Okay, I saw Oprah in these and she looked good.  I'm nervous about buying something created by Nelly, but the man appreciates a tiny waist and a round thang in your face.
 
Anybody tried Apple Bottoms yet?  I'm thinking of ordering a pair.  Specifically, these. 

[edited to add: Those of you who were outraged about the sizes offered, note their sizing chart.  Their eight is our ten.  Note this oddly grammatically incorrect FAQ question, which shows their sizes run up to 14.  There are 12's and 14's on eBay.  Man, Nelly should be sending me a free pair.  Or a free purre.]

She cut it.  She drained it.  She took a culture.  She cleaned it.  She put me on antibiotics.  She doesn't think this is the same infection, the really bad one I had.  This is some kind of smaller infection, an ingrown hair gone evil. 
 
"You'll definitely have a better weekend now," she said.
 
She warned me that the needle filled with the numbing agent would hurt and then burn.  It was nothing compared to what I went through a few weeks ago.  Watching someone cut into your skin, seeing them put instruments inside of you that squeeze and tug -- but not feel anything?  That's weird.
 
The numbing agent has since totally worn off, and I'm now feeling it, but it's still better than the pain I was going through last night.
 
Thanks for sending along your kind words.  I'm fine.  It's just another reminder to take it easy this weekend.  Good thing writing doesn't require sudden movements.

eleven and a half hours until my doctor's appointment.
 
This ER rerun i've never seen before which seems like I was supposed to stay home tonight and update book donations.  We're at 325.  And the letters from the librarians, as you can see, have been coming in all week.  It's one of my favorite things about the book drive, hearing about the delivery guy and all of those boxes.  But that means we only got less than thirty donations over the past week.  There's only nine days left to donate in order to be eligible for the book contest.
 
Words aren't making as much sense right now, and the pain has subsided.  People love to talk about how to take Vicodin the right way, how you have to chase the dragon a little, taking the next one right before the pain sets in.  I think I got it right this time.  For the first time in twenty-four hours I'm not in pain. 
 
I'm dreading seeing the surgeon tomorrow.  I like her a lot, and she looks like Reba MacIntyre.  On Monday when she said I was all healed (did I already tell this story?  I've made a million posts tonight), I asked her what do I do if another one formed.  She got all serious and said, "Call me immediately and come in.  We'll cut it open and see what's going on."
 
I'm hoping that's some kind of surgeon figure of speech.
 
My producers on Why Girls Are Weird were nominated for a slew of Emmys today for their HBO movie.  I had a great time ordering them flowers. 
 
"What's the occasion?" the florist asked.
"They got nominated for Emmys!" I cheered.
"That's so exciting!" she said.  "What a fun reason to send flowers!"
 
Then we tried to figure out the most worthy bouquet.  It's an honor just to be Emmy nominee-adjacent.

Hello, Pam. I hope you and your wonderful readers are well.

We continue to be thrilled with the effects of the books drive. Today the Poway Library had a story time and children's craft hour using only books we had received from the "pamie.com family". It was a great program and a great turnout.

I wonder if I could bring the following branches to your attention. They have just managed to get their wish lists and profiles up.

Thanks for all your outstanding service to readers and libraries everywhere.

Betty Waznis
San Diego County Library


Casa de Oro Branch Library serves a diverse community in the shadow of Mt. Helix in eastern San Diego County. The library is a small neighborhood branch that has served the youth and adults of the community for more than 40 years.

Lincoln Acres Branch Library is unlike any other library you have seen before. Originally an old military barrack, Lincoln Acres first opened to the community on June 18, 1947. Only 800 square feet, this tiny and cozy library is the second smallest in the county. The Lincoln Acres Library has stood the test of time as in the late 90's the county's relocation project almost closed the library, but residents fought hard and successfully petitioned to keep it open. In the last 2 years, budget cutbacks have restricted the book budget. In spite of the economic hardships, the library staff has strived to provide adequate resources to its large Spanish speaking community living in an economically disadvantaged area.

Potrero Branch Library has existed since 1915 and recently moved into a new facility in this rural community. Located just miles from the Mexican border, the branch serves a 26 mile area with many bilingual residents. This branch has a small budget but many community needs.

San Marcos Branch Library. San Marcos is home to over 16,000 children and teens under 18 years old. We try to reach each and every one of these young people with books, videos, CDs and recorded books to help meet their homework and leisure reading needs. With your help, we can include items in our collection that we couldn't afford otherwise. Thanks for helping to create a community of successful readers!

