Misadventures of the Monster Librarian

My family planned a little mini-vacation for a long weekend in California--to see my brother A2's Commisioning Ceremony (he is becoming an officer)--about 5 months ago. I leave tomorrow for California. I come back on Monday. I do final laundry, final packing, last minute cleaning and pack my car on Tuesday. I pack the cargo (moving) van on Wednesday. I leave for MA. I arrive on Thursday. I unload my car. I unload cargo van. I start work Friday. I feel ever so thin scrapped as it is. Just want to get there and get settled. Tired. Hoping California has reviving powers. Well...I guess anything that isn't Michigan in February will.

For those of you who are familiar with The Chronicles of Narnia, by C.S. Lewis, you will be familiar with the Voyage of the Dawn Treader as well. The first time I read the story I hated the character of Eustace Scrubb--who is introduced in Dawn Treader; a cousin to the Pevensies--even though Lewis gives him an opportunity for redemption. I disliked his curmudgeonly behavior from the get-go, and disliked his disbelief in Aslan. (I was however highly entertained by his journal entries.) And then, I reread the series this fall and was amazed and awed, upon closer inspection, at Eustace's transformation from dragon back into boy (after some number of mishaps) I fell in love with the character of Eustace this second time around. For those of you who don't know the story: Eustace is turned into a dragon and then after a series of events, finally becomes a more humble person, which then allows him to open himself up for a transformation. He is turned back into a boy with Aslan's ...

Been thinking a lot about the Farm these days. Thinking how the winter there is completely different than the summer, not so much for the obvious reasons like temperature, but more so for the simple luxuries of a season. A season where the smell of wood stoves is present; a time when animals tuck themselves away for the winter and thoughts about things like bears getting into the trash is less of a worry; a season of a winding trail through the woods, with a river who offers a sound slightly louder than silence in the trickling and winding flow of water under a now seemingly completely iced over top. I love the Farm in every season. I have been thinking a lot of the Farm lately. For many reasons. One reason is that my good friend TSO, of Travelin' Shoes , is returning home. Back to the Farm where we all met. I am a little more than envious. I think of the Farm as home and getting back there only ever brings joy to me. In all this thinking about the Farm, and returning to places ...

After a series of emails which made me feel less than comfortable, it became apparent that things are again shifting at Library X. This time for the people…not just the budgets. One of the emails read as follows: "Hi all, The news is not good. Our budget for part time hours has been reduced. I am revising the February schedule to reflect the cuts. According to the new budget numbers, we ran 40-50% over budget in January. The hours have to be reduced to essential scheduling only. This is the case in all departments with part time employees, Circulation, pages, custodial, and Reference. The materials budget was cut as well. I wish I had better news." When the remainders of my audio visual budgets were cut in October, I was ok with it. I had done a lot of purchasing earlier in the year, and what I didn’t get then I figured I would get after the New Year and our budgets are replaced. My audio visual (DVDs, books on CD, read-a-long book/CD sets and Playaways) budget last yea...