No Score and Seven Years Ago

Seven Years ago today I moved into my house. My very own house. They say that time flies when you are having fun. It must be true, although when I mentioned to my mother that my house-aversary was coming up and that it would be seven years, she was surprised and said she would have guessed four. Although I was not officially out of my house until seven years ago, I certainly spent a great deal of time away at school and a couple of years living with my grandmother. I moved out when the time was right. I never felt a need to flee. My mother never missed me when I was away at school until I was on my way home but she really had a hard time when I moved out even though my house is exactly 3 miles away, door to door. I left plenty of dishes, cooking, and decorative items for their use, but she cried and cried when she found my crackers in the cupboard. It's weird what we respond to. My house is nothing like I ever imagined it might be but it seems perfect for me. Maybe in another seven years I'll get some of the projects done that I started right after I moved in.

P.S. The 15th is the 32nd anniversary of my First Holy Communion. I don't know if there is a card for that but I do have an amazon.com wishlist.

Greetings from the Top of the Hill (not over it)

Birthday season has been in full swing and I have had an awesome time. On Sunday I thought I was having lunch at California Pizza Kitchen with a couple of friends but they actually fooled me into entering a Build-A-Bear Workshop where a group of our friends were waiting to surprise me with a Build-A-Bear party. What a hoot! We all built the best animals. The bear body I chose turned out to be a Read bear and part of his proceeds go to First Book. You can choose clothing and accessories to dress your bear or chosen animal friend. Mine has Skechers sneakers, cargo shorts, a surfer shirt, little white socks, and tighty-whities under it all. His name is Chester. Build-A-Bear has a very endearing ceremony for the placement of the bear's heart during the stuffing process. I did not carry a bear around as a child, but I love this bear and I continue to be full of joy. TallFunnyMan (and his wife) participated fully as did Smashler, both of whom were dreading it and both of whom came to enjoy it. ScheduleMaster and Queen of TR also made really cute animals. All of the participants in lunch turned out to be a surprise as well. I'm a very lucky person. I even had Perkins banana cream pie for dessert. When I blew out my candles I only had to wish for the continuing company of those good friends.

Birthday Candles

So the final countdown to 40 has begun. At 3:47 p.m. on Monday I will officially cross the line. I am really looking forward to Tuesday because then I will be "a day over 40" as in "you don't look a day over 40." I have been cracking myself up over that for 3 days. As is my way, I have been feel grateful lately. I have mentioned before that my Grandmom used to tell me I was a, "lucky, lucky girl" and she was right. She had no idea I would always be so.

This week I received packets from Donorschoose.org with feedback from two of the teachers I sponsored. The projects were Kid Friendly Science and starting a middle school violin program. I think I blogged about this organization and the work it does. Teachers apply for grants and people (citizen philanthropists) send money to fulfill all or part of the request. The Web site is neat because you have a portfolio and there are charts and graphs. I have sponsored 7 projects, impacted 277 students, and 1430 hours of learning. The packets I received this week included letters from the teachers, notes and cards from the children in the classes, and photographs of the children using the microscopes and violins. The letters from the kids were totally sweet, of course, and the photos were fun. The schools are classed as 85% poverty so I felt really good. Plus, the Fort Myers Friends sponsor my activities and helping another group balanced things for me, sort of on a global level.

I have already begun receiving birthday presents. How I love amazon.com! Mostly I am receiving video games. How cool is it to be turning 40 and getting video games? Actually, I had determined a while back that I would take 40 as 21+13+6 so the video games cover the 13 and going out with my friends is fine under the 21. A bunch of us all have the Nintendo DS Lite hand-held gaming console and have been playing up a storm. We can play with each other and against each other because they link wirelessly. The other fun thing they can do is called Pictochat, which is a type of wireless chatroom. They work from cubicle to cubicle and all throughout the Reference Workroom. It is AWESOME!!! Life is good.
My Nintendo DS in Crimson and Black

So I feel very fortunate. I have great friends. Better friends, on the whole, than I have ever had, great toys, and am poised to blow out birthday candles wishing more for others than for myself. Lucky, lucky girl.

Next time...news about my ALA and my summer vacation.

The Most Amazing Thing

Every Sunday morning we watch the CBS Sunday Morning Show and see fascinating segments. Yesterday I learned about about a sidewalk chalk artist named, Julian Beever. Many chalk artists can draw pretty pictures or reproduce famous paintings. This guy takes 3-D to another level and makes you believe the impossible and awesome. In the video, things that you think is a prop, is really drawn in chalk (keep that in mind, even the hose and the water). The artist sets up a camera for people to view the drawing through and then posts them to the Internet because he believes that the only way to appreciate them is through a specific perspective. Search for more on YouTube. There are videos showing the process.

It's a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

Today is the 40th anniversary of the 1st episode of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood. I loved that show so much. I still do. Every day when the first thing I do at my desk is feed my fish, I think of Mister Rogers. I doubt that his show would launch successfully today because the pace was slow and he did everything so politely, but I sure enjoyed it. He made me feel special, he still does.



Thank you, Mister Rogers. It's you I like.

Words

Words have great power. On "Inside the Actors Studio" James Lipton concludes his interviews with a series of questions, many of which are word-related:
What is your favorite word?
What is your least favorite word?
What turns you on creatively, spiritually or emotionally?
What turns you off?
What is your favorite curse word?
What sound or noise do you love?
What sound or noise do you hate?
What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?
What profession would you not like to do?
If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates?
Anyway...I have recently encountered a word that may be my new favorite word because I giggle whenever I see it or say it. It's "piggery." I never saw the word before a few days ago on Kiva (yes, my new obsession). I thought it was a made up word so today I looked it up and found out that it is really a place where swine are kept. So I helped a group of women in Uganda buy piglets for their piggery because I can't stop giggling every time I see that word. Piggery...it's funny!

Update

Kiva added businesses and I just got a charcoal seller. YES!