One of the downsides to working at MCC before it opened was seeing all the new books I couldn't check out! You better believe I had everything turned in before April 11th so I could check 30 items out on opening day. I had been in a bit of a reading slump this year and that quickly turned around. I hope to get back into writing reviews, or at least mini reviews of some of my favorite reads this year.
Another benefit of working in the library again is that Brayden has loved going to the library since I started working there again. Whenever I see promising picture books, I bring them home. I decided around May 7th to start keeping track of the books we read on Goodreads. We ended up reading 50+ books in May. I'm so glad he loves to read. Adam doesn't read much, so I've tried extra hard to instill a love of reading in him.
I thought it might be fun to list some of my favorites and some of Brayden's favorites and then the ones that we both love as well.
Mom's favorites
The Family Book by Todd Parr- I love Parr's books. Bright illustrations, tolerance, and compassion. Brayden liked it too and had such a big smile when I read about families liking to hug.
Life-Size Zoo by Teruyuki Komiya- Amazing up-close photographs. Brayden likes it too, but I think he'll like it more as he gets older.
Peek-a-Boo, I Love You! by Sandra Magsamen- Brayden picked this for me for my birthday. Aww.
Brayden's favorites
Birds by Kevin Henkes- Great illustrations, simple text. We read this one at least 20 times this month at Brayden's request.
No, David! by David Shannon- I think this book reminds Brayden that we love him even when he hears "no."
The Wheels on the Bus: A Read-Along Sing-Along Trip to the Zoo by Jeanna Willis- He likes the skunk verse the best- "The skunks on the bus go stink, stink, stink."
Universal favorites
Rhyming Dust Bunnies by Jan Thomas- Brayden thinks this book is just hilarious. I like the simple introduction to rhyming.
Fiesta Babies by Carmen Tafolla- Fiestas and siestas... need I say more?
The Foggy, Foggy Forest by Nick Sharrett-"What can this be in the foggy, foggy forest?" Each page asks this and you see a black silhouette on vellum before you turn the page to see what it was.
Friday, June 1, 2012
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
MCC
So, umm, hi there. I know I've basically been radio silent here. I've got a lot of catching up to do. I need to write about books, weaning, and everything else we've been up to. Luckily, it hasn't been like the last time I took a long break. I have not been knocked down by an arthritis flare-up. Quite the contrary- we've just been busy living life!
I'll start with work. As I mentioned before falling off the face of my blog, I went back to work. I work at the Millcreek Community Center- it's a library, a rec center, and a senior center all in one! I'm a shelver just like I was before. Here's what the library looked like when I entered on March 5th.
I met my new coworkers. All very nice and extremely welcoming. We had no books to shelve (yes, that was a tad bit funny), but we got to work labeling shelves. I spent my second day mostly shelving graphic novels.
As we got closer to the opening, it got interesting. Things were happening, to be sure- like the new library sign that was not there one day and there the next. However, we did get to a point where it seemed like the library staff had run out of things to do. So we started spiffing up our collections and cleaning off old due date stickers from the older books.
We had to do some shifting when our beautiful shelf ends came in, and that helped keep us busy until opening.
April 11th finally came. It was a whirlwind five weeks, but we were all so excited to open. Mayor Peter Corroon was present for the big ribbon cutting ceremony. I am so sad he lost his campaign to be Governor, and even more sad he isn't running for County Mayor again. He has done so much good in Salt Lake County, especially building this combined agency, LEED-certified building during a time of economic hardship.
And then the doors opened and we got to work welcoming the public. We had so many festivities going on that day. The Wild Thing, tours, showing off and explaining our awesome new sorter machine, crafts, animal shows and more. Adam and Brayden had been asleep when I left for work that day, so I didn't expect to see them there. But Adam took Brayden on his first bus ride to get there and I am so glad he did. Brayden got to meet and dance with the Wild Thing and he loved it. In fact, saying he loved it would be an understatement. He's still talking about it six weeks later.
And there you have it. How a library goes from empty to open to the public in five weeks. We've been open for six weeks now, and we just went "live" on the system today. Administration wanted to make sure that Millcreek patrons got first dibs at our new, never been checked out collection. I'll just confess that I checked out dozens of board books that first week. Board books that hadn't been chewed. I think you get the point. Anyways, today we went live and that meant our items were open to go out on hold to patrons at other libraries. We had 1,300+ items to take off our shelf ad send to other people. Even more evidence that libraries are not dead. Good thing, because libraries are where I belong.
