Misadventures of the Monster Librarian

*toot toot*

Someone prefers naps to packing boxes. And the cat does too. The move is plodding along. I finished painting the living room and hallway yesterday; 2 coats primer, 2 coats paint to cover up the monstrosity that was a room consisting of: rust red, vomitrocious green, and dish water dirty brown. Still trying to understand that motif. I've slowly been taking batches of boxes over as layers of paint were drying. My hope is to finish getting all boxes moved by this weekend. We'll begin sleeping there Friday night, and furniture will be delivered next Saturday. So close! I'll be happily settled before Christmas! As most moves go, I find, this is happening while we're super busy at work: book groups, Santa's visit, holiday movies, and Gingerbread houses are all on the calendar this week and next; our Holiday Silent Auction winds down soon; and we're again doing Feet for Fines (folks bring in new socks, shoes, etc. and we clear their fines). Counting down the ...

Feeling truly blessed today. Nobody wants to work on their birthday, but today has been a blast, and yes, I have gotten very little done. My staff surprised me with a cake My dear friend Liz sent me a stunning bouquet of flowers Mom, Prairie Dawn, and I went to one of my fav restaurants in Sticks for lunch Two of my favorite kiddos surprised me a homemade card and chocolate chip cookies And I get to be dressed in costume (one of my favorite things to do!) because Sticks Trick o' Treat Night is tonight and our FRIENDS group throws a huge party for kids passing through Feeling so grateful, grateful, grateful today; thankful for a job I love, folks who care about me, and health and happiness to appreciate every day of this grand life! Part of the card the kids made for me Part of the card the kids made for me

Ben, Beth, Everett Ben carrying my niece through one of the small caves. My niece had a huge crush on Ben, asking him to carry her through the park. She has good taste--Ben's a gem. My brother A3's family: Alex (8mos), Dayna, A3, Savannah Our weekend away was lovely. I took a half day on Friday and after 3 hours of fall colors alongside the roads meandering south and east, I wound up at the house we were renting. Right around the time I finished unloading my car and stowing all the food in the fridge, A3 and company were pulling up, followed 5 minutes later by Beth, Ben, and Everett, who'd traveled from the Farm in Massachusetts.  The weekend was typical Midwest fall: colorful, blustery, rainy at times, perfect for being snuggly tucked away in a lovely house with friends and family. We were able to find a pocket of time when it wasn't raining and headed to Hocking Hills for a couple hours of camping. The kids were EXCELLENT the whol...

It is hard to think of something as grand to write about as Europe...so, as I recoup, I'll share a picture of my adorable furry son, Hemmy.

Beautiful 13th century architecture in Bruges, Belgium Amsterdam at night The best lunch EVER. Homemade bread with mustard, ham, violet creme fraiche, gherkins; salad. Amsterdam The Bern Munster (Church), Bern, Switzerland Freiburg, Germany Beethoven (born here) watches over this square, Bonn, Germany City Hall, Hamburg, Germany Normany U.S. Cemetery and Memorial, France Commemorates D-Day invasion, Omaha Beach Sacre Coeur, Montmartre, Paris France The Eiffel Tower, Paris

My 5 nieces in nephews, Thanksgiving 2013 with my Mom and A1. Yes, I'm the cool Aunt who buys mustaches for the kids. Then nephew Alex joined us in February. This weekend was not only about his Baptism, it was also about half our family meeting him for the first time--including all of this cousins. Who LOVE babies. Which meant lots of cute photos: Alex with cousin Gala Alex with cousin Noah I think the boys love having another boy in the family--Aidan pointed out that now the boys are tied with the girls (I am 1 of 4 kids: 2 boys, 2 girls; each of my siblings has 2 kids: 1 girl, 1 boy) Savannah was so excited to have some big kids to play with--her baby brother does laugh at her now, and roll over, but he isn't as fun as these monkeys: Syd and Aidan Gala, Syd, Noah, Savannah The girls: Gala, Syd, and Savannah with her Dad--my brother is such a good Dad. It's been interesting to watch my sibs become parents.  The time with my family was ...

Do your parents ever ask for recommendations for FREE online resources for their kids? If so, this is a great list that I got from one of my parents!

Last week was a stressful mess of working on our yearly state report, paperwork galore, and sorting out some staffing issues, among other things, but none of that mattered yesterday. Yesterday my beautiful little nephew was born to my brother A3 and sis-in-law Dayna. We went to the hospital yesterday, my niece, my Mom (who's watching while her parents and new brother are at the hospital) and I, and as I stood there holding this new little wonder I thought back to nearly 2 years ago when I stood in a room on this very hospital floor holding my now walking-talking-sassy niece --where does the time go!? And then there she was climbing onto the couch to sit between my brother and mom, examining her new baby brother, looking up at us to say, "Baby Alex." Heart. Melted. I can't believe I am the Auntie of 6 kids: 3 boys, 3 girls, ages 9years - newborn. Seems just yesterday I was meeting my first niece. *Sigh* So, until I can get my shit together to write a proper blog...

Sometimes I get so foot-stompingly, hmpf'ing-ly angry when life doesn't go the way I planned it, and that's usually when I see the "life is beautiful," reminders like Sunday night's sunset. 

In the greater Cleveland area meant "Lake effect snow," inches of the white stuff, which the nieces and nephews from SC and VA were excited to play in. Snow angels abounded! Time with family, feeling grateful for the kids: this is my chunky monkey, the youngest of my 5 nieces and nephews. Working together to produce an amazing meal...what was left of mine.

Not sure what this was...? Dried tongue=I think this was some sort of fruit jerky Slimy Eyeballs=olives Zombie skin=old flour tortillas rubbed with just a little olive oil Beating Heart=whole, skinned, tomatoes Brains=a jello molded spaghetti and red jello monstrosity--this looked so real it freaked the kids the hell out! Waxy ears=dried apricots Extracted teeth=fried corn (the kernels get groady dried and brittle--never saw that before I moved here) Toenail trimmings=? Don't remember Dry bones=dried out chicken bones  I mentioned our FRIENDS of the Library's awesome pizza party and zombie laboratory, held here at the Library on Halloween night, but never shared the pics.  Super fun and super simple.

Cockroaches and eyeballs! Our table cloth Spiders and bugs hanging in webs! Best thing on the table: WITCHES FINGERS: pretzels covered in chocolate (dyed green), with almond finger nails. Zombie signage Zombie signage We recently hosted a teen Zombie Prom at the Library; Prairie Dawn had a great time doing "The Creep," with the kids, enjoying snacks, and other gross-out games. Thought I'd share some photos!