December Greetings

Christmas Day is fast approaching and Terry and I are taking a breather from the mall madness. We shipped the last of the Christmas packages last week. Terry also got the Christmas letter written and that also has been sent out. The presents we are going to wrap are under the tree. As Terry has the habit of very wisely purchasing presents for himself - some of the presents under the tree were a surprise to me and are also unwrapped. I already know one of my presents - The Tales of Beedle the Bard by J. K. Rowling...so far I have been good and have not read it.

The weather outside is neither cold or snowy, but I know Christmas is near because Terry bought eggnog. Calorie laded eggnog has become a tradition in our house. Each year we have the "should we get it and the no, no, no too many calories" discussion. Most years the eggnog wins, despite my rooting for the no-eggnog holiday. This year Terry added ice cream to the mix, I believe he has plans for an low calorie eggnog ice cream shake.

While on the road visiting the Augusta County Library and the Handley Regional Library I discovered I had cracked a molar. Terry always keeps headache medication in the car with is a combination of aspirin, Tylenol and caffeine so I was able to manage until I was able to see a dentist. Before I cracked my tooth I had decided to do something about getting braces for my crooked and crowded teeth. I was in the process of setting up appointments to see about removing some teeth. The cracked tooth provided additional complications of which teeth should be pulled. I currently have a brace around the tooth which has stopped the pain. I will be seeing the dentist on Monday to start the process of have a cap put on the tooth.

As part of my job as Children's and Youth Services Consultant for the State Library in Virginia I plan training for public libraries and create statewide programs. This of course means the summer reading program. I am working with a talented group of librarians on the public relations part of the summer reading program. Come this summer children in Virginia, Minnesota and 45 other states will enjoy the same reading program theme "Be Creative At Your Library" and "Express Yourself At the Library." I am chairing the Marketing and Public Relations Committee, which is charged with hiring creative and talented people to produce a video announcement and a radio announcement. I have seen the storyboard and they will be fantastic. I have also implemented a winter reading program, "Snuggle with a Book" with a polar bear theme. I am working with the Peter Rabbit people to create the 2010 winter reading program, featuring 11 illustrations from Tales of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter. I am also working with Jan Brett to offer a 2011 winter reading program featuring Hedgie. It is quite exciting to see these programs come together.

Terry and I have both become hooked with the Sudoku puzzles. Terry has discovers some on-line puzzle while I an enjoying the paper puzzles. I have done some of the "difficult" ones, but I am stumped by the ones labeled Fiendish.

Holiday Dinner

Terry announced today that for Thanksgiving dinner we will have pizza and I would be making the Christmas Dinner. As Terry has taken over the cooking I feel he deserves a holiday from kitchen work, so I am more than happy to keep Terry happy by putting together the Christmas meal. I have had some success in the past with holiday meals. I make a mean sweet potato casserole and cinnamon rolls - the kind where you can't have just one. Yet who can forget the "so sorry I am not a vegetarian blacken cranberry stuffed chicken breast" a few holidays ago or the "I can't believe this is stuffing" and the "please don't tell me this is dessert - lemon gingerbread pear trifle" For the record the dessert tasted fine, but looked ooey.

When we lived in Hibbing, the Thanksgiving holidays were spent with friends. The first year we were married and shortly after moving into our first house, Thanksgiving was marked with painting the living room and enjoying a pizza from Pizza Hut. The next year we were invited to Jim and Marion Huber's. They taught me Thanksgiving Dinner could be traditional, but not stressful. Yet for the past years we would spend Thanksgiving with Glenn and Bron Muster and their family. I would bring my sweet potatoe casserole and take home great memories of laughter, togetherness and feeling of contentment as well as some of Glenn's and John's stuffing, which is so good you eat it even when you are stuffed. Terry took home some turkey which was cooked the way turkey was meant to taste. I alway thought we got the better end of the deal. John died this year. So the family tradition will change, but the good memories remain.

Besides deciding who cooks what meals this holiday - Terry and I both got a flu shot. Flu shots are offered at the pharmacy of the local grocery store and takes very little time or effort on our part to get a shot. The Department of Health is encouraging everyone to get a flu shot this year as a mean of preventing the spreading of the virus. To this end they are working with local libraries to promote the program. Each library building is being mailed a poster in English and in Spanish as well as bookmarks. To further help spread the word about not spreading germs, the Library of Virginia has created some resources for libraries to promote and programs to share.

What we are reading
Terry is finally reading the Harry Potter series. I am picky about who touches my Harry Potter books...so Terry had to buy paperbacks of the frist six books. I relented and let him read my copy of the last book Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.
I just finished reading the 748 page book Brisinger by Christopher Pailoini. This was to be a trilogy about the last dragon rider Eragon and his dragon Saphira, but Pailini seems to find a bit more to say. He is writing a fourth book that will conclude the story. I have now moved on to Milagros: Girl from away by Meg Medina.
A fun book Terry purchased not long ago is Oxymoronica: paradoxical wit and wisdom from history's greatest wordsmiths by Dr Mardy Grothe. As a consultant I found these quotes interesting:
Most people when they come to you for advice
come to have their own opinions strengthened, not corrected.
or
Advice is what we ask for when we
aready know the answer but wished we didn't.

