Well, this has been the strangest holiday... and I mean that in a good way. I feel completely in the Christmas spirit! And even if all my gifts that I'm mailing will be late (I will be mailing them tomorrow with any luck), I don't care. I'm really enjoying the holiday.
And my coworkers are too! In the last 48 hours, I've had two people tell me what a great supervisor I am, one tell me how productive I am, and one tell me how great the collection has been looking since I got to this new location. Four big kudos in two days! That has to be some sort of record.
We kicked off the gift-giving tonight with Aiden and family. Athena gave Aiden a puzzle that he has been admiring for some time, and of course she gave him his colors for joining her posse. Lavendar head wrap with unicorns. He looked totally def in it. We didn't have cameras, but we'll try to get pictures soon.
Aiden gave Marcus a toy that has a hammer which he can use to bang on these little lighty-uppy things. And he gave Athena a princess stamp set and a doctor kit (the latter for caring for his boo boos whenever she bites him).
Much fun was had by all. Athena really wants to live with Aiden though. She wanted to ride home with them ("No ride in the ESS YOU VEEEEEEEEEE! Ride in 'DIS car!"), and then when I finally got her into the Vue, she whined for Aiden the whole way to Target. Fortunately, there was enough at Target to distract her, and she finally seemed to forget about him.
We ran into Ms. Stanley at Target, and Athena claimed she didn't remember her. Ms. Stanley was in the infant room with Athena, and was there briefly for Marcus. Her last day was, coincidentally, the last day for the former director as well. She is doing well and said she really misses the kids. She clearly loved seeing Athena, although Athena wasn't quite as charming and polite as I would have hoping... scowling at her and whimpering. Sometimes having a two-year-old is very similar to having a full-grown pitt bull.
Thursday, December 21, 2006
Sunday, December 17, 2006
Librarian Secret #2 - Not All Things You Get on the Internet are "Internet Sources"
I worked a couple of hours on the Reference Desk today, and several high school students came to me with their questions for their homework projects. Bless their little hearts, some of them are really confused about "sources." I remember being one of them. And yet, I didn't have nearly as many choices as these kids have.
They ask me for a "Newspaper Source" for their paper on Global Warming. I start typing into the computer. They say "NO! I need a NEWSPAPER!" I explain that old newspapers fall apart, take up space, and present a HUGE fire hazard. So thanks to the "Digital Age," we have gotten rid of all of them and we have it all on the computer now.
"But NOOOOOOOOOOOO!" they cry. "My teacher said "NO INTERNET SOURCES!" Don't you have newspapers?
*sigh*
Just because you access something over the Internet, doesn't mean that it is actually an "Internet Source." There is a phenomenon called "The Deep Web." Or perhaps there is a new catchphrase for it. The information in this Deep Web costs money. And our taxpayers pay for those resources to be available.
So... if you teach children and assign them papers, or if you are a parent who will help your children with homework one day, please explain the difference between an Internet source and a database. PLEASE! These poor kids are freaking out.
Oh, and teach them not to use so many "quotation marks." It's really "irritating" to read.
They ask me for a "Newspaper Source" for their paper on Global Warming. I start typing into the computer. They say "NO! I need a NEWSPAPER!" I explain that old newspapers fall apart, take up space, and present a HUGE fire hazard. So thanks to the "Digital Age," we have gotten rid of all of them and we have it all on the computer now.
"But NOOOOOOOOOOOO!" they cry. "My teacher said "NO INTERNET SOURCES!" Don't you have newspapers?
*sigh*
Just because you access something over the Internet, doesn't mean that it is actually an "Internet Source." There is a phenomenon called "The Deep Web." Or perhaps there is a new catchphrase for it. The information in this Deep Web costs money. And our taxpayers pay for those resources to be available.
So... if you teach children and assign them papers, or if you are a parent who will help your children with homework one day, please explain the difference between an Internet source and a database. PLEASE! These poor kids are freaking out.
Oh, and teach them not to use so many "quotation marks." It's really "irritating" to read.
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
Wherefore Art Thou, Mommy Librarian?
Friday, December 1: Took day off work to prepare for two holiday parties. I like to refer to this day as "The Day I Pretended to be Rich." Got my nails done, shopped at Nordstrom for something to wear to Chris' work holiday party, went to said party and enjoyed an open bar and good food (three courses plus an appetizer buffet), and Chris got his company gift... a Zune. Score.
Saturday, December 2: Spent the day preparing food for annual Caran Holiday Party, and then proceeded to have said party. Very enjoyable evening. Less attendance than normal, but good friends were there and the night was a success. I also only drank beer and found I was not exhausted at the end of the evening. I won't be drinking wine at these parties again. It clearly wears me out.
Sunday, December 3: Recouperation.
Monday, December 4: Nuthin' special.
Tuesday, December 5: Thought it was a "nuthin' special" day, until 7:30 pm when I got a call at work from home telling me that Athena split her head open and needed stitches. Spent most of the night in the ER waiting room taking turns chasing a wild, up-way-past-bedtime toddler around.
