tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-80995636838189241252024-03-13T07:21:41.039-05:00Lost Between the Pagesstephicathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04439740570697812067noreply@blogger.comBlogger132125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8099563683818924125.post-76596284154944803952018-03-29T19:45:00.000-05:002018-03-29T19:45:04.963-05:00Here be DragonsAnyone who knows me, knows that I love fantasy stories. I love dragons and unicorns and fairies and witches; elves and dungeons and wizards. The first little crochet toys I made was a set of adventurers. I still have them too.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkTQwpcSDB1yP5uMbyH96WHf4xi7-_KUykY2gn1wbnQ5Cx9kd-t4waVWQdoJFvHfC0r3ZdMlN5SK07D9PqeykoLkyio_0GxnrDp5mwEB38P9ckz0UArH_VW4-WmcA0u3HBYIl0FdPK_0AN/s1600/046.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkTQwpcSDB1yP5uMbyH96WHf4xi7-_KUykY2gn1wbnQ5Cx9kd-t4waVWQdoJFvHfC0r3ZdMlN5SK07D9PqeykoLkyio_0GxnrDp5mwEB38P9ckz0UArH_VW4-WmcA0u3HBYIl0FdPK_0AN/s320/046.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Ogre, the Elf Archer, and the Wizard.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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But then I made a pair a Valentine baby booties and somehow ended up making a lot of baby headbands, booties, and diaper covers.Which is okay. They are cute and work up fast. And they made great baby shower gifts. But, my husband began wondering why I was making all this baby stuff without any nerdy flare. I said because I enjoy making things, and I was a bit scared. I didn't have the rights to copy any Star Wars, Avatar: the Last Airbender, or Lord of the Rings images into my work. I had heard stories of Etsy shops being shut down for selling "Jayne hats" and I didn't want to risk it.So I continued making safe, cute baby stuff.<br />
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Two things changed that.<br />
One: my library had a comic-con. I was on the planning committee.<br />
Two: a Facebook friend shared an image of one of <a href="http://www.amigurumitogo.com/2016/06/crochet-free-dragon-pattern.html" target="_blank">Amigurumi's To Go</a> finished Sleepy or Fierce Dragons and asked if I could make them for the con.<br />
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Of course I could make those for the con!</div>
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And I could do different sizes too. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9qG-4Xs3eqdkGjQ1hVIkYjpl-11owLvFo7wM5Rkmu4OVKG-t5SgFHhqR9-ZEKzrZWSyCBUcLp4h-pIYz66cKPx2A5HE36LUT1d1LuAXUs9h6kwLul8h4c6JGaoIREmx26z8OYl_yr8Bmm/s1600/20170508_221859.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="900" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9qG-4Xs3eqdkGjQ1hVIkYjpl-11owLvFo7wM5Rkmu4OVKG-t5SgFHhqR9-ZEKzrZWSyCBUcLp4h-pIYz66cKPx2A5HE36LUT1d1LuAXUs9h6kwLul8h4c6JGaoIREmx26z8OYl_yr8Bmm/s320/20170508_221859.jpg" width="180" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The finished group</td></tr>
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As you can see, my dragons are more little bit more fierce than hers, and not sleepy at all, as a proper dragon should be. But if you're two-years-old, that doesn't matter much.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7734my4ZB9egSyPc-3ZaxxOB-JCuOiRSebqhNziCJ7p7345EPVgkvv-yXOelurvB-44b7PAePj3PF36QDU2_VcSpNrmXQLxCD0uKKbUsp3lpkAW8eWhcSiTLDIMtI5f2vciL_bgI8A1KP/s1600/20170331_070942.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7734my4ZB9egSyPc-3ZaxxOB-JCuOiRSebqhNziCJ7p7345EPVgkvv-yXOelurvB-44b7PAePj3PF36QDU2_VcSpNrmXQLxCD0uKKbUsp3lpkAW8eWhcSiTLDIMtI5f2vciL_bgI8A1KP/s320/20170331_070942.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fierce and huggable</td></tr>
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I loved making them too. I also started creating my own dragon patterns for smaller versions. The formula is not perfected yet, because that involves writing things down. But I'm working on it.<br />
