7 Quick Takes Friday, v. 52

~1~

I've been a bit slack in writing in this space for the last month. This is usually about the time that I resolve to write on a more regular basis. But I'm not going to do that this time. I'm sticking to my plan of not writing just because I feel like I have to and instead writing because I want to. It's been nice, almost like a vacation, but not really. I actually have a ton of ideas swirling in my head, so I will have to get them out at some point. Or not. What is it about sitting down at the computer to write that makes your brain go completely blank?

~2~

Despite my lack of regular writing lately, I somehow managed to get a blog award recently (thanks, Nancy!). I need to write a post to share it and answer a few questions. I learned of this honor just before a trip I was taking, so it's still waiting to be done (one of the many things swirling around in my head). But wanted to at least mention it and share my surprise! More to come.

~3~

A trip? Yes! It was a work related trip, all the way out to San Jose, CA. It was so nice. The sun was out the whole time I was there, I could leave the hotel without a coat, there was a ton of stuff in walking distance of the hotel, and I got to visit with so many wonderful people and meet many new people. It was almost a shock to my system to come back and it be so cold. And then it snowed here on Tuesday! Snow!! I was starting to think about spring and got jolted back into winter. So not fair.

~4~

While I was away, my heroic husband had to single-parent it for seven days! The whole morning routine on his own, the whole night time routine, including baths, on his own, and everything in between. He's such a great dad. And I could tell he was exhausted by the end of it all.

~5~

And yet, he still got them out of the house on Saturday morning and took them to the mall for a walk. While they were there they ran into some unlikely characters. I was sitting in a session in a massive ballroom at my hotel when I got this picture sent to me on my phone:

~6~

I'm glad to be home. I don't mind traveling, but the actual days of travel are so tiring. Especially when practically the entire day is spent sitting in airports and on airplanes, which is unavoidable when traveling to the west coast. Oh, so glad to be home!!

~7~

I have to share what happened Thursday afternoon that I found kind of funny. I was picking up the boys from daycare and as we headed out the door and down the stairs, another mother and her child were in front of us. Her child seemed a little older than my two since he was able to walk down the stairs on his own without holding her hand. So here I come behind her, carrying one of mine and holding the other by the hand while he starts down the stairs. She looks up at me and offers to let me go in front of them because "it takes us a little while to get down the stairs." I just smiled because her words are the exact same words I use when I'm the one holding other people up with my two children. But the funny thing is, her and her child were moving along much faster than we do. We are the slow ones, I can assure you of that. And of course, her son managed to work his way down the entire flight while we were still only about 3 steps down. They were out the door and she had him in the car by the time we got to the door. So yeah, I had to laugh, I know I'm way slower than everyone else coming in or out of that place. 

To anyone who thinks you're holding me up in any way, please know that you most definitely are not! It takes me at least three times as long as anyone else to get my children in and out of school each day. And that is no exaggeration. Efficiency with twins has so far eluded me.

It's taken me some time to come to terms with that. I used to get frustrated that the parents who showed up after I did were in and out and gone long before me. And it doesn't matter how many children they have and what their ages are, I'm still the slow one. But I'm mostly used to it now (mostly) and have learned to ignore other's abilities to get their children gathered up and in the car so efficiently. One day, though ... one day!

Hope you enjoyed these Quick Takes! For more, go visit Jen at Conversion Diary!

7 Quick Takes Friday, vol. 48

~1~

I realized this week that I have to up date my vocabulary. Well, I don't have to, but I was watching my boys walk around their playroom and I sadly concluded that it was time. They are no longer babies. Time to start calling them toddlers.

But, of course, they will always be my babies. [Shhhh! Don't tell them that.]

~2~

4:45 AM is very early. Especially when you don't get to bed until midnight. And I tried, I really did! I tried so hard to get to bed earlier. Dang! 4:45 AM is E-A-R-L-Y.

~3~

And why did I get to bed so late? I think I have a problem. Here it is: I must do all laundry before packing for a trip. Any trip. Even one that is only 3 days short. Does anyone else do this? And it wasn't just making sure that I had everything I needed. I even did the boys' laundry and I didn't need to pack for them. Just me. I'm the only one on this trip. Anyone else have this need to do all the laundry before packing?

~4~

Thursday's early morning start was because of a plan to leave around 6 AM to drive to one of the suburbs on the west side of Chicago and get there in time for meetings at 1 PM ... central time, thankfully. We left slightly later than planned, but made good time. Even with two stops (breakfast and lunch), we got to the hotel and into our meetings just after 1:00. I was quite impressed with us.

We/us, by the way, would be myself and a colleague, we were traveling together.

~5~

Let me tell you one problem with traveling with a colleague, especially one that you like. You start talking and you forget to look at the gas gauge. Yep, that would be me. Luckily, we did not run out of gas. But there we were on I-80 when I looked down and saw the needle right at "E" and my little gas light on. I about panicked! Did it just come on? Has it been on for a while? I had no idea! And why is it there are gas stations everywhere except when you need one? We had just crossed into Illinois and I took the first exit I saw that looked promising (no gas/food/lodging signs anywhere). I think we were driving on fumes because I put 10.3 gallons in my little car. I think it has an 11 gallon tank. I am just so thankful we found a gas station when we did!

Correction: While talking to Hubby last night he informed me that the car does not have 11 gallons in it. It has 10.5. Definitely driving on fumes. Eeek!

~6~

After my afternoon meeting I had a break and ran into some professional colleagues in the hotel lobby. Right away I was asked for updated pictures of the boys. They got passed around and everyone started asking me the usual questions. Then someone asked me how I could be away from such cuties for this conference. I impressed myself with my response:

"It's hard, but I can leave them because I know my husband is great and does a great job with them."

And the best part is that it is all true. He is a great dad and takes great care of them when I have to be away. I'm a very lucky girl.

