Quick update

OK, it's Week 3 of my internship (and Spring quarter) and things at the library are humming right along. The hours fly by when I'm working and everyone there is so supportive and happy to teach me the tricks of the trade.
Countdown: 56 days left of school!! I am finding it harder to keep abreast of my school work while working and maintaining family life, but I just keep plugging away at it. Sort of like eating an elephant: one bite at a time.
The coolest news to relay is that I got myself a Nook from Barnes & Noble. It's an e-book reader similar to (but way better than) Amazon's Kindle. Several things stand out about the Nook: You can share books with other Nook owners, there are way more titles available for the Nook (since you can download just about any e-Pub book, not just ones from B&N) and you can download books from the LIBRARY onto your Nook. I recently borrowed and read "The Art of Racing in the Rain," by Garth Stein. Great book and a fun read.
The other news around the farm is that the chickens (who are 8 weeks old now!) are in their refurbished chicken house, complete with a fenced in run with lush grass. They are very happy. I have pictures, but no time to post them right now. Tiki also went in for spay surgery yesterday, so now we're having to "manage" her and keep her quiet for two weeks. So far, so good, but she's tired from the surgery. When she's got her strength back, it should be a lot of fun. I foresee lots of walks in our future (no running and no jumping, though - BOO).
I'm off to an agility trial with Miss Rosie this weekend and Tiki will get to tag along so I can keep my eye on her...that should be fun!
That's about it for the latest news from here.

Countdown continues, excitement builds

Days left in school: 81!
With Winter quarter in the past, and a week off to do what I want to (yeah, right!), I'm feeling pretty good. I don't know my exact grades, but they will all be in the A range. That puts me in a high enough GPA to graduate "with honors" in June. Call me an overachiever, but I like to excel, especially in classes like Web Devel. that are a real struggle for me. I think I managed an A in that class, but he hasn't posted all of our grades yet, and some of them were subjective so I have no idea how he'll grade me on things like "participation."
In other news, my internship for Spring quarter is all set up at Yelm Library, we sign the papers on the Oly house Monday, the chicks are growing fast (they look like gawky teenagers now with lots more feathers but still some down), and the weather is getting so nice we've begun yard renovations.
It doesn't get much more exciting than that. Today we're going to take it easy and go see "Green Zone" with Matt Damon.

Back to the Library

It has dawned on me that when I transformed this blog from a project for my Library class into my personal blog, I wrote that it would chronicle my journey as I moved from one career to another. Looking back at most of the posts, I haven't said much about school lately. There has been so much going on in life that I wanted to share!

Anyway, as I am ending the 5th quarter of my college career in the Library and Information Services program and heading into my last quarter before completing my Associate's degree, I realize I have much to share about my newfound path.

Through both the research I had to do before I got into the Worker Retraining program and the work I have done in school, I have found a passion for libraries and serving people. That's one of the big things: I didn't think I would like to work in a public service job, but I am enthusiastic about it now. I am also thrilled to be working in the public sector. I realize that it will have its challenges too, but working for a big corporation where the "bottom line" ruled most decisions and making a profit was the main goal really wore me down in the end. The newspaper business has been ruined by profit-seeking corporations. 'Nuff said there.

My biggest thrill about library school coming up is my internship. I'll be working as unpaid staff -- in the trenches, not just doing volunteer stuff -- at my local library. I could pinch myself I'm so excited! I'll still have other classes to work on in addition to working at the library 15 hours a week, but I will finally be able to put into practice so much that I have learned in the past year or so. Hopefully, it will lead to great experience that will help me get a job with the library.
I have met soooooo many wonderful people in library school and in libraries themselves, that I just know I'm going to enjoy my new career.

As a side note, I had installed a countdown clock on my blog, but it jacked my page and I had to get rid of it. So I'll just have to give the countdown myself: 94 days to graduation! Woot!
See you all soon!

Missing blogger...

I know, I know. I haven't posted in months. It's not that I don't want to share what's going on ... it's that I can't find the time to post. With classes, life, and now volunteering at the library here in Yelm, my plate is full. And after doing so much of my schoolwork online, spending more time on the computer to blog doesn't excite me either. Besides, the blog is for fun, it isn't a job.
I post because I want to...as I expect you read because you want to. Neither of us is required to do so and that's how it should be.
It's a free world.

Stepping away from the swirling vortex of life for a minute ...

Yikes, this blog dates my entries, so I know just how long it's been since I posted, sorry.

