TGIF – I think

Glad this week is over for some reason.  It’s not really the job, just ready for a break in general.  The book fair was going on in the library all week so it is has been taken over a bit.  But it’s good to see students buying a few books – and I had more students also checking out books when they came to the book fair.  I was able to pick out some free books for the library as well.  I got a call from my rental company the other day.  Seems the homeowners association wasn’t happy about some weeds in my yard.  I mowed the yard since they sent a complaint letter, but even after just a week, the weeds are back.  They’re little thin strands that seem to grow a couple of inches a day.  I’ll have to mow again tomorrow.  Wish Andrew lived close by – I’d hire him to mow my yard for me. 

Tomorrow I’m going to drive up to the Northwest part of town to drop off my rent check and to do some shopping.  I’m doing library orientations next week and want to be able to give out prizes – and I can’t give out candy but thought I might get some pencils or something.  Other than that, no plans this weekend.  Just going to take it easy I think. 

Where did the money go?

I’ve been anxiously watching my bank account wondering when my paycheck would be deposited.  As of 6:00 p.m. this evening, no check.  It was deposited last month with no problem.  So on a hunch, I checked my other bank account – the bank that is back in Canyon – and sure enough, that’s where my money went this month.  You see I originally turned in a form for that bank, but when I opened up an account down here, I turned in a different form.  So now they changed it from the new bank to my old bank.  That means I have to make a trip downtown to get it sorted out and this month, I have to set up new bill pays to take care of my bills.  Being such a late pay date this month, I’m also going to have to turn in my rent in person instead of mailing it.  That means a trip across town.  But I’m thinking maybe I need to head to Fiesta Texas this weekend while it is still fairly warm and get some coaster riding in.  Then it would be on my way.  It’s just a thought.

So I went to a library meeting this afternoon.  I got a little bit more information that was helpful.  I’m participating in a book study in addition to working with a committee, but I’m not sure that I’ll be able to do both.  I’m almost finished cataloging all the extra books I have.  The rest of the week I need to plan for my English class orientations.  Of course I want to be ambitious and get them involved in different activities, but may not have a lot of time for that. 

Band rehearsal was ok last night.  I’m doing fairly well sitting 2nd chair.  I do need to practice a few things, but should be fine with the concert.  I found out that the concert is at 3:00 in the afternoon on Sunday which means I could go to the Huey Lewis concert if I wanted to.  I called Marty to see if he was interested in going, but he said he wasn’t.  He’s not a fan of the group.  So I have to decide if I want to go and then try to find someone else to go with me, or if I should go by myself, or if I should just not go at all.  Something to think about. 

Figuring it out

I was very proud of myself today for figuring out how to process books without having marc records ready to import.  I had to locate the record using one program, modify it, save it, then continue the process for each book I had.  Then I had to export the file into another program that checks the records for accuracy and then export them again.  Finally I imported them into the catalog database.  From there I had to print labels with bar codes and that took some figuring out because they didn’t seem to print correctly.  I finally deduced that the pdf file is reduced for some reason, so I printed from a different file and it came out perfect.  Then I printed spine labels and put them on all the books.  You’d be amazed at what goes into getting books out on the shelves.  Not only does it involve getting the catalog information into the catalog, but there’s a barcode label, spine label, then stamping the book with the library’s name in several locations, then writing the barcode in two places in the book and the call number.  It is a rather lengthy process when you do it all from scratch.  Luckily the large order that came in this summer already had the barcode and spine labels done.  But it was still an ordeal to get them all stamped and such.  Luckily I had some students help.  The next step is to be able to get marc records from other sources or to create them myself.  Now I’ve got to see how much I remember from my cataloging class. 

I stayed a little late today because I had some teachers using the lab and I was finishing up a few books.  I left school around 5:00 but then realized I left my purse and cell phone at school so I had to go back.  I got home around 5:30 and started some dinner.  I called my dad to visit with him and asked him if he was interested in going to Vegas for Thanksgiving.  I think he might be interested.  My sister is interested too.  I went ahead and booked my flight today.  I used my SW airline miles so it only cost me $5.00.  I also booked the hotel.  Josh is going to book his own flight and pay for the show tickets.  So I guess it’s settled that we’re going to Vegas – just need to find an animal/house sitter for while we’re gone.