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These guys are all in my <a href="https://www.etsy.com/shop/Emmakays?ref=search_shop_redirect" target="_blank">Etsy shop</a> right now. If you could visit them, I'd love to see some more hits on them. Dragons aren't the only fantastic creature I'm creating either. Soon there will be Kitsune, Unicorns, and possibly a fairy cat. <br />
<br />stephicathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04439740570697812067noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8099563683818924125.post-73709913306905415042017-12-16T20:34:00.001-06:002018-05-01T21:07:52.816-05:00The patternMay 1, 2018 UPDATE<br />
The Floppy Unicorn pattern is now available as a digital download on Etsy. Please visit my <a href="https://www.etsy.com/shop/Emmakays?ref=seller-platform-mcnav" target="_blank">Etsy Shop </a>to purchase the pattern. While you're there, check out my dragons too.<br />
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The Floppy Unicorn pattern has been tested and reviewed and now I'm ready to publish.<br />
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Many thanks to Ravely testers MopsysBurrow<strong>, </strong>dlphnluver<strong></strong>, and wilmaelee <strong></strong>for the review and edits. <br />
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<b><a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/597745092/unicorn-crochet-pattern-amigurumi?ref=shop_home_active_1" target="_blank">Floppy Unicorn pattern</a></b><br />
<br />stephicathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04439740570697812067noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8099563683818924125.post-89099694154068909762017-11-16T20:47:00.001-06:002017-11-16T20:47:30.464-06:00Floppy Unicorn<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEPJNET6s7bnWs4gcFiMJWciHomQ097u-sd6_rhzff2gwNW2eCN6HXLnjjKhUlI4iv5eTQd0NupEGE8Zy95pqm-baIlDJBpSZLngdMtT2dbeT-QHgY0MOAvt5A5p7Ylx3Ec57ZeCPdqb1O/s1600/20171116_202536.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEPJNET6s7bnWs4gcFiMJWciHomQ097u-sd6_rhzff2gwNW2eCN6HXLnjjKhUlI4iv5eTQd0NupEGE8Zy95pqm-baIlDJBpSZLngdMtT2dbeT-QHgY0MOAvt5A5p7Ylx3Ec57ZeCPdqb1O/s320/20171116_202536.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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I've been crocheting a lot lately.<br />
This is my first project that I've created from scratch. <br />
stephicathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04439740570697812067noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8099563683818924125.post-86201982455617722502014-11-15T10:59:00.001-06:002014-11-15T10:59:53.056-06:00Experimenting with Vietnamese FoodMy husband and I like Asian food. We are slowly making our way through
all the Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, and Thai restaurants in our town.
We have sampled 4, and have about 16 to go. We may never accomplish
this goal because we are poor and eating out is a rare and special
occasion. So when I got The Slanted Door, we were very excited to try out the recipes. <br />
<br />
This
was more then just a cookbook though. The Slanted Door is a famous
Vietnamese restaurant in California, and the book chronicles the
restaurant's origins to the present day. There is a lot of backstory on
the dishes, what makes it special and how they came to first serve it.
If you like history with your food, you'll really enjoy this book. We
were more interested in the recipes themselves, and not in the exposition. <br />
<br />
The
most successful recipe we tried was the cashew chicken. It called for
ingredients we could easily get and didn't have any special equipment to
cook with. The combination of cashews and raisins with oyster and fish
sauce made for a savory meal, and we've been repeating those flavors in
our stir fry and rice dishes ever since. The least successful dish was
the rice cake. They were suppose to be crispy bite sized rice and mung
bean cakes with shrimp on the top. Ours turned out pasty and bland with
not a ounce of crispiness anywhere. The rice cakes called for a special
pan, the kind that you use to make escargot in, which we did not have.
Instead, we tried it with a mini-muffin pan. This is the source of our
epic fail. If you get this book and want to try the rice cakes, don't
use a muffin pan. Either skip it, or buy (or borrow) the special pan.
