This 'n' That

 It's now about 11 months into the COVID shutdown. I've adapted to many things and feel as if I can't stand one more minute of many others.

I've sort of gotten used to staying at home, though I sometimes find myself planning for a weekend and wondering which friends to invite. M and I used to go out just about every Friday or Saturday night depending on what was happening. Since we were more active than most of our friends, it was usually up to us to initiate a get together with another couple or two. Now, many of our friends are not going to any indoor venue and some of the rest are not meeting with people regardless of the location.

Perhaps I should feel grateful. The fewer people with whom I come in contact, the less my chance of contracting COVID or even the seasonal flu.

Right now (as I look out on the snow-covered yard) I'm (not so) patiently waiting for spring and warmer weather when we can entertain on the patio or screened in porch. At least the days are getting longer.

I now have a walking buddy. C, who also leads senior exercise classes in Hatfield, walks nearly every day. Since she lives near the center of town, she many routes from which to choose and they are all relatively flat. Where I live, there is only one place to walk and it's all downhill. Which means on my way back, when I'm getting tired, it's all uphill. C and I have been meeting about once a week and walking around town in different directions. We walk about 3-4 miles (which is much more than I would do on my own); once we did nearly 5 miles.

Walking is good especially because I seem to have lost interest in Yoga and Pilates. Suddenly, I just didn't want to do them anymore. Maybe I just need a break. Or need different CDs and DVDs.

Of course, I've been doing a lot of reading. I began the V.I. Warshawski mystery series by Sara Paretsky. I'd forgotten how much I like her books. When I first discovered them many years ago, I read all of them. But then, as always happens, I caught up to her and she doesn't write as fast as I read. At best, only one is published each year. The same thing happened with Louise Penny. But it's been so long since I read Paretsky's earliest books, they're all new again.

And on my alphabetical list of potential duplicates, I've reached The most ...

Today, I'll be going into the MLS office. It's the highlight of my week.

I Want to Live in Three Pines

Three Pines is a fictional town in Québec province just north of the Vermont border. It's not on any map, but is featured in Louise Penny's mystery series starring Armand Gamache and an interesting array of characters.

I'm now reading The Long Way Home, the tenth book in this series. M. Gamache has just retired from the Sûreté du Québec. He and his wife Reine-Marie have moved from Montréal to Three Pines.

There is a town green surrounded by quaint businesses: a bookstore, a bistro, a bakery, and a market. There is also a funky B&B as well as a more upscale spa a little way off, but still basically in town. Small houses and cottages are also around the green, each has its own back yard. People meander around the green, kids play games on the green, others sit on benches to the side of the green.

I'd love to stay at the B&B, have breakfast there among the antiques. Then I'd take a walk. I'd probably go beyond the green. It would be nice to go just far enough to see the whole town all at once and get an overall feeling.

By then, it would be lunchtime. I'd go to the bistro for that. If the weather was chilly, there'd be fires in the two fireplaces and I'd sit near one of them. If it was summertime, I'd be out on the terrace so that I could enjoy the fresh air.

Everyone in Three Pines knows everyone else. It's not unusual to have several people gather in someone's home for dinner. Perhaps they'd invite me. Afterwards, we could all go to the bistro for a nightcap. There would be stimulating conversation, lots of witty repartee, and many laughs.

Given the last 6 weeks of social distancing, I'm longing to spend time face-to-face with people. I'm already planning some parties and deciding the best combinations of friends who would enjoy each other's company. I've even started planning the dinner menu. It's been cooler than usual lately, and it's difficult to work outside. I'd prefer to have a tidy yard before inviting people to share time there.

In the meantime, I've been sending long emails or writing letters to some friends, calling others I haven't seen in a long time, and generally keeping in touch as much as I can.

And I'm already looking forward to the next installment of life in Three Pines.

Waiting for May

When the weather turns cold and dreary, usually around November or so, I begin to anticipate the month of April.

Ah, April, when the temperatures begin to rise and the daffodils pop up and the days get longer.

Yes, it's April and those things are happening, but now I'm waiting for May.

May is when we might be able to relax the social distancing and see people more often. May is when I might be able to go back to the office to work instead of telecommuting. May is when I may be able to begin leading my exercise class again. I'm waiting for May.

In the meantime, I'm avoiding contact with the outside world as much as possible. I do go out to buy food once in a while. I'm pretty well stocked with canned and frozen goods, but fresh fruits and vegetables need replenishing.

