Lint Roller Dance

I know y'all have been wondering how it's been going with sharing our bed with the beasties.  

Well...

Josie's persistence is both infuriating and adorable.  She wants to get in the bed first, doesn't care how much of her is on the bed, and once a human is in bed with her, she tries to completely suck the life out of them.  A cuddlepire??

She also brings toys.  Waking up with a slobbery dog toy plastered to your face is really unacceptable.  Throwing the toy out of the bed only encourages the behavior. She just retrieves it, which is dumb as heck and makes no sense, right?  So we haven't really figured out a solution yet.

Josie loves some cuddles but usually dumps us after a couple hours. 

Margo gets so excited she dances around the bed in a fur frenzy.  This is a dog who didn't have the word, "dancing" in her vocabulary prior to this.  She does politely wait for us, then jumps up on her own (but refuses to get in our cars without help. SUCKAHS).

She only wants a couple cuddles before abandoning us. She has mastered the art of not touching us, sometimes for hours, which seems unusual for a dog who is a complete beggar for attention and almost as large as a pony.  I recently figured out her motive.  She knows our bed is the biggest and softest in the house.  She does not care that there are humans in it.  She just wants the biggest and softest bed.

And she stays the whole night.

When I wake up, I throw my body over her, only to see her expression, which is always the same: "OMGAWD why is there a human in my bed?!?!?"

As for letting them up once a week before we wash the bedding?  Well that went to hell after one night.  

Each night I use a lint roller to get some of the hair off, and naturally Margo interprets the sound of the lint roller as her formal invitation, and that's when she starts dancing.  

Coming home

It's been a little bumpy around here.  A lot of uncertainty, but also a lot of hugs and teamwork.

Robert's Grandma, Carolyne, was in the hospital the past month.  After a month of checking all the boxes and making her as comfortable as possible, she finally came home on Wednesday.  We are doing her hospice care here with the help of Robert's mom, Audrey.  

There are really good moments like this morning when she sang a few girl scout songs with Audrey. This was in response to their good attitudes about all my banjolele practice, which I do as far away as possible I promise.

There have been some tough moments.  She's very much ready for the end and spends most of her time talking about it.  Watching Robert's face during these conversations is tough.  

We are taking it a few hours at a time, learning an exhausting amount of information, and doing our best to make her comfortable and toasty.  Each time I find myself feeling helpless or struggling to respond to her pleas to leave, I remind myself she's home.  It's not a lot, but it's what we have to give.

I think she's happier here than the hospital.  It's in the way she reaches for Margo when Margo cozies up to her.  The way the house shakes with Jeopardy as she dozes to it, and during the long and never ending nights, Robert is only steps away when she calls.  He's such a huge comfort.

We covered her in gifts on Christmas, and she had the most fun folding the tissue paper.  Some things never change. 💝

I don't think our living room has ever had to work this hard at being a living room before.  

Margo and Carolyne have been buds since we brought Margo home.  Whenever Carolyne needs help in the middle of the night, Margo is the first one there in a rush of concerned clicky clacky toenails.  

Lisel

 Thanks to Evening Street Press for publishing my poem, Lisel.

What a lovely cover to see on a cold, winter day!

Reviews!

 The Swallowtail Legacy: Wreck at Ada's Reef by Michael D. Beil (Juvenile Fiction)

Grade Level: 3-7.  Lark is a headstrong, empathetic teen with a sharp eye for detail. Her family is comprised of a sister, three stepbrothers, and a stepdad. Her mom passed away recently and she is missing her mom, trying to figure out her role in life and her family, all while growing up and striving for independence. 

The book takes place at the beloved summer home Lark and her sister, Pip inherit from their mom. It’s a special place Lark has been visiting her whole life, but this is the first time she’s spending a summer on the island without her mom. 

Lark quickly gets involved in a mystery that determines the future of the island. I enjoyed many things about this book. At the top of the list were the characters. Though her siblings could have been a bit more fleshed out, the island characters were interesting and provided plenty of connections. I enjoyed both the primary mystery and the smaller mystery of the bird, which does not get fully solved. Yes, spoiler alert, this book will be part of a series! I also liked the big moment of defiance and determination at the end. A lot of action for a middle grade novel. This is a great book for anyone interested in mysteries, family, quirky characters, and island life.

