2016 May Resolutions

Our library finally got an outdoor book drop!  It's cute, isn't it?

Finally, finally, spring has arrived!  The trees are done blooming and the flowers are beginning to run amok.  It's a wonderful feeling, isn't it?  I'm still working on my big, top secret research thing that is keeping me tied up much of the time.  I will post more about this after the 10th of the month.  For now, rest assured that I'm spending a LOT of online time doing research about some pretty boring stuff.

I spent a day earlier this week helping to install a book drop outside of the library.  I got to help pull that top part - with the chute off, so that we could have the door opening on the right onto the sidewalk by the library door, and the chute facing out towards the parking lot.  Funny story - the chute didn't separate as easily as we thought it would.  I pulled up on the chute and pulled the entire book drop up with me!  After much discussion, we finally eased the chute off and then we bolted the book drop down to the concrete, and put the chute back on top.  The day we installed the drop was gorgeous - and we're in between semesters right now, so I think we might have taken more time working on this than we needed to.  I guess you could ask "How many librarians does it take to install a book drop?"  The answer is 2, and a really good maintenance man who shook his head at us an awful lot. 

I had an interesting set of resolutions for this year. I'm doing a decent job of keeping up with most of them this year!  It's time to check back in on them and see how I'm doing!

1) Remodel the Hall Bathroom
The money is piling up in the savings account.  Waiting now for something to break and wipe it out again....

So, I wrote the first part of this on Weds.  It's Friday night now, and guess what?  The van died in the parking lot at the grocery store.  It's been towed to the mechanic, and we are awaiting the final verdict on the cost.  It died, and there was no electricity AT ALL in the car.  AAA came out and tried to jump start it, all to no avail.  So, we wait...

2) Improve My Health
I'm no longer looking at just the number on the scale.  I'm looking at the big picture numbers that reflect more of my overall health.

a) Lose inches off of my waist.
My goal was to lose 3 inches this year.
I'm down 2  1/2 inches.  ONE MORE HALF INCH TO GO!!!  I would love to hit this marker before June 1. 

b) Get my blood pressure down into the normal range.
Check up is on Monday, at 2:30.  Really, really curious to see what it is!


c) Go down at least one clothing size.
This is a pretty phenomenal accomplishment.  I've spent a lot of time working this off!  I'm very proud of myself!

3) Re-start my vegetable garden.
After a serious re-evaluation of the site formerly known as my garden, I have decided to tuck vegetable plants into my flower gardens by the house.  Bonus, it's close to water, so I don't have to haul water across the back yard.  Second Bonus- since the flowers get so many pollinators, they'll hopefully be drawn to my vegetables to work their magic.


4) Learn to pressure can.
I've since discovered that a pressure canner will not work on my glass top stove.  It's back to the drawing board while I try to figure out how to work around this problem.  I'm not sure what I can do that's on the affordable scale on this.  I've seen some pretty "out there" suggestions, but I haven't yet gotten to the point where I'll take them seriously. Buy a second propane stove and a propane tank and keep it outside?  Not in our budget for this year.

5) Daughter's Quilt
The pressure is on with this one!  She's in the Community College now, but will be heading off to a 4 year school in the fall of 2017.  The quilt needs to be finished by then! I've tracked down all of the fabrics I plan to use, but I really need to finish another project I have started before I begin on this one.  Too many projects going at one time.  Bad, bad, idea.  I need to stop doing that.

6) Clean Out and Organize the Carport
I keep saying I'm going to do this, and then the day I set aside to do so, it's cold, wet, and rainy.  No more excuses.  Have to get this done in May.  I must stop procrastinating.

7) Exercise Consistently
HOORAY!  I am meeting this goal!  I have lost inches, I have lost a clothing size!  I am exercising at least 5 days a week.  HOORAY!!  Keep it up!  Keep it up!

8) Clean out 23 Things a Week
Originally, the goal was to clean out 23 things a month.  Then I changed it to 23 things a week.  For the entire 52 weeks of the year, that would have required me to get rid of 1196 things for the year.  I met that this month, hands down.  Do you have a cabinet full of plastic food storage containers?  I do, and it is loaded with junk.  I do mean LOADED.  Anyway, I went through that cabinet this month and donated a very large portion of the junk to the thrift store.  I no longer have to worry about plastic parts falling down on my head every time I open that cabinet up.  I gave up counting the number of items in the three boxes I got rid of this month after I hit 123.  If I had to guess, I'd say there was close to 200, but I'll go conservative on my estimate and say I got rid of 125 things.

Holy cow, do you realize how much stuff I've gotten rid of this year?

Items out of the house this month: 125
Items so far this year: 1,273
WOW!  This didn't even take me half a year!  I thought I'd never get this far along, and yet here we are, 4 months and 1200+ things out of my house!
Big Black Trash Bags (total):7

9) Participate in the NoSpenduary Challenge
I originally found this on the Frugal, Debt Free Life Blog.

10) Visit One Place on my Bucket List
Phase One- completed (We know where we're going.)
Phase Two- finished
Phase Three - making reservations - put on hold because oldest child might have a conflict with that week...


11) Get at least half of the CEU's I need to keep my teaching  and my library certificate.
 I worked to hard to get those certifications to just let them lapse!  It's never fun to take classes, but it's even LESS fun to have to retake all of the classes for a certificate you let lapse.  (Or worse - to retake a mandatory test.  I'm thinking of the Praxis exams.  I took the NTE's back in the 80's.  I'm not sure how well I'd do on the Praxis exams if I were to have to take them now.  Especially since it's been more years than I want to admit since I've sat in on college classes.) 

