Cathy the Librarian

On Friday (March 31) I was trying to swallow my multi-vitamin. I had some troubles, as I often do, and I couldn’t swallow it too well. I suddenly felt some tightness in my chest, and as I leaned up against Jeff, I passed out. Jeff said that it looked like I shook once as I fell. I came to really quickly, but it still sucked and it was scary. Then I had to go right to a school for a career day that I promised to do. I’ve been feeling under the weather for about a week and a half, and that morning I just didn’t need any added stress. My head was a little banged up and my nose was really sore. I couldn’t let anyone down though! What if because of me, one of the kids (2nd to 6th grade) had a life changing experience and decided that they wanted to be a librarian? Um, yeah right. I’m not really sure that anyone listened to me. I mean really! Who thought that young kids like this were going to sit still for a half hour to listen to the likes of me? Then, I got to the library where I was supposed to talk (appropriate, I guess) and I didn’t have a teacher or an adult of any kind in the room with me. Okay, I thought, that’s alright, I can handle it. Well I handled it fine until two of the kids decided to hide under the book shelves. I really couldn’t think of much to say for a whole half hour. I told them about how much education you need to be a librarian. I explained what I did, and what important things you need to know (Math, people skills, reading and writing skills, friendly outlook on life). I also read some books. I had originally brought the books to show the kids that reading didn’t need to be boring, so I brought books like The Truth About Poop, My Librarian’s a Camel, Magdelena Catelina Hoopensteiner Wallendiner Hogan Logan Bogan is her Name, Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus and The Terrible Underpants. I read some of the books and I made the kids shake their wiggles out. Unfortunately, between the cold and the dizziness of passing out, I wasn’t a thrill a minute. Luckily, I brought in my school yearbooks from when I went to the school (I was an alumni of this particular school) and since some of the teachers that were there when I was a kid, are still there, they got a kick out of that and wanted to keep looking at the yearbooks.
I was exhausted the rest of the day and spent the rest of the day at my parents’ house hanging out and reading. I don’t think I could handle having someone’s kids all day long, especially if I didn’t know the kids (or the parents) at all. That would be insane.

Good Night all. I’m really sleepy, and I want to look my best tomorrow!

I was spying on someone else’s blog (you know who you are) and they found this great article on Information Overload… I looked and looked. And then I noticed that all the links were created on April 1st. Ohhh. The evils of blogs and the internet. For shame.

I’ve been transfering all of my blogger posts over to this site for all of my blogs. So far I have finished with all of the other blogs (except for the vap evaluations). However, my personal blogger one still has 90 posts on it, and I have to transfer all of them by hand! With life being the way it is and I’ve been quite out of my mind this year… job interviews, finding out that I’m epileptic, Jack turning one (yippee!) having to rely on Jeff for rides… blah blah blah. I really haven’t had the time that I would like to dedicate to my blog, even though it should be cathartic or something. Plus I’ve got a cold right now and I haven’t really even had the energy to eat or anything, let alone write. I’ve hardly had the time or energy to look at my favorite blog WATAT!

Well anyway, I’m alive and sort of well. And if you’d really like to know, most of my time has been consumed with:
GN for Librarians

which is a blog that I created to use in a presentation that I and another librarian Jason are doing for fellow j librarians. It seems to have morphed into a mess of links and articles and what not. I’ve only had a chance to write a couple of reviews but I need to write some more before April 12, so that it looks more fleshed out.

I also need to read the book Beauty, which I haven’t started yet, for my teen book discussion on Saturday.

Oh and Jack’s first birthday party is on Sunday afternoon.

Yes, and finally my brain has imploded thank you very much.

So my mom calls me at work. My mom NEVER calls me… I think that my family gets an allergic reaction being close to a phone. I immediately think that Jack has fallen down a well or something… even though they live in the city, and like that would ever happen. My mom assures me that there is nothing wrong with Jack, he’s sleeping. Although then I get freaked out because Jack hardly ever takes a nap during the day anymore. Not fun. So anyway, she tell me that my youngest sister, Samantha, who has been freaking out (which really means that she’s been screaming and getting cranky and pissy, but I love her anyway) the past couple weeks because everyone else has been getting college acceptance letters and she hasn’t gotten a single one, gets an email from Chapel Hill in North Carolina. She’s gets accepted! But not only does she get accepted, she gets:
1) Full college tuition paid for
2) Full room and board paid for
3) $20,000 stipend
4) They are going to fly her in all expenses paid so that she can visit the school in March

