Saturday 9: 9 to 5

Good morning! I'm joining up with Sam and the gang at Saturday 9 for some musical fun and to prove I am still around, though you'd never have known it this past week. School began and I am back to work. It, unfortunately, appears that I probably won't be much of a presence online through the week this year. My schedule leaves me with little to no free time during the day and when I get home from a work day that begins when I walk out the door at 5:00 a.m. (though I get up at 3:45!) and ends when I get home at 5:30 p.m....there's not much left in me, so it's the things that must be done that get my attention before I fall into bed.

Anyway, let's get on with the Saturday 9.

9 to 5 (1980) 

Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.

1) This song begins with the clacking of a typewriter. Did you ever learn to touch type -- beginning with your fingers on "the home row" -- or do you hunt and peck?

Learning to touch type was actually required at my school.  For everyone!  We all had to take an introduction to business course in jr. high that taught the basics and then in high school we had to take a more intensive one with the timed trials and all that.

2) Much of the video for this song revolves around the office coffee room. Are you enjoying a beverage as you answer these 9 questions?

Yep. My morning Diet Coke is sitting beside me.  I don't like coffee but need that boost of caffeine first thing.

3) This week's artist, Dolly Parton, loves telling the story of how she once lost a Dolly Parton lookalike contest. What contest or sweepstakes have you entered lately?

I entered the Publisher's Clearinghouse sweepstakes online a few weeks ago. Big mistake! They keep cramming my inbox with "special offers."

4) Dolly is one smart blonde. Early in her career she set up a company so she could retain the publishing rights for all her songs. Two alone -- "9 to 5" and "I Will Always Love You" -- made her a multi-millionaire because they have been recorded so many times. Do you have a good head for business?

Not really.  I am better at the creative side of things than at managing stuff.

5) Dolly is a crusader for childhood literacy and her organization, Dolly's Imagination Library, has donated more than 10 million books all over the country. What's the last book you read? 

I'm working on a Kathy Reichs novel.  She writes the books that the TV show Bones was (loosely) based on.

I am a big fan of Dolly's Imagination Library.  My little grandson is signed up and he will get a free book every month until he is 5! I think it's awesome that Dolly wants to get books into kids' hands.  Teach them to love reading when they are young.  Far too many of the kids I see each day hate to read.

6) This weekend may offer a golden opportunity for napping and sleeping in. Do you snore?

My husband says I do.  I choose to believe otherwise.

7) Labor Day was introduced to celebrate the achievements of the American worker. How many different employers have you had?

Seven.  I can't really say I loved any of the jobs I've had except for working in the front office of a grocery store and I ended up giving it up because my kids were little and the hours were crazy, jumping all over the place.  Bus driving is okay...unless you have problem kids, which I don't this year. 

8) Will you be attending a Labor Day picnic or barbecue?

No.  I don't know anyone who is having one this year and my husband is working, anyway. 

9) Labor Day traditionally marks the beginning of the new school year. When she was a kid, Samantha was crazy for her brand new box of 96 Crayola Crayons. It even had a sharpener in the back! What do you remember about preparing to go back to school? If you're a parent with school-age kids, are they ready?

I don't remember getting crayons for school.  It was always new clothes, notebooks (I still get a rush when I open a new notebook), pens and pencils, and in high school Trapper Keepers came out. Remember those?  It was so important to have a cool one!

One thing we were just discussing at work the other day was how we loved smelling those freshly mimeographed pages, glue, or the boxes of fruit scented magic markers some of us remember getting.  We all remember sitting around sniffing that kind of stuff and now we are kind of surprised when we realize we were "huffing" and doing it with the blessing of our teachers and parents. Another thing our generation survived!

No kids to get ready here.  Our granddaughter started going to a charter school this year after three years of homeschooling.  She LOVES it.  Our son says he gets her up when he wakes up and before he is downstairs she is already dressed and downstairs with her backpack on and raring to go!  Love that she is so enthusiastic...and that the school is specially equipped to help her learn to deal with her dyslexia.

Well, this chick is off to get done all the things that didn't get done this week and to run a few wedding related errands (like drive 50 miles to buy more log slices for the table centerpieces), but it's a long weekend so I will see you tomorrow for Sunday Stealing!