12) Scrapbooking
I need to catch up.  I know I had years that I didn't do this.  I went through all of the albums this  and found the years that I have not yet finished.  These are the years I am in search of:
2006
2009
2010
2011
2012
2015

I'm halfway there!  Last month's revelation was that I need to back up my photos more frequently.  This month, it's more of the same.  I found that a photo card from the first three months of 2011 had a fatal flaw and could not be opened.  At least the pictures from oldest child's high school graduation and daughter's Confirmation pictures were saved.  Lesson learned: frequently back up the photos to a 2nd and 3rd source, and make sure one of those sources is a third party entity.

13) Walk or Bike a portion of at least 6 Rail Trails
The challenge has begun!  The first trail has been explored.
 Note to self: take more water next time - twice the amount you'll think you need, carry one bottle with you, keep extra in the car for when you get back.  Those trails are not as shaded as the woodland trails in the State Parks.  

The NCR Trail

14) Pay off the big debt and one smaller one-
The big debt is gone.  It's nice to have one monkey off my back!  Before I go to work on the smaller debt, I desperately need to rebuild the emergency savings account.  If you remember, it was depleted over the course of a dental emergency and a car repair.  We have wisdom teeth coming up this month so building up that emergency savings now is crucial.  It would be nice to have the wisdom teeth paid for and still have emergency savings left over!

15) The Recipes Tab
I nicely fixed up the recipe tab so that it is easy to find recipes that I've posted on here before.  For me, this is my online recipe book.  Some of the recipes are my own.  Some, I posted direct links to other sites.  You might or might not choose to use it, but I use it on a pretty regular basis, and I've found out that one of the boys does, too.  He likes the fact that most of what I've listed is food he already loves and that everything is fairly easy to make and budget conscious.
 
 How are you doing with your resolutions and goals?

Monday Musings

Heroin.  It's everywhere.  And it's killing people by the thousands every year.  10,574 people died from Heroin overdoses in 2014.  (source: http://www.asam.org/docs/default-source/advocacy/opioid-addiction-disease-facts-figures.pdf, accessed 4/25/2016.)  That number keeps increasing every year. 

Think about that harrowing statistic for a moment.  Over 10,000 lives were gone forever, snuffed out by Heroin in 2014 alone.  Heroin addiction knows no racial or socioeconomic boundaries.  It addicts people the first time they use it, and then kills them.  People will beg, borrow, and steal in order to get the money in order to get their next hit.

This epidemic is stealing our future.  Our hope.  Our dreams.  It's wiping out the people we love, and they're dying in extraordinary numbers. 

I can talk about treatment, and how treatment is next to impossible to find.

I could talk about how wonderful kids are dying on a daily basis.

I could talk about how we don't have things for our teens to do, so they are turning to drugs.

I could talk about an overstimulated society that is strung out on 24/7 internet access and constant barrage of e-mails and texts, with no breaks for the person to just "be".

I could talk about how quality mental health care is impossible to find.

But, I'd like to take a bigger picture look here for a moment.  Much bigger picture.

Where does Heroin come from? Much of it is produced in Asia.

In case if it's slipped out of the national spotlight, I'd like to remind you that we are still very much at war.  Although our troops have pulled down in Iraq and Afghanistan, there are still forces that are intent on killing people.  The attacks in Brussels and Paris are two very recent examples of the lengths people will go through to make a point.

But how to get to the United States?  Thankfully, we've had no major terrorist attacks since 9/11.  But how do you knock down the U.S.?  Ah - steal our hope.   And how do you steal our hope?  By killing our children.  And how do you kill them?  Get them hooked on illegal drugs.  Make them cheap.  Flood the market with cheap heroin - a very highly addictive drug that is impossible to quit "cold turkey".  Even better, offer people already hooked incentives to bring their friends in and get them hooked on the drug.

I don't think this scenario is that far fetched.  Massive tunnels that extend beneath the U.S. border with Mexico are being unearthed.  What are these tunnels used for?  Transportation to get the drugs into the United States, from the end point of the tunnel, they can be distributed throughout the U.S.

So what can we do?  Fight to raise awareness of Heroin addiction.  Call you sheriff's office and ask how many heroin overdoses there were last year, and how many of those OD's ended in death.
Start making some noise with your elected officials.  Access to treatment centers needs to be available to all, regardless of their ability to pay.  Ask your local PTA's and Houses of Worship to host seminars in conjunction with the Sheriff's office to give information out about Heroin and other drugs in your community.

What else needs to be done?  I really wish I knew.  Stopping the easy flow of drugs is only the beginning.

Talking openly about lives lost, and the struggles people are having with addiction is another step.  Bring it out of the closet and put it on the table.  I remember a not so distant time when "cancer" was whispered, and nobody spoke of the treatments.  Now, we get out and celebrate cancer survivors and memorialize our loved ones and remind friends and neighbors to get colonoscopies, mammograms, etc.

I'm not making these statements lightly.  Since January of this year - 4 kids in our community have died of a Heroin overdose.  FOUR in four months.  I have no idea how many overdoses have happened, I just know of the 4 deaths, in a small community in the Baltimore suburbs.  These young people were bright, wonderful kids.  Active in their schools, church, and community, they had their entire lives ahead of them. 

It is time for us to step up and take action.  Start asking questions, and start working together as a community to find answers to help our kids.  Time to start looking at ways to make a long lasting difference to the people who need help the most - the people who are addicted. 

We need to put aside our differences and work together to save our future. 

Taking a Short Break

I'm going to take a blogging break until May 10.  I have a "thing" going on that day, and I need to do some research and preparation beforehand.  It's not a health related thing, it's a job related thing, and I don't want to say anything else for fear of jinxing myself.

I'm planning on posting some photos - it is spring, after all.  I'll be visiting some libraries, so I'll be taking pictures, too. 