So much for not getting accepted anywhere. Not only that, but she talked to one of her professors, and he said that the acceptance letters should start streaming in now.
I should make you aware of the fact that my sister is smart. She is finishing up her double bachelors in Mathematics and Physics at SUNY Geneseo (the Harvard of the SUNY system) and so where ever she goes next, she will be getting her Phd. Needless to say, I am jealous that she’s so smart and I feel stupid because I never understand what she’s saying anymore. A lot of times even her jokes go over my head. For example:
My joke: Where does a general put his armies?
In his sleevies!
Her joke:
Wanted poster in post office in physics land:

$10,000 reward.
Schroedinger’s Cat.

I am completely ashamed of myself. I had all these big dreams for this blog and my sister blogs (mother, writer, etc) and everything has fallen to the wayside. I have one kid and a seizure and look what happens. I neglect my poor little blog. Anyway. I will try and be good again at least for a little while.

Go Here…

I found out that I’m intriguing! Yippee for me!

Congratulations!
You are an INTRIGUING INDIVIDUALIST.

The 80s teen film heroine you are most like is ALLY SHEEDY from THE BREAKFAST CLUB. Stunning but shy, you prefer to keep to yourself and concentrate on perfecting your poetry/paint/performance art. But it’s possible to be a rebel and still have fun, you know. Stop hiding your light under a bushel, and break out. Who better to show you the way than a jock with a heart of gold like EMILIO ESTEVEZ’s Andy Clark?

This up coming year I resolve to:
1) communicate more with my husband
We actually talked about this, and he agreed that communication is really important. You may say, well DUH, but sometimes when you’re in a relationship, it doesn’t feel that obvious.
2) Dance Dance Revolution every other night (or more) so that I can have CALVES OF STEEL!
I want to get in shape, but I don’t want to spend the money for a club membership, I hate running and my arms are already getting buff from lifting a 24 pound 9 month old. Granted, even though it has dance in the title (twice, no less) you still won’t be able to dance at a club, its fun and you can use it as a party game.
3) spend more time with people I want to be better friends with and less time sleeping
I think I have mentioned this before, but I really don’t have a “best friend”. I don’t even really have people that I just hang out with. Therefore, I want to make a better effort to get closer to those people who are a more than casual acquaintances, but I still don’t spend a lot of time with.
4) keep my house tidy enough that if someone stops by I won’t have a heart attack
Every time Jeff says that someone’s going to stop over, I become a crazy lunatic. Something just comes over me and all I see is a dirty house (probably because most of the time IT IS dirty). I want my house to be tidy enough that people don’t rush out screaming.
5) keep my desk at work clean enough that it doesn’t look like a hurricane hit
At work, I have a desk and a book shelf for all the catalogs and other paraphernalia required for someone that works with kids and teens.
6) try and keep myself up to date with library programming
This past month I felt completely overwhelmed with programs and everything else. Programs and deadlines just seemed to pop up out of nowhere. While I have a tendency to be a little disorganized and sporatic, this seemed to be more than usual.
7) TRY to update my blogs more often
I really like having this little piece of me on the Internet, and I get really excited when I realize that people ACTUALLY read this! (be still my heart!) Unfortunately, between full time work, a baby and reading Adrienne’s and Patty’s blogs, I don’t get that much time to write in my own. I will really work on this, especially since I’d like to post more of my writing, and book reviews… especially after reading this. You will notice that according to RochWiki, my blog is about books. Really its about a kooky public librarian who loves books. For their sake, I will try and post more book reviews.
8) spend more time with (and talking to) my sisters
My sisters and I are close already, but they are my best friends (if you ignore what I wrote above) and they are crazy like me, so I think that I should really spend more time with them.
9) read more books to Jack
I keep getting depressed when I talk to the 12 and 13 year olds at the library and when they tell me that they’re bored and I say “well, why don’t you read a (gasp) book or magazine”, they will tell me that reading is boring. I’d like to wring they’re little… (bad Cathy, bad Cathy). I never want Jack to hate reading, so I am going to instill in him at an early age a respect and love for literature. Really its my duty as librarian and mommy. I love him too much not to MAKE him love reading.
10)get an espresso maker/steamer so that I can make my own fancy drinks and have even more caffeine in my body so that I can drive co-workers and family EVEN MORE crazy
Okay. I really don’t need this, but I keep buying (don’t read this Jeff) fancy coffees. Then I start thinking, wouldn’t it just be easier for me to do this on my own?

