Vacation Days with Drew: Playtime

Hey there! You lookin' at me? Who loves the Red Sox? This cowboy. (Check out his boots. Not regulation baseball wear.)

Drew had to show off his medal for reading. His dad may have some for his road races, but I think we're all proud of Drew'sliterary laurels. Not only does he love to read about dinosaurs, but thanks to Grandmary's Christmas present, he loves to play with them too.

Most of the time though, he's just monkeying around at the playground, or driving us in circles.

But then, we all get even with TICKLE TIME!

Seriously, it's so nice that I even get to see him so much. Another few years and he'll be too busy with other things, or far too cool to even let me "hang" out near him. These pictures can be deceptive, however, because he will pull a 'tude at the drop of the hat if he's tired, hungry, or thinks things aren't going his way. He actually put himself in time-out once; just walked away in a huff, and took himself off to his room at the grandparents' house, where after we checked on him 20 minutes later discovered he had fallen asleep. When exactly are the terrible "tweens" supposed to start? Because not-quite-7 seems a little early...

Day in the Life of The Shushing Librarian - Part 3

One of the hardest things I have learned over the years is that to be a well-adjusted Shushing Librarian, I must find a work/life balance. To that end, I have decided to take my own advice, and go out and pursue those music lessons I was talking about the other month when I was out with Auntie Nettie and the girls.

Right now all of those notes are nothing more than scribbles on a page, but I have great tenacity. Granted, my right arm is a bit limited in mobility due to my grievous injury from my biggest fan and then the subsequent surgery, but if Leon Fleischer could have a decades long career as a left-handed pianist, surely I can learn to play Twinkle Twinkle with my left hand.
I was actually talking to one of my patrons about my music lessons and my challenges, and they suggested some basic ukulele lessons. I can chord with one hand and strum with the other. Now I just have to find an instrument to scale.
I have also always wanted to learn to ride, so this year I decided to work it into my busy schedule. I've been spending a lot of time at The Fisher Price Stables and the Breyer Barns just doing some work mucking stalls, and helping by walking out and cooling down some of the lesson horses--just so I can be more comfortable with the animals. As a bonus, I get to hang out in the broodmare barns and play with the foals.
I'm not to the point where I have to ride Bessy here ala Luna the Jumping Cow.
The instructors have found me a gentle experienced ride, that's just my size. She may be tiny, but she's a high-stepper.You may not know it to look at me, but I love futbol! Soccer to the silly Americans. The only position I can get behind in regular American football is the tight end (*wink*). You have to admit those soccer shorts really show off the guys', um ... athleticism. (Yeah, that's it. Let's go with athleticism. Ahem!)

Whenever I "happen" to be in a park on the weekend with the various pickup games or soccer tourneys, I always stop by and enjoy the ... athleticism. And the view ain't bad, neither.
What else can I tell you about me to help illustrate the fact that I have a real life and interests outside the library shelves, the pages of books, or the binary codes of cyber space?

Oh yes. How could I forget? The suit may be blue, and I may have on slip-on loafers (with lots of arch support, so I can shelve and wander the stacks) but I bleed red ... for the

Boston Red Sox!

I may work in the Big Apple area, and support the FDNY, the NYPL, and the NYPD, but I'm a Boston Red Sox fan through and through. I will beat you over the head with my giant Pez dispenser if you bring any pin-striped or orange-hued things near my house. Just saying!
Most importantly, Katie? Librarians, or more specifically, this Shushing Librarian, LOVES STAR WARS too. It's hard for me to get away from the sci-fi section of my library, (which, sadly, is under-stocked), but when I do ... I go to cons and geek out with the best of them.

Here I am at a con with this Mr. Potato Head dressed as my second favorite droid, R2-D2. I had hoped to run into C-3PO to talk to him a bit about etiquette and procedure, but he was mobbed.
The odd thing at cons? People confuse me with this Nancy Pearl person. They think I'm in costume. It happens at library conferences too. No offense Ms. Pearl, but I think we look nothing alike,

So those are some of my "outside" interests and hobbies: nice and varied, adding lots of dimensions to my personality, and hopefully helping to dispel the myths that surround people in my profession. Notice: I have NO CATS. Not one. I can neither confirm, nor deny, the possible presence of a tattoo upon my personage, however.

Since we started off this week -- which ironically is National Library Week (and this wasn't planned at all!) -- with how I start my day, let's bring this full circle.

A typical day would end with me running some last minute errands. Just like you, I always spend too much time and money at Costco. (The Geico Gekko and I have learned tricks on how to hide our wallets, purses, and cell phones -- and I will not reveal our magic secrets here!)
I come home and have dinner. This night it was a giant pizza with potatoes, broccoli, bacon, and cheddar over a white sauce. Never fear. I didn't eat the whole thing in one sitting. I made a large batch so I could have the leftovers through out the week.
If the weather is nice and it is still light/warm out, I will take a long walk in the woods. It calms me down, centers me, lets my brain decompress, and frankly, burns off some of that pizza.
If that doesn't work to relax me, I come back home ... Pour a stiff drink (like this one),
and then run a hot, hot bath. If I hadn't cropped my hair short for expediency's sake, I'd let it down in the bath.
Finally, I crawl into bed, pull the covers up, turn off the light, and drift into sweet, sweet slumber.

Shush! I'm sleeping.
Do not disturb!

Thanks for spending time learning about what constitutes a typical Day in the Life of The Shushing Librarian.

Learn more about National Library Week by clicking here.

Go forth, use your library card, and say THANK YOU to all your local library employees.

Please advocate for those employees, and your library and its resources, by paying attention to local legislation when it comes to budget referendums and election time. Your library is one of your community's biggest treasures.

Stay tuned for more of my Amazing Adventures ... coming one day, when Auntie Nettie deigns to let me guest post again. ox SL!