~7~

Thursday evening of this conference is always put on by the local group hosting us. This year they brought in a professor of the steelpan as well as a composer who is on faculty at one of the local universities. The presentation on the steelpan was amazing. And then to see snippets of the concerto the composing faculty member wrote was equally amazing. I thought it would be fun to close out this Quick Takes with a clip from you tube of Liam Teague and his amazing steelpan playing. The steelpan is a much more versatile instrument than even I knew. So here's Liam on steelpan playing a traditional western European piece arranged for steelpan:

For more Quick Takes, don't forget to go visit Jen at Conversion Diary.

7 Quick Takes Friday, vol. 47

~1~

Just before leaving for our vacation I learned that I had won a book from a giveaway the amazing Sarah Reinhard had up on her blog. I was so excited because I never win anything! The book is The Universal Monk by John Michael Talbot and I'm looking forward to reading it. I even told Sarah that maybe I'd do a review here in this space. We shall see. 

~2~

On our vacation we had a little stowaway. His name is Flat Cat and he managed to get a couple pictures of himself:

Here he is on the beach.

And another on our balcony. Lovely view!

~3~

Flat Cat also met some nice opponents on his travels:

Flat Cat and a kind UT fan

Hanging out with Cocky

~4~

This has been the weirdest week. It has gone by fast while at the same time it felt like it was just creeping along. Getting back from vacation and going right to work first thing the next morning has been rough. We still haven't been food shopping and several bags are still sitting around in the foyer waiting to be put away. Usually nothing sits for more than a day or two. We're going on five days here. That's a lot for me!! So in that respect it's been a slow week as I try to plug along and make it to a day when I can get home stuff done. Yet at the same time I kept thinking it was a day later than it actually was. Wednesday felt like Thursday, Thursday felt like Friday. Maybe that was wishful thinking. So glad it is finally Friday now!

~5~

So someone **coughLynncough** asked me for video of the boys walking. Need proof?? LOL! No worries, I wanted to anyway so I could remember the cute balance-walking from this age. After several takes I finally got one that has both boys doing some walking. Sorry for the motion of the camera, I'm still new at videography.

~6~

So now that the boys are walking and both convertible car seats are in the car, I have no infant carrier any longer to carry one of them into daycare with. It's been interesting, to say the least. The stairs are the biggest challenge. Once I get them both out of the car I usually carry Ethan and hold Peter's hand so he can walk beside me. If I'm parked right near the door I'll let both of them walk to just inside. But once inside we have a flight of stairs. One morning this week I had Ethan in my arms and Peter walking beside me. He's pretty good at climbing the stairs on his hands and knees, so I was going to let him do that. But he was holding my hand and wouldn't let go. Next thing I know he's trying to step up the first stair!! Being that I only had one hand available and he seemed certain that if he could walk he could walk up stairs (!!), it took some effort to keep him upright. Next thing I know his little body is swinging around on one foot as a pivot point. It took all my strength to not drop Ethan and keep Peter balanced so he didn't fall. Not to mention trying to keep myself from laughing at the sight of Peter swinging around on one foot!

Finally, he managed to get both feet on the ground and I was able to get my hand loose from his grasp. I scooped him up by the waist and carried him the rest of the way up.

Lesson learned: Do not let little boy think he is suddenly capable of taking on stairs like a big person!

~7~

One last thing. I may have mentioned to a few people that I was going to be on the local Catholic radio station again today. The topic this time was going to be the USC vs. UK game which is Saturday. [Yes, it is a Catholic radio station.] But due to some unexpected circumstances there was a change in plans. So instead I'll be on next Friday. I'm sure we'll still discuss the game, but since it will be a past event at that point, I'm not sure if that is all we'll talk about or not. So stay tuned. I'll share more here if I get any further information between now and then. In the meantime: GO GAMECOCKS!!

For more 7 Quick Takes, check our Jen Fulwiler's blog Conversion Diary.

Vacation Update

We left at noon on Friday Sept. 14 and returned home about 8pm on Sunday September 23. Nine and a half days away! It was a long time to be away, but definitely a fun time.

Visiting with family, visiting with friends, spending time at the beach, the pool, and just taking it easy. All of it was great! I loved that we got to see so many people in the course of this trip!

The boys travel pretty well, but they certainly do get tired of sitting their car seats for long periods of time. We tried giving them some breaks, but you can only do that so much before you've added on a few too many hours to the trip. So there were some rough moments, but it was all worth it.

That first Friday of travel we stopped in Asheville, NC to stay the night with my cousin and his family. It was the first time I got to meet his two teenage daughters. We had a great time visiting and catching up.

The Saturday we drove an hour south and stopped in Spartenburg, SC to visit with Hubby's aunt and uncle and one of his cousins. We had a lovely lunch and it was fun to take a break and visit with them. The boys got to play with some new toys and were very intrigued by the cat.

We got to Hilton Head Island in time to stop for dinner Saturday, then picked up some milk at a grocery store, got checked in to the condo, and put the boys to bed. We were exhausted.

I posted some pictures last Wednesday and I have several more that I hope to get off my camera soon. The boys had fun and it was great to see them interacting with my family. They also decided that this was the week to start walking!! They still prefer crawling to get around, but we do have walkers!! Peter has gotten quite good. He can stop and regain his balance, he can turn around, and he can walk a fair distance on his own. Ethan isn't far behind. And they love it too! So much laughing at themselves and what they are doing. It's a hoot to watch!

Our trip back was done in two parts as well. We left Saturday morning and headed to Columbia where we stopped for lunch and to pick up some Gamecock gear (watch for pictures). We drove another hour north and met up with my college roommate for an hour of visiting. Then headed to Greenville, SC from there to stay the night with some other friends from college. We had a great time visiting with everyone. We all went to Mass together Sunday morning, took some pictures of the kids all together (their 3 and our 2), and then hit the road for a long drive back home.

