Library Bulletin Boards...you don't scare me...much. Thanks to Pinterest.

When I embarked on my current career adventure into school libraries 5 years ago, children didn't scare me, public speaking didn't scare me, having to read constantly didn't scare me. Even being called to the principal's office didn't scare me. What scared the bookmarks out of me was the idea of having to create bulletin boards! And my library has a lot of bulletin board space to fill.

I think of myself has fairly creative "in concept", but converting the concept into something tangible is where I doubt myself. When I'm done, I frequently feel like it looks like a 10 year-old's art project. I mean no offense to the talented 10 year-olds among us, but that outcome is never my goal.

I know that there are products you can purchase that make bulletin boards easier. They have thematic kits that are professionally produced and no doubt would give me a more "finished" result. But this doesn't work for me on two counts. Firstly, I have no budget for bulletin board supplies and no personal fortune to fund them. More importantly, I do have good ideas and it is a personal challenge to me to bring them to fruition with my own two hands.

What to do? Enter Pinterest and the Internet. There are as many ways to search for inspiration as there are ways to ask Google a question. Do you have a theme in mind? Book title? Catchphrase? Search that way. If you're totally clueless, just search for bulletin board ideas and you'll be overwhelmed with ideas. Warning: set a timer. It is easy to get sucked into the Pinterest vortex and emerge from the other side realizing that hours have passed.

Now that I have a physical picture of what I'd only been able to see in my brain, I can see what I will need to do. Frequently, I only need to peruse the pictures, but if you need to have more detailed instructions they are available as well.

All of this doesn't mean that my boards don't look like a 10 year-old did them, but I hope that with better visualization and practice over time, they'll all improve. Here are a few that I'm particularly proud of...

Crinkled butcher paper tree, leaves are die-cut from old discarded book pages.

This board is still under construction. It needs a better defined road. The theme is cyber-safety.

The warning signs are tips that I got from McGruff the Crime Dog.

Sentence strips allow students and teachers to contribute why they think Reading Rocks.

Back to School and I'm Already Planning Next Summer's Trip!

The summer just ended, they kids and I are back at school/work, and we're already talking about how we will travel next summer. The two best trips are the one you just finished and the one you are planning, so I'm right on track.

The current plan is a looooong trip back east. If we can make it happen, Ted will fly to NJ to stay with Grammy, get a job in her area, and do some service work for his CAS certificate at graduation. Chip, Claire, the dog, and I will start driving a week later. We'll meander a bit before we get to Virginia Beach first, then head up to New Jersey to join Ted. We think we'll be able to have Chip go back and forth a time or two on his business flying miles, and Claire and I will visit relatives and site-see. Ted will join us as his schedule allows. And at the end of this probably overly long trip east, Ted, Claire, the dog, and I will drive back to Mesa, AZ.

We'll be doing the whole thing on a dime and trying not to stay with any one family too long so as not to wear out our welcome. We'll get some history in, some culture, some recreation, and a lot of togetherness, and we'll get back just in time to start school again.

Chip has never driven cross-country with us, so this will be a chance to change that. I can't wait!

Oh, as a side-note, I'm less than 5 pounds from my goal weight! More on that in another post later.

Hi ho, hi ho, it's back to work I go...

My posts are usually family and personally related, but I had a productive day today and thought I should document it.

This is my new "Great Opening Lines" bulletin board. To the left are the opening lines from 14 different children's books. In the center are the title and instructions. On the right are the source book/author combinations. There is also an answer key in the bottom right corner.

In an effort to reuse and recycle, the black spiral border is the last bulletin board butcher paper, cut into strips, twisted and stapled around the border.

Just pick the books that you think will spark interest just from the opening line and you can make a board of your own!

Woe is me pity party...and a plan!

Welcome to December 2012...the end of the world?

I am pleased to say that while I have gained weight back, I will NOT face our Mayan demise without a fight for my fighting weight. I have just rejoined Weight Watchers, I start PT for my unhealed heel Wednesday, our Christmas tree and lights are up, my holiday shopping is technically finished (though, I'm sure that I'll find some last minute goodies that I must have), and hopefully things are looking up! 

It's a busy time of the year for everyone, but I had to rejoin while it was in my head. Didn't want to outthink myself. I also didn't want to wait and make it a New Year's resolution. I want to fix things NOW! My head hasn't been in a good place for months. There are so many things that could be wrong with me and aren't, that I was feeling guilty about letting heel pain take me down. I have realized that it doesn't take much to throw a wrench into my mental outlook; I've gotten inflexible in my middle age. I also still want to take care of everyone else, occasionally at my own peril. Three words for myself?

GET OVER IT! I can't fix it all right this second. One step at a time.

Stay tuned...

What a year!