Another relatively lazy Sunday

I stayed up late reading last night and didn’t go to bed until after 1:00 a.m.  I slept in until about 8:00 and finished reading around 10:00.  I then took a shower and headed to Walmart for dog food and a few other necessities.  I then picked up some Long John Silver’s for lunch and ate.  I don’t know if was all the carbs but it knocked me out and I took a nap around noon.  I woke up when I heard my cell phone ringing.  It was my sister.  She needed my brother’s cell phone number.  She also said that she might try to go to Vegas when Josh and I go during Thanksgiving.  Josh has been wanting to go to Vegas after he turns 21 ever since he was 10 years old.  I don’t know that he really wants to gamble much, but it’s the whole idea of the experience, I think.  He originally planned to go with friends in December, but I guess they are all broke, so he called me up a few weeks ago and asked if we had plans for Thanksgiving.  I said not that I know of, and he asked if we could go to Vegas and split the cost.  I told him probably.  The only issue is finding someone to take care of my animals while I’m going.  I may be able to get my ex-husband to do it – if he is around that week.  Max lived with us when we were married – in fact it was Richard that brought him home, so I think he would like to spend time with him.  So now we’re planning the trip.  I think I’ll use some of my Southwest miles to pay for the flight.  I think we’re going to stay at Bally’s because the rate is fairly cheap and it is in the middle of the strip.  I think I’ve stayed in a different motel every time I’ve been to Vegas and I’m not sure how many times I’ve been now.  I’ve been often enough that I know to always wear comfortable shoes because you walk a lot. 

I’m watching another Monk marathon and I actually saw an episode I hadn’t seen before.  It is probably from the last season that I missed a lot of while in grad school.  I still need to do some laundry but right now I’m enjoying a glass of wine.  I guess I’ll get to it eventually.  It’s just been a nice lazy day without much going on. 

Ahhh Saturday

It was very lovely to sleep in today.  I got up a little after 9:00 and then decided to mow the yard before it got too hot.  I didn’t realize how exhausting mowing the lawn is.  It might not have been too bad had I just mowed the front or the back, but I had to mow both today.  I still need to weed-eat some, but it will just have to wait.  I came in from mowing and my face was completely red, I was dripping in sweat and was totally exhausted.  I laid down on my bed under the fan for a few minutes before I decided to take a shower.  Then I plopped on the couch in front of the t.v. for a few hours.  I went outside with the animals for a bit this afternoon and trimmed some of the stuff I couldn’t get to with the mower.  When I came in I felt a headache coming on and potential allergies.  I took some tylenol and claritin and took a nap.

I just had a salad for dinner and now watching the Monk marathon.  I had intended to get more done today, but I guess mowing the yard just took too much out of me.  I still plan to get some house cleaning done though.  I did start the dishwasher and put all my shoes up.  I don’t know if you know this about me, but I have a tendency to leave shoes out all over the house.  It used to drive my ex-husband crazy.  He once tried to make a point by hiding one of my shoes.  I ended up being late for work that day.  He never did that again.  I figure there are worse things than a spouse who  leaves shoes out - such as a spouse who stays up all night looking at porn.  Thankfully I don’t have to deal with that any more and if I want to leave my shoes out, I can. 

Been a long week

Though I do still enjoy the job, I’m glad it’s Friday.  It feels like it has been a very long week and despite going to bed early last night I’m still tired.  I went to a library conference today which was pretty good, but thought a lot of the programs were geared for elementary schools.  No plans for this weekend other than mowing the yard and cleaning the house.  It’s not trashed or anything, but it’s probably the untidiest it has been in a while.  And that’s all I have for today.  Not much going on here.

Need Sleep

It’s been a busy week but glad tomorrow is Friday.  When I got home from school on Tuesday, I was pretty exhausted.  I went to band rehearsal in spite of wanting to go to bed.  On the way there I felt an allergy attack coming on so I stopped at a convenience store to get some claritin and head it off.  It seemed to work.  When I got to rehearsal, the lady I’ve been sitting next to suggested that I move up because the first chair player didn’t seem to be there.  But he did show up so I thought I was safe.  But somehow I ended up moving to the first row sitting second chair anyway.  I did pretty well but will have to practice some depending on what we end up playing.   At least I’m not sitting next to the lady with the horrible sound any more.  And now I’m sitting next to the oboe player that I teach at the same school with.  So at least now I can be more sociable.  I didn’t get home until after 10 an didn’t get to sleep until after 11:00 because I read.