Other interesting events of the week:

• Cutting my finger on my razor that first Friday night
• (Wasn't using it, just reaching in my bag for something else. Razor had no cap on it.)
• The touch screen on my phone stopped working 
• (Don't call or text me, not worth it)
• Walking boys!! 
• (Yes, I know I already mentioned that one ... but hey, can you blame me?)
• Enjoying Nutella gelato! 
• (I want to try the pizza cone next time. And more gelato!)
• Watching the boys fascination with babies and animals grow
• The immediate love the boys had with the Cocky pillow pets Peter's godparents got for them. 
• (They both wanted to hold them the whole drive home on Sunday.)
• Trying to find a fast food place that serves spaghetti in areas where there are very few food options 
• (KFC needs to start selling spaghetti, just saying.)

I'm sure there is much more, but it's hard to remember everything. Hopefully I'll be able to grab some time tomorrow evening to get the pictures off my camera and will be able to share a few here soon!

And as much fun as this vacation was, it is definitely nice to be home!

Saturday Smiles, no. 12

I'm on vacation this week, so this post is being done in advance. While I take this week off I will be enjoying God's creation, visiting with various family members and friends, and enjoying some relaxation time with my three guys. And there will be wine.

I know there will be plenty of smiles all around.

So in my absence I hope you will share with a link-up post or in the comments: What has made you smile this week??

7 Quick Takes Friday, vol. 46

~1~

I still cannot believe what I saw on my way home from work Thursday evening. I stupidly took a wrong turn out of the boys' daycare and ended up circling around the nearby park to get back around to where I really wanted to be. This meant driving down a section of road that I'm not usually on. It's a nice area, lots of brick townhomes, several cottage style old houses, and plenty of big trees. It's pretty close to downtown, probably in walking distance to things on the east side of town. So as I turned onto this road, up ahead I could see what looked like a very large dog on a lease. It caught my attention because I thought it might be a Great Dane but wasn't quite sure. As I got closer I realized it wasn't a dog at all. No, it was either a small pony or a miniature horse. On a lease. Out for a walk. Um, what? I know this is KY, but who keeps a pet horse in downtown where there are tiny yards, if you even have a yard? I'm still stunned. And find it hilarious at the same time.

~2~

Okay, I had to go do some internet searching and apparently having miniature horses as pets is not that unusual. Who knew! There is even a book about owning these cool pets.

~3~

Dexterity game on a pendant

We have a very interesting collection of materials at my library. They are called Artists' books. They are works of art, but also considered books. In some cases the definition of book is rather loose. I've been working on cataloging these which gives me the opportunity to see them. I worked on one Thursday that is actually a dexterity game. You know those little plastic containers that had some sort of picture inside with little holes in it and some tiny little copper balls rolling around inside? The objective was to get all the balls into the various holes. This book opened up to show 12 of these little tiny dexterity games lined up together. Each had three balls inside to get into the little holes. Definitely doesn't look like a book, but very cool nonetheless. I love discovering these unique items. It's one of those things that makes my job cool.

~4~

And speaking of my job, something else that makes my job cool is seeing how very divergent fields can intersect with each other. I received a phone call Thursday from a librarian over in our Medical Center Library. Someone over in the College of Medicine was looking for a speaker for something they were doing who could speak on the healing powers of art and music as influenced by nature, or some such thing. She couldn't get hold of the music librarian, so she called me. We talked for a bit and then I was able to finally come up with a name of someone she could contact. [Surprised myself that I actually could even name someone on campus that could speak on that topic.] Got an email from her later in the day that the person I suggested was on board and was getting someone to speak with her about the art side of things. How cool is that! I love seeing how something like music and medicine can actually work well together. They seem so different, but they have much to learn from each other.

~5~

I don't know what was up with my drive home Thursday evening (see #1) but as I pulled into my neighborhood an ice cream truck pulled in just in front of me. He turned towards my street and proceeded to drive about 5 mph with me tailing behind him. I prayed that he would pass by my street and felt pretty confident that he didn't have a reason to turn down into my little cul-de-sac of 5 houses. But alas, he turned and I followed him at a painfully slow pace. And then he stopped, right in front of my driveway! Seriously?? I had to honk my horn to get him to move. And why is he even in my neighborhood? I think he'd get a bit more business in a neighborhood that had more children in it, which is currently not the case in my neighborhood.

~6~

We went to visit my family last weekend. It was so nice and the boys did well on the 6 hour drive down and back. They are still hesitant around strangers (and anyone they haven't seen in a long time is basically a stranger) but getting better. A few pictures from the weekend:

Cousin Caroline shows Peter how it's done

Ethan likes listening to his brother and cousins play the piano

Anna gets to meet her aunt for the first time

Ethan learns that Papa is a little crazy

~7~

Walking is in our future! I can see it. My boys are so funny! Peter took a couple steps at my parent's house this weekend. We got all excited and then that was it. He tried to walk a few more times but was so excited about doing it that he couldn't balance himself and kept falling forward. Ethan apparently had no interest. But once we were home, Peter tried a few more times, got a couple steps in once or twice, and then went back to falling over each time from over excitement. Silly boy! Then the other night, he tried again and Hubby and I burst into applause to encourage him. Ethan started clapping with us. After a few times of this I think Ethan realized why we were clapping so he started trying to stand up on his own. He didn't try taking any steps, it was just the standing up part that excited him. And oh my, the excitement on his face as he slowly balanced himself on those two little feet! Precious!

Finally, Thursday night Ethan actually took a few steps towards me. We clapped for him and he LOVED it! He immediately crawled back to where dad was sitting in the rocking chair, climbed up to a standing position, turned himself around to face me, and took a few steps before falling into my arms. We had such a good time cheering him on and he repeated the process a few more times. By the end his excitement had grown so much he couldn't even steady himself enough to stand up without falling over. 

Yes, walking is just around the corner! Any day now. 

For more Quick Takes posts, visit Jen at Conversion Diary.

