Office update

A few weeks ago I wrote about the organized chaos in the office where I work. Sometimes it drives me crazy...but I try to go with the flow. The thing is I never know when my boss is going to decide to "tidy up"...and so even when I arrive at work and things have been put back/away/whatever.....it's not necessarily better. Last Saturday I got to work and found this! Ah...Friday must've been slow...D had time to straighten up....too bad it took me 10-15 minutes to figure out where things were NOW! sometimes you just can't win! Table was now visible...but where did she put the tape?, etc. Oh well....it kept me busy........



Decorations
"stored" up on the ceiling...
luckily I'm short....I just need
the step stool to get them down as needed.

Old Office Depot boxes hold construction paper scraps to be used for small parts of projects...like eyes, noses, etc.

Out in the Youth services part of the library.................................a display
celebrating the 40th Anniversary of the Moon Launch and landing....a big part of life on "the Space Coast". Next week we are doing stories and songs about space.....and painting Glow-in the-Dark t-shirts.

Easy Books in this section...and you can see some of D's flower decorations

and part of our Children's area.

We had a craft program on Monday....the kids made a mobile....they turned out pretty cute.

better than I thought and then along with our usual Toddler Time, LapTime and Storytime programs...we had another visit from Jiggleman. He is scheduled for a total of 3 visits to our library in hopes of spreading the crowds out and giving everyone a chance to see him, Well...we didn't expect as many as we got (close to 200)...they were calling from Suntree (30-40 minutes away (in traffic) and Palm Bay 30-40 minutes away in the other direction......it's just crazy! I left at 12:30pm... so D was on her own.....she was a little surprised....now we are wondering how many we will get when he comes for the grand finale of our summer programs............we'll have to wait and see.

weekend visitors

Last week was a Looooooooooooooooonnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnngggggggggggggg
week...I don't know exactly why it felt so long...but it did. We were looking forward to a visit from my sister Elizabeth. she was coming to town for her class reunion.

Elizabeth & I at Meg O'Malleys on Friday afternoon

View of the beach from Liz's room

Looking west from her room you could see the river

after the rain...a rainbow over the ocean

Mark, Lynn,David, Elizabeth & Anne John took the pictures.

Mark borrowed John's cheapo glasses...Mark has big eyes...these glasses were like a magnifying glass on his eyes! Like the goofy glasses my Dad used to joke around with.

We didn't plan this very well did we? haha white t-shirts against the white walls......oh well Elizabeth's flight was a little late getting in Friday...so our lunch turned to a late lunch/early dinner....but it was just as good. My brother David joined us too. After we ate we had to make a trip to Publix for a creme filled donut...we hoped...but no luck...so we HAD to buy a small cake instead...with creme frosting! Elizabeth attended her activities for a few hours and then she & I went to City Tropics for a bite to eat and a drink. we had fun catching up and I enjoyed all the stories about her classmates. apparently there was one "girl" who seemed to remember Elizabeth and (our neighbor) Alison...however neither Liz or Alison remembered her........oh well. They were talking about work or something and Elizabeth was talking about her days when she worked in the Crime Lab ( as a forensic scientist) in Norfolk, VA. The same girl's husband asked if the lab was like the labs on the TV shows...to which Elizabeth said..."No. it's not dimly lit and the staff isn't so glamorous"...then said classmates husband said."Well, you're pretty glamorous". Elizabeth said she just pretended like she didn't hear him and changed the subject. haha

The next night he asked told her he had looked her up in his wife's yearbook...and he wondered if she was one of those cool girls in high school with her name on her car. HA....maybe on her bike! None of us had a car in high school!

Saturday we both got up and she took a walk on the beach and worked out...I slowly got going and then took a bike ride and walked the dog. We went for lunch at where else.......Longdoggers...you can't come to Indialantic without going there! we spent the afternoon sitting on her balcony (sort of...pretty small...but it worked) watching the people down at the pool and the beach...and watching the rainstorms pass by south of us. There were a couple of weddings going on at the hotel...so we had to check everyone out! we sipped on some sparkling wine, talked and relaxed until it was time for her to get ready for the gathering. She went for a couple of hours, then called Paul and I and we all met at Ichabod's a little restaurant/bar just up from me...down from her hotel. We had a lot of good laughs and enjoyed sitting outside until about 12:30. (I don't usually go out that late any more!...but we had fun)

Sunday, John joined us for a movie and then the three of us met David, Mark & Lynn for dinner at Villa Palma..(.where David is a regular) (He saw several friends in there in addition to knowing the whole staff.)So it was a nice relaxing weekend...we talked and laughed a lot...too bad the rest of the crew couldn't join us! Monday morning we met Mark for breakfast at The Blueberry Muffin (where Elizabeth & Jenifer worked once upon a time along with another good friend Lynn T) and then it wasn't long before we were off to the airport! Now I am looking forward to our next visitors.....Martha and Tony are coming in October........ and you never know who might turn up in the meantime!