Too Small Tola and the Three Fine Girls by Atinuke and illustrated by Onyinye Iwu (Juvenile Fiction)

Grade Level: 2-4. Tola’s spunk, smarts, decisiveness, and love for her family are enough to make anyone’s heart melt. Her day-to-day life is very different than a lot of little ones I know. When her grandma is sick, they have just enough of a safety net to buy her medicine, but the kids need to work so they have money to eat. Their rice is even different than the rice I buy, and they need to pick the rocks out of it before eating it. But their family is also similar to lots of families I know. They have their tussles, and despite taking on adult roles at times, the kids are still very much kids with kid hopes and desires. They are also an incredibly strong family who will do anything for each other. Their love for each other brings so much warmth to these stories.

hugs & germs

While covering the desk at the library today a little boy approached the desk and asked for a hug.  I made eye contact with Dad who nodded, and hugs were exchanged.

His sister then approached me, asked for a hug, and after exchanging hugs, she sneezed.  She looked me right in the eyes and said, "I don't feel too good."

It took everything I had not to laugh out loud.  The best part was watching Dad's face.  

If you don't hear from me, you know where I'll be.  Sick as a dog from hugs of all things.

pancakes

 Thanks to Slab for publishing my ridiculously long library poem, pancakes. 

It's a library love story so there is much to get excited about.  Now excuse me while I go tuck into my copy!

a little bit of comfort and a little bit of kick butt

Reviews!!

Bedtime for Bo by Kjersti Annesdatter Skomsvold & Mari Kanstad Johnsen (Picture Book)

A cozy and imaginative book with lively, colorful, and uninhibited illustrations that will sweep you up into the bedtime ritual between a mom and her son. Bo pretends he is a parrot, and his mom jumps right in and encourages his imagination to take flight. He soars from parrot to hibernating bear to other animals as he gets ready for bed. The mom gives her son the freedom to take his time with each bedtime activity, encouraging his imagination and participating in the fun.

Every Day is a Gift by Tammy Duckworth (Adult Nonfiction)

Tammy Duckworth is a phenomenal woman with a fascinating life. Her hard work, determination, patriotism, sense of humor, and empathy are incredibly inspirational.

Unlike a lot of memoirs that are cowritten, this one was polished, organized, and didn’t spend too much time rambling. It was mostly chronological with only a few moments where Duckworth paused to make a connection to current issues she’s fighting for.

Her long struggle for her father’s pride and his battle with bravado that jeopardized his family’s safety at times is absolutely heartbreaking but also relatable. Duckworth was candid about her family’s issues and didn’t make an effort to smooth over troubles even when her father passed away. 

Duckworth also doesn’t let anything stand in her way if it’s within her ability to move it. And she moves so many mountains and has so many interesting stories to tell about each challenge and triumph. I found myself saying, “damn” a lot. This book is for anyone who needs a little kick in the pants or encouragement to continue fighting their own battles and kicking butt.

* I both read and listened to this.  The book has pictures, but the audiobook is read by Tammy Duckworth and is excellent.

feeling good (ish)

Yesterday I started feeling excited about life again hi-yah!  Like a lot of people, I get pretty down and mopey when I'm sick.  I stop being grateful for the small things like our never-ending supply of Kleenex thanks to Robert's concern about us ever running out of it.  Or the never-ending supply of ice cubes for a sore throat (and two pups who need some ice cube happiness because I can't walk them).  Heck, I even forget I have two fluffy love buns to cuddle almost any time I want (unless Margo is moping).  I also have family and friends (some who even read my blog and check in - thank you).  Yesterday, when I was finally starting to feel better I gave myself a stern talking to (it was more like a stern croaking), and I listened to music, and did just one small load of laundry (mostly for my comfort and because I lack self control when it comes to productivity).  

Yesterday was also Spotify Wrapped Day, which I love.  I love the weird genres of music that sometimes crop up and then listening to playlists that spotlight that genre.  My brother got some good ones, including Neo Mellow, which I dived into while working from home today.  

