Two Roads Diverged

Charlotte

2012-01-26T18:23:00.005-06:00

So 1 month ago yesterday I had to say good-bye to my cat Charlotte.
Charlotte was a Christmas gift for my brother and I 20 years ago. I had begged my parents for a cat for years and they finally gave in, I was 13 and Carl was 10. We have fond memories of that Christmas morning. My parents had left her upstairs hoping she would make her way downstairs while we were opening gifts. However, soon after we started opening presents I realized I had forgotten my camera in my bedroom...upstairs. So as I dug around my dresser drawers this tiny grey thing brushed past my legs. I screamed and my Dad asked if everything was alright. I yelled, "there's a squirrel up here!" I think at that point my parents were probably just giggling to themselves, with Carl in the background confused as to why a squirrel is upstairs and his parents were unconcerned, perhaps even a little happy?
I quickly realized it was not a squirrel but a little grey kitten! Oh my! After years of being told, "We are never getting a cat Rachel" I had no hope left of ever having a cat of my own. So, following the logic that I had thought a squirrel had gotten into the house, I came to the conclusion that this kitten had found it's way into our home. I carried the cute little ball of fur downstairs. "It's a cat! A cat got into the house!" I excitedly said as I showed off my discovery to my family. Mom spoke up, "No Rachel, the cat is for you and Carl, it's a Christmas present. Merry Christmas!" It was the best Christmas ever, not only did we get a cat but we also got a computer that year. The whole day was pure magic. We fed the kitten caramel rolls and made a list of names on the new computer and by the end of the day we had settled on the name Charlotte.
Charlotte turned out to be one of the most unique cats I will probably ever know. Growing up she really only loved my Mom, and tolerated the rest of us. If you weren't from her house, she hissed at you if you came within 5 feet of her. She enjoyed drinking out of glasses, eating absolutely anything, she was scared of birds and she meowed all the time. A co-worker called me once and said, "Is that a baby in the background." I sighed, "No, that would be my cat." For the last 7 years Charlotte lived with me and she grew to love me as much as she loved my Mom, maybe even more because I let her sleep with me at night. She was quite the cuddler and a wonderful companion. I have so many fond memories of her and will miss her greatly.
Charlotte's health changed quickly and the details are still too hard to think about. Deciding to put her down was the hardest decision I have ever made and grief is something I have not had to go through in a very long time so this past month has been difficult. I still randomly cry and yesterday upon realizing it had been a month I found myself crying the entire drive home from work. I think coming home from work is the hardest part of my day because I realize I am coming home to an empty house.
This whole experience has been eye opening for me. One main realization is how little I talk about my feelings. It's just been too hard, so I keep the grief inside, process my feelings alone...or a month later blog about everything :) But even more importantly, I've realized how that's okay, everyone deals with their feelings in different ways.
Shortly after Charlotte's passing I had all kinds of various activities with all sorts of friends and I feel so blessed to have such a variety of friends in my life. I have friends who can ask the hard questions that allow me to open up, friends who have been there and know how to give a hug and friends who lighten the burdens of my heart by making me laugh. I am thankful to realize that God knows who we need in our lives, and He is there with us as we build and sustain those relationships because He knows our deepest needs long before those needs come to actualization. So I am still sad, but also very loved, and that is a comfort.

imgur

2012-01-17T19:26:00.004-06:00

I discovered imgur today! It's an image sharing site. Mostly funny stuff.

So I posted an image to the site. I created this image a few years ago. I'm not entirely sure how all this works so I'm testing things out by posting the image from imgur on my blog. We'll see what happens :)

I'll miss you Summer

2011-08-18T21:10:00.002-05:00

Hard to believe that summer is almost over. Students are coming back to campus in about a week and a half and I don't think I'm ready!

I've had quite the relaxing summer and I think it may be hard to adjust. So what have I been doing this summer. Well, it's been hot! I spent about 2 weeks straight in the bedroom in front of the window A/C unit. I really need to consider getting central air next year! I did some vegetable gardening this summer and canning. I made raspberry jam, pickle relish and lots and lots of pickles. Yummy!

Had a lot of fun with family and extended family. We started the summer out with Aunt Purple's wedding in VA and lots of quality time with the Grandparents in Bena. My cousin Nick and his new wife Andrea celebrated their one year anniversary with a reception. And we had a nice Thomas get together up at my cousing Molly and Eric's place. Always fun hanging out with family, and my cousins kids are starting to talk and move around more, it's so much fun getting to watch them grow up!

There have been babies this summer! Cousins, friends, I love it :) They are all so cute and smell so good!

And I've been having tons of fun with friends this summer. Went to a Shakespeare festival play, went camping, got to go to a Twins game at the new stadium, lots of time with the bookgroup gals, going to Renaissance festival this fall. I can't complain, this has been one of the best summers I've had in a long time. Hate to see it end, but fall is my favorite season so I'm sure there are many more good times to come.

My poor blog

2011-03-09T09:49:00.004-06:00

I realized today that I have neglected my blog for over a year. How sad. I think this is a pretty clear indication of why I am single! But good news, I am back, with a vengeance...wait, what? Scratch that, I'm just back and ready to write again.

So what's been the haps this last year. Well....
I finished my duties as Interim Director at the library (yay!)
I bought a house (yay!)
I committed to a 3 year lease agreement with Toyota (yay!)
I just purchased a new HDTV and it's HUGE and AWESOME (yay!)
I didn't travel anywhere (boo.)
I stayed single (boo.)
I'm spending time this spring getting bids for new roofs and furnaces (sort of boo like.)

Overall there have been more yays then boos so I'd say life has been pretty good this last year. Life has been so calm, peaceful and simple (in a very good way) that sometimes I sit back and wonder, is this really my life?! I'm enjoying this very much while I can because as we all know there is usually a calm before the storm. Man, I hope I didn't just jinx myself.

Prime Quilting

2010-02-14T21:00:00.009-06:00

My brother loves math, especially prime numbers! This past January he turned 29. So I decided being that he is a prime number this year the perfect b-day gift would be a quilt design using only prime numbers.

A few prime factoids about this quilt:
**The quilt is 47" by 67"
**It is made up of 7 columns
**Each column has either 11 pieces of fabric...except for the middle column which has 17 pieces of fabric
**There is a total of 83 pieces of fabric that make up the design
**Each piece of fabric has one of the following dimensions:
3" x 5", 5" x 5", 5" x 7" or 7" x 7"

I used my sewing machine to quilt a zigzag stitch in a spiral pattern throughout the quilt. This was difficult, my machine is small and the thickness of the front, batting and back of the quilt proved to be tricky. I broke a few needles in the process! I've decided my machine is great for sewing the fronts of quilts and machine quilting small projects but a lap quilt or larger may have to go to a long arm quilter in the future. Well, that is if I care about how nice the stitching looks :)

Being that this is my first "contemporary art" quilt, I am glad that I did machine quilting myself. I wanted it to be 100% by me and I wanted to learn a lot in this process. And I promised my brother that the next time we're both prime numbers again (which won't be for 12 years) I'll make him another quilt, and then we'll be able to see how my skills have improved! To the left you can see my embroidery work, I titled the quilt "29" in honor of my brother's b-day. Happy Birthday Carl!

Decisions, decisions

2010-02-09T11:34:00.005-06:00

It's been almost a week since I last drove my car. Although I feel slightly frustrated by the feeling of being home bound on the weekends, I do enjoy the fact that I live close to the grocery store, bus lines and work so even though my schedule has been a bit different I'm not terribly inconvenienced. Today when I got on the bus, there were 2 faculty members riding and one of them said to me, "We don't usually see you on the bus." No, no you do not. I may become one of those bus folk though, I rather enjoyed my bus ride this morning.

I sway between the decisions of getting rid of my car altogether and attempting to live a life without a car for a while....or spending way too much money and buying a brand new car. In reality I will probably just bring my car into the shop eventually and spend a few hundred figuring out why the steering wheel won't turn easily and why I can't get my hood open.

When I will get around to doing this is a mystery. Life is busy, and when I have free time, like the weekends all the auto shops (like everything else in town) close down. Thus is life in a small town. I have next week off, thank goodness...it will be time to figure a few things out. Like fixing the car, looking at a few houses because I'm thinking about buying again...and deliberating over how many more car issues I want to deal with and whether or not buying a new car is the way to go. Decisions, decisions...I don't always like feeling like a grownup.

New Workout Plan

2010-02-04T19:49:00.005-06:00

Do you know what is more frustrating than a little extra body fat? Being forced into a new workout plan because of your stupid car. Yes, I have a little more body fat than I would like, and a stupid car...so I should be about 5-10 pounds lighter very soon.

Yesterday evening as I was driving home from work I discovered my steering wheel was very difficult to turn. No big deal, my car is up there in miles and I probably just need some power steering fluid. Easy enough to buy and figure out how to fill thanks to Google.

