Hard at Work...

Consider this fair warning, patrons!

My offering to the "Power of Half" program

My Hootie Awards... both won for Most Likely to Talk to Puppets

Speaking of Hooties, this is one of my bulletin boards at MAX.

I love both the mug and the saying, " Live in peace and peace will live in you."

My desk at work is covered in pictures, toys, magnets and stickers. It is very me. Though I am very big about keeping it cleaned off. I need lots of room to do arts and crafts. I am so living the quote, " Love your job and you'll never have to work a day in your life." I do love my job. I told a supervisor in my first couple of months of working that I have the best job in the whole wide world. I said it just like that. And even after nine years, I still think so.

Good night and good job : )

Seen while Driving

Today, I saw three things that gave me pause while driving. Well, not actually pause because the other cars around me were going like 65 and that would have caused things that would have prevented this posting.

The first was a license plate. I am definitely thinking that it was a vanity plate. Otherwise, someone got lucky and somehow got SUP FOO. I think it was supposed to be What's up, fool... it must have been the failed tag line of Bugs Bunny cousin, Insect Rabbit. All I thought was it would be what a cop would say if he caught you doing something illegal in that car. Particularly since it was so very easy for a witness to remember.

The second was a bumper sticker. Now, this one I have never seen before. I am seriously tempted to ask where the owner got again. Again, unfortunately, we were driving 65 so I could not have heard what he said even if I could ask. The sticker read: "This property is protected by Pirates" with a Jolly Roger above the statement. I have heard of Safetouch and ADT but Pirates. I am betting that it is one safe property. I am sure I saw a cannon in the back seat.

The third was a truck that I passed. It was just a plain ordinary white truck but for the fact that it was covered in stencilled on political graffiti. LOL I don't recall the last time I was on the fence politically and then saw a stencilled truck and thought "Wow! That truck likes him so I should vote for that guy". Though it did make it into a blog post... so maybe it sorta worked.

Good day and Eyes open.

Something I was working on tonight

I held a girl of smoldering fire to my heart today.
My breath makes swirls of her ash and soot.
Inside she is a girl of molten gold,
free to be molded into her dreams.
Yet this girl choses to set herself alight.
To embrace the pain, to destroy all that hides within.
My tears to steam turn before leaving traces on my heart.
My embrace tastes of nothing but agony.
My burning prayers of faith for phoenix and not failure
mingle with flakes of ash in the morning air.
How do I burn yet hold fast?
Pain upon pain upon pain
Sweetens her kiss.
Release and hold true somehow I must.
Seams have not the same bond as I.
They scream in freedom.
Could I not learn to love that scream?

I held a man of vanishing mist today.
Aching with all my being to clasp that which slips away.
Broken and rightly so he believes
his pain to be well deserve for some imagined offense.
I curse the wind ever changing
to blow him back in my direction.
Back into form and forgiveness.
The wind merely snatches my breath like
an unruly child running from parent.
Reflections of my love are all that remain
in this wild swept gale.
I suck in sweet air but not he.
Sunshine has coveted him for long
and thus reclaimed the mist.
Misty eyes now mine
as sorrow courses out of every pore.

3 Miracles

One definition of miracle is an effect or extraordinary event in the physical world that surpasses all known human or natural powers and is ascribed to a supernatural cause. Or it can also be an effect or event manifesting or considered as a work of God. Another defintion of it is a wonder or marvel.

I experienced 3 miracles today. There are more but I'll let you figure out what other ones happened today.

Miracle 1: Night into day. I don't want to alarm you but you're moving. All of us are. All the time, the earth spins on its axis. Each day it spins and turns day into night and then night into day. I mean it seems commonplace not miracleous. But imagine if it didn't.

Miracle 2: My chest rose and fell. Just now. Look, I did it again. But then so did you. Again, you would think commonplace but imagine if you didn't. It did get me thinking of all the things that I do which everyone does. We all breathe, bleed, fart, die and such. More alike than we choose to admit.

