Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Now that School is Done...Pass the Tissues

Now that school is done...it seems that I am suddenly very emotional and feeling more grief over the loss of my father. Of course I have been missing him all along...but it is hitting me harder. For two days now I have been crying...sometimes very hard. And last night, I found this blog by a girl named Traci who is grieving the loss of her mother, who was also diagnosed with cancer in August and passed away in September. I read most of the posts about her mother...who was a fabulous woman of God, and found myself sobbing and sobbing over her loss...as well as my own. I can truly feel her loss and pain.

I have come to the conclusion that I filled my mind with graduate work...thus delaying my grief a bit. I have been noticing that there were certain connections that I had with my dad that I don't think my sisters shared. They had different connections I think. Mine were art and literature. He was very encouraging to me about my artwork and creativity. It was something we shared. He was very artistic and creative. Like me, he was often dreaming up the next project. It was a passion that he understood. I don't always get the same encouragement from those around me that I need in this area. The other thing we shared was literature. We would often talk about what books we had read. About two weeks before his diagnosis, he gave me a collection of works by Jane Austin. He had picked it up somewhere and was passing it along to me, knowing that I would enjoy it. Sometimes, he would show me a book that he had purchased at a flea market. Last summer, he also gave me Hans Brinker or the Silver Skates, which he had picked up for about $1 at some flea market. I still have the book on my night stand. I can't say that I enjoyed it, but I appreciate the oldness of it...and that it was given to me by Dad. He was the one that always read us poetry when we were little kids. Thanks to him, I am pretty seasoned in classic children's poetry. When I am a librarian some day, and hopefully I will work with children in some capacity...I will make sure to read Winkin Blinkin and Nod and The Owl and the Pussy Cat. I may even throw in Little Orphan Annie or The Raggedy Man. Hopefully I'll be able to read it as well as he did to us and not cry in the middle of it.

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

What to do on a snowy day...

Yes...it really is snowing outside. I think the snow is a little confused. "Excuse me, Snow. You showed up to the wrong address. I think you've gotten this town mixed up with Kalachinskaya, Siberia."

Well...I have been busy "redecorating" my house. I have to put that in quotes because it doesn't mean redecorating in the traditional sense. For me, it mostly means changing things around, cleaning, and looking through stuff in my basement to see if I can use it in decorating my house. I don't have a lot of capital to work with...so I must rely on my creativity. I probably will purchase something new...but it must be done with patience and with an eye for creativity.

Yesterday I perused one of my favorite stores for about two hours. (I will have to say that they should add music or something to their virtual tour on the website) I took a lot of notes on possibilities, but didn't actually purchase anything. I will probably go back soon and buy something...but what?
Oh yes...the biggest step to "redecorating" is cleaning the house. And another for me is putting away my Christmas houses. Yes, I know that some of you are appalled. Perhaps that is why the snow is confused. It somehow knew I still had Christmas houses up.

Sunday, April 25, 2010

Ready for Creative Change

Now that I am done with school for awhile, I am itching to do something new and creative. No...I do not plan on restoring this old truck. However...I am bored with my house and want to change it. I have been browsing decorating blogs for ideas.

If anyone wants to donate money or expertise to the cause...contact me!

Thursday, April 22, 2010

Simon says..."I'm not happy!"

On Tuesday I went to see Mom and to meet Simon. Simon doesn't look very happy here. Well, Simon might not be happy, but I am because I am completely done with all of my coursework for my library degree! In the fall, I will do two school practicums which is a fancy term for internships. I also must pass one library exam for New York State which I will take in June. So...I am almost a real librarian!

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

One down, one to go!

As of tonight...I am completely done with one of my classes. One more to go!

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Almost there!


I am almost finished with library school. In the fall, I will begin my practicum at two different schools. I think it is going to be an amazing experience. I really want to be the best librarian I can be. The budget in NY state is not very good lately. There has been some budget cutting. Unfortunately, school libraries have not always received the respect due to them. Sometimes school boards think that they should save money be eliminating the school librarian's position. They think that the job can be done by an aide instead. Consequently, the job market has gotten a little tough. I seem to have an uncanny knack for trying to enter the job market when things look bad.

No matter...I will persevere. God didn't bring me this far just to let me hang.

Now I'm just anxious to start working as a real librarian. I feel like with God's help, I am ready!

(Photo by VB Library-Creative Commons)

Monday, April 12, 2010

Busy! Busy! Busy!

The last few weeks have been busy. I read the following books within the last two weeks
  • What Happened to Cass McBride
  • Everest Book 1: the Contest
  • Dive Book 1: the Discovery
  • This Can't Be Happening at McDonald Hall
  • Schooled
  • Sixth Grade Nickname Games
  • No More Dead Dogs
  • Luna
  • Empress of the World
  • and am currently reading The Lost Years of Merlin
How did I manage to accomplish this along with going to a Middle School to do book talks for two different English classes and also going to a High School to present a lesson to a video production class? It helped that 6 of the books (all written by Gordon Korman) were fairly easy books to read. Those were the books that I book-talked. I enjoyed being at the school and the kids seemed very interested in listening to me.

I'm enjoying Library school. It is quickly coming to an end. Next fall I will be doing two school library internships...and then I will have my Master's Degree. Hopefully I will be getting a job. I love the field that I am studying and hope that I am successful in finding a job soon after finishing.

Over the summer I plan on reading all the cool articles about my field that I have found, but have not had time to read. I've bookmarked them all on my Diigo account.

Wednesday, April 07, 2010

Easter

This post is a few days late. We had a nice Easter with family in Ovid. We got to finally meet the newest arrival in the family. This is Alicia holding Kyrie, who was born in December.

I have been very busy with school, with almost no time to spend doing anything else. I have a little over 2 weeks left. The end is in sight! This Saturday I must travel to Brockport to take one of the teacher examinations for NY state. Last week I finished the biggest project of the semester, so that is a relief. I am anxiously looking forward to a nice summer without any classes! Soon! Soon it will be done!