Hot

When I left work this evening (8pm) it was 93 degrees -- in the shade. And HUMID. Blech.

Thankfully, I work in and air-conditioned environment. And tomorrow is my long day.

Yea! For air-conditioned workplaces!

In the beginning . . .

My day started out better than normal. I actually got up after only three snoozes . . . showered, ate breakfast, read my e-mail, and had a little time to spare before work.

When I arrived at work, there were a couple of emergency vehicles at the end of the block and my co-worker (she generally opens on Mondays) was walking out of the library. I parked and got out of the car (with my umbrella -- because it was pouring).

I was told that we would be unable to open the library because a construction crew a block away (tearing down the old junior high school building) had hit a gas line and they didn't want anyone in the area.

So I went home to wait.

(Photo courtesy of Kari)

The library opened 2 hours late . . . quite the interesting beginning to my day!

Busy week

Only a couple more days of my busy week. I have worked every day since Monday (and work tomorrow and Saturday). I have helped at Vacation Bible School every evening -- a couple of the nights I didn't get there until the last half hour.

Tomorrow I am working at church as well as the library and Saturday I have a graduation party to attend.

Sunday I will be ready for a LONG nap!

:-)

Tired

Today has been a long but productive day. Tonight I went to church to help decorate for Vacation Bible School next week. The theme this year is Polar Extremes and the class I am helping with is all about the penguin. It is so cute!

I will be working some extra shifts this upcoming week to cover for a vacationing co-worker and also helping out with VBS.

So I will be having a few more long days . . .

Surprise

Today turned out to be surprising. I was expecting the entire day to be horrible because I started the day out behind.

I woke up at 10:40 (according to my alarm clock). This is about 40 minutes past the time I am supposed to be at work.

So I rushed through my morning prep. I was feeling a little droopy because I had slept too long. I glanced at the clock when I walked into the kitchen -- 10:05 (huge weight lifted off my shoulders). My kitchen clock is about 4 minutes fast -- ironically, to help avoid being late -- so I was only 15 minutes late for work.

Thankfully, I didn't have to open today.

Anyway, usually days that start out like today are horrible from beginning to end. Not so in this case. Besides making up the time at work I missed by being late I:

• talked to my mom for a bit (twice actually -- once in person and once on the phone)
• talked to the sister (I heart instant messaging)
• got everything I had on my list for today completed

Not too bad after such a poor start!

Variety is the spice of life

My job is so diverse.

Today for instance:

• two gentlemen carrying on a conversation in Russian
  
  
• a political discussion of world politics from the past 100 years
  

• a question concerning a court case heard 50 years ago
  
  

And those were just the major topics of the day.

A little weary

I have been tending toward pandiculation today. I have been working extra hours this week -- covering for a vacationing co-worker. I caught myself mid-yawn several times today.

I work an extra hour tomorrow and then have Awana tomorrow night. Then I work a long day on Thursday.

I am looking forward to the weekend -- I have Friday through Sunday off.

I think it is time for bed. My eyes are watering and I can barely see.

---

word of the week: pandiculation

More than expected

I got more done today than I expected to. Which, to a procrastinator like me, is always a blessing. That means that much less for tomorrow!

I have a lot to get done tomorrow as I will be going with my mom to pick up the sister on Saturday. I will be working some extra hours so I will have to plan my day.

That's right folks only 2 days left!

5 jobs I have had

1. Babysitter -- my very first job!
   
   
2. Barista -- although at the time my job title was a little too swanky for small-town Iowa, so I worked at a coffee shop
   
   
3. Museum intern -- this was a fun job, I basically could work on whatever I wanted and I learned so much about local history
   
   
4. Periodicals aide -- this was my college job. I worked with the periodicals at the library. Lots and lots of journals. :-) It was fun though -- and led to my current job.
   
   
5. Front desk clerk -- I learned a lot of my interpersonal skills from this job.
   

Long day

I had a really long day today. Most of it was just riding in a car.

