Poor Maddy...

We have this rule about Halloween that I attribute to my evil parents. My sisters and I weren't allowed anything "cutsy" for Halloween - Halloween is for SCARY things. Thusly, I made my daughter choose something scary for the holiday. She chose Darth Vader. She's adorable!



The girls were able to dress up in the costumes last night in dance class. I didn't see her, so as I tucked her in last night, I asked innocently enough about what the other girls were wearing. She named them: Princess, Barbie, Glinda the Good Witch, Evil Witch, Darth Vader...then she stopped and said, "I wanted to be as beautiful as they were!" and she started to cry. Oh.My.Stars. My daughter, not yet four, has become clued in as to the "girly girl" stuff. I knew she liked the princess dresses, and loves dancing or playing the part of yon "girly girl". She was inconsolable. Poor kid. I felt like a horrible mom, making her "different" than the other girls!



I am adamant that she doesn't follow in everyone else's footsteps. I want her to be happy in her own skin. I want her to feel beautiful even in Darth Vader's costume. The cape is wonderful!



*sigh* So, this morning came around and I cautiously asked her whether she wanted to take her costume to Nana's. "I have an idea, Mom," she says, "Why don't I wear the witch costume like I did last night?" We might have a witch again on our hands. And that's ok.

Hello, everyone!

I am alive. It's been a month now since I started my new job. It's mucho fun, mucho work, and a great position for me. However, I know the stress is starting to get to me. Zits again, bleary eyes, dreaming about teaching, need massage, need new clothes, no time. It's good, just a bit to get used to. I'm finally feeling a part of something important, and that's huge. :)

Tomorrow night....

And then I get to go to Plymouth to see Rachel. Steve died today after a battle with that nasty "C" disease. He was my dad's best friend. He and my sister dealt with the same nasty "A" disease a the same time. He was a good man and a good friend to my father. Saturday will be the party for his son and his new wife. He held on long enough to see Zac married a few weeks back. Steve will be missed greatly, but he's no longer in pain and he was ready to go. I am so glad that Dad will be home from England for the memorial service late next week.

You will be missed, Steve. Be free....

Go west!

Well, as far as Lake Elmo, MN anyway. My new library boss is based here and this is the first chance I've had to meet her. Did I mention it's REALLY far west. By car, it's 4 hours. 4 hours, in the car, looking at the trees that have less and less leaves, and lots of farm land. ugh. Wake me up. I think I'm going to try to fly out next month.

Anyway, I'm out in Lake Elmo, meeting the library boss and learning everything I should learn about how to run my new library. Damn. There's a lot to learn. 4 hours of training tomorrow - 4 hours tomorrow and then a tour of other libraries in the system.

You know that silly thing you say to a young child who is on their way out to play in way of teasing them? "Don't you go have any fun!" Well, on her way out of the door with her dad this morning, she teased me and said "Don't you have any fun with Cookie Monster or Oscar the Grouch at Lake Elmo!" My dear Maddy.

Recap Week #1

Wow. What a week! Here's a brief rundown as to how the first week went.

• Updated and modified the canned syllabus and assignment sheet.
• Taught two sections of class.
• Installed software on computer.
  
• Put together dictionary stand.
  
• Created signs for library.
• Converged Google calendar and Outlook calendar into one calendar and uploaded all to my PocketPC.
• Made arrangements for this week's trip to Lake Elmo for library training.
• Made arrangements for next week's WLA conference here in GB.
  
• Went to Civic Symphony practice for sectionals. MUST practice!
• Sent first email out to all staff about circulation of materials. Online catalog isn't yet available - oh well. Little at a time.
• Figuring out slowly how to balance the 3 different parts of my job.
  
• Took pictures of my new library.
  

There is a grand total of one wall of shelving. I must remember to measure the length of this wall. Lots of room for collection expansion. Other librarians in the system (about 15 total) assisted in making lists of must-have items for the courses being offered thus far. My library boss came in a few days to catalog those on the shelves thus far.


Yep - two walls of windows! I face the entrance - not at all stuck in the back of the college like some other colleges.


Everyone entering the college has to go down the hallway on the otherside of this window/wall.


Very modern feel. The lights are green. The lights in the hallway are amber. How very Green Bay of them. :)


Lots of tables and chairs.


This is the entrance to the library. Everyone has to see me when they enter. :)


On to week #2.

• Hopefully Maddy will get to bed before I get home tonight (which is around 9:45pm). We have a VERY early morning on Tuesdays (I get to get to school before 7:30am). Unfortunately there aren't many morning people in my T/T class. ugh.
  
• I am looking forward to meeting my library boss on Thursday! I'm not looking forward to spending 2 nights away and driving for about 4 hours to get there, but it's not for a long time.
  
• The weather is going to be cooling down after today's crazy humid hot day (thankfully) so Halloween IS coming!
  