Sometimes life gets away from us all and you need to take a moment to reflect on the changes.

First the good...I finished my Library Certifications! Yay for me! We also went to Disney World in Florida, the kids and I drove and Chip flew. We drove back and forth and visited family for a month. Kids are well, Chip is well, I'm o.k. We have a new cat, Taffy and a new dog, Skye. They're the best pets ever. Chip and I are both still gainfully employed, though Chip's is a new employer. The kids are doing amazingly well in school. My mom's ankle is all healed. And we have a new, lower interest mortgage. That's great!

The less than great? Chip's father passed away in the late spring. Chip's new job does require a lot more short term traveling. We worry about our parents (as I'm sure, even though we're grown, they worry about us). These are just a handful of stressors.

I am slowly gaining weight back and need to get it under control. There are a variety of things going on that are contributing to this. We've had a bunch of stressful events over the last 18 months that have made it difficult to control stress eating, but for a while I was handling it. Then, the stressful events recede and I have a few health issues that are impacting my ability to exercise the way I had been at my lowest weight. Now, I can't do the same things I once did, and I'm not willing to give up the food I was able to eat when I was walking 4 miles a day. I'm just not happy to give it up and it's showing.

I'm not sure what I'm waiting for to get back on the plan, but I'm apparently waiting for some great sign. I think what I'm waiting for is actually the heel pain to be cured. It's stressful, depressing, painful, and I'm angry at it for keeping me from doing what I want to do.

I'll try to check in more often if for no other reason than to be accountable by seeing it in writing for me.

Whoa! That's too long between posts...

Wow! Really? I haven't posted since February? Tsk, tsk, tsk, shame on me.

Anyway, I'm back to post today. Weight loss? Still in check. I do still have to log my food and points, or I do stray. Accountability. That's the name of the game for me. New job? Fantastic first year is completed and I have signed my contract for next year. Yay! Kids? Healthy, happy, enjoying summer. Ted starts high school (Westwood IB Programme) in August, and Claire starts at the Mesa Academy for Advanced Studies (also IB) as a 4th grader in August. The future's so bright, they've gotta wear shades. Chip? Still stuck with me :). He's working on renovating the kitchen as well as converting the GTO to CNG. Mom? Back at her own home in NJ after nearly two months recuperating at our home from a tri-malleolar fracture and the surgery to repair it.

We're off on our (now annual it seems) trip to the east coast. The kids and I leave this weekend, Chip will join us for a part of it later. We'll see a few roadside oddities along the way, as well as the St. Louis Arch, Statue of Liberty, and the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum. There will be boardwalks, beaches, fishing, swimming, junk food, and fireworks. Plus what other unknown surprises await? We'll just have to wait and see.

Summer plans afoot

Here I sit in front of the Super Bowl multi-tasking. Chip's out of town, the kids are playing video games in the other room, so I've got some time to myself to get planning. I've now completed the hotel reservations and mapping of the eastbound portion of our summer trip to the east coast. Not too much sightseeing is going on in either direction, but we'll do lots at various destinations.

Our first stop will be at Four Corners Monument, we'll head east through Colorado into Hays, Kansas. After a night in Kansas, we'll head for St. Louis, MO and spend 2 nights and 1 full day. For sure we want to see the arch, ride to the top, and visit the museums on the site, but we don't know how long that will take, or what else is great to do with two kids (8 & 13) in the area. If you have any ideas, let us know! From there, it's a ride to Columbus, OH for the night, then a quick ride (relatively speaking) to Pittsburgh for most of the day and 1 night. While we're there, we'll ride the Duquesne Incline, and maybe do the "Ducky" boat. Then we're Jersey bound! We'll stop in Philadelphia along the way, IF we can get an early enough start to get to Independence Hall and environs before they close at 5:00. If not, we'll do a day trip back into the city later.

We'll rest a couple days with the family in NJ, then head to see more family in Virginia Beach. We'll spend about a week there, then head back north via Richmond, Fredericksburg, and Washington, DC (depending on which friends will be around to visit). We hope to spend a day in DC (especially the Air and Space Museum we skipped last visit) and back to NJ.

Now, I've lived most of my life in the mid-Atlantic region of the country and I've never spent a day in NYC. We hope to change that this summer. Those plans are still pending, but I'll take suggestions. If you had two days and one night in NYC with 2 kids, yourself, and your mom, what would you do? I'd like to say that money is no object, but it is. We're thinking a GrayLine 2-day all loops bus pass. It should take us to most of the "must sees".

Another busy summer for us. I guess we wouldn't have it any other way. It would sure be easier to stay home...cheaper too. But where's the fun in that?

I'll post more when there's more to tell. Life just keeps on keeping on, so surely there will be something to write about soon.