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Jan. 25th, 2014 05:12 pmWow. I slept 12 hours, ate breakfast, and took a "short" nap that lasted for three hours (with an intense dream in which I was singing with Melissa Etheridge!) Guess I was exhausted last night.
Speaking of intense, winter is still being intense. Thursday it did its subzero wind chill again. My library director and I had a meeting in another building with our boss, and when we stepped outside, for a moment I thought that it wasn't so bad, but after a few steps it really was. It was so cold that it hurt. Yesterday my lock was frozen when I was leaving for work. I cursed and fiddled with it until it turned. (I thought that was going to have to call work and say that I couldn't leave because I couldn't lock my door.) Later in the day, it warmed up--but then it snowed. Monday is supposed to have more of the subzero wind chill. I'm getting really tired of this. Even people who have lived in the Midwest all their lives are tired of this, so it isn't just my Californization. If I wanted to live in Minnesota, I'd move to Minnesota -;) However, the townhouse holds heat well with no drafts (although I did hear wind blowing down my chimney), and the car is handling the extreme weather exceptionally well, better than the Civic probably would have.
Work is going well. We went live on the "resource sharing" (ability to check out items from other libraries) yesterday. Next week, I'm going to demo the system at faculty meetings in Lincoln and in Normal. Thursday I go back to the place where I had classes last week (our consortium headquarters in Champaign-Urbana) to get some additional one-on-one training, which is very nice of them.
I'm looking for ways to cut expenses. I live on spaghetti much of the time; it's my comfort food of choice. Last night, I decided that I should make spaghetti; it's not that hard to make, and it's cheap. So I bought some spaghetti; "light" spaghetti sauce; some garlic, onion, and mushrooms to chop into the sauce; and some ground turkey to make meatballs. I'm planning to make it tomorrow and freeze some. I also have some frozen vegetables that I can make and freeze in single-serving portions. I also bought some lean turkey hot dogs and wheat buns; a hot dog and some soup would make a good lunch or light dinner.
I'm also considering dropping cable (although not my high-speed Internet access!), but not until Downton Abbey is over. (I also watch Mad Men, but I can get it on iTunes.) Outside of Downton and Mad Men, I really don't watch TV. CNN is nice to have when something major happens, but I don't watch it that often. If I got a newer (small) TV (mine is probably at least 15 years old) and a Roku box, I bet that I would watch it more often because I would have access to Amazon Instant Video (mostly for free or for a small cost depending on the video), and maybe I could subscribe to NetFlix. I have some things that I want to sell on Amazon and on eBay, so maybe I could make the money for the TV that way. And then I would own the TV and Roku box, rather than throwing money down the cable hole.
The girls are doing really well. Harlee is spending most of her time downstairs. I put the wicker chest under the window, and wrapped a pillow in a velour throw and put it on top of the chest, and she spends most of her time there. (It's also close to the heat vent.) She hides under the futon when I come home, but otherwise she seems comfortable. Zara is spending most of her time on top of the boxes. I'm trying to leave them as the last thing that I unpack because she loves them so much. However, I do have stuff that I want to get out of them. I have some clothes to put in the wicker chest; maybe I could swap it for some of the stuff in the boxes to keep it stable for the time being. Zara has a cat tree, but it's small. I'd like to get her a tall cat tree like Harlee's, but can't afford it right now. My mom said Zara would love one of those chests of drawers that are arranged like steps. I probably could make one out of stackable cubes, which would also solve a problem where to put things, but that might cost as much as a cat tree. Anyway, Zara can play on the boxes for now.
Speaking of intense, winter is still being intense. Thursday it did its subzero wind chill again. My library director and I had a meeting in another building with our boss, and when we stepped outside, for a moment I thought that it wasn't so bad, but after a few steps it really was. It was so cold that it hurt. Yesterday my lock was frozen when I was leaving for work. I cursed and fiddled with it until it turned. (I thought that was going to have to call work and say that I couldn't leave because I couldn't lock my door.) Later in the day, it warmed up--but then it snowed. Monday is supposed to have more of the subzero wind chill. I'm getting really tired of this. Even people who have lived in the Midwest all their lives are tired of this, so it isn't just my Californization. If I wanted to live in Minnesota, I'd move to Minnesota -;) However, the townhouse holds heat well with no drafts (although I did hear wind blowing down my chimney), and the car is handling the extreme weather exceptionally well, better than the Civic probably would have.
Work is going well. We went live on the "resource sharing" (ability to check out items from other libraries) yesterday. Next week, I'm going to demo the system at faculty meetings in Lincoln and in Normal. Thursday I go back to the place where I had classes last week (our consortium headquarters in Champaign-Urbana) to get some additional one-on-one training, which is very nice of them.
I'm looking for ways to cut expenses. I live on spaghetti much of the time; it's my comfort food of choice. Last night, I decided that I should make spaghetti; it's not that hard to make, and it's cheap. So I bought some spaghetti; "light" spaghetti sauce; some garlic, onion, and mushrooms to chop into the sauce; and some ground turkey to make meatballs. I'm planning to make it tomorrow and freeze some. I also have some frozen vegetables that I can make and freeze in single-serving portions. I also bought some lean turkey hot dogs and wheat buns; a hot dog and some soup would make a good lunch or light dinner.
I'm also considering dropping cable (although not my high-speed Internet access!), but not until Downton Abbey is over. (I also watch Mad Men, but I can get it on iTunes.) Outside of Downton and Mad Men, I really don't watch TV. CNN is nice to have when something major happens, but I don't watch it that often. If I got a newer (small) TV (mine is probably at least 15 years old) and a Roku box, I bet that I would watch it more often because I would have access to Amazon Instant Video (mostly for free or for a small cost depending on the video), and maybe I could subscribe to NetFlix. I have some things that I want to sell on Amazon and on eBay, so maybe I could make the money for the TV that way. And then I would own the TV and Roku box, rather than throwing money down the cable hole.
The girls are doing really well. Harlee is spending most of her time downstairs. I put the wicker chest under the window, and wrapped a pillow in a velour throw and put it on top of the chest, and she spends most of her time there. (It's also close to the heat vent.) She hides under the futon when I come home, but otherwise she seems comfortable. Zara is spending most of her time on top of the boxes. I'm trying to leave them as the last thing that I unpack because she loves them so much. However, I do have stuff that I want to get out of them. I have some clothes to put in the wicker chest; maybe I could swap it for some of the stuff in the boxes to keep it stable for the time being. Zara has a cat tree, but it's small. I'd like to get her a tall cat tree like Harlee's, but can't afford it right now. My mom said Zara would love one of those chests of drawers that are arranged like steps. I probably could make one out of stackable cubes, which would also solve a problem where to put things, but that might cost as much as a cat tree. Anyway, Zara can play on the boxes for now.