I'm doing more cooking than usual since we're not going out to dinner a couple of times a week. Going out to dinner often means doggy bags as well, which is an additional meal I don't have to cook. I like to cook and I'm reviving some recipes I haven't made in a while and trying out a few new ones. I have a large supply of recipes I've collected from various places and haven't yet tried. Now's a good time.

It's still a little chilly most days to work outside, but I do that as much as possible. There are old plants to be tossed into the woods and leaves to be gathered and tossed in the woods too. I'd like to start some geranium cuttings, but space in the house is limited and it's too cool for them to be outside. Sometimes I wish I had a greenhouse. I have lots of good sunny windows, but I can only put so many plants in front of them. By May, I'll likely be able to fill the decks with flowers. I love all of the color.

Yes, I'm waiting for May.

It's June again!

Finally! Until last week, the weather was mostly cold and rainy, but then there was the heat wave and the last couple of days have been clear, dry, and refreshing.

Well, this is New England - noted for its variety of weather. Isn't that why we live here? So we won't be bored with beautiful sunny weather day after day?

June is the month of anniversaries: M and I were married 6 years ago, began living together 26 years ago, had our first date 28 years ago. It's been an adventure living with M. and sometimes I wonder how I got myself into this situation. But then I remember it's because I wanted some variety in my life and I need help with that. If it were up to me, I'd have nothing but smooth routines - a little like that perpetually sunny weather described above.

June is the month of my birthday. This is a big one - another decade. Fortunately, I'm not nearly as upset about turning 70 as I was when I turned 60. I have lots of positive role models much older than I: most of the people in my exercise class and also M. I think he keeps me young.

And June is when I was laid off from my job in 2010. Shortly after that, I began this blog as I was looking for another job and, as it says in the tag line, maybe another career. I've found both.

Fortunately (wow, that's the second time I've used that word in this post), I'm old enough to collect Social Security and can afford to work only part-time. After many, many different part-time jobs during these 7 years, I've settled into being the MassCat Cataloger - probably the most perfect job for me I could imagine. The work can be tedious, but it's only part-time. I might go crazy if I had to do it 40 hours each week; I can manage 18 hours.

And then there's my exercise class. True, I don't get paid to lead it, but if I were the entrepreneurial type (which I'm not), I could develop those skills into something to produce income. I do get several free meals each year from the appreciative organizations for whom I volunteer.

Sounds as if things are pretty sunny after all.

Feeling Frazzled

There is an awful lot going on in my life right now.

In addition to working and leading the exercise class, there is the normal household business of laundry, dishes, cooking meals, shopping for food, and paying bills on time.

Now that spring has arrived, the yard needs attention. We have a pond that was shut down for the winter. It needs to be opened and that means a couple of days of draining, power washing, refilling, setting up pumps, and trimming (maybe repotting) plants. The pond is beautiful and relaxing once it is up and running, but twice a year (spring and fall) it is a pain in the neck.

Spring is the season for Continuing Education workshops and I'm scheduled for 3 in the next couple of weeks. The first is a 2-day Cataloging & Classification workshop needed for directors in small public libraries in order for them to be certified by the state and for their libraries to be eligible for state grants. The following week, I'm giving 2 half-day programs in Connecticut and the week after that, a full-day program.

On the personal front, my mother died in December of 2014 and my father has not been well since then. My parents were devoted to each other and he was her primary care giver until she entered a nursing home for the last few months. Even then, he was with her every day. Now my father won't be with us much longer. The doctor's prognosis is vague: a few weeks or a few months. I'm trying to manage at least one visit with him very soon. He lives about a 2 1/2 hour drive away and a visit is pretty much an all-day affair. Fortunately, most of my siblings (and there are many) live much closer. They have been keeping an eye on him and communicating with me and each other.

At times like this when life seems beyond my control, mindfullness and meditation can help me stay calm and think clearly. These next few weeks are a time for deep breathing. I know there will always be difficulties, sorrow and loss. I will face them.

Loss

On the same weekend, two people I know died.

H. was in my exercise class. She had been ill for the last several months and her death was not unexpected. Until she became ill, she was an active member of several communities: church, historical society, and service organizations as well as attending exercise class. She was in her mid 80s, but still tough, smart and witty; always dressed nicely, had her hair done regularly, and wore make-up whenever I saw her. She was tiny, but a powerhouse. She will be missed.

The second person I didn't know very well; her husband and I serve together on a committee. He missed some meetings a few years ago because she had been diagnosed with ovarian cancer. They're both a few years younger and I am. I began to write brief messages to her on pretty note cards, wishing her well. I sent her postcards when I went on vacation and even just from home. Chemotherapy was successful and she recovered. I had a chance to meet her in person. She was delightful and charming and I thoroughly enjoyed our conversations.