Unfortunately, as I said my car is up there in miles...and oh about 40,000 miles ago my hood release popped out of its securely held position! Oops :0 So the hood release kind of lies loose on the floor of my car...it doesn't usually get in the way, sometime when I'm braking I have to push the hood release away with my foot...but overall not to big of deal. My Dad showed me how to pop the hood open, its pretty easy really. You simply hold the limp hood release and push this metal piece away from you with a couple of fingers and presto! the hood releases.

Today, I pushed and pushed and pushed and the hood would not release. Sadly, without being able to pop the hood I'm unable to fill my power steering fluid.

I finally have a problem with my car that easily fixable by me and yet I still can't fix it because of a different problem with my car. ARGH. Thus the new workout plan. I walked to work today, and will be tomorrow as well I'm sure. Maybe indefinitely.

I suppose the combination of me stopping by the local brewery on my way home (due to my increased thirst and hunger from my walk home) plus the inevitable loss of 5-10 pounds from walking so much may culminate in a new boyfriend...hopefully one who can fix cars. I like to stay positive.

Thanksgiving

2009-12-10T15:33:00.005-06:00

I saw my Grandparents today for the first time in years...with my Grandpa around 20 years, and my Grandma around 10 years. My Aunt Faythe sent out a YouTube video she created of a Thanksgiving dinner from over 20 years ago. I'd say it's probably from either 1987 or 1988.

My parents were just a few years older then I am now. And my brother displays the same mannersisms in the video that he does now! It was a blast watching this video, feel free to enjoy...and you can make fun of my weird hair and really big glasses if you want. Yes, that is me writing down the drink orders :)

Click on the link below to view a Thomas Thanksgiving:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdVLAtcvMGM

A walk in the woods

2009-09-02T15:48:00.004-05:00

On Monday morning I took advantage of the comfortably cool weather and took to my car with a bag of Lucky Charms, a water bottle filled to the top, my camera and exciting intentions to climb a very big hill with the goal of viewing some natural beauty. About 10 minutes north of Winona I found my exit for John A. Latsch State Park. A small state park with only few trails and camping sites. It's directly off of HWY 61 and when you turn into the park you're greeted immediately with a few parking spots and signs. Quaint, quiet, and mostly known only to the locals. A perfect place for some solitude and peace.

I found the steps I heard about right away. And the incline was dramatic right away. I had to stop about 4 or 5 times. To take pictures of course. Okay, and to catch my breath, grab a drink of water and rest a second so I wouldn't have a heart attack. Finally after only about 25 minutes I reached the top. It wasn't a dramatic moment, kind of slow actually. I would get peaks of the Mississippi and treetops as I would get closer to the top of the bluff I was climbing so I gradually knew how close I was to my destination. As I reached the top, the steps turned into man made trails and finally I reached a point where it was simply the top of the bluff and a gorgeous view.

One of the fun finds was that the man made trails didn't just stop at the edge of the bluff. They actual went away from the edge, towards more trees and small fields of wildflowers. And the best part was having the bluff all to myself. Realizing this kind of natural beauty exists creates a natural joy that has filled my heart with pleasure all week. I can't help but quote John Muir:

"Fresh beauty opens one's eyes wherever it is really seen, but the very abundance and completeness of the common beauty that besets our steps prevents its being absorbed and appreciated. It is a good thing, therefore, to make short excursions now and then to the bottom of the sea among dulse and coral, or up among the clouds on mountain-tops, or in balloons, or even to creep like worms into dark holes and caverns underground, not only to learn something of what is going on in those out-of-the-way places, but to see better what the sun sees on our return to common every-day beauty"

Wii

2009-08-24T12:08:00.003-05:00

On Saturday I went out and made a big purchase. I bought a Nintendo Wii! Part of it was paid for with b-day gift cards from my family because I've been wanting a Wii for awhile. I finally got one and it's wonderful.

I've had a lot on my mind this summer and this Wii erased everything. On Saturday for 2 hours straight I enjoyed tennis, golf, and bowling with no thoughts of men, work, and other various points of stress. It was pure bliss.

On Sunday I woke up, made coffee and went straight to the Wii to do a little boxing and play a little baseball. No I did not spend all day playing on the Wii...I do have a bit of a life. But today I am sore so I may have a overdone the Wii activities a bit this weekend. I guess I'll have to learn moderation, something I've always tried to learn but never been very good at. At least some moderation is forced...Wii has an Wii fitness training option that you can only do once a day. It gives you your Wii fit age...on Saturday mine was 80! On Sunday it was 70! After work I'll find out what it is today, hopefully its at least gone down to 60 :)

Headache

2009-08-13T16:27:00.004-05:00

I had a headache for 3 days straight. Three days! And it was one of those annoying dull headaches that isn't bad enough to stay home from work but is distracting enough to make work incredibly difficult to do. It was horrible. I tried a variety of medication, aspirin, ibuprofen, Tylenol. I finally decided it may be sinuses. I went out and bought Sudafed...the real stuff. I by real stuff I mean I had to hand over my drivers license, and sign my name saying I won't be making illegal drugs with the Sudafed. I had to do all of this while my head was hurting on its 2nd day.

Lucky for me I also found while I was shopping for drugs, Golden Girls on sale for $8.99 a season...what a deal! So I bought 2 seasons of Golden Girls, and Sudafed...what a combination. Later that evening I took 2 pills and put in disc 1, I think it was around the 2nd episode that I was officially knocked out from the drugs. The strange thing about Sudafed is that you never feel like your completely sleeping, I think it must be what a coma is like...your kind of aware of the background noise but not conscience of it. I realized this because when I awoke I decided to go back to the 3rd episode and watch what I had missed during my sleep/coma. And it all seemed familiar, I remembered the conversations...freaky right. Sudafed rocks.

Today was the third day of my headache...I was bummed to wake up and find it was there, but it finally went away this afternoon and I have been as happy as a clam since. Headaches are annoying and they make me desperately wish I had a boyfriend that could go buy Sudafed for me...but then if that were the case I wouldn't own The Golden Girls, and I really like that show :)

New Hobby/Obsession

2009-07-31T19:40:00.002-05:00

I have become obsessed with organizing my DVDs. All week I have been organizing and then planning and then reorganizing...it's madness. Maybe this is because I'm librarian, maybe I have a little compulsive disorder problem. The disturbing part is that I don't mind this new hobby, in fact I love it.

Here is why I keep reorganizing. I have Case Logic cases for my DVDs, this allows me to fit my hundreds of DVDs on one bookshelf. However, I have movie DVDs and television shows on DVD...plus I even have some VHS still. So my dilemma has been do I keep the VHS movies separate from the DVDs - part of me says yes because VHS deserves to be secluded to their own shelf...or drawer (!). But then I look my VHS and realize how many great movies I have that I have not replaced with DVD...a great movie does not deserve seclusion simple because of its format. So. I have been intermingling my formats...thus creating difficulty in organizing alphabetically. My case logic cases fit 72 DVDs, and I even have one that is wider and fits 144 I believe. I was grouping my movies in alphabetical clusters....a few VHS tapes and then a case afterwards with DVDs that start with the same letter as the group prior on the shelf. This worked for a few days.

Then I thought about genres. At one point I had tried group genres and then alphabetizing within the genre. As a librarian it's easy enough for me to classify a movie...however, I forget how which genre I've put movies into and then I go to look for a certain movie and find myself spending more time looking for it then I would if things were just alphabetized. Plus I feel like I'm at work if I start subgroups of my movies.

Oh and then there has been the whole issue of movie versus television...do I mix them or keep a case or two only for television series. I've done both and I think I've come to the conclusion that I prefer the television shows organized separately from the movies.

My last issue has been room for growth. In the Case Logic cases I like to leave a few DVD sleeves empty after each letter because I'm sure I'll buy more and it's not to have to shift all your DVDs to fit one new one in the case. So, do I decide on a raw number of empty sleeves and if so what is enough for growth or do I figure mathematically the proportionate amount of growth expected per letter based on how many I have of that letter compared to the total. I'm leaning towards the second option because I love doing math and it sound just quirky enough to be on the verge of crazy.

In fact this whole DVD reorganizing this week is just quirky enough and a huge stress relief for me...which may be just enough crazy to keep me sane.

Typewriters

2009-07-23T11:10:00.005-05:00

In the last week there has been a student who has become extremely interested in our typewriters at the library. In the last year I have not seen one person approach the two electric typewriters we have in our computer room so I'm intrigued by this student's curiosity. Being at least 10 years older than him...okay definitely 10 years older than him I started to realize this may be his first encounter ever with a typewriter.

My memories with typewriters are from when I was a kid...probably around age 9 or 10. We learned how to use computers in elementary school and I think all the reports I wrote were on Apple computers. So my use of the typewriter was always just for fun...I think because I dreamed of writing books I loved the idea of typing out my first novel at the typewriter. We had a high end typewriter that had the "lift-off" tape so you could erase mistakes...what a handy invention that was. I was doing a little research on typewriters and discovered that in the 70's IBM came out with this "lift-off" tape. They also produced the "Selectric" machine...a typewriter that had enough memory to contain 50 pages before it was typed out, this allowed the writer to come up with rough drafts. I think of the typewriter as such an old machine that I never realized just how advanced it was 35 years ago.

