Mulling

I have to admit I had largely ignored the Wikileaks "scandal" of the last week or so until I read Mark Pesce's blog post on it. I have some thinking to do.

What A Week

There is something about being ill that really lowers your ability to deal with things. I find my patience is less, my tolerance for noise and chaos is less and my emotional threshold is much lower. All of these things have been tested this week.

Now I have to admit that I detest being sick, which starts me off on the wrong foot anyway, but this week...

The hardest part was finding out my mother would be going in for heart surgery. It wasn't planned so it really threw everyone for a loop. Of course, I'm across the country so of no help. Dad has been travelling back and forth from the hospital every day 2.5hrs each way. My brother has been the one to contact the doctor/nurses to keep up with what's going on but has his own wife to worry about. It is the extended family that has stepped up.

I know that my parents have a strong support network, family and friends, that will get them through this time. The daughter in me agonizes over not being there, but a really smart friend (who's been through this herself) asked me if I would make a difference by going. The reality is I would not. The support my mother would like from me is my attention, which can be just as effective over the phone as in person. So once she gets home I'll make frequent phone calls, letting her vent/chat/nag to her heart's content (no pun intended ;-) ). Of course I'll send flowers too.

It also means I can now take the $1000 it would have cost me to fly down and put it towards the new furnace we just been told we need.

Is it really...

the end of November?

The boss has been away, so I've been "in charge." Other than the power going out, the temperature dropping to -32C & the library furnace not being able to cope, it's been okay.

Of course I'm now getting sick.

My sister-in-law  is recovering from her exploratory surgery earlier this month. The surgeon found some issues that he fixed, hoping that it would make her feel better. Initially things looked good but now... I hope that she and my brother can get through this.

Our niece is almost 2 months old now and is growing like a weed. I love spending time with her, which I try to do once a week. I can't wait until she's crawling, her parents won't know what hit them. LOL

Tomorrow is our local Moonlight Madness. Hubby and I will be starting our Christmas shopping. I guess that means i should make a list.

Life Long Learning

I've been reading a number of blog and Twitter posts on life long learning lately. I'm not sure everyone is talking about the same thing. I think we've lost meaning by the use of labels/terms/language. We've become lost in educationese and buzzwords.
And I'm one of the culprits. Here on my blog and in my Twitter profile I speak of a love of life long learning. But I have unconsciously fallen into a trap. The trap of believing that everyone who uses that term is coming from the same type of background and perspective.
To me, the term is a large one. It's not limited to certain areas of your life, to certain skill sets, or to accomplish something. To me the term refers to life.
My grandmother use to say "if you're breathing, you're learning." Every breathe, every thought, every action means you are learning something. As a society we have isolated learning through barriers of language.
So instead of the question 'what did you learn today?", perhaps we should be asking 'have you lived today?"

At Peace

Rest in Peace My Friend, Rest in Peace

Family

I grew up in a family that always had pets. My husband grew up in a family that didn't have any pets until his youngest brother was in grade 10. One of the things he wanted once we had a place of our own was a pet. Within the first 3 months of having our ow home we had acquired a cat and a dog. The cat was a birthday present for me from one of our friends. Tiger is a Manx/Tabby/barn cat cross. She is also a rather rare orange female. The dog was a birthday present for hubby from the same friend. Hubby had always wanted a German Shepherd. Misty is an SPCA find who it is speculated is a female German Shepherd/Husky mix. (I've had people stop us in the street saying she is undoubtedly a Norwegian Elk Hound. Others think she might be part Keeshond.)
We have since added another cat (Siamese/Tabby) and dog (border collie cross). But it was Tiger and Misty that set the tone of our home. Misty was about 2 years old when she came to us, but you could tell she had been around kids and cats before. Once she realized this was her forever home, she settled right in to turning us into the owners she wanted. We became regular walkers and could understand the various 'looks' she would give us. She never barked for your attention. She would move into your view and look at you. Once you had correctly deciphered the look, she would give you a restrained wag of the tail.
The last 2 weeks have been heart breaking for us. Misty has always gone for 2 daily walks (depending on weather). The last month she has only wanted to go for one. Since she is 16 years old we put it down to her age. But the last few weeks have seen her lose weight, refuse to go for walks at all, and generally deteriorate. She even refused to eat for several days. On the weekend I resorted to bribing her with chicken (she even turned down fish which is her favourite food). We have worked up to 2 meals a day, but she is very weak. The boys have been carrying her outside if she can't do it herself. Once she is out she does her perimeter sweep and then lays in the sun for a while. Inside she lays for hours on her rug in the living room. She is alert and watches everything we do.
Tomorrow hubby and I will take her to the vet to see what decisions need to be made.

