you just never know when you're gonna run into some hungry cats

At the library today I helped a charming patron find a few books. Once she was ready to check out I asked for her library card.  After placing her car keys on the check out table she paused, and with a huge grunt and a loud slam, hefted her bag onto the table. Several cans of cat food rolled out. I couldn't help myself and peeked into her bag.  It was completely packed to the top with cans of cat food. The only books she had were sitting next to her keys on the check out table.  After digging around in her bag for a moment she found her library card, and with a huge grin on her face, loudly proclaimed, "gotta have my cat food and library card; they're the most important things to have with you."  

I was utterly baffled.  For a hopeful moment I wondered if maybe we had some kitties in the library I didn't know about.  I mean this lady had car keys so why didn't she leave that big bag of cat food in the car?  Is it possible she thinks she'll need to have the cat food at a moment's notice?  And that much cat food?!?

Even after I found out she was two quarts shy of a gallon, the patron was just as delightful and charming.  We had a pleasant conversation, and she left carrying her books under one arm, and her giant bag of cat food weighing down her other arm.

I think this is the beginning of a wonderful friendship.  

life

Sometimes dead, moldy things express the most life.

the gifts we unknowingly give

Saturday at the library wasn't going too great. After battling three super long digital content questions that I wasn't able to fully resolve, I felt like a failure.  After awhile, whenever a patron asked me a question, I was secretly thinking, boy have you picked the wrong person to ask for help.  

But I gave each patron everything I had and even made some awkward phone calls in the hopes of finding solutions.  Surprisingly, all three patrons were still appreciative and thanked me for going above and beyond.

I think "above and beyond" translates to dropping them off on a strange planet and shouting, "Good luck! See you later!" as I rocketed away to help someone else.

After a long day of not being very helpful, I was flustered, drained, and silently berating myself.  I was ready to find my own faraway planet and have a lonely pity party.  

Just as we were closing the library though, something happened that made me feel alright with the world again.  A giant of a man, no doubt a firefighter, wrestling champion, and construction worker all rolled into one, had something very special tucked under one of his enormous arms.   

It was this:

Inside the book was one of my staff picks bookmarks.

Whether he was checking it out for himself or one of his kids, seeing him with the book erased all doubts and frustrations.  He will never know it, but he gave me back that sense of belonging I have whenever I'm at the library.  

Tomorrow is a brand new day, and I think I'm ready for it.

Eclipse!

So you're probably wondering whether we saw the eclipse on Monday.

Yes we did, and it was awesome!

Robert, Rachel, and I journeyed to Mokane, MO to hang out with Robert's family and watch the eclipse in its totality.

We had such a rad time, enjoyed the company immensely, and are already making plans to see the next eclipse in 2024.  Though there were concerns about it being cloudy, we were incredibly fortunate to have perfect weather and a whopping 2 minutes and 30 seconds of eerie, magical totality.  As a bonus we also saw the contrails of the NASA planes that were tracking it.  It was a phenomenal experience.  

Jennifer!

Robert's sister, Jennifer, is in town!  Hanging out with her has been the dose of fun and sunshine everyone's needing.  

Yesterday we went to the zoo with one of Jennifer's childhood friends, Lauren.  The fact they let me take this picture of them says everything about the kind of day we had at the zoo.

It was a very active day at the zoo.  Most of the animals were out and about, doing silly things. This is the only polar bear we saw though. Perhaps it was the heat, or maybe even us?!?  But sadly, no polar bears.   

It was such a fun day though!  Next up, the eclipse!

good stuff

Have I mentioned that we have two functioning potties downstairs now?  Yep, all four bathrooms officially have toilets, and soon we will have showers and tubs as well.  Eventually there will be so many bathrooms to clean I may not have time to use them.     

Robert is covering the entire garage in slatwall, which looks pretty great.  I'm excited there's going to be a spot for everything.  And my dear step ladder, which I use often, will be on a hook right by the door so I don't even have to walk into the garage to get it.    

Robert's grandma is regaining her strength in a rehabilitation center that's nearby.  So she is doing much better.  

And Rachel started school yesterday.  She reported that she likes all of her teachers and her assigned parking spot is an end spot.  

Life is good.  

Robert's Surprise

Tonight, after a busy day of at the library, I came home to a big and slightly invisible surprise. Robert has been busily making our home a smarty home, and all sorts of nerdy things (talking doorbells, lights changing according to the time of day etc.) have been happening.

Today, Robert preformed his nerdy magic and my itunes music is now available throughout the house, and most importantly, my office.  All my carefully compiled lists suddenly available.  Wow.

I immediately moved my chair to the painting section of my desk, and for the first time in my office, brushed a bit paint onto a wooden canvas.

After much organizing I discovered my desk has enough room for painting, journaling, writing, and collaging stations that don't have to be packed up unless I'm done.  I can just move my chair from station to station and work on everything at the same time if I like.  I've been waiting for the right moment to paint though, and after Robert's surprise I promptly sat down, chose my playlist, and started painting.   