Labor Day

School begins in most of Virginia the day after Labor Day and ends sometime in June. If there are no snow days then students have a long spring break, but if there is even a hint of snow - schools close and there is a run on bread and milk at the grocery store. While Virginia does not get much snow, it does get ice storms. Ice on steep and curvy mountain roads is not a good combination, so the schools in the mountain areas seek special permission from the State to begin school before Labor Day as they expect to have several snow days.

To me it is hard to think of winter and snow in September. The weather is still in the 80s and Terry and I have the portable air conditioner keeping the bedroom at a cool 68 so we can sleep well. The rest of the house is kept at 72 degrees.

I was in Chicago last week for a meeting of the multistate summer reading program collaborative - the same organization that Minnesota will join next year. What is interesting about this collaborative is that it began in Minnesota. The Traverse des Sioux Library System created a summer reading program and then sold the artwork to other library systems in Minnesota to use. Then the Minnesota regional library systems began planning the summer reading program theme together. Other states in the midwest joined the group and then things got complicated. Minnesota pulled out, but in doing so created a statewide summer reading program rather than the Metro libraries having one program and the "outstate" libraries have another. In 2009 Minnesota will be joining 47 other states to celebrate reading and libraries with a reading program "Be Creative At Your Library"

The August/September issue of Scientific American Mind has an article about how craft projects or creative things we do with our hands help prevent depression. Scrapbooking makes people feel better as does knitting, woodworking and quilting. This might explain why I always feel better when I am working on a project. My current project is making a quilted table runner for Terry. Yes, it is for Terry. I decided to make one for Bron Muster as a Christmas present and took Terry to the fabric store to help pick out the materials. Terry has a good eye for colors. While in the fabric store Terry decided he wanted a table runner, too. He selected materials I would never pick out, but that work very well together and the project began. Then it was set aside for other projects and now I am working on it again. It features six panels and three different patterns of roses. It is done all by hand applique. I am now quilting the pieces together. My quilting is usally done in the TV room while watching movies with Terry. We are currently watching the Harry Potter movies, after having warched the Impressionists series, the latest seasons of Eureka, House, M.D., The Closer, and Burn Notice.

It has been a while

It has been a while since my last post. Terry and I took a trip to Georgia to visit family, then my allergies kicked in and than I pulled a muscle in my shoulder which makes typing not a fun thing to do.
The shoulder is not completely healed, but a heating pad is doing wonders. The good thing is it is not my left hand, which is my dominate hand - which means I am writing letters the old fashion way - by hand.

On the Road Again

Memo to self -- never leave for a trip without a map and charging the cell phone. Recently, I traveled to Roanoke to attend a meeting of the Virginia State Reading Association. On the way I visited Glasglow Public Library, passed by a Natural Bridge and got lost on my way to Lynchburg Public Library. I called Terry and he pointed me in the correct direction, but I missed a turn off and called Terry again to help me out. I missed another turn off, but by then I knew where the library was and called Terry from the library parking lot. I had a wonderful visit with Lorry Risinger and learn about I-Van, their mobile library that puts books into home, no library card needed. The child simply borrows two books and when they are returned borrows two more. We talked until 5:30 p.m. and Lorry had me follow her to the highway. I was off again, but this time pointed in the direction of Roanoke. When I stopped for gas I discovered the cellphone needed recharging. I arrived at Roanoke, via Highway 460 where I followed the signs to I-81 through the back roads to US 11, then to I-81 and then to the Doubletree Hotel where the Virginia State Reading Assoication meeting was being held. I charged the cellphone and checked in with Terry. I found the exercise room and had a very long workout session while watching "What Not to Wear." The next day I met up with Sasha Matthews, Virgina Library Assoication Youth Services Chair. We shared some of the thing libraries are doing in Virginia. They were impressed. The trip home was thankfully uneventful.

My next adventure was back to Roanoke for the Fun and Facts of an Early Literacy workshop by Saroj Ghoting on May 23. In an attempt to be more efficient I combined the workshop with visits to a few libraries. This time Terry went with me. On Tuesday we left at 7:00 a.m. and drove to Grundy with the expectation that we would arrive around 2:00 p.m. We were told not to go by VA 16! After looking at the hairpin turns on Google Maps we found an alternate route. We got lost. This is because Goggle Maps was misinformed about the location of the library in Grundy. We found the correct location of the Buchanan County Public Library in Grundy. Although parts of the town are moving due to frequent flooding, the Buchanan County Public Library has stayed in the same location for the past 47 years. They did add a new children's wing, which is quite delightful.

