Inventories

Taking stock of things every once in a while is a good way to catch up on life: what's missing, what's going well or not, who's doing what (and to whom), etc.

Missing from my life is the will to do yardwork. I now own a home and with that home came a decent-sized yard. We neglected the raking last fall and have to catch up so that the grass we do have stays greenish all summer. We did rake the front yard and we made some very nice piles of leaves in the backyard - this weekend I have to will myself to put those masses of dead leafage into biodegradable bags and deposit them into the great compost pile in the sky (which is on Dudley St, if you're wondering). I also have to purchase some gardening tools that will allow me to trim bushes and trees in the backyard. Whoopie.

Most things are going well - we have finally set a date. Ready? Friday, April 28, 2006 in Gloucester, Mass. We have the reception site and the caterer and most likely a church or j.p. whichever we decide to use. A 'Save the date' card is in the works and will probably go out next week. This wedding planning thing's not so hard.

Work is lovely. My activities today prompted this entry as I was conducting an inventory of the collection here. An inventory consists of printing a list of every single item in the library and then methodically going through the shelves to determine whether an item is, or is not, on the shelf as it should be. It is slow, somewhat painstaking work but, once done, will mean more knowledge and control over what we do and don't own. This is pretty vital to a lending library so I felt productive getting most of this done today. Course, it is also a frustrating task because many books that are "on the shelf" are actually not and I have no way to track down who has them or where they are. They have become a part of someone else's collection and will probably never return. Sigh.

I have watched more movies in the last 2 weeks than should be allowed, but I am enjoying almost every minute. I hated the very esoteric, artsy 'Blow Up' by director Antonioni, and those 2 hours were agonizing, but otherwise I loved 'It Happened One Night' ("Do you love my daughter?...Yes, but don't hold that against me, I'm a little nutty myself"); 'The Searchers' ("Shut your mouth or I'll shut it for you"); 'A Night at the Opera' (too many damn funny one-liners to pick just one); 'Gone with the Wind' ("I don't know nothin' 'bout birthin' no babies"); and ' Lawrence of Arabia', which we are working our way through, not that we don't like it, it's just a long-ass movie.

As for who's doing what (and to whom): our new 2nd floor roommie moves in next week, which is good for the mortgage-paying; lots of people are celebrating birthdays in the next week; and the mbelftboh continues to fire and hire employees at the speed of light.

Happy 2nd birthday to Warren Carey! "Want to go to a restaurant? Okay."