Friday Letters

Dear Husband- I am so proud of how well you are doing at work. Your three four years (because I count the time you studied for the LSAT, and the Bar Exam) of hard work and dedication are beginning to pay off!

Dear Person Who Searched "girl wedgied so hard she pees"- I'm really disturbed that you somehow found my blog with that search criteria. But if you are the same person that searched for Trailer Trash Party Decorations, thank you. You've reminded me that I did blog about Brandon's 30th Birthday Party before I had any followers, and that I should re-share.

Dear Webster's Dictionary- I think it's kind of amazing that hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia is actually a word (seriously, google it). But I think it's even more amazing that the definition is: Fear of long words. Does that seem mean to anyone else?

Dear Brandon- When I sent you that picture of the girl placing her ice cold feet on her poor husband's back, thank you for also pointing out that I steal all of the covers. This made the picture ten times funnier to me. {Wondering who the Critter Sitter is?}

Friday is off to a fabulous start. I forgot my wallet at home, so I'm currently carrying around the hugest purse that only has my phone and car keys in it. Wallet is on the dining room table. I hope I don't starve. I will be spending the rest of the weekend finishing up my paper, and attending my nieces 3rd Birthday Ballerina party!

TGIF!

"Library School"

Well, it's mid-semester and per the usual I'm starting to feel like I'm drowning in books and papers.

Some of you have asked what exactly I do in "Library School" and I wanted to share a glimpse into the life of an MLIS student.

{MLIS = Masters of Library & Information Sciences.}

You do in fact have to have a Master's Degree to work as a librarian these days.

I know, it surprised me too.

"You need to have your Master's to check out patrons' books?"

Oddly enough, Librarians aren't even the ones that would check out your books, or re-shelve your books.

Most likely that would be an assistant, or a page who is assisting you at check out.

Depending on which setting,

(Academic, Public, School, Law or Corporate)

librarians can be in charge of:

 the collection development for their library (what books and/other resources to order),

what programs the library will offer as well as leading some of these programs,

{i.e. story time, computer classes, gaming night, etc}

how to market the library,

maintaining the databases,

and are ultimately there to assist patrons with accessing the information they are looking for.

At SJSU, we were able to choose our emphasis early on in the program

and after dabbling in Archiving & Catologing {not for me}, and Computer Database Creation and Management {no thanks}

I settled on an emphasis in Children's and Young Adult Literature.

While I would be able to become a librarian regardless of my emphasis,

Children's and YA Lit would be most beneficial to me as I see myself ultimately becoming a Young Adult Librarian.

I've had to take courses in a multitude of areas:

research methods courses, programs & services for public libraries, marketing, diversity within a library setting, information retrieval processes, etc.

The course I'm in now is Materials for Young Adults ages 15-18.

In addition to the 50 books I'm required to read and review for our final database project, I'm currently trying to finish a 20 page paper on Trends in Digital Resources for Teens.

Two weeks later another 20 page paper is due on the ever-so-controversial topic of sexuality in young adult literature.

{Nothing gets me more worked up then attempted bans on books!}

While I love the content we are studying, the fact that I work full-time has successfully taken the joy out of school.

It's become something that requires the last bit of energy I have after working all day.

I have one more class to take over the summer, and then I begin work on my portfolio during the Fall.

I'm set to graduate in December,

{Knock on wood. Seriously, knock on it.}

I think if I was required to go to school for even one more semester after, I would drop out.
 Sorry dad! 

So there you have it! Exciting stuff right? ;-) 

So please excuse my lack of comments or replies as of late.

It's just been overwhelming in these parts!

Amber's 30th Birthday

My sister-in-law (Brandon's sister) turned the big 3-0 on St. Patrick's Day. Her husband stayed home with all three of their girls while she and I spent a few hours at a local boutique trying on cute outfits. Later that evening, they hosted a get together at their new place. We enjoyed yummy appetizers, good conversation and Jason's Mojitos (YUM). It was so nice to get to spend quality "adult" time with her since most of their time is spent chasing after our nieces! (4 years old, 3 years old, and 8 months old!)