Small Town Libraries

What a busy night it was. Wednesdays are the days our inter library loans come in. We're averaging 10 cases a week and it can take a while to unpack and process them. The regulars start coming in about 4:30/5pm, before I've even got things unpacked.
Tonight I realized how satisfying it can be to know who something is for even before you scan it. Being able pull stuff off the shelf before people can ask for their items always gets a smile. Saying hi and knowing a person's name makes me feel good.
I am very luck to have the job I do. Not only do I get to connect with a wide range of people, but I also hear what's happening in town, the good, the bad & the ugly.
Another good thing about my job is the lack of boredom. Since we are a small staff we all have to be able to do what ever needs to be done. Sure we have a general division of responsibilities but any one of us might have to finish something that we don't regularily do. And there is always a "mystery of the day". Something that makes you shake your head and spend time trying to find out what happened, where it is, or who did it.
Being helpful can be quite rewarding.

Giving Thanks

It's beautiful day. Hubby and I have managed to spend some quality time together, doing laundry, walking dogs and visiting our new niece.
It's the first day in about 3 that our eldest dog (16 years old) has wanted to go for a walk so we took her and youngest dog out. We didn't go far but we were out for about an hour on a fabulous fall day. This week had so many rough days for old dog that we have started the 'what are we going to do...' conversation. We've had each other in tears a few times. She has been an amazing dog and we hate to see her struggling. It's probably harder because we know she'll be the first we lose of the 4 geriatric animals we own. One cat is 14, the other is 12 and youngest dog is 9. I'm getting choked up just thinking about it.
The bright spot in the week was the birth of our niece. Sister-in-law had a c-section yet got to come home after 2 days. Good thing brother-in-law can be home to help. Baby doesn't sleep for long yet, so we've been going over in the afternoons, just about the time they've run out of energy. Today my father-in-law was there enjoying his girl. It's been 80 years since there has been a girl in the family so the baby is big news. Once we arrived sil headed straight to bed. Father-in-law handed over cranky baby to me, while brother-in-law made a late lunch. I managed to get her to burb, which helped some of the crankiness, but it took hubby's magic touch to get her to go to sleep.
Tonight will be another gathering of the family to finish off the Thanksgiving leftovers. It is one of the traditions we have developed over the years. The best change has been making most big family meals potlucks. This has really spread out the work load. I expect the young cousins will be fighting over who holds the baby again tonight. Last night, from the time sil and bil got there that baby did nothing but pass from family member to friend to family member. These big gatherings are an integral part of our family life. Our boys know there are family and friends that love and support them. And are just as quick to give them grief when they get in trouble.
To give thanks can seem so minor but we have to acknowledge when we have good things in our lives. How else are we going to grow as human beings?

Welcome to the Family

Congrats to my brother-in-law and his partner for having the first girl in this generation. My father-in-law has had to wait for a long time for a granddaughter. She'll be spoiled well.

The Library

The last few weeks have been quite busy at work. Several programs have started and several events are coming up. I don't think we, the public, give enough credit to the number of people and the amount to time they spend on preparing programs and events for us. If it weren't for our programming partners and our dedicated volunteers the library wouldn't be able to offer the amount of things it does.

