B-Day approaches...

My Hafla is Saturday, and the Catholic Librarian is decidedly nervous. I managed to practice my routine several times last night before Hank sabotaged me. My envelope is much improved. I discovered that I just need to adjust my finger placement on my veil right beforehand to make the envelope flawless. Or, well, not look stupid.

So, the envelope is better, but suddenly the veil is slipping out of my fingers at other inopportune times. My teacher, Claire, says of the veil: "they're very much like children. You train them, think you have it all figured out, but suddenly - they'll embarrass you in public."

We'll get there. Goal tonight: practice with my costume top with the giant belle sleeves. This could get tricky.

Attempting to use the ladies room at work...

I feel the need to whine about something. I work at a large university. Never before, in all of my years, have I encountered a ladies room situation as abysmal as the one in the library. I will grant, I have never traveled to a Third World country. But really, if it has to be compared to that, it must be pretty bad, right?

Here is a typical ladies room encounter in the life of the Catholic Librarian:

Enter ladies room. Nearly twist my ankle on a stray square of the toilet paper that is littered about the floor. Regain composure, and the hunt begins. The hunt...for a stall that has toilet paper actually on a roll in its proper location and not: (a) ripped and thrown to the floor, (b) already in place on the toilet seat and *previously sat on* by the last occupant, or (c) otherwise crumpled up and used in some sort of unpleasant, yet mysterious, fashion. Sometimes nefarious option (d) rears its ugly head, which means that the paper has already been used in the traditional sense, and then scattered in location (a) or (b) or possibly stuffed near the flusher.

Contender #1 - Oop, none there.

Contender #2 - Once again, big fat zero.

Contender #3 - Oh look, toilet paper, but...Dear God, what *is* that?! Quickly walk over to...

Contender #4 - Pitiful looking, nearly empty, roll of toilet paper, but whoever was last in there did not flush the toilet. Moving on...

Contender #5, the handicap accessible stall - Has toilet paper. Toilet has been flushed. *feels guilty, but rushes inside and locks the door*

Catholic Librarian: *delicately uses facilities*

Student in next stall: *clatters inside* *lots of rustling* *cell phone rings* *quickly answered* "Hello? Um, like, hi!! Yeah, yeah, I'm in the library...*cut off as toilets flush in abundance* yeah, I know, right?! It was totally, totally stupid. Can you believe she puts up with him? I mean..."

Catholic Librarian: *stays frozen in stall, desperately not wanting to flush toilet while student on phone* *realizes that if student doesn't care, why should CL?* *flushes toilet as discreetly as possible* Unlatches door and moves to sinks.

Student in next stall: "uh huh, uh huh, right!" *leaves stall noisily* *exits ladies room without washing hands*

Catholic Librarian: *sighs*

I stick my hands under the nearest, ridiculous, annoying motion sensor faucet. Seriously, how hard is it to turn a knob? No water comes out. Move to the next sink. Water comes out, freezing cold. Twist little switch to warm water. Wait a full 10 seconds. Water warms. Turn to soap dispenser and give it a good press. No soap comes out. I swear. Press again. No soap comes out, so I yank my hand away. Approximately .57 seconds later, soap gushes out and slops to the floor. I swear again. Move to the next sink in disgust. Rinse hands. Turn to the next soap dispenser and...oh, that's right. There IS no next soap dispenser. The only other soap dispenser is several feet away from the sinks, next to the door. I glare at myself in the mirror and move to the far off soap dispenser. Press it. Nothing happens. Move hand away and soap slops to the floor. I punch it again, and this time I'm ready. I hold my hand there and refuse to move, despite the people behind me jostling me in their anxiety to begin their toilet paper hunt, until the soap reluctantly falls onto my palm. Scrub, rinse, move to the paper towel dispenser. Hit release bar. Nothing happens. This is probably because it's empty. I swear. Move to paper towel dispenser #2. Hit release bar. Nothing happens. Discern that it remains jammed, as it has been for a freaking week. Shake water off my hands as I exit ladies room in disgust and nearly collide with another cell phone laden student.

I stomp off, resolved to use the other ladies room next time, the one with the gaps between the stall doors large enough for a small animal to pass through, and anybody to view the entire proceedings should they desire to do so. I don't know that it's possible to write a nastier response on the survey that was done last year by Campus Facilities than I already have, but if so, I'm on it.