One of the feature is paw prints on the ceiling. The story is the Clifford the Big Red Dog helped with the construction of the new wing and "left his mark" on the building.

The night was spent in Abingdon and then we traveled to Marion, birth place of the drink "Mountain Dew" and then to Saltville with a stop at the Chilhowie Branch Library. The mural below was created for the Marion Branch of the Smyth-Bland Regional Library.

Saltville is nested between two mountain ranges and has producing salt since 1780s. Union and Confederate troops fought for civil wars battles here for the salt. A woolly mammoth was found in Saltville for it somehow got trapped in a salt pit. Yet following directions from Google Maps I was able to get lost in Saltville by heading the wrong way on VA 91 and then once I was turned around I missed the library not once, but twice. But once I did find it, I met some very nice people. And as you can see, the small town is also nice to look at.

Technically, It's not my fault

Technically, It's not my fault: Concrete Poems by John Grandits is a title of a book I purchased for the Hibbing Public Library a while ago. I had a reference question about concrete poems and this title caught my eye, and so it was added to the collection. The title of this poem has become my mantra when I travel. I recently went to Front Royal via Interstate 95 and then U.S. Highway 17 and then Interstate 66. The trip took about three hours and I arrived in time to attend a preschool program, lunch with some very nice people, and a tour of the library. I learned about the new library being built with a plan of opening the summer of 2009. It was so nice talking children's books and programs with the staff that I left later than planned. "The traffic will be bad, here is a better way to go" I was told. With less then a half a tank of gas I took the backroads back to Richmond. I saw delightful towns, some gift shops I have to find again and a place that offers glassblowing and another that offers homemade jams and baked goods. It was wonderful to be off the highway and travel up and down the hills of Virginia. Then I met some construction and got turned around. Technically it's not my fault. I challenge anyone to read a map while nagivating the turns and twists in the Shenandaoh Mountains. Besides, the back roads in Virgina require commitment. There are very few places to stop or turn around. A few hours later I was once again headed towards Richmond with the gas tank quite a bit lower. I did find Culpeper, but not Highway 615. Lucky for me, I saw a sign for the Culpeper Public Library. I quickly turned around and with map in hand I went to the reference desk and got directions to a gas station and Highway 3. With a full tank of gas I then set off again. This time to Fredricksburg with a phone call to Terry when I got off the wrong exit, then back to Interstate 95. The three hour tour was completed four and half hours later when Terry picked me up at the Enterprise car rental office at 8:00 p.m.

Gardening

One of the traditions of gardening clubs in Virginia is to host tours. This is part fundraiser and part social event. As this is Historic Gardening Week, communities in Virginia are hosting several walking tours and single house tours. For anywhere between $5.00 to $45.00 groups and individuals may tour the homes and lawns of historical homes that are now museums and/or family homes. The project began in 1928 with a group of determined people who wanted to restore some of the area's historical landmarks. The project was successful and over the years funds from this project have been used to restore the properties once owned by George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, Woodrow Wilson, Patrick Henry, Robert E. Lee and George Mason.
There are of course rules to attending gardening clubs, which the local newspaper was kind enough to print.

• Rule one - wear nice clothes. Ladies are to wear flats as high heel shoes are murder on historical wood floors. Women should carry small purses unless they want to risk breaking (insert brand of pottery worth more than college tuition).
• Rule two - no taking pictures, making notes or doing drawings.
• Rule three - no peeking into cupboards or opening doors to rooms.
• Rule four - this is a high pollen program, bring your own tissues and take an antihistamine.
  

On our own front, Terry and I are taking part in Historic Garden Week by trying to identify the plants we have in our yard and the plants and trees we see in the neighborhood. Thanks to tutoring by Donna and the Hibbing-Chisholm Gardening Club and a gardening book, I have identified some of the plants in the area. In the front of our house are hostas, azaleas, a holly plant (the Hibbing Public Library has one of these, too), and two types of plants I have not been able to identify. The neighbor down the road has a bridal wreath, and another has salvia (these are both part of the Hibbing Public Library garden). The library's children's garden area had sunflowers last year. They were so big that Donna and other members of the gardening club had to use a saw to cut it down. Birds like the sunflower seeds, as we have cardinals, blue birds, robins, chickadees and a woodpecker. I plan to plant some sunflowers to provide a treat for the birds.

Terry found this photograph by Fedrus at http://pixdaus.com/ I thought I would add it to the blog for I am flying to Little Rock this week to attend a conference of the multi-state summer library committee. My trip will begin at Richmond, then I bounce to Houston and then bounce again to Little Rock.

Another site Terry found is http://dir.salon.com/topics/garrison_keillor/ .
This site has columns by Garrison Keillor. I think it is fitting as the posting of this week is about Northwest Airlines, which according to the newspapers is being taken over by Delta.