I'll check in once or twice a week until the 10th - and then I'll get back to regular posting.  Unfortunately, the process of writing does take some time out of my day, time that I need to be spending on research.

Check back on Saturdays until then.  I should have at least one new post up before Saturday.  Who knows?  Maybe 2?  I'm working my way through a couple of really good books right now!

I'll be back to posting regularly on the afternoon of May 10! 

Donated Library Books

People will frequently donated old books to the library.  Libraries take these books, and then they add those to the collection that are needed, and the rest are sold to benefit the library.  One of my jobs over the years has been to sort through the donations.  It's a fun job, and I always enjoy looking through (and reading) the books.

My library recently received a large donation of books.  I'm not the person in charge of wading through this collection, but I have enjoyed looking through the book sale books before they go out.  This particular batch had a lot of cookbooks.  There's a Weight Watcher's cookbook from the 70's, a South Beach Diet cookbook, and then one in particular that stood out enough for me to buy it and bring it home.

It's the Full Hearts Vegetarian Cookbook, published in 1993.  There are some recipes in here that I just can't wait to try - the Vegetable Burritos and the Garden Sloppy Joes being the top two.  I especially love that the sloppy joes don't require a processed can of anything.  The last time I had sloppy joes made entirely from scratch was the last time we were out in Minnesota.

However, one particular recipe caught my eye.  It was directions to make a sandwich, submitted by Jerry M.  It requires, bread, butter, cheese, aluminum foil, and an iron.  In short, you butter one side each of two pieces of bread, put the cheese in between the unbuttered sides of bread, and wrap it all in the aluminum foil.  Using the iron set on medium (the kind you iron clothes with) set on top of the sandwich bundle for one minute.  Turn the sandwich over and repeat.  The note at the end of the recipe says "We did this in college when hungry and couldn't cook in our rooms."  Gotta love college students!  No matter when they went to school, they've always found an inventive way around the rules!

The NCR Trail

One of my bucket list goals is to bike/hike as many rail trails as possible, beginning with Maryland.  I've officially started this quest with a hike on the NCR trail North of Baltimore.  We hiked 6 miles along the Torrey C. Brown Rail Trail, which begins North of Baltimore near Hunt Valley.  The trail itself runs along the Gunpowder Falls River.  We began our hike at the trail head, and traveled North.  It was a great way to spend a gorgeous day!

This is near the trail head.  Can't you just picture the train tracks and the steam from the locomotive rising in the distance?  This was one of the few times along the trail when there were no people visible.  This trail was FULL of people - walkers, hikers, bikers, and joggers.  Everyone was out, enjoying the day!

So, this is a Lime Kiln.  According to the sign, a fire was kept burning at the bottom.  Stuff (trees, etc.) was dragged to the top of the wall and dropped down onto the fire.  Lime was made from the ashes. 

Well hey, it's the East Coast Greenway!  I've never heard of it before, although I've walked other trails with this signage.  Curious, I looked it up when I got home and found out more about the Greenway.  It is a developing trail system and will extend from Maine down to Florida.  You can find out more about the Greenway here:  http://www.greenway.org/ .  In a nutshell, the East Coast Greenway is intended to be the more urban counterpart of the Appalachian Trail. I'd like to think that this means there aren't as many hills on the Greenway...

The Gunpowder Falls River.

A lone runner off in the distance.

Check out the date.  1875.  That's the year that the original track bed and this bridge was built.  Okay, at this point in time, this date is only good for the masonry work.  The bed extending over the river has been replaced.  But still - this masonry has been around for over 125 years.  We live in a disposable society now. Do you think anything we build now will still be around in 125 years? 

A little side stream feeding into the river.  Gorgeous, isn't it?  Makes me want to get out and hike some more! 

Beefaroni

Beefaroni has always been one of my favorite go-to recipes.  It's on the table in less than 30 minutes, with a minimum of slicing and dicing.  This is one of the recipes I had to teach oldest child how to make while he was home over break. 

If you want to make this vegetarian, substitute in your fake meat of choice for the ground beef.

Beefaroni 

Ingredients:
1 pound ground beef
1 onion, diced
1 can chopped green chiles (these are the small cans)
1 (14 ounce) can of the bean of your choice, drained and rinsed
1 (14 ounce) can of diced tomatoes
1 (10 ounce) bag of sweet kernel corn
1-2 tsp. each of the following (season according to your taste)
cumin
chili pepper
basil
oregano

1 cup macaroni noodles (I use gluten free noodles.)
Extra water on hand, to thin beefaroni as it stews.

In a large skillet, brown the ground beef and onions.  Drain the fat and return to heat.
Add the green chiles, beans, tomatoes, and corn to the mix, stir well.

Add the seasonings, and stir again.

Bring mixture to a boil.

Add the one cup of macaroni, reduce heat, cover and simmer for 10 minutes.

STIR OFTEN, adding water to the pot as needed to keep the macaroni from sticking to the pan.  I usually end up adding about a half cup of water, 1/4 cup at a time while it's stewing.

Remove from heat and serve.

Monday Musings

Did you ever decide to abdicate all responsibility for the weekend?  Or at least a day?  This was the first nice weekend we've had in a while.  Who wouldn't want to abdicate all responsibility?

Daughter and I found a huge consignment sale over the weekend.  It was solely for clothing, and many of the items were new - with tags still on!  Daughter picked up one gorgeous blue lace dress for $5, and I picked up 3 brand new shirts for $20. Where else are you going to find designer clothes, with the tags still on, at 3 for $20? 

We cooked in every night this past week.  I tried recipes out of the new cookbook I picked up at the used book sale.  Not all of the recipes were great - some were a swing and a miss - but it was very nice to try some new tastes!  I've got other new and interesting recipes from that book lined up for this week!