Wednesday morning I made a point to get up early to get to school and set up all the mobile computers for the math testing that needed to be completed.  I got them all set up and then found out that they weren’t going to be testing and they “forgot” to tell me, but thanked me for being flexible.  I was a little irritated by that. But I left right at 4:30 and came home to meet Marty.  We went to the Spaghetti Warehouse for dinner.  They had a special featuring spaghetti with meatsauce for only $5.  So we had that, I had a glass of wine, and then shared dessert.  Then we headed to the AT&T center for the concert. 

I thought our seats were pretty good.  The concert started with Night Ranger who played for about 30 minutes.  Then Foreigner played for almost an hour.  I thought Foreigner was pretty awesome.  I knew all but one of their songs.  Journey was good, and the new lead singer does sound a lot like Steve Perry, but he isn’t a great showman.  His stage presence was really awkward.  But the music was awesome though maybe even a bit loud.  But we both enjoyed the concert.  We got back around 11:30.  Marty headed back to Austin and I headed to bed.

I was really tired this morning.  I didn’t get to school until right at 8:00.  Then a lady came in and expected to use the library for some training and hadn’t planned it but since the math testing wasn’t going on, I made the accommodation for her.  It was a busy day as always.  I left around 4:45, stopped at the store then came home.  Made some dinner.  I’ve watched some t.v. and will go to bed really soon.  I took a tylenol p.m. about an hour ago and it’s starting to hit.  Tomorrow I’m going to a conference at the education service center and need to get up early again. 

Doing my job

I wish I would have figured out my calling a long time ago.  Then again, I’m a believer that things happen the way they are supposed to and for a reason.  I still love my job.  I know there will be a point that I will not like something about my job, but so far it’s still going well.  I don’t care much for the lack of communication from my school administrators, but at the same time I appreciate that they seem to trust me and leave me to do my job as I see fit.  I love staying busy all day but not dealing with lesson plans, discipline, parents, and all the other annoying stuff I had to do as a teacher.  Today I worked on the website, met with classes checking out books, set up a mobile lab, processed more books, and resolved printing issues.  I ended up staying really late getting old computers out of the way to get ready for new computers that will be installed tomorrow. 

I came home and let the animals out to do their business.  I’m still fighting with Mollie on doing what she needs to do when I get home.  Then I headed to the grocery store since I didn’t get there this weekend.  I didn’t get home until almost 8.  Tomorrow is going to be a busy day.  Luckily I got a little reprieve in that I don’t have to deal with the math teachers coming in to test until tomorrow.  I’ll have time to get the laptops set up with the link for the test.  Hopefully I’ll also be able to get the additional books I have processed before I lose my data station computer. 

I was kind of nervous about working as a librarian.  I wasn’t sure if I had really learned enough or had enough “on the job” training so to speak, but I feel like I’m picking things up pretty well.  The district librarian facilitator told me the other day that I worry her because I haven’t had any issues or needed a lot of help as of yet.  I told her that I’m awesome and on the ball.  I’ve surprised myself in how well I’m figuring things out. 

I need to get to bed.  I should try to get to school early tomorrow – still have lots to do.

Socially Awkward

Last night I went to the reception for my friend Brent.  At first is was really socially awkward because I only really knew Brent.  So I got food and a beer and sat by myself and ate.  I texted Marty to find out when he would get off work which was 10:30.  I wasn’t sure if I was going to make it until then.  But I made an effort to be social and talked to a couple of guys that work for Brent.  Then I talked to a guy that graduated from Canyon, but a year earlier than Brent and I.  I knew who he was, but wasn’t sure if he knew who I was.  Turns out he remembered me so I visited with him and two other guys most of the rest of the night.  I also had a nice long visit with Brent’s mom and was surprised that she remembered me.  She was very nice and offered to let me visit her in Ruidoso some time.  I did have a few drinks but didn’t get drunk, thankfully.  I was happy that Marty showed up after work though.  I always enjoy talking to him.  There was a married guy there that was kind of hitting on me – or maybe he was just being really friendly. 

