twice in a row

Two days in a row, a new record!

Rutgers, all done and turned in once again. Today the absent minded professor emailed that she again misplaced my second assignment, so off it went for the third time. Classes are officially done Wednesday and she is still grading the second assignment, the third still hasn't been touched. One more semester. I.Love.Rutgers.

I really love the kids at school, they are so cute and excited this week. Even with the background most come from there is that anticipation of Christmas and gifts galore. I hope that they are not disappointed.

This year we have secret pals again, we've done it before and it was so much fun, then it fell apart for a few years. We give a gift a month, more if we want and there is a minimum of $25 per gift, lots of us go overboard but there is always someone who goes to the dollar store, I've been very lucky with great pals and I try to be a good giver. too. My secret pal gave me a selection of Calvin Klein perfumes. I love perfume and she/he really knows my tastes. My secret pal knows who I am, she guessed the first month, but in a way its still fun because she appreciates everything she receives. For Christmas she got a travel bag, a date book, journal, and a new pen that the astronauts use. Don't know why anyone on Earth needs a pen that writes in microgravity, but it seemed to be a cool idea at the time. My pal is the union rep for security so I thought she could use a nice bag, like this one, but in cream (and of course on sale) for carrying around paperwork and stuff.

Tomorrow should be a great day, in the morning there is a holiday concert which I'll take preK and 3rd grade to see, then in the afternoon for the second show, I'll take 7th and 5th grade. A 7th grader is singing a solo, he has the voice of a professional, too bad he is so out of control in the classroom, if he gets his act together, music could be his salvation. One of my Library Assistants is playing an elf and she is so excited, at the end of the show, Santa, played by the principal, comes out escorted by all the elves. I imagine the noise from the little ones will be deafening.

Tonight, Alan went to Melissa's work party, yesterday Melissa went shopping with him to pick out what he would wear and also to get his hair cut. When I got home he was running around after his shower, trying to act as if he was too cool for this but of course he fooled only himself.

A few years ago, he was invited to a party with her and on the invitation it said 'casual elegance' , my smarty pants kid wore a shirt from work with his name on it so in his words 'no one would have to guess who he was' Turns out the party was in a mansion where her aunt lives, had valet parking, and servers who were in tuxedos wearing gloves serving the food. Alan was impressed with the house, the people, the food, and the presentation, it was the first time he had ever been to a home where people paid professionals to decorate for a party. Alan had a great time, felt like he fit in fine, and as it turns out, was loved by her family. Her uncle even gave him a tour of the whole house from attic to basement. We met them at graduation along with Melissa's parents, they were all very personable and they seemed to really like our Alan. Go figure. I guess when you are comfortable in your own skin it shows, both Alan and her family fit that description. He's been spending lots of time at her home, and her here, she is a sweetie and keeps Alan grounded, most of the time.

At last

Time, where does it go? It's now Sunday evening and all is well.
Its been a short month time wise since I posted.

Now to catch up...
Eric is in his new home, the outpouring of well wishes from those who know him and Maia was phenomenal to say the least, food baskets, cards, gifts, expertise, and time from their friends. Today he stopped over, looked like the walking dead, UPS is in its busiest time of year and he's working until past 10 every night, then went to the company party, boy does he look it!

Alan and Melissa did some of my shopping today, it was so nice since I wanted a gift from Bordentown and also needed a few things in Flemington. We split the distance. Its so nice to have help.

Two weeks ago, Alan bought a new (to him) truck, he's been feeling guilty using his work truck after hours even though the boss said go ahead and use it. Anyway, Dave took him over to the dealer to pick it up and saw a sign outside of the Toyota dealer advertising a hybrid sale, long story short, we stopped in and I drove out with a Prius. a big difference from the Volvo but fun in a different way, especially going to the gas station!

Last week there was an ad in the paper for puppies, we replaced Florence, our lovely Saint Bernard who passed away in June '06 with Rosie (or Roselita) a little white chihuahua, she's 4 months old, weighs in at 4.2 lbs and the vet said she may hit 5 but probably will stay near this size. She's a definite lap dog, Vickie and Rosie are starting to play and chase each other around, they share food and it looks like it will be a good fit. Dolly could care less, as long as she is getting fed we could bring in a thousand new dogs and Dolly would be fine with it.

Rutgers, oh Rutgers, two more classes and it will be done, this semester had one useful class in library magagement, and one that was a waste of money and time, Field Experience, that would be like making a teacher with two years expereince go back and student teach. I wish they had another class for those who were already working as librarians, more than half the class fit that description so it would be a viable option for Rutgers to allow a little lee-way.
I am looking forward to Children's Lit to Movies and will take cataloging as the last two classes, then it will be all over. I really made some great friends in the program and despite of myself and the Rutgers road blocks, have learned both useful and nonesensical things. Once again, I learned how not to treat students, one of the best lessons from undergrad, the first masters' and this one.

