The days are getting longer

Winter drags on and on this year, but there have been several brief reprieves:  We'll have a few days of bitter cold, followed by two or three days of unseasonably warm spells.  But when Cliff called my attention to the pregnant weather lady on Fox 4 talking about the 5 degree low coming Wednesday and Thursday nights, my heart sank.  However, for all my friends who work Monday through Friday, I'm happy to say there will be highs around 50, Saturday and Sunday.

When nothing much is happening, we always talk about the weather, don't we?  

I wasted a big part of my weekend Saturday by letting the Internet mess with me.  As you may remember, I'm taking part in a creative writing class online, courtesy of my public library.  I'd been awaiting a grade on the last test I turned in, but Saturday morning, I couldn't log into either the library or the classes.  I rebooted.  I fumed.  I tried using a different browser.  I worried.  I even got on Cliff's PC and tried, in case it was a Mac problem.  This went on for at least three hours, time I'll never get back, simply because of my obsessing over something I couldn't change.  The computer was fine:  I could do anything on the Internet I wanted, but I couldn't get to my class!  Later, as he headed toward the recumbent bike, Cliff picked up the old iPad he uses as a reader and his book was gone.  Dear Lord, how can we live without our books?  HELP!!!  

Nothing I did to either the computer or the iPad helped.  Obviously then, it was a problem with the library website. And I saw, somewhere through all the punching buttons and spelling out passwords. a suggestion that I should call the library, so I did.  I explained my problems to a lady.  She tried logging in to the library herself, and succeeded.  I hung up, tried the things she had suggested (like re-booting, which I'd already done), and still nothing worked.  I fiddled with the stupid computer some more and finally told Cliff, "You need to take me to the library at Buckner; I want to show somebody exactly what's happening."

"If we're going to Buckner anyway," he said, looking at the clock, "we may as well go ahead and have our Valentine dinner at Toscono's.  It'll be noon when we're there anyway." 

Fine by me.  The place is becoming so popular as they expand, on Valentine's Day they'll likely be overflowing with customers (a waitress later confirmed that to be true).  They've added a bar, and I've heard they are going to have a bakery next door.  

But first, the library.  I gave the lady my password; she found she couldn't access the library on the iPad either, nor could she check into the site where I take my classes; she was familiar with the site because she's taken some of their classes too.  Finally she told me the problem must be with Overdrive, which is the supplier of the app we use to check out our books, and on which we read.  She sent an email to Overdrive, assuring me they are very good at getting back with answers, and we went to Tuscono's.  It was great food, and plenty of it.  As usual.

Sunday morning we had our books again, and I was able to access my classes.  My first thought was that if I'd just let my computer problems alone and done something else, Saturday would probably have been a perfect day.  Why do I obsess on such things and let them ruin my day?  

I just finished a book I really enjoyed, The Nickel Boys.  It's depressing, and yet a very good read. It's based on some things that really happened in a boy's home in Florida years ago.  When I finished it, one of the books I had on hold showed up on my Libby shelf:  This Tender Land.  I started it this morning.  The first line drew me in; I'm going to like this one.  However, from what I've seen, it's about orphans who get treated about as badly as the children in The Nickel Boys.  I read another book by the same author, Kent Krueger, that I really enjoyed:  Ordinary Grace.  I believe This Tender Land  will be it's equal.  I'll share the first paragraph:
"In the beginning, after He labored over the heavens and the earth, the light and the dark, the land and the sea and all living things that dwell therein, after He created man and woman and before He rested, I believe God gave us one final gift.  Lest we forget the divine source of all that beauty, He gave us stories."

What a way to begin a story!

Have a peaceful day, and take good care of yourself.  Enjoy a good book, have a snack, and wait for spring, when all things become new.