There was a girl there that Marty and I met when Brent invited us over for dinner earlier this summer.  At one point she came over and whispered “What’s going on between the two of you?” referring to Marty and I.  We weren’t doing anything but talking and standing next to each other, but I guess she sensed something.  When I told her “nothing,” she gave me a look that said “yeah, right.”  I didn’t have a chance to explain the complexities of our relationship to her.  This isn’t the first time that someone has picked up on the connection that I guess is obvious.  I’m not sure that I could even explain it because I don’t really understand it either.  All I can say is that there is always something just “there” when it comes to Marty.  I don’t know if we are cosmically tied in some way, if it’s just because he was perhaps the first man I truly loved, or if it is something else altogether.  I just don’t know.  The problem is that in spite of whatever connection exists, there are too many other issues that seem to get in the way.  Relationships are always complex I guess.  For example, when we left the party last night, Marty and I held hands as we walked to the parking lot, we hugged, he gave me a quick kiss and told me to call him when I got home.  He offered to let me stay the night at his place and I was certainly tempted, but I figured I should head home.  You’d almost think from those actions that we were a couple.  But we’re not.  I don’t know if we ever will give it another shot.  I sense that Marty might be interested again, but holds himself back because his life is rather chaotic.  Though I guess I’m probably always interested, what holds me back is our painful history.  I don’t know if I can take another risk like that, but then I realize that every relationship is a risk.  I just don’t know – thus the complexity of our relationship.  I guess we’ll continue to be slightly more than friends and see what happens, if anything.  In the meantime, I will leave myself open to other opportunities should they happen. 

Speaking of which, I did have a date tonight.  There was some confusion about the restaurant that we were going to meet at.  I thought he said “Cha Cha’s” when he actually meant “Chacho’s” so I went to the wrong place.  I eventually made it and we had dinner.  The problem was that it was really loud because they were having karaoke night and they had the music up really loud so it was difficult to have a conversation.  The evening was fine.  He seems nice.  I’m just not sure that it would go anywhere.  I can’t explain that either other than simply my gut instinct.  I think we could be friends that hang out from time to time, but I’m not sure about actually dating. 

We got a lot of rain this weekend which is great.  It rained quite a bit yesterday and a storm rolled through this evening while we were at the restaurant.  The power even when out for a couple of minutes – which was actually nice because we could talk without yelling.  I had to drive back in the storm though so I took it pretty slow.  By the time I got here most of the storm had passed. 

Well, it’s really late for me.  I need to get some sleep and get to school somewhat early tomorrow so I can try to resolve a printer issue if I can. 

Rain finally

I woke up this morning to some kind of sound.  I thought is was one of my animals being obnoxious so I yelled at them to stop.  Then I realized it was coming from outside.  Turns out it was raining.  We got a nice shower this morning.  Temperatures are still climbing into the 90’s each day, but it’s somewhat bearable.  The forecast shows the chance of showers the next few days so I hope that happens. 

Work has been busy as always, but still a good busy.  I got 274 new books on the shelves today.  I did some updating on the website and I think the staff likes my online calendar that I created.  Still loving the job so it is going well. 

Other than that, not much to tell here.  I work, I come home.  I watch t.v., read, go to bed.  Not very exciting.  Hopefully this weekend will be more thrilling.  I’ll report on my date either Sunday evening or Monday.  I probably won’t have time to blog on Saturday as I’ll probably get in late from my trip to Austin for the wedding reception thing. 

I wish I had more to share, but life is kind of dull. 

Loving the job

I’m finding that there still aren’t enough hours in the day, but I love the work I’m doing.  I’ve continued to update the school website.  I’ve integrated an online calendar to show the library schedule.  I dug up historical information on the school to create a history page.  I was able to upload the records for the new books I have so now I can get them on the shelves.  I know how to add the other books I have as well.  I still have stuff to go through (boxes I brought from home) and some things to organize, but all of it is going well.  I love having the time to do all of this.  This is what I liked to do when I was teaching, but never had time for it. 

To clarify for Mago regarding the animals: the real estate company had the expectation that when they come to inspect the property that they do not have to encounter animals that I guess could be potentially dangerous.  Of course my dogs would just bark and then lick them to death.  So they wanted me to either put them outside, or in cage, or have them kenneled.  Since the weather is still reaching 100 degrees most days, I would not leave them outside.  So I just created a barricade for them with the boxes.  They weren’t happy about it, but it worked.

I started reading my Kindle again.  I’m on the next Jack Reacher series book.  I’ve missed reading.  I think I will do a little tonight before going to bed.  I don’t know if I haven’t been sleeping well or just not getting enough sleep.  I was really tired again this morning.  For some reason traffic was really horrible today.  Even though it is a short drive, it was really congested getting onto I-37.  Luckily it’s not very far so I wasn’t stuck in traffic and it did keep moving.  Tomorrow I have to head up to the center of town for some more library training.  That means I’m going to hit traffic coming home. 

