Becoming a Minimalist

Becoming a minimalist is looking more and more appealing  to me all the time.

http://www.becomingminimalist.com/becoming-minimalist-start-here/

Unemployed....in Greenland.

There is no other reason for my adding "in Greenland" other than I just love  The Princess Bride.

I am unemployed and trying to listen to the voice of God. The voice of truth and trusting in Him. That has been a battle for me lately. I forget to be thankful, to remember that God's got my back, and that I really have enough and that He has a plan and that I can trust Him.

This week, I attended the funeral of the sister of a dear friend of mine. It was an unusual situation. Hard to explain, so I won't bother. I'm trying to remember to be faithful in prayer for her family.

I also learned of a tragic accident that took place in the life of Susana, the woman who is the writer of this blog. The accident happened on July 31, but I didn't read of it until Monday evening when I decided to catch up on my blog reading. My heart is aching for her. Please keep her and her precious family in prayer at this time.

Yesterday I subbed at the school I left in June. One of the librarian's babies was sick. It was so good to be back there. It felt like I never left. Also...it was very cool to know almost all of the kids' names and have them know me.  I had missed them! I had a good day and I loved seeing all of my former colleagues. It was also a good feeling knowing that they seemed genuinely glad to see me too.

I really want to be employed as a school librarian again. It is hard wanting something that seems out of reach at the moment. Trying to count my blessings and use my time off wisely.

One Final West End Creamery Picture

My iPad is limited in what it will allow me to do. Here is one more picture from our trip that it refused to add to my last post.
All three girls in the rocking chair.

Trip to Boston

My son is living in Boston for the year. He is now a part of City Year. I'm sure he will be learning a lot. It's hard with him being so far away. He's growing up! Meanwhile, my daughter Audra is a senior this year and has expressed interest in visiting Gordon College, in Wenham, Massachusetts. So, what were we to do but plan a road trip?
Friday morning we had a lovely tour of the campus. I wish I had a more impressive photo to show you. I also wish that we could have brought Allen along, but he had to work .

Later that evening, we went to Allen's apartment and took him out to dinner in the city of Boston. We ended up at an Irish pub where the food was outstanding. I ordered Guinness stew. I did not take a picture of it. (I said that for the benefit of my sisters)
The next day we met up with Allen in central Boston and explored the city. We visited Captain Jackson's Historical Chocolate Shop, which I highly recommend. I took lousy pictures all day because I didn't think to remember to and also because it was sunny and I really couldn't see the display all that well.
Here is a really bad one of Allen at Quincy Market.

Our visit ended all too soon and we headed back to Rochester around noon on Sunday, but we didn't leave Massachusetts without stopping and visiting The West End Creamery and Family Farm. I grew up with Becky, who owns it with her husband Greg. We had not seen one another in about 30 years or more.  It was fun to see her and catch up. If you are ever in the area, I would definitely plan a visit there. They have done a wonderful job establishing a business and the ice cream is delicious.

Here is Becky and me on the rocking chair.

Audra and Sarah (we brought her along to visit Gordon too), enjoy ice cream.

I loved our trip

Here is the lovely view from little whiteface last week.

Stag Brook Falls at the bottom of Whiteface Mountain.

Martha and I at the top of Mount Jo.

At a coffee shop in Lake Placid that overlooks Mirror Lake.

I love summer

This summer has been wonderful and I don't want it to end! I love not having to plan lessons and not feeling stressed about being prepared for classes. I love the sunshine and the freedom. I love nature and the lake near my house.

There are only a few more weeks left. The Adirondacks will be visited  this weekend. Looking forward to taking Martha there. It will be wonderful.

Goodbye DeWitt

I only have 4 more days working at DeWitt Road Elementary School. I have loved it there. No job in sight for me for the fall.

May Day Boost

I'm a little late posting this but got this bouquet of flowers for May Day from some students! It was the boost that I needed.

Boat Houses on Icy Canandaigua Lake

Mom and Aunt Margie

This wasn't the picture I was going to post here, but I found it in my files and decided to do it. This was just taken in December.

Her Ride Arrived

The other night while my mother sat at the dinner table, she asked my sister and brother-in-law if someone would be coming to take her home.  Her dementia had been increasing during the last week and my sister tried to tell her that she would be staying there for the night (she has lived with them for the last 3 1/2 years.)  It turned out that this time she was right.  The Lord came in the early hours of yesterday and personally ushered her home.
(Welcome home, Mom-I love you)

I hadn't realized how similar my post was to my sister's.  For a more complete story click here.

Staying Away From Edges

It was a cold day...but not as cold as it has been. It has come to my attention that I have not been living a very balanced life and I'm going to try to better. I've been on break this week, but went into into school Friday to do a little work. I was a bit stressed out. I was greeted by C, an older black man who is a custodian at my school. I have also discovered that he is a Christian. He immediately could tell that I was a bit stressed. He told me to trust The Lord...that The Lord has everything in his control and that The Lord has a plan.  He told me that he would pray for me. He also mentioned getting exercise and eating right. Ummmm. How did he know?
I felt such a release of tension. C is right. I need to trust The Lord. I have been giving the enemy a foothold. Today, my devotional was perfect....naturally it was on the same theme that The Lord has been whispering to me for months. If you ever read Jesus Calling then you know that it talked about the pitfall of self pity. It is a pit that is deep and once you are in there, it is hard to get out of it. It is best to stay away from its edges, which crumble easily.  If you get too near the edge, down you go. The enemy knows that this time of year is especially hard for me and he loves reminding me of sad things that have happened in the past and about people that I have loved and lost. I get too close to the edge and WHOOOSH! Down I go. I need to hold onto The Lord and the lifeline that He is. I need to hold onto His truth.
With that in mind, I went for a wonderful walk from my house to Canandaigua Lake. (Only about 2 miles) I walked all along the edge of it in Kershaw Park and then on the pier. This year the lake froze end to end. It only does that about once every 7 years or so. I missed my opportunity to actually walk out onto it earlier this week when it was still about -4. It is probably still pretty solid in the center...but was thawing on the edges. I wasn't about to test it. It was good for me to get out in the sunshine. Jesus, sunshine, exercise and watching that I don't eat the wrong things....those are good things.