I'm not sure what type of typewriters we have at the library but they are not advanced! A few observations I made of our typewriters that are both annoying and fun:

They do not erase.
They are loud! One typewriter is louder than 10 people typing on computers :)
To move the page up or down...thus moving your typing ribbon up or down a line you have to press the code button and the number 6 or 7 depending on the direction. I found that fun! I still remember when word processing on computers involved command keys. Now we have the handy F1, F2, F3...etc.
The typewriter keyboard has a Return key...remember this key everyone?! It Returned your ribbon to the other side of the page. Now we have an Enter key because we Enter information into the computer.

Modest observations...I just love how technology changes and evolves...concepts stay the same but we adapt in small ways to help these technology changes fit into our lives. Here are a few websites I found about the history of typewriters...enjoy! Go find a typewriter and type a loved one a letter!

The Classic Typewriter Page
IBM Archives
The First Typewriter
The Virtual Typewriter Museum

July...seriously?!

2009-07-20T11:03:00.003-05:00

How is it already mid July. They say time flies when you're having fun but the reality is that as we get older time all becomes relative to how much time has passed. For example when your 5 years old and it's summer, and your waiting for Christmas it feels like that 6 months will take forever. Because 6 months to a 5 year old is 10% of what their total life has been...and that's not even accounting for what their memories have been. When you become 31, the 6 months til Christmas flies by because now 6 months has become 1.6% of your life. I wish I could say this observation is all my own but it is not....a coworker pointed this out the other day.

Speaking of work and time and life...how has it been 3 months since my last post? I am now 31, a library director (for only a year thank goodness) and still single. I like the first two and am learning to accept the third reality. This week I am enjoying the simple pleasure of sleeping in every day. I'm working the evening reference shift all week and am thrilled to not have to set my alarm clock once this week! Yay. I have never and never will be a morning person. Oh I've had jobs that started bright and early and all of my past coworkers will tell you that I don't fully become coherent till around 9 am...until then (or until I've had copious amounts of coffee) I'm just a walking zombie. So working the later shift and sleeping in this week may do wonders for my creativity...maybe I'll actually get a few blog posts out this week.

Contemporary Quilting

2009-04-10T00:25:00.007-05:00

I recently went to an exhibit on Contemporary Quilting. It was wonderful, so many creative designs, all artistic and emotional...the creators had really put a piece of themselves in their work. I myself have known quilters for the past 5 years or so and have come to understand what a passion these women have for communicating and expressing something important to others through their fabrics.

I've wanted to take up the hobby for a while and have not had the time. This year though I managed to finish my first lap quilt.

Nothing to gush about but I did enjoy choosing the colors for the quilt and deciding how the pattern would be put together. It was a simple quilt but did take a while to complete being the first one I've worked on! I am far from skilled in the sewing department but I think as I continue this hobby piecing the quilt together will go faster and faster.

What I worked on above is more of a traditional quilt design. What I'm inspired to try now is a Contemporary Art Quilt. A while back I was inspired to try something new, work on a project that would never sit on a lap but instead would hang on a wall - but it would be fabric. I created the two pieces below.

These are simply contructed pieces, I am particular about colors going well together so picking the fabrics took longer then sewing them! As you can see there is a dark to light, light to dark theme. And the pieces would hang opposite on the wall, one vertical, one horizontal. What I will do next is pick a border and backing fabric and I'm going to hand stitch it all together with some sort of eccletic pattern. I think I may also use some beading.

I'm very inspired after this show so I believe I may have more pictures of new projects coming soon!

The critter in the attic

2009-03-08T23:14:00.002-05:00

For the last few months I've heard a rustling in the attic. It's winter and every little animal needs a warm place to dwell so it really didn't seem like surprise or a big deal when occasionally I would hear the scattering of feet across the ceiling. I figured once the weather warms up the squirrel or chipmunk that's cozied up in the attic will find a new dwelling outside.

With the latest noises this weekend I now suspect that Charlotte and I have a new roommate, maybe even a few new roommates, permanently. Every day for the last 3 or 4 we have heard not just the scattering of feet but actual thumping, chattering and scratching.

The thumping I can understand...there are probably a few squirrels up there deciding where to place their nest of leaves and food stock and these decisions can sometimes lead to fighting I imagine. Or perhaps these squirrels are so excited to be roommates that there's some harmless tomfoolery.

The chattering sounds like squirrel noises...but I'm puzzled as to why a squirrel would be chattering. Do they talk to themselves? Or is this another sign along with the thumping that there are a few that have created a new home for themselves. And what are they discussing...I'm hoping it's just conversations like, "hey look at this insulation it makes a warm bed."

The scratching freaks me out a bit. Charlotte notices it before I do, she'll disappear to the office and then start meowing and when I go to find her she has big fat tail and is staring at the ceiling. Then I hear the scratching, it literally sounds like the squirrel is attempting to break through the ceiling and take over our part of the house. I'm hoping that it will be a Shawshank kind of process and by the time the squirrel succeeds I will be long gone...not that I should be frightened of a squirrel. But, well, many of you know of my bat experience last summer and a squirrel seems like a similar adventure that I would rather not deal with.

All in all I'm okay with a critter in the attic, as long as it stays in the attic. I'm not sure that Charlotte feels the same way, but every cat needs a little adventure and I guess hers will be the scary noises coming from the ceiling.

Wordle

2009-03-06T19:20:00.006-06:00

I discovered Wordle today. I have so many ideas of how I will use it. Above is an example of what I just created in about 15 minutes.

So what is Wordle. In wordle you enter your text and then the program creates a word cloud, or also known in the library world as a tag cloud. The words more commonly present in the text will show up larger in the image. It is a visual way to display what the text is saying. It is so easy to use, and you can choose different colors, fonts and styles in which the words can be displayed.

You can also select the maximum amount of words you want displayed in the image. So if your text has 500 words but you only want a small cloud you can select up to 50 words and then the most prevalent 50 will show up. So cool. Oh - and you can use wordle on your blogs. I'll be trying that pretty soon :)

Another helpful hint - Do you want to create a wordle of lyrics from your favorite song but don't have them all or don't feel typing them? Find the song on the Internet. Type in the title or part of lyrics in Google with "quotes around the phrase/title" and then add lyrics after. Here's an example, in Google try typing the following:

"Add to the beauty" lyrics

The first hit will lead you to the lyrics of Sara Groves song Add to the beauty, a fabulous song I might add! Then highlight the whole text, copy it (control c) and paste it into the wordle box (control v). Done, in a few minutes! The power of technology makes me so giddy :)

So I know your wondering, what text did I use for the above image? I'll give you a hint, it's a song. Any guesses anyone? I'll let you think on it for a few days! In the mean time, give Wordle a try....I believe I'll be changing my facebook profile pretty soon with the help of Wordle...give it a shot yourself at wordle.net

melting snow and running?

2009-02-12T11:19:00.004-06:00

I've been enjoying the warmer temperatures this last week. It's amazing how exciting 30 degrees can be when it's February and you've been cooped up inside for the last 2 months. I have actually found myself outside twice in the last week going for runs.

Well, I should clarify that when I say run I mean a very long walk to get my body warmed up, then I run for a few minutes, walk for another long jaunt and then run a few minutes, and the cycle continues. You get the idea....I am not a true runner, yet.

I've always wanted to be a runner but I find the excruciating pain in my sides and constant gasping for air pretty annoying. And as I'm "running" I always feel a sense of doom that this may be my last time outdoors, that death is just around the bend in the path and then I start picturing myself passing out or having a heart attack. And at that point I remember that I forgot to bring identification with me...how will the paramedics know who the limp, unconscious girl in the fetal position is on the side of trail.

Running for me is completely depressing and filled with tension and torture. But I do feel good about 20 minutes after I run, and it always feels good to get your heart pumping :) So I'm training myself, working my way into becoming a runner so that will someday be able to run for 20 minutes straight. Until that day, I'm keeping my identification with me at all times.

A new year already?

2009-01-18T19:39:00.002-06:00

Oh how I have neglected my poor blog.

The truth of the matter is my life has been very low key recently and I have had a bit writer's block. So I guess I will just update a bit...

I am cold...very cold. I am not enjoying the frigid below 0 temperature, as much -22 below this last week. Yuck. Why I am still in MN....I do not know. I had such a great Christmas break, 3 weeks with no students on campus so work was easy and quiet and I was able to stay home a lot :) I enjoy being a hermit during cold weather and look for any reason to stay cuddled up in blankets on the couch with a good movie or book. I also took time to enjoy some of my hobbies during our academic break...mostly I just working on some sewing projects, I am attempting to finish my first quilt.

Work is great as usual, getting pretty busy right about now so the days and weeks are just whizzing by. I don't know how much explained my job in pasts blogs - I'm an Interlibrary loan librarian so when the research assignments are the main focus for students my job gets busier. Whenever a students wants a book or article that isn't in our library - I find it and make it accessible to the student. This means I also send other libraries items from our collection. So there - that's what I do...all day long I look at citations and online catalogs and handle paperwork :) Oh and I do get to do some reference for about 1/4 of the work week.