Filling up the social calendar

I think this move to San Antonio has been a good thing.  Though I was quite busy back in Canyon with church and speech events, I didn’t really have much in terms of a social life aside from the brief dating stint with Matthew.  So in the next week I have a wedding reception in Austin for my friend Brent and his husband on Saturday.  I have a real date with a guy I met from eharmony on Sunday.  I’m going to the Journey concert with Marty next Wednesday.  I can’t really complain about much these days.

But of course I’ll complain a little.  I got an email today that indicated that I had to give the ESL teacher the books that I had already packed up.  So I had to dig through boxes to find a classroom set of four different books.  It wasn’t too daunting since I packed all those books in specific boxes, but it was a pain.  I’m also having issues with working on the school website.  I want to do more than the website building software will allow me to do.  But I’m finding ways to work around it. 

I went to band rehearsal tonight.  Can’t say that it’s getting better.  There were a lot of people missing tonight.  All we did was read through music again – playing a few more pieces.  I’m even playing 1st part on one of them.  The same lady with the horrible sound is there.  It’s still painful to sit there.  But I still want to play so I’ll probably stick with it.

Today I pretty much focused on the school website.  Tomorrow I’m going to call another librarian who should be able to walk me through the process of getting my new books into the catalog.  I have some students that come in the morning to help me so I’m having them stamp the books. 

Last night I had some kind of allergy attack.  I couldn’t stop sneezing and such.  I took a benadryl which helped, but it took a while to kick in.  I was really tired this morning.  And I’m tired now, so I’m going to head to bed.

Just a Monday

I was up late last night.  I didn’t go to bed until after midnight.  Needless to say, I was tired this morning.  And I’m tired now.  I probably shouldn’t have had that glass of wine with dinner.  Not much to tell today.  I worked.  I came home. 

Marty was able to get the time off for the Journey concert so I’ll be going with him.  Hard to believe it is next week.  I’m really excited about it. 

Today the rental company came by to inspect the house.  I got a letter last week telling me that they would be stopping by.  They requested that I leave the dogs outside or have them kenneled.  There’s no way I’m going to leave my dogs outside all day when it is 100+ degrees.  So I just barricaded them in a corner using boxes of books that haven’t been unpacked.  They weren’t happy about it, but it seemed to do the trick for today.

I have things I should be doing tonight, but I think I’m just going to veg in front of the tv and go to bed early. 

10 years ago

On this day ten years ago, I was working for Jostens as a yearbook associate.  I heard about a plane flying into the tower when I visited one of my schools that morning.  I remember thinking that it must have been some kind of accident.  I didn’t really know what the World Trade Center was – other than it was a building in New York.  I usually didn’t listen to the radio in my car, but after that visit, I turned it on as I was driving to my next school.  That’s when I found that it was not simply an accident.  I visited my other school and though they were aware of the events, they were going on as normal.  I briefly visited with the yearbook adviser about the events, but that’s it.  I only had those two schools to visit that day so I listened to the radio as I headed home.  When I got home, I turned on the t.v. to watch with the rest of the world as we found out that America was being attacked.  I watched in horror as the news replayed people jumping from the upper floors of the building to their death. 

I felt the strong sense of national pride that came within the next few days and weeks of this tragedy.  I’m wondering, though, why it takes a tragedy of this magnitude to bring people together in support of our country.  Certainly nobody will ever forget this event, but sadly, our patriotism seems to have waned in the last few years. 

Josh and I visited New York City two years ago in 2009.  It was an amazing trip.  We did explore the financial district and didn’t see much of the rebuilding efforts as it was fenced off.  One of the most moving experiences, however, was the ground zero museum that we went to.  It is nothing more than a small apartment building, but it is filled with photos and items recovered from the site after the towers fell.  With each item or picture, you could listen to a brief story behind it.  I thought I would share some photos from the event.

Gary Suson (guy in Gray T-shirt) was the official photographer of the recovery efforts.  He did not profit from his pictures until after the recovery and clearing of the debris was complete.

Clock that was in the subway station area stopped at the time the tower fell.

The photographer took this picture briefly in the midst of the rubble before being called back out.  Only later when he developed the film for this picture, did he realize that the passage that the Bible was open to was the fall of the tower of Babel.  It was because of this incident that he continued his work as photographer.

Miscellaneous items recovered.  The fireman is holding a book that his son (another firefighter) used to read to his grandson. The son died when the towers collapsed.