Weekend Doings

We have had a very busy past few days.  Very busy!  Here's the quick rundown:

Thursday I dropped the boys off at their daycare and then hit the road to drive north to Indianapolis.  Arrived just in time to have lunch with three other librarians and then get to our 1pm committee meeting.

The rest of Thursday and Friday was conference stuff for me.  I love getting to spend a few days with other music librarians and be able to talk to people who understand!

Hubby got to pick up the boys Thursday evening and take care of all their needs Thursday evening and Friday morning.  One of his sisters came to stay the night on Friday night, so he had some extra help then, which I know he appreciated.

Saturday morning, Hubby got the boys in the car and he and his sister left at 4:30am to head north to Indiana.  We all met about an hour and a half north of Indianapolis for his grandmother's funeral.  I'm so proud of my husband for all the work I know it took to travel four and a half hours with two babies.  Actually, it was longer than four and half hours, that's what it would be without stops.  They had to stop obviously, but they still did very well.

Following the funeral, there was a luncheon and then we headed back to his grandmother's house to  change the babies one last time before hitting the road again.  Sister stayed to come back with her parents on Sunday, so it was just Hubby and I in separate cars traveling back.  We stayed together the whole time with the exception of about a half hour or so when we got separated at the bridge over the Ohio River which included changing highways as well. 

By the way, Cracker Barrel has the coolest chairs for infant seat carriers.  Plus they have a lot more space in their baby changing areas than most places do.  Regular stops at this establishment are definitely in our future.

While at the luncheon after the funeral we got a phone call from the realtor's office.  Someone wanted to see the house that afternoon!!  You can imagine that with everything else, the house was not in shape for viewing.  We asked that the prospective buyers choose another day.  I hate doing that, I always fear we'll lose a potential buyer.

Then Sunday at about 2:45pm we got the call again.  They wanted to come see the house at 4:15.  We scrambled and managed to get the house in order and cleaned in an hour!  One hour!!  We had to listen to the boys scream the whole time, but we got it done, got everything we needed for the boys into the car, and we left to go hang out at the mall.  Phew!!  That was an incredible feat.

Coming up, there's Halloween on Monday (we live on a very popular street) and then All Saints Day on Tuesday.  We haven't figured out which Mass we will go to on Tuesday.

I'm looking forward to Wednesday.  ::smile::

7 Quick Takes Friday, vol. 30

~1~

Last week in my Quick Takes post I bragged that Peter had rolled over for the first time.  But then he didn't do it again for several days.  But by Monday or Tuesday he started doing it again.  I now find him on his tummy almost every morning when I go to get him up.  He's also rolled over while at daycare and a couple times while on the floor in our family room.  I think I've only seen him actually roll over once, generally I'm not in the room or happen to look away just when he goes over.  Ethan isn't trying yet, but he is starting to get on his side, so he's probably not far behind.

~2~

I had to share a picture of my boys.  They are 20 weeks old now.  Aren't they cute in their matching polo shirts!!



Peter on left, Ethan right

~3~

Okay, one picture isn't enough!  I thought they looked so cute in these thermal long-johns I had to take a picture.





Peter on left, Ethan right

~4~

We had our first blow-out in the bath tub this week.  Ugh, what a mess!!  It's one thing to have them pee in the tub, but ... ewwww.  Can I realistically hope that this won't happen again??  Yeah, I know ... probably not.

~5~

A miracle has happened!!  Seriously!  The job posting for the staff position in my unit has been posted as of today.  Every time this position has been open I have to wait several months just to get the approval for it to be filled and then there is usually another couple weeks before it gets posted.  This time??  It's being posted a whole 14 DAYS since my former staff member left.  You see why I say this is a miracle!

Know someone who has some library experience (and has some kind of music background) who might be interested in a job??  It's only open for a week.  Click on that link to see more.  Position comes with an awesome supervisor!!

~6~

I would like to ask here for your prayers.  Hubby's grandmother passed away overnight sometime between Wednesday and Thursday this week.  She was 95.  Your prayers for the repose of her soul would be much appreciated as well as for my husband's family as they deal with the loss of their mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother.  She is survived by two children, six grandchildren, and 12 great-grandchildren with another on the way.  She was preceeded in death by her husband, a daughter who died in infancy, and 7 or 8 more great-grandchildren.  Thank you for your prayers.

~7~

I'll be traveling next week for a conference which also happens to be not too far from where my husband's grandmother lived and where the memorial mass/service will be held.  I'm not sure when services will be held, but it'll probably be during the same time that my conference takes place.  So I'll be missing a day of the conference and my husband will probably drive up to meet me.  Not sure what we'll do with the boys.  We could take them with us ... well, Hubby would be the one traveling with them, but we're not yet prepared for a long trip with them.  We were hoping to have a mini-van before Christmas which we thought would be our first long trip with the boys.  Regardless, we're just waiting to hear what the plans are before we try and figure out what we're going to do. 

Most likely I will not be doing a 7 Quick Takes next week.  Actually, it's not "most likely," I really should say that it won't happen.  Thanks again for your prayers.

For more Quick Takes check out Conversion Diary.

Our July 4th Weekend

We left last Thursday and drove to Remington, IN to visit Chris' paternal grandmother. We spent the night there and then headed to MI. It took us an hour longer to get to Grand Haven than expected due to several road closures and not very well marked detours, but we did get to see a bit of Valporasio. We spent Friday in Grand Haven visiting Chris' maternal grandmother and then drove to Grand Rapids to spend the night.

Apparently a very large storm moved through the area on Thursday, cutting off power all over the city and flooding areas around the river. So there were a lot of power trucks in the hotel parking lot. All the people brought in from other areas to help restore power were staying at our hotel.

Saturday morning it was off to Detroit where we attended Rita's wedding! It was gorgeous!! We were so glad to be able to be there and witness their wedding vows. It was quite a party too!!

