Other library mishaps

I mentioned in the "emergency" post about other library incidents that have put Max and I on a particular librarian's Watch List.

First, let me say that our library has an entire wing dedicated to little kids -- this is not the NY Public Library in all of is austerity. There is a puppet show theater, animal-print rubber mats for story time, kid-level book bins, stuffed toys, etc. Second, there are two kid-area librarians: the nice older lady (who has children of her own) and the young bitchy zealot (obviously, no kids). The older lady is patient, loves the little ones, doesn't mind if they crawl around during the stories, sits on the floor with them, etc. The young one insists on kids IN LAPS during stories, sits on a chair above them, tells parents to leave the room if their child fusses, etc. I think you get the picture.

I've tried to schedule our library visits around when the older lady is working, but they seem to have random story time duties.

Anyhoo, the first incident involved me taking a few digital pictures with my camera during story time (holding the camera at arm's length, taking pix of Max clapping to a song while sitting on my lap). She (the young zealot) stopped the song and asked me to stop taking pictures. "Sure, no problem," I said. Afterwards, she tracked me down in the library to let me know there were federal privacy laws governing taking photographs on library property. I've never heard of such, but if it's true (anybody out there know about this?) I'm cool with it. However, there is no sign anywhere saying that photography is not allowed in the library.

The second incident, which is so much less forgivable, involved Max directly. He was watching some older kids doing a puppet show (with me sitting two feet away) and got overly excited, flipping himself over backwards and hitting his head on the floor. He started crying...I picked him up and started walking out of the library to calm him down. As I walked by the librarian desk (in the KIDS area), the young librarian shushed us and said "quiet in the library!" Rrrright. For the rest of day, I hoped some little kid would throw up on her shoes.

I'm thinking the "adult non-fiction" stacks might be a better fit for her. Ya think?

What is your emergency?

Max likes to play with the phones. Today, while at the library lap-sit story time, I let him play with my cell phone (keypad locked) to keep him quiet through a rather dull book. Just as the librarian (who doesn't like us to begin with, but that's another story) was moving on to "Is Your Mamma a Lama?", I heard coming from my phone "Longmont 911, what is your emergency?"

Startled, I quickly grabbed the phone and hung up. As you would expect, the 911 operator called back immediately: "This cell phone just called 911, is there an emergency?" So, disrupting story time and drawing the librarian's very librarian-y disapproving look, I said I was very sorry for the call, "there is no emergency here other than having a one-year-old," and again, sorry, sorry, sorry!

The other moms laughed (not so much the librarian), then I got a talking to by the 911 operator about letting children play with phones. Apparently, there is a security feature on cell phones that if you press the "call" key long enough, even if the keypad is locked, the phone dials 911. Um, good to know.

I think we'll skip story time for a while. One more incident and we'll get banned for life...or maybe just until Max is in kindergarten.

June photos

With Godmudder Stephanie
Stylin' with diaper
Trying to survive the hammock...notice the clinched fists.
Walking with music machine.

Cooling off in the back yard. It has been in the upper 90s for the last week.

Mandala

Check out the Daily Mandala link at left. A little art appreciation is a good way to start out the day.

A little service please

Recently, my personal credit/debit card expired. Not wanting to assume Chase would send me a new one without prompting, I called a few weeks in advance and requested one. It didn't arrive before the old one expired and I was using cash (who carries cash anymore?) that, because I had no card, I had to get from an actual human teller at the bank. Is Knight Rider back on TV too?

I called two more times, as well as requested one over the Internet and another few weeks went by...nothing. Finally, after an episode of searching for pennies underneath my car seats because I ran out of cash at an inopportune moment, I called and had to be really angry with the person, ranting and raving like a crazy woman ("DON'T YOU PEOPLE WANT MY MONEY?! HELP ME SPEND MONEY NOW OR I WILL TAKE MY SPENDING ELSEWHERE!"), and they FedEx overnighted a new card. Why does it have to get to that point in order to get service?

Happy Birthday Stephanie!

Today is Godmudder Stephanie's birthday. She is 25 with 8 years of experience. Love you!

First steps

On Father's Day of all days, Max took his first on-his-own steps. We were at my cousin's BBQ in the backyard, and mainly to keep from having to crawl and touch the (still yucky and weird-feeling) grass, he walked three solid steps from Grandma to me with his dad watching. Then, to prove it wasn't just a lucky balancing act, we made him do it again. We were all SO EXCITED. It was the coolest thing ever. The entire BBQ contingent celebrated the event with us...everyone cheered and clapped. With that, Max decided clapping was much more fun than walking, and that was the end of walking for the afternoon.

Bearing witness to his life has, is and will be a constant source of wonder and astonishment for me and his father. He is the greatest blessing of our lives.

Kuranda beds

Today was a CBW Greeley day. Hubs took the day off from his paying gig and spent 8 hours with the other two husbands putting Kuranda dog bed cots together. Let me repeat, 52 dog beds took three men 8 hours to construct with power tools. These beds were supposed to be fast and easy to assemble. Hmmmm...maybe there was too much beer drinking going on.

Meanwhile, I interviewed a few vets we're considering to be our dedicated camp vet. We're searching for the perfect vet to have on "retainer" to treat any injured or sick dogs in our care. I also arranged for our exterior and interior signage.