Thanks for all of your encouragement and virtual hugs! So far, I am glad I took the leap and took this path. It's damn scary, but it's all good.

Weekend

We had a pretty wonderful weekend, all things being equal. Maddy stayed at her G'ma's on Friday night to allow Joe and I an evening out. My last day at the tech college was on Friday. My co-workers sent me off with presents, food, and lots of hugs. It was a very nice end of a very nice job.

I sort of melted down (ok, I really melted down) on Friday night. I wish I was in a better frame of mind to go dancing or even enjoy myself and the group of people who went out with us, but I think the changes to come starting TODAY really hit me. It'll all be good, I know. And I know they hired me because they know I can do the job, but Oh...MY...Gods.... I am basically tackling 2 full-time jobs. One as faculty, one as solo-librarian. EEEK goes my brain. I want to do the best job I can; I just don't want to go crazy doing it!

My first day is today. Wish me LUCK and all that.

"go crazy"

	Roget's New Millennium™ Thesaurus - Cite This Source - Share This
Main Entry:	go crazy
Part of Speech:	verb
Definition:	become insane
Synonyms:	blow a gasket*, blow one's mind*, blow one's stack*, blow one's top*, crack up*, flip one's lid*, flip out, fly off the handle*, freak out*, go ballistic*, go bananas*, go batty*, go berserk*, go bonkers*, go buggy*, go cuckoo*, go daffy*, go haywire*, go kooky*, go loco*, go loony*, go mental, go nuts*, go nutty*, go off, go off one's rocker*, go off the deep end*, go off the wall*, go psycho*, go wacko*, go wacky*, lose control of oneself, lose it*, lose one's cool, lose one's mind, wig out*
Source:	Roget's New Millennium™ Thesaurus, First Edition (v 1.3.1) Copyright © 2007 by Lexico Publishing Group, LLC. All rights reserved. * = informal or slang

Park(ing) Day 2007

Happy Park(ing) Day!

What? You don't know about this holiday? Go here! It explains a lot that it has originated from San Francisco, but it truly is great idea.

Why PARK(ing)?

More than 70% of most cities' outdoor space is dedicated to the private vehicle while only a fraction of that land is allocated to open space for people. Around the nation, inexpensive curbside parking results in increased traffic, wasted fuel, and more pollution. It’s time to rethink the way streets are used!

A metered parking spot is an inexpensive short-term lease for a 10'x20' plot of land. Imagine what you can do in a space usually dedicated to private vehicle storage. Parking Day began in a single metered parking spot in San Francisco and then spread around the world. People who want more open space, less traffic, and safer streets have joined together.

I'm back!

It's been a rough ride these past few months. Physically, I still sound like I'm coughing up a lung. I must be reverting to my previous life as a cat. Mentally, I'm going a bit cuckoo. I'm a bit upset, more concerned about how things will happen the next few months.

I will admit openly that the ubiquitous "they" screwed up and gave MY job to someone else. The best part of the sordid affair is that as of Monday October 1st, I will be back in the library! It's not MY job, but it is a very good job - a fantastic opportunity as campus (solo) librarian and instructor at a new (in our area) college. WooHoo!

I will miss my coworkers greatly. My last day is next Friday, and I hopefully will have all my ducks in order (so to speak).

Please note.....

Please stay tuned for a very important message.......

Are we too selfish to change?

I'm slowly trying to minimize the footprint me and my family makes on the environment. Green Bay is slow in adopting the environmentally-conscious way of life like my home town of Madison is, but it's getting there. I love the idea of purchasing locally raised meat. We have the vegetable garden, but we need to harvest soon before the threat of frost and get the food canned or frozen. The Omnivore's Dilemma is the next book on my "to - read" list. So I read No Impact Man's blog regularly, and I applaud this "Change the Message" message.

Reposted from No Impact Man (permission granted).

A hundred years ago, waste was considered immoral. Throwing out something that still worked was just plain wrong.

What changed that? Marketing. Factory owners wanted to keep their production lines churning and factory workers wanted to keep their tummies full. Repetitive consumption seemed like the answer.

Slowly but surely we convinced ourselves that new was better than old. It became ok to throw things out. It became ok to waste. In fact, out with the old and in with the new kept the economic wheels turning. Buying became downright patriotic.

The result of this old messaging is that, now, everybody wants the newest iPod, the biggest SUV, a huge vacation. And no one is going to give these things up voluntarily, right? Wrong.

Because history shows us that acquisitiveness, a twentieth century phenomenon, is not based on selfishness (which presumably would have been present from the Stone Age). Instead, our consumption arose because of newly-learned social norms and values.

So, we can change the message.

For many years, in this country, smoking was trendy. Now it’s not. The message changed. When I was young, people threw their wrappers on the New York streets without a thought. Now people sneer if you drop your trash. The message changed.

