1.  Well, it’s here.  Day of reckoning.  And I haven’t lost my mind yet.  Mind you, there’s still plenty of time for that, but I’m still here.  Still functioning.  That’s something.

2.  We had a xmas party for all the Chinese & Jewish library workers yesterday (Seriously, we counted.  There were exactly 2 of us who actually celebrate the holiday.)  It was a blast.  People were laughing and eating all this amazing food.  The woman (the other celebrant) who runs a church choir led everyone in a rousing group-sing of the 12 days of Christmas, which, if you didn’t grow up with that groaner of a song, is sort of challenging.  We were falling out of our chairs laughing.  And the nicest of the librarians there bought me a present so I’d have something to open when everyone else was opening their presents.  I  LOVE THIS BRANCH.

3.  Yesterday I read a story in the NY Times that touched on many things, including the plight of Israeli drug-sniffin’ dogs in Montana who were trained in, well, Hebrew, and who, as a result, have a hard time understanding their English-only handlers in the States.  Kind of a funny story in a way, but the part that really touched me, was learning that in December of 1993, Billings, MT had a spot of trouble with vandals breaking the windows of Jews displaying menorahs.  At their pastors’ requests, 10,000 churchgoing families put out menorahs – both makeshift and borrowed/bought – the next week to protect the city’s 3 dozen Jewish families.  This brought tears to my eyes.  It’s a really good reminder that sometimes people respond in exactly the right way, and that the good people in the world really do outnumber the shitheads.  Also, the image of a drug-cop in Montana trying to pronounce the Hebrew correctly is frickin’ hilarious.

4.  Knit half a mitten last night.  I feel productive.  And virtuous.

5.  The week’s half over, and I have another contiguous weekend coming up.  It’s no wonder I’ve been in a relatively good mood lately.  What with the time off, and the weekends and the new-branch-where-people-aren’t-crazy.  So this is how other people live, eh?  Gotta get me some of this on a full-time basis, I’m thinking.

Off to my appointment.  Wish me luck.