I'll start with work. As I mentioned before falling off the face of my blog, I went back to work. I work at the Millcreek Community Center- it's a library, a rec center, and a senior center all in one! I'm a shelver just like I was before. Here's what the library looked like when I entered on March 5th.
Painters, computer tables with no computers, and shelves- empty, empty shelves. I just have to out myself as a nerd and admit that the potential of these bare shelves made me giddy inside. A new library when so many "experts" proclaim the library is dead? Awesome.
I met my new coworkers. All very nice and extremely welcoming. We had no books to shelve (yes, that was a tad bit funny), but we got to work labeling shelves. I spent my second day mostly shelving graphic novels.
We shelved all of the brand new books first. While the library was closed, new books were still being ordered and kept in storage for us. After that, they started bringing us the books the Millcreek staff had boxed up. The boxes felt endless...
We shelved a lot of them, decided some should be deleted, and worked like crazy for a few weeks getting all we could on the shelves.
As we got closer to the opening, it got interesting. Things were happening, to be sure- like the new library sign that was not there one day and there the next. However, we did get to a point where it seemed like the library staff had run out of things to do. So we started spiffing up our collections and cleaning off old due date stickers from the older books.
We had to do some shifting when our beautiful shelf ends came in, and that helped keep us busy until opening.
April 11th finally came. It was a whirlwind five weeks, but we were all so excited to open. Mayor Peter Corroon was present for the big ribbon cutting ceremony. I am so sad he lost his campaign to be Governor, and even more sad he isn't running for County Mayor again. He has done so much good in Salt Lake County, especially building this combined agency, LEED-certified building during a time of economic hardship.
And then the doors opened and we got to work welcoming the public. We had so many festivities going on that day. The Wild Thing, tours, showing off and explaining our awesome new sorter machine, crafts, animal shows and more. Adam and Brayden had been asleep when I left for work that day, so I didn't expect to see them there. But Adam took Brayden on his first bus ride to get there and I am so glad he did. Brayden got to meet and dance with the Wild Thing and he loved it. In fact, saying he loved it would be an understatement. He's still talking about it six weeks later.
And there you have it. How a library goes from empty to open to the public in five weeks. We've been open for six weeks now, and we just went "live" on the system today. Administration wanted to make sure that Millcreek patrons got first dibs at our new, never been checked out collection. I'll just confess that I checked out dozens of board books that first week. Board books that hadn't been chewed. I think you get the point. Anyways, today we went live and that meant our items were open to go out on hold to patrons at other libraries. We had 1,300+ items to take off our shelf ad send to other people. Even more evidence that libraries are not dead. Good thing, because libraries are where I belong.
Thursday, May 10, 2012
30 before 30
Well, I'm 29 now. Here's my updated 30 before 30 list. I changed some of them. Arthritis limits me somewhat, like with learning the guitar. I changed some of the craft ones because when I couldn't think of 30 things last year, I finished my list off with some silly crafts from Pinterest. Anyways, here it is.
1- Read all of the books I own or get rid of them (I'll give myself 3 extras, plus any books I get for my 30th birthday).
2- Create and print a book of some of my blog posts.
3- Make at least one book for Brayden.
4- Research my book idea, decide if there's something worthwhile, and if there is, start writing it.
5- Make homemade pizza.
6- Have a baby, or at least be pregnant or trying. I'm very indecisive on this. When I started the list 2 weeks ago, it was to have another baby. Now I just don't know. Maybe it should be to make up my mind. :)
7- Try Thai food.
8- Go on a birdwatching expedition.
9- Eat at The Melting Pot.
10- Donate to Kiva.
11- Take a cooking class.
12- Milk a cow.
13- Save and plan for a 10th anniversary trip in 2013.
14- Go camping.
15- Go on a trip to somewhere in Utah I've never been (Moab, Bear Lake, etc).
16- Eat vegetarian for one month. I tried this in February. I made it halfway through and caved on Valentine's Day.
17- Make or buy a growth chart for Brayden.
18- Throw a cookie exchange party.
19- Make this family portrait this summer (around B's birthday).
20- Go on ten hikes.
21- Spend a night away from Brayden.