I worked at the library this morning and then a coworker and I went to Dubuque for the ILA (Iowa Library Association) Conference. We didn't really go to the conference part of the conference, we went to the vendor mall.

And we came back loaded! Lots of free stuff (which is great because we work at a public library -- we try to cut costs there): pens, bookmarks, posters, a couple books, lots of information.

(I really wish I had taken my camera -- lots of great photo ops!)

We had some of the library's CD's and DVDs cleaned for free while we watched a demo of the cleaner.

Picked up pens.

We schmoozed a lot.

Picked up pens.

Oh, and every booth had candy. It was heavenly.

Did I mention we picked up pens? :-)

And then we came home.

Now I am going to bed.

The end.

And a deep breath . . .

::sigh::

And I thought I was tired yesterday!

Today went well though, my class was fun. I think everyone learned something.

My cat missed me though. I was hardly home all day. She has been especially lovey today.

Tomorrow will be another long day -- the library staff has a meeting and hour-and-a-half away so we will be gone all day. I am driving too.

LOL -- I think I was gone too long today. I just reached down to pet the cat and she jumped three feet straight up.

Oh dear, I think it is my bedtime.

Weary and excited

Today has been a long day. Or it seems as if it has been anyway.

I'm looking forward to tomorrow though. Tomorrow afternoon I am teaching my first session of Computers for Older Adults. I have 10 students so that is exciting.

I just finished reviewing my lesson plan. I have all my "props" gathered and I think I'm ready.

I know I'm excited. :-)

5 ways I am blessed

1. God is taking care of my finances

2. I have a comfortable place to live

3. I have friends who I enjoy spending time with

4. I work at a job I wake up each morning wanting to go to because it is challenging and fulfilling

5. I have a family I love and with whom I keep in touch with whether over lunch or through e-mail

5 things this library aide does at work

One of the comments I receive when I tell people that work at the library is "Oh, I would love to have a job like that -- you get to read all day!"

Granted I love the fact that I get to work with books all day, however, rare is the time that I read books at work (one exception would be children's books for storytime). So I though my five things Friday would focus on some of the things I do at my job. Keep in mind though that I do so many more things than are on this list. :-)

1. Maintain our Accelerated Reading book list.

The school district participates in a reading program that evaluates children and young adult books for reading levels based on vocabulary, length, and other criteria (I don't completely understand the process). Then the school district purchase tests that evaluates the student's comprehension of the book, vocabulary, etc. Anyway, each school year the library receives a list of the tests the school district has (for elementary and junior high level readers) and I edit the books in our collection so the record in our database reflects the level and points and also make sure the book has the correct label information.

2. Inventory our Juvenile Fiction.

This project is ongoing and will probably take me a while. I am actually touching every book in our Juvenile Fiction collection to make sure the book matches our database, the information in the database is complete (including the accelerated reading information), and all labeling information is correct.

3. Download or Create and Edit Records for New and Donated Books.

These records go into our database so patrons and staff can find, discover, and search for books. Each record has certain information in it (title, author, etc) and then has other tracing information (series, subjects, summaries, etc). Most of the records I download from other sources and then edit to fit the requirements we have for our library's database. Occasionally I have to start from scratch. This is one of my favorite parts of my jobs because it is the closest I get to reading the materials -- I do some skimming to get the correct subject headings and sometimes I have to create a summary of the item. Plus it is a constant challenge -- especially with materials with subjects I am unfamiliar with like . . . carpentry or plumbing.

4. Book Processing.

Once the books have been entered into the database we process the books -- put on labels and barcodes, put on book covers (if needed), stamp the books with our name/location, and then shelve the books.

5. Customer Service.

This is a very broad task. It can include researching a reference question, checking out books, reserving books, finding books, showing patrons how to find books, answering computer questions, answering questions about library hours, suggesting books for patrons to read, and many, many other things.