Theater fun at the Library

This afternoon we had lots of fun with the Atlantic Coast Theater group at our Library.http://www.atlantic-coast-theatre.com/

The kids and adults all enjoyed a charming performance of "Chicken Little- An Appalachian Musical Jamboree". The husband and wife team sings, dances, plays all sorts of musical instruments... in the show today that included an assortment of banjo, mandolin, "bonemonica"(harmonica in a big dog bone ...played by "Doggy Woggy" )and washboard. The audience...ages 2 to 7o plus all really liked it. we've had them once a summer for the last three years....and last years performance of "Rockin Red Ridin Hood" brought back memories of the summer or 1969?70?. We lived on a cul-de-sac with 17 houses and over 50 kids! And of those 50.....there were 10-11 girls within a year or two of my age, ( we had a blast! ). My sister Martha and I, Dixie, Lisa and Rene( and maybe Patti and Karen) decided to raise a little money and have some fun at the same time. We decided to put on a play "Little Red Riding Hood" and charge all the little kids 25c ...which also included popcorn. What a deal! We had it all set up in Dixie's backyard/back porch. I don't remember who played Little Red Riding Hood...but it must've been Dixie or Rene...because Martha was the "Big Bad Wolf" and Lisa and I were doing a" commercial" before the play. ...basically to make the whole thing last longer! haha The commercial was from a class project we had done in English class, My Dad wrotehelped me write this crazy commercial about "Exlaxo Detergent"(....it makes those stains GO! GO! GO!) It involved a Salesman...(yours truly) and the homemaker (Lisa). The salesman(basically an older version of Billy Mays...that my Dad dreamed up) demonstrated how all these stains "he" smeared on a white t-shirt would be gone in no time...with just 6 cups of Exlaxo Detergent. We popped the shirt into our cardboard washing machine and took it out and "Voila" the stains were gone.....and there were 6 holes in the shirt...hahaha.
So...back to the play.......Lisa and I sit down at a little table and chairs and promptly spill some detergent on the table and start giggling. (I've mentioned before I am a bit of a troublemaker that way...once I start laughing.......I can't stop) At one point we were laughing so hard we couldn't even say our lines! Luckily the laughing was infectious and everyone else was laughing too! We finally managed to get through our lines and it was time for the main event! If you are close to my age you probably remember a hit song at the time by Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs (watch it here on YOU Tube)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XmuhDymN-U ."Hey there Little Red Riding Hood...you sure are looking good.......etc.
Well...in our little play my sister Martha (now a COO of a hospital by the way) was the BIG BAD WOLF. She was dressed in a black leotard and tights....some sort of ears and tail and she had a (I believe) ukulele...for a guitar. Her part consisted of jumping out from behind a tree to serenade Little Red Riding Hood with the Sam and the Sham and the Pharaohs song! All was going according to the plans until the Perlmutter's dog "Sam" (a black Lab) decide to get in on the fun! Apparently Sam spotted Martha aka "The Big Bad Wolf" and was feeling amorous and he started chasing her around the yard. Picture it now...Martha wearing her leotard, tights, tail and toting a ukulele running from the dog "whose thing was out" (as the crowd was gleefully shouting) with Lisa and I on the side laughing till we were crying....I don't even know what happened to Little Red Riding Hood! hahahaha. Well so much for our grand performance...but the neighborhood kids all agreed it was worth the 25c! to eat popcorn and watch Sam chasing Martha around the yard!
Ah we had good fun back then! Rest assured the group today was much more professional than our little troupe...but we sure had fun!

It's a Party!

Where there's cake............there's a party. Longdoggers celebrated their 12th Anniversary with the Annual Employee & Friends party. Since the anniversary coincides with the 4th of July......they had the holiday bash at Paradise Beach Park.