I'm certain the pan is the key to rice cake success. <br />
<br />
A big
factor in our recipe selection process was which ingredients we could
get a hold of. The preface says that most ingredients can be found in any
Asian market. This may be true if you live in a city, but if you're in a
small town, you may be ordering special ingredients over the Internet to make some of these work. <br />
<br />
Overall,
this is a gorgeous book. It has a beautiful cover, and each recipe is
accompanied by a full page glossy picture of the dish. <br />
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<br />
I received this book from <a href="http://www.bloggingforbooks.org/" rel="" target="">Blogging for Books</a> for this review.stephicathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04439740570697812067noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8099563683818924125.post-28031453066485788922014-11-02T19:14:00.000-06:002014-11-02T19:14:25.206-06:00Halloween 2014This week has been busy, busy, busy with getting ready for Halloween. (A lot of other not so fun things happened too, which you can read about on <a href="http://yamanin.livejournal.com/288216.html" target="_blank">Mark's blog</a>.) Many moons ago we asked Emma what she wanted to be for Halloween. We found pictures to help explain what Halloween costumes are, and after a few minutes of thinking, she announced that she was going to be a pumpkin. Over the course of the fall she had gone back and forth between a pumpkin-moose, a moose, and a pumpkin, but in the end she remained a pumpkin.<br />
<br />
We thought Kaylee was going to be a little kitty. But, we found a little baby animal body suit at Goodwill and thought she could be a pretty cute little <a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=totoro&client=firefox-a&hs=UBn&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&channel=sb&biw=1304&bih=671&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=jNNWVICGBPiIsQTy24B4&ved=0CAgQ_AUoAQ" target="_blank">Totoro</a> instead. I don't know what animal the costume was originally suppose to be, as anything that could tell me what it was, was missing. <br />
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So the week was spent frantically crocheting hats, taking them apart, and crocheting them again. Its funny how hats can look big enough at night, and then be too small in the morning.<br />
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We were encouraged to dress up for Halloween at work. Every year the Youth department puts on a Halloween parade, touring the library and stopping at each department for trick-or-treating. I'd been debating about what I was going to be, or if I had time to put a costume together at all. But Thursday night I found myself with a couple of extra hours (well, it was before midnight anyway) so I pulled out some old fabric and whipped out a simple cape to go with my elf ears. I think everyone looked pretty good.<br />
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<br />stephicathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04439740570697812067noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8099563683818924125.post-75050295567385192122014-10-08T20:10:00.000-05:002014-10-08T20:57:04.968-05:00Weekends and my Mini Photographer<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Our past couple of weekends have been kind of exciting. First off was the Genworth 10/4 Miler with the Amazing Kids Race. This was the last weekend in September. Emma loves to run, so we signed her up for the 1/4 miler for kids 0-5. Before the race there was bubbles, face painting, and karate demonstrations. Emma went straight for the bubbles. These weren't ordinary bubbles. They had two kids swimming pools set up, full of suds. In each one was a little stool and a hula hoop. The kids stood on the stool and a volunteer pulled the hula-hoop up around them so they were inside the bubble. Emma loved it. She kept trying to touch it as they pulled the bubble over her, though. </div>
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Anyway, one parent was allowed to run with each child, if they wanted. Since this was Emma first race, we decided that I would run with her. I really thought that I would chase her across the track because that's what happens whenever we go outside. She says "Catch Me!" and takes off. The crowd probably threw her off a bit. So we held hands the entire time. </div>
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She wanted to stop about halfway through. But then the cheerleaders started putting their hands out for high-fives and that got her going for the rest of the race. (I don't know her time, I can never see the clock at the starting line. Sorry, Grandpa.)<br />
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On Saturday, I ran the 4-miler. Well, walked really. I did try to run parts of it. The uphill parts. Crazy I know but sometimes it is easier to run it then to walk it. I did the 4-miler last year too. My time didn't improve, however I did not hurt as much this year. Not being 5 months pregnant with a baby swashing my hip joints probably had a lot to do with that.<br />
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For the first weekend in October, we went out to Yoder Farm. This is becoming a tradition with us. They have a corn maze, goats, a play area with rubber duck races, a corn pit with bouncy balls, tricycles, and pumpkins and apples. So, the tradition is to go through the corn maze and get some apples for canning, stopping to play with the toys and the goats along the way, of course.<br />