I'm working on putting in vegetables in some unexpected places this year.  I know from sad experience that an actual garden doesn't work well for me.  I'm hoping that if I can make the vegetables a part of my landscaping, they'll thrive more.  As a result, I'm looking for places that are closer to the house, that I'll hopefully remember to water!   The current garden location is so far away from the water spigots that I have to haul water in buckets out to the garden on a daily basis.  It gets to be a problem, and I end up forgetting that they're out there. 

Daughter gave me a gorgeous butterfly plant last year for mother's day.  This year, I put in a zucchini plant on either side of the plant - I'm hoping that the pollinators will be attracted by the butterfly plant and stay for the zucchini.  This creates a small triangle of space - I'm trying to decide whether I should attempt to put a vegetable there along the hypotenuse or if I should put in more flowers.  Whatever I do, I need to fix it so that husband doesn't

In the back yard, I have a hole where we used to have a pond.  It's a small hole - the pump kept breaking, and with the looming threat of mosquito borne illnesses, we decided to pull out the pond.   We're going to fill in the hole and plant something.  I've been debating between an herb spiral and a strawberry tower.  I think the herb spiral would look a little more at home with all of the mixed perennials I currently have in that spot.   The more I think about it, the more I'm leaning towards an herb spiral. 

It finally got warm enough that we've been able to turn the heat off in the house.  Honestly, I've turned the heat off two other times this spring, but I think this time is FOR REAL.  I'm hoping I won't need to turn it on again until the end of October, beginning of November.

My favorite little farm stand opened up this weekend.  I stopped in on opening day and picked up a bushel of spinach for $4.  We've been nibbling on it all weekend.  I cut it into scrambled eggs, put a leaf into my smoothie, made strawberry spinach salad, and used it in place of lettuce in my sandwiches and on a hamburger.   It was so good!  I've still got about a quarter of the bushel left.  I'm going to have to find something fun to make with all that green goodness for dinner tonight!

I'm looking forward to the warm weather we're expecting this weekend! 
What great things did you accomplish this week?

National Library Week

I like to celebrate libraries, and books all year long.  I believe that the free and open exchange of ideas is crucial to our democracy.  The critical thinking involved in this exchange of ideas helps us all grow, learn, and make wise decisions for ourselves, our families, and our nation.

I do visit a lot of libraries.  Not because I have to, but because I enjoy them. 

I have a tab on the side of this page that will take you to the very loosely organized collection of images that I've posted on here.  You can also access it here. 

If you have any pictures of your own home library that you'd like to share, I invite you to submit them to me, and I'll share them.  (I won't post pictures of clearly identifiable faces.)  Please include the name of your library, the county and state system, and a link to their web page.  If there's anything that makes your library special or unique, please let me know so that I can share that, too.

The last image I want to share with you is from the Reading Room at the Library of Congress.  I've been here a few times, and it is always full of people.  None of my images come even close to capturing the beauty and majesty of this place, so I'm sharing an image from the Library of Congress.  If you are ever in Washington, DC, you really should make a point of visiting the LOC.  It's not that far off of the National Mall.

source: https://www.loc.gov/visit/wireless/

Frugal Friday

Somehow, at the end of National Library Week, it only seems appropriate to highlight how the library can help you keep within your budget - no matter what your age.  In keeping with this thought, I'd like to highlight the many, many services that are provided at your public library.  Keep in mind - your taxes pay for these services - USE THEM!!

The Top Ten Ways Your Library Can Help You Save Money:

1) Toys, Games, and Science Kits for Check Out. 
Seriously!  When my kids were little, we checked out toys every week.  Let me tell you, it saved us a bundle.  Little kids get bored with new toys easily.  We were able to bring home 3 new toys, played with them until they were no longer new and exciting to the kids, and then go back and check out 3 different toys.  Literally, that saved us thousands of dollars.

As they got older, I loved the fact that we had science kits available for check out.  Each kit was centered around a theme, and it had several books, a book of science experiments, and the equipment necessary to carry out the experiments included in the card.  We were heavy users of those kits up until the youngest was somewhere in middle school.

On the ALA's facebook page, I read an article about a library that has added telescopes to their collection for check out.  I don't care if I don't have little kids any more, I would definitely be checking out a telescope for my own home use!

2) Media 
Depending upon your library system, the type of media available varies greatly.  Most systems carry books on tape or CD.  Some carry Play-Aways.  (MP3 players that contain books.  Very cool way to listen to books - my daughter loved listening to these on the bus on the way to school in middle school.)  Most systems carry DVD's.  (Even better - those DVD's carry a one week free check out as opposed to the overnight check out from Red Box that's going to cost you a buck or two.

One of the library systems around us carries video games for check out.  Just the games, not the consoles.  Talk about saving money!  Not having to buy those games saves a lot of money! 

Note- Beware the steep fines on overdue media items.  Make certain you return them by their due dates!

3) Books
Lots and lots of books!  On every subject, and for every age.  Need I say more?

4) Internet 
Computers and Wi-Fi connections are available at most libraries.  Looking to save money on internet?  Sign up for free e-mail through one of the free sites out there (Google, Yahoo, etc.), and then use the library to check your messages and surf the net.  Probably not what you want to do on a daily basis, but if you are desperate to save money, this is an excellent option.  There's a bonus in some parts of the country, too.  Most libraries have high speed internet.  We were still on dial up - nothing else was available until 2012.  We got broadband in 2012.  Still no sign of Fiber Optic cable in our neighborhood, but our library is wired with fiber optic cable, so I go to the library when I need a high speed connection.

5) Job Search Tools
Looking for a job?  Start here.

