An idle mind*

Recently I’ve had a lot of time to catch up on my (mostly chick-lit) reading. This also means I’m putting all my library memberships to good use (all 4 of them) -
• The library for the city where we now live
• The library for the city where I now work
• The library system for the general area we used to live and work in
• The library system for the general area we now live in

(During one of my recent crazy “putting books on my hold list” sprees, I also signed up for a card at the library in the city where I volunteer a few hours a week. Luckily I later found the same book while browsing one of my “regular” libraries, so I didn’t bother picking up my library card from the other place.)

For a while I kept track of all my books and videos the usual way. They would stay in the backseat of my car till the library emailed me a courtesy notification a few days before they were due. And then, there would be a mad scramble to either read, renew or return whatever I could. Till one day, inspiration (or boredom) struck. Now I have my own tracking system in excel.

The Summary
This is where I get an overall picture of what I have checked out and when they’re due.
From here, I can also link to the library website to check my account. I can also click anywhere in the table showing the breakdown to get more details on those specific items.

The Details
This is a list of all the items I have checked out and when they’re due. The light blue shading is for books I’m done reading and the light yellow is for the ones I’m currently reading.
The purple shading in the “Due Date” column marks due dates that are in the next 3 days.
The pink in the last column tells me I need to read / renew / return those items – it’s a combination of items with a due date in the next 7 days and status of “Not yet started” or “Work in Progress”.
Needless to say, I'm very pleased with myself. I have also realized I might be spending more time "refining" my tracking sheet than I spend actually reading all those books I borrowed!


* is, in my case, apparently an excel workshop!

That's so C....

Z: E, we need to talk. I have to tell you something.
E: Do you want to play my game?
Z: Yes. But I don't like it when you call me that. I want you to stop.
E: But you are......
Z (on the verge of tears): But I don't like it. (to me) Can you ask E to stop?
At this point I'm trying very hard not to laugh. I make a serious face to match the situation and say in my best "grown-up voice" - "E, stop calling Z that. Z, maybe E will stop saying that if you stop paying attention to her".
The word that was causing all the trouble? Cute of course!

Arbit and Arbiter

Apparently this is what happens when I'm "Addicted to friends"

The end

Today's the last day of Nablopomo 2007. And I made it. I posted every day, all November.

And we all live happily ever after. The end.

ps: Next November, if I even talk about signing up for this again, somebody please spank me (twss).

I will survive

Today I went to the gym after a long time. No baby steps of 20 minutes on the treadmill for me. I started with a 1-hr class of Kickbox Aerobics.
For the first 5 minutes, I huffed and puffed and did everything wrong. I spent the next 15 minutes watching the clock - if I can just make it till the hand reaches 8...9...10...and so on. And humming "I will survive" under my breath.
By the time the class was half over, I realised it was actually fun (shhh...don't tell my husband I said that...I do have an image to maintain) to try and be in step with 5 other people. Almost like a dancing class would have been if I'd ever gotten up the courage to try that.
I'm very proud of myself for staying the entire hour, and more importantly, making a promise to myself that I will go back there on Wednesday (whether I keep that promise or not will depend on what my sore back says tomorrow).
For now I'm high on the endorphins and happy as a penguin.

You think I'd crumble
You think I'd lay down and die
Oh no, not I
I will survive
- "I Will survive" - Gloria Gaynor

When 32 is perfect

My husband got the mileage on his car to touch 32 MPG. To put it in perspective, that is the upper limit per the manufacturer's spec. Understandably, I usually stay away from driving his car.

Today I found out I do pretty well under pressure too. We went out and I drove on the way back (3 different freeways and close to 45 miles) and I maintained the MPG (and only told 4 people the whole internet about it)