The Simple Things

Last night, I finished reading "Curious George Goes to the Hospital" to Hank for about the, oh, fifteenth time in four days. It's his new library book, isn't that a scream? The child loves books, the true son of a librarian. Incidentally, Hank now claims that he wants to have an x-ray, just like George; I'm not encouraging him in this endeavor. And besides, Curious George had to have an operation to remove a jigsaw puzzle piece? This premise is a tad far fetched to me. I'm thinking the puzzle piece would make it out in much less dramatic fashion. And then the doctor gives him the piece back afterwards so that he can finish his puzzle. *shudder*

Anyway, I digress. After I finished reading to Hank and he went up to bed, I watched an HGTV show called Spice up your Kitchen. I usually stick to shows that demonstrate how to re-do your whole house for approximately $200, like Designed to Sell. Well ok, more like $2,000, but still. A reasonable working person's sum of money that is affordable without re-mortgaging ones whole existence. Well, Spice up your Kitchen is a bit different. It showed the kitchen of a couple who had not changed a thing since circa the year I was born. Avocado colored appliances abound. Ok, seriously people. I'm all about frugality. But how much would it cost to buy a nice NORMAL sized white refrigerator from Sears? $500? Do you know how much that avocado monster is costing you on your energy bill? Why do people live like this? Anyway, the kitchen was a travesty. The avocado competed with bright pink tile on the walls and a formica countertop that had holes large enough to swallow your Thanksgiving turkey. Ok, they needed a new look. But of course, the kitchen remodel that they did cost a cool $50,000. I know kitchen remodels are expensive, but in my lifetime, I will never pay to remodel *one room* a third of the cost of my entire house.

Anyway, I'm digressing again. I'm afraid you're going to have to get used to it, I do that a lot. So anyhow, yes the finished product looked beautiful. But was it all *really* necessary? Granite countertops, cherry cabinetry with glass insets, giant stainless steel appliances, a top of the line island with drawers that closed by themselves (I am *not* making that up). I will be the first to admit that I'm an enormous fan of cherry wood, and would love to afford new kitchen cabinets. Ain't happenin'. But anyway, stainless steel appliances? I'm not saying they're not sharp looking, but they're all the rage these days. Clearly, these people do not have small children, that's all I can say. Nothing makes a kitchen look special like smudgey fingerprints perpetually on the appliances. These were *gigantic* though. Adult people could fit inside of them. I'm feeling an SUV rant coming on, but I'll save that for another time. But my biggest pet peeve is the granite countertop. I hope I'm not offending any granite owners. It's lovely. And I'm not saying there is anything wrong with having it. But here's what does annoy me: it's become the standard nowadays for having a "truly modern and with it" kitchen. Mike's friend Lowell, who was visiting us last night, commented that where he lives, in Baltimore, homes without granite simply will not sell. They are seen as inferior with a clear need for remodeling. And to back up his point, every single show I watch on HGTV showcases granite.

And of course, granite costs many, MANY thousands of dollars. MANY. Whatever happened to upgrading to Corian? To be honest, I'm a fan of regular old laminate. You're preparing dinner on it, not a heavenly banquet befit only for kings.

Over the summer I read a book that I'll never forget entitled Plain and Simple: A Woman's Journey to the Amish. It was written by a non-Amish woman who became fascinated with the Amish way of life. She lived with two different Amish families and fell in love with the simple beauty of thier lifestyle and outlook on life. It's easy to romanticize a countercultural group such as the Amish. But I loved her descriptions of the way they grew their own food, created very, very little trash, made their own clothing, built their own homes, and yes, had simple, functional and extremely appealing kitchens with wood-burning stoves where (some things don't change, even amongst the Amish) not only was food prepared but women gathered to socialize as they worked. Certainly, we don't all have the ability (or the desire) to live an Amish-like existence. But it goes much deeper than that, I think. How can we simplify our lives? And what I do know is that when I make an effort to do that, I'm much happier and more grateful for the things I already own, rather than coveting new things (avocado-colored appliances aside).

Certainly, a beautiful kitchen is a happy thing. But beautiful doesn't always have to come at the expense of my yearly salary. I may be naive, but I think we can make beautiful spaces for less. We can make do generally with less. Trip to Ikea, anybody?

Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary...

I love this time of year for many reasons. I love the crispness to the air, I love the food (pumpkins and cider!), and I love the anticipation of the coming holiday season. And I also love the liturgical calendar :) The Catholic Librarian is a bit of a nerd, and proud of it. The end of September brings us the feasts of the Archangels Michael and Gabriel, the Guardian Angels, and St. Therese of Lisieux. Today is the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary. Similar to all things that I enjoy in my life, I obsess about rosary beads. I love, collect, and organize my rosaries fastidiously. I have car rosaries that I keep in my center console. Some that are wood and threaded with a heavy cord that I can keep in my pocket without those blasted little links breaking all the time. Extra pretty ones I keep on my dresser. A pair by my side of the bed for nighttime praying. A pair hanging from the rearview mirror of my car. I have many, many sets of rosary beads. Honestly, the exclusive time that I pray it these days is in the car. And I enjoy it. I'm a librarian - I like to multi-task :) It's very soothing, particularly in the morning while on my way to work. And let's face it, Our Lady -she was a multi-tasker. She understands. She had a lot going on in her life. She was married, had a home to take care of, and quite the ambitious and hard-to-manage son to raise. Whenever I read now the description of Jesus getting lost on that trip and then re-found in the Temple, I cringe. He obviously had no idea how much he would worry his mother :)

