Relaxation Day

Since I am working all day tomorrow I decided to take today off and enjoy a nice relaxing day. Mike had given me a spa gift certificate for Christmas so I figured today was a good day to use it. I just got back from an amazing facial, massage and pedicure. I have to say I am a little jealous of women who do this on a regular basis. I am so relaxed from the treatments! The only thing I don't like about spas is how they try to sell you every product on the shelf. I have purchased way too many foot scrubs and toners to know I'm not really going to use them. Luckily this spa was pretty low key and didnt push it too much so I walked out without spending any extra money.

Now I am hanging out with the dogs on the patio enjoying the gorgeous weather, eating a Panera panini and drinking some Choco Vine. Next thing on the list is to do a little laundry and some cleaning while watching bad tv. Yes, I even make to do lists on relaxation days.

Two things I learned this week:
Playing Twister with your little sister is a challenge when you have three dogs curious as to what you are doing. Lots of face licks, getting knocked over, and the spinner being stolen is involved. Definitely not for beginner Twister players.

Even though our community is considered a "working" community there are way too many people at home during a workday. So either everyone has off, everyone is rich enough not to have to work, or the economy sucks and everyone is unemployed. I'm going with the last statement.

Hoping you all are having as relaxing a day as me. :) You can brag tomorrow while I'm at work.

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Random Thoughts

First a confession, I am reading Lauren Conrad's young adult novel L.A. Candy and I hate to say it but I am really enjoying it.  So much that I will most likely read her sequel and any others that come out in the series.  We all have to have our guilty pleasures, right?  Actually it's to the point where I have Tess Gerritsen's new book waiting for me and I don't want to stop reading this one- Tess Gerritsen is one of my favorite authors and I look forward to when she publishes a new book.  So it is kind of scaring me that I am not super excited to drop the current book and lunge into Gerritsen's new one.  What are my literary interests coming to?

And another confession, I have had my Droid X phone for a few months now and I was super excited to be getting it, but do you think I have used it to its full potential yet?  No.  I have limited myself to reading email, blogs, facebook posts, and newspapers.  Why am I not taking advantage of all the cool apps?  Tonight will be download a bunch of fun apps on my phone night since I need to justify having such a great phone and using very little of its capabilities.

This Saturday I am taking the little girl I mentor to the Palm Beach Zoo and I don't know who is more excited about this.  What could be better than spending the day at the zoo especially when they just got an exhibit of koala bears!  Be on the lookout for lots of pictures of the adorable animals. 

Too many books, So little time

We had our annual BookMania event yesterday for the library only this year it was at Jensen Beach High School so that we could accommodate more people. The venue was perfect and I always have quite a few more books to add to my "I want to read" list. The only problem is that I still have books on my list from last year's event. I think if I didn't have a job I would probably become a hermit and read books all day although my job is the cause of my book list being so long. You can't work in a library and not be tempted by each book list or advanced reader copy that comes across your desk.

Here are a few that I am most excited about reading:
Through a Dog's Eyes by: Jennifer Arnold
Scent of the Missing by: Susannah Charleson
Stiltsville by: Susanna Daniel (I have this one on my ebook reader right now)
Up From the Blue by: Susan Henderson
Dear Money by: Martha McPhee
Adam and Eve by: Sena Jeter Naslund

Let's see how long it will take me to get through this list with all of the other books waiting for me.

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Big Brothers, Big Sisters

A few months ago I applied to become a mentor in the Big Brothers, Big Sisters program.  Mike has been a mentor to a nine year old boy, AJ, for a little over a year now and it has been such a great experience for him that it made me want to participate too.  I met with my new "little sister" tonight for the first time and she is an adorable, patient eight year old girl who loves Disney and arts and crafts.  She is talkative and warmed up to me quickly and best of all, her mom is hoping that I can help her with her reading since it hasn't become a favorite hobby just yet.  Of course my mind started brainstorming of all the books we could read together in our own mini-bookclub and all of the activities we can do related to those books.  But first we are going to go bowling Monday night to get to know each other a little better (this was the first thing Seschay mentioned when asked what she loves to do).  I'm excited about starting this mentor program with her and hope that things work out well for a long friendship.

I'm Home!

Actually I have been home for a few days but I just got a chance to sit down to write this post after trying to catch up at work and getting past a cold that kept me in bed for most of the weekend. Although I had a fabulous time in San Diego, I am so glad to be home. The weather was cooler there than I had expected- didn't I hear somewhere that San Diego is eighty degrees all year long? I guess not since it was in the fifties and sixties the whole time. The conference was very informative, especially the full day pre-conference I attended on Friday and it was so amazing to actually be there live when the Newbery and Caldecott award winners were announced. Since our flight was canceled because of the snow in Atlanta, we had an extra day to go to the San Diego zoo on Monday. The best part about the zoo was seeing the polar bears playing underwater. I even got this great video of this with my phone:

Heading to San Diego

I will be flying out to San Diego tomorrow for the American Library Association Midwinter Conference and will be returning late Monday night.  So although I won't be writing any blog posts, I will be posting on my Facebook and Twitter accounts.  I normally feel completely re-energized and full of new ideas when coming back from a conference so I'm hoping this will happen again.  It would definitely be a welcome feeling right now.

