248. Books, Books, Books!

Activities, Books 0

I’m starting a 48-Hour Book Challenge tonight! It’s that time when I make reading my top priority — and that makes my heart sing.

I am privileged to get to be a judge for the Cybils Awards and for the Mathical Awards. And I so love doing the reading for both awards! I’ve also got my dream job selecting children’s and YA books for my public library system, and life is very good. Getting to do a 48-Hour Book Challenge always reminds me I live a life of luxury! I can spend time reading.

247. Walking by My Lake

Activities, Nature 0

I’ve lived in my condo for almost ten years now, and I never will get tired of walking to the other side of my lake and back. It’s about a mile there and back, so it’s good exercise. But I enjoy the wildlife — birds, deer, and plants. I’m never getting tired of how they all change with the seasons. Today the first flock of Canada geese for the winter was floating on the lake, and the leaves are almost down. I feel more in touch with nature on a daily basis than ever before in my life. And I’m thankful.

240. Adulting

Activities 0

Today I had to deal with a small household emergency – a complete power outage of my entire condo – but not anyone else in my building. No one was going to deal with it for me.

I’m not happy with how long it took me and how many calls I made.

But now I have the relevant phone numbers in a place I can easily find them.

And now I know where the entire-condo circuit breakers are located.

And I got a tiny bit better at adulting.

229. Fireworks Out my Window

Activities, Events 0

Tonight I discovered there was a fireworks show going on outside my window.

Okay, it was far enough away that the bangs came quite a bit after the bursts of light. And, okay, there was a tree between me and them.

But the tree’s foliage was fairly sparse – didn’t really obstruct my view much at all. And the fireworks were also reflected in the lake – which was beautiful.

And I could actually sit in my rocking chair and put my feet up and watch the show – which makes them marvelous right there!

224. Michelle Obama at ALA

Activities, Events 0

I got to hear Michelle Obama!

My flight was delayed almost 4 hours – and I didn’t get to my hotel until it was almost time for the opening session to start. People had been lining up since before I got on the plane. But I was able to get registered and get in there by 4:20 pm – and they were still doing Opening Session things. I heard her introduced and every bit of her talk, and it was a treat all the way around.

222. ALA Annual Conference – Paid for

Activities, Libraries 0

I’m on my way to ALA Annual conference in New Orleans tomorrow! And one of the lovely parts of being on the Newbery committee is that my library is paying for my trip! Usually, I have to apply for a scholarship, and it doesn’t always pay for all expenses. So this is lovely, to get to go without worrying about scrimping at every turn. (Not that I’m going to be extravagant. But it’s one less worry.)