manners

I'm reeling.

In the past week, I've flown to Massachusetts and back, was sick and then recovered, accepted one job and quit two, and been added to a digital scrapbooking creative team.

Okay, backing up a bit...

Remember when I was all "good vibes" and you were all "on their way!" and then I was all "they worked!" and you were all "hooray"?

Right. So, I applied for a job as a part-time librarian at the New Lenox Public Library (NLPL), about 30 minutes from our house. Then things started to get weird. And by weird I mean interesting. And by interesting I mean -- oh, I'll just tell you.

One Monday a couple of weeks ago, I woke up and couldn't do it. I couldn't go to work. I took a sick day and sent my kid and my husband off. But my kid was feeling strangely and in that way that mothers do, I couldn't let it go. So I picked her up and took her to the doctor's. She was fine, and now that she'd been sprung from day care there was no way she was going back. So I took her to the pool.

(I'm getting to the job part, I promise.)

While at the pool we ran into some friends of ours, and we were talking and I mentioned the job at NLPL and she said, "Oh, my God! I have a friend that works there! I'll tell her you're applying for the job."

Not only did her friend work at NLPL, but it was her job that was available -- she was transferring to another department in the library. One thing led to another and I got an interview. And a week later, as I was trying to nap but couldn't turn my brain off, NLPL called and offered me the job. It happened so quickly my head's STILL spinning.

Now, about the digital scrapbooking thing... it seemed inevitable that my reintroduction to the scrapbooking world would lead to the digital realm. When I discovered it, it was like... eureka! I can be creative and still stay on my computer all day! FANTASTIC! I was quickly addicted.

When this whole job situation started looking more serious I considered applying to a creative team to support my habit. Digiscrapping is cheaper than traditional scrapbooking, but there are still things I'd like to buy. And that means money. Which is about to be in very short supply around these parts. Being a part of a creative team would mean I would be given products to use in layouts used to advertise designers. I thought I had no chance. My online portfolio has four layouts in it. That's it. I'm not a big presence on any of the forums, and I threw my blog together in a night.

So, yeah. I was totally shocked yesterday when the email came through telling me I'd been accepted to a team.

And now I'm here. Facing some big changes and making some decisions.

I have a new blog. I started it initially as a place to post layouts but now that I'm on a team, I think that I'm going to make it my main blog. Which means two things:

- monkey girl is going away. I'm not sure when -- probably when I can download the content and back it up. But it is going away.

- because the new blog is public, more of my life will become private. I'm really struggling with that right now. I hate writing there because it feels so stiff and lame. I've grown comfortable writing here, and I'm sure I'll get that way over there too, but it'll take some time.

- the good news is that there's a feed with the new blog, so subscribe! 

I'll be sure to come back here and tell  you when I'm wrapping up, but in the meantime, I'm going to be spending a lot more time on the other blog, so come visit me there.

listening to: absolute silence

If you follow me on twitter, you would have seen that my oh-so-helpful physical therapist recommended -- as treatment for my headaches -- a glass of wine, soft music, and a vacation. So I'm in Massachusetts, fulfilling 1/3 of the plan. Of course, because it's ME, as soon as we hit cruising altitude during the flight yesterday, I noticed my throat hurt. Fast forward to this morning, and the first full day of my vacation begins with a cold. Remind me to yell at my PT when I get back to Chicago, because clearly this is all his fault.



 



Now, I would like to send a resounding THANK YOU to all of you who sent good vibes my way last week. In short, they worked. OH, DID THEY WORK.



 



Ready to hear what your collective thought-sending accomplished? (Yes, I'm giving the credit to all of you, but mostly to my grandmother, who damn near set her house on fire lighting so many candles.)



 



I am now a bona-fide, honest-to-goddess librarian. I was offered and accepted a position at a (ahem, GORGEOUS) library 30 minutes from my house as an adult and teen librarian. A LIBRARIAN. You guys. I get to, like, order books! And plan programs! And teach classes! And answer reference questions and not have to say, "Oh, a librarian will have to answer that for you," because THAT'S ME, ya'll!