Miracle 3: I was loved today. And so were you. Even if you didn't notice or care or can admit it to yourself. Every second of every day, God loves you and me and everyone. Good, bad, crazy, sane... it doesn't matter. All that matters is he does. Whatever I do or am, I am loved and so are you.

To me, even though I don't stop to think of them as miracles every day, they are. Each of these is a marvel to me. I wish for one second everyone in the world could see these miracles.

Good night and watch.

Ironic

What do you mean the other kitties want to play with my toy?
Benja and his new cat toy

Crazy cat lady candy tin

All tuckered out after play

We ate out a bit ago at a local sandwichy show that sells European food and such. It was there that B bought me a tin of little cat shaped candies. The candies came in this tin. They were Crazy Cat Lady candy.

In the movie "Til There was You", the main character is told that if she goes over 3 cats and is still single, she moves into Crazy cat lady status. Well, when we met, I had 3 cats. But he loved them and me. We now have four and I have amended that idea. It is now so many per person. So for us, crazy cat people status only comes if we hit seven. 3 for each and one more pushes us over.

Though some might find us crazy now with four. In my own way, I have always and will be always a lady who is crazy about cats. I love and care about my own. They make me laugh and cry and get angry. But no matter what, I love them. I feel that same way about my family, my husband, and my God. All of the above have made me laugh and cry and get angry. But no matter what, I love them.

Good night and meow.

To Share

Once upon a time, I had a wall. But not much to hang on it. I was barely out of college so I created a wall sized collage. I put pictures, quotes, funny sayings, etc. on this wall.

Well, the other day I stumbled upon some of the things I had posted and I would like to share. For one reason or another, these things spoke something to me.

"If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away" ~Henry David Thoreau

What if the Hokey Pokey IS what it is all about?

It calls for an individual sense of style that is a bit adventurous.

It speaks to an open, young, creative, inquistive state of mind.

It requires timing, imagination, confidence, daring and vision.

It's for those who welcome the new, the unusual, the unexpected.

God bless you!

"You can complain because the roses have thorns or you can rejoice because thorns have roses" ~Ziggy

"We should keep for ourselves a little back shop, all our own, untouched by others, in which we estabilish our true freedom..." ~ Montaigne

"Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life." ~Confucius

Grow closer to your friends. Plant a tree to outlast you. Bloom out of season. Sprout wings and soar, earth angel.

"The Lord himself is my inheritance, my prize. He is my food and drink, my highest joy! He guards all that is mine...I will bless the Lord who counsels me; he gives me wisdom in the night. He tells me what to do. ~ Psalm 16:5,7

What on Earth

"Always do what you want, and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind" ~ Dr. Seuss

"If you realize that you have enough, you are truly rich" ~Tao Te Ching

I made a promise to bring romance back into my life, to kiss negativity good bye and love the dawning of each new day!

"Curve: The loveliest distance between two points." ~Mae West

" We make ourselves up as we go along." ~Kate Green

"If everyone demanded peace instead of another television set, then there'd be peace" ~John Lennon

My essence glows. My heart dances. My voice sings.

"Reading should be an education of the heart...[It] reminds you that there is more than you, better than you" ~Susan Sontag

breather calm. Peace found here. Embrace it.

"Everything has beauty but not everyone sees it." ~Confucius

"I am not the same, having seen the moon shine on the other side of the world." ~Mary Anne Radmacher-Hershey

"We are here to add what we can to, not to get what we can from life" ~Sir William Osler

He's dead, Jim. You take his tri-corder and I'll get his wallet.

"I have gone ahead despite the pounding in the heart that says: turn back." ~ Erica Jong

I wouldn't be broke if the voices in my head paid rent.

"There came a time when the risk to remain tight in the bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom." ~Anais Nin

"The ordinary acts we practice every day at home are of more importance to the soul than their simplicity might suggest." ~Sir Thomas More

"...the way you live your life, the perspective you select, is a choice you make every single day when you wake up. It's yours to decide..."