Here are some pictures of my Spotify Wrapped. 💛💚💙💜

a vacation ruled by laughs, love, and dogs

I am still trudging my way through strep and the sinus infection it left in its aftermath.  I have been very good.  Sleeping mostly, drinking as much water as possible, and ignoring chores and tumbleweeds of dog hair blowing about the house.  I only took the girls out for one walk since Friday, and after huffing and puffing myself around the block, I temporarily crossed walks off the list.  Now there's only mournful faces and cheeseburger stomping (Margo stomps on her cheeseburger when she's mad at me).  

Prior to getting sick we went on a wonderful trip to Texas.  Our plan was to visit with Robert's sister, Abby and her significant other, Joseph for a day in Dallas.  Then on to a small town just outside of Dallas to visit my brother, Jason.  The last couple days were going to be spent hiking in Austin (conveniently on Thanksgiving when everything was closed).

Plans are really just a vague outline, right?  We got to spend more time than we expected to with Abby and Joseph, which was wonderful.  They are just as excited about food and books as we are so we did a fair amount of that.  We then had an amazing time with Jason.  During our time with Jason I told Robert I had already gotten more out of this trip than I ever expected.  Enough joy, laughter, inspiration, and time with family to last us through the cold months.  Robert agreed.  When we left Jason's we checked the weather for Austin one more time, and it said the same thing it had been saying for the last couple days.  Rain, rain, rain.  We decided to come on home and have a few days to unwind and hike familiar trails.  

I promptly got sick and the rest is history.  But at least I made it home before I got sick this time.  

This was our first long trip with the girls and I think they loved it.  Unlike Rose and Ella, who cuddled with each other all the time, Margo and Josie do not really ever sleep with each other.  At one point on the trip I caught them sharing the bed and captured this rare picture of them cuddling. 

Margo and Josie are not allowed on the furniture at home.  They have one couch in Robert's office that belongs to them and they understand everything else is off limits.  Robert and I decided to let them sleep with us while we were traveling, and it was both a success and a complete disaster.  We didn't expect them to sleep with us the whole night, but they did (success).  Margo was a lump of love, but Josie ran at least two marathons in her sleep (disaster).  

We didn't have to say anything about the couches in the rooms.  They seemed to both know instinctively that the couches belonged to them.  

Minutes after meeting up with Abby and Joseph, we were whisked away to H Mart, a mega Korean supermarket with a food court.  We tried many delicious things, including a soup dumpling for the first time.  

Then we slowly and rapturously wandered the store.  I picked out some canned sardines and mussels to take home with me.    

The lima beans are from a gas station.  I love finding unusual food at gas stations!

Later, I tried one of the best teas in my life - a grapefruit green tea with actual grapefruit lurking in the bottom of the drink.

We paid a visit to the Half Price flagship bookstore, and I found a few books.  Check out that map!

We weren't quite ready for dinner so Abby and Joseph asked if we had anything on our lists.  I thought for sure they had heard of Barney Smith's Toilet Seat Art Museum, which was weirdly the only thing on my Dallas list, but they hadn't.  So we went!  A bucket list item for me!  It was even better than I imagined.  His artwork is so thoughtful, humorous, and filled with pop culture.

Check out those toilets!  Perfect place for a picture!

Robert and I popped into a couple libraries, and I was really impressed with Plano's color-coded holds.  Seven colors, one for each day of the week.  Instead of consulting a list, the librarians just pull the expired holds by that day's color.  BADASS.  And so pretty.  Never have I spent so much time gawping at a wall of holds.

Plano also had an assistive technology table. 

And their Early Reader section was surprisingly less difficult to understand.  Still feel like early readers are way too complex, but I appreciated the color-coded levels and the descriptions for each level.  

On our way out of Dallas, we stopped in Denton, which is an adorable, artsy town north of Dallas.  We went to Thistle Creative Reuse (recycled crafts) and Recycled Books, Records, & CDs, which had the best poetry section of the whole trip.  Many shelves of poetry.

Next up on our trip was Jason!  The last time we saw Jason was in 2019, over three years ago and way too long.  Jason is one of those special people I can just sit back and listen to for hours.  He's brilliant, witty, and is always extremely passionate about his interests.  He recently got his ham radio license and is one of only a few people I can sit with and listen to music for hours.  His music room is crazy!

