Middle Schoolers Rock!

So, I am so psyched today because I have taken a vacation day and am not at work! Don't get me wrong, I love my job but I was sooooo ready for a break. I am not due in back to work until Wednesday of next week.....so awesome!

Chas was supposed to take today off with me so we could go see X-3 first thing, but he could not take the day off. He just got a new job (YEA!) and he is trying to get all of his loose ends tied up before he leaves his old job. Chas, new job is a Quality Assurance Engineer for the Systems department. Pretty dang cool, I think. Keep your eye on that one... he's going places!

The past three weeks have been incredibly busy. Our library has been visiting elementary and middle schools to discuss the summer reading program. The first week was elementary school which was pretty fun. The last two weeks have been elementary school, which has been really fun! Sally and I visited all of the middle schools ourselves and got into a great rhythm! I think that we are going to have awesome attendance this year for the teen summer reading program!

I think I might go see MI-3 by myself today. No one else is off work, GC already saw it and I really want to see that one before X-3. This super fun long weekend has just begun!

Be sure to visit the Vintage Vantage wesbite and checkout their super fly T's:
http://www.vintagevantage.com/

School out for summer!

Well, I am officially out of school for the summer. I decided a few weeks ago that I was going to take this summer off, and I can not tell you how excited I am! Spring grades are supposed to be posted tomorrow....I sure hope I passes special libraries. I am nervous because the instructor had not graded 80% of our work in blackboard, so I just hope I pass. If not, that instructor will feel the full wrath of Dawnzilla! That's right. Most of you have met Dawnzilla, and lets just say it aint pretty. I remember a couple of years ago I had 2 professors give me grades that I did not agree with, so I let Dawnzilla do her thing and had both grades changed. Oh yea!

I got to spend the day with Aidan yesteday which was super cool! Avery was invited to a princess tea party (she promised to bring me back a cupcake), so Aidan hung out with me and Chas all day. It was so much fun! We went to the grocery store and drove the racecar shopping cart, got a super rad new monster truck, and made cookies. I am incredibly lucky to be so close the the two coolest twins on the planet! Big shout out to Kita for having created the most awesome kids ever!

Well, I guess that's all for now. Can't wait to see MI-3! Tom Cruise may be a total whack job, but that movie looks freakin awesome!

Miracle Whip!

Some of you have seen this, but I just had to post it!
Every once in a while you get those reference questions that make you take a step back and say to yourself: wow, that person is just a little nuts.

Here is a call that I got this week:

Me: Reference, how may I help you?

Crazy lady: He, he, he. Can you hear my grandson in the background... i'm babysitting today.

Me: Yes, that sounds nice.
Awkward pause....

Me: How may I help you?

Crazy lady: Well, I like Miracle whip. You know, Miracle whip? I really like that stuff.

Me: OK...

Crazy lady: the problem is the miracle whip jar is narrow at the top and so I can never get all of my miracle whip out of the jar. I love miracle whip.

Me: OK...

Crazy lady: I have a 32oz. glass jar that is clear. Totally clear. Clear like glass you know?

Me: Yes, I understand the jar is clear...

Crazy lady: Well, this jar is NOT narrow at the top, so I want to put my miracle whip in this jar so that I can get it all out.

Me: Ok... (wondering how she is going to transfer "all" of the miracle whip from the narrow top jar to the open top jar, but deciding not to mention the obvious problem with this plan.)

Crazy lady: I want you to print me out a label for my clear jar that looks exactly like the miracle whip jar.

Me: Ok, well Miracle whip is trademarked food item, so their copyrighted label is not available for the general public to use on their own containers, so I am not sure that I would be able to do this for you.

Crazy lady: Well, you have the internet dont you?! Can't you just go to kraft's website and print me out a label? I mean it cant be that hard.

Me: I can search Kraft's website for you please hold. (go to kraft, find miracle whip, no label to print out---duh!)