We are born works of art.

Eve: From the Hebrew meaning, "life giving". A lady with a loving nature. She is a devoted mate. Romance, love and unity are central to her life. She is without equal or rival.

Good night and speak well.

Pawprints on my heart

Once upon a time, I had a little cat who wasn' t so little. He was grouchy and demanding but also incredibly loving. If I sat down, he was in my lap. My sister brought him to me from Gainesville. Before that, he was an outdoor kitty who lived around in her apartment complex.


Basil was one of the first kitties of mine that my husband met. It was love at first sight. For us and for him and Basil. He called him my comfort kitty. Whenever I would get upset, the first thing B would do would be to go find Basil.

After over eight years with me (and then us), one day he began acting strange. He just seemed to lay around (even more so than normal) and didn't want to eat or drink. I decided to take him to the vet and this was a good thing. His liver was failing and if I hadn't taken him, he might have died while we were at work. We wouldn't have been able to say good bye. But we did get to say good bye and got to tell him how much we loved him.


He died over 6 months ago. I don't know why I was thinking about him today. I do think about him often. I miss him so much. I cry about him sometimes. Heaven is where he deserves to be even with his grumpy meows. It is sad to miss him but in the end I treasure all my memories of him.

Good day and meow : )

One Last Holiday Tradition

We had meant to do it for my birthday but instead, we did it tonight. We headed down to St. Augustine for their Night of Lights. It is like the whole center of town is decked out in lights. Houses, parks, museums, churches... all were gleaming in the night.

We were able to hop about a trolley to ride around to see it all. Hop being a loosely used term. Particularly since we had parked at one trolley lot to take a trolley to stand in line for another trolley. But it was truly lovely and worth the wait (mostly : ) The streets were just buzzing with people. I think the thing that was Beloved's favorite was the display at the Potter Wax Museum. Both their front windows were decked in holiday decorations along with Darth Vader, Boba Fett, R2D2 and C3PO. I'm sure the Rebels and Empire troops held the cease fire for Christmas.

Good night and May the Christmas be with you.

Turkey is In

And the cats have begun to enjoy their presents. Apparently all the unwrapped boxes became new kitty toys : ) It was a quiet Christmas. My favorite gift was my subjective one. I did my list on Amazon this year. But as always, I had one request that wouldn't fit on Amazon. I have so far asked for a bottle of sunshine, a jar of moonlight and this year's was a box of dreams. Beloved got me that one this year. He found a candle that was both labeled dream and was in a box labeled dream. I must start making these requests more difficult : )

I wonder if there are any open restaurants just in case... that turkey scares me a bit. I don't roast whole anythings very much. Baking I can do but roast just seems strange and foreign. We're also going to be having baked potatos, corn on the cob and cranberry sauce. LOL on the last one as Beloved and I don't like the same type of cranberry sauce. We bought two cans. One for each of us. We can comprise on most things except cranberry sauce.

Good day and Merry Christmas, world!

Mrs. Claus

What do you mean you didn't leave out cookies for Mrs. Claus?

I really wanted to make our holiday party something special. So today I did storytime as someone special, Mrs. Claus. The above pics are my dress rehearsal. I was a bit busy doing storytime so I forgot to get someone to take my picture today. I had added a Christmas apron and painted my eyebrows white. It was wicked hot but such fun. We read A Pirate's Night before Christmas and Who will drive my sleigh tonight for the storytime. Then we had a sing-along (I had to remind them of that) and then lots of fun crafts. We had a stocking giveaway and then everyone got to take 2 books as a present from the library. There were about 20+ people there of all ages.

Good night and to all a good night : )

Another Day of Shooting

After a long morning of cash handling training, I needed a break. A puppet break, of course : )

We shot another scene for the puppet commerical. I can't wait to post it in total. They are doing the Hootie awards again and this might help my vote for Most Likely to Talk to Puppets. Not quite the Oscars but still it is fun to receive credit for something that make me and others laugh.