Anyways, we took a fun stroll through the same park we went to twelve years ago when we first met, and I convinced him to climb a rock with me.  Or did he convince me?  The dogs didn't need convincing!

This picture is a winner for so many reasons.  Mostly Josie's face.  But also, as you can see, Margo promptly dumped us once we helped her up.  

We didn't stay at the park long though.  Jason's dad, Gordon, asked his friend who owns the bookstore in town to open it up for us at 11:00.  First time in my life a bookstore has been opened up for me.  I had a wonderful time browsing titles with Jason while listening to Gordon and the bookstore owner talk it up.  

Gordon also gave us a private museum tour!  The museum was in an old post office, and we got to see all of it.  From the basement to the top, where the lookout gallery was.  Here you can see Robert using one of the slots in the lookout gallery.  So cool!

We spent the evening listening to and sharing music in Jason's incredible music room.  I can't even describe the quality of sound he's created.  No words can do it justice. 

Robert and the girls managed to talk me into a compromise.  The night before we wash bedding each week is now a holy holiday here, because I agreed to let the girls up on the bed for that one night a week.

We really don't have enough holidays in this house - cuddles during evening tea, every time I take the leashes off the hook, whenever Robert and I ask the girls if they want to go for a joy ride.

Allowing the girls to slumber on our expensive foam mattress while they kick the crap out of us while we try to sleep seems like something my cold heart can allow once a week.

lotsa color and joy

I am fighting another cold/sinus infection. 😞  My words all feel like alphabet soup, so I will try to use them sparingly.  

I finished a few pieces that are available on my Etsy.  Lots of joy went into making each of these, and now I'm out of thread, tea, and oomph. 😆 Thankfully the only thing I'm good for right now is drinking tea and doing some questionable online shopping (I have a vague memory of buying more thread on Black Friday).

Please enjoy!

This collage is made out of 100% tea bags and tags.  It was weirdly tough to measure the petals, but I really enjoyed cutting out the petal strips, putting them in a box, shaking the box up, laying them out, and matching them up together.  Sometimes I cut as I go.  Other times I cut up everything at the beginning and put all the different pieces in different boxes.  I did a rough sketch and then cut up everything I needed for this piece.  I did need to lay out all the petals again, because I measured wrong the first time.  But I'm glad I stuck with it, because the piece turned out very nicely. 

I decided to go very crazy and colorful with this flower.  I used a lot of multicolor thread and also mixed up other threads based mostly on rash, impulsive feelings of happiness. 😄  I did sketch out the flower and a color-coded map so I wouldn't go too crazy.  So there is a map under that craziness that says, "orange" or "go crazy here." And it's written in permanent ink because I was feeling pretty confident when I drew this.  I love my washable fabric markers, but I constantly have to redraw lines that have been smudged.  Because this piece filled the whole hoop, it needed the permanent marker or I would have been the one with crazy written on my face.  

I did about half of this zen piece on a roadtrip I'll blog about once my brain is less foggy, and the other half on Thanksgiving.  Sometimes I hunker down and do nothing but sew.  I'm not sure if the sense of urgency is due to a concern that I'm going to forget the completed picture in my head or if I just completely lose track of time and surroundings.  Probably both.  

a nest of trying

The Carrying by Ada Limón (Poetry)

This is my second time reading this collection and it won’t be my last.  My favorite poem is The Vulture & the Body, which is close to the beginning and exemplifies the many reasons I loved this collection.  Limón is comfortable sharing her numerous and strange connections and invites us into the many rooms and their connecting hallways her profound and winding thoughts make.  It’s a little like a maze, but the reader always finds themselves right back at the beginning of the thought by the end of the poem, and additionally, returned to their own world feeling heavy with contemplation.

The poems have more recurring themes than I have space or time to write.  But I most appreciate how she portrays the marriage of life and death. They’re not separate, and the cycle is constantly blurred and in motion.  Not an easy thing to convey!  It’s not a book you read straight through in a few sittings. But because the poems speak to one another and the book reads like it has a loose narrative, you can’t just read a poem and walk away for several days.  Dear future self – when rereading this, don’t read this too fast, but don’t walk away for too long!  