Life here has been a never-ending stream of things that HAVE to get done. Moving in is mostly done, except for the stacks of boxes that can wait for more time to really focus on what's in them and where that stuff should go. Moving out is also nearly done. Things got left at the Oly house that either we weren't sure if we wanted them there to stage it for sale or if we wanted to store them at the Yelm house or what. The Yelm house garage -- even though it's big enough for 3 cars -- was so full of Mom's old stored stuff that we've had to work at winnowing that down, getting it over to her garage, and making room for all the stuff we had stored in the shed in Oly. That process is nearly done, too.

The thing that has been a big focus has been fixing up the Oly house to put it on the market. There were unfinished projects (ceiling texture, painting the trim in the main room) and there were projects we had planned but chose to wait on until we were out of the house (a complete revamp of the main bathroom, painting the Master BR). I'm happy to report that most of that is done. As Dad has said: "Why is it that we don't do these things when we live in a house, but then have to do it for someone else to buy it?" It has me scratching my head sometimes, the thought of making the house really nice so that someone else can have it. But we're close to putting it on the market -- YAY.

On top of all that activity, I have been continuing my studies. I took 4 classes this quarter: Practical Accounting, Circulation Services, Serving Diverse Communities, and Library Administration and Management. Whew, has that been a load! I've really enjoyed Circulation and Diversity. The information in Management has been good, but the structure of the class doesn't suit my style. Accounting has made me tear a few hairs out, but I resolved to learn some good skills by taking it, so persevere I must! Since we moved to Yelm, I've also had the opportunity to get ot know a new library. (My school work often requires either talking to library staff and administration or examining the library for a report.) I'm due to start volunteer work there in a few weeks, when I'm on Winter Break and I have more time. I recently took what you might call a self-guided field trip to Seattle to tour the Washington Talking Book and Braille Library for my Diversity class. Mel went with me and we had a great time and learned so much about services for visually impaired and blind people.

The only other news I have to report is that two weeks ago, CJ had a close call when he ran his truck off the road (sharp curve + wet road + teenage driver unfamiliar with the area = wrecked truck) but he's OK since he missed a telephone pole by a foot -- thank goodness! But now I drive him to school and about 50% of the time I pick him up too. All part of the fun, right? He's worth all the effort.

And in case that leaves you wondering what Katie is up to: She's so busy with school, life, and work that we hardly see her except on the way in, on the way out, or asleep on the couch in front of the TV. I guess that means life is good for her; she seems to be enjoying herself.

I should mention Mel, who has been hard at work making the 5 acres here in Yelm secure for the dogs and arranging the garage, plus working on the aforementioned projects in the Oly house. He's itching to fish and hunt, but the priority has been getting the house up for sale, so he's practicing a little "delayed gratification." Whatta guy!

Since this blog post has mostly been a catch-all recap of the past few months, I'll make a BONUS post about marching band since it deserves to shine on its own. Stay tuned...

Progress report

We're slowly moving things into the new house. There has been much painting done, some light demolition in the kitchen to make room for the larger refrigerator we have already, cleaning, arranging, etc.
We're taking our time since we don't want to live there full time until the cable is installed for phone, TV and Internet. However, we're enjoying spending our days there and taking the dogs down most days to get used to the new digs (um, let's hope they don't take that literally).
School has begun and there is much reading and adjusting to new computer systems, but so far so good.
Katie left today to go to Aussie Nationals with Stacie in Colorado. She hopes to meet up with family there on her quiet days. She really seems to be enjoying massage school so far. I seem to see CJ in passing since he has marching band two nights and Scouts one night every week. Things will calm down soon, right?

A house is born

OK, at long last you’ll be able to see the house in Yelm arriving and being installed on its foundation. I have still photos of some points in the process, but mainly the video (which is only 8:40 – not bad for two days worth of footage!) will tell the story.

The house is a triple-wide modular home bought by my mom to add on her 5-acre property near Yelm, WA. She’s 72 and can’t take care of the acreage herself, plus would like to have some sense of “community” and family on the place – she has no real close neighbors now. We (Mel, me, Katie and CJ) have been living in a 1,000-sq.ft. house with four dogs as well and not much yard. We came to the conclusion about 6 months or so ago that the perfect solution to both dilemmas would be to have a second house on her 5 acres (can’t be subdivided, but you can move in a close relative) and have all of us living there.