Fun necklaces and decorations on the table and tasty cupcakes.

It was a nice day at the beach. Hot...but if you got in the right spot there was a nice breeze.

The pavilion was packed full of employees, families and friends of the restaurants. (Indialantic, Post Road, Satellite Beach and Palm Bay)

Fun games and lots of prizes for the kiddos.

John stylin!

Games on the beach. Employees from the different sites competed against each other in Sack Races, Hula Hoop, Dodgeball and The Balloon Toss.

Good catch!





Friends and family looking on...

A little friend who will be 1 Year Old on Tuesday the 7th!

John with Courtney and Brittany.....in between competitions. (they both work at Indialantic)

The Girls!

John and Scotty

There were prizes, Italian Ice, Balloon animals/hats and Face/body painting for the kids. They loved it! Painter was pretty good!

E & J having some Mango flavored Italian Ice!

They also had a band, lots of good food, beer, soda, water...a local American Idol hopeful (tryouts in Orlando this week)sang the National Anthem to start the day off......it was fun.

*don't you love the "ants" on the cupcakes. Too cute!

Organized chaos

It is a rainy afternoon and there's no end in sight...so I guess I will have to keep myself busy inside....I suppose I could read one of the 3 books I currently have checked out....or.... I could read and write blogs! hahaha

Following are some pictures from our office at work........and I should tell you I love my job....I really do....but I don't love the organized chaos! Technically my boss had the place all to herself...for the first 3 if I remember correctly years that we were open...then I came along and I was hired to help in the Youth Services area; as a result....I don't really have my own desk....or space. My boss has everything in order sort of. She is an artist and a creative type in case you couldn't figure that outand NOTHING gets thrown away around that office.....recycle, recycle, recycle. (I knew a science teacher like that at another place I worked)

Somewhere on this counter there is a paper cutter, and die cut machine...drawers are all full of various staplers, stickers, hole punchers, etc...problem is there are also projects in various stages of completion, new books waiting for stickers, and other odds and ends.* Notice all the stuff on the counters and the floor, Fan in case we get too hot!

Nice tidy compartments for sequins, beads, googly eyes, pom poms and stuff like that. Nice neat scissor rack on the counter too(on the right side)
No counter space available here...as you can see...there's files and assorted craft materials, bags, etc........

All along the top of the cabinets are boxes full of decorations and craft pieces and parts and you notice the shamrocks hanging?....there are also snowflakes and other things scattered around hanging from the ceiling.

This wall has more big boxes ( to the left ,not in view) holding construction paper scraps for reuse and under those boxes are reams of paper. Then comes all of these boxes....holding everything from tape to crayons and colored pencils, glue sticks and things that don't fit in the little containers. Then we have the old shoe boxes that have die cut pieces ready for future crafts. And some videocassettes that we occasionally use for Storytime programs.To the right of all this is another shelf with books, paper, etc on it...... THEN the walk in closet...I didn't get a picture of that! (paints, balls, fabric.....I could go on)

This "work" table...is great when you can get to it! This is after D cleaned up!

same table....different angle

Needless to say...it's hard to think in there sometimes! I am not the world's neatest person.....but when I finish one thing...I put everything away and move on the the next. Even when I'm baking or cooking...I have to clear the counters before I can even start on anything.


D will start something and then get a great idea...and BAM we're on to the next thing.......I just grin and bear it and think about all the things I like about my job.........the kids, the hours......it's fun.....I love the people most of them anyway and it takes a lot to get my boss worked up! 30 extra kids show up....No problem!...just cut out some more parts! But sometimes...it's hard to focus!

And here's the best part.....these little baskets are in our desk drawer...one for blue strips the other for purple

(they go in books when we are sending them out to other branch libraries). If I put a purple strip in the blue basket by mistake......watch out!

THAT drives her crazy! Go figure! haha....you can't see it...but there's a little note in the blue basket......saying blue strips only. HAHA

More sunsets

Rainy afternoons do make great sunsets...don't you agree?

I just love it!

yard care servise

I cracked up this morning when I was putting mail out in the mailbox. I found an advertisement for "Austin and Eddie's yard care servise"
In case anyone is interested...they will cut your "loun" and trim your "booshes" edge and "weedwack"...........
I hope they are planning to use whatever earnings they may get to buy a dictionary! Haha!