In the last week alone:

• Friends of the Library worked a casino fundraiser for our expansion
• Parent Link has helped the library offer a toddler & preschool story time, 
• the local chapter of the Alberta francophone association has helped the library with a french language story time for preschoolers
• the local Arts council has helped promote a series of NFB screenings
• Community Outreach has partnered with me to hold Teen Lunch Club every Tuesday during lunch for the next 14 weeks
• our regular volunteers have returned (most of our volunteers take the summer off to work or vacation) and new ones have signed up
• the Annual Halloween story time is being planned with several young volunteers offering their assistance and a mom offering to make cookies again (I believe this is now 8 years in a row)
• One of my coworkers and Community Outreach have started planning a seniors' event at the library
• the staff are planning training sessions for library month, some in the library, some with local teachers - volunteers will be helping with these
• and planning for the annual Scholastic Book Sale has begun with the local elementary school

I feel very fortunate that we can offer these opportunities to the public. I shudder to think what would happen if we didn't have partners and volunteers.

Date Night

Hubby and I had a great date night last night. We went to see The Sorcerer's Apprentice first. It's a light fantasy without gore. It was perfect for the mood I was in. After we went for dinner at the local Earl's restaurant. Hubby hadn't been there for years and was pleasantly surprised at the changes. The food was great and so was the service. I had to laugh, our eldest works in the kitchen so helped prepare our meals. He won't cook at home so this is the closest we'll get to having him cook for us.

Writing

I started this blog as a place to practice my writing skills, and to keep track of my random thoughts. It also provides me with a place to practice some rusty tech skills, like imbedding pictures, adding feeds etc. The things I haven't had to do for a while with the library's website.
I find it hard to believe that I've been writing here for 4 months now. I couldn't keep a written journal past a week when I was a kid, so something has changed. ( I was going to say changed for the better but I'm still in the evaluating stage :-) )
Yesterday I realized I may have a problem with my writing style. Every since I started using Twitter I've begun doing so many edits to get my meaning across in the allotted 140 characters that it's influencing everything else I write. My hubby has had to ask what I meant when I used twitter-speak in a bbm to him. It has become apparent that not only do I have to put thought into what I write, but also thought into the form that writing will take.
There is no way anyone can say that we are not a society of writers. Everything from tagging, tweeting, IM, texting, blogging and so on all require us to know how to impart information with words. We also have to internalize the formats for each method and any specialized vocabulary that goes with it.
I can honestly say I am a novice in many of the writing styles that modern life seems to be developing. And given the mishmash I have been producing, lots and lots of practice will be needed.

What I'm listening to today

This Book is Overdue by Marilyn Johnson. It's been a while since I've listened to an audio book and this one has been waiting for me for a while. I'm currently on chapter 5 and enjoying it every much. Marilyn makes reference to so many of the American librarians I follow either by RSS feed or on Twitter. I can't wait to finish it.

What are you watching?

The new fall TV season is underway and I've had a rather startling revelation. We don't watch tv on the tv. It turns out our watching has gradually shifted to the computer. We do watch shows on the tv but it often happens because there are several of us watching the same thing, or it's a special. With hubby's erratic work schedule he is continuously trying to catch up with his shows on the internet. He does not like to miss an episode, because things can get confused. The kids don't even watch tv anymore, unless our reactions draw their attention. They spend time watching anime from out of country, or Youtube videos. All of us have also begun watching web only series. Even our news watching has transferred to the computer.
I can see this migration continuing, although it might be a while before hubby and I are watching things on our smart phones. Our eyes aren't getting any younger and those screens are not that big.