Josh at the museum listening to one of the stories.

First big plans in the city

Last night I bought tickets to see Journey in concert.  They will be in San Antonio on September 21st.  I’m probably going with Marty if he can get the time off.  If not, I’ll take my friend Brent or find someone else to go with me.  It was a pretty big expense, but I think it will be worth it.  One of the reasons why I was excited to be moving to a big city was having the opportunity to do things like this – go to concerts, plays, and such.  There were limited opportunities back in Amarillo.  And I’m such and 80’s music fan, I think it will be awesome. 

I started playing with stuff on the school website creation.  So far it is simple enough.  I will really want to get in a try to do more with it though.  I think I need to learn more html.  But that’s something I’ll work on next week. 

I’m starting to get more business in the library.  I checked out more books today.  I should probably make an announcement that the library is open.  I sent out an email to all the teachers regarding the library policy.  I’m thinking of planning a day where I invite all the teachers and have snacks and stuff and talk to them about the library and how it can support their curriculum.  I also have grand plans for integrating more technology. 

So I came home and made some dinner and now I’m just watching House Hunters on t.v.  I had a beer and am just relaxing. 

Finally Acting Like a Librarian

Today I finally did some actual library work.  I was able to semi process some books and get them on display.  I also had to deal with a few more textbook issues, but that is almost behind me.  Once again, I stayed busy all day with something to do.  I left around 4:30, went to the store and was home shortly after 5:00.  Tomorrow I have classes coming in to use the lab.  But I also have to go to a meeting downtown in the afternoon.  One thing I love about this job is that when it’s time to go home, I can leave whatever I’m doing and just go home.  I don’t have to take work home with me. 

I was feeling a little tired when I go home.  I took a benadryl last night and it really wiped me out.  I didn’t even get up until after 7:00.  But fortunately, my drive to work is only 10 minutes.  I made homemade pizza for supper tonight and it was so good.  I had five pieces.  I have a lot left over for tomorrow. 

I think I’m going to try to get to bed early tonight – but then again, I always say that.  Then I watch something on t.v. or do something online and go to bed later than planned. 

Right now I’m enjoying some wine and a chocolate oreo and watching Friends on t.v.  It’s tough being me sometimes. 

Meeting after meeting

Yesterday I had some training that wasn’t all that helpful.  Today I had to go to an LMS (Library Media Specialists) district meeting at 2:00.  Then I had to go to a mentor/mentee meeting briefly.  After that there was another local meeting of librarians at a Greek restaurant.  The meetings were ok, but still looking for more help than I’m getting.  I have another meeting on Friday afternoon.  This one is for me being one of the campus technology leaders.  I’m not sure it will be very helpful either.  I’m supposed to be responsible for the school website, but they really tie our hands in terms of the method we use.  It’s a very limited and basic program that they require. 

I’m finally getting to the point that I can start doing actual library work.  I had a class use the lab today and students are coming in to check out books before school.  I need to plan orientation meetings for the English classes.  I put together my policies to send out to the teachers and they were approved by the principal today. 

Not much to tell here – just meetings and work.  Still like it though.  I continue to keep busy in spite of a few frustrations here and there.  Oh, I forgot to mention that I got new curtains for my house.  On Monday I went shopping and spent $300 on curtains for the living room and my bedroom.  I’m pleased with how they turned out.  I’ll try to upload pictures when I get a chance.

Moving forward

Yesterday’s dinner party was a success.  I’m sorry Andrew is disappointed that I didn’t make my famous cashew chicken.  Marty doesn’t eat chicken these days so I wanted to make something that he would like.  Surprisingly, he has never had my stromboli or fettucine alfredo so it was a pleasant surprise for both him and Brent.  They enjoyed the dinner very much.  I even made lemon bundt cake for dessert.  Brent brought me three bottles of wine and I still had one left over from the first time he brought wine.  Needless to say, I got slightly tipsy.  But it was a very pleasant evening with some good company.

Unfortunately I didn’t sleep all that well.  I woke up around 3-something and couldn’t fall back asleep very fast.  Probably had something to do with the alcohol.  Live and learn.  I eventually drifted off, but then Max wanted to go outside so my sleep was very fitful.  Luckily I have a mini-fridge at work stocked with coke zero.  So I had one this morning around 9:00 and another at lunch.