Those are some the tasks I (and my co-workers) complete daily. There are things we do that I didn't talk about because this is 5 things Friday not million things Friday (okay so a million is a little bit of an exaggeration--but only a little). :-)

State Library of Iowa

Once upon a time . . .

I love storytime at the library! I think all adults should attend a storytime -- whether they have kids or not.

This morning I was working the circulation desk during the story hour and I laughed and smiled the whole time.

The kids really got into some of the stories -- they laughed and smiled a lot!

I think that a lot of people -- once they consider themselves adults -- discount children's or young adult books. Personally some of my all-time favorites would not be considered 'adult' books. I also like the juvenile non-fiction better than some of the adult non-fiction books. They are easy to understand and have lots of pictures!

For my bookspot this month (last Friday of the month) I am going to focus on children's books . . . I'm excited.

In the meantime, I think I will do a little reading . . .

Stumped and stupefied

Hah, I just wanted to use those words! Especially stupefied -- it's like a fancy word for stupid.

Anyway . . . I was stumped today. A patron was going on vacation (to Mexico) and she wanted me to suggest a good beach read.

Me . . . who has practically read the entire library collection . . . to suggest a good book to read at the beach. I have to say I totally blanked out. I think it was the term "beach read" that threw me off. Looking back I probably should have gotten a little more information. But how do you define a beach read. Think about it I would say something light and fluffy and fun.

Hmm . . .

My stupid thing. Facebook is addicting. A-D-D-I-C-T-I-N-G. Originally I signed up for an account so that I would be familiar with the site that the kids at the library were visiting constantly. Then my college alumni association created a group -- so of course I had to join that.

Now I find myself jumping over to the site for no good reason. Apparently, I have a problem.

(Does it count that I visited it to create a link for this page? I'm gonna say no ::shaking head:: pathetic aren't I?)

Take a deep breath . . .

This has been a stressful week. I am working some extra hours at work and have two classes. This morning was one of them -- it was an internet class so no travel but I had to get up earlier than usual.

Tomorrow the library is having some computer & network maintenance done -- which I am NOT in charge of but will be helping with. I know next to nothing, no less than nothing about networks. Thankfully we have a IT guy coming in for that.

Tomorrow evening and Friday I will on business trip -- doesn't that sound all fancy-like! :-)
I have a class at the state library.

So tonight, I'm taking a deep breath to get ready for the rest of the week.

::sigh::

Rushin'

Today was a long day.

1) I got up early (yeah, I know) and went with my dad to film the areas that were flooded a couple weeks ago.

2) Then I went to the library and worked extra hours.

3) I went to church and did my thing there.

4) Then I mowed my lawn . . . that grass just keeps growing and growing.

5) Now I'm doing laundry and packing.

My family is going down to TX to visit my grandparents this weekend. So tomorrow we are going to be traveling -- to the airport and then to TX.

::sigh::

And right this minute I'm taking a blog break. :-)

Truth and consequences

Sometimes I cannot believe my idiocy.


+ =


Last night I read into the wee hours of the night (or morning, depends on your perspective). I did this knowing I had to get up earlier than usual for a workshop. Bah.

Not only that but to keep myself awake and functioning I drank 2-16 oz. cups of caffeinated coffee. This wouldn't be so bad if I regularly drank caffeinated beverages. But I don't.

So although I was awake and functioning, all day I suffered the buzzing sensation that accompanies a caffeine high.

On the plus side, I did finish my book!

Busy, busy

Work has been crazy lately. I don't know if it is the changing weather or the upcoming holiday but people have been haunting the library like there is no tomorrow.

Don't get me wrong. This is good. But . . .

1. I can't get as much of the things I want to get done.
2. My day is busier.
3. And sometimes I wouldn't mind a breather or two -- especially when I am trying to fight off a cold. (Which, by the way, I seem to be losing.)
   

Oh well, I just have to dig down, pull out my patience and use it for a while. In the meantime, I am heading home to take a nap and work on ending this cold.