What else can I update...what is new with the new year...I am looking at houses but have not committed myself to the idea of buying one just yet. I like where I live because it's easier to get anywhere (work, grocery store) on foot or bike. So - although buying may be a better investment I like the convenience or my current location. Plus I get to see deer weekly :) They meander through my yard and down the driveway - it cracks me up every time I see them.

I am currently babbling so I will end this post with promises of writing more frequently as boring and inconsequential the posts are surely going to be! I would like to end with expressing my latest and greatest discovery of the year 2009...the humidifier. Yes I knew they existed, even grew up using them but it has been at least 10 years since I have lived with a humidifier. Let me just say it is the best thing since my discovery of the bloody mary - and that discovery was life changing so I cannot imagine how my life will be changed in 2009 without dry air. Yay for a New Year :)

Happy Thanksgiving

2008-12-02T12:31:00.002-06:00

I had a restful and fun filled Thanksgiving weekend. I used to be in retail management and always dreaded this weekend. Sure it's fun to be busy but it is exhausting and I hated missing out on the fun that would be going on back home. Last year was the first year in ten years that I didn't have to work Black Friday. This year was a whole new experience. This year I experienced the joys of academic breaks. I had Wed-Mon free from work - What?! Too much free time...a girl could get herself into trouble :)

I was with the family for most of that time and we typically play an abnormally large amount of games. Here is a list of games we played: Okie, Hand and Foot, Rook, Quiddler, Sequence, Settlers, Acquire, Trivial Pursuit, Scrabble, Master Detective Clue, Trivial Pursuit, Ticket to Ride. I think I remembered them all...and of course a few of those we played more than once! Yes we are a little obsessed with game playing...but we have fun and I guess that's all that matters.

So this year I am thankful for my lovely new career at a great institution that has academic breaks with the perfect amount of time to have rest and relaxation.

Gilmore Girls Weekend

2008-10-24T19:04:00.005-05:00

I started watching the Gilmore Girls when it was in syndication and immediately enjoyed the characters. The scripts are phenomenally quick witted, humorous and filled with pop culture references. I often find myself watching the shows when I'm in need of ideas for bands to listen to, movies to watch or books to read. And I've found over the years that there are many who are just as addicted to the Gilmore Girls.

So this last weekend I had a friend over and we had our first ever Gilmore Girl Weekend - a weekend devoted to eating, drinking and non-stop Gilmore Girl viewing pleasure. Starting Sat from noon till a little after 10 pm we had Gilmore Girls running non-stop. We started up again Sunday morning at about 10 am and went till about 4pm! During this marathon we were able to get in about 2-4 of our favorite episodes from every season.

Yes we are probably a little crazy but we refuse to apologize because it was great fun. We will definitely be doing more t.v. themed weekends in the future :)

Free time

2008-10-18T10:12:00.003-05:00

Having just finished grad school 6 months ago I have found that I feel I have an overwhelming amount of free time! Thank goodness for hobbies and t.v.

I have loved being able to read for pleasure again and have been attempting to finish off the bookcase of unread books that have been tempting me for years now....there's only maybe 100 or so. Of course now that I'm officially a librarian one of the joys of my job is I get to look over all the new books that arrive and choose new books for our collection. This job duty also of course causes me to add to may "to read" list of books because there are always so many interesting titles.

I also have been crafting cards and selling a few! I finally found a small craft sale and was able to sell a little bit of my growing collection and visit with local crafters. I'm hoping to attend more craft shows and maybe even also finally get a website up showcasing my cards. I'm also contemplating the idea of teaching a community education course on crafting cards.

Lastly I have been watching tons of t.v.! I work during the day, come and watch t.v...it is a great simple pleasure :) I had planned on catching up an all sorts of movies that I missed over the last 2 years but it's funny....I don't even know the titles of movies I missed. Which is blessing in disguise, I don't feel the pressure to watch title A,B,C, etc since I don't even know that title A,B,C exist! I did just enjoy a Gilmore Girl weekend and will blogging about that next. Stay tuned...

Winona

2008-08-08T13:07:00.002-05:00

Well it has been a very long time since I last blogged, about 2 1/2 months - the time however has flown by for me!

Shortly after my last blog I found an apartment in Winona - it's a 2 bedroom side-by-side...what I would call a duplex with a unit on the left and a unit on the right. My living quarters are all on one level and there is an unfinished basement for storage, Charlotte's litter box and the washer and dryer. It's a nice place, with all the modern amenities like a dishwasher and central air ;) And most importantly I have enough room for all of my belongings and guests that may want to visit!

I will refrain on blogging about all of my recent adventures in Winona in this blog - I will try to spread them out a bit. For now I will just blog about how great it is to live in such a beautiful city. I can literally look out my living room window and see the bluffs - my favorite time of day is in the morning. I look high up into the sky and see little sections of dark green patches weaving in an out fog billowing through the air.

Another pleasant perk is not driving as much as I used to! I had an old boyfriend who used to say "long drives should be for pleasure not for getting to work" and that is so true. I now drive about 5 minutes to get to work - and I could easily ride my bike or walk...I'm working on getting myself motivated enough to bike or walk to work. What I have been doing is walking to the grocery store - something I have wanted to be able to do my whole life and I finally can! It's great, I bring my reusable bag with me, it takes me 5 minutes to walk to the grocery store, I only get a few things for the week and walk home - the whole process is like 1/2 hour.

So it seems the greatest pleasure about moving to Winona is I feel like I finally have the lifestyle I always wanted for myself... simple, comfortable and surrounded by nature.

Beginnings

2008-05-22T16:23:00.002-05:00

Oh life is great. Last Saturday I went through my commencement ceremony at St.Kate's and officially received my degree and the Lemon colored hood that goes with getting a Master's in Library and Information Science. On Tuesday I interviewed for a library position...I was NERVOUS and felt that many of my answers lacked intelligence and depth so fearing the worst I've been moping around the house since Tuesday. Today to my relief, I was offered the position I interviewed for and am excited to say that on June 16 I will start my new job as an Interlibrary Loan Librarian for Saint Mary's University in Winona, MN! :) I feel great right now...mostly because I finally get to move my belongings out of storage and into my own place!!!! Who knew the idea of paying rent again would be so EXCITING!

2 years, really? it's been 2 years!!!

2008-05-07T15:00:00.006-05:00

An end and hopefully soon a beginning. After 2 years I have finished my Masters in Library and Information Science. My last class was 2 weeks ago and in 2 weeks I will go through the commencement ceremony to get my hood!

It feels great to be finished, and it's hard to believe - 2 years can go by so fast and yet I feel exhausted from the last 2 years. My undergrad was in organizational communication and the classes were more like business classes - a lot of human resource stuff - hiring, training, leading. A masters in library science is all about being a librarian - completely different from my undergrad. So I had a lot to learn, a lot to read, a lot of acclimating myself to a new career field. My career experience in retail management may have made me adaptable to change and skilled at assessing situations and problem solving but it did not involve the amount of technology that librarians deal with! I am amazed at everything I have learned in 2 years and proud of the improvement I have made in my skills.

I always knew I'd go on to grad school - mostly because of my sheer will and love of school. I love to read, do research, write papers, present at conferences and because of this one of my professors made me promise to go on to grad school. Out of around 30 of us I was one of 2 people that she expected would go on to grad school.

As I end grad school I find myself thinking back to why I started it, specifically why I chose to become a librarian. I chose library science for a few reasons - I love libraries, grew up going to them all the time. In high school one of my best friends parents were librarians and I always thought they were the most knowledgeable people I knew - they were well informed and interesting to talk to. Emily always knew she'd be a librarian (and she is one now!) and I started entertaining the thought of being one myself. An even more significant reason for becoming a librarian was because my Grandma was a head librarian for a small public library and my Mom was a library paraprofessional for 17(?) years - neither of them went to school for library science, it was just a natural fit for both. I'm a lot like both of them, I have a lot of their skills and personality traits so I knew I would enjoy being a librarian because they both felt very fulfilled in their work.

When I was a sophomore in college I told my Grandma I was considering library science - that I thought maybe I'd be a librarian someday. She told me she thought I'd make a fine librarian and that I would enjoy it. My Grandma never gave fluff as an answer so I knew she was telling me the truth. She would be ecstatic to hear how library's and librarians have changed over the years.

After my very first class in grad school I remember driving home and thinking to myself, "wow, I finally understand that feeling of knowing this is right" Usually it's a couple that is referring to their first meeting and how they knew they were the one and then they end up getting married. Well that's how it was on my first night of class, I knew this career was the one for me - I found my calling, my destiny, my passion.

I made a website

2008-04-16T21:15:00.002-05:00

I am finished with one of my 2 classes - the Internet Fundaments and Design. Now I only have 2 more thursday nights in my Library User Instruction course and then I am DONE with grad school! But I will save that excitement for another blog :)

For this Internet class we learned xhtml and css (cascading style sheets). These two things are what you use to create a website and for the final project I created a website with xhtml and css and I am very proud of myself. If you aren't familiar with this jargon...I give you an idea of how you can see what I've worked on. If you look at the website I created - the link is above my archive section to the right...I think I called it Cardcrafting with Rachel.