Sunday morning we headed out to a church we had found online. We went to the National Shrine of the Little Flower. It was an incredible church, interesting sanctuary, and gorgeous grounds; the pictures on the web don't do it justice. After church we started heading out of Detroit, careful to avoid the closure on 75 in downtown Detroit. After finally getting past that and back on I-75 Chris discovered that he had left his suit in the hotel room. So it was back through Detroit and north to the hotel, locate the suit, and get back on the highway for the roundabout route around Detroit and back onto I-75. But I have to say that the detours in MI were much better marked than in IN.

It was definitely an adventure!! But we had a good time and we survived many, many hours in the car together!

Home Again

I'm finally home after my travels to Dayton to speak at a conference. Everything ended today around 12:30pm and we arrived back in Lexington around 4:00. Now I'm home for about a week and then we leave for vacation.

By the time June arrives I'll be happy to be home for a long stretch!!

Nothing much exciting to tell about the conference, all librarian stuff, so I won't bore all of you with it. I will say that I was so excited to finally hear a speaker whose writings I have read since Library School and his talk was as good as his writing. It was great to be at a conference with him as a speaker. And to be a speaker myself at the same conference. I never would have imagined that 10 years ago.

Speaking of which!! I graduated from Library School 10 years ago this month! Wow!! Hard to believe it's been that long. :)

Speaking Engagement Success

This morning, despite not hearing the alarm go off (oh no!!), I believe I presented a very good session at the conference I am attending. My presentation was called "The Reluctant Supervisor." I was calm and confident and I think (I hope) that came across to my audience. I also think I had a great audience and they laughed some and even willingly participated in an "activity." You usually don't have interactive activities in conference sessions, particularly ones that require you to get out of your seat and move around. So I was grateful that everyone was willing!

The only weird thing during the presentation was that my Power Point slides kept advancing on their own. I had not set a timer in the show (which I know is possible to do because I have used that feature for other things) but I had not done that with this one at all! So I don't know what was happening. So I kept my eye on the laptop and kept moving back when it would jump ahead of me. Then at some point it decided to back up!! So the computer had a mind of its own today!!

But I took it in stride and we got through the presentation fine. I even had several questions at the end. Several people seemed sceptical of some the meeting model that I use, but I kind of expected that. Plus I have come to realize in preparing this presentation that I have only scratched the surface of this topic. I'm very interested in going deeper, doing more research, and possibly surveying the profession somehow on this topic. I may even have a sabbatical project on my hands!! THAT would be awesome!

Anyway, today was a success. The weather in Dayton is actually chilly and rainy, but I've been inside all day anyway. The food at the conference has been excellent! This is one of the only conferences I attend, maybe the only one, that provides so much of your meals as part of your registration. And it's usually all very good; though this time may be exceptional. We head back tomorrow afternoon following a morning of more sessions. Hopefully the weather will be better for our drive south.

Trivia question: I'm staying at the Hope Hotel on the Wright Patterson Air Force Base. The hotel restaurant is called Packy's. Anyone know why the restaurant is called "Packy's"?

Current Travels

I got to spend three nights at home before taking off again, this time for a work-related trip. I am currently in Dayton, OH for a meeting of technical services librarias. It's an interesting meeting and I go regularly because it's regional and usually not very long nor very expensive.

So I drove up today, found my way around Dayton some, and went to the opening reception. The opening reception was at the University of Dayton's Roesch Library within which is the International Marian Research Institute. So I took a tour of the Marian Libary which was amazing. They have the largest collection of print materials on Mary, plus an amazing number of Mary statues from all over the world, paintings and prints and all sorts of art work, and they have over 900 creches from around the world. Some of them are on display, but the majority are in storage somewhere. It's hard to store 900 of these. They currently have on loan from a private collector a collection of paper creches. Those were pretty amazing too.

I also saw a sampling (a very large "sampling") of bookmarks with Mary on them, postcards from Marian shrines and apparition locations from around the world, and lots of mass cards. I had never seen mass cards with lace around them, and some were very ornate. It was quite an experience. The amount of stuff they have there is amazing!!

Tomorrow the meat of the conference starts. I am speaking during one of the morning sessions and then I can relax. I have barely thought about the rest of the conference program since I've been focusing on my own presentation. Wish me luck!

In Lexington ... for now

Good Monday to everyone!!

I got back to Lexington Sunday afternoon around 3pm. I had to travel through a couple pretty bad storms on my way home, but I made it safely and still got back much earlier than Chris expected me.

The trip was good. We had dinner on Friday night at a little Italian place in Columbus and then went and got ice cream. I got two small scoops of two different flavors: Belgian milk chocolate and some kind of vanilla and raspberry thing. It was very good! Saturday we had breakfast at the B&B and then went off to our meeting. We met from 10am until just after 5:30pm, with breaks of course. I think the meeting was shorter this year than last. Several reasons for that: we seemed more prepared, the budget was easier, and there were very few items on the agenda that were controversial. So it went well. That evening we went to a very nice Spanish restaurant. The chef sent out a small dish with just a spoonful of octopus for each of us as a pre-meal item. I also got a baby spinach salad and then my main meal was a grilled beef fillet with potatoes and asparagus. Oh and the dessert!! I shared a serving of the Warm Chocolate Pudding Cake with a colleague. It was really awesome. Several of us also had a glass of some kind of Merlot that was supposed to have a hint of chocolate in it. Can you tell I like chocolate? Not sure that I tasted it in the wine, but it was a nice description.

So that was it. I am in meetings most of today while I'm at work and they are all over at the main library. The first one is over, I went and had lunch, and now I'm doing this before I go to the second meeting. Just one more day of work and then I'm off to Atlanta on Wednesday. This trip is both work and a little vacation.

Hope everyone has a great week!! I promise to post something soon for the Catholic Topic of the Week. I've been promising for a while now and I hope to get to it soon. Maybe while I'm in Atlanta.

Before I leave town ...

