Not a creature was stirring…

Someone asked why PUBLIB (the discussion list for public librarians) was so quiet this weekend. A few people tore themselves away from HP7 (as some refer to the last Harry Potter book) to say, in essence, “Dude, we’re reading.”

As of Sunday, I was number 231 on the library reserve list, which is entirely my fault. For the last three months I’ve been telling myself, “Next year in Jerusalem!” I have a long, long list of stuff on my “git list” for when I’m working on a regular basis again. Harry Potter is on that list, but I could have reserved my library copy much, much earlier, rather than waiting until Sunday.

Also on my list: a dining-room table; a tiny house; a Mini-Cooper; a squirrel-proof cardinal feeder; a facial; a trip to New York; any number of books that are quite available at the library; a small flat-screen television for the sun room, though only our tabby cat uses the sun room on a regular basis… In other words, nothing I really need (we have a table pressed into service in the dining room, in case you’re wondering, and the real reason we don’t have a new table has more to do with having left the land of plenty and then realizing that we and the South have different opinions about furniture, much as we do about Mexican or Chinese cuisine).

The “git list” is in part a relief valve. I crave something, I put it on the list, and the craving goes away. But the “git list” also functions as a gentle reminder that my professional life is up in the air. I have some possibilities (in the tradition of The Veil, you will never hear about the ones I don’t get); I’ve also had some “sure bets” fall through; I’ve had some nice surprises come my way. I also have some contracting work up in the air (thank you to those who could be understanding this way) as I wait for resolution.

Maybe I didn’t put myself on the list for Harry Potter earlier because it felt too much like admitting that resolution was not at hand; and conversely, maybe putting HP7 on reserve Sunday morning (as I hacked and sneezed through a sudden summer cold) was important for reminding myself that we know how to live on a shoestring. Sandy was unemployed for our first full year in California, and even in that overpriced state, we survived.

We planned that I would be unemployed when we relocated to Florida; we just didn’t know the sequence of events would be “work, unemployment,” versus “unemployment, work.” I learned quite a bit about myself this past year — not the least of which is how important it is to plan for contingencies in the first place. But another lesson is the importance of patience and hope. I have to believe things will happen for me… what else is there to go on?