Favorite poems/lines: 

The Vulture & The Body: 

“What if, instead of carrying

a child, I am supposed to carry grief?”

Dead Stars:

“I am a hearth of spiders these days: a nest of trying.”

Of Roots & Roamers:

“Have you ever noticed how the trees

change from state to state? Not all

at once, of course, more like a weaver 

gradually weaving in another color…” 

A New National Anthem:

“And what of the stanzas we never sing…”

Maybe I’ll Be Another Kind of Mother:

“I’ll stare at the tree and the ice will have melted, so

it’s only the original tree again, green branches giving way

to other green branches, everything coming back to life.”

so much beauty

Granny & Bean by Karen Hesse & illustrated by Charlotte Voake (Picture Book)

Granny and Bean’s beach excursion is filled with exciting moments. It’s clearly a cold, windy, and rainy day, but they have a blast teasing the waves, singing, racing around, and enjoying each other’s company. Because it’s such a gray day at the beach, all the illustrations pop against the beach’s background. The text is simple, rhyming, bold, and filled with language that pops.

Beautiful You, Beautiful Me by Tasha Spillett-Sumner & illustrated by Salini Perera (Picture Book)

It’s aok that we don’t always look like our families, and what matters most is that we love one another and celebrate both our differences and similarities. Though there are a few books with this message, this book stands out because the language is simple, the message is repetitive, and at the end, the roles reverse and mom gives her daughter an opportunity to recall and dispense the beautiful message.

Margo’s hamburger

Ever have one of those days where you faceplant into your hamburger and decide to stay there?

beasts

I was so thrilled I had made it past the halfway point of storytimes without getting sick, I totally jinxed it and crowed my gratitude to Robert.  Naturally, I immediately got sick.  Nothing too bad this time around, knock on wood!  Just a small cold that I'm trying to convince not to turn into a sinus infection.  I took yesterday off and was planning to go back today since I didn't have a fever or sinus pressure.  Thankfully, I stayed home, because I've been asleep much of the day.  I tend to get a little down when I'm not racing around doing a million things at once.  Thankfully, I had a couple weeks of pictures to organize and many things to read.

I never know how the girls are going to be sleeping when I wake up.  They tend to get a lot of love first thing in the morning, so I think they are starting to figure this out and have been hamming it up.

Two weekends ago, the girls were ready for baths so we went to a swimming hole (Back Hoof) before the torture.  Josie was such a superstar when she jumped off the dock.  Poor Goper just flopped into the water each time.

Josie will jump on anything.  Before hiking at Swope on Sunday, we stopped at the dog park, because we are forever hopeful the girls will want to socialize with other dogs.  They were both ambivalent about the other dogs, tried to go home with a couple hoomans, and Josie jumped on everything she could.

I found this rock on the hike at Swope but left it for another person to find.  I just finished the third book of the Witches of Brooklyn series (quite possibly my favorite juvenile graphic series), and in the series they talk about dragons sleeping beneath cities.  In the third book the main character, Effie, maybe wakes up a dragon but no spoiler alerts here.  This rock makes me think about all kinds of ancient characters and beasts just sleeping beneath or at our feet. It's a wonderful thought.

Mostly storytime adventures with a little rambling

We are just a little past the halfway point for fall storytimes.  My current plan of having a mixture of activities depending on my crowd's mood, interest, and attention spans is working well.  I have moments of connection, moments of chaos.  Sometimes my hands simply freeze while playing the ukulele.  I admit I am still a little bit more nervous than I was prior to the pandemic.  I’m not sure why or if I will eventually get more comfortable. 

There was one week I did not feel exhausted after storytime, and I mistakenly (and a little smugly) thought that storytime was becoming an extension of myself like tennis or writing.  But I was wrong!  The following week I was exhausted again, and my introvert brain was back to being appalled at my continued interest in singing and reading with children.

