Thing 9 - Sliding Around

My family starting camping a few years ago and got hooked. Here is a slideshow of some of our adventures. I used Rock You, because I've used it to make slideshows on my MySpace page. I already had an account and one less new password to remember was good.

Thing 8 - Alternative Means of Communicating

So luckily I had already done all of these things before. I'm not much into chat, I'm all about the phone if you have to talk and you're not next to each other. But really, I don't like the phone either. I'm all for old-fashioned talking face to face. However communicating through technology when face to face isn't possible is great! When my sister's where in high school, they were always chatting online with random strangers that soon became boyfriends (I don't know what my parents were thinking.) Sometimes they'd have to run to the bathroom and I'd pretend to be them or just be myself (as I got to know some of them after they came for visits-some staying on my couch-or I drove my sister to them-what was I thinking?) Emily and I decided to set up Google Talk. We had fun for a day iming each other since our offices are on opposite sides of the library. I have also used the chat function in Facebook. Whenever I'm on Facebook (usually trying to upload pics) people will message me. This is hard because the uploading pic feature covers up most of the im box, but that is a complaint for another post. I also do AskALibrarian. While I think the service is good, I'm not a huge fan. Most people want to know something specific to their own library and think I'm sitting in their library. Half the time I end up telling them to contact their own branch because I can find the answer on their library's website. Other people ask for answers to their homework or big long involved questions that I find very difficult to do when not face to face. The reference transaction is harder, you can't see facial expressions, hear tone, etc. I'm glad Florida offers it, but its not really my thing.

So texting. I'm not a texter. I only see the need for this when you are in a place you can't talk, like class, and you need to find out something from someone. Or you are bored in class and you need something to keep you awake. I do it on occasion, because several friends and family are big texters. My sister does it while driving, SCARY! The money issue comes into it to. Some people have unlimited texting with their plans, while their phone minutes are limited, so its more cost effective to text. I could pay $5 a month for unlimited text, but I do so little, I just pay 15 cents a text and have only gone over $5 once. So not cost effective for me, but I'm sure it is for others. I know UF uses texts to send out campus wide alerts, like closing for a hurricane. Which is a really fast and effective way to reach kids, cause they always have their phones. So texting has its purposes, but not for me. Texting kids about library programs would be cool.

I have partcipated in a few web conferences. They involved my phone and computer and most allowed me to ask questions over the phone. I think this is by far the best form of communication of the three discussed. It is such a great way to get info out there, without having to do all the expensive and time consuming travel. You can have people all over the country in on the same meeting. It is sooo awesome! The only problem is that many people don't understand what they are doing and time gets wasted helping people fix their technology problems. On one occasion the technology wasn't working for anybody and they had to cancel the class. That is a downside, but when it works, its fabulous.

busy, fun, drama, i need a break!

so much going on lately. last thursday the girls at church had a luau party, which was loads of fun. that night my friend carrie got engaged and asked me to be a bridesmaid!

then i went to orlando for two days to hang out with ishu and justin and their baby olive. macaroni grill, shopping, playing with the babe, homemade indian and mexican food, movie watching, ikea, sleeping in, and playing the wii, made for a great weekend. ishu did happen to back into my car, but luckily its just a tiny dent and she is fine (well as fine as ishu can be :)

then a long church meeting on sunday, that was very good. thursday my newly engaged friend and i went to see her fiance(!) play in his jazz band. it was an awesome concert! lots of working out during the week. friday it rained cats and dogs, but emily and i still went to body pump and i added more weights! saturday was emily's son's bday party at 9am. yes very early for me. the party was lots of fun and messy (one child had explosive diarrhea). her son opened one gift and promptly gave it to his brother and another he was determined to open and play with. other kids started opening the rest of his gifts. then off to lowe's to buy flowers. i spent three hours preparing the beds, pulling weeds, mixing soil, planning where to put everything, digging holes, planting, and watering. squatting and bending and kneeling and digging for 3 hours left me quite sore. i jumped in the shower (i was pretty filthy) and loaded up the dessert for my dad's bday party. a quick stop at hallmark for an awesome star trek (spock speaks) bday card and then to my sister's. we had a yummy meal, with a little drama with another sister (she went to the wrong house for the party and then her radiator exploded). she took my car to her second job and we had frozen yogurt sundaes piled with fresh fruit for dessert. oh yum! then yet another sister and her husband took me by the house they just bought (closing in 30 days) and i took lots of pics and looked in all the windows. then home for washing dishes and doing 3 loads of laundry. so tired! i slept and crocheted and watched tv all sunday. plus i cooked a delicious pork roast in the slow cooker with red potatoes and baby carrots. someone should really marry me with all the domestic skills i have :) on the diet/workout front. i lost 3.5 lbs this week. that makes a total of 20.5 lbs lost!!! i'm very psyched. with my sister having my car while her's is repaired, i'm walking to work. it was a beautiful morning for it. the family camping trip is coming up friday. i'm so ready to get away from work! i'm slightly worried about not being at the gym for a whole week, but i'm bringing free weights and my yoga dvd (yes we camp in style with a tv and dvd player). plus there are lots of nature trails and a lake to swim in and we have kayaks. plus my brother is 18 and filled with the energy of the young. i'll drag him along with me (anything to escape the parents :)

busy wonderful day (mostly)

what a whirlwind today has been. meeting downtown all about young adult services. tons of techno stuff thrown at me, mostly really cool, but when will i find the time to do it all. then to work, filling out purchase requests for bookmarks and stickers. i tell you patrons expect you to have bookmarks. they expect you to let them have 30 for their classroom, they expect there to be different ones everytime they come. is this really what they want their tax dollars spent on, when they could use a scrap of paper, maybe their checkout slip we give them anyway? i digress.