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Emma is a big fan of the rubber duck races. She was not a fan of the corn maze. Last year she ran through it, getting ahead of us and making me worry that she might actually get lost. This year she stopped dead the the entrance and had to be persuaded to go in. She did not like the corn and did not want to touch it at all.<br />
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Kaylee didn't have a problem with it. She was asleep for most of the farm experience though. Which was fine. It was her nap time anyway.<br />
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This should really be second blog post, but sometimes its just easier to load all the pictures at once and type around them.<br />
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Its hard to take pictures around Emma because she will insist that its her turn to have the camera. We can always tell when she's had it because we get pictures like this:</div>
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And this:<br />
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She got a hold of the camera recently while we were hanging out with Kaylee. She surprised us with these:<br />
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As you might be able to tell, Kaylee is pretty fascinated with the camera too. <br />
<br />stephicathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04439740570697812067noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8099563683818924125.post-19923465538663065012014-09-23T20:48:00.002-05:002014-09-23T20:48:40.834-05:00What birthdays meanFor the past two weeks or so, Emma has been talking about birthdays. She's learned that birthdays are something that people have. Because my birthday was coming up, we talked about what we would do for it: have cake, open presents, and go to a restaurant. <br />
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Yesterday was my day and Emma was exited about everything. We opened presents before I left for work. She helped Daddy make cupcakes. And she was so thrilled to go the restaurant that she burst our in tears when we immediately leave the library when picked me up. I think its safe to say that she likes birthdays.<br />
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This morning when we got up, we have this conversation:<br />
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Emma, "Presents?"<br />
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"No, my birthday was yesterday. I don't have anymore presents."<br />
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"Daddy's turn?" <br />
<br />stephicathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04439740570697812067noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8099563683818924125.post-64819523227872148042014-09-14T16:45:00.001-05:002014-09-14T16:45:57.807-05:00HideawaysWhat do you do when the drawers under your bed fall apart? If you're 3, you turn the empty space into a nice, cozy, hide-away.<br />
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Not that she stayed hidden away for long. But she did tell me that she was going to sleep in there. I didn't argue with her because I remember dragging my pillow and blankets in the closet to sleep. In the end, she decided that her bed was much more comfortable.<br />
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Now for the grandparents, here is our baby laughing:<br />
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<br />stephicathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04439740570697812067noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8099563683818924125.post-17859444047596856872014-08-30T20:54:00.001-05:002014-08-30T20:54:44.389-05:00The Kids (Yes, plural)Kaylee is now 7 months old. She has two teeth, loves to smile and laugh, and scoots around on her butt a lot. She is almost crawling, and can pull herself up to stand. She may skip the crawling altogether and go straight to walking. <br />
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Emma is 3. She loves to climb things, spin, and run. She likes dinosaurs, trains, and cats. Sometimes she will help wash or feed Kaylee, but most of her interactions involve the phrase "No, Kaylee, don't grab it."<br />
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They do enjoy having tummy time together though.<br />
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stephicathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04439740570697812067noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8099563683818924125.post-57117985968260804212014-08-27T13:12:00.002-05:002014-08-27T13:12:46.265-05:00Pop Culture FunniesLetters, memos, text messages, diary entries, and online forums are just a few of the formats that the correspondences take in <i>Dear Luke, We Need to Talk, Darth: and other pop culture correspondencs. </i> The pop culture references range far wider then I expected. From the titular Star Wars to Jaws and The Walking Dead to the Superbowl to The Eagles and Lenard Cohen, plus a lot more. There's reference for every genre (movie, music, tv) and decade, starting from the 1950s on. While I enjoyed this book, I'm not sure of its fit in my library. The other few pop culture books we have do not check out much, except for <i>How to Tell if Your Cat is Plotting to Kill You</i>, so there may be hope for it. <br />
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I received this book from <a href="http://www.bloggingforbooks.org/" rel="" target="">Blogging for Books</a> for this review.<br />