I engage in a lot of activities that do not receive a lot of feedback.  Art and writing come to mind!  It can be lonely sometimes.  Occasionally I scold myself for not trying harder to write or create in such a way that reaches others and builds connections.  But I celebrate the ordinary beauty.  That’s my jam.  Anything else wouldn’t be genuine.  And the extraordinary ordinary definitely attracts a smaller audience.  I’m mostly ok with this though.  I spend more time cherishing my small impact on the world than I don't.  And because I am introverted, I am usually happy to tuck into my introvert activities and live quietly and alone. 

With storytime the feedback is usually instant.  I can be a part of the joy that completely consumes a toddler's face or trying to frantically reassess when a book I'm reading is met with perplexed looks or worse, complete disregard.  I relish this instant feedback and being a part of this 30-minute ritual of books, songs, families, community, and connection.

There was a time in my life I couldn't walk into a store or do anything that involved crowds.  I was constantly worried someone would say something hateful to me.  I spent my middle and high school years being bullied.  I couldn't escape it.  Like a lot of kids who are being bullied, I felt like I had no one to turn to.  It was all the usual things that go along with bullying.   I was spit on by two girls once.  My hair was often pulled.  My gender was under constant scrutiny.  Both students and teachers said terrible things about my family.  One teacher openly mocked me in front of others.  My personal belongings were often stolen or defaced.  Mostly because I was different.  I was unattractive (for lack of a better way to describe this terrible offense).  I tried too hard.  My family had issues.  Things most of us can relate to, right? The worst incident happened when a few teenage boys swerved toward me in their car while I was riding my bike.  They were leaning out of the car calling me terrible names, and of course I completely toppled off my bike.  I survived it, but moments like that made it increasingly harder to go out, and at one point I just stopped unless I had to.

Thankfully adulting kicked in, and I had to go out to survive.  It took several years to get comfortable with crowds, and I remember the pride I felt when I first walked across an indoor mall to a food court, which was on the opposite side of the department store I worked in.  I had always entered the store through the back.  One day I had both the money and bravery I needed to make the journey, and I did it.  A bizarre moment to be so pivotal in my life, but I really think that's the moment I knew I could make it.  I recall how giddy I felt because barely anyone looked at me.  I was almost invisible.  It helped that I was living in a different town.

One of the most appealing things about working in a library was that it was never crowded.  At least not the library I frequented during my middle school years.  It was also quiet, and I was almost immediately invisible every time I walked in.  Sure, the librarian at the desk had patrons, but they rarely exchanged more than a few pleasantries.  

How wrong I was!  And how happy I am that I was wrong!  Sure, a library can be quiet, but on the youth side it can be downright loud at times.  The library can also get crowded, and occasionally the members of that entire crowd are all waiting for help at the same time.  I do still relish my invisibility and am quite practiced at it after so many years, but often, I am not invisible.  I can think of two patrons who change computers whenever I switch desks from the adult desk to the youth desk or vice versa.  Recently a patron saw me walking into work for my late shift and she asked if I would help her with her Excel document once I was on the desk.  I groused a little about patrons thinking they could put a hold on a library worker like they would a book, but I was secretly pleased.  And, even though pleasantries are the most common exchange I share with patrons, there are plenty of strange, beautiful, uncomfortable, enlightening, and important exchanges that completely reshape my day.

It's not at all the job I envisioned myself having.  My younger self did not take many things into account.  For example, I have coworkers, which means that I am a part of a team, which would have horrified my younger self.  My adult self, however, is happiest when I feel like I’m a part of that team.  And occasionally my adult self still struggles with feelings of exclusion, which sometimes baffles me into silence.  But other times I am brave and also proud of myself for wanting to feel like I belong to something.  I should totally feel like it’s ok to belong to something.  The fear of rejection shouldn’t be the one making that decision for me.

My younger self also didn’t realize that libraries were places for programming and community.  Thankfully I was thrown into programming before the fears and uncertainties belonging to my younger self could stand in the way.

I never really thought about off-desk time.  I assumed you worked the desk, maintained the collection, and read whenever you had a few free minutes.  To be fair, I do not recall witnessing the librarians from my youth ever reading.  But I knew it had to happen at some point, right?  So sure, I work the desk and maintain the collection.  But I spend a lot of time talking about books with patrons, offering technology help, and helping my team create and maintain our space.  We have bulletin boards to make! Toys to clean! Teen volunteers to manage!  Displays to create and fill! Word searches to create! Whew, I am exhausted just thinking about all of this.  

