the thing that nobody tells you about being a children's librarian is that you will end up lugging all sorts of stuff around with you in the subway.

the other day, i was doing baby storytime and i needed a "baby" to model the songs for the moms with their babies. so i ended up carrying my large stuffed monkey (a wonderful gift from my grandparents, i believe) around with me all day. to work in the subway. to dinner. to the theater for rehearsal. in the cab on the way home. there were quite a few comments about how pretty he was and a few people even did a double take cause they thought he was real (hey, in manhattan i guess you never know).

today i was carrying a large suitcase full of defunct electronics (including a microwave and a fax machine/printer, to give you an idea of the size). i took a cab to grand central so i would only have to deal with one subway transfer and the driver very kindly helped me put it in the trunk. upon our arrival, however, i hauled it out of the trunk myself. "my dad says 'never pack more than you can carry yourself,'" i told the cab driver as he watched open-mouthed.

and they say children never listen to what their parents tell them.