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| The yard to looking pretty sad. An apple tree in the background has apples but no leaves. |
Yesterday: Our church hosted an early Thanksgiving potluck. My married daughter invited her in-laws. It was fun to reconnect with Nancy and Rick!
Football: The University of Oregon Ducks lost their football game to Stanford University last week. Yesterday the Ducks beat the University of Utah team that beat Stanford earlier in the season. Once that game was over all eyes shifted to the Stanford v USC game. If USC could beat Stanford then UO would get back in the driver's seat in the Pac-12 North. USC did it! They beat Stanford! It is the first time in my life that I have cheered for the USC Trojans.
This past week: a substitute clerk was hired to replace my library clerk. It was a relief to finally have some help in the library. At one point she turned to me and commented on how tired she was, how surprisingly demanding the job is. It sure is, and I've been doing it alone for seven weeks. Some days I wasn't sure if I could make it out to the parking at the end of the day to drive home. I was just so tired.
Also in the library: I have finally untangled the mess of circulation. We are still using a remote circulation system since the library system data still has not been recovered. It is really weird checking out books even though I can't look at the student accounts. I also got my Mock Printz team back to work after I had a chance to clean up my spreadsheet. I still have around 50 active students reading our Mock Printz titles. A few kids decided to stop, which is understandable since there has been so much confusion with the system being down for so long.
Movies: My daughter, her friend Nancy, and I went and saw Despicable Me, 2 last Sunday. There was hardly anyone in the theater which I think made me think it wasn't as funny as the first one. But I did like it. Friday my husband and I went and saw Twelve Years a Slave. Every American should see this film. The whole institution of slavery was so abominable. We both wept. The thought of one person treating another the way that Masters treated their slaves is beyond comprehension. And many of these masters said that it was scriptural for men to have slaves and to mistreat them. Ah, so awful.
From the kitchen: a lovely romaine salad with pears, dried cranberries, pecan pieces, feta cheese, and dressed with poppy seed dressing. I made it for the potluck and most of it wasn't eaten, so we had it for lunch today.
Books currently reading:
- The Golden Day by Ursala Dubosarsky...a short novel that has been getting quite a bit of attention as a Printz contender.
- And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini...a book club selection, this is an audiobook.
Books finished this week:
- The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater. 2nd book in a trilogy. I can't wait until the third book comes out. Read my review here. (Click on the hyperlink.)
- A Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes...another book club selection, this one should give us tons to discuss.
- Out of Nowhere by Maria Padian and/or September Girls by Bennett Madison
So glad you have some help in the library. My aide was out for weeks last year with back trouble (wonder how she developed that?!) and I thought I'd die from tiredness.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure what exactly makes the job so tiring..it might be the constant need to multi-task and never really get anything done without being interrupted.
DeleteHi Anne, your yard looks so pretty to me- not sad at all! I've got Dream Thieves on my ever-growing TBR and hoping it's as fantastic as book one. :-)
ReplyDeleteIts always nice to have help in the library. My mom helped me out one day about a week and half ago; it was so nice, especially when one is healing from an ankle/foot sprain (I am doing fine now and can do the shelving on my own). Still a bit of a bummer on your catalogue not being up to full capacity.
ReplyDeleteMy daughter volunteered when she could and then was hired as the substitute clerk. She is not only a pair of helping hands, she is also a solace to me since it has been so distressing to have the system down for so long.
DeleteI've heard of that book by Julian Barnes, but I don't know why. Glad that Rita is helping out in the library!!
ReplyDeleteThe book The Sense of an Ending is one of those book that really makes you think...like there are levels of understanding and just when you think you have things figured out, you discover another level.
DeleteYes, I am so relieved to have Rita with me, too. She is a hard and cheerful worker.
Yeah I hope to see Twelve Years a Slave soon. I'm working my courage up, but do feel it is important. cheers. http://www.thecuecard.com/
ReplyDeleteI really want to see 12 Years a Slave, but can't quite figure out how to make that happen. I also know I'll end up sobbing in the theater, which is never pretty
ReplyDelete