Keep busy

It’s February? Why? 

I have been sneezing and coughing and feeling useless, so here is a bulleted list.

* Made Z pose for a painting. I’m still planning for the hypothetical grant and wanted to practice recreating a Henry Raeburn portrait. The girl only gives me 2 minutes to take a picture nowadays because she is tired of my shit, so I threw a snuggie over her shoulders, told her to make a face like a cat with only one brain cell, and snapped the shot. Nailed it. 

Now I just have to find time to paint the thing.

* Called out sick for a couple days and came back to discover someone had put a big OUT OF ORDER sign on the copier and called in a work order to fix it, all because some guy put $10 in the machine and then got mad when it only gave $3 in change. It has ALWAYS given a maximum of $3 change, that is why I have spent the last SIX YEARS warning people not to put in anything bigger than a $5. Also, it is WRITTEN ON THE COPIER. Had to explain all this to the patrons who were complaining that the copier had been "broken" for two days, and to the service guy who showed up with all his equipment and nothing to fix. "Maybe you should make a sign," each person said. It made me think about a recent dream I had where I was shoveling horse shit at a stable, and I was so happy until I woke up and realized I was still a librarian. 

* Went to Staff Institute Day. Ate a free salad, got high on Dayquil and accidentally led a round table discussion on self defense.

* Made a chocolate tres leches cake for family dinner. I was skeptical about dumping a milk bath over a perfectly nice cake, because that seemed like a good way to end up with a pan full of wet cake, but, you know, trust the process. Well! It was wet cake. Maybe I did it right? Maybe people like eating wet cake? That would explain cake pops. And people who eat cake with ice cream even though it melts and turns everything to mush. Anyway, I'm not writing that recipe down in the family cookbook.

* Gave permission for a university to use my picture books for an open access translation project, and they sent me $25! Never mad at surprise checks in the mail.

* Found where the chickens were stashing their eggs (garden shed behind the shovel). Dumped a bunch of papaya seeds into a pot of dirt and now I have about 20 little tree sprouts that will absolutely destroy the back yard. Feeling like a goddamn pioneer. 

* Still have not bought a truck. 

Time to get through another Valentine's Day. Good luck, folks.