Carolyne's cathedral

Robert's grandma, Carolyne, is doing well.  Though it's been a slow recovery, each day there is much progress.

Yesterday, Robert texted one of many progress reports - Grandma's cathedral has been removed!

I was retrieving a book for a patron in the children's section when the message popped up on my watch.  I guffawed so loudly a child jumped away in alarm.

Yesterday I also received a phone call telling me that our float trip pictures were ready.  Though only one picture stood out, it was exactly what everyone needed to see.

Today's progress report was fairly straightforward, and Carolyne is creeping determinedly towards recovery.  Nothing but going home is going to top the relief she must have felt to get that dreaded cathedral out.  

two books that gave me everything

I read so many books in July I'm struggling to remember them all.  Most were surprisingly good, and two swept me up and carried me so far away I'm only now just remembering what this reality stuff is.  

Like last month, I have one itty bitty review and one big one.  I only have big things to say about it. It blew me away.  

Imagine a City by Elise Hurst

I am in love with these illustrations, which are incredibly imaginative and delightfully bizarre. Once you peer into one of these pages you will get lost in ways you never imagined - as a bunny riding an elegant train with a penguin, taking flight on a flying fish and, appropriately enough, exploring a bookstore where the books come to life.



They Left Us Everything by Plum Johnson



​They Left Us Everything is an emotional journey through Plum Johnson's grief and search for self after losing her parents and childhood home.   After almost twenty years spent caring for her aging parents, Alex and Virginia, Plum is both liberated and burdened by their deaths, which happen just a mere three years apart. Though Plum loses them, and the loss is enormous, she finds them again through their belongings as she clears out their house, her childhood home, and prepares to sell it.

I was deeply touched by They Left Us Everything.  Perhaps it has something to do with my childhood, which was spent observing my mom and grandma care for my grandpa, who was wheelchair-bound with complications from cerebral palsy.  When a person enters the caregiver role, their life is completely swallowed by the needs of the person or people they’re caring for.  After spending twenty years caring for my grandpa, it didn’t surprise me just how long it took my mom and grandma to figure out who they were once my grandfather passed away.  In Plum's situation, Alex lived with Alzheimer's for several years.  As his health deteriorated, the need for Plum's assistance became so overwhelming, that extra live-in help was required.  During Alex's long battle with Alzheimer's, Virginia also relied heavily on Plum for companionship, so much so, that Plum struggled with bitterness, an emotion that conflicted with her love for Virginia.  Just like my mom and grandma, I believe Plum is trying to figure out who she is after giving herself entirely to caregiving for nearly twenty years.  When Plum volunteers to pack up her parent's belongings, she not only discovers who they really were, but also what it means to be Plum.  

Unlike Plum, my family's belongings slipped away, a little at a time, over many years, and though I have a few of those treasures, I didn’t sift through an entire house of belongings to acquire them.  I was enamored with Plum's thorough and loving excavation of her parents' home.  For me, the letters exchanged between Alex and Virginia, and Virginia and her mother, were the greatest treasure found.  Hundreds of letters that transported Plum to Victoria and Alex's wild romance and eventual marriage, and their involvement in WWII.  I was also impressed by how the belongings were meted out between Plum and her three brothers, and dumbfounded by what happened when descendants of the previous owners of the house showed up.

Plum's deft insight shines through the grief and often highlights its depth, stirring up many relatable moments.  You will cringe when a retirement home is referred to as "a warehouse full of abandoned parents waiting to die," and angrily weep when Plum bathes Alex and discovers he's cognizant enough to be ashamed.  When Plum questions, "who were our parents?  They are in everything we see around us, everything we touch, but did we really know them?" you will walk through your house and wonder whether the puzzle pieces of your parents form an image and whether you are mirrored in that image.

But don’t reach for that box of tissues just yet.  Just like the belongings in Plum’s childhood home, there is much hilarity to be found in They Left Us Everything.  Though it comes to fruition through grief, Plum maintains a sense of humor throughout the memoir and finds it in even the darkest corners of life.  Plum decorates her sadness and loss with humor and constructs a shield with its force.  And not just any kind of humor.  I'm talking pee-your-pants, you-can't-breathe, tears-cascading-down-your-face humor.  Virginia, who was a kaleidoscope of emotions and beliefs, was often the source of Plum's outrageously humorous descriptions. When Virginia made an appearance at a school party she was pregnant and dressed for the winter weather - "oversized galoshes and a mammoth white Borg coat that came down to her ankles."  Naturally, to keep her two young sons from bolting, Virginia tied a yellow rope around her middle, and as Plum puts it, her "two younger brothers clung to the ends like little farmers attached to a clothesline, trying not to lose sight of their barn in the blizzard."  Plum's humor dots the memoir in just the right places and consistently prevails in her battle against grief. 

My gratitude, respect, and praise for They Left Us Everything is immeasurable.  If possible, I would place a copy of it in the hands of anyone who has ever put every fiber of their being into caring for a loved one, even at the expense of themselves.  And for anyone who has battled the stages of grief one memory, keepsake, or expired tin of stewed tomatoes at a time.