Tomorrow, I will be at "Petapalooza", which is a pet/people music event at the large Harley Davidson dealership nearby. We'll have a vendor booth there, telling people about CBW. Hubs and the two others will be cleaning the interior rafters of Camp with a cherry-picker and air compressor. I'm pretty sure I'll be having a much better time.

If you know Hubs, it should make you grin from ear-to-ear that he is doing so much "construction" and handy-man stuff. He can barely hang a picture at home, so I gotta hand it to him for stepping up to these manual-labor chores. Again, maybe it's the beer.

Max will be tearing it up at Grandma's tomorrow. Cats to chase, slobbery dog balls to lick, hammocks to nap in, a 60-year-old lady who does anything he wants. Aaaahhh, it's the life.

Livin' the dream

Last night at about 1 a.m., I awoke to strange sounds coming from the general area of the dog on the first floor. I rubbed my eyes and went downstairs to discover that he had diarrhea all over the floor. I cleaned it up and then (because I couldn't enjoy it without him) woke Adrian up to tell him the events. The rest of the night I spent half awake listening for more doggie activities, as well as smelling the odor that pervaded the house.

Max woke up at 5 a.m. for a diaper change and nurse, and after carefully assessing my mood, decided he was ready to attack the day with lots of crying and tantrums. Papa Adrian was woken up to take the morning shift, but at that point I was fully awake too...so we all went downstairs to find...MORE dog poo, but this time with a pee-pee chaser. Yea! At least he was corralled in the laundry room hall since the 1 a.m. incident.

Adrian cleaned up that round wearing rubber gloves, using ample disinfectant and an entire roll of paper towels. The dog will be going to the vet today.

Random?

Occasionally, when I have a few extra minutes, I click the "next blog" button at the top of the page to see what other bloggers are up to. Next Blog is a completely random function that shuffles hundreds of thousands of blogs out there...so what are the chances of coming across the same fairly interesting blog twice? I ask you.

Well, it has happened to me and I thought maybe it means something? So I've included the guy's link (4th Ave. Blues) in my list. I'll give it a test run and you can tell me if he deserves to be listed on this blog or not.

Sting is a god

There is a reason why he is a superstar. Nearing 60 years old and still able to keep a sold-out arena on its feet for three hours. Unbelieveable concert. Worth every penny. I'm hoarse today from screaming like a teenager.

The Police

I'm talking about the rock band, not the fuzz.

Adrian and I are going to see the Police in concert tonight at the Pepsi Center (a.k.a., "the Can") in Denver. The last time these geezers (;-)) toured together was 1982, so this is quite a momentous occasion. We are so excited about going, once we're in our seats we'll have to sit on our hands to keep from waving at people.

In approximately 1989, I saw Sting on a solo-tour at Red Rocks. I was accompanied by my cousins Risa and Jody...we were about 17. It rained and we sang and danced our hearts out soaking wet. The three of us also saw Richard Marx that summer. Remember him? One of those smarmy 80s ballad singers with the huge feathered-back mullet hair. So, not quite as good.

The tickets were EXPENSIVE (8th row), but sometimes you just gotta. There are a few people/bands I wish I could have seen before they quit or died or committed public-relations Harri-Kari...these include Elvis, Michael Jackson (during the Thriller years), Duran Duran, the Go Gos, Duke Ellington, Frank Sinatra...and so many more. When it is my time to leave this world, at least I will be able to go a little bit happier because I saw the Police in concert.

Falling, walking, swimming

I've been emailing with a friend and realized I should post some of the news we've been discussing. Here're some latest Casa Herrera tidbits...

Max fell down on the cement patio last week and cracked his head so hard he had a goose egg on the back of his head. Watching him do it was like a slow motion movie -- I can still see his noggin bouncing off the cement like a ball. The dull thud was sickening. It was his first real "injury" and he did one of those no-sound hold-your-breath screams (followed by actual screaming) for several minutes. It was kinda traumatic for all three of us -- but, he made it through and now is more careful about jetting around the patio.

However, the side-effect for me is everytime he takes a tumble now I gasp out loud and flinch. I'm trying not to do this.

Max has a "walker" thing that he can push around while he walks behind. When I want to really tire him out so he will take a good (hopefully extra long) nap, I make him walk with his walker all the way to the mailbox, which is about 1/3 block away. He thinks it is really fun, plus he is exhausted by the time we get home. Another tire-out activity is learning to climb up and down the stairs safely. I make him go all the way up (1st floor to 2nd floor), then back down facing the stairs. Down is not as fun.

Also, his first swim lesson was last Sunday. It is going to be a father-son activity for a couple of reasons. 1) I don't like the water much (it would be fine, except for the getting wet part) 2) daddy loves the water 3) Max and daddy have a great time doing it 4) I don't want to have to dunk him under water.

Joe in demand

Dear Joe,

During your next 15 minute break from lopping off heads at work (JK), visit LaDawn's blog. www.clare-panton.blogspot.com She posts lots of controversial whatsits over which you will have a ball debating merits.

Don't forget who gave you your start, though...we still love your antics on our blog too. ;-)

Casa Herrera