Day of Rest?

Sundays are busy days. First, I get to church and rehearse with the choir, then we have service, then I rehearse with the chime choir, then Drew picks me up from his church and we decide what comes next. Sometimes Drew has errands he wants/needs to run, but today he decides to go back to campus, grab lunch at Gracie's and get going on homework. I am happy to oblige. Still, with all the running around, I don't get home until 2 pm. I decide to read a bit, but my eyes refuse to stay open, so at long last, after a busy day, I lie down and take a nap.

My concern is that I will sleep long enough that I won't be able to go to bed at a normal time. But there is no help for it. I curl up on top of the covers and drift off almost before Sugar has managed to jump up beside me. How luxurious it feels to be able to take a nap. Sure, there are things I could be doing, but nothing is pressing, and after all, it is a day of rest. I wake around 6 pm, feeling much better. I bumble about in the kitchen making dinner and taking care of Sugar.

I see the little odds and ends of things that I have been meaning to take care of, but somehow the lingering sense of rest prevents me from any motivation that would drive me to do all those little things. I resist. I even resist turning on a movie or going back to assigned readings. Sugar and I take a long leisurely walk, then I settle in to my chair and decide to spend the time working on my grandchildrens' diaries.

This was a project that began with the birth of my first grand daughter. When she was born, her parents presented me with a blank book and asked me to write in it and present it to my sweetheart on her 16th birthday. A sort of time capsule of life unfolding during her first 16 years. What a great idea! I write in it from time to time, wanting to share things with her that are important, things that will help her in life. Then I realized I ought to be doing this for my other grand children as well. Perhaps it will last after I am gone and unable to help them as they wrestle with life's decisions. Not that I will be able to address their specific situations, but I can point them to the One who can.

So every week, in addition to trying to send them each a real letter, handwritten and everything, I work on one grand child's diary. Soon I will have to add in another book to work on. My fifth grandchild, a boy, is due in October. It is just the right project to end the day. I smile as I write words that I hope will someday bring my darlings a measure of confidence and joy. Nice work if you can get it.

HomeComing Book Sale

Oy. Every year we offer materials that are either no longer needed for our collection or duplicates of what we have in a book sale at Homecoming. This year is no exception. Usually we are only given 2 large tables, and we press into service the 4 picnic tables on the patio and numerous book carts. It takes a good deal of time to set it all up and get the signs in place - Fiction here, Religion there, Education this table, Business over there. Paperbacks $1, Hardcover $2. Bibles free (I just can't in good conscience sell a Bible).

This year, for some unknown reason, facilities leaves us 6 tables. We manage to get everything except one cart load on the tables. Sweet. People begin looking before we are ready. That's fine. If they want something, I stop arranging and make the sale. We take turns running the cash box and marking the take, knowing full well we will have plenty of material to put back in storage afterwards. The facilities crew shows up. They are as puzzled as we are about the tables, but they don't repossess them, thank goodness.

We have a handful of customers during the parade, then more, then when food starts smelling delicious, we get lots of lookers. We do well again this year. Last year we used the money to preserve some of our older books - some of the ones published before 1850 and rather unique - or at least not widely held elsewhere, but important to our institution.

The weather has been grand and the attendance is good. I am happy to see so many people, but also happy at the end of the day to go in and sit at reference and let others put all the unsold books in the back. I appreciate all the help. One more homecoming sale under our belt. Several hundred good books in the hands of people who want them. Nice.

When ResponseWare Does Not Respond

We used to use Turning Point software to allow students in my classes to vote online in real time. But the software is no longer supported and has gone obsolete. Translation: it no longer works with Windows 7. Fortunately, I discover this before I teach my first class of the semester. Our wonderful IT support person finds out that we can get a new software called ResponseWare. He sets us up with accounts. Our Systems Librarian plays with it and invites us to test it out together.

But alas! What worked great in her office does not cooperate in the instruction lab. We keep getting kicked out and can't get back in. We try to vote, but cannot. And we discover that the PowerPoint I have been using is also out of date and I need to upgrade that as well. So much to stay on top of! I am at the point of not wanting to keep playing with it to try and fix it. I want to go make the upgrades that I can make and try to sort through all the changes, then come back and try again.

Meanwhile, I will make non-voting presentations to use. Not as effective, but it will have to do until we get all the pieces back on the plate!