Wednesday, December 6: Work. Then met Aiden and family at Firehouse Subs (after a fun-filled trip to Target for essentials) for "Kids Eat Free (And Entertain Each Other So We Don't Have To) Night."
Thursday, December 7: work, then hockey game.
Friday, December 8: Work, then Grandma's apartment complex to meet Santa. Athena simply eyed him from across the room all evening, but that's cool. She liked the cheese. She especially liked impaling the cheese on the little toothpicks.
Saturday, December 9: Chris rearranged some furniture and assembled a bookcase so now each child has a bookcase in his or her respective room... giving me a chance to actually get a bunch of crap off the floor in both rooms and split up their belongings so they can know whose is whose (something that becomes more important by the day). Earlier in the week, I purchased some bins for downstairs as well. The toys are taking over the house. It's scary. Then we went to a holiday party... something we are becoming really good at. Someone at the party suggested we do a "Calendar Girls" type calendar featuring the librarians of our county system. She was a librarian in our system. Needless to say, there was alcohol at this party. Fortunately, we all remained dressed.
Sunday, December 10: Attended... wait for it... a holiday party for my old library in Garner. Athena and I attended to participate in the white elephant exchange. I had been an honorary recipient of a handmade ornament we affectionately call "The Space Station" and it was time to pass it along. Athena brought a gift too, so they wouldn't know which container had the ornament. In exchange, Athena got a Billy the Big Mouth Bass, which she loooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooves. Loves it. Loves. *sigh* I got a red christmas tree that resembles a boot scraper. I think I preferred "The Space Station" actually. The singing fish is in Athena's room where she can see it, but not touch/activate it.
Monday, December 11: My car died. The alternator. I'm really lucky I was able to drive it to the dealership. Fortunately, Athena was getting her stitches out, which meant Chris was still on this side of town and we were able to do some fancy footwork to get me to work and the kids to daycare. Fortunately, for a price, the good folks at Saturn were able to bring it back to life. Not only did this set us back almost a grand, but I had to get a rental car, since they didn't HAVE an alternator and had to keep the car overnight until one could arrive via Fed-Ex. The plus? I got a Jeep Cherokee for 24 hours. Love those cars. WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!
Tuesday, December 12: Lunch with my former boss. Then a meeting for the committee which I have a strong love/hate relationship with. Then a night shift, that concluded with me learning that my friend who was expecting twins (I haven't mentioned it on this blog, so you didn't know about it) just lost them. She was about 15 weeks along. I haven't been able to talk to her... her husband talked to Chris, and now they aren't answering the phone. If I talk to her, I will be of no help, because I will just cry. If there is a service, I am going to try to attend. It's not local... but I'll do what I can.
So now you are up to date. Perhaps you see why I have not posted. I am going to bed now.
Saturday, December 2: Spent the day preparing food for annual Caran Holiday Party, and then proceeded to have said party. Very enjoyable evening. Less attendance than normal, but good friends were there and the night was a success. I also only drank beer and found I was not exhausted at the end of the evening. I won't be drinking wine at these parties again. It clearly wears me out.
Sunday, December 3: Recouperation.
Monday, December 4: Nuthin' special.
Tuesday, December 5: Thought it was a "nuthin' special" day, until 7:30 pm when I got a call at work from home telling me that Athena split her head open and needed stitches. Spent most of the night in the ER waiting room taking turns chasing a wild, up-way-past-bedtime toddler around.
Wednesday, December 6: Work. Then met Aiden and family at Firehouse Subs (after a fun-filled trip to Target for essentials) for "Kids Eat Free (And Entertain Each Other So We Don't Have To) Night."
Thursday, December 7: work, then hockey game.
Friday, December 8: Work, then Grandma's apartment complex to meet Santa. Athena simply eyed him from across the room all evening, but that's cool. She liked the cheese. She especially liked impaling the cheese on the little toothpicks.
Saturday, December 9: Chris rearranged some furniture and assembled a bookcase so now each child has a bookcase in his or her respective room... giving me a chance to actually get a bunch of crap off the floor in both rooms and split up their belongings so they can know whose is whose (something that becomes more important by the day). Earlier in the week, I purchased some bins for downstairs as well. The toys are taking over the house. It's scary. Then we went to a holiday party... something we are becoming really good at. Someone at the party suggested we do a "Calendar Girls" type calendar featuring the librarians of our county system. She was a librarian in our system. Needless to say, there was alcohol at this party. Fortunately, we all remained dressed.
Sunday, December 10: Attended... wait for it... a holiday party for my old library in Garner. Athena and I attended to participate in the white elephant exchange. I had been an honorary recipient of a handmade ornament we affectionately call "The Space Station" and it was time to pass it along. Athena brought a gift too, so they wouldn't know which container had the ornament. In exchange, Athena got a Billy the Big Mouth Bass, which she loooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooves. Loves it. Loves. *sigh* I got a red christmas tree that resembles a boot scraper. I think I preferred "The Space Station" actually. The singing fish is in Athena's room where she can see it, but not touch/activate it.