So, I thought of her last night when Hank took an hour and a half to fall asleep. Remember, Mike or I have to be *in his room* *rubbing his back* for him to fall asleep these days. And again when Hank wandered into our bedroom at 1 am, threw a temper tantrum, and refused to go back to sleep. And again when Mike tried to soothe him back to sleep and Hank *demanded* that mommy do it instead.

I especially enjoy reading about the annunciation in the Gospel of Luke. An angel appears to Mary and tells her that she will bear the son of God. Although she's a lot more graceful and articulate in her delivery, she pretty much said "what on earth are you talking about? I think you must be terribly confused about how babies are made." But despite God's unconventional and mysterious instructions, she agrees to do it, because it is His will. I love her.

I'm trying a lot more these days to emulate Our Lady. She's like us - we're all working women in some way; primarily, in the most simple of our daily tasks.

"I feel old" moment of the weekend...

Chris takes out his portable CD player with speakers to try and entice a Pileated Woodpecker to humor us and show itself. He has a CD of relevant bird calls. (The woodpecker didn't end up taking the bait - he was probably watching us from a nearby tree, positively snorting with bemusement).One of his students looks at the CD player, absolutely befuddled, and asks "they still make those things?!" Oh man.

I remember the days of making mix tapes for your friends. So, when I was in high school, this meant dance mixes such as "Groove is in the Heart"and "Macarena." Good heavens.

Hip drops and bird sightings...

It was a busy weekend. I've been excellent on my diet (running on the weekend really seems to spur things along) and have lost 5.2 pounds so far. *heavens rejoice* I still have 5 full pounds to get down to what I weighed pre-Hank. There are many, many things that will never be as they were pre-Hank (all mothers know exactly what I'm talking about; anybody else anxiously awaiting the next Victoria's Secret semi-annual sale?) but I'm hoping my weight won't be a casualty.

Anyway, my weekend started off nicely with my Friday evening bellydancing class. I arrived to the community center where our class is held to the happy sound of coins jangling. I quickly changed into my half soles and green hip scarf for the warm-up and new movement portion of the class. We learned how to do these chest slide things with a head drop. Confusing sounding I know, but it's the best description I can come up with :) Then we practiced our routine. It's a real slow tune from vol. 2 of the Bellydance Superstars collection. Per one of my earlier posts, you know that it involves much use of the veil. Needless to say, I'm very, very nervous about the fact that our Hafla is *this* Saturday. We're much improved, but I still feel we (translation: *I*) need a lot of practice. I forget my sways very easily, and the envelope is still killin' me. Plus, our post-envelope circle looks emaciated, because we're all still so dazed from finding our way out of our veils. I also still need to finalize my 16 count solo. *heartbeat accelerates* *scared* I may practice with some of my classmates this week, which should help to calm me.

Anyway, Saturday morning I accompanied my wonderful friend Chris and his Introduction to Birdwatching students to the Iroquois Wildlife Refuge for some morning bird sightings. We had a *fabulous* time. We all carpooled, and Chris and I were in a car with two of his students. I suppose it was a compliment that I had a hard time convincing one of them that I was a real adult and wasn't also a student in the class :) We arrived with lots of good natured snickering going on amongst the students. We saw a couple of pretty things at first: American Goldfinch, some flocks of Canada Geese. Then, we stopped at an area of the refuge called Cayuga Pool. Some calm looking ducks were there, Wood Ducks, and a Green Winged Teal. Interesting, to be sure. Suddenly, Chris spots the mother lode: an American Bald Eagle. A shout goes up, and suddenly the air is filled with excitement. Binoculars are yanked onto faces, fingers are pointed. My heart in my throat, I find the eagle in my binoculars. I watch as he flies over the pond in front of us, scaring the absolute crap out of every other bird in a mile wide radius. Whole flocks of normal-sized birds spot the eagle and flee in terror. There is suddenly an abundance of bird life to behold :)

It was the first time I have ever seen a Bald Eagle. When I got him in the binoculars, I teared up. He perched on a branch, and Chris got him in the lens of his scope. Everyone took turns looking, me waiting impatiently and wanting to mow the students down so that I could see him before he flew away. When it's my turn, I step up to see him sitting majestically on a bare branch, clearly surveying *his* territory. King of the pond, no doubt about it. It was truly a memorable moment. Later, we saw a Hairy Woodpecker, some large birds of prey: a Northern Harrier (my first!) and an Osprey, a Marsh Wren flitting in some tall grass, and a really fabulous looking long-necked water bird called an American Bittern. Hard to top that eagle, though.