22- Do more canning this year and next, and maybe even attempt canning tomatoes (or tomato sauce). Karen, can we do this together? I'll need your help. :)
23- Organize photos taken since Brayden's birth by month and back them up. FAIL- Our external hard drive shut down. We'll send it in for data restoration sometime, but I am so glad I put so many pictures of Brayden on FB. I'll be making cds of what I do have very soon.
24- Buy or make a keepsake box for Brayden to hold trinkets like the hospital bracelets, coming home outfit, etc.
25- Make a surprise ball for Brayden for his birthday or Christmas.
26- Go to a play.
27- Make this Christmas decoration.
28- Introduce Brayden to Star Wars.
29- Go to the midnight showing for Harry Potter this July.
30- Sell condo and buy a house, if the market allows it.
1- Read all of the books I own or get rid of them (I'll give myself 3 extras, plus any books I get for my 30th birthday).
2- Create and print a book of some of my blog posts.
4- Research my book idea, decide if there's something worthwhile, and if there is, start writing it.
5- Make homemade pizza.
6- Have a baby, or at least be pregnant or trying. I'm very indecisive on this. When I started the list 2 weeks ago, it was to have another baby. Now I just don't know. Maybe it should be to make up my mind. :)
7- Try Thai food.
8- Go on a birdwatching expedition.
9- Eat at The Melting Pot.
11- Take a cooking class.
12- Milk a cow.
13- Save and plan for a 10th anniversary trip in 2013.
14- Go camping.
15- Go on a trip to somewhere in Utah I've never been (Moab, Bear Lake, etc).
16- Eat vegetarian for one month. I tried this in February. I made it halfway through and caved on Valentine's Day.
18- Throw a cookie exchange party.
19- Make this family portrait this summer (around B's birthday).
20- Go on ten hikes.
21- Spend a night away from Brayden.
23- Organize photos taken since Brayden's birth by month and back them up. FAIL- Our external hard drive shut down. We'll send it in for data restoration sometime, but I am so glad I put so many pictures of Brayden on FB. I'll be making cds of what I do have very soon.
25- Make a surprise ball for Brayden for his birthday or Christmas.
27- Make this Christmas decoration.
28- Introduce Brayden to Star Wars.
30- Sell condo and buy a house, if the market allows it.
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
1st day of Spring
Picking up bugs and running around! What more could a two year old
ask for on the first day of Spring?
Thursday, February 9, 2012
Uterine control
As we all know, the Republican party prides itself on being all for small government. I'm calling bullshit. Why? Because they've made it perfectly clear this week that they want control over the uterus.
Presidential candidate Ron Paul said in an interview that "If it's an honest rape, that individual should go immediately to the emergency room, I would give them a shot of estrogen." Granted, this is more than I assume the other Republican candidates would "allow," but still. Honest rape?! I have no words. Lastly, for a doctor, he's pretty behind on his knowledge of contraception.
President Obama recently announced plans to ensure that birth control is covered with no co-pay by insurance plans. According to good old Mitt Romney, this is an assault on religion. The talking point of the right is that Catholic employers would have to pay for birth control when they are against it.I think Adam Lee of bigthink.com said it best: "This is the same thing as pharmacists who refuse to fill prescriptions for birth control pills: they interpret "religious freedom" not to mean, "I will not use birth control because my religion says it's not OK", but to mean, "I will not allow you to use birth control because my religion says it's not OK". They've twisted a person's individual right to abide by whatever beliefs they see fit into an aggressive demand to control the behavior of others."
The Diane Rehm show discussed this today. One of her panelists mentioned that IUDs have abortive-like qualities. I'm hearing that more and more lately. It's starting to make me feel like I'm in some reproductive dystopia where no contraception is allowed because it's ALL abortion!! I brought this up on a feminist LDS Facebook group I am in, and here is one of the comments I liked: "This kind of language is largely a "scare tactic" to exercise influence on women's health care choices. Especially since lots of other conditions can make the uterus less habitable for a fertilized egg looking to implant, like caffeine consumption. But nobody is running around telling ladies that their diet cokes have abortive-like qualities."
Between everything mentioned above, the Planned Parenthood funding issues, and the various "personhood" laws coming through state legislatures, I feel like the Republican party could use a new slogan: We're for small government, except when it comes to your uterus.