Anyways...when you're in the site, go to View and select Source.

This will should show you all the coding I did for the site so you can get an idea of what I've been working on for like a week straight :) You won't be able to see the CSS part but at least you can see the XHTML part. If you want...I just think it's awesome that I know how to do this now - and according to my instructor, everyone in the class is officially able to call themselves a geek. Yay for that!

a girl has the right to daydream

2008-04-10T19:54:00.006-05:00

With only 2 weeks left of graduate school I feel that it is appropriate I start daydreaming. About all the reading, dating and traveling I'll have time to partake in joyfully and with abundance!

I currently am daydreaming about taking another trip out to Prince Edward Island. I visited PEI for the first time almost 3 years ago. I have only travelled to a few places - Mexico, London, Scotland, Ireland, cape cod, San Diego and various other states. I can say that based on where I have been PEI was the most tranquil and beautiful places I have been. It's my kind of environment - slower paced, gorgeous colors, great seafood. It is my goal to someday have a vacation home on PEI. For now I will daydream about taking another trip out there...

These figures represent a road trip to PEI from MN - with no overnight stays in hotels:

It is roughly around 2000 miles.
Drive time is 36 hrs + 6 hrs for misc = 42 hours travel time.
The car would need to be filled with gas every 4-4 1/2 hours.
Gas fill up about 9 times - around 80 gallons of gas.
Estimate of about $4/gallon - gas cost would be $320.
Cost of a rental car for a trip of around 9 days - about $500?
And there's a trip back + costs of fuel while on the island.
Total costs - somewhere around $1200.

With more people the travelling costs are possibly less than a flight - flights right now are around $600 and it does take a whole day to get to PEI by plane so driving only takes a little longer.

Anyone up for a road trip to PEI?

Fun Party Quiz Results

2008-04-02T22:11:00.004-05:00

Keep in mind that I am no statistician...but man do I love trying figuring out what numbers mean!
Here's a rundown of responses in each question

Preferred Non-Alchoholic Drink:
70% - Soda
20% - Coffee
10% - Punch

Preferred Alchoholic Drink:
50% - Wine
40% - No Alchohol
10% - Beer

Preferred Snack:
70% - Salty
20% - Healthy
10% - Sweet

Preferred Activity:
50% - Playing Games
50% - Talking (mingling)

I found interesting that there was a tie in the activity question so then I looked at the playing games responses and the talking (mingling) responses and came to three conclusion:

1) If gathering to play game most people will prefer no-alchohol, soda and salty snacks.
2) If gathering to talk and mingle most people will prefer wine or soda and salty snacks.
3) You can please the majority of people with salty snacks present at a party.

Hope this was fun...if anyone has ideas for more fun quiz topics post a comment with them and I'll create a quiz :)

Take a Party Quiz!

2008-03-28T18:10:00.002-05:00

Fill out my Wufoo form!
Powered by Wufoo

Riding the Bus

2008-03-25T18:03:00.002-05:00

I rode the bus last week. And I actually really enjoyed it. Unfourtanetly I have to leave the house about 10 minutes earlier to catch the bus which is EXTREMELY difficult for me. However, for the next (and last) 2 weeks at Capella, I'm going to try to take the bus on Mondays and Wednesdays. It'll be a little less wear and tear on the car and it'll get me used to metro transportation...a very good thing!

And an added bonus, I get to listen to my MP3 player on the way to work, or read a book, and when I go home at night I get to stand in a line waiting for the bus!

Waiting

2008-03-17T12:05:00.002-05:00

It's been a tad over a month since the applications for a fellowship with the National Library of Medicine were due. The fellowship is a one-possible two year fellowship learning about medical librarianship and gaining practice and skills working in medical libraries. It's in Bethesda, Maryland at the National Institute of Health. It's awesome...I'm starting to go crazy waiting :) Every day I check my e-mail and my phone CONSTANTLY hoping I will hear from them. And right now there are two response I would receive - that I have an interview or that I've been rejected. Of course I would like an interview!
I'm feeling very impatient and very much like the rest of my life will/can begin when I find out if I am or am not going out east. And that is difficult - waiting, in limbo...with my future in someone else's hands. And one of the difficult thoughts to grasp is that if I get an interview I get to wait some more! Or that I'll have waited and waited and then get rejected.
I'm hoping to hear something very soon and of course will blog about it - just had to vent for now about how horrible it is to wait for something you want so bad....
by the way for anyone waiting for more blogs on eat,pray,love - sorry I've been so behind (swamped with school stuff) but I plan to get on track, in fact I will probably do a post this week on the last 12 tales of Italy. thanks for YOUR patience ;)

We are bus 470

2008-03-06T13:18:00.003-06:00

I am a people watcher. All the time I am watching people, even as I walk down the street. Even as I walk through the skyways. Yesterday after work as I walked through the skyways I was watching everyone outside on the streets of downtown minneapolis. There is always a lot of activity around 5 in downtown minneapolis. People are trying to make it to their bus stop, cars or the local pub for happy hour. So because I expect this hustle, bustle activity as I was hustling and bustling to my car I suddenly almost stopped in the skyways because of something that caught my attention.
I didn't stop, but what I saw made me giggle, and giggle, and giggle, for about a half hour.
On the corner of 6th street and 3rd avenue (it's okay if you don't actually know where this is!) is a bus stop. At this bus stop were about 15 people waiting for the bus. When I say people, I'm referring to working professionals in their mid 20's to mid 40's, in business dress...some even had briefcases. This isn't what was so funny, a lot of people take the bus. I giggle even now as I write because at this bus stop, this group of around 15 business professionals were in a single file line waiting for the bus! Picture, about 15 adults dressed up, waiting in a single file line with enough personal space between each other (you know-for that "comfort zone") so the line was probably about 30 feet long. Oh it was funny :)
I don't ride the bus much, so maybe this is normal - a courtesy to the people that were there first. You know, first come first serve on the bus...are there good seats on the bus? Maybe there are good seats on the bus and so if you're the first one at the bus stop you get the best seat.
I think what made me giggle was the fact that they all looked so polite and so perfectly lined up...not one person was standing next to another. I felt like the first person in line needed a sign that stated something like, "We are bus 470"
Maybe we're all deep down, longing to be kids again so we take any chance we can get...even if it's standing in a single file line at a bus stop.

car troubles

2008-03-01T16:04:00.002-06:00

So a few weeks ago, on a monday morning I'm cheerfully driving to work, looking forward to the day ahead, even the week ahead...life is good. Not far into the drive there is a demanding, repetitive, clunking sound coming from underneath the hood of my car. I was a bit alarmed but not to the point of turning around and going home, after all...over the past few weeks there have been strange sounds, smells and the oil light would occasionally be on and then turn off as the car warmed up and nothing serious had happened on these mornings so I proceeded to take my car for granted and continue on my way. Big Mistake!

The car died and I thought, yup...I need oil...and I have some, I'm prepared! 2 quarts in the backseat, just for this occassion...and the car started again after it was fed it's oil! unfourtanetly, I may have been too late with the oil. Over the next 10-15 minutes of my drive the car proceeded to die about 4 or 5 times, everytime this annoying yellow light would flash at me...mocking me, saying, "you crazy lady...don't you know how to take care of your car?" I kept ignoring the signs, thinking, I'll make it downtown, the car will keep starting, we can do this. My doubts grew as the interior of my car filled with smoke but I am persistent...well stubborn.

Sadly we couldn't do it...the car and my hopes died on 35W just after I'd exited on to 35W from 62 conveniently in the way of angry commuters. Fourtanetly, I am a lucky unlucky person...Jerry of Jerry's Towing happened to be heading back to the office on Lake Street when he saw my stalled vehicle...I'd been there only a few minutes. He pulled up, started hooking up my car to his tow truck and gave me a lift downtown. I made it downtown after all...to the expensive tune of a new motor for my abused car.

Moral of the story: change your oil.

Oh and thankfully for me...God's always one step ahead sending a Jerry to tow and fix the problem I thought I could solve with 2 quarts of oil way to late...silly me

Young Adult online bookgroup anyone?

2008-02-21T13:30:00.002-06:00

I sort of want to try having a few bookgroups going on with different themes so that if one book doesn't interest someone maybe another one will. So, I thought I'd start one in the Young Adult theme because I recently have been reintroduced to YA and really love reading these books.

I have heard about this book called Twilight by Stephenie Meyer - hopefully I spelled her name right. Anyways, it's supposed to be pretty good. I'm on LibraryThing - mostly for ideas of what to read and what's popular (if you're not on it you should be!) and I was checking out some YA groups and this book came up a few times. The rating amongst readers of the book on Library thing is 4.42 out of 5 - pretty good rating. And it's a vampire/love story type book - never read one of those, I'm thinking it's time to spread my wings! There is a saga - something like 4 so far and Twilight is the first of the saga. It looks pretty long - around 550 pgs I think.