Time Away

This past weekend was great! Off to the big city we went.
I spent all day Friday at our regional library's conference. I was amazed at how much great information and practical tips I was able to get out of it. That evening I was able to spend 2 hours in a book store while hubby and eldest son went to the movies. The next day was spent shopping, with a late lunch/visit with my aunt (whom I do not see enough.) Everyone found what they were looking for, which is rarely the case. Since we don't get to the city very often power shopping is the name of the game. It can be rather startling when you add up the amount of money we spend on one of these trips. The grocery bill was huge of course, but we're stocked up for a while now.
As much as I enjoy these crazy trips I am sooo glad to get home. Although I wouldn't mind bringing one of those hotel mattresses home. :-)

The Expendables

Hubby and I had a date night last night. We went to see The Expendables with Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Jet Li and many other familiar faces. Was it cheesy, yep. Was it fun, yep. Was it a flash back to the action films of the 80's & 90's, yep yep.  Stallone knows the older action audience and he gave them what they wanted. Less CGI and more down and dirty. I'm sure we'll be buying this when it comes out because it will make a great movie night at home movie.

Tired

School has started and youngest son is finally set to tackle grade 12. Already I can see where he's going to have to work hard just to get by. He's going to have to get used to putting in many more hours on school work if he wants to be finished in time to qualify to graduate with the class at the local high school.

Eldest son is gradually changing his awake/sleep routine so he is up longer during the day. This is in preparation for the upcoming ski season. He'll need to start getting into better physical condition too if he doesn't want to suffer too many injuries.

Hubby is working hard as usual. Bouncing back and forth from a scheduled job is throwing us all for a loop. I think he is looking forward to a break, just to get some uninterrupted sleep.

As for me it's been training, training and more training lately. I have 4 OverDrive training sessions this month for work. The service allows our local library members to download audio and e books. It's a great service, just a bit clunky in the operation. We've also had some training on the new website platform. I'm almost set to make the website live, just a few more tweeks, depending on what the staff and board say. I have some longer projects for stuff to add but it can wait till after we go live. Story times are starting and I've got to organize my own as well as make sure the others have everything they need.
I've partnered with Community Outreach to run a program at the library for teens. We'll be doing live readings once a week during the lunch hour. The teens bring their lunch and listen and relax while I read. I'm hoping to have a small but dedicated crowd for this one.
I'm looking forward to the YRL conference this week. It will be the first I've attended so I'm hoping to get something out of it.

Every time I look at my calendar there seem to be more things coming up. But it all goes to making things easier down the road. We just have to keep moving.

Sunday Afternoon

I'm been very productive today, laundry, dishes, gardening, even cleaned my garden tools. Now I'm sitting at the kitchen table listening to Radio Riel and feeling like a dinosaur. Which doesn't really make sense. Maybe it's more a sense of "am I the only one?" I blog (obviously, all sarcasm intended), use Twitter, Flickr, Second Life, EMAIL even. I've been working on building a PLN (personal learning network) because life long learning was how I was raised.
Yet... my parents don't have a computer, my brother barely checks email, even the extended family is just scratching the surface of online life. My sister-in-law is more connected, although it is more limited to consumption rather than creation (mobility issues hamper typing etc.) The in-laws are online more, but also more as consumers than creators. The majority of my friends are the same.
Am I going to have to bite the bullet? Am I actually going to have to join Facebook just to keep in touch with my own family and friends? I think I'd rather keep using the phone.

September

It may not be fall on the calendar but with the start of September, fall is in the air.

This week we've been working out the kinks in youngest son's school schedule. I'll have to go in today and finish paperwork. With a combination of in school classes and distance learning I'm hoping we can work with his need for a consistent schedule and for more time to get things done. Having a moderate reading comprehension problem means having to read and reread things, discuss and discuss again what things mean and what is being asked. It can be very frustrating for him. Reading things out loud helps but he feels this is for 'babies'. We'll be doing it any way. :-/

I've also been working on upcoming programs for kids and teens. Story times will start resuming mid September. The Teen Outreach Worker and I have decided to try some teen programming at lunchtime and after school. The teens around here are busy with sports, clubs, work and family. Trying to connect with them means going to where they are. So we're going to try a weekly read during their lunch break. The school doesn't allow the kids to eat lunch there so many of them go to the Activity Centre and eat from the concession, or bring their lunches and use the big tables. The place is currently being renovated but we are hopeful that we can find a corner to use. They will be able to pick the book I'll read to them, then it will be 1 or 2 chapters each week. The after school program we're thinking of will focus on food (teens are always hungry after school.) We went with after school to try and catch them before they get busy with activities or work. We're hoping to find a spot in the school (home ec room maybe?) were the kids can come, make a snack (nutrition learning), play some games, and just hang out for a while. This will also be once a week to avoid too much conflict with other activities and take up less time for us. I'll be doing this as a volunteer because my work schedule doesn't fit the time slots we're dealing with.