6) Programming
Offering programs to people of all ages is one of the most important services a library offers.  Libraries are known for their programs for children and youth, but libraries also offer some fantastic programs for adults.  Book Clubs, Courses offered by the Master Gardeners, Literacy Classes, ESOL Classes for Adults, Arts and Crafts for Adults, to CPR, the list goes on and on. 

7) Digital Content
Audio streaming and e-books.  It's a quickly growing field in the library world.  You can check out digital materials the same as you can a book.  After your check out period is over, your material just disappears off of your device.

8) E-Readers
This is a very new service.  Some libraries have e-Readers available for check out.  Each reader is pre-loaded with books of a similar genre.  I've only seen a handful of library systems that are actively using this service, and I'm really curious to see how this works out.

9) Summer Reading Programs
Not just for little kids anymore, everyone gets to participate!  The little kids participate in the game with incentives along the way.  Here in Maryland, you write a summary of the book you most recently read and then enter a drawing.  Five years ago, I won a pretty snazzy basket filled with new books and some swag from the New York Times!  It made my day!

10) Databases 
When we were kids, we'd go to the library and hit up the reference collection.  Nowadays, that reference collection has moved online.  You can access thousands of electronic records in the comfort of your own home - and in your jammies - if you have a library card.  These databases are copyright protected, and a large portion of the libraries' annual budget goes to database subscriptions.  Not sure how this works, or even where to find it?  Head over to your library and ask a librarian!  They'll be happy to show you all that is available for you. 

Having fun isn't hard, when you have a library card.  -Marc Brown

National Library Week

source: Facebook

Miller Library

There is a gorgeous piece of architecture in Howard County, MD known as the Miller Library.  Years ago, the Miller Library was housed in a 1970's era building.  They quickly outgrew the space, but the librarians boldly mustered on, squeezing every last inch of space out of that building before the new building was built adjacent to the old building.  This new building opened in 2011.  It's a gorgeous, state of the art facility that ties together books and modern technology in one seamless building.

I was looking through old pictures today, and I realized I had never posted the pictures that I took when that branch opened.  (You know I was there within the first week after they opened their doors, right?)  These pictures are from that first week in 2011.  I'm going to stop by either sometime this weekend to get updated pictures of the front of their building.  It is gorgeous at night.

Of course, you could always just stop by their website, and look at the pictures the Howard County Library system has posted of their building.  I especially love the picture on the page I'm linking to... Taken at night with the light shining through the windows like a beacon to the community the picture perfectly captures the promise of the treasure held within.
 
The Miller Library is a two story building.  Downstairs, you will find the media collection (DVD's, Books on Tape/CD, and Play Aways), computers, quiet study areas, meeting rooms, and not so quiet study areas. You'll also find the Children's and Young Adult collections.  Due to the large volume of people, I only had a couple of pictures of the downstairs that don't show faces...  It's a very heavily used library!

This picture below is my favorite part of the children's section.  It's a window, overlooking the Enchanted Garden.  The window has a large seat where children can sit and read, as well as look outside.

The picture below is from the inside, looking out at the Enchanted Garden.  I've taken a couple of classes in the Enchanted Garden.  It's a community garden tended by the Master Gardeners, and it has a little bit of everything.  Since this picture was taken in the first week after they opened, there wasn't much there.

The grand staircase from the first floor up to the second floor.   The second floor houses the library for the Howard County Historical Society, more study areas, study rooms, and the adult fiction and non-fiction collection.  The area along the back wall is all window, and looks out over the green roof below. 

Entrance from the grand stair case into the reading room.

I love that stone wall!  Do you see that glass wall in the back?  With the double doors?  That's the exit out onto the roof top for a portion of the first floor.  This is a green roof.  There are box gardens on the roof.  The purpose of the gardens is to pick up water when it rains and lessen the impact of storm water run off.

Look at all of those books!

 Look at that beautiful sight!  Books ready to be checked out - shelves that are only half full - meaning that books have been checked out and are in the hands of the community - right where they belong.

Library Week

source: Facebook

National Book Mobile Day

Have you ever been inside of a bookmobile?  A little library on wheels?  Many years ago, I worked on a bookmobile.  The challenges of working in a library on wheels are phenomenal, but the rewards are amazing.  Taking books out to people who have no easy access to little libraries is a great honor.  Ideas and thoughts that would otherwise be inaccessible available at their finger tips.

I live in a rural county, and bookmobile services are needed for the more remote parts of our county.  Believe it or not, even in Central Maryland, the people who live in very rural areas can live an hour or more away from their closest county libraries.  Our bookmobiles make the rounds of day care centers, senior centers, nursing homes, retirement facilities and makes stops in front of a couple of churches in the more remote corners of the county.

I loved my bookmobile days- out on the road, with the sun shining down on me and a truck full of books behind me, life was good.  I was able to get out and meet people, pet the dogs, and usually picked up lunch from somebody somewhere who would come out and take my order when I pulled up, and then when I finished, I'd run in and pay and get my lunch.  I don't know if you realize how wonderful people in this world there really are.

Having said that, the challenges of driving a bookmobile are numerous.  You're driving basically an RV or delivery truck, and you are fully loaded with A LOT of books.  Books are heavy.  Bookmobiles can't pick up speed quickly, and they need a lot of space to stop.  Cars behind will get antsy because you can't move fast  (there's a particular hill I despised) and you don't go fast going up hills.  They also will pull out in front of you unexpectedly.  Remember what I was saying about stopping distance?  Nothing worse than slamming on the brakes, hoping everything will stop in time, and hearing hundreds of books behind you fly off the shelves and hit the wall behind you.