So - I think I'll start doing posts for this book as well - it'll probably take me a week to get organized and get another post out about this with a plan and the idea will again be to post questions throughout the reading of the book. So if you're interested check it out at your local library! And the great thing about these posts is you can read at your leisure and read the post as you've read the section :) Feel free to comment whether or not you like YA books and are interested in reading this one!

Eat,Pray,Love - Italy, 13-24

2008-02-20T12:00:00.002-06:00

Finally, a post! You know the drill - if you haven't read thru tale 24 in Italy you won't want to read what is below - it may have spoilers! And if you've read past tale 24...don't reveal anything!

So we're in Italy, the Eat part of the book and it has become very aparrent in these middle tales that Gilbert (author) has some major issues...depression and loneliness are constant companions. She attempts to go off of her anti-depressants (because she's in Italy and feels this will solve everything) and finds herself in desperate need to go back on her medication.

I really see the meaning of Eat - food, nurishment, eating is afterall a basic need and we see that Gilbert has often set aside her basic needs in life. Either for men, work, etc. She explains how she often disappears into the man in her life...becomes like him...changes to be more of him and less of her.

Question 1: Going to Italy, is Gilbert attempting to escape her depression...runaway from the choice she made to get divorce or is she facing her depression and divorce or face it all? And how so (in regards to whichever option you chose)?

Question 2: How do you think eating in Italy, enjoying the pleasures of Italy, will help Gilbert deal with her depression, loneliness, choices she has made in relationships(i.e. divorce, David)

Busy Weekend

2008-02-19T11:22:00.002-06:00

What a lovely weekend I just had. I traveled up to Duluth with two of my dearest friends, Kris and Megan...both from college. (megan I have actually been friends with since high school). We had a great time exploring Duluth. What did we do?

Well...we visited the Glensheen Mansion, The Duluth Zoo, An Aquarium, Gooseberry Falls, The Tweed Art Museum at UMD, The Depot, shopped a little in Canal Park, and ate great food!
We stayed in a lovely B&B called the Olcott House, had a fabulous and elegant hot breakfast at 9am both Sat and Sun morning prepared by David one of the owners of the B&B. And at night settled into our carriage house and watched a little t.v. or dvd's.

It was such a nice weekend, and of course I'm a little behind now on the Eat,Pray,Love discussion questions because of the weekend getaway. But the questions for tales 13-24 will be up soon! Probably later tonight :)

I advise anyone who has a free weekend and lives in this area to visit Duluth for a weekend, it is so much fun!

Eat, Pray, Love: Italy, 1-12

2008-02-15T16:45:00.003-06:00

This is the first post with the hope that a discussion about the book Eat, Pray, Love will evolve. A warning: there will be spoilers (comments that will disclose portions of the book we are discussing) so if you have not read the portion this post is discussing and don't want to know what's in the book then read no further!

Enjoying the book? I am, I really like her style of writing. It is as if she is in the room with me, telling a story, or we're having a conversation. Yet at the same time she has these moments in her writing where she goes into a "descriptive tangent" that are beautifully structured and creative.

This post is only about tales 1-12 in the first book on Italy. If you have read further please do not discuss past tale 12 of book 1!

Question 1: Do you have a favorite "tale" out of the first 12?

Question 2: I think this will be a highly spiritual book, What do you think of her relationship with her God?

I'll leave the questions at those two...feel free to comment or add your own discussion questions. I will have more on Monday about tales 13-24 from Book One Italy. Ciao!

Timeline of posts for eat, pray, love

2008-02-09T22:12:00.000-06:00

As promised, I have taken a peak at the book eat, pray, love...here's a little about how the book is set up. There are 3 sections to the book, and each section has 36 tales. My initial thought was to write a discussion post every week but because of the amount of tales in the entire book (108) I think I'll do two discussion posts a week.

Every Monday and Friday I will write a post with a few thoughts and discussion questions based on 12 tales. So this means it will take us about a week and a half to get through each section. I'm not sure how this pace will work for everyone so we'll try if for the first section and see how well it works. So here's the plan for the first section titled:

Book One Italy or "Say it Like you Eat it" or 36 Tales about the Pursuit of Pleasure (seriously...that's the way it's written in the book!)

Friday (15th) post on tales 1-12
Monday (18th) post on tales 13-24
Friday (22nd) post on tales 25-36

And if you plan on reading the book and possibly joining in on the discussions please feel free to comment on this post and introduce yourself! I'd love to know who I'm reading with :)

Online Bookgroup - Eat, Pray, Love

2008-02-08T14:31:00.000-06:00

Okay - Let's give this a try! I have a couple of friends who are planning on reading Eat, Pray, Love and I want to join in on the fun but find it difficult to travel to be in their bookgroup! So I'm going to read the book and then write entries into my blog with my thoughts or questions - basically a post that will be a "discussion thread." And I would love to invite anyone who reads to join in on the fun!

So here's the plan...I'm going to get the book this weekend and create a timeline (based on the contents of the book and my schedule!) of when I will be posting "discussion threads" about the book. I will post this timeline this weekend and don't worry I won't start posting "discussion threads" right away, I'll give you all enough time to go check the book out at your local library :)

Here's the book info:
Title: Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia
Author: Elizabeth Gilbert

Wondering if your library has it? If you're on Facebook and are friends with me you'll notice I have WorldCat just above my wall...feel free to use it to search for this book in your area. Type in the title and search.
When you see the title click on it.
On the next page that opens scroll down a bit and enter your location information.
Then Boom! Libraries (hopefully close to you) that have the book you're looking for, amazingly easy :)

I'm excited to read with you all!

The New Job

2008-02-08T13:41:00.000-06:00

I promised I would write a little about how the new job at Capella is going and I try to make do on promises. Here goes!

My new job is only part-time - mon-thurs about 25 hours a week and it is temporary. I'm helping out while a librarian is on maternity leave. I love librarians who go on maternity leave - it provides great opportunities for future librarians like me.

It's different working downtown again, I used to work in downtown mpls as a manager of a Payless...this was about 4 years ago. Downtown mpls still feels the same but I feel different - my environment is so different. I have a cubicle that I can decorate if I want! I always had a desk when I was in retail but I never used it because I was never sitting! So it's fun to think of which pictures I should put on my desk. There's a kitchen on our floor and in the kitchen there's coffee all day long - whenever I want it - this is probably my favorite thing about Capella :)

In fact, one thing that I've especially enjoyed the last 2 weeks is all the free food...Capella is celebrating the start of a new program so they brought lunch in for everyone the 1st week I was there and breakfast for everyone the 2nd week. And our library staff went out to lunch this week at a very nice restaurant - I love food...especially free food! I'm sure this kind of fun isn't always going on but it is so much fun!

And of course I love being around so many librarians. There are 9 of them and I've had a chance to listen and watch them in action! And it makes me feel like I am really ready to graduate and be a librarian. There's always this fear that you didn't take the right classes and aren't as prepared as employers and patrons expect but now I really do feel ready and confident.

Thanks for the responses!

2008-02-06T21:00:00.000-06:00

Thank-you to all that filled out the survey I had posted on my blog. I've taken it off because I'm all finished with the presentation. It didn't go as well as I had hoped, I often forget information,etc. but it was great that I had responses to show the class...and to show them how to retrieve reports and all that jazz! I may actually start an online bookgroup - the responses were too few and varying to come up with a consensus of what the majority of responsders would enjoy...so I may just give every genre a chance and maybe it'll reach new people...that I haven't even met! How fun would that be :) I think it would be in the form of a wiki so that people can interact more easily with one another online. So many ideas :) Right now, project runway is calling my name so I must flee...

Please Help!

2008-01-31T20:27:00.000-06:00

...anyone reading my blog please take the survey at the bottom of my blog page. Just scroll down a bit. It is title Online Bookgroup Survey.

I created it on the wufoo.com site for my internet class...It is only 4 questions...very short...and maybe I really will start an online bookgroup after I see the results :)

P.S. For each question there is a drop down menu showing choices - select the answer you most like...and when you've answered all 4 make sure to click the Submit button at the bottom of the questions. If you've tried answering the questions, try again -there may have been a little glitch in the system for a bit :)

The outfit is planned for the first day

2008-01-26T12:19:00.000-06:00

Well, monday is the start of my new job. I have had so many new starts in the last 8 months it's become routine, however, this new start has got me feeling a little nervous. It's a temporary, part-time position at Capella University. I get to work in downtown Minneapolis again! Only this time I have an office type of job which I have always pictured myself in but never had...well I guess it's more like a cubicle type of job...or may even just a desk in the middle of the room, not really sure yet :) The point is, it's in a super tall, really pretty building that has elevators for specific groups of floors (I go to the level 1-15 group) and when I get to the floor I work on there's a receptionist! and a secure entrance! I may have to have one of those swipey cards to get into work - how exciting is that! I could try to explain the psychology behind why all of this sounds really exciting to me but I don't want to get into that right now :)

The strange thing behind all of this description is that I'll be working in the library, processing requests for information from students...these are online students because Capella is an online university. If a student needs an article that we don't have in our collection I'll find a library that owns it and ask to borrow it for the student, they'll send a copy to our computers and then I'll e-mail it on to the students - this is interlibrary loan, and what I will get to do for 2 1/2 months. Apparantly we process 300-400 requests a week - for you nonlibrary people, that's alot! It's going to be an awesome experience to put on the resume and I am nervous! I always get nervous when starting a new job, you meet so many people, and I never remember names, and there's so much new stuff to learn and I always want to joke a little but I can't until they get to know me - because I don't there sense of humor and they don't know mine.

