Now Playing: "Return of the Jedi" - Never thought it'd happen, but it's official -> I am now sick of Star Wars...
Current Mood : Relief and a twinge of sad
As promised, my last day of Book Fair was interesting. Grandmother, Queen of Pain almost threw the copy of May Bird I loaned her at me as soon as I walked in. Oh, how I would hate this book, it was so full of ungodly things, she couldn't read most of it ! I should probably get rid of it right now, it was too bad I'd written my name in it already. EvilDorrie had about had it with QofP, so we lit our eyes up and smiled hopefully at the cover. "Oh, really ?! (giggle)" and over-exaggeratedly placed it oh-so-carefully in the purse, as if it were a holy relic of some sort. She may not have noticed - another teacher had wandered into the sympathy chat trap - but I felt good at even this minor stand.
I played your game, Manda ! Within the first hour, won two Barbie outfits and was working on a doll. I noticed a couple teachers - who'd probably fallen into the trap earlier - scooted around us, using the computer section or the office hallway to take the long way around. Sad.
Our librarian caught a shoplifter - luckily in the act. And while straightening the Scholastic-supplied shelves, I found that a horseshoe necklace had been removed from a pony-themed volume. (sigh) I always feel sad when a kid steals. Is it for kicks, or because his parents are broke and he/she's tired of seeing what everybody else got ? Or is it that hated hydra of entitlement rearing its loathsome head ? It just depresses me, and the ‘whys' don't really matter. I end up wishing all kids had everything they needed and some of what they wanted...and I have to let it go. Otherwise, it'd color my family time, and not for the better.
I found myself angry at Grandmother. While I know her granddaughter was hurting, being reminded of her fleeting mother constantly for the last three years couldn't possibly be helping her deal. I wondered how much of her pain is really anger at QofP for not giving it a rest already. It hurt to realize that so-holy Grandmother was using the little girl's situation for sympathy and attention - for herself, not for ideas and help for the child. So I looked a bit more critically the next time she told the tale. Yes, her eyes filled and her chin trembled at the exact same point in the narrative as they always have. But when the visibly twitchy teacher escaped two sentences later, QofP's eyes were dry and I could swear I could almost see her reloading the story like rewinding a videotape. The tissue I brought her lay on the desk, untouched. She didn't need it.
Anyway, suffice to say that I owe me a doll, and I stayed as far away from Grandmother for the rest of the shift as possible. Luckily another volunteer came in, and selfishly, I got out of harm's way. No time to warn her before she was in the piranha's lake. She soon joined me on the far side of the Scholastic shelves, trying like heck to busy herself. So we chatted. Nice lady. All's well that ends well, I always say. And meeting a nice person and ‘earning' a doll are a nice ending. It was more than I could have hoped for Wednesday afternoon, that's fer sure !
Got the new Han Solo deboxed - very easy. Six twist ties and two threads, and I didn't need a single tool other than my fingers. His elbows and knees bend (it was hard to tell from the box if his arms were permanently bent or not), and he's quite handsome. The box literally broke into dust as I opened it, or there was a lot of silt from the basement it had been in, one of the two. At least "Harrison" was undamaged, and, until I opened the box, wasn't even dirty. That dust/dirt got everywhere ! He may get another name later, as Harrison's kind of obvious, but I already have a Han and an Indy. And it rather suits him, so...
His hands are in that unfortunate ‘hard C' curve, and I don't know if I can successfully boil them into a less severe angle or not. That's easy to do with, say, Power Team guys, but Harrison's hands aren't the soft vinyl I'm used to. They sort of seem in between the hard plastic of a torso and the soft vinyl of appendages. I almost hate to try, because I don't want to wreck them, but I hate that ‘caveman' look. Since we're expecting crappy weather this weekend, that may be a short Saturday project. I swear sometimes I'm happy when we're broke - I get to enjoy and play with the stuff we already have !
Not much else going on. Next week, I get to make those shoe pincushions, so I'd best enjoy my doll time now !
Ps to Manda - thanks again for the game ! Not sure why Tripod ate your comments - it gets glitchy for no apparent reason, and you can't tell when, how, or why. Heck, it ate my entries fairly frequently, too, so it's not something you're doing wrong. I now type in Word and cut/paste into Tripod, so I don't lose the occasional good thought. I appreciate your time and determination ! :)