 



Also, this means that I will be back to only having one job. Hallelujah, I will see my family again. And my house will be clean. Of course, this also means a substantial kick in the balls to our income, but pshaw, I say. PUH-SHAW. Because I will be happy. And if I'm happy, well... I think you know how that sentence ends.



 



So. There you have it. And I know it goes without saying but please no posting anything about this on public forums. I still have to give notice to my million jobs. But as soon as it's public I'll let everyone know.

because it's sunday night

Hello friends and neighbors:

Look at me! Not ignoring you!

Um. I may be creating another blog. It's not that I don't like you, it's just that you're not fulfilling all my needs. If you catch my drift. Anyway, prepare yourself for a reveal. Which means I'll never get around to it. In which case, just ignore this whole paragraph.

Everyone sent me good juju on Thursday, yes? Yes. Thank you! If it all works out, I'll tell you what all your good juju helped me achieve. If not, screw you guys and please go back to juju school because it failed.

My husband is out of town -- AGAIN -- and I have to work a bazillion hours while he's gone. Thankfully my mother-in-law came to watch Emma while I worked this weekend. And I've lined up a babysitter to watch her Monday and Wednesday nights. AND THEN she (Emma, not the babysitter, because wow. that would be weird) and I get on a plane and fly to Massachusetts and await the arrival of my husband via locomotive. At which point I will probably say, "I HAD TO WORK A BAZILLION HOURS THIS WEEK." And he will say, "And whose idea was it to take a second job?" And I will get huffy and storm off. And THAT, my friends and neighbors, is how you make a marriage work.

Let's see, let's see... oh! In happier news, I found an awesome farmer's market. So for all of you locals, Frankfort's market is the shizz.

And now I'm off to eat my dinner (cereal) and go to bed (watch Netflix) and get some good rest (lie awake listening to all the creepy noises my house makes in the dark).

speedy delivery

I don't know if anyone will even see this before Thursday, but in case someone does, a quick request from me:



Please send all good thoughts/vibes/ju-ju my way Thursday afternoon. Er, 3ish CST.



There's something BIG (in a good way, not in a hospital-related-they're-removing-a-vital-organ way) happening on that day and any things you can send across the psychic telephone lines (shut up, Fred) would be awesome.



Updates soon. Promise.

I just checked the calendar

I just checked the calendar so I could post a quick, "Hey, ya'll, only BLANK days until the Mad Men premiere" when I realized that Fred will be out of town on that day. And we'll all be out of town the following weekend. Which means that I'll have to wait an extra three weeks until I can see new episodes. Which caused much hyperventilation and frantic messaging on my part.



(10 days, by the way. 10 days for the rest of you with spouses staying home and cable TV.)



I know I owe you many posts about many things... and all I can say is: too bad.

albatross

So! Still here. Just, uh, strangely busy.

But I managed to finally get some pictures off my camera and phone. Except the Flickr iPhoto updater is a bitch and decided not to keep the pictures together, so I will instead direct you to the sets I painfully created just to keep some semblance of order.

Sigh.

Set the first! Emma's first ballet recital. Uh, two months ago.*

Set the second! The tea party I decided to host during a brief lapse in sanity. Also, I didn't take many pictures so please use your imagination.*

Set the third! In the evening after the tea party my friends threw a totally awesome surprise graduation party for me and totally made me teary. Stupid awesome friends.

Set the fourth! Emma's last day of school.*

AND set the fifth! The park district out here is pretty sweet, and a friend of mine (who works for them) organized a nature walk with a fairy theme. Needless to say, it was a big hit.*

Scattered among the sets are pics of me and Fred taken by Emma, and proof that I don't kill every plant that I come into contact with.

Please to enjoy while I try to recover from the busy-ness.

*Log in to Flickr to see ALL the photos, since, you know, there are other people's kids and other people can be weird about their kids and the interwebs.





Trying a variation on the iTunes-generated title, instead using whatever's currently playing when I start writing. Prepare yourself for lots of posts titled "silence." The Besnard Lakes (via The Current)

home

sick kid

no sleep

lightning all night like a pack of photographers outside my windows

office a disaster

wearing my husband's shirt

admiring my nails

family all together again in T-6 hours

good morning.