Me: Ok, sorry about your hold. It looks like on the Kraft website you can print out a picture of the miracle whip jar, would you like me to print that for you?

Crazy lady: Is it the miracle whip label?

Me: No ma'am. It is a picture of the Miracle Whip jar, so it looks exactly like the jar that you see when you go to the grocery store. Do you think this will work for you?

Crazy lady: I just want the label!

Me: I understand that, but this is the only thing I can find for you. Would you like me to print this out and you can come and pick it up.

Crazy lady: (a full minute of himming and hawwing) I just want the label. That is not what I want. Just forget about it! (hangs up)

I really think I hate adult reference!! Hope you are all having an exciting, miracle whip free, day! Dawn

The Kitty Revolution!

After my Ode to Sammy, I started to feel bad that I have not posted any pictures of my other cute kitties. After much discussion with Cow, I have decided to post one picture of each kittie to make amends for my oversight.



This is Squirrel(Grey) and Merlin(Orange). Squirrel feel in love with Merlin from the first moment she saw him, luckily Merlin was very laid back. Squirrel is about 5 years old and is the sister of Pumplin. Merlin passed away in January of 2005, so now Squirrel cuddles with us.



This is Annushka, otherwise known as Annabear. We call her Annabear because her fur is so thick that she looks like a little bear cub. Anna is about 4 years old. She is tiny, but incredibly vocal. This cat will scream at you until you give in a pet her. She is best friends with Cowboy, and she can often be seen cuddling with him, or kicking his butt.



This is the infamous Cowboy. He is about 5 years old and is the only boy kittie in a house over run with women! Cow is best friends with Annabear, although he gets tired of constantly getting his butt kicked by a little girl. Cow enjoys chit chatting with his people and following me around the house. Cow seems to be planning some sort of plot against Pumpkin. We fear he may have discovered that the diet food transition is primarily due to her weight problem.




This is Pumkin aka Punkapotimus. She's what you call big boned. She is about 5 years old and enjoys sleeping and eating. Pumpkin does not really like any of the other cats, especially Cow. Due to an increased weight problem for Punky, we have switched the kitties to diet food. Pumpkin is concerned that the other cats may be rallying against her in their fit of rage over the diet food transistion.



This is Sammy. She was best Friends with Charles, but also liked Pumpkin and Cow well enough. Sammy could jump over four feet high straigh up when trying to catch a toy! Sammy passed away in March of 2006, and we all miss her tons.

Ode to Samantha

It has been just over a month since we lost one of our best friends, Sam. This amazingly beautiful weather reminds me of taking Sammy out for her walk. Have you ever seen a cat who likes to take walks on a leash? How about a cat that will play tag with you? Just some of the crazy kitty stuff we miss about our friend Sammy.

Crunch Time

Every once in a while, it seems that the universe will throw everything it possibly can at you just to see how you handle it. This has been a week where the universe intends on driving me to the brink. School is nuts. Getting ready for finals and turning in those big projects is proving to be more than a little bit challenging. I just finished writing 5 papers for my children's lit course in the hopes of being able to opt out of the final. I just found out last night that I have a ginormous project due this Friday that I have not even begun for my special libraries course that is online. My professor for my internet course refuses to check blackboard to see if her students have questions. She truly has a way of making students feel like she just doesn't give a damn! I can not wait to fill out an evaluation for that course.

Work is somewhat crazy. We are trying to gear up for summer reading by setting up school visits. This is probably going to take up almost the entire month of May. Of course the real craziness begins in June, so I need to ready myself for that!

Overall, I feel like a tool complaining. I should be appreciative of the opportunity to go to graduate school. I should thank my lucky stars everyday that I have a job that I love and work with really awesome people. Maybe I'll start an appreciation diary like Oprah. Hey, if Oprah says its a good thing---its a good thing! :)

Random Parenting Questions

After much observation at my local public library as well as the grocery store I would like to ask parents a few questions. Ok parents, ready? Here goes.