Anyways, I know it'll go fine cause I have my outfit planned! I bought 2 new pairs of pants, a dress and 2 tops in order to be prepared for the first day :) Shopping helps with the nerves and now I have a Lorelai dress. Lorelai is my favorite character on Gilmore Girls and she always wears this style of dress that goes to the knee, is sort of a v-neck but also looks like it wraps in the front with some sort of fabric tied in the front or a belt. That's what my dress is like - it's a Lorelai dress - I so am going to have to figure out how to post a picture of Lorelai on this post. I love the Lorelai dress but that's not actually the outfit I have planned, I'm wearing gray pants with colored lines in them (sublte lines) and a winter white sweater that has a little detail in it and a buckle on the collar...very professional, a little stylish and very librarianish. And of course, heels - just about an 1" to 1 and 1/2" I don't want to fall or twist an ankle :)

This is a very weird post - but I wanted to document my thoughts and excitement before the first day! And of course archive what my outfit for the first day will be :)

Internet Fun!

2008-01-16T12:50:00.000-06:00

I started a class last week on Internet Fundementals and Design. It's fascinating!
This week we talked about blogs...did you know that 36% of blogs are in English and 37% are in Japanese - fascinating!
I learned so much about the Internet that my mind was fuzzy after class - well that was probably from the html coding that we had to practice...yes I'm learning html so that I can design a website from scratch. And I'm excited about it :) Anyways...on to the cool stuff....
http://del.icio.us ---- this is a social bookmarking site, meaning that any sites you really like you can bookmark and categorize - what makes it cool - everyone can see what sites everyone else really likes. So if I want to see what sites exist on travel - I search for travel in del.icio.us. I tried this and found one site on airfare predictions that was saved by 9910 people - so I know this may be a great site to look at since a lot of people are saving it. It's a lot of fun :) along the same lines:
http://popurls.com ----- this is an aggregator meaning it pulls information from websites and let's you see alot at once instead of having to go to each site individually. So popurls has maybe 10-20 sites listed and under each one lists the most popular articles or links people are going to on these sites. i.e. del.icio.us is listed and about 20 of the most popular links people are bookmarking are listed. I like popurls mostly because it has loads of fun stuff (if you have time to kill it's loads of fun) and is designed so nicely - it is organized and has a clean look but a very cool look at the same time - it's just a great design for the amount of info displayed.
I could go on and on and on with more very cool and very fun sites but I'll take a break for now!

Blissful tiredness

2008-01-09T23:53:00.000-06:00

I'm officially tired. I blame the many days I had off around Christmas and New Years. My body was happy with the routine of sleeping in, lying around all day...maybe going outside every other day. My body hates me know because for the last 3 days I've been back to the routine of getting up at 6 in the morning...I'm tired. There is great news though...a light at the end of the tunnel...a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow...
Yesterday I found out that I got the Graduate Assistantship position at the library I currently work at (St.Kate's, Minneapolis campus)! Yay :) It is a small amount of hours, 8-10 per week but more money than the circulation assistant position I had and it means that I get to work on projects specifically geared towards librarian experience. It's very cool and I'm very happy and excited. I'm going to get to buy books (my favorite thing to do!) and handle reference questions and create online tutorials to guide our nursing students through a few of the difficult databases when they're doing research. Maybe a few other projects as well...but those are the main duties on the plate thus far. I start Tues - and here's where the really good news comes in - I'll be working afternoon hours!!! :) Yay for sleeping in again for the next 2 weeks - until the Capella position starts! I start the Capella job Jan 28th so I'll blog about that one sometime in Feb.
It is so weird that a year ago I was a merchandise team leader at Jo-Ann Fabrics working strange hours and now I'll be working Mon-Fri in two different libraries - daytime hours - such a different life and the best is yet to come since I'm not even done with grad school. I may be tired but it is a blissful tiredness.

P.S. I love you

2008-01-06T19:06:00.000-06:00

I start my last two grad classes this week so I went to a movie today in order to do something fun before the start of what will probably feel like the longest semester yet!
So I went with a friend to see P.S. I love you and it is a very sweet movie with great music and beautiful scenes set in Ireland. I won't say too much about the movie...but you've probably gathered from previews that it is about a woman who at the age of 29 becomes a widow and her husband has left her letters to help her go on with life without him. It's very emotional but what I liked about it is the truth that even when something wonderful ends there is hope of good things to come.
We go through some horrible changes in our lives sometimes that don't make any sense, are unfair and unwanted and end something really great, forcing us to move on and in a different direction than we wanted...but that doesn't mean that our dreams have to end and there can be goodness greater than we ever expected without forgetting the goodness we've already experienced. I like that we can think of our lives as chapters in a book...or maybe even books in a series. I think I'm starting a whole new book in my series...volume 2...what chapter or volume are you on...and a more interesting question, is there a title and what is it? My title of volume 2, fresh start...mmhh, that's sort of boring, I'll have to think of something more creative.

Happy New Year

2008-01-02T13:55:00.000-06:00

It is 2008! I love New Year's, it has always been one of my favorite holiday's to celebrate simply because it is so positive and well, happy! You reminisce about the previous year, look to the future and dream of what you want it to be like. And if you're hanging out with friends like mine there's dancing, laughing and hopefully the well know Prince song...how does it go, "party like it's 1999."
Actually this year I stayed in with the parents and that was just as good as the dance sessions I used to have with my friends on New Year's Eve! I have a bit of cold or something horrible resembling a cold and am just plain exhausted so New Year's was just as fun this year from the couch of my family room watching a movie ;)
For the past few years I've been reluctant to come up with any New years resolutions, mostly I think because I knew I would fail to follow through with any of them! I feel confident that this year I can follow through with a few resolutions:

1) complete the Masters!
2) go to New Zealand!
3) get a job!
4) move out of mom and dad's!

okay so those four are no-brainers that will be done for sure...here are the tougher ones:

5) exercise - gasp! - at least 2 times a week (probably should do 3 but I do not exercise so I'm shooting for 2 times a week)
6) date - gasp! - I've been avoiding relationships, in the last year I've turned down dates or run away from possible relationships and this is so not healthy. Time to face the facts - I've had a serious relationship in the past and have been scared to get into another one but the fear ends now. I will date, maybe not be in a serious relationship but I will give guys a chance and I guess in a way give myself a chance too.
7) friends - see them more! I can't wait for school to end, and once it does I will have so much free time and I can't wait to be able to spend more time with friends - and I should say family too.

well...that may be enough resolutions for now! I'm feeling stressed....just kidding ;)

Merry Christmas

2007-12-25T01:06:00.000-06:00

Christmas Eve...and the season feels different but still special. Actually it's Christmas as I right this but for me it doesn't feel like Christmas until I've woken up on Christmas morning and eaten a cinnamon bun! Normally, I would be in Rochester...however my parents abandoned the town we grew up in and I find myself Christmas eve night remembering cherished traditions instead of participating in them at the church I was raised in.
What I miss tonight is the tradition for the last hymn, lighting a candle, singing Silent Night and standing in the candlelit sanctuary as a congregation with only our voices softly filling the midnight air. And then as the hymn ends, the sound of everyone blowing out their candle with a second of darkness, followed by about an hour of catching up with old friends that are back in town for the holidays. As a kid the sanctuary always felt magical, so calm and filled with love.
I feel so blessed to have been raised in a church filled with that kind of love, for each other and for Christ. I'm realizing especially tonight the importance of remembering, cherishing and loving - genuinely, sometimes painfully and with much gratefulness.

coffee

2007-12-17T11:52:00.000-06:00

Today I went to take a swig of coffee from my thermos...it's not a large thermos, just one of those metal kind that you take with you in the car. Anyways, took a drink and spilled coffee down both sides of my face and a bit dribbled on my shirt.

I wonder, am I so excited about drinking coffee that I'm attempting to drink it to fast? Or am I just really clutzy? I think it's both...what a mess I can be for my love of coffee :)

baby steps

2007-12-14T23:06:00.000-06:00

Changing a career is never easy. I've learned that moving from retail management to librarian...is really not easy! But not impossible. Like a baby learning to walk I've been taking small steps - mini moves and slowly, with increasing steadiness and soon more speed and grace I will be walking tall and proudly and will be a librarian.

The wonderful and rewarding part of grad school is that officially when I am finished I will have earned the title Librarian. I told my mom one day that the idea that I will have earned a title and will have that for life...Librarian gives me such a sense of accomplishment and pride.