It has been a long process to come to the point where a house was actually found, decisions made on who lives where, etc., but we’re anxious to put the plan into action. The first step is putting the house on the property. I’ve never been part of a project like this and as I talked to many folks about it, they wanted to see how such a house was installed. So I chronicled the process and have put together a little video production.

I'll take some more photos of the more-or-less-finished house and post later today.

Book Repair ROCKS!

OK it’s official: I love books, not just reading them, but the physical books themselves. They call that a bibliophile but you can just call me a book lover.

I took one of the most interesting classes this summer quarter – Book Repair – and I had the best time. We met all Saturday for 8 weeks at the campus, which is about an hour’s drive from my house. There were 10 students, so we got to know each other pretty well. We learned about the structure and function of books as well as how different damage happens. We took in our own books (or in the case of several librarians in the class, books from their library) with different damage to repair. We learned so much cool stuff and it felt like arts & crafts each week. We repaired torn pages, loose pages, torn bindings, damaged spines, and we even turned a paperback book into a hardcover book!

Since I’m a bibliophile and take great care of my books, it was sometimes hard to find damaged books to take in for class. So I put out the call to several people to find books needing repairs. I got some real beat up books that unfortunately were beyond my skills. I would love to learn how to repair books that are literally falling apart, but this class was centered on fixing damage before it needed a complete overhaul.

The pictures here are of spine repairs and corner repairs that I did for class. I completely replaced the spine on two books (The Magic of Xanth and The Circle of Braves) and repaired the cover corners as well as the internal spine of Zane Grey’s The Lost Wagon Train. Don’t they look cool!?

All the corners are recovered even though only one was really beaten up. The damaged spine is replaced and everything looks great.

In addition I took Collection Development, where we learned about the decision-making process behind what books a library should add to (or subtract from) its collection. We talked about censorship, finding appropriate materials, policies, and other library-geek details. It was really interesting and something I had never really learned about. I also had Pacific Northwest History, which as an intense bunch of reading and writing, but I learned a lot of interesting stuff about the region.

Added later Sunday: Here are a couple of photos of the book by Brenda that I turned from paperback to hardcover. Pretty special, if I do say so myself...

Coming next (I think): An update on the move to Yelm, including video of the house being installed.

Kudos to the gang

I have to take a moment today to acknowledge the love and support of my friends and family. Going back to school has been a big step for me – bigger than I had envisioned. I get swept up in projects, assignments and other school-related stuff and I have to step back into the shadows of family life and other activities. Through it all, I have the support, encouragement and help of family and friends. I want everyone to know that it does not go unnoticed. All the kind words of encouragement, all the “atta-girls” and most especially the times when everyone gives me the space and time to do what I need to do for my education, are very much appreciated. I can sometimes become quite intense about school and my laser focus makes me distracted from things outside of school work and what I’m learning – I readily acknowledge that about myself. I have come to the conclusion that it is because my new avocation is not only important to my future, but also terribly exciting for me. I yearn to soak up every bit of information I can about Library & Information Services; I throw myself headlong into my studies because they mean so much to me. Not to mention that odd little way I have of not settling for mediocre grades – I just can’t help myself there.

So to everyone who understands when I have a big project due or some other “crunch week” crisis and you don’t call or worry why you haven’t heard from me: THANK YOU. I know you’re all out there caring about me but giving me the space to grow and learn in my own way. And I appreciate it so much.

Coming soon (as soon as Finals are over!): I’ll share photos of a couple of my way cool Book Repair projects. And I still haven't gotten to the video and photos of the house project, have I? :(

Really, I'm doing OK

Just in case you've been checking on me, I rally am fine. So fine that I haven't had time to post in a few weeks. There has been school -- which includes a 5-credit Pacific Northwest History class that is INTENSE and a book repair class that meets all day on Saturdays -- and there has been the "moving to Yelm" project. Plus, last weekend I got the pleasure of teaching a seminar for new agility people on Saturday then spent Sunday judging a mock trial for a local agility club that's getting its feet wet. It was an exhausting weekend, but we had a lot of fun (Katie was along for all the fun) and helped introduce a lot of new people to agility. Plus it gave me a good introduction to the world of judging. Incidentally, that may just mean I put that on hold for quite a while. I realize now how much work it takes for one weekend.
Later, probably next week, I'll be posting about the fascinating project going on in Yelm. The new house is on site, just not on the foundation yet. Monday will be the big day for that. We're taking pics AND video, so stay tuned!