1) Why on earth would you allow you toddler to run around a parking lot without holding your hand? Has the pain truly become too much? Are you sort of kind of hoping they get hit by a car?

2) Is there a reason that parents think the library is an appropriate place to simply dump their children? Is the library protected by some super human force field that does not allow child predators in? As a library employee, I would just like to point out that to my knowledge there is no such force field and that perhaps it is not the best idea to leave your young child unattended at the library or any other public space.

3) It is really a good idea to let your children push the shopping cart at the grocery store? Yes , yes they are so adorable when they can not see over the cart and are pushing ever forward. My only concern is that these cute little buggers cannot actually see where they are going and therefor are very likely to run over the elderly lady who is looking at the canned veggies.

Just some random thoughts from someone who does not have children.

Embrace Global Warming...its your friend!

Some say that global warming is dangerous, scary and downright not good for the future of humankind. I on the other hand say global warming rocks! It was 60 degrees and sunny yesterday in the Cincinnati region. 60 degrees and sunny in January! How can anyone say that's a bad thing? Sure, the increased temperature of the ocean may cause the hurricane season to be the reason we abandon the coastline...but with the melting of the polar ice cap, which will result in rising oceans, those coast lines were useless anyway. I for one would like to see the movie, Day After Tomorrow, come true. How awesome would it be to be trapped with both Jake Gyllenhaal and Dennis Quaid in a situation where you have to huddle together for heat? Hello! Clearly, Global Warming is a fantastic phenomenon that will lead to more sunny days in January and the need to use Jake for warmth.

*Photo by Takashi Seida - © 2004 Twentieth Century Fox. All rights reserved

Down with New Years!

New years resolutions are designed to increase your guilt throughout the year. I am certain of this. Everyone gets so excited about the prospect of a new year with all of its inherent possibilities. Lets face it---you are not going to go to the gym three times a week, you are not going to stop smoking, and you will not watch less TV. Being lazy, fat, and self-destructive is what being an American is all about. Perhaps monthly resolutions would work better. I might work out around the summer months when the threat of a swimsuit is quite real, but come December I will most likely sit on my butt the entire month and that’s ok! We don’t have to be perfect all the dang time. I for one am tired of feeling guilty when I fail to maintain a new years resolution! Down with the new years resolution. Boo! Boo! I am working on a catchy theme song for this topic… more later

I'll get you my pretty...

Sometimes I feel like graduate school is really the wicked witch of the west. Always ploting against me. Always ready to send in the evil monkeys after me. This is winter break! I should be thrilled that I am not in class right now, and yet the wicked witch taunts me. Instead of divorcing myself from all things school related I spend my time wondering about the winter classes and even summer classes. I think I have a problem. I think that I am going to start a support group and we will call ourselves: Students Annonymous. At our meeting we will drink lots of coffee and discuss the perils of research papers. We will grow in numbers very quickly. S.A. members will be everywhere! You will not be able to go into a starbucks without feeling the discontent and melancholy seep out of us. There will be no place safe for those who are simply living their lives rather than those of us who are studying our lives. Then and only then will the whole world know our pain and we can take over the world!!! Sorry... I had a Brain (pinky and the brain reference) moment there. Hope you all have a great New Year, and for those of you on winter break, try to enjoy it! Oh, and beware of evil monkeys lurking.

Dreary Day at the Library Today is a rainy, cold day at the Library. Usually on days like this we are busy, but people seem to loose interest in the library around this time of year. I guess it makes sense. People are caught up in the whirlwind marketing extravaganza that is the holiday season. With such emphasis put on purchasing little trinkets of happiness for each other, the idea of checking out materials for free seems off. Don't get me wrong, between black friday and the first of the year I am a shopping force to be reckonded with. I absolutely LOVE to buy presents for people. To me this is a chance to show people how much you care.So here is the deep philosophical question I pose to you all: Can happiness be bought? And if so, what is the point of having a public library where everything is free?