The tricky part is getting someone to pay you...hence the baby steps in my career change.

I knew soon into my grad school experience that I needed experience, library experience. I realized this even more when a year ago I interviewed for a temporary part-time position at an academic library, the job was for a few months and I thought the interview would be cake. It was harder then I thought and I realized I wasn't ready yet and wasn't going to get the types of library jobs I thought I had deserved with all my grad school experience. Grad school is hard and I've learned a lot and yeah management experience is great too but when you're going into a very bureaucratic field and your competition are other grad students who have been working in libraries for a few years or more you see the light real quick.

So I sold my house to move to the cities where all the experience lies at my fingertips. I started volunteering in a cancer library and took a student job in the library at school...all of this for any kind of library experience I could get. I'm starting to walk steadier!

I interviewed Thursday morning for a temporary part-time position at an academic library - sound familiar? Different position, different library, different outcome. At 1 pm on Thursday I got offered the position! It's only for a few months but it will be a great experience. I will be a part-time interlibrary loan technician at Capella University in downtown Minneapolis and I can't wait, Unfortunately I have to wait, until the end of January! I think I can handle it ;)

My so called life

2007-12-13T12:25:00.000-06:00

In an earlier blog I talked about the writer's strike and I must say that I am enjoying it for one small reason...ABC has started reruns of the show "My so called life" which aired way back in the 90's.

I liked the show back in high school and I'm having fun watching it again now. If you've never seen it I will warn you that it's a totally depressing show and is probably the reason why I went thru a dreadful fashion stage in high school that involved too many oversized flannel shirts and wanting to dye my hair weird colors. But, there is interesting dialogue and teenage drama which in my book never goes out of style ;) And it brings back memories from teenage angst that often we want to forget but really helped develop us into the people we are now....'sigh'

on a totally different note...I may have an update about library job related stuff very soon, stay tuned in for more in a few days ;)

Virtual Worlds

2007-12-06T18:40:00.000-06:00

A few descriptions first:

Avatar – a virtual image of yourself used online to represent yourself in a graphic way, other than with just text. This is created and can be changed by the creator at any time. It can look as close to or as different as the creator.

Second Life – created in 2003, this is a virtual world. Users pay a minimum of $9.95 per month for membership and more at times if they wish to buy virtual property, land or retail items. Interaction with other users is made possible with Avatar’s.

Webkinz – are stuffed animals purchased in real life. The stuffed animals come with codes that when entered on the webkinz site then become virtual pets. Kids take care of their pets online and by purchasing items in real life at retail stores they then have more virtual items…i.e. trading cards come with codes that can win accessories for the virtual house, etc.

Many say that webkinz are great for kids because they help them with their computer skills and teach them how to take on responsibility in their life. I can see how this is true however on the flip side I can also see how we are training are kids on how to use and live in virtual worlds.

So for our kids, ourselves and the future…are virtual worlds simply a new way to entertain ourselves and interact socially with others or should we have concerns…and if so what should those concerns be? I hardly believe that “real-life” society will fail to exist simply because there is now a virtual world but I do wonder what the impact on personal relationship will be like in 20-30 years. Will there be virtual relationship and real relationships and will they co-exist or will people consider their virtual life entirely separate from their real life. I don’t want to get carried away…I’d love to hear thoughts, I really have no set opinion on this subject myself, just curiosity and my rambling imagination…

Just west of the smelly stacks

2007-11-29T18:29:00.000-06:00

Moving to Rosemount was not in the plans. I was going to live in my lovely rambler, in Rochester, for the rest of my life. Eventually, meet a wonderful man (who didn't own his own house and loved my house as much or more then me!), we would marry, he would move in, we'd have babies, build a family room addition off the dining room, create a larger bathroom in the basement and live happily ever after. Sigh. Rosemount was not in the plans.
For anyone who's driven on 52 headed south of the Cities or going north towards the Cities, you have experienced the smelly stacks. They are located off of Hwy 52, near the Hastings exit and you can't miss them. They are huge, they light up the night with their white lights and smoke and they stink. Here's the funny, quirky thing about this plant and these stacks. Just west of the smelly stacks, there's no smell. And even better there's beautiful farmland, trees, small rolling hills and gravel roads that are never monitered by police ;)
Rosemount is just west of the smelly stacks and although it was not in the plans I am as Lewis wrote (i say this in a different context as him), "suprised by joy" that has been found in this random change to my pre-planned life. Less and less do I plan my future and suprisengly find more and more joy by this. Almost everyday now I drive on the back roads from home to 52 and vice versa. The gravel road that I can drive dangerously fast on provides great excitement and the feeling of freedom that I so desperately have needed to feel for a number of years. Just west of the smelly stacks I enjoy God's beauty in the nature surrounding my home. My life certainly can't be planned for a while, if ever again!, and I don't know how long I'll be in Rosemount so even though Rosemount wasn't in the plans I take joy in the fact that just west of the smelly stacks there is no smell, great beauty and exciting roads to travel on.

The 2007 Writers Guild of America Strike

2007-11-27T16:22:00.000-06:00

I am a TV and movie junkie so I thought I’d look into this whole Writer’s Guild of America strike and see how my TV shows are going to be affected. The histories of strikes in the past and the reason for this strike are somewhat interesting. All of the information that I’m writing about was found on Wikipedia.
The first strike in 1960 lasted for 22 weeks. The second strike in 1988 lasted only one day longer than the 1960 strike. The 1988 strike was based on residuals. Apparently the use of VHS in the household was becoming so common that the WGA felt they needed to renegotiate their contract. The outcome was the decision that a writer would receive .3% of the first million of reportable gross and (.36% after) of each tape sold as a residual. This stayed the same even as buyers moved from VHS to DVD.
Now, here’s an interesting fact, the home video market (presently) makes close to 3x’s the box office. Not too much of a surprise considering how cheap DVD’s have become and how pricey going to the movies is. Home video market brings in 4.8 billion, the box office 1.78 billion. So it’s no wonder that with changing technology and it being almost 20 years since the last strike the WGA is striking again due to “new media.” This 2007 strike is based on an inability to negotiate on “new media” residuals. What is new media? Internet and cell phones are the prime concerns for the WGA and I really can’t blame the WGA for being tough to negotiate with – once you’re done negotiating you’re usually stuck with what you agreed on for a significant period of time – despite what changes take places in the world around you.
Changing technology could have a huge affect on the public’s access to creative works…AND…the contract that the WGA finally accepts could also have a huge affect on the public’s access to creative works.
How will this affect our shows?, is what everyone’s asking. And it will have an affect, for most shows starting in Jan we will see more reruns. Wikipedia has a list of all shows and how many episodes have been produced before the strike – when looking for 2007 writers guild strike, take a peak at their link to effects of the 2007 WGA strike. I think this strike could have a great affect on America, maybe keep junkies like me from watching too much TV and finding something more useful to do with my time :)

Privacy vs. Openess

2007-11-16T09:39:00.000-06:00

I was enjoying one of my favorite shows last night, after I had created this new blog and the topic of blogs became a discussion on the show. A statement made in reference to blogging was, "does no one value privacy anymore" and the response made was, "the value now is on openess."

I may be a little off with the wording of the quotes but the point was that we used to view sharing of information online as giving away your privacy, and in a way not protecting yourself. We valued the certainty of knowing that others didn't know too much about us and in turn couldn't harm us, emotional, physically, etc. What about this value of openess, what does that mean. For some it may mean that they want to know as much about someone as they possibly can, that would make them feel closer to that person. For others, it means they want others to know about themselves, their thoughts, feelings so that they feel known.

I'm partial to believe that there may be a shift in the value of privacy to openess but I think the reason of why remains the same. I think for both the driving emotion is the fear of being misunderstood and harmed in the process of either sharing too much or too little of ourselves.

At times I seem like an extremely open person, I share my opinions, my feelings, my thoughts easily but I know that I am also an extremely private person, especially about my experiences, fears and convictions. I'd like to flip this in a way, learn how to be more private about things I'm quick to be vocal on, and become more open about those things that by becoming vocal make a real difference in my life and possibly others.

Becoming a Blogger

2007-11-15T20:05:00.000-06:00

I will say, up front, I am nervous. An "online diary" is not something I start lightly or without reservation. I haven't even maintained a private diary for many a years so writing my thoughts, and posting them for the public to read is intimidating. Not that I really believe I'll have many readers! I do plan on writing substantial and hopefully interesting posts. Because I am nervous, intimidated and clueless still about the organization of my blog I am ending this post before it becomes a random mess. But first, 2 quotes as an intro to my blog:

"It is not easy to walk alone in the country without musing upon something." from the book, Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens

"For it is the mind which creates the world about us, and, even though we stand side by side in the same meadow, my eyes will never see what is beheld by yours, my heart will never stir to the emotions with which yours is touched." from the book, The Private Papers of Henry Ryecroft by George Gissing

I hope that my friends choose to muse with me as they see fit in this journey through the country we now refer to as the Internet. Your thoughts and feelings are important and I value them because we all see the world a little differently and can find much worth from our differences.