I had a lot of memorable drives in my book mobile days:

1) The day I was driving out to one of the farthest reaches of the county when there suddenly was a "pop, BANG!" under the hood, followed by the issuance of a large quantity of white smoke as the engine cut out.  I managed to pull the van off the road and landed amongst the trees in an apple orchard.  I didn't have a cell phone with me, so I waited for over 20 minutes until a state trooper drove by, and stopped to help me.  He stayed with me until the tow truck driver from the county came by to pick up the book mobile, and I was driven back to the library in the back of a squad car.  Let me tell you, being escorted into the library by a state trooper was a never to be forgotten moment!

2) I drove into work one day, and the roads around our house were icy, icy, icy,  However, my boss insisted that since schools were in session, I had to hit the road with the van.  My scheduled run was back down to my neighborhood.  As I hit the major intersection closest to my house - I attempted to stop the van as the light turned to red.  I gently tapped the brakes, and the next thing I knew, I was in the middle of the intersection facing the direction from which I had come.  As I gently extricated the van from the intersection and drove to my first stop, I was cursing under my breath.  I arrived at my first stop to a stack of messages from my boss, who had realized 10 minutes after I left that the roads were too dangerous and she was attempting to call me back.  The fact that I'd taken an extra 20 minutes to get to the first stop had given her the "flop sweats".  Since I was already there, I finished out my first stop and then took almost an hour to make the 12 mile trip back to the office.

3) Our county purchased a brand new bookmobile, and I was one of the first ones to drive it.  We were out on the northern stretches of roads in the county, where there are more cows than cars, learning to navigate the larger vehicle on our windy, curvy roads when all of a sudden, there was a "CRASH, BOOM", and the vehicle stopped working.  The person driving (Not me!) pulled the vehicle off into an apple orchard on the side of the road.  (Not the same one.)  Fortunately, one of the whiz, bang features of the new book mobile was a two way radio that allowed us to call back to our boss in case if something went wrong.  One little problem here.  Our boss was with us.  She was the one driving.  Eventually, a state trooper came along, radioed county maintenance for help and then drove us all back to the library.  Yep, he and one of his buddies put us into the back of two separate squad cars.  Once again, we were escorted back into the library by a state trooper....

No matter what mishaps may have befallen while I was driving the van, getting to my stop made everything worthwhile.  The seniors who couldn't drive were always thrilled to get out, mingle with their friends, and pick up their books.  At the day care centers, the little ones would always get on with the biggest of eyes, the brightest of smiles, and the most joyous of expressions as they picked out new books.  At the community stops, people of all ages would climb into the book mobile with smiles, handshakes, and hellos.  Book Mobile day was a big day in town, and people would make a day of the event, running errands and stopping for books.

The link to the salute to the mobile library branches that the American Library Association posted this morning to their Facebook page: Rolling Library Thunder

The Only Thing You Need

Source: Facebook

Happy Birthday Beverly Cleary!

If you're of a certain age, I'm certain that you have read at least one of Beverly Cleary's books.  These timeless classics not only capture the essence of childhood, the highlight timeless themes: friendship, family, love, perseverance, and laughter.

I was introduced to Beverly Cleary's books by my 4th grade teacher when she read "The Mouse and the Motorcycle" out loud to us after lunch.  When I became a teacher in my own right and had my own 3rd grade classroom, I read the children Ramona Quimby, age 8 in that cool down time right after lunch and recess. 

Today is the 100th Birthday of Beverly Cleary.  She is still active, engaged, and her mind is still sharp.  From the information I could find online, She has been publishing since the early 1950's, and her most recent book was published in 2005.  (When she was 89 years old.)  I hope that I can remain that active and relevant when I am her age!

In honor of Beverly Cleary's birthday, I challenge you to find a copy of one of her books and read it - either to yourself, or out loud to your favorite little people.  Enjoy the opportunity to spend some time together and to be taken back into a time that (to me) seems a little bit simpler.

Books Authored by Beverly Cleary:
(List from Google)

Beezus and Ramona
The Mouse and the Motorcycle
Ralph S. Mouse
Ribsy
Ramona the Pest
Ramona Quimby, Age 8
Dear Mr. Henshaw
Ramona and her Father
Ramona and her Mother
Ramona's World
Ramona Forever
Ramona the Brave
Henry and Ribsy
Ellen Tebbits
Henry and Beezus
Henry and the Clubhouse
Henry Huggins
Muggie Maggie
Henry and the Paper route
Fifteen
Otis Spofford
Socks
Strider
A Girl from Yamhill
Mitch and Amy
The Luckiest Girl
Emily's Runaway Imagination
Two Times the Fun
Jean and Johnny
My Own Two Feet
Sister of the Bride
Janet's Thinamajigs
Runaway Ralph
The Real Hole
The Growing Up Feet
Petey's Bedtime Story
Lucky Chuck
the Hulabaloo ABC
Henry and Ramona


A few links to some websites and news stories about her:

Beverly Cleary's Website
The New York Times Article:  Happy Birthday Beverly Cleary!
The Today Show: Beverly Cleary is Beloved by Generations of Readers

Rare Books

Source: The American Library Association

Monday Musings

It's been a quiet few days in my little corner of the world.  The weather has been cold, wet, and miserable.  We had snow over the weekend. Lots and lots of snow squalls.  The house got so cold we had to fire up to wood stove to get warm.

This weekend was also the final Smith College Alumni Association Used Book Sale.  Daughter and I went and bought a few books.  She bought a handful of paper backs.  I bought the three books you see on the right - the top one is the more modern book of my all time favorite Better Homes and Gardens Cook Book from 1982.  This one was published in the late 90's.  I've already found 5 recipes that we are trying out of this book this week!

The middle (blue) book is a Spanish Grammar Reader.  I got this as a present for a friend of mine.

The bottom one is fascinating!  Recipes from 10 Ancient Cultures that no longer exist!  Wow, I can't wait to try these!  I'm thinking I might put together a dinner party and ask everyone who comes to bring one of the dishes from a specific culture.  Educational, and (hopefully) tasty!