I also have a bunch of tech training to do for Overdrive and for the new website, a conference to attend, a shopping trip to the city to plan and a visit to my aunt to schedule (she is the busiest woman on the planet ;-) ). By then fall will really be here and it will be getting ready for winter time - gardening, home maintenance, Christmas, etc. I'm getting tired just thinking about it.

Perhaps it really is fall?

I'm feeling old

Working in a public library means you remain aware of the school calendar. As the kids, teens and parents get ready for the start of a new school year you begin getting questions about grade level reading materials, study guides and homework assistance. The demands on kids to perform and the competition among parents and teachers to make sure kids are performing is shocking. In a time when our society is recognizing the need for life long learning, why are we sucking all of the fun out of learning for our children?

I'm just wrapping up my summer reading program. The kids that are still with the program are the kids who's parents are looking for their kids to enjoy reading and coming to the library. The kids that dropped out, often dropped out because the parents felt I wasn't being rigorous enough in my demands on the children. 'Where are the required reading lists and homework assignments?' Parents are shocked when I tell them that I'd be happy with their kid spending 15 minutes reading the cereal box, that I don't care what the child read as long as they did read. My goal is to keep the fun in reading for kids who are starting to look at reading as work.

We encourage adults to find jobs/careers that they enjoy, but we don't want our children to enjoy the 12/13 years they spend in school? How does that make sense?

Contemplation

I am a ponderer. I was never one of those people who could whip up an essay or report at the drop of a hat. I have always been the one who starts right away doing the research, gets pulled down a few rabbit holes along the way, then lets it 'sit'. If I'm in the middle of a project, and I am ALWAYS in the middle of something, you will find a pile or 2, (or 12 - sorry dear) of research materials, scraps of paper with thoughts, snippets, and links to other info, seemingly unrelated reading material and mail.

[The mail has nothing to do with the projects it just ends up there. Envelopes do make great bookmarks/note cards, you just need to make sure they're empty :-( ]

It is only the projects that have deadlines that ever get 'done.' I would rather do research than write. There is always more information to find, comparisons to make and perspectives to explore. I have a hard time saying something is complete, finished, done. Writings are only snap shots of something at a certain time, in a certain place, from a certain angle. You can never have the complete story.

I'd rather 'sit' with it, spouting thoughts ever once in a while, adding new info, and seeing what happens. Pondering/contemplation could be my hobbies.

Second Life

I have been involved in Second Life for over 3 years. I've come and gone several times. I seen some amazing and downright odd things. I've experienced some fantastic events and met some fabulous people. It  has reconnected me to my geek within. :-) It has allowed me to discuss things with giants in the fields of libraries, education and science. And to talk  with everyday people like me, who are exploring the online world and formulating our own ideas on where the technology is taking us.

Things change fast is 3 years. SL has gone from the bleeding edge, to middle of the road. If it weren't for the need for demanding computer capabilities it might have seen broader use. But the 'idea' has spawned many imitators and all together, these virtual worlds have seen tremendous curiosity from a wide variety of people.

Humans are creators by nature. We are always looking for reasons and opportunities to create. Whether it's cookies, a script or a space ship, we create. SL and it's imitators allow more of us opportunities to 'play' with our creating, to try, to succeed and to fail. And to try again or move on to something else. Playing is not something we get to do too much of once we're adults, so it's nice to have a spot to play and rejuvenate our creative abilities.

Yesterday it was announced that the Teen Grid, the Second Life for ages 13 to 17, would be closing. The 16 and 17 year olds will be moved onto the adult grid. Other details, like when this will take place and what will happen to inventory  and the younger set are not finalized yet. 

