Halloween

OK, here's the afore mentioned post.

The picture I happened upon while cleaning shows some of the kids that attended our Halloween party in 1981. Since they are in costume and it was some 25 years ago, I won't bother identifying them here. I am Holly Hobby in the center, standing next to the clown (who was my first boyfriend!). The witch to my right is my sister.

You can find Mary's Halloween pictures here and here.

You can see BerryBird and SodaBoy here.

And Graham here and here.

Thanks for participating! If I missed anyone, let me know and I'll add you.

Happy Halloween!

My neighbors, the pod people

I really dislike coming home in the near dark to discover that our yard is practically the only one in our neighborhood that hasn't been raked within an inch of its life.

We had strong wind with gusts over 50 mph this past weekend. When I left for work this morning every yard was strewn with leaves and sticks. Somehow, while my fiance and I were working, everyone else in the neighborhood found the time to clean their yards. The gremlin next door went so far as to blow the leaves on our side about 8 feet back from his chain link fence. Why didn't he just blow them in a big old pile by the side of the road for us if he was going to go to all that effort?

Yesterday, as we pulled out of the driveway, I happened to glance in his direction (something I rarely do for fear of the dreaded Direct Eye Contact) to see him heave an armful of sticks that he'd been picking up in his yard over the fence into ours. I am so ready not to live next to these people. How do they all lead lives that allow them to spend so much time grooming their freakishly uniform yards?

Am I really supposed to go out there in the dark after work to rake leaves and pick up sticks? Not bloody likely, my friends.

"Slabs of Chocolate"

I have learned yet another one of life's many lessons:

Stocking up on Halloween candy the week before is only a good idea if you get a kind that you don't like!

They are the perfect thing to take to work for that hankering you always get mid-afternoon, or to munch on when you get home without risk of spoiling your dinner, or late in the evening when you only want a few bites of something delicious. My poor fiance will just have to buy more before Tuesday.

One Year

Today is my one year anniversary at this job. I had worked in the same office for the previous two "busy seasons," but last year I was hired on permanently. It may not be my dream job, but it has security and benefits. If you had told me in college that I would have a job riding a desk and staring at a computer screen all day long, I would have laughed in your face. But here I am.

Happy anniversary to me. This calls for chocolate.

And if you were patiently waiting for brilliant posts to resume after the stress of the paper faded, I hate to disappoint you. I haven't bothered working myself up into a stress-related froth over the poster session yet (that day will come, don't worry), but I feel very uninspired. Nothing witty this way comes.

I need to stop taking these quizzes

I don't have anything insightful to say, so ...

Your Quirk Factor: 53%

You're a pretty quirky person, but you're just normal enough to hide it. Congratulations - you've fooled other people into thinking you're just like them!

How Quirky Are You?

Class-related stuff

Well, I finally heard from my partner after yet another (more panicky) email. We've exchanged rough drafts. Hopefully, the ball is rolling and we can finish this tonight. Oh, the optimism.

I find I am not much for blogging when I am overly stressed, so perhaps after tomorrow's class I can relax a smidge. Although then I may just transfer my stress to the upcoming poster project who's due date is fast approaching.

I have, however, finally decided what class I will try to register for for the spring semester: an intro to Digital Libraries class. I say "try" because it is an online class that will only be open to campus-based students after the distance ones get their whack at it. Don't worry, I have some back-up plans.

When can I panic?

I would like to point out to anyone who may not know this, if you have a group paper due in three days and you have made no attempt to respond to your partner's pleas via email, then you suck!

I mean really. We are supposed to submit one paper. How can we do that if you continue to ignore me? I have now written a rough draft of said paper, but I would like your feedback and involvement. Is that too much to ask for?