this is really just a rambling update so you all know I'm still alive

My first week of training is over and I am... exhausted.

I am also super psyched.  I have discovered there is a room full of puppets that I can check out and use for my storytime.  I have visited all the libraries in my library system, including two that are in the process of being built.  Two of the libraries I visited let us up on their roofs (the finished ones that is), and I learned a lot of fascinating history about each one.  One of the branches is even shaped like an open book.  Also during my training I went to one of our board meetings, which is something I've always been curious about but never made time for.

This weekend I am going to see The Nutcracker with Rachel and Robert, and Robert and I are making 80 mini loaves of banana bread for my coworkers... from all three branches (the two I just left and my new one).  The banana smell in our house this past week has grown increasingly stronger.  It's not too crazy if I stay in the house for awhile, but if I leave and come back, the smell almost knocks me out.  Our house may smell like bananas forever.

The Nutcracker is something I've wanted to see pretty much my whole life.  When Robert and Rachel said they'd go with me, I bought our tickets for my birthday present to myself (my birthday is early in December).  I've never seen a ballet, which is something I'm eager to see, and I've also been madly in love with the music from The Nutcracker for many years.  

I am exhausted yet humming with excitement.  I have a three day weekend next week and I am probably going to nap the whole way through it. But this is definitely one of the best holiday seasons I've had - new gig, surrounded by lots of people I love and am so grateful for, my first Nutcracker, and the promise of a very exciting new year.