Presidential candidate Ron Paul said in an interview that "If it's an honest rape, that individual should go immediately to the emergency room, I would give them a shot of estrogen." Granted, this is more than I assume the other Republican candidates would "allow," but still. Honest rape?! I have no words. Lastly, for a doctor, he's pretty behind on his knowledge of contraception.
President Obama recently announced plans to ensure that birth control is covered with no co-pay by insurance plans. According to good old Mitt Romney, this is an assault on religion. The talking point of the right is that Catholic employers would have to pay for birth control when they are against it.I think Adam Lee of bigthink.com said it best: "This is the same thing as pharmacists who refuse to fill prescriptions for birth control pills: they interpret "religious freedom" not to mean, "I will not use birth control because my religion says it's not OK", but to mean, "I will not allow you to use birth control because my religion says it's not OK". They've twisted a person's individual right to abide by whatever beliefs they see fit into an aggressive demand to control the behavior of others."
The Diane Rehm show discussed this today. One of her panelists mentioned that IUDs have abortive-like qualities. I'm hearing that more and more lately. It's starting to make me feel like I'm in some reproductive dystopia where no contraception is allowed because it's ALL abortion!! I brought this up on a feminist LDS Facebook group I am in, and here is one of the comments I liked: "This kind of language is largely a "scare tactic" to exercise influence on women's health care choices. Especially since lots of other conditions can make the uterus less habitable for a fertilized egg looking to implant, like caffeine consumption. But nobody is running around telling ladies that their diet cokes have abortive-like qualities."
Between everything mentioned above, the Planned Parenthood funding issues, and the various "personhood" laws coming through state legislatures, I feel like the Republican party could use a new slogan: We're for small government, except when it comes to your uterus.
Saturday, February 4, 2012
It is so hard to see your baby sick. I can't imagine what toddlers think while they are throwing up. He looked so confused at what was happening and why he or I couldn't stop it. Later, when it was just dry heaves, it seemed to scare him. When he wasn't actually sick, he sure tried to be happy. He played with his cousins who had stopped by real quick. As he felt it coming on, he would come back to me with such a scared look on his face. Eventually, we fell asleep on the couch- him laying on my chest. Just the way we used to sleep when he was really a baby.
He woke up this morning happy as could be. A little warm, but no other signs of sickness. He played, colored, and took a bath with his Dad. I can still tell it took a lot out of him though, because he's asleep and it's only 11:30 a.m. I hope he wakes up feeling even better.
Thursday, February 2, 2012
Must watch
| The Colbert Report | Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c | |||
| Grim Colberty Tales with Maurice Sendak Pt. 1 | ||||
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| The Colbert Report | Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c | |||
| Grim Colberty Tales with Maurice Sendak Pt. 2 | ||||
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This is one of the best interviews I have EVER seen. I had no idea Sendak was such a grouchy old man, and gay at that.
Sendak- I didn't set out to make children happy or to make life better for them or easier for them.
Colbert- Do you like them?
S-I like them as few and far between as I do adults, maybe a bit more because I really don't like adults.
S-I'm a gay man.
C- I'm sorry, I must be mishearing you. You just said you're a gay man? Why are you allowed to write children's books? You're not allowed to head boy scout troops.
S on ebooks: $!$% them is what I say! I hate those e-books. They cannot be the future, they may well be, I will be dead and I won't give a $%!^.
| The Daily Show With Jon Stewart | Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c | |||
| Indecision 2012 - Pander Express | ||||
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Good clip overall, but I'm posting this for what happens at 3:40. I love him even more. Seriously- he's on my "list." Ryan Gosling and him have pretty much had the stop two spots for awhile now.
-Speaking of Ryan Gosling, Adam and I watched Drive last night. I can't get the trailer to embed, but here is the link. It was such a good movie. Suspenseful movie with an open ending. I don't always like open endings, but it works with this movie.
-I am reading John Green's new book The Fault in Our Stars. I mentioned his vlogs on YouTube to a friend and she had never seen them. Here's a funny one about honey badgers. Here's a somewhat more serious one about Kiva. His brother and him have also started doing crashcourse videos where they teach us stuff.
-I'll end with this one. Now, I'm crunchy in some ways (co-sleeping, extended breastfeeding, delayed vaccination schedule) but very mainstream in other ways.
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