I finally got all the books out of the library and cleared all the top shelves.  I have stacks of workbooks that I have to pack up, but luckily, I’ve saved boxes for that.  I spent more time today doing actual library “stuff” but a lot of it was still just cleaning and organizing.  I’m still staying busy – haven’t been bored on the job yet. 

I went to some training on the cataloging software after school today, but didn’t feel like I got much out of it.  I learned a few new things, but nothing really relevant enough to help me at this point.  After the training, I picked up some dinner and came home to let the dogs out and eat.  Then I headed to the band rehearsal.

I have to say that I’m somewhat disappointed in the caliber of the band.  I was worried that I might have to prove myself, but that’s not going to be the case.  I would think in such a big city – with millions of people, there would be a large amount of talent, but it was rather scarce tonight.  The regular conductor also just resigned so they have a guest conductor for the first concert and he just doesn’t even come close to the amazing director of the other band I was in.  I’m not saying that I played better than everyone – I couldn’t play everything, but the lady sitting next me had the absolute worst sound.  She was way out of tune and her tone was awful – like she is playing a reed that is way too soft for her.  It was so hard to play next to her.  I was the only one in the section to use a tuner.  I do need to get my chops back in shape.  My mouth was hurting after the 2 hour rehearsal. 

I’m going to call it a night – already past my bedtime and I’ve got to get up earlier tomorrow than I did today.  I reset the alarm after it went off – despite the fact that I had to get out of bed to do so. 

Big Day Tomorrow

I have company coming over tomorrow.  Marty and Brent are coming over and I’m cooking fettucine alfredo and stromboli for them.  I went to the store this morning to get all the stuff for it.  I’ve found that shopping on a Sunday morning is the best time to go.  No waiting in lines and certainly not as crowded.  I have the bread dough in a bag rising right now.  I’ll probably try to get it ready tonight and put it in the fridge for tomorrow.  Marty is coming around noon and I think we’re going to go look at shelves.  If I find something I want, we will have his truck to haul it back in. 

Surprisingly Marty was flirting with me last night.  He mentioned being lonely and I asked him if he was talking to me out of loneliness or if he actually missed me.  He told me that he actually missed me.  That’s an interesting development.  Now I don’t want my long time readers to worry that I will foolishly put any stock in that or jump into a relationship with him.  First of all, I’m completely leery about his ability to handle a relationship at all and I’m not willing to put myself in the line of fire again.  Having said that, however, I certainly wouldn’t mind something along the lines of friends who hold hands or kiss from time to time.  We just have this history and friendship that keeps us together.  But Marty has a long way to go before he should consider dating anyone again. 

In another interesting twist, I had a guy on eharmony initiate communication with me and we’ve been emailing.  My subscription ran out a few weeks ago, but it’s a free communication weekend so I was able to respond.  I don’t know what he looks like since I can’t see his picture without being a full member but he seems nice enough.  Unfortunately, he has a very large red flag that I don’t think I will be able to get past.  He has been married three times.  For me that is a signal to run away as fast as I can.  I can understand making a marriage mistake once – after all, I did.  Twice, something may be wrong with the person.  Three times, something is absolutely wrong with the person.  Some people should just not marry – like my ex-husband.  But I may continue to communicate with him, but pretty certain it won’t go anywhere. 

Haven’t heard from Matthew in a few days now – but I’ve learned that is just how he is.  A text from him will pop up again in a few days.  He may come to visit in October – but won’t plan on it until he buys and airplane ticket. 

As much as I’ve thought forever that I wanted to be in a relationship, I’m at a point where I’m ok with not being in a relationship.  As long as I have some social opportunities, I’m relatively happy.  It’s not to say that I don’t want to be in a relationship, but I’m not in any rush to pursue something.  I am enjoying living on my own again in this new city.  I’ve discovered that I don’t even mind house cleaning.  I’ve been able to keep my house clean since I’ve moved in.  It’s amazing what one can accomplish when not going to speech tournaments and such every weekend. 