I spent a long time in a planning meeting on Sunday afternoon.  Anita Gutschick will be performing at our church on Sunday, and we are planning out the decorations - and food.  Biblical food.  This should be a hoot!  I'm really looking forward to the event.  On Friday, I'm helping to mix up some of what we'll be serving.  Who knows?  I might find something new and tasty to eat!

Skyping with the boys last night was fun.  Oldest child could get audio to work, but not video.  Middle child could see us and hear us, but had to type back his replies on the side bar.  Once again, another fun and raucous conversation with the kids!  I really enjoy these calls, and I am eternally grateful for the technology that allows us to talk with all of our kids at once.

I attended an online webinar on copyright last week.  It was free, I found out more about copyright law, and I got a chance to hear the thoughts of my peers from around the country on Fair Use.  Of all the webinars I've taken on copyright this week, this was my favorite!

Today is another cold and rainy day.  Thank goodness there's no snow!

I'm ready for spring.  How about you?

Easterm Shore of Maryland

One of my goals for this year is to catch up on my scrapbooking.  I am working on 2011 right now.  2011 was a crazy busy year, and we took a break from everything and spent a week on Maryland's Eastern Shore in the Neck District.  I was looking at the pictures today, and I have to share them.  It's such a beautiful place!  Unfortunately, it's been 5 years since we were there, so I don't actually know WHERE some of these pictures were taken other than "Eastern Shore".  Enjoy!

Lip Sync Battle with Melissa McCarthy

This has been shared a lot over social media since Monday night.  If you've seen it once, it's still worth watching again!  I love Melissa McCarthy - she is just so full of energy!

Xenia, Ohio

On April 4, 1974 a tornado destroyed Xenia, Ohio.  Absolutely flattened the town.

42 years later, I still vividly remember that day.

My Dad was stationed at Wright Patterson AFB, and we lived north of Fairborn.  Xenia was not all that far from our house.  That had been a particularly wicked couple of days for weather, with several tornado drills in the school. I remember sitting on the floor in the downstairs hallway, with the entire school, sheltered with our knees up and our hands behind our heads.  (*note here - this was the LAST day I ever wore a dress to school, or anywhere else.  Dresses in the 70's were short.)

School let out at 3:00, and I remember walking home with friends, looking at the odd color of the sky.  The clouds were weird, too, chasing each other around in circles as things looked more and more ominous.  We moved home faster than we'd ever moved home before, and stood outside for a while, watching the clouds.  Suddenly, Moms everywhere popped out of houses and started screaming at us to get inside.  "RUN HOME NOW" was the predominant theme as the clouds began forming funnels. 

I ran inside and turned on the television.  I remember watching the footage of the "hook" on the radar, as the weather guy attempted to pinpoint where this thing was going next.  It was frightening to an 8 year old. 

Word quickly came out that Xenia had been destroyed.  People had been killed.  We drove through town over the weekend - and I remember the devastation.  It was horrific.

What made the devastation even worse was that there was no real advance warning on these storms.  A tornado warning meant that someone had spotted a funnel cloud in your area.  No tornado sirens, no weather alerts, nothing.

Our town installed tornado sirens that summer.  Fundraisers were held throughout May and June - picnics, bingo, and people just going door to door in order to get the money together to install tornado sirens.  I remember when the siren went in next to the fire station down the street from us.  I'm sure it's been replaced several times over since 1974, but there is still a siren on the pole next to that fire station.  (I last drove by there in 2012.) 

I have a weather app on my phone that belts out an alarm whenever serious weather approaches.  It's tied into the National Weather Service, and it helps me to sleep on nights when I know that severe weather is approaching.

With the volatile spring weather pattern beginning to build, I wanted to put this reminder out there.  Spring storms can be deadly.  Be prepared for a storm, and designate a safe spot in your house as a retreat should the weather take a deadly turn.  Make certain it's stacked with some blankets and a few emergency supplies. 

For your own peace of mind, consider investing in a weather radio, or pick up an APP for your smart phone that will alert you when wicked weather is headed your way.

Monday Musings

Monday Musings or Manic Monday?  Which one seems to fit better?  I might have to change this to musings.... that is what I tend to do on Monday mornings.  I get into a thoughtful fit after the weekend is over!

I got my hair cut last week.  On the big mirror across the back wall, one of the shampoo techs had written across the top "You are beautiful.  You are fierce.  You are kind.  You are a warrior.  You are wonderful.  You are amazing.  You are gorgeous".  Wonderful, life affirming messages that I think we all need to see and be reminded of.  All of us tend to be too hard on ourselves.

During the children's sermon on Sunday morning, the children's minister was talking to the children about relay races.  She asked the children who had run relay races before?  One of the little boys answered "I've run them!"  What happens when you run them?  "I always lose!"

We had a very impressive windstorm Saturday night into Sunday morning.  Wow - that wind was phenomenal.  Wind gusts up to 60 mph.  We had a lot of trees come down in the neighborhood - and a house in town that burned to the ground before the fire department could get there.  The wind whipped the fire up and engulfed the house within minutes.  The family was lucky to escape unharmed.

We had one of my favorite meals this week - vegetables that were cut into spaghetti strips, and fish.  I sauteed the vegetables in a little olive oil with a lot of pepper.  I fried the fish in the cast iron skillet with a lot of Old Bay.  It was a quick meal - ready in less than 30 minutes, and it was so healthy!  Spring green season is coming up fast - I'm looking forward to fresh kale and spinach! 

If you can spare some energy to toss my way, I'd appreciate it.  I've been searching for jobs, putting out resumes, and trying to find the best way to write a good cover letter, and I'm not hearing anything back from anyone.  I'm more than a little discouraged.  I'd appreciate your thoughts.  I desperately need a change of pace.