Why wouldn’t the same be true of our use of planetary resources? For many years, as a culture, we thought it was great to get more and use more, and that was the message.

People argue that changing course is impossible. You can’t, they say, change human nature. But we don’t have to change human nature.

All we have to do is change the message.

So cool!

SoundSeen: Audio Slideshow
Stuart Brown describes Norbert Rosing's striking images of a wild polar bear playing with sled dogs in the wilds of Canada's Hudson Bay.

well, duh

Your results:
You are Spider-Man

Spider-Man 80% Supergirl 63% Robin 60% Superman 55% Wonder Woman 53% Green Lantern 50% Iron Man 50% Hulk 40% Catwoman 40% The Flash 35% Batman 30%

You are intelligent, witty, a bit geeky and have great power and responsibility.

Click here to take the "Which Superhero are you?" quiz...

RIP

too true

Well....

What a balance one has to make when you get your hopes up and think positively about something to end up not getting it, or it not happening the way you want it. It's ok, really. Just disappointing when you KNOW what clearly should have been.

Advice to live by (hear that, Karen! This is for you! )

The Thick Skinned
It's not all about you. How becoming less self critical can help boost your confidence.
By:Lybi Ma

.....

Here are a few tips to developing a thick skin:

• Don't take things personally. Sometimes you may need to reframe a person's bad behavior by remembering that it's not about you.
• Don't let others get to you. Refuse to get overly responsive to the negative feelings and provocations of others. Adopt strategies that regulate emotional arousal; otherwise negativity hijacks the thinking brain. Try simple deep breathing or declare time out.
• Remember that everyone gets rejected sometimes. Pick yourself up, dust yourself off and move on. Don't be discouraged if it takes a few times to get it right. Successful people are rejected over and over, but never stop trying.
• When you're rejected or something doesn't go your way, counterpropose a new solution. Often, the person declining your offer is not rejecting you. He may even want to hear another idea. Successful individuals come back from rejection with new proposals. They're creative at coming up with additional ways of looking at things and solving problems.
• Don't hesitate to unstick sticky situations. If you're discussing an issue and the conversation is going off track, stop it and restart it on the right track. You could say: "This isn't going productively. Let's reshoot this scene from the beginning" or "Can we take it from the top?"
• Don't be self-focused. If you do focus on yourself, you'll likely dwell on your shortcomings. Instead, think about your goals and what steps you need to get there.
• Stop the self-talk. Counter self-defeating self-talk with truth talk: "You can be your own worst enemy, so give yourself a break."
• Don't worry about looking stupid. If you are asked a question and you don't know the answer, you can simply say, "I need to think about that and get back to you later."
• Learn to be patient. Don't be impulsive or react to a situation without giving yourself time to cool off.
• Don't be quick to blame. Recognize that other people have their ups and downs.
• Think about others. Enter social interactions with this thought of making the experience itself enjoyable. Ask yourself, "What can I do to make you feel more comfortable."

You know it's going to be one of those kind of days when....

• Daughter wakes up in the middle of the night with night-mares about monsters under the bed.
• Husband wakes up in the middle of the night to cat throwing up on bed.
  
• Wife takes husband's cell phone ... husband takes wife's cell phone by mistake.
• Big diggers and dump trucks wake wife up at 6:30.

alive

It's been a busy few weeks at the House of Eck.

We had a party and witnessed the unveiling of the "LAMBEAU-LANCE". Seriously crazy Packers Fan.






We started Hill #2.


Maddy is doing great.


Joe is stressed out, but does his best to chill out.



I'm trying to be patient.


A chipmunk absconded with the top of my new birdfeeder. Honestly! This is what it started out:

This is what it looks like now. How the hell?

life

And so it goes....

It's been a hectic week. Isn't that always the case? Here's a list of things on my own to-do list for the next few weeks.

• Start preparations / cleaning lists for the House of Eck Fest 2007 next weekend.
• Clean bathtub.
• Vacuum & sweep.
• Weed gardens.
• Harvest food out of vegetable garden.
  
• Go to the bird-seed store for sunflower seeds for the new birdfeeder.
• Purchase more "good-girl" incentives for Madeline. (I'm not above giving out bribes.)
• Send out email notice of committee meeting I'm the chair for.
  
• Create End-of-Summer and Fall "Garden-to-do" lists.
  
• Contact insurance company about upcoming pulmonary test to find out if bronchitis is actually something more like asthma.
  
• Make arrangements with friend to have her kids frequently over the next few weeks to play as she recovers from viral meningitis AND lymes' disease.
  
• Validate and make more clear the plan for the new website design to deliver next week.
  
• Keep smiling cuz life is good.
• Keep smiling cuz the only thing that is consistent and constant IS change.