Practicum

I haven't written in a while; I've been pretty busy getting ready for my practicum. I'll be spending 5 weeks away from work as a student teacher in a school library. There was a lot of work to be done so that I could be away from work - I have a few staff evaluations due during that time, and I needed to prepare things for the managers who are covering for me while I'm gone.
Today was my first day of the practicum. I'm in a 3rd-5th grade school in my favorite school district, and I was a bit nervous going into it. Then one of my old storytime kids was in the first class that came in this morning, and I had to smile. I felt more at home then. My cooperating teacher-librarian is great, too. I think part of what had me being nervous was some bad practicum/student teaching experiences in college. I think this one will go well, though. I feel much more confident now than I did then. I even stepped in to help some students with research during one of the classes.
My best friend's husband works at this school, and he stopped by at the library to say hi, too. That helped as well.
I think this will be a whirlwind experience, though. I'm glad to be able to focus just on school for a brief time - dividing my focus between work and school has been challenging, to say the least.

Awwwww

Is there anything sweeter than rocking a baby to sleep in your arms? Especially when that baby's related to you? I guess maybe when he starts patting your arm while you pat his back, that could be sweeter. (This is all probably much nicer than I would think it was had I been asleep already when he started crying...) Can you tell Aunt Dawn is babysitting tonight?

While I don't usually make New Year's Resolutions (too easy for me to put off making changes until New Year's and give up if I don't make it past the first week or so...), I do occasionally resolve to do things. I'm going to attempt to post to this blog at least once a week this year. We'll see how well I do.
I got to thinking over the weekend about conveniences and how used to them I get. Of course there was an event that sparked this thought process - my microwave conked out on me on Saturday. I don't think microwaves are supposed to make that noise - or hit that note, either.
I realized during the rest of the weekend just how many times a day I use that microwave - every morning to thaw the frozen bagel just enough to be able to split it, most evenings to nuke my dinner, or make vegetables or bake potatoes or sweet potatoes. It was sort-of fun to try to work around it a bit - I took one of the baking potatoes and made raw fries instead - hadn't had those in years. I made granny salad instead of having cooked vegetables. I used the George Foreman grill to make meat for dinner.
I've also been using the toaster oven - I think this is the first I've used it since we moved into the house five years ago. I use my sister-in-law's trick and line the tray with aluminum foil to save on clean-up. It comes in handy, and I'll be using it more often now...
The cooking situation is complicated by the fact that the regular oven also does not work. I've been researching how to fix it but have been unsuccessful so far. It seems to be stuck in cleaning mode every time I try to turn it on. It is really, really clean now.
Realistically, though, all of these cooking appliances are conveniences. When I was growing up, we didn't have a microwave, and we still managed to warm up leftovers. (No toaster oven or George Foreman grill then either...) I'm grateful for what I do have, but I still miss the convenience of my microwave. And my microwave popcorn. I trust it's just a season, though.

Multitasking

One of my persistent stressors over the last year and (almost) a half has been keeping up with the house on top of work and school. However, I finally figured out a way to do housework and homework at the same time - I think this semester I'll have the cleanest kitchen I've had since I started grad school. I'm not sure why it took me this long to figure it out. I've started listening to the class lectures with my laptop and speakers sitting on the chest freezer in the dining room - which is on the other side of the kitchen passthrough. Although, now that I think about it, the freezer has only lived there since mid-November. That part of the setup wouldn't have worked earlier. At any rate, I'm happy that I can putter around in the kitchen without feeling guilty that I'm not doing schoolwork, 'cause I am. Now I just need to work on doing schoolwork while cleaning the rest of the house...

Library Humor

I was driving home one evening last week and listening to an audiobook. One of the characters asked the incredulous question, "Who breaks into a library?" Now I realize that wouldn't necessarily be an amusing question, but I couldn't stop laughing. I had to pause the audiobook and laughed so hard I started a coughing fit.
Okay, so the real reason I found it so funny is that my library was broken into the end of September. We still have a boarded-up window in the kitchen and need a night-light for staff to be able to see the light switch. And the perp got nothing - just caused us a lot of trouble. Not too bright, eh?
But after I calmed down and caught my breath, I started to think about librarian humor. Would a non-librarian find that question funny? Or some of the other things that happen in libraries? Or are those things only humorous if you've worked in a library? I came to the conclusion that some of it is really specific, but most of it is fairly universal - it's about people, after all.
So for those of you who haven't experienced library humor or don't work in a library, here are some of the sites that are bookmarked on my work computer under the heading of "Librarian Stress Relief." Let me know what you think.

Unshelved - Some days I'm certain the creators of this webcomic have been hanging out in my library - things just can't be that coincidental, can they?

Peep Research - This one always makes me smile!

Warrior Librarian Weekly - One of my favorite bits on this site is the Warning Labels for Libraries. The Latin for Librarians is also good.

Enjoy!

Holiday thoughts

In the midst of trying to work on homework and get a little bit caught up on housework this week (and coordinating a holiday party, and babysitting briefly, and ... oh, yeah, sleeping!), I took the time to put up a Christmas tree. I can remember years when I didn't put up a tree or decorate because it seemed silly to do that just for me. I've come to realize that it's important to do that, even if it is just for me. I have a 3 foot artificial one, but I enjoy putting it up and then having the lights on when I'm home in the evening. Like putting music on in the evening, it's something I enjoy but don't always think about. (Tonight I found a special on PBS - a Celtic Woman holiday special - and am enjoying it tremendously - along with the tree. Of course it's a PBS fund drive special, but... the ones I want to watch often are.) I need to remember to do these things - they help to relieve stress in a non-caloric fashion!

Grief and Memories...

This has been a year of loss as well as a year of success. Today my family (all of us but the kids) worked on cleaning out my grandparents' house. We pulled everything out of the corner cupboard in the dining room and divvied it up. We did the same with the dishes, pots and pans, and other things from the kitchen, crocheted and embroidered textiles, and more.
It's funny (funny peculiar, rather than funny ha-ha) the things that connect us to memories. I have vivid memories of my grandmother in the kitchen. I also remember her telling me that one of the knobs on the stove was mine - I could turn that one all I wanted but couldn't touch the others. That particular knob controlled the lights. (She used that same line for all of us kids, too.) It was a great way to let us participate in the activity in the kitchen but at the same time keep us safe - especially with a gas stove. I took a picture of the stove today - and a closeup of the knob. I figure I'll do a scrapbook page with it.
We've been dividing up the furniture, too, and I now have my grandmother's cedar chest. (I have my paternal grandmother's cedar chest, too.) It's hard to see things leaving that house - that's the only house that's been in my life my whole life. I'm thankful, though, for the love and memories that are there - and for the family that could gather together to do this and not fight over anything. While it is difficult to see the house emptying out, it is neat to see the things (and love and memories) spreading out through the states that we all live in.