Job Clarification

Here’s the deal with my job.  Most of you are probably aware of the numerous states that have education funding issues with jobs being scarce, districts making cuts, etc.  Texas is no exception.  This is the main reason why I moved to San Antonio.  Though I thought I had planned a good transition to a library career within my district, the economy altered the plans.  I started grad school three years ago.  I knew at that time that the librarian at Hereford (where I was teaching) would be retiring in the next few years.  I figured that I would be slated to take that position easily.  But with the state budget cuts, Hereford cut librarians.  Elementary librarians would now split campuses.  So the two retiring in the district were not replaced.  Another elementary librarian moved up to the high school and another was going to return to the classroom.  Having just finished my degree, there was no library job available for me.  Though I was still going to have my teaching job, having finished my degree, I really wanted to work as a librarian.  So I started applying everywhere.  I interviewed at a local community college.  Didn’t get that job.  I interviewed at another local high school.  Didn’t get that job.  I started sending out applications outside the area where I lived.  I probably submitted 20+ applications from Dallas to San Antonio.  I interviewed in a small town called Melissa about 45 miles northeast of Dallas.  Didn’t get that job.  While I was at Nationals in Dallas, I got called by San Antonio ISD.  I interviewed there at the end of June.  I got a pre-hire job offer the next day.  Surprisingly, there were several library positions open in the district.  But I learned at that time that instead of cutting librarians, they cut library aides.  This is the main reason why I’m dealing with the mess of textbooks.  Normally it is the library aide that is the textbook coordinator and the librarian assists as needed.  I’ve walked into a job with no aide and taking on the additional responsibility of being textbook coordinator by myself.  So in the past two weeks, I have delivered, moved, and packed over 3000 textbooks alone. 

When I arrived at the school, all the textbooks were in stacks on the counters around the library.  They were out there because 1. there’s no room for all of them in the storage area and 2. they had to be placed out there for auditing purposes.  So when I arrived, I had to deliver classroom sets to teachers.  In doing that, I have to scan each one into an excel spread sheet, put them on a cart, and move them to another building – sometimes up an elevator to the second floor.  We don’t check out books to individual students because they don’t use lockers and the loss of textbooks at the end of the year is a huge financial burden on the school.  In a low income area – it’s unlikely that parents will pay for lost books and many students just move away.  But state law mandates that we have a textbook for every child – so I have to store the excess books – even though they are not being used.  In order to store them, I had to clear out the storage room that had a bunch of other materials in there.  So I pulled that stuff out and starting putting textbooks in.  Then I had to find another place to store all of the materials I pulled out.  Now the textbook storage shelves are mostly filled and I still have new books coming in October.  Not sure where I’m going to put those.  Another set of books had to be packed into boxes because they are now out of adoption and need to be picked up by the textbook warehouse drivers.  I packed 65 boxes of those books.  I just found out that they won’t be picked up until October so they will be sitting in the library until then. 

So under normal circumstances, with two people working together and an aide handling the majority of the textbook responsibilities, I could have probably opened the library this week.  But doing the job by myself it wasn’t possible.  The other reason why it hasn’t opened is because I didn’t get the instructions for importing the student data into the circulation software until Wednesday.  I got that imported on Friday morning so I plan to open on Tuesday.  So hopefully this clarifies the mess I’ve been dealing with.  Now I just need to figure out how to process all the new books sitting in my office that I haven’t touched since the first week I started working. 

Always something to do

I haven’t really gotten to do much as a librarian these past few weeks, but I’m finally getting to the point where I can open the library.  I have moved and packed thousands of books.  I finally have them out of the library space and in storage or boxes.  I still have several things to clear on Tuesday, but I should be able to officially open the library.  Today I was able to import the student data into the library software so I can check out books to students.  I still have to add new faculty as patrons, but there’s no rush at this point. 

I have stayed busy this entire week.  I barely even take a break for lunch.  I get home and am fairly exhausted.  But I’m not complaining.  I like staying busy and I’m happy to not be worrying about lesson plans, grading papers, and discipline issues.  It’s odd to not be able to go up after hours or on weekends to work, but perhaps it is a good thing. 

I’m looking forward to sleeping in tomorrow and having the three day weekend.  Not sure what I’m going to do yet.  Probably just hang out at home and watch t.v. 

Matthew still texts me once in a while.  I think he does miss me some.  He said he might come visit in October.  Won’t hold my breath, but it would be nice to see him.  I haven’t seen Marty since he helped me get my furniture at the beginning of the month.  I might see him at the reception for our friend Brent.  He married his boyfriend Leo in Massachusetts in June and they had a reception where Leo lives (Minnesota) in July and they’re having one in Austin in a few weeks. 

I made spaghetti for dinner tonight.  It was good, but now I’m stuffed and tired.  I’m thinking of getting a pillow and just resting on the couch and watch some tv until it’s bed time.  Tomorrow morning I need to mow the lawn and do a little house cleaning.  The dogs are doing much better about not having accidents in the house while I’m gone.