But I also have off-desk time.  Time to practice my ukulele, engage in learning opportunities, meet with members of all the committees I’m on, create lists, read books for programming, readers' advisory, and professional development.  I read books at work!  I get paid to read! 

And so yea, back to programming.  I have been completely clueless about every program I’ve been involved in, everything from memoir and poetry workshops to civic engagement, book clubs, and storytimes.  But finding my way in each of these programs has really given definition to who I am.  I haven’t given up.  I’ve learned to reach out and ask for help.  I learn something new each day, and sometimes I even remember the things I learn!  I also have such a ridiculously good time connecting with patrons through these programs.  I feel like I am a part of this world, and I’m doing something wonderful with my life.  These are feelings my younger self would have found unbelievable.  I am so proud of my younger self for not giving up on me.    

I had no idea I would be facilitating storytimes when I first started working for the library twelve years ago.  Heck, I only started really shadowing youth librarians about seven years into my journey.  Seriously!  Thankfully I knew immediately that working with kids was the direction I wanted to take.  And it’s cheesy as hell, but I’m grateful a couple librarians took a chance on me, and I get to do this job every day because of them.

Getting to be a part of the world in this way is not something I take for granted.  

Storytimes are one of my favorite things about my job.  They are tough!  I still feel like a beginner after five years!  Sometimes the room is total chaos!  And I have to constantly practice so many things, some weird!  Like thinking about moments in the books that invite questions and practicing how to ask those questions in a way that makes sense to toddlers and preschoolers.  That is only one weird thing!  But storytimes are also incredibly rewarding, humbling, nourishing, and uplifting.  I’m not sure who is learning more.  The kids or me.  

Here are some of my favorite moments of the season:

• While reading a book about Pete the Cat going to different places in his school, I asked a kid where Pete was.  Spoiler alert, Pete was in the lunchroom.  The kid had a completely different perspective though.  He pointed to the page and said, “he’s at the top.”  The top of the page.  Right!

• One kid literally dances on his bottom whenever I say we’re going to sing our hello song.  He loves the song so much.  His whole face lights up and he starts scooting around on his bottom.

• Two of the moms really hit it off at last week’s storytime.  They came to the first session, talked afterwards, and came back to the second session together.  Thankfully, I had plenty of space.  

• Because we sing the same song with our shaker eggs every week, there are a few kids, some barely walking who immediately start rolling their arms when I say it’s time to sing our shaker egg song (It's the Roly Poly song).  One girl, who is barely a toddler, mirrored my movements almost perfectly last week.  It was one of the cutest things ever.  

• I don’t always bring out my goodbye rhyme animals, which are magnetic, laminated animals I made, but when I do, they love the ladybug best.  The rhyme is, “Give a Hug, Ladybug,” and I encourage everyone to give their loved ones hugs.  And they all give hugs.  It’s very sweet.  

• One family consisting of a mom, older brother, and younger sister gives me a laugh whenever they come to storytime.  When I sing the hello song, I always ask if anyone wants to sing their name.  The older brother raises his hand, we sing his name, and then he raises his hand again and asks for us to sing his sister’s name.  Well, his sister likes to be called one thing and older brother calls her something else.  So, when he tells me his sister’s name, she always corrects him.  It’s hilarious.

• One storytime I had two kids with the same name.  No big deal, right?  So when we sang the hello song with names I got really excited that the two kids shared a name and pointed it out.  The boy turned and looked at the girl with the same name and he crossed his arms and made the most sour face.  Oh my, I learned my lesson there.  Going to sing the same name twice if it happens again!

• Due to covid precautions, our storytimes are currently in the large meeting room on the other side of the library so patrons can spread out.  Because of this, we all walk across the library together like a long train or parade, and I sing a song the whole way across the library.  Occasionally I hear the kids singing, but usually it’s just my loud voice.  I wasn’t sure how our patrons on the adult side were going to handle this parade, but they absolutely love it.  I have seen the most hardened newspaper readers and shushers completely melt and crack a smile when the parade marches past them.  One patron always stops what he’s doing and holds his hand over his heart whenever we walk past him.  He happens to have a service dog, and the first time the crowd of us passed her, she backed up toward him protectively.  It was very cool.  I can’t do it justice writing about it.  Since that first time, the service dog has accepted the parade and knows we are no longer a threat.  