On knitting... found a great baby sweater pattern that goes pretty fast, picked up some pretty lime green yarn today for my cousin, Darcy's first baby due sometime between Dec 9 and 19 so hopefully it will be done before the baby goes to kindergarten. She didn't want to know boy or girl which limits the yarn choices, I'll try to remember to get a picture before sending it off to the little one in California.

Time to go and get the holiday cards written so they can be mailed tomorrow, too.

Happy Thanksgiving Almost

Can't believe its been twoish weeks since the last post!

Lots to say
First - Eric is now the owner of his first home, a cute 150 year old Lambertville sweetie. He closed last Thursday and spent the weekend smiling from ear to ear and priming and painting every available surface! One of his and Maia's friends is a designer so she went through the house and told them which colors to pick, he stopped over Saturday morning on his way to the paint store (less than a block from his house, about 6 miles from ours), when I asked him what the colors were he pulled out his list and said things like Sweetwater, Chamomile but couldn't actually remember whether it was blue, green, orange. So many Lambertville people have been way too great to them, from the abundance of gift baskets of food, drink, and supplies to the outpouring of help with sanding, painting, plumbing, you name it. How nice that they have such a great support group. I took a few before pictures, once its closer to done, I'll put before and afters up.

School librarians convention - way too much to tell but suffice it to say awesome! Met up with some of the Rutgers crowd, including the infamous absent minded professor. Did learn about a great video software program by Pinnacle, which is cost effective enough for the home and burly enough for kids productions, lots of cool things to do especially the ability to turn analog video into digital.

Back to reality today, we got our 2nd marking period schedules, the vice principal in charge of schedules was unable to complete them before Friday (realize that most schools in the world have a schedule at least by the beginning of the school year, but we are in Trenton, after all), when I went in this morning and asked for class lists, she told me its not her job to make class lists and what did I need to know who was coming other than this class or that would be there at a particular time. Gee, rosters? Attendance? How many handouts to prepare? Just a few things that come to mind, now I know why she's been passed over for principal jobs for at least 5 years.

anyway my kick-butt schedule went by the wayside and I'm now back to teaching 5 classes a day, which means that none of the other kids/teachers can use the library when classes are in there. All in all a bummer, reading is not a priority apparently, but I do have a request in to the principal to come up and see what was dismantled to see if there is a little bit of leverage. If she had scheduled in classes that would benefit from the library it wouldn't be so bad, but its back to the babysitting service - preK for 45 days in a row, this year's crew still don't know their own names, reading to them is fine, but trying to get a little comprehension - forget about it - I asked one little cutie what we had just read (Brown Bear) and he replied by pointing to the ceiling and saying lights. Another class is 7th grade emotionally disturbed, one of the boys has to be at least 6'4 and about 250 lbs and can't keep his hands off the girls. Normally they are split into 3 different classes for math, language arts, science etc. in the library they are all together, think of 24 challenged kids from the violent to the picked on, at least they come with an aide who tells them 'stupid is no excuse' an interesting way to look at it.

A bright spot is for the first time in 9 years, I have a #1 class - 6-1 to be exact, they are the best and brightest of the 6th graders so my hopes are high and I already told them I was so excited to have them in class and can't wait until they get started.

Enough already, I will not let this minor setback make me into the kind of educator that does nothing - even if I have to resort to dittos with 7th grade, there will be something library related everyday! Famous last words

On a fun note, try this to see if you're right or left brained, a cute site, while there check out the music link.

On the knitting venue, Christmas stockings on the needles for Eric and Maia's new home. The plan is to make felted red and green stripes. Did some felting for my sister in law, she has the stocking bug and gave it to me.

Before this turns into a tome, lets call it a day!

Happy Thanksgiving one and all!!

It's been a while...

Didn't realize it's been almost two weeks since I posted here.

A lot and not much has happened. Saw War of the Worlds which was fantastic! Next year is the 70th anniversary ~ wonder if there will be a major celebration. I've become hooked on Sirius Radio's Radio Classics, the original broadcasts from the hey~day of radio! Every morning during my drive to work I hear Gunsmoke, never been a real fan of the Western, but now I look forward to what Marshall Dillion is up to.