Then, the cancer returned; she began treatments, I began sending cards. After a few weeks, she and the doctors decided the treatments just weren't working and they ceased. She died. I sent a card to her husband telling him that even though I had only met her a couple of times and didn't know her well, I liked her very much.

Death is all part of the life cycle. Still, when it happens to someone I know, I'm always a little shaken. My world, the entire world, changes a little bit.

Winter 2015

This winter has really taken a toll on me. The snow, the cold, the extent of both. I'm functioning okay, but I'm certainly not at peak performance. My lack of postings is one of the results.

M. and I had an early January vacation in southern California. It was great. One entire week where the most we had to wear to keep warm was a sweater or light jacket. We heard others complaining about the cold, but it was like heaven to us. I thought that when we came back home, the worst of winter would be over and we could begin anticipating spring, which, despite the mud, makes me happy because the days are getting longer and the weather is getting warmer.

Ha! That week in January when we were away was just practice for the artic conditions in New England. That week in California is such a distant sensory memory even though it was just 6 weeks ago. At least the days are getting longer.

I have a lot of work to do. I agreed to give some cataloging workshops. Since I'm not teaching at Simmons SLIS-west this semester, I have more time and less money. I like giving CE classes. In, out, and no papers to grade. Of course, there are no relationships that build over the course of 12-14 weeks, but some of these people in CE programs I see 2 or 3 times.

I'm headed off for a chair Yoga class in a few minutes. After that, I have errands to run. When I get back home, I'll hunker down and get some serious planning done on those workshops. Now that I've put my intentions into print, I have to follow through.

It Seems Like So Much More - Redux

Working all of these different jobs means that I receive a lot of different checks, or get money deposited in my checking account. It feels as if money is pouring in. Unfortunately, each check or deposit is not a large amount as it represents somewhere between 8 and 20 hours of work.

The Mass. Library System pays every two weeks. So does the Donohue Group. Their pay day falls on different weeks so there is a deposit one week from MLS and a check the following week from DGI.

The Springfield City Library pays weekly. That's another deposit.

Simmons College pays on the first of the month, although only during the academic year when I'm teaching. My last deposit happened May 1 and I won't get another until October 1.

And then there are the continuing education workshops I give for MLS, the Connecticut State Library and occasionally another organization. Those are checks that arrive a couple of weeks after the workshop.

While the total of all these checks/deposits does not add up to the full time position I had at CMRLS, they represent a steady income on which I can depend and that makes my life (and paying bills) a lot easier.

In or Out?

I love this time of year. The weather is getting warmer, the days are getting longer. I'm feeling energetic and motivated to do all the things I've been putting off all winter.

The problem is, the change of seasons means there are even more things to do! I've brought my warm weather clothes out of the spare closet and am putting the cold weather clothes away for a few months. I wear hats. I needed to unpack my summer hats and pack up the winter ones.

I'm more aware of the fingerprints on the refrigerator door and the smudges on the windows. I want to clean the house and have it be all sparkling. I want to give my office a thorough cleaning and reorganization.

But other duties call as well. This is the time of year that flowers and shrubs are growing. With them grow the weeds and other things I'd rather not have in my yard. If I let things go too long, I'll never be able to catch up. I always plant some annuals so that I can enjoy their color all summer long, and I can't wait much longer to do that.

Then there are the herbs. I love using fresh herbs when I cook. I buy a few small pots and transplant them into much larger pots that I keep on the screened-in porch off of the kitchen. It's so handy.

But which do I do first? Can I finish everything I want to do? It's best to work outside when the sun is shining and it's not too cold, but that's also when I want to vacuum and scrub.

I was able to get a lot accomplished this weekend. I crossed several things off of my to-do list, so there are fewer items vying for my attention.

I'll just have to do the best I can. After all, I want to do all of these things so that I can relax and enjoy the results (pretty flowers, a clean house). Driving myself crazy for not doing them kind of defeats the purpose. I need to continually remind myself:

1. Don't sweat the small stuff.
2. It's all small stuff.

Juggling

Mostly I really like my life right now: I'm busy doing interesting things, I'm meeting new people, I'm doing useful things, my body is getting exercise, and my brain is getting a LOT of exercise trying to keep my schedule straight.