Before I leave town for the weekend I wanted to post about a few things.

First, I was hoping to post a Catholic Topic of the Week before I left, but I just haven't had time. My friend Tara made an excellent suggestion and I want to look at the issue she brought up. So when I get back from my next two trips (this weekend and then next week) I hope to post on that. In the meantime, you might have seen something about this in the news on Monday or Tuesday of this week. The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith at the Vatican released a document on Monday (dated June 29) that caused a bit of a stir. Basically the document just answers five questions, rather briefly, and is only reaffirming already held Catholic doctrines, not stating anything new. It's actually a very short document that you can find by clicking on this Vatican website. Take a look and when I next get a chance I'll post some comments about the document and I look forward to engaging in some dialogue with all of you.

Second, I had a somewhat busy week. I have had meetings at work almost every day and I finally got all my reports done (end of the year reports, reports for the meeting this Saturday, and others). I've also been busy gathering all the things I needed for my trip this weekend. I hope I have everything!!

Speaking of my trip: I head to Columbus tomorrow. This excursion is for a Board meeting of one of my professional organizations. (See the Music OCLC Users Group link to the left for more info.) There are six of us for this meeting and although it is a lot of work, we are pretty casual and we have a good time. One person lives in Columbus and the other five of us stay at a B&B around the corner from his house. Last year I was the only female on the Board. This year two positions were opened and were both filled by females. I like the guys (four of my closest college friends are guys), but it'll be nice to socialize with some women friends over the weekend too!! Last year I was able to connect online at the B&B, hopefully I'll be able to do that this time as well so I can keep in touch via this blog.

Tonight, I went to meet with the wedding coordinator again. The head of the company emailed me this week to say that her assistant who was supposed to handle my wedding found a different job, but she had hired someone new and she wanted us to meet. So I went down there today to meet her and she's very nice. The cool thing was that she just did a wedding at the Marriott Griffin Gate and she met my photographer at that wedding. I saw pictures of that wedding when I last met with my photographer and it was a gorgeous wedding. Meeting with her and going over everything made me feel better about where we are. I've basically done everything I could have done by now and more. So that was good to hear.

That's about it from the Bluegrass State!! Have a great weekend!!

Back in town ... again

Hi all!!

I just got back in town again from being in Atlanta over the weekend. I don't have time now to do a lengthy post but wanted to at least put up something quick.

The trip was good and I got to see a lot of people at the bridal shower. I was overwhelmed by the generosity of so many, especially my four wonderful bridesmaids!!! I'll post more later.

I have a Catholic topic of the week in mind, but probably won't get around to posting anything until Wednesday. So look for it then. I'll give a hint though: the 26th anniversary of this event was Monday. Put on your research caps and figure it out if you can. Otherwise, just wait for my post.

Have a great day!! --K

Still Around, Not Traveling

I think I posted more last week when I was traveling in and out of town than I have since I got back. I've been a little busy and spending a little less time on the computer. I'll make up for that now.

Actually not a whole lot to report on these days. The long weekend was nice. We went for dinner Saturday night for Chris' birthday. I took him to a restaurant downtown with a very eclectic menu and great ambiance. It was recommended by a co-worker (her son works there too), plus it was one of those places I've always wanted to try. Also on the pricey side, so special occasions only. It was really good. Chris got lamb shank and I got chicken breast wrapped in phyllo (a pastry thing) and stuffed with brie and peaches. All was very good, and very filling!

Sunday we spent most of the day in Bardstown with Chris' family. It was nice to spend a little time with them and catch up. Plus I got to see his sister's engagement ring, which is beautiful!!

Monday morning I had adoration at 6am, then Chris and I met at the Arboretum for a walk just after 7am. We walked for about an hour and then went back to his house for breakfast. He came to my house later that evening for dinner. I made my Aunt Janet's Russian Chicken, which is a family favorite.

That's been about it for us. We have a class this coming Saturday, our last marriage requirement with the diocese. It's called "God's Plan for a Faith Filled Marriage." I have been told that it is based on John Paul II's Theology of the Body speeches. I'll post more on that after the class.

My Trip, Part 2: Columbus, OH

I got back from Columbus, OH yesterday. Truthfully, I only saw Columbus from a distance, I was actually in Dublin, OH which is in the northwest corner. It was a very interesting meeting and I learned a lot.

Anyway, I left Sunday around noon to drive up there and arrived at the hotel around 3:45pm. I got caught in some traffic on I-75 just south of Cincinnati. Apparently we've already started the highway construction to expand and repave everything before the International Equestrian Games come here in 2010.

Moving on ... I registered and got my "Observer" name badge and attended the first General Session at 5pm that evening. I could tell right away that this meeting was different from anything I had ever been to previously. The delegates (elected individuals from the regional and national network providers) all had assigned tables to sit at and each had name placards on the tables to identify them to those around them. Also, the President and CEO of OCLC was in attendance for the entire 3 day meeting!! That was impressive. The opening session was kind of a welcome, introductions, special recognitions, and some words about the rest of the conference. However, we also participated in an activity during which those of us in the audience were also assigned to tables so we could participate in the small group discussions with the delegates. My table had to discuss the values of OCLC: what should they be, basically. I discovered that the level of conversation at this meeting was at a much higher plane than I was used to thinking.

The most interesting point, I thought, that came out of my group's discussion was that we should not be in the business of keeping OCLC in business. In other words, as long as OCLC is providing us with the products we need then they'll automatically stay in business. They should be focusing on assisting us with our needs and not just be trying to make a profit. It sounds a little weird and I know a lot of business people would say that this is totally wrong, but when you're dealing with non-profits, that actually does make sense.

The dinner that night after the discussion was awesome. They definitely feed their delegates well at this meeting. I found myself at a table with several people from OCLC Western (several western US States), one person from OCLC Asia, a new VP hire at OCLC but someone who's writing I know well (Karen Calhoun), and a few other individuals. I also discovered that I was attending a conference of mostly library directors/deans or other high administrative types.