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3.5 Stars Because all humor is subjective and some things were just funnier then others.stephicathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04439740570697812067noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8099563683818924125.post-39290092732259816772014-08-01T07:25:00.000-05:002014-08-01T08:51:33.473-05:00Returning to ArtI am not an <em>artist</em>, artist, but I like creating art. I'm one of those people who doodles in the margins. Colored pencils are easy to use, they're very portable, they come in lots of variety, and you can use them on just about anything. I've always been a bit frustrated with them though, because I haven't been able to get the same type of richness and depth out of them that I see other artist do. <i>The New Colored Pencil</i> book by Kristy Ann Kutch explains how to do that, and you don't have to have the most expensive, made for the serious artists only, pencils.<br />
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Kutch reviews different types of colored pencils, wax based, water-soluable, and wax pastels, and explains how they work on different surfaces and how which techniques work best with them. She even has a chapter on how to mix them together. I love all the charts and tables. There are many techniques, new to me, that I will be testing out.<br />
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4 stars.<br />
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I received this book from <a href="http://www.bloggingforbooks.org/">Blogging
for Books</a> for this review.stephicathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04439740570697812067noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8099563683818924125.post-89096290882201633102013-10-04T07:40:00.000-05:002013-10-04T07:41:10.597-05:00The Pregnancy PostFor those of you who aren't family and haven't seen my husband's posts on Facebook, here's the big announcement. I'm Pregnant!<br />
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Baby number 2 is due on Feb. 2nd. We are having another girl. Her name will be Kaylee Seraphina.<br />
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This pregnancy has been full of anxiety and weeping, especially in the first trimester. I was freaking out about all sorts of things, miscarriages, chronic illnesses, deformities, moving, clothes, food. I was a very hard person to live with. I'm over most of that now, I think. At least I haven't broken down over the thought of wearing the same 2 skirts and 2 pants for the rest of my pregnancy in over 3 weeks.<br />
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I am all mixed up about what to expect from the doctors and the hospital though. With Emma, I went to the birthing classes early and then watched a lot of birth preparation videos in Japan, but the Japanese have a completely different attitude towards birth then the United State does. They are very much into natural child birth, but they use a lot of meditation, relaxation, and massage techniques for labor. They had a video of dolphins and aromatherapy candles in the delivery room. <br />
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I often think that if I had had Emma in the States, the doctors would have given me a C-section, or least forced some extra drugs on me, because of how long my labor took. I don't want to have the exact same experience as I had in Japan, but I also don't want to be forced into something I may not need. From things I've read and people I've talked to, it seems like that happens a lot, especially in hospitals. But the hospital is the only option I have here. There are no birthing centers and my insurance won't cover a midwife/home birth.<br />
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Should I be worried about this? Or is this just my pregnancy anxiety morphing from many issues into one? stephicathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04439740570697812067noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8099563683818924125.post-16072336277879482782013-09-15T19:34:00.002-05:002013-09-15T19:34:41.381-05:00What I've been doing all summerSo back in April, when it was decided that Mark would go back to school, I thought that it might be nice if there was a way we could earn a little extra money. Yes, he's also got a part-time job, but all those funds are going directly to school, so it's not like we have any more for things like Christmas and birthdays. I started looking into opening an Etsy store. I've spent most of my summer working on these crochet bags to sell. (I also played with the idea of knitting socks and gloves, but the first sock was terrible and took way too long.)
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This one with the waves is my favorite, so far. I'm going put a chain strap on it and maybe some sea creature charms. It depends on what I can find at the craft store.<br />
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Emma's favorite is the brown flower bag. Whenever she re-discovers it, it spends the day with her around her shoulder or neck.<br />
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This is one that I ran out of yarn with. It'll be finished someday, when I can get more of the green color. I have a large, see-through, bag of yarn, and sometimes when I think two colors match in the bag, they don't actually when I pull them out of the bag. It's often a subtle difference, like between egg white and snow white. Most times you can't tell the difference, unless they're right next to each other.<br />
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I'm not sure about this one. I was trying to make a bag with a broader base, but I don't think this yarn is sturdy enough for it. To me, it looks like a hat where the pattern got put on upsidedown.<br />