I have 4 part-time jobs that pay money and 2 volunteer positions. Here's what my week looks like so far:

Monday was a state holiday so Springfield City Library was closed. However, DGI was not, so I drove to Windsor, CT and worked there for the day. Monday at DGI is "soup day" when two people bring in soup and two bring bread and we have lunch together. Usually I'm not in that office at lunch time and don't get to share the soup and bread. Since this was one of the few times I'd be there all day, I volunteered to make one of the soups. The meal was tasty and fun.

Tuesday I went to MassCat and hunted for bib records that the members could not find. Then I merged duplicates. I only work there for 5 hours so I had some time at the end of the day to visit my insurance agent who is reviewing the various policies to see what needs changing.

Today is Wednesday and I need to stop by the library to sign warrants and deliver them to Town Hall so that bills can be paid. This is one of my responsibilities as Chair of the Library Trustees. Then it's on to lead the Senior Exercise Class - my other volunteer position and then on to MassCat.

Tomorrow, Thursday, I'll spend the morning at Springfield City Library cataloging music CDs and then the afternoon at DGI cataloging e-books.

A symptom of my juggling life is that I wrote the above post a week and a half ago and I'm now just getting to finish it.

So now it's Saturday. Yesterday I led the exercise class, went grocery shopping and then home to prep for today's class on Information Organization. That's my typical Friday (it may or may not include grocery shopping). However, yesterday afternoon, my husband (it still seems awkward to call him that) went to visit our financial advisor to begin planning for April 15 - tax day - and beyond.

In a few hours I'll be heading out to Simmons-west to teach budding librarians about organizing information resources. Today's topic is metadata.

Sunday is the day my husband and I spend quality time together. I have a nice breakfast planned - Mediterranean Baked Eggs. I hope to get some housecleaning done, too.

And next week? What's that phrase? Rinse, repeat.

Bah, Humbug

I'm not a religious person. I hate the crass commercialism of any holiday. I don't have children and therefore don't (and never did) have to perpetuate the story of Santa Claus. I especially don't like trying to live a normal life - shop for food, have my hair cut, run other mundane errands - only to face incredible amounts of traffic on the city streets.

What I really hate most about Christmas - that season of "peace on earth and goodwill toward men" - is how frazzled and short tempered so many people become. While trying to navigate all that traffic, many drivers cut in front of other cars, lean on their horns, and generally become obnoxious.

However, there are a few things I like about the holiday season. I love the lights. I love driving down the street and seeing trees lit up. And one of the few concessions I make - that many others have abandoned - is writing personal notes in Christmas cards and sending them to people I seldom see. I don't want to lose touch with people I worked closely with 20 or 30 years ago. Many of them have moved far away but I still think of them. Facebook and other online connections are not the same as sitting down with a cheerful card and telling a friend (briefly) what I've been doing for the last year and wishing her or him well.

Now that we have entered the new year and the manic celebrations are over I can get back to my mundane routines and shop for food without fighting frantic crowds.

But I will miss the lights.

Another book

My local public library subscribes to something called Wowbrary. Every week I receive an email listing the books and other items that have just been added to the collection.

A recent Wowbrary posting included Lessons from Madame Chic: 20 stylish secrets I learned while living in Paris. Since I like to take breaks from reading murder mysteries and I'm always interested in fashion tips, I clicked on the "Reserve" button.

This book was not quite what I expected, but still pretty interesting.

Jennifer Scott spent 6 months in Paris as an exchange student. Life in Paris was very different from her native southern California and she learned a lot, only some of which was about fashion. Jennifer has one chapter in Part 2 (Style and beauty) called "Liberate yourself with the ten-item wardrobe". She claims that French women, even in well-to-do families like the one she lived with, have very few clothes. They buy good quality clothes that they can mix and match and don't wear something entirely different every single day. This wardrobe is not as restrictive as you might imagine. There are ten different items for summer and winter and many things are excluded from the basic 10 such as outer wear, underwear, jewelry, scarves, shoes and other accessories.

Ten items are fewer than I'd like to own, even with the exclutions. It feels a little like being a vegan. I can totally understand having a couple of basic pairs of pants and a couple of skirts, but I find variety in tops, of which I have several (although much fewer than I used to). Tops that really catch my attention are some of the few things I have bought during the last couple of years. I really enjoy wearing them. My wardrobe is more like being a vegetarian.

While I don't expect to whittle my wardrobe down to 10 items, it will definitely continue to get smaller. There are several things that have been on on the borderline and this book is tipping them out of the closet and into the donation bin.