• During one of my storytimes, I asked the kids what color something was, and one kid said, “turquoise.”  I kid you not.  But it gets better!  Another kid jumped in and said, “it’s also called teal.”  So yes, there was a philosophical discussion about color between two preschoolers during one of my storytimes.  

• At the beginning of one of my storytimes I noticed a kid was alone.  He was about four or five, so I was only mildly alarmed.  I asked him where his mom was and he said, “she’s breastfeeding my sister.”  Wow, how cool is that?  He was so matter of fact, and it was such a big word.  I made a quick decision to not disrupt storytime to find mom and have a conversation with her later instead.  She came in only a couple minutes later, and her son was perfectly behaved while she was away.

• During last week’s storytime we were singing a pumpkin song that required hand movements.  A toddler was so enthralled with my hand movements he came up and placed his hands very close to mine and tried to figure out what I was doing while I was moving my hands.  He really wanted to make the same movements.  We sang that song three times, and he was mesmerized the entire time.

• Also, during last week’s storytime, when I introduced the book about a house that wasn’t sure it wanted to be haunted, the automatic paper towel dispenser went off on its own.  All the grown-ups in the room had a hearty laugh about that!

• Once last week’s storytime came to an end I realized we had a few extra minutes.  I asked if anyone had a song they wanted to sing.  One girl picked Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star and we sang that twice.  An older kid who was out of school for the day raised her hand and said she had a song.  I asked her what it was, and she gave me a song name I didn’t recognize so I asked her to sing it for us.  It was a church hymn!  And she sang it beautifully! 

I will continue sharing storytime happiness.  Maybe not in novel form next time, but we still have a few more weeks left.  Who knows what’s going to happen!

  

mostly warm fuzzy things

The Great Fuzz Frenzy by Janet Stevens and Susan Stevens Crummel (Picture Book)

An outlandish tale involving groundhogs who find a tennis ball and become infatuated with its fuzz. So much fun to read aloud with illustrations that pop with electricity.

The Farmhouse by Sophie Blackall (Picture Book)

A masterpiece. The illustrations just keep on giving, even after reading this through several times. I highly recommend reading the author’s note. It’s only a skeleton of a story without it! I was haunted and gutted by the home’s loss of its family. To be left alone after being filled by such a lively and large family for so many years is almost unbearable. But I was also filled with hope, admiration, and inspiration. Blackall brought the home back to life with illustrations, research, imagination, and her careful observations of the home’s deteriorated contents.

The Littlest Library by Polly Alexander (Adult Fiction)

The Littlest Library is one of the most comforting books I read this year. Jess is an ordinary librarian who has the extraordinary gift to weave community together. When she loses both her grandma who raised her and her library job, she stumbles upon a small village that revives her soul and opens her up to relationships she’s never had before. Jess impulsively buys a little cottage and an old phone booth comes with the property. You can rest easy, because the cover of the book does not lie. Jess converts the phone booth into a tiny library with ten boxes of her grandma’s most cherished books. Though there is a hint of romance throughout the book, the primary focus is Jess rooting herself to the village and its community. She doesn’t really have a hobby, but she is clearly into cooking, gardening, and books (though I can’t remember a moment when she paused for some reading). I enjoyed reading the details of the constant upkeep required for her garden and little library. I also appreciated all the incredible details of small village life, fixing up a house during a glorious summer off while she finds work, and the many interesting characters she befriends.

Happy Days by Gabrielle Bernstein (Adult Nonfiction)

Chapter seven was my favorite chapter. It was my first experience with Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapy, and it’s really been spinning around in my brain. I like the idea of thinking about strong, defensive emotions as our protectors and using our regulated selves to kindly talk to both the protectors and the exiled feelings they’re protecting. Bernstein also encourages readers to name our protectors, think about why these emotions are protecting us, and rely on our regulated self to take charge whenever the protectors go into protect mode.