It's Time

 ...to say goodbye. T had a great summer but since then she's experienced a slow decline. She no longer grooms herself. There have been symptoms of dementia and her vision in low light situations is not good. The vet says she has signs of cataracts & possible retinal damage. Her arthritis has even kept her from the couch. She's been chewing on her front paw & will not let it heal. She experiences little pain with it which makes the vet suspect something else is going on. Our vet has been very good. She could see I wasn't ready to say good bye today so gave her an antibiotic to keep the paw from getting worse. But let me know that she was on that last slide. We have an appointment in 10 days so we'll all have time to say goodbye. 

It is just over two years since our dog Misty died. She and Tiger were a team & I know Tiger mourned her terribly when she passed. We have another cat and dog left. I'm not sure how they will act when Tiger is gone. 

As for me, I know I'll mourn long and hard. I've had Tiger for 18 years, almost as long as my kids. She's always been Momma Kitty, taking care of everyone, even the other pets. She's been my shadow for a long time. I'll miss her greatly. 

Make It Stop!

There are weeks, and there are weeks. This has been one of THOSE weeks. Hubby & I are both one holidays right now. So we went away for a few days just to get out of town. While we were away we received an email from our Internet service provider that our IP address had been reported for malicious activity. Great. We contacted our eldest son and sent him to check what was going on. 

We are a geeky household so we have a lot of Internet connected computers  and devices. He found some viruses on our youngest son's computer and dealt with them. 

In the meantime we also received an email from Adobe that our account with them had been compromised (which it turns out is true). So how do we spend the first 24 hours once we recent home? We do updates, scans and change ALL passwords. On top of that my laptop has started telling my that the battery is going. :( 

So we deal with all this and things seem under control. I get up this morning thinking it will be a low key day where I can get caught up on homework for the MOOC I'm involved. Instead I get an unpleasant surprise when I put the dog out...the shed door is open and the winter tires are gone!  Trying not to panic, I go and wake my husband and find out he had left the shed door open when he took the tires. I knew he was having the truck's oil changed etc. he didn't mention he was having the winter tires put on too. Then to top it off, I'm doing my regular morning wipe downs (flu season has started here) and I accidentally hit the Emergancy button on the phone which calls 911! Of course I don't notice until I hear someone talking! Good going Ang. On top it off, when I get panicky I lose all ability it talk clearly. So all I can do is repeat "sorry, sorry, I hit a button" . Yep, really clear and precise.

It is now 9:30am. What else could possibly go wrong now?

What Have I Done?

So a few months ago there was word going around Twitter about this MOOC (massive open online course) that would be starting in the fall called The Hyperlinked Library. It sounded intriguing and with Michael Stephens involved, it could only be good. So when the invitation to participate in the trial run of the course came out I submitted my name. So did A LOT of other people which meant that when I didn't get in to the MOOC I wasn't surprised.

Several days ago I was surprised to receive an email stating that due to drop outs and other issues there was now a spot for me. OH. (Looks at calendar, reviews MOOC schedule for next 12 weeks...) I had to think long and hard about joining now because, of course, I had other commitments I had made in light of the previous decline. What swayed me to go ahead and jump in are the same things that attracted me in the first place - the ideas, the people and the opportunity to try something new. Being free had a little to do with it too.

Having worked in my public library for over 10 years now, but without a degree, certificate or diploma makes me a rare bird in learning opportunities such as this MOOC. Many librarians are not very accepting of library clerks, often seeing them has competition, especially in the US, for their jobs. They have no experience with the homegrown library clerks who end up doing the jobs because small rural libraries can't afford, or attract (for various reasons), qualified librarians.

As I said in my course blog, I feel like the new kid in the class, looking cautiously around for a friendly face. I'm hoping once they get to know me it'll stay that way. I'm sure once my nerves settle down things will be fine.

Now to work out a schedule that will let me get everything done.

Vacation

Hubby is on vacation.
So am I. although I only have a week while he has 2. We aren't doing anything special, just hanging at home, with a quick shopping trip into the city with the boys before summer gets crazy. (Three of us have jobs that are very busy in the summer so summer trips are nonexistent.)
Whenever hubby has vacation time and we're staying home, you can predict how things will go.
The first few days hubby will do a lot of sleeping to make up for the erratic sleep schedule he keeps when he is working. Then he starts organizing things. This usually springs from some unsuccessful search for some item he is sure we have. This is followed by the 'I'm on vacation so why should I do any work around the house' stage. This doesn't last long because I'm the 'I'm on vacation to DO those special jobs around the house' person. Guess who gets their way? ;-)
Besides all the regular stuff still needs to be done - who does he think is going to do it 0_o ?
Which leads us to the "negotiation" stage where we end up doing a job I want done, followed by something "fun" that he wants to do, and the most urgent of the daily stuff gets done.
Once I go back to work he can do things his way for the few days left in his vacation time. Then he goes back to work and I get the alone time I need to put everything back together. :D After all this time together we have a system that works.

Now to get through the next week...

Happy Mother's Day

(Trying to type while a cat is demanding your attention is very difficult lol)

I had a plan for today. I knew both of my sons would be working. My hubby wasn't expected to be home from work until lunchtime or later, and he would need a nap when he got home. I thought I could get all my usual Sunday chores done early then have the rest of the day to relax, read, play video games and eat junk food.

Didn't really turn out that way. While I was getting my chores done my mother-in-law called requesting our presence for a ham dinner. After finishing my chores I went over to check if she needed help and ended up looking after my 2 year old niece for the afternoon. Once she went home I just had time to get ready for dinner. Dinner ended up being delayed while we waited for hubby's cousin and her partner to arrive (they were on their way through town). Dinner was great of course and it was fun visiting with everyone.
But now I just want to lay on the couch and have a nap.

Maybe I could make my plan happen tomorrow...

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms, aunties and other caring ladies out there. You rock!

This Stinks

The library I work for has been getting money for a summer staff member for years from the STEP program. This position has meant I could alter my schedule to accommodate running the summer reading during the week.
The provincial government has suspended the STEP program starting immediately. This means I will not be able to change my schedule, meaning I won't be able to run a drop in SRP during the week. It also means my more successful outreach SRP with our town's summer care program for elementary school age kids is on the chopping block. After 6 years of work to get it to this point I have to seriously look at cutting the program.
Given my work schedule and Summer Fun's daily schedule there will be only a few hours that might work for both of us. Having struggled with timing before with them... let's just say I don't have a lot of hope it could work. But I will try. I've got to contact the coordinator this week and see what she has in mind for the summer.