Life in Denim and Flip Flops

Ugh...I really want to be able to keep up with this blog. However, I have to admit, if I can't keep up with it during the summer, the school year might be tough. But we'll see...I'll just have to keep trying it. Since I last posted, I've pretty much spent most of my time watching the Olympics. I've decided that I enjoy watching water polo. Yeah, I know. Awkward. But I sort of feel like it might be a gateway sport to soccer and hockey (two sports I never really got into.) Besides I'll admit, it's pretty hard to find more athletic people. I mean, they have to be able to swim, throw around a ball, and tread water (and keep like half their body out of water to play goalie), all the while trying not to drown when their competitors try to drag them under water. Easy right? Right. Now that the Olympics are done, I'll be spending my time watching the U.S. Open when I'm home. Gotta love 2 week tennis tournaments. Granted a lot of the matches are played durin...

I don't know how many of you have been witness to my Olympic obsession (partially because I'm not sure who 'you' are). For those of you who are unaware, I'm crazy about the Olympics. My passion is really the Winter Games, but the Summer Games still absolutely capture my attention. I love gymnastics, diving, track and field, swimming, tennis, basketball...you know the biggies. But I'll find myself watching rowing, water polo and shooting like it's my job. I just get sucked in. And the human interest stories always get me. Always. If I could figure out how to not sleep for 2 weeks, I'd be watching coverage all day. I'm sad that live tennis is at 2am. Sadly I have to be at work at 7:30 so 2am is a little early/late to be awake watching tennis. Thankfully like 4 other people at work are about as obsessed as I am. So there's a rule...no results at work or someone is likely to throw you off the roof. And we'll all have something running on the ...

My weekend in Ames, with my Ames was fabulous. I got to hang out with her wonderful friends, play Nertz (just another card game to love), and wander around Iowa State campus for an hour and a half. Sounds a little odd, but that's us...a little odd. Hickory Park was way fun. Amy was right; it's like a Cracker Barrel on steriods. More about the weekend later. Now I've got to hit the sack so I can stay awake at work tomorrow :)

Monday through Friday has been work, work and more work, but weekends have been nothing but fun lately :) I'm really glad that I get to do so much of the prep work for the classes, but I had forgotten how frustrating summer can be. Every vendor is updating software, which is problematic, especially when it happens without my knowledge in the middle of a project. Nothing is irreparable, but now it takes like twice as long. Also, I may have learned to bend Microsoft Access to my whim, but Word 2007 still kicks my ass. Mostly the problem was the ridiculous template for the labels. A headache and a half, but will totally be worth it in the end. The fun things you can do with mailing labels, a hole punch, index cards, and metal rings. It'll be a unique library scavenger hunt. The weekends have been a blast. I spend 36 hours in Madison hanging with Manda, being the Cornell expert that I am, and seeing Brandon and Anne at church. Hanging at the terrace with some of the kids from St. P...

I truly hate living in Iowa when it comes to sports coverage. Apparently Iowa residents are only Cubs fans. Or White Sox fans. Therefore I only get to watch those games. I made the mistake of getting excited about watching a Brewers game when it was on ESPN. However, ESPN also hates me. Apparently, I'm in the blackout area for nationally televised games. I'm close enough to Wisconsin to be blacked-out but not close enough to actually be able to watch the games. So either way I'm screwed. The only times I get to watch the games are when they play the Cubbies. Ugh. So I'm hesitantly excited about getting to watch the game. However, lately when I've gotten to see the games at home, they've lost. So I'm torn; do I watch the games because it's my only chance to see them and jinx them, or not watch for the good of the Brewers nation?? Maybe I'll just quit believing in superstitions! :)

Sorry. It's been a while. I have time for a few quick notes before I go to bed. It's going to be a sad, sad day when my UW ID quits working. I do love having access to so many journals. I never thought I'd be using book reviews from the Journal of Pop Culture for collection development...but I am. Just last week, I got a rejection letter from a school I applied to the same day I did for the job I currently have. But even better was getting the letter today that said a school I applied to and was called for an interview by was sorry to inform me I was no longer being considered. Is it really necessary to say they're sorry, when I cancelled the phone interview because I'd accepted another position? The best yet was reading today that the school re-posted the same opening. It's sad how they think they'll get a different, and by different I mean better, pool of applicants. I also enjoyed seeing a classmate of mine posting on an info lit list-serv today as a ...

The bulleted lists are back. Well, at least for today. Professors are people too, and are bound to show up at a wedding if they've had both the bride or groom for over 4 years in their class or hired them to direct the steel drum band. Thus I should be prepared for that. Some neighborhoods in Urbana don't believe in street lights making the trip to a place you've never been before interesting, especially when you realize reading street signs at 25 MPH is awfully difficult. Free, serve-your-own Killian's beer on tap was the best idea ever . I can drink beer all night and not wake up with a hangover. Being dipped while dancing drunk is difficult, but funny. Having a Walgreen's in the same parking lot as the hotel is ingenious. (You never know when you'll need it.) There's a Target in Champaign that has the same wrapping paper as the Target in Dubuque, so when you (i.e. Gretchen) forgets the wrapping paper you can replace it. Getting caught with the deck at the...