Sunday, August 25, 2013

Big Changes

Things change. Life never stops moving. Surprises happen. Here's why I haven't blogged in a while....
Jordan and I knew we wanted to move back to Illinois (St.Elmo) as soon as he got out in January. Our plan was for me to quit my job and come home in December with Ollie and then wait on Jordan. Well things happened sooner than planned.
Two weeks ago I was so sad seeing all of my teacher homies and former students going back to school and posting pics and prepping their new outfits and school supplies and classrooms. I was jealous. I started thinking about how much I hated my job and how I needed to focus on the fact that one day I WOULD teach again. To humor myself, I contacted the Family and Consumer Sciences teacher at St.Elmo. I asked her how I could get started to sub when I move etc. She lead me to the ROE office. The wonderful lady at the ROE office gave me the information and then said, " It's really too bad you aren't moving home sooner, the Dieterich FCS teacher just resigned this morning" Hmm. I figured, I have to apply, if only to know that I had done everything in my power to teach. Two days later I send in my resume. Last Wednesday I flew to Illinois. Thursday was my interview. Friday I was offered and accepted the job. It's truly a teacher's fairy tale. I promised I would write about how I packed 2-3 weeks worth of clothes into a carry on and backpack. So here it is:

First, I watched this video.

The trick is this: layering. Bottom layer is shoes. Shoes are stuffed completely with socks, undies, camis, bras, whatever you can stuff in them. Next you do pants: butt side in the suitcase, knee down outside of the suitcase. You layer pants, dresses and shirts this way layer by layer, opposing the suitcase sides. When they are all layered, then you start folding the hang out part back into the suitcase. It will be tempting to take the whole right pile and flop it in then the left pile and flop it in. Don't. Layer each piece back in, taking turns, tucking them in like a bed. It will zip, I promise. Here is everything I packed into my carry on:


In my backpack, I packed my purse, laptop, phone and laptop chargers, makeup bag, 3 baggies of toiletries (medicine, toothbrush, toothpaste, floss, contacts, contact solution, razor, deodorant, glasses case, lotion etc.), 2 binders, a book, 2 sticks of jerky, 2 granola bars and some more crap I can't remember. The point is: I made my two little bags count!
Here is a pic of my carry on, I could have packed even more if I wanted to:





And that is my packing adventure! 

When I was suffering away at the library, I kept a list of strange patrons, things that happened and weird names to make a blog about when I quit, so here is that treasure trove.

1. the lady who asked where the Atlanta zoo is
2. the lady who cried because she wanted to be my mother in law
3. the man who said his phone number was both old and new
4. the lady with the bug glasses who butted in line and said "if you only knew how much money I have"
5. The man who hung himself in the bathroom (this was really horrible, he was a regular customer and this shook us up quite a bit)
6. The 1,000,000 customers who ask for the tag office
7. The customers who swear their card was expired a few months ago, too
8. My co worker who asked a mentally disable person if she was deaf, asked the lesbian if she was a gay man, asked countless young women if "they hair was a weave"
9. The ridiculous urban fiction titles (The Millionaire's Baby, Cartier Cartel, God Ain't Done, Good Man Ain't Nowhere, Top Bitch)
10. The highest fines we have encountered (My highest encounter was $675)
11. The patrons who refuse to pay their fines because "no one told me about late fees"
12. The mother's day balloon woman who had 3 accounts, all of them created by "demons" and "ghosts" tryin to keep her down! One of the addresses was in a penitentiary that she said the demons resigned at. 
13. The patron who yelled at me because "no one will help her, her kids are tearing things off the wall and she wanted THAT book, we cant find it so we are an unorganized place and she is never coming back" then walked out the door with dvds in the cases.
14. The horrible man who called us stupid, demanded a separate receipt for each of his 20-30 books both checking in and checking out. Did I mention he carries a beating stick?
15. My co worker who told people that she did investigative work on me and I had gotten fired from my old job for "spreading lies and texting bosses". I never got to ask her how Fashion Bug was doing? Since they closed last year...
16. I would tell many more hilarious co worker stories but it's not entirely professional and you all would think I was making them up, that's how much crazy was crammed into them.

Patron Names
Princess
SirWilliam SirMichael
Ro'Nautica
Molly Cottle
Cherish
Shimmer
Puddin'
Iadonnasanova
Makepeace

These things may not make sense to you, but to other librarians or library friends, try not to wet yourselves. You know the truth behind these horrors. 

And last but not least, a glimpse of lovely Southern Illinois...











Friday, August 9, 2013

Fabulous Children's Books

All of this back to school bustle, friends having babies, pregnant or sending their little ones to school has me in the school mode full force. Since I am not currently teaching, I will help myself to some blog therapy. And working at a library gives me the chance to creep the best book selections and spend a lot of time reading children's books. So....

Baby Books

 Babylit - Adult classics in baby board book form.



Just try and tell me those are not the cutest book you've ever seen...

Cozy Classics-Yet more baby versions of adult classics, only felt characters. Etsy meets books?





 Beatrix Potter-  I have always loved her book art and morals of the stories. So comforting. I think her art would make beautiful nursery decorations.

 
 



 Charley Harper - Last and my favorite artist of all time. His view of nature and every day objects is just mind blowing.





 Above is my favorite print in the whole world. I have a thing for skulls, what can I say? Luckily, so does Jordan.



Children's

Dog Heaven - This one is a tearjerker but so worth it to help heal the loss of a pet. (adults included)


In Our Mothers' House- I found this book by mistake. A woman brought it up to me to return and was appalled that we would have this book where children can see it. So I read the book to see what the fuss was about. The book depicts a lesbian couple who adopt and parent an ethically diverse group of children. The family is extremely happy and the children grow up to be successful and have families of their own. I don't really see her point of it being appalling or wrong but potatoes potaaaaatoes I guess.



Where the Wild Things Are- This is a classic, and I feel like the book is very different from the movie.


 Eric Carle Books- Like Charley Harper, I love love love Carle's art. It's so unique and interesting. He has tons of books available.




What is your go-to Children's book for gifting or your own child?