Older but not necessarily happier

Never before has a picture so perfectly matched my mood. This is the birthday card I received today from my english muffin, after having a ridiculously shitty birthday. No people died and I didn't get hit by a truck, but I was in a terrible mood all day today and that was not helped by having to be at a staff development day where we completed the "Dream Phase" of our "Appreciative Inquiry" project where we talked about the positive things at our library. This would have been an ok exercise if I was grouped with some of the crazy and wonderfully sarcastic people who I work with, but instead I was stuck with a few women from the circulation department who wanted nothing to do with it, even if it involved unecessary amounts of sarcasm and cynicism.

In addition to thinking about our vision of the future of the library (mine included a future where I was no longer working there) and creating a collage for a "shared vision", we had to act out a brief play detailing what we thought the future of our library should look like. While some groups did talk shows, Mister Rogers, chorus lines and crazy storytimes, I (as "dramatic leader" for the group) had my group act out a "just a dream" scenario where I was working in the teen area and after witnessing two girls ripping pages from magazines and two guys doing a drug deal, I call the security guard, who kicks them all out. Then because it is so quiet, I get bored and take a nap, and wake up 20 years in the future, at which time the teen area is a perfect place, they all do their homework, read, get along, and offer to buy me lunch, and again, I have a nap, and wake up back in 2006 and say "oh, that was just a dream, wasn't it?" Take that, dream phase! Personally I was quite proud of our dramatic achievement, but then again I was always one for the mockumentaries.

Continuing with my day, I was given a brownie with a candle in it that I couln't eat because it had walnuts, and then a box of chocolates that I couldn't eat because they had hazelnuts, and then I went out for dinner not for me but for a woman who was leaving the library after working there for ten years. Wow, what a momentous birthday. I have to say that the highlight of my day was receiving the card from my english friend that you see above. He is obviously someone who undertstands me, and he doesn't even live on the same fucking continent!