I also am going to be Mrs. Claus for work on two different days. I have all my pieces of my outfit. I am looking forward to that too. I literally have the best job in the world for me. I love doing storytime and sharing the joy of books with kids. I still get lost in my books and want kids to feel the same way. Books and language. I love using new or interesting words. Gregarious or erudite are two of my favorites. I hope I am both of those things : )

Good night and in the jungle (You'll see when I post the video)

Librariam

It was not my first attempt at mispelling today. Earlier I had been creating beautiful tags for some staff awards. One of my first one was supposed to say Most likely to suffer a breakdown if they catch a customer shelving a book. On my tag, it read Most likely to suffer a breakdown if they cath a customer. I certainly hope no one is doing that in the library.

Then tonight, as I was renewing my passport. This title is what I put for Occupation. I changed it as it would look super bad to have that forever stuck on my passport.

God night and yes, I know but it was intentional : )

Woops!

: ) It was a good thing I got pics of the beautiful job I did on decorating our house with lights. Apparently the hooks I used were NOT super duper solid as my lights were on the ground this morning.

Though on the plus side for today, I did get to film most of my puppet commerical for the staff party in January. Any day where I get to have fun with puppet is a good one.

Good night and puppets rock!

Holidays at the Harms

Our first ornament was also our wedding topper. Now we collect them whenever we go somewhere new.

Kitty Nativity. I am super sure that this is an actual reenactment of the birth of Christ.

Our Tree

Mechanical Christmas Singers

Holidays at the Harms : )

Santa Kitty is Coming to Town

(S)He knows if you've been bad or good... or in this case evil for putting a poor cat in a Santa Hat.

The wreath on our door

A first. We've never put up Christmas lights. Thanks to Mommy Harm for the lights.

Decks the Halls

It's beginning to look a bit like Christmas. We put up our tree and lights yesterday. It was fun as we put the ornaments on the tree, we remembered where we had gotten them. The first ornament we got was the cat bride and groom. It was also our wedding topper. Since then, we have gotten them from everywhere we've been together. I really like our Pirate Santa that we got in Amelia Island. LOL He even has a peg leg : ) We also have ornaments from his and my childhood. I put up the crochet catcus for him and he hung the golden carriage for me.

Good day and joy to the world!

The night lingers...

I have never been a quiet sleeper or so I've been told.

Last night was the worse it has been in a while. B said at first he didn't realize I was asleep. I had my eyes open and I was talking. But then I started having conversations with people who weren't there... he said something about hikers. Then I started talking gibberish. The weird part is there are parts I was at least aware of slightly. I remember trying to talk but I couldn't get my mouth to work. He said I kept pushing him in the shoulder... not hard but still.

The other thing was the kitten was hopping all over me. He had bought one of his toys in. Ben has done this in the past. It is a pole with a string tied to it. It got tangled in my legs. I was laughing and trying to get free. B thought that the kitten might be scratching me. He asked me if he could put the kitten out. I started to cry... not just politely into my pillow... but full on wailing. I actually woke myself with it. And continue for a minute or two afterwards until fully awake. I really don't know what set the crying off. I don't remember.

I was a bit stressed over work schedules changing before bed but that was about it. It definitely has me feeling off kilter today. Very similiar feeling afterwards to a horrible nightmare I had years ago at a youth group mission trip. I want to just stay away from everyone.

Good day and sweet dreams.

My Beloved

I was so nervous about meeting him that I almost didn't get out of the car. I mean, we had talked on the phone and via email but our first date was our first face to face. I had picked the perfect outfit and had checked him out on Google. There was a surprisely abundant amount of info. It has helped that he had run for office a while back. But all of that didn't make me any less scared. I was afraid of falling in love, I was afraid of a horrible date, I was afraid one day I might like him more than he liked me.... to put it mildly, I was afraid.