I won't go into the details as to why I am so happy to see 2010 behind us but let's just say it sucked.  Like, really sucked.  But this year is looking up already because Mike just landed a huge project with his cabinet company that will give him work for the next four or five months and I was called back for a second interview for the Library Director position at my library.  My interview is next Friday so start saying those prayers and crossing your fingers for me.  This is something I feel I have worked very hard for and would be thrilled to be given the chance to take on the role.

Now back to doing laundry and getting organized for my trip.  I will be leaving the packing until tomorrow morning though, hence the need for doing the laundry.

TechnoLust

Mike and I have what I call technolust.  No, it's not a love for techno music.  It's a love of technology and even more than that, an urge to purchase every new technology as soon as it comes out.  So when I was scrolling through the Mashable blog today and came across a new technology being announced soon from Toshiba, I had to forward it on to Mike, who in turn was just as excited as I was.  What is this new piece of technology?  It's a tablet similar to the iPad but soooooooo much better.  It doesn't have a name yet but it is sure to impress once it arrives on the market.  What makes this tablet so awesome is that it runs on the Android operating system, has USB ports, front and back video cameras, and has a rubbery backing to prevent it from slipping in your hands.  Here is more info.  This is getting so close to what I think would be the ultimate technology: one that would incorporate every gadget that currently weighs down my purse into one device.  Here is what my perfect tablet would include:

• a screen that allows you to either have the glossy effect for movie watching and picture viewing but also allow you to turn off the gloss when reading an ebook (not sure if this is even possible)
• bluetooth capability so that it would work as a phone but using a wireless earpiece so you aren't holding up a huge device to your head (although that would be kind of funny to see)
• a kick-butt still camera and video camera
• tons of free apps optimized for the big screen size

This way I could stop carrying around so many devices.  At this moment I have the following in my purse, including various battery chargers for these gadgets: Sony Ebook Reader, Digital Camera, iPod Touch, and my regular cellphone.  No wonder the airport security guys look at the x-ray machine strangely when my bag passes through.  It must look like I am getting ready to assemble an intricate bomb.  So technology companies, if you are listening please put together a product with all of these things and you will have my attention and money immediately.

Grocery Store Self Checkout

Here are some rules to remember if you decide to use grocery self checkout machines.  This will make everyone standing behind you on line very happy.

1.  Count the items in your basket- if that number exceeds the number of fingers on your hands, move to a line with a cashier.
2.  If you do not know how to scan produce by yourself and there is a line behind you, now is not the time to learn.
3.  Don't use this as a time to chat with the person behind you.  That person just wants you to move faster.  There is a reason why we have chosen the self checkout machine and chatting with you isn't one of them.
4.  Paying with a credit or debit card is best, but cash is fine too.  Coins, on the other hand, are not okay especially if you are paying with coins for all 20 of your items.  By the way, you need to look back on rule #1 if you have 20 items in your cart.  To be even more honest, you shouldn't be on the self checkout line if you need a cart to carry all of your items.
5.   Make sure to bag your items as you go.  It is a horrible joke to play when we see that you have finally finished scanning your order and paying for it only to realize that you still have to bag all of your stuff.
6.  Finally, there is plenty of space to organize your receipt in your wallet, take out your sunglasses, and take out the keys to your car just ahead of the machine.  There is no need to add another five minutes onto the wait time of the people behind you.

This was all seen while waiting fifteen minutes for one of four self checkout machines at our local Walmart.  I guess I could have moved to another line with a cashier but then how would I have entertained you with my rules.

New Year's Resolutions and some updates

So it has been exactly two years since my last post and I realized how much I missed writing a personal blog, so here I go again.

I have decided that the only New Year's resolution I am making this year is to try to do at least some sort of exercise each day.  I walked this morning and Mike and I have a half-day kayak tour tomorrow so I'm off to a good start.  I am not going to bother with a healthy eating resolution because, well, I like food way too much.  Especially fast food and junk food.  For example, for dinner tonight I happily ate up a double cheeseburger and large fries from McDonalds with absolutely no guilt at all.  I will instead focus on more exercise and I really want to work my way through the Couch to Five K program which I purchased an app for my iPod quite a few months ago and have not used once.  The app let's me use my own playlists instead of suffering through the techno music that are in the podcasts.  I am making a deal with myself that I will have started the program by the end of January.

Now for some updates on our growing zoo at home.  We now have another dog (making a total of 3) and a ferret.  We decided to find a loving home for our bird, Sonny.  A friend's mom adopted Sonny into her flock of other birds and I hear that she is doing really well.  The new dog that we adopted is named Duke and he is the most friendly, cuddly black lab/pitbull mix I have ever met.  He loves to snuggle, get warm under the blankets, is scared of our beagle, and has a strange obsession with the cat.  The only thing I will say about the ferret is that we have a hate/hate relationship.  I hate having to change his cage and feed him everyday and he attacks me anytime he gets the chance.  This is clearly Mike's ferret since it cuddles right up to him but somehow I get the fun part of taking of it.  Here is the adorable Duke (you don't really need to see a picture of the ferret- just picture a rat-looking thing but longer):

I'm looking forward to a hopefully happy, productive, and profitable year ahead.  And lots of writing on this blog, of course!