Sunset on Friday night!

Go out and conquer the world!

Thought of the Day

Believe in love.

Believe in magic.

Hell, believe in Santa Clause.

Believe in others.

Believe in yourself.

Believe in your dreams.

If you don't, who will?

-Jon Bon Jovi

Love, Dreams, Hell

Believe in love. Believe in magic. Hell, believe in Santa Clause. Believe in others. Believe in yourself. Believe in your dreams. If you don't, who will? Jon Bon Jovi
Read more at: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/j/jon_bon_jovi.html

2016 Resolutions - April Update

Can you believe it's April already?  Things are springing up everywhere here - flowers, flowers, and more flowers.  It's beautiful - unless if you suffer from seasonal allergies!  Today is also April Fool's Day.  My father married his second wife on this date in 1988.  Irony?  Who knows?

Onto my resolutions for the year!

1) Remodel the Hall Bathroom
This is the third year on the hit parade for this one.

2) Improve My Health
I'm no longer looking at just the number on the scale.  I'm looking at the big picture numbers that reflect more of my overall health.

a) Lose inches off of my waist.
My goal was to lose 3 inches this year.
I'm down 2 inches.  ONE MORE TO GO!!!  I would love to hit this marker before June 1. 

b) Get my blood pressure down into the normal-normal range.
Check up coming at the end of the month!  I'm looking forward to seeing my numbers now that I've gotten healthier!

c) Go down at least one clothing size.
This is a pretty phenomenal accomplishment.  I've spent a lot of time working this off!  I'm very proud of myself!
The next goal?  To get OUT of the plus size section and buy clothes in the "normal" section.

3) Re-start my vegetable garden.

4) Learn to pressure can.
I've since discovered that a pressure canner will not work on my glass top stove.  It's back to the drawing board while I try to figure out how to work around this problem. 

5) Daughter's Quilt
The pressure is on with this one!  She's in the Community College now, but will be heading off to a 4 year school in the fall of 2017.  The quilt needs to be finished by then!

6) Clean Out and Organize the Carport
The weather is getting nicer!  I should have this checked off the list by the end of the month!

7) Exercise Consistently
HOORAY!  I am meeting this goal!  I have lost inches, I have lost a clothing size!
Keep it up!  Keep it up!

8) Clean out 23 Things a Month
Holy cow, I never thought this was going to be as easy and painless as it has been.  I'm feeling freer the cleaner the house gets!  Getting rid of junk is a great thing!  I've tracked down people who can use these items, so not everything has just been dumped somewhere.  This month, I found both a public library friend and a teacher friend, and gave them each a car load full of stuff that they will be able to use.  I took my clothes that are now 2 sizes too big on me - and I donated them to a women's shelter.  (When women run for safety, they usually take the clothes on their backs and their kids.  Nothing else.  Hopefully, somebody will be happy to have something to wear.)

Items out of the house this month: 300
Items so far this year: 1,148
(So close to  my goal for the year, and it's only April!)
Big Black Trash Bags (total): 6


9) Participate in the NoSpenduary Challenge
I originally found this on the Frugal, Debt Free Life Blog.
We continued with the challenge through March.  We have 4 wisdom teeth being extracted in May - so we're keeping up with the challenge until after that's paid for.  It would be really, really nice to pay for that with cash!

10) Visit One Place on my Bucket List
Phase One- completed (We know where we're going.)
Phase Two- ongoing, almost finished

11) Get at least half of the CEU's I need to keep my teaching  and my library certificate.
 I worked to hard to get those certifications to just let them lapse!  It's never fun to take classes, but it's even LESS fun to have to retake all of the classes for a certificate you let lapse.  (Or worse - to retake a mandatory test.  I'm thinking of the Praxis exams.  I took the NTE's back in the 80's.  I'm not sure how well I'd do on the Praxis exams if I were to have to take them now.  Especially since it's been more years than I want to admit since I've sat in on college classes.) 

12) Scrapbooking
I need to catch up.  I know I had years that I didn't do this.  I went through all of the albums this month and found the years that I have not yet finished.  These are the years I am in search of:
2006
2009
2010
2011
2012
2015

I had a rather harsh realization this month.  2012 was the year that my iPhone crashed and died.  I had not done nearly as good of a job with uploading my photos as I should have.  Daughter took over my camera in 2011, and I switched over to using my phone exclusively.  As a result, I lost almost all of 2012 when my phone self-destructed.  Fortunately, I have some pictures that were stored on Facebook.

On the plus side, the 2012 album isn't a very big one...

Lesson learned the hard way - back up your photos frequently.  And back them up to at least 2 online 3rd party servers, in addition to your own hard drive.

13) Walk or Bike a portion of at least 6 Rail Trails
The weather is starting to get nicer!  I can't wait to get out and hit a few trails soon!  I have plans for tomorrow already!

14) Pay off the big debt and one smaller one-
The big debt is gone.  It's nice to have one monkey off my back!  Before I go to work on the smaller debt, I desperately need to rebuild the emergency savings account.  If you remember, it was depleted over the course of a dental emergency and a car repair.  We have wisdom teeth coming up, too, so building up that emergency savings now is crucial.

15) The Recipes Tab
I nicely fixed up the recipe tab so that it is easy to find recipes that I've posted on here before.  For me, this is my online recipe book.  Some of the recipes are my own.  Some, I posted direct links to other sites.  You might or might not choose to use it, but I use it on a pretty regular basis, and I've found out that one of the boys does, too.  He likes the fact that most of what I've listed is food he already loves and that everything is fairly easy to make and budget conscious.

So, how are you doing with your resolutions this year?