Monday, December 11: My car died. The alternator. I'm really lucky I was able to drive it to the dealership. Fortunately, Athena was getting her stitches out, which meant Chris was still on this side of town and we were able to do some fancy footwork to get me to work and the kids to daycare. Fortunately, for a price, the good folks at Saturn were able to bring it back to life. Not only did this set us back almost a grand, but I had to get a rental car, since they didn't HAVE an alternator and had to keep the car overnight until one could arrive via Fed-Ex. The plus? I got a Jeep Cherokee for 24 hours. Love those cars. WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!
Tuesday, December 12: Lunch with my former boss. Then a meeting for the committee which I have a strong love/hate relationship with. Then a night shift, that concluded with me learning that my friend who was expecting twins (I haven't mentioned it on this blog, so you didn't know about it) just lost them. She was about 15 weeks along. I haven't been able to talk to her... her husband talked to Chris, and now they aren't answering the phone. If I talk to her, I will be of no help, because I will just cry. If there is a service, I am going to try to attend. It's not local... but I'll do what I can.
So now you are up to date. Perhaps you see why I have not posted. I am going to bed now.
Tuesday, December 05, 2006
The Vampire Athena
We've been having a little problem with Athena biting her friends at daycare. Okay, honestly... it's just one friend lately. The following is a series of emails between that friend's mom and myself.
Email one:
Subject: Christmas list for Athena
From: Friend's mom
1. A sports mouthgard
2. One of those cones they put on animals after surgery
3. Lots of peanut butter
4. Picture book version of "How To Win Friends and Influence People"
5. Some fava beans and a nice Chianti (why stop at one course, when you can have the full meal?)
Don't worry Aiden still loves his Athena. We are considering picture books on how to deal masochism for him. ;-)
My reply:
Like I told your husband this morning... she only bites the ones she loves. So Aiden should feel honored. :-)
Besides, perhaps this is her way of teaching him to stand up for himself. Tough love and all.
Or, it's just her initiation ritual so he can officially be a part of her posse.
On the flip side, she totally wanted to do whatever Aiden did yesterday morning, adding another ten minutes to my tardiness to work while she poked at Chocolate Chip the Bunny.
I'm completely okay with you telling Aiden to bite her back. Or her hand, or whatever happens to be handy.
Of course, one of those cones would be REALLY funny...
By the way, I'm totally posting this email on my blog.
Her reply to me:
My coworker says her cat Belle will be done with her cone (she got fixed last week) in a few days. She also said it was adjustable and that we could have it. So just say the word ...
In the meantime I told Aiden to tell Athena that biting isn't nice. I can't bring myself to ask him to bite someone. That kind of thing could completely backfire. I can hear the judge now, "and your son tells me that you told him to bite the plaintiff."
So when does he get the colored handkerchief as a member of her posse? I'm assuming it is pink or purple with little unicorns in a check pattern. I really don't think John will let him wear it (something about it not being manly) but it would be a nice memento. Or double as a tourniquet to stop the blood flow from the latest bite. :-)
Post away, I'm sure they'll look back and remember it fondly. I know I'll look back and laugh my head off.
*********************end emails**************************
So let me just say that I just ordered the little duo a little something something for Christmas that she will love and John will hate. Stay tuned...
Email one:
Subject: Christmas list for Athena
From: Friend's mom
1. A sports mouthgard
2. One of those cones they put on animals after surgery
3. Lots of peanut butter
4. Picture book version of "How To Win Friends and Influence People"
5. Some fava beans and a nice Chianti (why stop at one course, when you can have the full meal?)
Don't worry Aiden still loves his Athena. We are considering picture books on how to deal masochism for him. ;-)
My reply:
Like I told your husband this morning... she only bites the ones she loves. So Aiden should feel honored. :-)
Besides, perhaps this is her way of teaching him to stand up for himself. Tough love and all.
Or, it's just her initiation ritual so he can officially be a part of her posse.
On the flip side, she totally wanted to do whatever Aiden did yesterday morning, adding another ten minutes to my tardiness to work while she poked at Chocolate Chip the Bunny.
I'm completely okay with you telling Aiden to bite her back. Or her hand, or whatever happens to be handy.
Of course, one of those cones would be REALLY funny...
By the way, I'm totally posting this email on my blog.
Her reply to me:
My coworker says her cat Belle will be done with her cone (she got fixed last week) in a few days. She also said it was adjustable and that we could have it. So just say the word ...
In the meantime I told Aiden to tell Athena that biting isn't nice. I can't bring myself to ask him to bite someone. That kind of thing could completely backfire. I can hear the judge now, "and your son tells me that you told him to bite the plaintiff."
So when does he get the colored handkerchief as a member of her posse? I'm assuming it is pink or purple with little unicorns in a check pattern. I really don't think John will let him wear it (something about it not being manly) but it would be a nice memento. Or double as a tourniquet to stop the blood flow from the latest bite. :-)
Post away, I'm sure they'll look back and remember it fondly. I know I'll look back and laugh my head off.
*********************end emails**************************
So let me just say that I just ordered the little duo a little something something for Christmas that she will love and John will hate. Stay tuned...
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