Another chapter that struck my fancy was entitled "Look presentable always". The Parisian family with whom Jennifer lived always wore their good clothes, even at home. While I take care when I go out in public and when having guests in, at home alone, I usually wear what I call "play clothes." These are the sweat pants, t-shirts, old socks, etc. that are old and worn but still (in my opinion) wearable. They're great for working in the house or yard because I never have to worry about ruining them. Madame Chic supposedly wore good clothes when she did her housecleaning (she did all her own housecleaning, one way she was able to stay trim) and simply wore an apron over them to keep them clean. I don't know if my house is dirtier to start with or I clean differently, but an apron - even a large one - would not suffice.

While many of the "secrets" in Lessons from Madame Chic are things I already do and others are things I know about but have not incorporated into my life for whatever reason, I draw the line at giving up my play clothes.

An Itinerant Cataloger

I've just finished the first week of my new schedule as an itinerant cataloger, although the schedule will fluctuate a little from week to week. There are two holidays in November to work around, too. The week was somewhat more chaotic than usual since I had to cope with 34 hours of no electricity due to Hurricane Sandy.

Here's what it looked like:

Monday: I arrived at Springfield City Library at 9:00 a.m. The first thing I needed to do was learn the cataloging function of Evergreen and SCL's local practices. The library closed at noon because of the storm. I went home and graded papers and began prep for Thursday's class. The lights went out at 2:30, but I worked until it got too dark to do that. I lit candles, listened to the battery powered radio and watched the wind blow the trees around.

Tuesday: Still no lights. I went to SCL and worked on music CDs (mostly copy cataloging), got more comfortable with Evergreen and SCLs music classification system.

Wednesday: The lights came on about 12:30 a.m. It was good to wash in warm water and make coffee that morning. I went to Town Hall to teach the senior exercise class at the Council on Aging office, then off to MassCat to work on their database. I'm more aware of the differences between Evergreen and Koha, the two most common Open Source systems available to libraries.

Thursday was owner/member appreciation day at the local food co-op. I had been planning for a couple of weeks to go shopping there and take advantage of the 10% discount. First, I had to finish prepping for LIS415, which I did. I had a lot of photocopying to do for class, so I left a little early. It was a good class, perhaps the best of the semester. This has been a quiet group of students, not much discussion/questions during class but that night was different. They had a group assignment to work on and really got into it.

Friday: back to Town Hall, but first a stop by the library to sign the bi-weekly warrants (I'm trustee chair). The other exercise instructor usually takes responsibility for most of Friday's class. I lead the part where the exercises aggravate her bad back. I found out that the Town Hall will be closed the day after Thanksgiving and there will be no exercise class. That's good because it makes my schedule easier. The MassCat office will also be closed that day and if there's no exercise class, I can work at SCL from 9-5.

So now it's Saturday and I don't feel like doing anything at all. I've done some odds and ends around the house and there are plenty of things I could do, but they can wait till tomorrow. Tomorrow I'll have more time. It's the first day of Standard Time (fall back) and will be a whole hour longer.

With Thanks to the Rolling Stones

You can't always get what you want. But if you try sometime, you just might find, you get what you need.

I don't often listen to rock music anymore, but I did back when this song was popular.

Composing a Life by Mary Catherine Bateson has been on my mental "to read" list for a long time. I finally requested it via Interlibrary loan. And a few weeks ago, just browsing through the fiction section of my local public library, I picked up (and have sinced finished reading) Open House by Elizabeth Berg. Coming on the heels of Eat, Pray, Love and Committed that's a lot of introspection. (I did, however, take a fun romp in the middle of the above quartet with Original Sin by Beth McMullen.)

I'm still digesting all of the ideas that have been swarming through my mind as I identify with segments of all of these other womens' stories and feeling how their resolutions might fit into my life.

In Committed Elizabeth Gilbert is faced with having to marry her Brazilian born lover so that he can travel freely to and from the United States. Since both had been through difficult divorces, they were reluctant to marry again. While they wait for the beaurocracy to grind through the process, Liz researched marriage by reading vociferously and also interviewing women in the countries they visited. I, too, was resistant to getting married and am still ambivalent about legalizing my relationship with my partner of 20 years. We did so, like Liz, for practical reasons.

Open House is the story of Samantha whose husband has left her for a younger woman. During her 15-year marriage, she devoted herself totally to being a wife and mother and is now faced with learning who she really is underneath those other rolls. I see the similarities in how I viewed my job which ended before I was ready to leave. I'm now exploring other options, while often wishing - like Samantha does about her marriage - that I were still at that job.

And Composing a Life delves into the lives of 5 women who have had to make changes as their circumstances took unexpected paths.

I hadn't planned to read all of these books together; it just kind of happened. But the confluence, while not something I specifically want, may turn out to be something I need.