Last night, Dave and I (and half of New Jersey) went to see American Gangster. We were able to get seats on the top row, and being the kind people we are, we left two empty seats between us and those next to us, just my luck, a couple with post nasal drip/allergies sat next to us and honked and snorted and yucked through out the whole movie. Thank goodness I watch the History Channel and was able to understand the background of the film, which was somewhat lost in translation. Russell Crowe steals the movie and is way better than Denzel Washington, who plays, hmmm Denzel Washington as we've seen him in so many other movies.

An upcoming movie, National Treasure: Book of Secrets looks interesting, too. Another re~write of American History to keep the Social Studies teachers in business!

Halloween was fun in school, I wore Eric's UPS clothes and so many kids kept coming up to me saying "Mrs. Lee, where's my package?" I loved that they were able to get it. Lots of cute witches, Spidermen, vampires, and little princesses.

In school news, totaled up the books that went out of the library from Oct. 1 to 31 and we blew out the expectations! One thousand one hundred and twenty-six books were checked out ~ and only two were lost (and one is already paid for) YEAH!! Trenton kids are reading!!! Without the library assistants it would not be possible to get the books shelved (although, I'm hoping that pretty soon, all the assistants will know the alphabet and their numbers and be able to shelf books pretty close to where they belong) When I ran the report, the assistants who were in the library went crazy cheering and hooping and hollering! How cool to be excited about learning, especially in Trenton!! I just want to say ~ Look at that ~ you local newspapers who have been trashing our kids and staff lately.

I will put up some pictures next post as I'm too comfortable/lazy to go downstairs and get the camera right now.

the apron strings are almost cut

My oldest, Eric, is closing on his house November 16th. He's 27 and has managed to save enough by living home for the last three years to put a sizable down payment on a 150 year old home in Lambertville. He's buying it on his own and his girlfriend will help with the bills once they are in.

Cross your fingers, maybe a ring will be seen soon! We really like Maia and her family and hope that this works out for them both.

In his excitement, he didn't think to negotiate price so the sellers no doubt are tickled pink!

He invited us to go to the inspection a few weeks ago, the inspector he hired went from rooftop to basement, there were only a few problems (we all should be in such good shape at 150), one window needed replacing, the electricity to the second floor redone, the front door rehung, and the front window replaced within the next year. The sellers replaced the one window and did the electric. Eric will take care of the rest. Ahh the innocence of youth and excitement. It would be cute if it didn't involve tens of thousands of dollars between the selling price and repairs. A good lesson for the next house.

Knitting... here is a wip of a shawl, called the mini shawl its really not very small, the yarn is unknown, I picked it up while visiting Webs (really worth the trip) but lost the tag on the cone, way soft, huggy, and squishy. The shawl is calling for a cold wintry afternoon on the couch with a good book. :)

A little this a little that

Confession time, I realize now, that I'm a certified blogaholic. The first thing I do when I get home and I mean the first thing I do is check the blogs to see what's new. then I run into the bathroom. :0 especially now that its serviceable again.











Speaking of which, we are almost finished with the master bathroom project - the one that was going to take one week and is now entering month four. Can't complain, its new top to bottom and Dave did a great job with the tile work on the counter and the floor. I painted and stood around and gave creative advice, I can't wait until we start the foyer and I can give more advice. The toothbrush holder, soap dispenser and cup match the faucets perfectly! Whoda thunk it











So why am I so bad at blogging myself? It must be more fun to read about the interesting lives of others.


First I check on my good friend, see what she's doing, get jealous, then Go Fug Yourself which is one of those that will hook you in no time. I also hit the normal knitting sites, Crazy Aunt Purl, Knit n Tonic, and Frank Notes (I wish he'd post more often). I check on the progress of little Evan and his brain tumor in A Day Late... there are a few more, ok about 20 more but this paragraph is getting too many little blue lines. As soon as I figure it out, I'll add a column of what I read (if anyone cares) More confessions another day.

Good Friend

I have a great friend, met her through Rutgers MLIS and am in awe of her blogs, her devotion to family and friends, and general outlook on life. Anyway after reading one of her blogs, I took a detour to visit Google Documents, to check out an easy way to send documents and ended up checking out book tours ~ somehow it all did flow ~ Pamela Lowell will be New Brunswick Saturday to talk about her book, Returnable Girl. It looks like a good book for the middle school crowd, can't wait to read it!

Speaking of middle school, here is a shot of my library with kids checking out the books, I love how they are so engrossed in their books that they didn't even notice the camera

Since this is a knitting blog, here is a picture of my secret shawl, a knit

along called the Secret of the Shawl that I joined and am enjoying! Using Nature Spun in navy and black beads, the directions are posted once a week which gives just enough time to finish a clue without getting burned out on lace work.