then timesheets to fill out and sign, emails to answer, desks to man, people to help, complaining to do. next comes closing the library really quickly since we had a meeting/retirement party in the library starting right when we closed. i'm the closer. i'm also on the desk. i have people who want library cards. i have people banging on the door. stress! then the meeting lasts long enough for me to get comfortable on the floor (shortest meeting ever!) and then up to make sure everything is on the table, food, utensils, ice etc. yummy food, conversation with all the millhopperites that have been farmed out to other places during the renovation, and lots of laughs. in some ways i really really can't wait to have our building back. in other ways its kind of a long vacation. there isn't as much work, which is good, cause i'd have no time to do it. its all about the basics, not many extras, like all the programming stuff i usually do. i need to be going out to schools and daycares, and i miss it a little, but i also have enjoyed the break. cause i know when we get back, there will be soooo much to do with children and young adults and planning and presenting and creating inviting spaces and giving the patrons what they want, that i don't even want to think about it right now. wow that was a bit of a tangent.

anyway, work party to church party. so fun. it was a luau theme with leis and flowers in our hair and lots of fruit and strawberry daquiris (virgin of course). then we hulla hooped. i got applause for being the worst, but trying the hardest. then the limbo contest, which luckily my bad back gets me out of, so i just took lots of pics. the best part was that i got to catch up with one of my dearest friends and hear about all the wonderful things happening with her and her man. she hinted that bling was coming and that i needed a red dress this summer! wonderful news and then my sis gave me some bad news. she can't catch a break. i love her so much and i just got so angry for her.

then off to the gym to burn the anger away and lose myself in cardio and grey's anatomy. it did the trick the anger ebbed and i burned lots of calories (down 14 lbs. in 3 weeks! wahoo!) then home and packing for a weekend trip to orlando! paying bills, payday! and then the text message. the i'm engaged and i wanted to let you know before its on facebook message. then the phone call with lots of squealing and hearing about the proposal and talking dates and dresses and planning. i'm sooo excited for her. she's found a magnificient man. she is so wonderful and deserves this happiness and it also makes me happy to see that girls do find mr right. maybe me next? eehhh, maybe not. but i am super excited about being a bridesmaid. it'll be my fifth time, i think. its stressful and fun and nice to be there for someone during one of the greatest experiences of their life. i'm glad i didn't have any trips planned, cause now my summer's booked! okay time for bed. i've got yoga at 8:30am!!

things i've been doing (not 23)

I haven't written in awhile. Definitely haven't done 23 things lately. I've had 2 evaluations to do on my underlings, but I just finished, yeah! I've been working out most everday and joined the gym on Sunday. I lost 1.5 lbs. last week, for a total of 12. Except for some leg pain due to my lousy back, I'm feeling great and eating well. This past Friday, I went to Cedar Key with my roommate. It was her birthday and she'd never been. We had fun looking in all the tourist shops and art galleries. We had a yummy seafood lunch overlooking the Gulf. It was a beautiful day, as you can see below. I have to work this weekend, again. But I just planned two trips for April.


One is camping in GA with my parents and brother. Luckily its only a week and just one campground. Last summer we spent three weeks going to 9 parks. We got so tired of each other, we skipped the last one and came home two days early. So we're going to that one for a week.

The next trip is to see my friend Susan. We have been pals since senior year of high school. She moved to Alabama 8 or 9 years ago, and I go see her every year (except the year she lost her house in a hurricane, yes really). We are going to spend two days hanging out with her son and going to the beach and then two days road tripping to wherever the wind takes us. I'm way excited about that.

pump up the jam

that keeps going through my head. i think its all that excitable gym music. i did another yoga class last week and then body pump on friday night. oh. my. goodness. i thought my thighs were broken. its weight lifting with barbells and a weight bar while you do lunges and squats (so many squats) and bicep curls and other craziness. i was able to do the majority of it. the next two days were painful, especially trying to sit. yesterday was the first day my legs started feeling better. i did a stretch class and then time on the elliptical and treadmill. i skipped streetwalkers since it was 32 degrees outside during the class.

i went to a lecture on how to loss belly fat last night. not really any new info, but i got to meet other people doing the heartsmart program and saw their scorecard sheets. i think i'm a shoe in to win. the best part of all this is that i weighed myself sunday morning and this week i've lost . . . drumroll please . . . 10.5 lbs!!!! a very successful first week. i feel great and i lost weight. onto week two.