March 17, 1992

The New Yorker

I stay home for most of the morning and instead of reviewing my notes for next week's 2-day workshop, I do chores, print some calendar squares, and wonder how (un)prepared I'll be when the time comes to make my presentation.

At the council meeting, Sandy gives me instructions as to what to report.  Fine, but what's wrong with her mouth.  I feel a little uncomfortable talking about what Joel has told me no one wants to hear anymore:  how increasingly busy the library is.

Tuesday, February 18, 1992

Tuesdays @ 8:00 p.m.  We occasionally tuned in.



At least I didn't pass out last night before JoAnna returned home, but I am dead to the world once I fall asleep.  Eddie wakes up squalling around midnight, and I don't respond to JoAnna's rousings.  She's up with him for nearly two hours.  Then around 4, I feel a rumbling in my bowels that demands my attention.  For the next 2 hours, I made 5 trips to the bathroom.  Each time the diarrhea gushes out of my system.  At 7, when I should be getting ready for work, I feel too tired and weak and disoriented to proceed with the day as planned.  I call Jane Robbins and cancel our 8:15 meeting and then sleep fitfully until 10:45.  I consider blowing off the entire day but decide that being active will be the best antidote for my minor physical ailment.

After a trip to the post office, I arrive at the library at quarter to 1.  During the nearly two hours that I'm there, I'm actually quite productive.  At 2:30 I leave to pick Eddie up at daycare.  JoAnna and I think he might have another ear infection, but after a 45-minute wait to see Dr. Ellis, that turns out not to be the case.

I do go back to the library but not until 6:30.  A slow evening is interrupted by a very brief council meeting.  Sandy Allen calls on me to report on how the board responded to a complaint from one of Jim Wexler's constituents.  Then Don Damon volunteers to raise the money through the service clubs after I give him the price info.

Tuesday, February 11, 1992

A partial morning off.  I have an 11 o'clock appointment with Pat to have my hair cut.  My free time is spent at the computer, inputting calendar squares from early 1987.  JoAnna's pregnant; I'm bored.  I still miss the freedom of Oshkosh, the exhilarating bike rides, the crazy Tuesday night, the late-night solitary highs.

Deb is today's interview candidate.  Considering the fact that she's already been offered two jobs this year, both Liz and I are expecting a big-gun showing.  It doesn't happen.  Deb is so overcome with a case of nerves that she can manage only the briefest of answers to our questions.  She doesn't put the slightest dent into Eve's or Diane's chances.

The board meeting is a very useful and productive 2-hour session.  Sandy Allen appears to be very supportive of the library's needs, specifically in the areas of staffing and materials.  Now I have mixed feelings about John Schaffer's candidacy.  I think I'd rather have Sandy go to the mat against Julie and Don.

Tuesday, January 14, 1992

I get up early, determined to pack in as much as possible into the workday.  Before the Dane County librarians meeting at Verona, I stop by the library to look through my mail and anything else that seems to need my attention.  The meeting is a quickie, and on the way home I stop at Half Price Book and find nothing that makes me instantly grab for my wallet.  I keep to my office during the afternoon, taking care of various odds and ends, and leave at 4 to pick up Eddie.

For some reason, I feel on the edge of a precipice with Sandy on the board, but maybe it's John I need to keep an eye on.  John, the stunning no-show at the holiday party.

I'm happy to report that Sandy is no Julie Brunnette council clone.  She seemed genuinely shocked that the library received no increase in books.  And she seems sympathetic to our staffing needs at a time when library use is threatening to make basket cases of us all.

I stay to work on a variety of tasks and that's my problem -- flitting from one to the next, never being able to get a focus.

Tuesday, December 10, 1991

I attend the cataloging subcommittee meeting at Madison, which is blessedly short.  I probably waste an hour of free time, but at least I'm able to exchange the shirt that JoAnna bought me for my birthday and buy Dale his Christmas gift.  I stop at Marshall Fields at Hilldale and find some beautiful presents for JoAnna:  a scarf and two clips for her hair.

During the day, I am a little apprehensive about Sandy Allen's first meeting as board member, but we sail through the agenda without incident, although I do see the possibility of some sparks flying during the discussion of reimbursement for nonresident use.

Tuesday, December 3, 1991

After a brief stop at the library, I drive to the system office to attend a very routine and comparatively brief Advisory Committee meeting.  (I just automatically start writing in the present tense.  So much for a change of pace.)

On the drive back to Middleton, I groove on a collection of 80s tunes that I recorded onto one tape and stop at Hilldale to buy JoAnna a special birthday present, a pearl-drop earring and necklace set at Marshall Fields.  At Moseley's, I buy a blank book for myself, into which I hope to start recording some meandering thoughts about my life.  Soon.  But not this week, I suspect.

I attend the council meeting that evening, and the budget passes without further change.  Julie Brunnette addresses the issue of reimbursement for nonresident use, which I amplify during the reports from city officials.  Sandy Allen is assigned to the library board.  The good news is that her mom is a big library supporter.