Monday morning started bright and early. We were bussed to OCLC's Conference Center on their campus for the day. We had an opening General Session where two researchers (one, again, I knew through his writings) gave presentations on the directions OCLC is looking at for the future development of their products.

Next were Interest Group meetings. I attended the Cataloging and Metadata group, which is completely packed!! It was very interesting. Karen Calhoun did a presentation on the future of bibliographic control which somewhat repeated some things in a recent report she wrote for the Library of Congress and which she talked about when she was invited to speak at UK about a year ago. There were a few new things, but I was still disappointed that she thinks there is no need for some of the things I do in my job on a daily basis. We also heard from two other OCLC employees on the issues of "next generation" cataloging and quality control.

Before lunch we heard from the President who gave an update on the state of things currently at OCLC. He also entertained questions for a little while. He's a very interesting man. I actually met him last summer and he seemed brisk and direct then, which was a little off-putting when just three of us were speaking with him. In front of a large group his demeanor actually works well for him.

Lunch was great and I was amazed at how much I learned just sitting and listening to a group of academic library directors talk about their experiences.

Our next general session dealt with the product worldcat.org. I know what this is and thought I knew what directions they were moving with this, but apparently there is a lot more to it than I knew. I am used to hearing OCLC talk about their current products and projects and what changes are expected in some of them, but this talk about some future developments was new. I also felt a slight difference in how they presented at this meeting from others I've heard. There was less of the "sales pitch" at this meeting and more of the "looking-for-approval" type talk. I guess this is the meeting where a product could get the ax if necessary.

There were also library group discussions (I went to the academic librarians group) which was just more of the values discussion.

The final general session of the day was a lot of business stuff, but then we got a presentation from the VP of the Americas and Global Vice President, Marketing. (Isn't that a cool title: VP of the Americas?). Her presentation was about an upcoming publication. She gave us some stats and shared some of what would be in the report. I'm looking forward to reading it now.

Tuesday also started fairly early and we started the morning with a presentation on Institutional Repositories. I have heard so many positive things about IRs that it was amazing to hear a presentation from a company that has their own IR software discuss why IRs don't work and all the negative sides of it. Maybe it was a marketing gimmick, because I could see why their product would actually offer more benefits than other IR software out there, despite the negatives of trying to create an IR. At least with theirs it can be in a shared database rather than everyone doing their own.

Later that morning this issue came up again during the presentations at the second Cataloging and Metadata Interest Group Discussion. I learned a lot at this session that will actually be of benefit for some projects that we need to be working on here at UK that involves my unit. So that was a good thing.

The meeting ended with a business meeting that was interesting to observe. I left right after that, but there were other things for the delegates to participate in. I didn't need to stay for that stuff though.

One of the interesting things about this was talking to a variety of people. I met the director of the public library system for Sacramento, Calif. (she has 27 libraries), I talked with the National Librarian of South Africa, I met the library director of the University of Hong Kong, I talked with people from London, Germany, and the Netherlands. I also struck up several conversations with a gentleman who was from one of the network providers (he was sitting where I was sitting instead of with the delegates), and I spoke with a guy from Rwanda. The number of accents floating around the room was quite amazing.

It was an interesting meeting and I learned a lot. I wouldn't mind going again if I had a reason to. They meet again in October, which I obviously can't go then, and then again in February. After that I'm no longer on the MOUG Board, so they wouldn't necessarily want to send me, but who knows. I may volunteer to be willing to go if they need someone to, even if I'm not on the Board.

I'm happy to be home and not traveling again until June. And my June travel will not be for work!! Yeah!! Hope everyone is doing well and I will be catching up with email and so forth again very soon. (I was disappointed that in neither hotel the past several days was I able to get Internet!) Bear with me and I'll get to any emails I need to answer very soon.

My Trip, Part 1: Bowling Green

I got back from Bowling Green, KY last night (Friday). I brought my laptop, but couldn't get an Internet connection in my hotel room. What a bummer!!

I left Wednesday night and drove to Bardstown. I stayed the night there with Chris' family. It was nice to visit with them for a little while. I left early Thursday morning, around 8am ET, and got to Bowling Green around 8:45 CT. It took a bit over an hour and a half, not too bad.

The conference itself was okay. Some of the better presentations I went to were the non-library specific topics. But I did get some ideas from a presentation on cataloging electronic these and dissertations that I could use for a joint-project between my unit and the Archives/Special Collections area. There is a lot of programming involved, which may be a problem since our IT division already has its hands full. They also fed us well and it was fun to talk to librarians from other insitutions that I know. I saw the head of technical services from Wright State, who is also a music cataloger, talked to him a little; also saw an art cataloger from Cleveland that I knew from another organization I was once in, so I got a chance to catch up with her. I also met someone that goes to my church, that was pretty funny.

I also got to talking to some of my colleagues and I mentioned that I needed to start thinking about doing a presentation again. I've done some small things in the last year, but if I want to go up for my next promotion in the first year I'm eligable (which is still several years off), then I need to continue doing something. They all thought of a great presentation topic on management that I think I could really do something with. I wrote it down along with three or four goood points. Now I need to start thinking about what kind of conference I could present this at, plus when. The "when" is going to be more and more important as I start having to take a potential family into consideration. Maybe I can do this for the state conference and then try to write it up into an article for a library management journal. Writing is good, doesn't require traveling!!

The conference ended on Friday with a presentation on Second Life. I'm not getting into what Second Life is. It seems like a waste of time; I have enough to think about in Real Life. Everything was done by just after noon. I grabbed lunch and then headed home, getting here about 4:30. Friday night Chris and I and two friends went to dinner and then went to play miniature golf. We played one course. This is a Christian miniature golf course with three different courses: Old Testament, New Testament, and Miracles. We played the Old Testament course. I came in last; however, I did manage to get my ball in at the Mt. Sinai hole under par!! I was the only one to do that.

