It Just Hit Me...

that youngest son is really done high school. He received notice this week that he passed his diploma exams woohoo! This means there will be a fancy piece of paper coming soon for him to put on the wall. It also means we're done homeschooling.
Once the last textbooks have been sent back, I'll have 7 years of stuff to go through and decide what to do with. Everywhere I look in our house there is something we got for homeschooling. Each piece has memories, both good and bad, associated with it. Each a step on a path that took a lot of planning, effort, commitment and emotions.
I'm going to miss it. We won't have that common focus to our days. He will be staying home this fall and working, but our days will no longer be linked.
Change comes whether we`re ready or not. I wonder where it will take me.

Library Day in the Life Project

The official Wiki for the Library Day in the Life Project round 7 is an ever growing list of librarians from around the world. They are sharing a little about the varied, and often complex jobs, that they do. If you are interested in checking out what librarians do you can browse the list and follow the links to twitter feeds and blogs.
I'm pretty sure that most people would be amazed at the places librarians can be found and the work that they do.

Keep up the good work :)

The To Read Pile

One of the problems of working in a library is the number of interesting books that come through. I always have interlibrary loans on order, a few ebooks on the go and a variable pile of books to read.

Right now I have two piles going:

Library Books & Magazines
Welcome to Bordertown
Sex: A Book for Teens
Robopocalypse
Homesteading
Unnatural Issue
PCWorld June 2011 &
Today's Parent July 2011

My Stuff
Canadian Living August 2011
Divine Misfortune
Hounded
Game of Thrones

I have a sneaking suspicion there are a few other books that I have to be read around here too...

Mid Month

The weather is not cooperating. It's been raining so much I'm draining plant pots of excess water. It also means that programs that I usually do outside now have to be done inside. I've been very luck the past 2 years, that I've been able to handle the large numbers I've been getting for the summer reading programs by being outside. This year means having to make our small children's section work for groups of 30 or more.
For the SRP group (1.5 hours every Tuesday afternoon for 8 weeks), numbers plus the odd age distribution I've been getting has meant we have had to get creative. The older kids are often there because they are caring for the younger kids so I couldn't simply move them to another time.
After some discussion with our library summer student, who is helping me with the SRP, and the kids, we decided to keep everyone together for the beginning (prize draws, info etc.) and the end. When we split up for activities we split into 3 groups instead of 2. The older kids do a book talk on what they are reading at the moment, then they do an open ended craft. I put a variety of items in a box and they can use them however they want to.
There are enough younger kids to make it practical to break them into 2 groups when doing activities. There is a game and a craft (more structured than the older kids) with 1/2 doing each then we switch. Thank heavens my teen volunteer of the last few years has come back. She is very good with the youngest kids which allows me to oversee the mid age group.
For the Summer Fun group (local care program that comes to the library once a week for 45 minutes) the weather has meant too much time inside and in close quarters. If we need to be inside they have to come in 2 groups, on after the other. This is making planning stuff more difficult, as we're used to doing everything as one big group.
All this wet weather has really illustrated the need for more programming space. Something we'll have to keep in mind as we're designing the library expansion.

Move forward

http://georgecouros.ca/blog/archives/2107 This applies to so many areas, not just education.

Sometimes It Just Works

What a Day

I had plans for today. Nothing special just things like cutting the grass, doing laundry, maybe some paperwork. Instead we started the day with a trip to the hospital for hubby and eldest son.
Eldest son has been suffering from a stomach bug for a few days but was feeling worse than ever and actually asked about seeing a doctor. Hubby, one the other hand knew he was experiencing a gout attack that was out of control. One of the upside of being in a smaller community meant that they didn't have to wait too long to be examined. Eldest ended up in outpatients on an IV. Hubby got to spend lots of money at the drug store.
Both will be off work for the next few days. Time is the only cure and neither is known for his patience. Youngest is already gloating that he has to work tomorrow while I don't.

On the upside I gave the stinky dog a bath and got some interesting shots in the garden. I really need it to stop raining on a day I can get outside. The place looks like a jungle in bloom right now. Who knew my peonies could get over 4 feet tall :O

Happy Canada Day

This is the biggest holiday in our community. While we will pass on the pancake breakfast this year there are lots of other things to do. If the library float is finished in time (it rained too much yesterday to get it done) we'll head downtown for the flag raising. Then it will be time for the parade, followed by food, activities and live music at Centennial Park. We usually take some time to go home and rest for a bit before heading out for dinner, then back to Centennial Park for more live music finishing with the fireworks shortly after 11pm. It is a long day but worth it.
Hope it is warm enough for the water fight between the RCMP and Fire Department.