Hey Pamie - you've already posted a link to my original donation entry,  but I thought you'd enjoy this one too - I got a really nice handwritten note from the librarian at the the Spring Valley Branch, and scanned it onto my blog, here.

It made me happy.

sam

Pamie,

Words can not express the joy you have brought to our entire staff.  Whenever another package arrives we have a little party!  We are a new and growing branch that could use more books on many different subjects.  Your generous donations help us fill out our collection.  That makes our patrons very happy!  It has been amazing to watch donations pour in from all over the country.  Thank you for lifting our spirits with your generosity.

Sincerely,
 
Brenna Ring
Branch Librarian
San Diego County Library
Rancho San Diego Branch

Dear Pamie and Friends of the Cool Kids: 
 
The UPS guy is getting to know Lemon Grove Library really well;  every day we get more deliveries from Amazon!  It's exciting opening the boxes to find the treasures inside.  The most successful donations have been the Lemony Snicket books - they are nearly all checked out already! 
 
Thanks for helping the children of Lemon Grove find some great books to read. 
 
Janet Gastil,
Youth Services Librarian
San Diego County Library,
Lemon Grove Branch

Here's information and photographs for the different San Diego Library branches.
 
 
i've entered the trippy, head-spacey section of the Vicodin.  It makes me do dumb things, like type in italics and small print.  it makes me want to not update any more of these, but i need to because it's been a week and you need to know that people are still helping and that the libraries still need help.  ow.  hey, this hurts, being me tonight.  ow. 

Thank you so much for helping us with the amazon.com wish list for San Diego County Libraries. 

We are receiving so many of the titles we hoped for from book lovers all around the country.  I spoke with the President of The Friends of the Del Mar Library, and the board will publish an article in their next newsletter, challenging the local community to contribute as generously as your readers have done. 

I'll report back to you with the results later this year. 

Sincerely, 
Gretchen Schmidt,
Librarian,
Del Mar Branch

I only guilt-tripped you down there because right now I have no shame.  Typing under the influence while in pain makes you do things like that.
 
I mean, you know.  If you can't donate a book, that doesn't make you a bad person or anything.  It just means you can't donate a book to a library.  I mean, you don't have to do that. 
 
You probably didn't buy me an engagement present, though.  Not that you have to.   But, you know.  I'm just sayin'.
 
Hey.  You look good.  I like those pants on you. 
 
Oh.  I found some jeans.  Thanks to those of you who suggested Lucky Brand.  They aren't made out of paper napkins and they don't highlight my butt crack.  And I love that you can find them on eBay for much cheaper than in stores.  That's what I do because I'm broke because I'm the girl who decided to have a house and a wedding in the same year. 
 
But I still bought some books.  Oooh!  Burn.

Here's what I'm trying to do tonight.  I have these book donations in my inbox and it's been a week since I've posted here and in a lovely turn of events it appears that the staph, it is back.
 
The surgeon said on Monday I looked all healed and yesterday I got another painful nodule.  My appointment to see the doctor is tomorrow morning and I did okay for most of the day pretending I wasn't in blinding-white pain, but now that I'm done with my day and went on my meetings and did my job I couldn't take the pain anymore so now I'm on a Vicodin.
 
This means I'm blogging on drugs, which I don't recommend.  Blogger also changed their format so now I keep putting HTML where they don't need me to and I'm getting confused.
 
This also means that while I'm posting book donation letters, sometimes I just might feel the need to say "Hey!" because that's what you do when you're typing and kind of high.
 
Hey, we hit the 300 mark on donations.  That's awesome.  Hey, some of you who donated last year haven't yet this year.  I mean, you don't have to, but remember how good you felt about sending over a children's book?  I'm just sayin'.
 
Hey, here's what sucks.  My toes are kind of tingly and numb and the cat's passed out next to my leg and it's finally not really hot in here and all I have to do is copy and paste some letters but I'm still in pain.  I don't want to take a second Vicodin (that's what the prescription bottle says, but two makes me dumb and sleepy), but the pain is still here.  So I'm going to type through the pain.
 
Thirteen hours until my doctor's appointment.  I've got about thirteen donation letters to go. 
 
This is the dangerous side of blogging.  I have no editor. 

The Santee Branch Library thanks you posting the library's name.  Alison King of San Francisco found the library and sent two books.  What a great service you are providing!!   
 
Jo Routhier
Santee Branch Librarian

Yeah, this pretty much feels like my fault, too.