Maybe it's because I work with this age group in real life that I'm not as worried about it, in fact I'm looking forward to it. Having had the privilege of meeting and working with recent teen transfers from the Teen Grid I know their desire to DO and CREATE is enormous.The ones that make the transfer and STAY will be bringing their enthusiasm and creativity with them.

And then we'll all benefit.

The family that techs together

What picture comes to your mind if I told you that I'm in the kitchen at the table on my laptop, hubby is in the living room on his smartphone & watching TV, youngest son is in the addition on the family desk top watching anime  and eldest son is in his room on his desk top reading manga and listening to music? You'd probably picture everyone in a separate room with doors closed and no interaction between them. In many households that might be true, but not in this one.

We live in a small, one-floor, open plan house. Hubby would be in eyesight if he wasn't on the other side of the pantry cupboard. Youngest son is on the other side of the halfwall between the kitchen and the addition and is in line-of-sight of his dad. Eldest son keeps his door open so he can yell at me to come see something or ask questions. All of us can hear the TV show dad is watching, so you'll hear the occasional question or someone will drift in to watch if it sounds good. As we move around we check out what each other is doing, sharing and asking questions as we go. Someone is playing a video game? Come over and watch or better yet join in.

Technology is just a part of our lives but we have made the conscious decision to not allow it to isolate us from each other. I'm hoping that when the boys are out on their own that this same technology will be keeping us connected.

Making it work

Hubby and I went out for lunch today. We try to go out for breakfast or lunch every 2 weeks or so. It gives us some alone time without the continuous interruptions that seem to occur at home. As always we ran into someone we haven't seen in a while and did a quick catch-up.
The number of people we know on their second or third marriage, moving back with their parents (in their 40's!), giving up on their kids because they're too much work, is astounding. Makes me feel like a dinosaur for being happy to remain with my first husband, in our own house with our late-teen kids. Apparently it isn't fashionable to be family oriented or to work through problems rather than bail on them. If it weren't for the fact that I'm joined at the hip with technology, I'd think I was several generations out of step.

Lazy Saturday

Puttered around this morning getting some of the basics done, feeding the pets, starting laundry, starting the shopping list etc. I've caught up with youngest son's homeschool courses and mucked around with next week's schedule to accommodate some things that have come up. I've answered emails and caught up with some of my podcasts, RSS feeds and twitter. I've just had lunch and I'm ready for a nap. I should make a cup of tea, finish a few things for work, make the changes to this blog that I've been planning since I started, contact a friend about her upcoming Second Life project that she has asked me to help with, and do some tweeting about a few upcoming events. Of course I should finish laundry so eldest son has something to wear for work tonight too.

Naah - I think Tiger and I will go have a nap. The rest of it will wait.

Smoke

The air here is so smoky. All day I've had people ask if there was a fire nearby. To the best of our knowledge all of the smoke is coming from BC. With over 400 fires and the prevailing winds coming from that direction there is a lot of smoke to move. We ended up closing all of the windows at the library it keep the smoke out. Unfortunately that meant the library got hot.
One day, some day in the future, we WILL have a new library with air conditioning. I can't wait :-)

Back to Work

So after 5 days at home sick (over a long weekend with nice weather no less) I went back to work today. I never noticed how much talking I do at work until today. Every time I talked too long, I'd have a coughing fit. That didn't bode well for the summer reading program this afternoon so I had Cassidy do the story reading.
We didn't have a regular crowd, too much competition from the various sports camps etc., but the group that was there was wired! I don't think I've every had to speak so often about appropriate behaviour. Here's hoping I'm completely recovered for next week, or I'm in trouble.