But I did make it out of the car into the July noon heat. A couple of minutes more of me being afraid and I would have missed him. See, he had left his phone by mistake and with me being late, had been worried that I had called and cancelled. He had been thinking of going home for his phone when I walked up. We ate japanese food and talked, rode to the movies and talked, went out for ice cream and talked. By the end of the six hour long date (the longest I have ever had), we had date two planned.

As we talked, I found him to have a kind heart, an incredibly brillant mind and a quirky sense of humor. That is the same thing I find when I talked to him this morning.

The first time I heard "Feels like Home", I knew that was our wedding song because it is exactly how I feel in his arms. I feel like I am home. I've told him that I love him beyond words. I've tried to put it into words like this posting. But it doesn't do justice to the breathe and depth and scope of how I feel.

I love you, Beloved.

Good night and Happy Birthday, Beloved.

Mama Kitty

Beloved and I have added a new addition to our kitty family. This is Ben or Benja the Ninja as B calls him.

I was not sure that I wanted another kitty before. Losing Basil was extremely tough. It was the first time that B had to help me into the house because I crumbled when I got out of the car. It still is tough.

But Ben has helped and I love him for that and for being himself. He has an extremely sweet nature but loves to play too. He is a lap kitty like Basil and a water kitty like Henri and a player like the girls.

Good day and happy kitties : )

I swear I was a shy child

Alas, no one believes me anymore. I try to tell people that I was so quiet that my family used to routinely make everyone else be quiet and then ask me to talk. I still am quiet at times or in larger groups.

But no one believes me. I am a one-liner. When B and I write the puppet plays, I am a good quipper. I tend to that a lot I have noticed. I do the one liners to make people laugh. My favorite iin the library play was when I sang "I'm a dictator, I'm a dictator, I'm a dictator, woo hoo hoo." It wasn't scripted... it was just what I felt the Miss Ewe character might do.

Funnily enough, no one believes me now when I say I'm not a puppet person. I have now done three filmed ones. We just finished Glog a bit ago. But I still say I am not a puppet person. I might be learning to be one but I am not one yet. We are still working on the editing. : )

Good night and Wakka wakka wakka : )

I may be less quiet but I still find I need my quiet times.

Sleepy Day

I found myself awake for no reason at 6:30 a.m. this morning. It was the second day in a row that this had happened. I dreamed that I had gone to a party and seen an old friend. When I hugged him hello in the dream, it felt very much like a good bye hug. How you can tell the difference I don't know. Afterwards in the dream, I demolished a toilet. I mean smithereens... what exactly this means I don't know. Beloved said he dreamed of a anamatronic puppet play in Amelia Island. We had just gotten back from there last week. He dreamed that he lost the tickets and had been waiting in a long line. He had finally found the tickets when he had woken up.

This was my part of my dream list I wrote in 1996.

I am quite amazed on how many of these I have done. What is even funnier is I have the 1994 version of this and how much changed in just two short years. I have always been a big dreamer either awake or asleep.

Good night and sweet dreams... : )

How to Disappear

I've been reading this book recently called How to Disappear by Frank Ahearn. Now, let me preface this by saying I am not planning to disappear. Though I imagine if I were, I wouldn't be telling anyone either.

It really has been an interesting read. You basically not only have to learn how to leave your old life behind but then you have to create a false trail for those that come looking for you to waste time and money and hopefully convince them to give up the search. He spread intriguing stories throughout the book along with helpful advice. Like the one guy that was so hard to find until the writer found out that he had a serious love for lobsters and tracked him through one of the few companies that ship lobster around the states. Or the people who went the trouble of hiding only to be busted by their friends posting pics telling everyone what a great time Bob was having in SouthAmerica.

Though he does include a section which fit me more. It was about the controlling how much information is out there about you or making it harder for those that bug you to find you. Though I had to laugh when he said to write the misinformation (wrong address or slightly wrong name) down in a notebook. I am constantly leaving stuff down and then walking away particularly at work as I get started on a new project.

Good night and I will be back : ) ...maybe : )