Last but not least, here are my babies, Vickie, the Mini Pin seems to be saying let me sleep and Dolly just can't believe I'd post her picture on a bad hair day :)

School (times two) is getting in the way of knitting

Its been a busy week at school - both work and classes. Major paper due for Rutger on Monday, then spent the week second guessing myself - no feedback from the prof. yet.

The kids at school have been so good all week, I have a crew of six or seven, mostly boys - go figure - that come to the library to shelve books, they have taken it upon themselves to put whole shelves in order and to straighten out the books - we call it 'fronting the books' which means keeping them near the edge of the shelf. Our schedule has a 9th period from h*ll built in which translates into an extra hour that the kids go to one special a week or have extra tutoring with one of their academic classes. To make a long story longer, the kids are allowed to leave their academics and come help out in the library. Without asking, they came in and began to assist the kids - Monday it was kindergarten, Tuesday 5th grade, Wednesday they have to go to gym, Thursday its 4th grade. On Friday its my one prep of the week.

This morning I sat them down, told them they were the only "library assistants" in the school and have to set an example no matter where they are, have to keep grades up, and not get in any trouble. They also have to have permission from their academic teachers to come to the library - they are not to even try to leave science since that teacher does not want anyone out of class. They were so cute and so sincere and so 7th grade that tomorrow (Friday) for 9th period we are going to have a little celebration... new laws do not allow any sweet treats in school so pretzels, nacho chips and mixed nuts, salsa and juice are on the menu. We are off Monday for Columbus Day, but Tues, Wed. and Thurs next week after school students interested in being probationary assistants can come after school to take a test and fill out an application - both of which I have to come up with over the weekend. So far it looks like there are going to be somewhere between 15 and 20 kids applying ~ its so exciting, even the principal is getting into the act and asked me if I wanted to apply to start a library club for a stipend!

Its almost Friday already! Then the weekend...

How Christian

Today in church, I brought a lady from the local nursing home who looked somewhat disheveled. We went in, and she sat next to one man in a pew all alone, he looked at us and said he was waiting for his family and needed the whole pew. We got up and moved one row back, wouldn't you know - a family of three showed up a few minutes later, sat just where we had been and he did not say a word ~ BTW no one else showed up all during mass, either. A wonderful Christian.

Today I spent time working on a paper from H*ll for one of my classes, luckily my SIL and a friend asked me to go out shopping for a little bit which gave my brain a chance to refresh and recharge and I did finish the 11 page-single spaced paper in plenty of time (its not due until tomorrow at 10 pm so I'm a whole 24 hours ahead of the game)

Famous Footwear had a sale and I found the most comfortable shoes, I'll let you know how comfy they are after a whole day of running around the library. Also ordered these which will be here in about a week.

As promised, here is a shot of a finished knitting project, its the Lucy Bag from Two Old Bags a nice size after felting and really holds quite a bit of 'stuff'

Until next time, remember the golden rule...

go easy, its my first time

Welcome, come on in for my inaugural blog post at this address! I keep forgetting what name I used and thus, start anew once again.
Becoming hooked on blog reading, I think its time to join in the party and get serious about posting. I've been impressed at the blogs you all have created, and so bad at keeping up with my old ones,

A quick intro ~

• Married to my best friend for almost 33 years, its a good thing neither of us has gotten a day older mentally, we are still kids!


• Mom of two boys, OK, adults. Turned out pretty well, if I say so myself.


• Mom to two dogs, an Old English and a Mini Pin. If you can stand it, they also turned out pretty well, too.


• Also have a bird and a few fish, the jury is still out on their behavior.


• I'm an urban school librarian, this year I love my job ~ hang on, you'll soon hear more than you ever wanted to know about kids and books


• I will finish my MLIS this spring and say good-bye forever to graduate school, two masters in five years is enough already


• I love to knit - amend that to say I love to start projects and collect knitting books, yarn, needles, and gadgets for those projects that are dancing around in my mind
  Here are a few of my works in progress

This is a shawl for my good friend, Pattie, it was going to be finished for her 50th birthday, since she's now 51, its a little behind schedule. The edging is turning out nice, hope I have enough yarn left to finish, its Lion Brand Wool Ease in denim.





This is baby alpaca (yarn came from the Wooly Lamb, but I forget by who) sweater from Knit'nStyle. Its so soft and cuddly, almost a shame to finish it since it makes a great lap warmer at this point. I impressed myself with the key to the striping, saved me from having to go back and see what color goes where.



Sometimes, I do finish projects, next time I'll share a few of those

Thanks for hanging around, hope to see you soon