Next trip: Columbus, OH. I'll be in touch later with more about that. Have a great weekend!!

Pittsburgh and Back

I am finally home!! It was a very long and busy week. But it was great to see my music librarian colleagues and reconnect with old friends!! Jennifer and I got caught up and the first thing she wanted to see was the ring! Bruce and I spent a lot of time together exchanging news, comparing our different work places, and getting into philosophical discussions. Marlene and I managed to grab breakfast together one morning and exchanged news about all the people we know in common. And I got to meet Tim's wife and their new puppy! Plus slowly word spread about my news and I had all sorts of people congratulating me and wanting to know about Chris. Socially, I had a great time. Especially going out to eat with a variety of people.

I was sick before leaving for Pittsburgh, which made the plane ride pretty terrible. The delays in Detroit did not help things at all. If it wasn't a February conference in Pittsburgh I would have considered driving (Pitt is about 6 hours from here), but I figured I'd be safer taking a plane. I was, but four gate changes later I was wishing I had driven. We finally left Detroit after midnight Monday night and I checked into the hotel around 2:30am Tuesday morning. Luckily the meeting we had planned on having at 8:30 was moved to 9:30am, so I was able to grab a little bit of sleep before having to be anywhere.

The MOUG meeting was really great. Lots of good information and discussion. I still haven't filled out my evaluation form (sorry Bruce) but it really was one of the best programs we've had. I think since we were only 2 hours from Columbus, OH we could bring more OCLC people in to give presentations, and it made a world of difference.

The MLA meeting was also good. I was busy going to several business meetings, but I actually came away with quite a bit of information this time. I am going to be sharing much of that information with my UK collegaues at a meeting tomorrow morning. I figure it was time to discuss some cataloging things at our CTS meetings since we usually only discuss special projects, acquisitions issues, and anything electronic.

The best time I had was meals out. Wednesday after MOUG I took a walk with three other people through downtown Pittsburgh all the way to an area called the strip. We had lunch there at a place known for their fish sandwiches, which were HUGE!!! We must have walked two miles to get there and two miles back. I was with three other music catalog librarians from Washington Univ. in St. Louis, the University of Maryland, and the Carnegie Library in Pittsburgh.

Wednesday night the MOUG Board (on which I am a member) went out to dinner together, as is the tradition. We found a Greek restaurant that was great. The food was spectacular and the atmosphere was very European. I love restaurants like that! They let you sit and talk and they aren't eager for you to leave so they can seat more customers. If you are ever in Pittsburgh I highly recommend it: Christos on 6th Ave. (or 6th Street, maybe?), it's downtown in the Cultural District. The waiter (who I think was also the owner) convinced us to try his Onassis dessert. He said he used to cook on the Onassis yacht and Jackie Onassis didn't care for desserts, so they were always trying to find something she would like, and this was it. It was a cake that was very light, white and had honey in it, and the frosting was also very light with a sprinkling of cinnamon on top. We ordered one and all seven of us tried a little. It was great!

Friday night we went across the river to Station Square and had dinner at an Italian place. It was very cute and everything there is family style, thus big portions. There were 6 of us, five catalogers and one reference/public services librarian. He was a little out of his element being surrounded by catalogers but later I found out that he had a really great time and was even contemplating switching to being a cataloger. He said we have more fun than the public services people. They were all from: Julliard School of Music, NYU, Baylor Univ., and two people from Roosevelt Univ. (Chicago). We were laughing so hard, I'm sure we were the loudest people in the place. And there wasn't that much alcohol at the table. I can't remember the last time I laughed that hard. I had no idea cataloging jokes could be so funny!! 520: that about sums it up!! [Guess you kind of had to be there!] The food was great, we order one salad and one appetizer to share between us and three entrees and three (very large!) desserts. I have never seen achocolate cake that big!!

Saturday night was also great. We always have a small cocktail reception before the banquet. This year's meeting was a joint conference with MLA and SAM (the Society for American Music). SAM has a brass band that plays to help close their conferences. So the brass band played for the first 30 minutes of the cocktail reception. There was also free champagne being passed out, so I had a glass of that. The brass band was okay, not very exciting music, just marches and some band type pieces. But then the MLA Big Band played! We have an awesome group. They played for the last hour of the reception before the banquet started and as soon as they started playing we were all cheering and going wild. They were great!! Definitely better than the brass band. One of my co-workers told me that someone standing next to her asked who these people were and she looked at them and just said, "They are Librarians!" How awesome!!! Check out our Big Band at: www.myspace.com/mlabigband. (I hope I have that correct, that's off the top of my head.)

I got back to town late Sunday night, went to see Chris and then finally made it back to my house in time to go to bed. I took Monday off to run errands and sleep in some. Went back to work today. Back to my mundane life. I love these conferences, I learn so much and I have so many friends there now, it's just fun to go. I can't wait to go to Newport, RI next year for our 2008 meeting. True Newport in February will be cold, but it'll be warm and cozy inside the hotel surrounded by lots of friends and good conversation!!

Traveling to Pittsburgh

First, as the header says, I am traveling this week, this time to Pittsburgh. I've been to the airport there, but never to the city. My hotel is right in downtown, right where the rivers all converge. I leave Monday night and I fly back home next Sunday afternoon/evening. I'm not taking my laptop with me this time, so I will be out of touch the whole week. However, feel free to give me a call if you like, I will have my cell phone. If I don't answer it's just because I'm busy hanging with colleagues/friends that I only see once a year! :)

Second, my weekend was okay. It was busy despite how sick I've been. I finally started feeling better today. But yesterday's dress rehearsal was awful! I felt terrible. I thought today was going to be terrible too, but somehow I remained clear and had energy during the concert. I've been congested since, but it doesn't seem as bad as it was the past few days.

I hope everyone is having a prayerful Lent. Take care and have a good week!