Wow. There’s about 3 minutes until the new year, and look what I’m doing. Writing in my blog, eating apple pie and drinking cherry pepsi and whiskey. (oh and listening to Jack scream because he just woke up. sigh. Mommy’s work is never done.)

Anyway. Because of the Rochester Wiki, I will try and add two more new years resolutions…
11) post more book reviews – they might be children’s books or young adult books, but the heading just said books, so phhhpt.
12) post more stuff of local interest. What that will be, I don’t know but there are interesting things happening in Rochester.

12 midnight! Happy New Year everyone!

For those of you who read (or ARE) WATAT, and you know who you are, this is the same thing as posted in WATAT, but I thought it was interesting enough to repeat. Plus I’m lazy and I didn’t want anyone who ocassionally reads this to think I’m dead.

Jeff (the hubby) got me Season One of the Muppet Show, Doris Day and Rock Hudson “the Romance Collection”, Sirius Satellite Radio (so I can listen to Howard Stern) and a palm pilot (the little mini z22 cause its so tiny and cute). Saying this out loud, I realize that I am a very weird woman… even weirder than Gonzo the Great. I wanted all of these things and I know that for each of these things certain people will laugh at me.
1) The Muppet Show – because adults probably shouldn’t enjoy “animated” objects this much.
2) The Doris Day/ Rock Hudson “romance collection” – because for one we all know that Rock Hudson was gay and that there was no way he and Doris were ever gonna schtup. Plus I’m 26 and I probably shouldn’t know who Doris Day or Rock Hudson were.
3) Sirius Satellite – because I’m a woman and I should think that Howard Stern is a pig.
4) Palm Pilot – because I already have one, because I have a paper calender and because I’m still utterly unorganized.

I had to change the black. I was getting too depressed looking at it. I also added a Flickr account, so now everyone can see my terrible digital pictures and cute baby pictures. I figured that I could wait for Jeff to add them all, but that would take too long (Jeff’s a very busy guy… I say that because I don’t want him to yell at me). Plus now I have complete control! Mwah hah hah!
I want to apologize to Adrienne now because she has a lovely pink site, and I feel like I’m sort of copying her. Unfortunately blogger doesn’t give you too much to choose from. I didn’t want to go through the THOUSANDS of themes that you can get from other sites, so I chose bright pink, because its nice and obnoxious. Peruse and enjoy!

Over the past couple of weeks I have been back and forth from Hot Topic trying to get earrings. The reason is lame. I have no excuse for myself. I wanted stainless steel earrings, because they are cleaner and don’t irritate my ears. Plus I wanted earrings that match because I might be interviewing for another librarian position and I wanted to look “professional” (BWAH HAH HAH). Jeff said that I was insane, and I know I am but that didn’t stop me from doing it.
The first time I went, I got these 16 gauge captive ball hoops. Plus I had to get some special pliers to release the balls. I think I spent about $50. The first time I got these, I had a piercer at the store do it. It took them five minutes tops, so I thought, Hey! I can do this! Nope. Six hours later Jeff and I are screaming at eachother, and I give up in frustration.
I had already opened one package, so I was out about $12. I think I got about $35 back. So then I tried again and bought two packages of these hoops and spent about $16. The ones in the link aren’t the exact kind I had. Mine were just colored plastic. Unfortunately, I was uninformed that I needed to be careful with the plastic balls, because they are fragile and crack really easily.
So I went back ONE last time. I bought these 14 gauge hoops and spent about $40. I tightened them as much as I could, but I’ve already lost three or four balls, and on one of the hoops, the balls were so tight that I couldn’t get them undone at all.
GAWD! So I was pissed for being an idiot and spending so much money and Jeff was pissed because I’m a silly girl. Plus I was pissed off because I had to go to all this work for some dumb earrings that Jeff thought were stupid anyway. Nevermind the fact that I feel like a nerdy children’s librarian going into this dark den of teenage sin. Even at 26, which isn’t really old at any stretch of the imagination (unless you’re 3 years old) I felt like an old lady. What a waste of time and money and embarrassment.