Visit to Monroe

This post won't be long because it's late and I have to get up early for a busy start to a busy week tomorrow. But I wanted to write about visiting my brother-in-law, Paul, this weekend. We drove over on Friday, and I must say that it was difficult being there again. I've only been there twice since my sister died; the last time was just for one night when we were moving down here from Michigan, so I think I was so keyed up about the move that being there didn't register much. My sister's house is almost exactly as she left it, and I can see her everywhere I look when I'm there -- quite literally, since Paul still has about 10 pictures of her just in the living room, even more elsewhere. Ann's presence absolutely permeates that house, which is not a bad thing, but it's almost like a sweet torment being there. I feel so close to her being surrounded by all that she loved so much, but the one thing that would make me happiest is lacking.

And it's not just Ann whom I think about while spending time there, but my mother also, of course. Some of her furniture is still there; we sleep in her bed, in fact. I see her not just in that house but in so many of the places around town -- a wholesale music supply company where she once worked, the site of a Sealtest ice-cream shop we used to go to, a store where we'd shopped together many, many times. I miss my mother so much, but the ache inside me for her isn't as keen and sharp as it is for my sister. I'm not sure why but I think part of it is because even though it was devastating to lose my mother, I was prepared for her death somewhat. I knew it was coming at least. This was not at all the case for my sister -- a 49-year-old athletic, slim nonsmoker who'd never had a serious illness in her life. But who nevertheless dropped dead on October 13, 2006, as though she'd been simply shut down like a machine. I am still trying to wrap my head around it. I don't know that I ever truly will.

Peace, Jody

The Dog Days . . .

I posted this screen capture on my Facebook page and thought I'd share it with you here as well. We have a searing ball of nuclear fusion in the sky that other peoples on earth know as the sun, but that we in the South are now avoiding at all costs since even a few seconds of exposure will render one down into a large puddle of sweat and blistered skin.

I kid, obviously. But it is very, very hot. The kind of hot that makes you draw the blinds and stay inside as much as you possibly can. I was hand-washing some of my delicates today and thought it might be easier to rinse them outside on the deck. Hah! What an idiot I am. I was out there for around three minutes and thought I was going to pass out.

Since my last actual newsy post, I've been to DC and had a very busy July. ALA was a blast! I got to see my best buddies Mike and Jerry several times, and I met lots of new people in library land: Maura (and her bf Matt, who is getting his PhD in Am Studies), Laura, David, and Kristin. My poster session went very well. I had around 30 people stop by to chat and ask me about my work, which is probably more than would have shown up if I were giving an actual presentation. The weather was good, if a bit hot, and I managed to keep my energy up pretty well, even though I was only about a week out of radiation. I finally ran out of steam the third evening we were there and went to bed around 8 p.m. The last day, a bunch of us got a "professional" tour of the Library of Congress, much more behind the scenes than the public tour. It was really interesting! I'm glad we took the time to arrange it in advance (if you are a librarian and ever want to do this, be sure to go to the LoC's website at least a month before your trip to request the professional tour).

I mentioned in my last post that I was on a search committee for an information literacy librarian -- we have since completed our interviews and offered the post to a woman I liked very much. She will be starting at our library tomorrow, and I know she will be a great addition! I'm pleased we were able to find someone so well suited to our workplace.

My health continues about the same. I am slowly getting back to normal but don't feel that I'm there yet. Frankly, I wonder if I ever will be. I tire much more easily than I ever have, and I've been experiencing some mild to moderate joint pain since about halfway through radiation. I've spoken with my oncology nurse and my radiation oncologist about it, and they say that they don't think it's metastasis on the basis of my description (stiffness in joints throughout my body that goes away after I'm up and about for more than a few minutes, intermittent pain that varies in intensity). As it turns out, I was misremembering about my scans and checkups last time I posted. I will be seeing my plastic surgeon this month and getting my last surgery on August 25th, barring any problems, but I don't start the other stuff until September. So I guess I will find out then what's up with this joint pain. I hope so, anyway.

Right after returning from ALA in DC, one of my good friends and closest colleagues at work, Eric, was offered a position at a small, private Catholic college in Austin. He and his wife both got their undergrad degrees at UT Austin, and they've been longing to get back there, plus the pay at the new job was very generous, so he will be leaving us soon to start that position. I am very sorry to see him go, but I know we will stay in touch. I am helping to cover some of his liaison responsibilities (Rafia and I are going to share the instruction and consultation duties for the curriculum and instruction half of the College of Education), so that will mean that I'm going to be busier than ever this fall. The VERY good news, however, is that Eric's position was approved for refunding by the muckety-muck university hiring committee, so at least we will be able to hire someone to replace him. With the budget cuts we've been experiencing, it was by no means certain that this would happen! If you know an academic librarian with an education background, please give him/her a heads up to be on the lookout for the job posting here. It should be up pretty soon. In fact, we have a position up there right now for a science and engineering librarian. So pass that link along if you know anyone who might be interested!

Yesterday, we went to a BBQ at the house of some friends we play Warcraft with, Paul and Renee. They live a couple of hours away in Graham, TX. We got there around 3:30-ish and stayed until around 9, ate way too much good food (brisket and pork that Paul had smoked for about 14 hours), and VERY much enjoyed visiting with Paul, Renee, and her kids. The added bonus this year (we did the same thing last year about this time) was that one of our other WoW buddies, Adrian, came up from San Marcos with his wife, Rosario. It was awesome to meet Aden (his game name) after we've spent so many years playing with him and talking online! Rosario was very sweet to put up with our gabbing almost exclusively about Warcraft the whole night :).

I'm going to sign off now so I can get on the game for a bit and spend the rest of my Sunday relaxing. Peace, Jody.