Now, it's Monday. I have lots of bellydancing to do this week, and classes to teach at work, sigh. Lots more World Civ. in my future, I'm afraid. I missed Bridezillas last night out of pure love for my husband, who wanted to watch the Steelers on Sunday Night Football. But I promise an update when I catch the re-run :) I *did* catch a bit of a show on WE called Amazing Wedding Cakes. If you think that there can't be much drama about such a mundane detail as a cake, you would be wrong...

Is this Church ugly?

Well, I guess the key question to me is - does it look like a church? I understand that nowadays, with the rise of megachurches, churches don't necessarily look traditional anymore. Which is fine. But Catholic churches, in my opinion, should cherish their tradition and look, well, traditional. The specimen in question is the new (multi-million dollar) Oakland Cathedral of Christ the Light (don't even get me started on the name - they wanted to avoid choosing a saint so that it wouldn't be "ethnically divisive." *sigh*)

Check out the new cathedral's website. Interesting, it's just not my style.

Bellydance practice...

Quick note on a milestone - lost another half pound. *halo*

Anyway, last night I was home alone with Hank while Mike was at his Statics class. Hank was safely esconced watching Yo Gabba Gabba (Why, God, why?! I have yet to see another childrens show more annoying than that one, and boy, is that hard to say) so I got out my veil and set to work practicing my bellydancing routine for our upcoming Hafla. I wrapped myself in my green veil, started the music, and off I went. Events transpire as follows:

Catholic Librarian (hereinafter, CL): *tosses veil over head in what is supposed to be a saucy move* The CL is *so* not saucy. *feels not-so-gentle tug on the back of veil*

Henry: *eyes wide with fascination* "Mommy, what you doing?!"

CL: "Oh, let go sweetheart. Mommy is practicing her dance routine." *attempts envelope move*

Henry: "Mommy! Can I come in there with you?!"

CL: *mangles envelope* "No sweetheart. Why don't you play with the water in the kitchen sink." *move of true desperation*

Henry: "I go get my pots and pans!!"

CL: *assists Hank up on kitchen chair by sink while trying to continue undulation*

Henry: *happy*

CL: *worries about what to do for solo 16 count step* *wishes her choice could be to eliminate solo*

Henry: *splashes*

CL: *attempts 8 count saucy walk* *combines socks, chiffon veil, laminate kitchen floor, and clumsiness - the inevitable happens*

Henry: "Mommy, are you OTay?!"

CL: *sighs*

My day yesterday...

A day in the life of the glamorous Catholic Librarian:

1. Go to work.
2. Come home from work.
3. Eat chili made in crock pot that I'm ever so pleased about.
4. Try to go to grocery store. Hank throws temper tantrum. I have to walk out to the car, Hank tucked firmly under my arm, kicking and screaming the whole way while I try to act as though nothing is amiss.
5. Go to grocery store. Most exciting purchase: new razor blades for my Intuition razor. That thing is awesome!
6. Come home and give Hank bath. Hank protests and has to be subdued in the tub.
7. Get Hank ready for bed and attempt to pacify him.
8. Sit with Hank so that he will fall asleep. After an hour, he does.
9. Read book.
10. Fall sound asleep.

*sigh*

Weight loss update...

So, things have improved slightly since that fateful morning this past Saturday. In retrospect, I suppose it would have looked pretty funny to an outside observer. I reached for my old faithful pair of jeans (that I fit into at 12 weeks of pregnancy; they sit nice and low on the hips) and attempted to pull them up. The vicious obscenities that came from my mouth are normally not things you would hear come from the Catholic Librarian. But your Catholic Librarian is not a girl to be dissuaded easily. Oh no. Those babies were comin' on. I *refused* to accept that they may not fit. I yanked them up, and by nearly asphixiating myself, got them buttoned. However, the muffin top that resulted made me tear up. NOT a good look.

So, since then, I've eaten with a halo perched firmly atop my head, and have run or walked every day. To date, I've lost 2.8 pounds. *Angels Sing* I still have a ways to go to get to my goal, but I'm making steady progress, and I'm pleased. I'm headed for the farmers market at 11, healthy foods at the forefront of my mind. Goodness, do I miss wine...