Oh...and staying away from edges!

Caldecott Contender Peruse and Reading to Self in the Library

 I finally am posting.  I am enjoying my job as a librarian at an elementary school.  All week the kids have been perusing Caldecott contenders. Each student got a chance to vote for what they thought would be a winner.  After voting, students got a chance to "read to self" which is what the students in these pictures are doing.

Which one will win? No one knows for sure, but favorites at our school included Mr Wuffles, written and illustrated by David Wiesner, and The Matchbox Diary written by Paul Fleischman and illustrated by Bagram Ibatoulline.
On Monday, the winners of this award and others will be announced by the American Library Association.

Trying out my new iPad air that I got for Christmas. I will eventually figure it out.

MerryChristmas, everyone!

Getting Ready

This is going to be very brief.

It has been very busy in the library trying to get settled.  I have made great strides in turning it into a workable space.  I have also made progress on getting the library cards ready.  Thankfully I had a little help yesterday with that.

I have begun processing the new books...have a long way to go, but luckily it is not a priority.

My real break though in getting prepared for this school year came in the form of an email from the lead librarian at another elementary school in the district.  It included her cell phone number and the encouragement to call her with any questions I had.  That was an absolute godsend to me!  She came over to the school and spent about 4 hours with me helping to get me started.

Life Changes Rather Quickly

My entire life has changed in less than one week.  On Friday (8/16), sometime while I was hiking in the wilderness in the Adirondack Mts (see above photo taken from Bald Mountain near Old Forge, NY), I received a phone call from a school district looking for a last minute LT sub who would be willing to work until about February. I was out of range of course and hadn't even brought my cell phone with me, but I got the message on my home phone at about 11:00 pm.

To make a long story short, I got the job.  In less than a week, I have gotten a job as a LT substitute school librarian.  I'm excited, but also nervous. It is a k-5 school in the very district that I grew up in.

I finally got a chance to get in to the school yesterday.  I was surprised, but not shocked to see that the library was a bit "turned upside down." Apparently, the staff needed another space for someone to use so they opted to eliminate the library office.  So they emptied the office, putting it's contents onto carts and such and crowded it all around the circulation desk. Eeeeek!  My first task is to make the library a usable space.  Luckily my principal was wonderful enough to help me figure out what to do with some of the things.  It has a long way to go though.  I do hope that at least one of my library aides can help me with organizing in a cute and attractive yet functional way.  I feel a bit overwhelmed by it, especially when I have other matters to attend to!

Task 1: Make library space usable. (This might be ongoing for a bit)

Task 2: Make sure that the library cards are all ready for the kids.  I am thankful that a woman named Sally from Monroe BOCES will be coming on Tuesday morning to help me with Follet Destiny.  While I have used it before and have figured out many things on my own, I feel like the task of getting ready with efficiency calls for a little more instruction.

Task 3: Plan lessons for 1st week. Includes deciding on class routines, etc.

Task 4: Compose introduction letter to the teachers.

Task 5: Start processing the new box of books that was shipped to the school over the summer and catalog and process the dedicated books.

That is what I need to work on.  I am truly thankful that I have some library help.  Apparently I have two part time library aides (One comes in the morning, the other in the afternoon).

Also, ironically, the LT sub that I am replacing was offered a full time position in Greece.  I believe that it is very likely that she is going to be working in the same library I just finished working at.  Assuming this is true, I hope that she is able to work well with Mrs. R. She will need a firm hand with her.

I also have figured out that the last LT sub was absolutely fantastic.  This means that I have some pretty big shoes to fill.  I am a little nervous about that.  Please keep me in your prayers, that I will learn a tremendous amount of stuff so I can be fabulous too!

Time is Swiftly Going By

The summer is nearing the end.  This weekend, we take Allen to college...but first we pick him up from the summer camp job he has been working at in the Adirondack Mountains. Audra is up there too for the week as a camper at the same camp. On Sunday we take him to Roberts Wesleyan.  in just under two weeks, my youngest daughter has orientation for her first year at the high school.

I have had 6 interviews this summer and so far have not gotten a job. This is not what I planned for when I went back to get my master's degree.  I'm just not sure what to do next.  In the past 2 1/2 years, I have had 18 interviews.  One of those 18 interviews ended up with me getting a long term sub job.  (I had another long term sub job that I got without even having an interview.)  This was the year that I felt like there might really be some hope getting a job as a school librarian.  What do I do next?  This all hurts too much.

The Wrong Questions?

I think I have been asking the wrong questions lately.
Lord, what do YOU want me to do with my life?  How do I get there? 

Hope that this blesses you as well

Today I am encouraging everyone to go and read this post by a woman named Susanna.  Susanna lives in Pennsylvania.  She and her husband Joseph have adopted two special needs children from an eastern European orphanage.  They also have several natural born children, including a one with Down Syndrome.

I liked the post because of the devotional content of it, especially in light of the fact that the Lord has been showing me the harmful effects of negative thinking and speaking.

Too much?

All I want to be is a librarian somewhere.
Is that too much to ask?
Why don't I ever get picked?
I feel like I'm back in gym class...waiting to be picked for someone's team.  I was always picked either last, or next to last.
Wondering whether or not there is something blatantly wrong with me that everyone else is just too polite to tell me about.