Parting the Mental Clouds

After a week of progressively getting sicker, I may have turned the corner. Woohoo! My head is almost clear & my voice is coming back. Best of all I can string 2 thoughts together without tripping over them. Unfortunately I'm coughing more. :-/ So more liquids, and more reading are on the agenda for today.
It also looks like I'll be closing the windows again. There has been a fair amount of smoke coming from BC, which is probably responsible for some of the additional coughing. Hubby says the smoke around Kamloops is BAD. I wouldn't be surprised if this is the source of our smoke (prevailing winds etc.)
Maybe I'll get ambitious and make cookies since I'm stuck indoors.

Irritating

Sitting, enjoying the breeze from your fan, and hearing the scritch, scritich, scritch sound the curtain beside your head makes as the tag drags across the wall in time to the air flow.
Scissors.
And the sounds of silence

The best type of presents

My mother-in-law just returned from visiting family in BC. She brought back fresh cherries, early season peaches, green beans (yum!), & summer squash/zucchini.
Mom always buys enough for not only her and dad, but also the extended family (her 3 sons, 2 daughter-in-laws and 2, soon to be 3, grandchildren). So I now have loads of fresh fruit and veggies sitting in my fridge. I had my first peach this morning for breakfast and it was wonderful. Of course we won't be able to eat it all before it starts to spoil so I'd better start freezing the surplus.
Guess I'd better check to see if you CAN freeze zucchini.

Into the night...

My mother hates to tell my bad/sad news because I'm so far away and can't do anything. I, on the other hand, hate being blindsided when someone else mentions something I SHOULD know! Following the advice of my best friend Allison, I've started periodically checking the notices on my hometown's funeral home website. Yeah, I know it's rather morbid, but... (shrug)

This week it turned out to be a good thing as I learned one of my Dad's oldest friends had passed. My brother and I were discussing how this would affect him. Dad is now in a position where he is in the funeral home almost every week to say good bye to someone he knows. I can only imagine how hard it can be to cope with that sadness. And how easy it would be for it to slide into depression.

I remember when my Grandmother realized she was the only one left in the area of her generation. I really believe that is when she decided it was time. She was gone by the end of the month.

Death is part of Life. We forget that sometimes and learning how to cope is one of the best skills we can have.

Walking to Work...

is the perfect time to mull things over. This seems to be the time I have all these great ideas and thoughts but they rarely make it past the trip. 
Today for whatever reason I was remembering a Summer Reading Program session from a few years ago. One young boy asked me, in all seriousness, "are those the only clothes you own?" ROFL Apparently every time he saw me I was wearing the summer reading program t-shirt and the same pants.

It Snowed !!!!!

In July!!!! Of course it didin't stay but it was a shock none the less. I'll have to see if the boss's pictures turned out.

What would you like to see in our new library?

I asked the Summer Fun kids what they would like to see in our expanded and renovated library. As some of the kids are just starting to write I asked them to draw their ideas, using words if they wanted to. As they handed their sheets in, they all wanted to share their ideas and thought processes. It was quite thrilling to see their excitement in the project.

Some of their ideas were not a surprise:

• more space
• comfy furniture
• more spaces for computers
• more of their favourite book series
• more games and a gaming space (only boys asked for this, I wonder why?)

Others made you think 'why not?' :

• a fish tank
• a more colourful exterior
• an unusual shape for the building (the example used was a frog and her drawing was quite detailed)

One thing I saw over and over that surprised me, was a building with multiple floors with the kids area always on the top floor. The current library has the kids' section on the second floor. I had no idea that the kids were so fond of the setup.

And if anyone thinks kids aren't interested in books, this bunch would have changed their minds. Every single drawing of the interior of the library showed book shelves, lots of them. I made the mistake of thinking they were windows in one person's drawing and he were so upset he immediately labeled them "not windows", so I wouldn't forget :-)

Lets hope I can get at leaset some of these ideas included in the plans.

Nightmares

Some things should not be read one right after the other. The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson are two such books. While these books have different settings, each exposes the darkness that exists in the human race. They also deal with the struggle to survive that darkness. The darkness in each linked together in my mind and left me feeling quite low for a while. I would still recommend both books if you like the darker side of life. Just make sure to read something light and cheerful in between.

