discovered he was long enough to get on the dining room table and play with the ugly chandelier that came with our apartment. He sort of swings with it while keeping his feet on the table. But when we notice and he starts to get in trouble, he calmly sits down on the table and looks at us like "I certainly don't know why that thing is clanking around." Riiiight.

But his most recent boogerhead exploit was chewing through our DSL power cord. Good thing we left yesterday for our spring break "visit the parents" trip.

More traveling posts to come. Watch for next week's installment (with pictures): "The HolyLand Experience."

Wednesday, March 16, 2005

Another post about snow


You can see the snow and the new spring bulbs, happily coexisting. I have to say that while we enjoy the pretty snow, we are ready for spring break in Florida warmth.

Second stuck snow (say that five times fast!)


Yesterday, it snowed. This was the second snow this winter that stuck, so I had to document it.

Monday, March 14, 2005

the mystery of the twist tie

Yesterday, Matt grilled hot dogs in our George Foreman grill. One of the features of our grill is a bun warmer, so that while your hot dogs are cooking, the hot dog buns get warmed up as well.

While the dogs are grilling and the buns are warming, we start clearing off the counter where we had been making preparations. But when Matt picked up the bag of hot dog buns, the twist tie was missing. We searched the counter and then I showed Matt the drawer where I keep extras. We continued setting the table and gathering condiments until the food was ready.

Matt is getting the buns out of the warmer when he starts laughing and calls me over to show me the missing twist tie impressed into the bottom of a bun! Sometimes I wonder if it's safe for me to let him into the kitchen...

Thursday, March 10, 2005

the orange sweater progresses


I'm moving along pretty well with this one. I'm doing a knit-a-long (we're all working on the same sweater at the same time) with a few other knitters from craftster, and that is proving to be motivational. Anyway, this is the back, and it's a few inches away from binding off.

Wednesday, March 09, 2005

My brand new homemade housewifey apron


I've spent the better part of the last two days working on my first real sewing project. Real meaning I used a pattern (Simplicity 4740). It was supposed to be easy - I don't know that I would call it that because I seemed to have plenty of trouble figuring it out. But it's done now and it is a cute apron.

Monday, March 07, 2005

disappointment

This is the week I give up. I'm applying for a job totally outside the library field. Thankfully, it is in an area that I have some experience and that I enjoyed working in previously.

But I'm still giving up. I watched a Suze Orman special on PBS yesterday, "For the Young, Fabulous, and Broke." Suze advised recent grads to hold out for a job they love even if it's low pay. She said don't take another job if it's not what you want.

Well, Suze, I'm not listening. If this job is offered to me, I'm going to take it. Because I need to do something. (Secretly, though, I continue to check several websites that list library jobs in NC and GA. I've been checking since last May and there's only been one (ONE!) close enough to where we live that I could apply. I didn't get it.) Now, if this job isn't offered to me, I'm sending letters to every public library in a 45 minute radius begging them to hire me, or even just give me an internship. Something that will reassure I didn't waste two years and thousands of dollars pursuing what is fast becoming a pipe dream.

I was prompted to write this because I'm not the only disappointed one. On the Nexgen Librarian listserv scads of newly degreed librarians testify that they too have been unable to secure a professional position. I see my friends - bright, creative, well-educated and caring people - be rejected for acceptance to Phd programs, wait for months to hear back from personnel committees (or sometimes never hear at all), and take incredibly low wage jobs.

Ultimately, this disappointment leads me to worry about the future. Will I ever be able to get a professional library job, especially if I work in another field entirely? What if I can never get a full time job (it always seems I'm either over- or under-qualified)? Can Matt and I raise a family on one income, a teacher's salary at that?

They made it sound so easy in school.

Sunday, March 06, 2005

new sweater

Matt's sick again, so we left church after Bible study and he's napping. I'm knitting!

I've not done so well with knitting sweaters. I've finished two and frogged (unraveled in knitting terms) both of them because they just didn't turn out right. I've started two others that I had to frog. I'm in the middle of one that I think will work and now I'm getting ready to start this one. I'm casting on right now.