July 20, 2010

• Finally!

  Summer reading ended with a bang and a whimper on Friday last.  The Ice Cream Social, the culminating event that has been a tradition for at least 12 years, was a rousing success.  Ten + gallons of ice cream were consumed by 75 folks, old and young and served by the faithful Teen Advisory Group. Sixty books were selected and taken home by readers and book lovers.  The middle school was especially happy that I had purchased some graphic novels and Percy Jackson and other popular reads that are out in paperback.  I couldn’t believe the price of graphic novels!  I try to stay under $10 per book to make the whole give-away affordable and those little gems really pushed that price window.  Harry Potter is still over $10 so the ever popular Hogwarts friends weren’t available for the give-away. The kids didn’t seem to mind.  I was excited that the Twilight mess was still too pricy because I can’t bear those books and was delighted that I didn’t have to talk myself into purchasing them.
  Yours truly stayed far away from the ice cream table as I felt like death on a stale saltine and was valiantly trying not to share my germs, which brings us to the whimper part of the story.  By six o’clock when everything was cleaned up and I was waiting for the teens to return for the summer sleepover, I was sitting outside, waiting for the piza to arrive, in 80 some degrees, wrapped in a blanket trying to get warm.  Yup.  Mr. Virus had landed in earnest.  By 8 oclock the kids still weren’t there and I felt as though someone had set my face on fire and sucked all the liquid out of my joints.  There was no way I could be responsible for a library full of teenagers no matter how wonderful they are.  I made a phone call or two.  “Hey gang, I’m really sorry but I have to cancel tonight.  I am really sick.”  What I love about these kids is their compassion – no whining or moaning.  “Oh Mrs. Norman you really are sick.  Go home and get better.  We’ll have a sleepover at someone’s house.  Just get better.”  Have I mentioned that I LOVE these kids.  So I crawled home and into bed and stayed there until Sunday morning.  Yup – 24 hours in bed, sleeping a lot, sort of watching MASH from the beginning, and turning my soaking pillow and swallowing tylenol.  By Sunday morning I felt wobbly but no longer as though I was going to spontaneously combust.
  I wandered out to the garden and discovered that three days of no attention leaves one with some rather large zucchini.  I grated 10 cups and stuck them int he freezer for winter zucchini bread and made two loaves for the eating.  Yum!  I also made stuffed zucchini which was a culinary success. 
  Meanwhile the house looks like someone has neglected it for a week and indeed someone has.  That is next on the list for home work, while library work involves looking at final numbers, formulating the final report and getting ready for the school  year.  Happily my laptop cord arrived and I am happily ensconced typing away on my little friend.  Rain fell in the night and it was cooler this morning when I wandered out with my canine friends.
  And so it goes.

  • 7:33 am
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