I Need a Clone

Looking at the calendar, it dawned on me that we have been back from vacation for exactly 1 month.

It actually feels more like 4 months and at least a dozen grey hairs.

Busyness came from work:  the annual book sale, the Canada Day parade float that I didn't have to create (many thanks to Janeen and Cassidy) just find children for & ride in, interviewing/training summer staff, planning the summer reading programs for children, and gettting up to speed with TeenRC. Busyness also came from trying to get everything in place for Al to graduate with the local high school kids in June 2011 after 5 years of homeschooling! Topped with the usually busyness of life and I was going in 6 different directions at the same time.

But the end is in sight. The summer reading program has started and I have 2 fantastic helpers. The Garden Tour is the only event left and I don't do too much for that. Al is organized for school, although he'll do some work this summer to wrap up 2 homeschooling courses and get a jump on next year's stuff.  Now we can settle into the summer routine and hopefully relax.

Okay that might have to wait until after I get the dandelions under control. :-)

Always learning

Currently checking out the online presentations from ISTE 2010, an education conference in Denver, Colorado, USA running from June 27th to the 30th.

Another one finished

I'm finally getting through the pile of books that has been waiting forever.

Bill McKibben's Eaarth: Making a Life on a Tough New Planet was a head shaker. Shaking my head 'yes' that is.  This book is well written, with enough stats to support the arguments, but not so many as to drown you in numbers. Growing up in an agricultural area, with parents that taught us how to grow food, may make it easier for me to understand his arguments for increased local food production, in organic, sustainable ways. Mixed farming is not a common dinner topic and I have a feeling that Mr. McKibben is assuming a level of knowledge that his readers may not have. Although, as suggested in chapter 4, you can always use the internet to gather the knowledge you need. I loved his suggestion that the internet can be used to create 'community' in ways that our modern lifestyles do not easily allow. His arguments about moving 'back' in someways and 'forward' in other ways felt realistic and well thought through. I haven't read any of Bill McKibben's other works, but I think I'll be checking them out now.

Just finished

Beth Gallaway's Game On! Gaming at the Library. This is such a cool resource. Gives some history to 'gaming'. It is a great resource if you are trying to convince someone of the potential good effects of gaming. Now to use my new found knowledge to plan a Rock Band tournament...

What I'm listening to now

Paper Tongues - check them out http://www.myspace.com/papertongues .

The Summer Rush

Meetings, meetings, everywhere a meeting... or something that draws me away from my regular routine. Whether it's homeschooling or Community Outreach what started as one meeting has spun off into several.

Then there is the stuff at work. With summer right around the corner I don't have a lot of time to get local teens involved in TeenRC, get the elementary school age kids registered for Destination Jungle (hoping the reading logs arrive this week), get the annual book sale organized, (is that really next week?), work on the library float for the Canada Day parade, change over the preschool activity kits, change 2, possibly 3 displays, and sit in on the inteviews for the new summer staff person. And that's just for these 2 weeks.

Eventual this will settle down and I'll remind myself how this all meshes together, usually. Thoughts provoked in one area, effect or influence actions in another area. It can be mind boggling as well as inspiring.

Oh yeah and I have to get a Father's Day card...

The First Post

I've done it! After thinking about it for SOOOO long, I've finally committed to keeping a blog. It will be interesting to see if I can keep adding to it.

I plan to make this a place to collect the random thoughts I have about a wide variety of topics. I'm always seeing connections between the work I (and others) do in libraries, as homeschoolers, as participants in virtual worlds, as travellers in the vast digital domain and as residents of this changing planet.

Even as I write this I'm thinking of my profile and what I said about me. Changes, revisions, are already rolling through my head. The blog roll will change soon too. I can add my delicious bookmarks and some of my other bookmarks. Perhaps I'll connect my Second Life® pictures, or my real life photography. I have one from both already.

This will be part of my personal "23 Things" project. Look it up, there are loads of different options out there.

Now if I could only get excited about that homeschooling report...