What happens when Brandon takes a picture of me

Happy Birthday Amber!

I have a feeling this year is going to be a great one for you :-)

Shine Beach Clean Up!

Saturday was The Shine Beach Clean Up in San Diego. A group of about 70 bloggers met up at Mission Beach to help clean up trash. The amazing Ashley from The Shine Project organized everything and I could not wait to meet her! I've been a reader of her blog for awhile now and she has one of the biggest hearts. If only there were more people in the world who took such an active role in helping others. 

Kelly eager to clean, and sweet sweet Tammy!

We split up in smaller groups and took off in different directions. Me, Meg, Kandi, Kelly, Stesha and Reannah enjoyed the beautiful views and slightly overcast skies while we scoured the beach for cigarette butts, socks, plastic bottles, you name it! Surprisingly the beaches were pretty clean and we weren't able to get as much as I was envisioning. 

Afterwards, when we saw all of the bags the groups had collected, our impact seemed greater.

Some of the shining ladies

I stole these next few pictures from Stesha's blog:

After the clean-up, Kandi, Kelly and I went to the Ale House which is a rooftop restaurant with beautiful views of the ocean.

 It was a wonderful day spent with a group of passionate girls I'm so happy to have met!

Check out Ashley's blog to see if she's hosting any events in your city!

 

One Winner and One Loser

Brandon went camping this weekend with the guys, so Kandi came over for the weekend for some girly time. Friday evening I decided I'd be a cute wife and bake Brandon a batch of peanut butter cookies to take camping with him the next morning. I envisioned all of his friends eating the cookies around the campfire and raving about Brandon's wife and her amazing baking skills. Kandi and I got to work baking, and right before we were about to start rolling the dough into balls, I realized we forgot the brown sugar. Oops. So I mixed it in at the end and then we rolled it in sugar like instructed.

Waiting patiently for them to cool...

Let's just say the cookies were a disaster. I picked one up after it was done cooling, and it crumbled in my hands. Needless to say, he didn't take them camping, and I didn't win any wife awards. 

 

Saturday morning Kandi, Kelly and I went to the Shine Beach Clean Up (pics to come tomorrow!) and then yesterday Brandon and I were finally going to see The Hunger Games. Thirty minutes into the movie, the power went out and all 500 of us had to leave. I was CRUSHED. We spent the rest of the evening enjoying homemade chili at home while it poured rain outside. We're gonna try again to go this evening. Wish us luck.

In better news, Melissa from PB&J won the My Memories Suite Giveaway. Lucky comment #10 :-) Email me girl, and I'll send you the info for your new software!

Hope Monday goes easy on everyone, it can be such a bully.

Things I've learned while walking the dog:

 

-It's really hard to try and pick a wedgie inconspicuously. 

-That Lucy may or may not be a hermaphrodite. Or at the very least, she thinks she's a boy. When we go on walks she squats and pees at every bush, claiming each as her own. She even kinda lifts her leg. Her sole mission on our walks is to make sure the whole neighborhood knows who runs the show. She will squeeze two drops out and then prance on to the next bush. She would be a total dominatrix if she was allowed to date.

See? Leg lift.

-That Lucy is just like her mom and hates exercise. She's always really enthusiastic at the beginning, trying to pull me ahead {bless her little 7 pound heart} strutting like she owns the place, but about 20 minutes in {and 13 pee squats later} I'm dragging her. 

-That Lucy will always choose to poop when someone is around, so I'm forced to pick it up.

blurry but sweet

 -That she will always poop a second time, and it will be the size of a nickel and I will refuse to waste a bag on it. So I'll pretend to bend down and pick it up in case anyone is watching. Who knew I was so cheap?

P.S. I think it was Jerry Seinfeld who said if aliens from another planet were observing Earth they would assume dogs ruled the world. Since they lead us by leash and we pick up their poop.
Happy Friday everyone!