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I was planning on opening an Etsy store at the beginning of September. You can see how well that worked out. Now, I'm shooting for the beginning of October. I'm put a link up here when I'm officially open. stephicathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04439740570697812067noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8099563683818924125.post-40395357831483343482013-04-13T12:19:00.001-05:002013-04-13T12:19:23.497-05:00Adventures in SewingA few weeks ago Mark and I were discussing the state of Emma's pajamas. She has two, one pink and one blue. They are both in good condition, but Emma has been growing. These are footy pajamas, so they can be hard to squeeze into once a certain height has been reached. Emma was getting close to that height.<br />
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Mark has several old T-shirts that we've held onto for possible costumes or other fabric needs. I'd already snatched two to turn into a new dress for Emma (more on that later). So I found a third one and, in about half and hour, turned it into a nightgown.<br />
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Its a little long, but it works, and should last for a long time. She is amazed that she can see her toes when she lies down.<br />
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The nightgown was a quick and dirty sewing job. I cut the sleeves down and took a couple of inches off the side seams. The dress was suppose to be a better fit.<br />
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As you can see, the front is really big. It hangs off her shoulders and the neckline is far too deep. I'm disappointed with this because I measured her and read a lot of crafter's blogs on how to take adult T-shirts and turn them into children's dressed. I didn't have a pattern. And she was dressed and a bit wiggly when I measured her. I'd really like to fix it so that she can wear it without someone constantly watching to make sure she doesn't flash anyone. The only solution I can think of is to cut out a new front piece. But that's a lot of unpicking that I would like to avoid. Does anyone have another solution to suggest? stephicathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04439740570697812067noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8099563683818924125.post-21177673719362370872013-01-13T15:47:00.002-06:002013-01-13T15:47:47.609-06:00The Upcoming YearI've been dragging my feet with New Year's Resolutions this year. The usual things that I make resolutions for, more exercise, less food, better time management, improving my art skills, I haven't been able to accomplish in years and I'm tired of trying.<br />
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I know that getting more exercise would be a good thing for me. And I have many ideas for drawings, but don't ever get around to executing them. But any time I devote to those things is less time to spend with Emma with Mark. Working full-time already takes a lot of time away from them and I'm reluctant to add more time away from them. But, I have decided on four things that I would like to accomplish this year.<br />
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1) Make a quiet book for Emma. I went and bought a lot of materials for this already and have started to piece some pages together. This will be a gospel inspired book. Pages will include the Creation, the Tree of Life, the Resurrection and the Restoration.<br />
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2) Finish the knitted scarfs. I start knitting scarfs in Glasgow with the hopes of selling them. But then we moved. And the scarfs have been sitting on the needles, just waiting for me to pick them up again. (Do you know anyone who needs a scarf?)<br />
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3) Read 50 books. My reading options have been rather scarce over the past year and half. I only read about 25 books last year. I hope to double that this year. And I have a plan to read more bestsellers, and expand into Amish fiction, so that I can better understand my patron's reading interests.<br />
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4) Finish the cross stitch I started in Japan. This is a 14" x 14"<a href="http://www.austintatiousofferings.com/images/ballerinabeautydimgold_demo.jpg" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> ballet dancer</a>. I don't know if I'll accomplish this one. I tend to underestimate how long cross stitch projects take.<br />
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That's a lot of projects, but they have a definite start, you can see how much progress you're making, and an ending, which is what I need this year. <br />
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And now for all of you who didn't see the pictures on FB, here's Emma at Christmas.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihTSi_hyphenhyphenbJlSLna1faKc2_6b2MdNBlHnX6YCU0RRUXm2N0_u8ASG-UcFiwjgwIT8C1ixXc8N8WEv5OTFDJ5Tr0eD3mhOrkMunbLDbkJf8txIFIdZawwyzx5wHEfRED-vcdaK18u0UqDt3w/s1600/2012christmas+016.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihTSi_hyphenhyphenbJlSLna1faKc2_6b2MdNBlHnX6YCU0RRUXm2N0_u8ASG-UcFiwjgwIT8C1ixXc8N8WEv5OTFDJ5Tr0eD3mhOrkMunbLDbkJf8txIFIdZawwyzx5wHEfRED-vcdaK18u0UqDt3w/s320/2012christmas+016.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Helping Daddy open his present.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJKEieZIyQYUnrxOhXL_vLjtcy2UgBi9irrc5AT-aBWsFLl7sAfQHufUtKLEi-kNlKzOAKhQ3Zn6MBWWoWsGOzBFe3XMPL06PreBnGQ6gSr-xqQ1facwRqRIC61S7xn8PFGIpZusadbIhw/s1600/2012christmas+009.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJKEieZIyQYUnrxOhXL_vLjtcy2UgBi9irrc5AT-aBWsFLl7sAfQHufUtKLEi-kNlKzOAKhQ3Zn6MBWWoWsGOzBFe3XMPL06PreBnGQ6gSr-xqQ1facwRqRIC61S7xn8PFGIpZusadbIhw/s320/2012christmas+009.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Playing with her cousin inside the ladybug tent.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4MLdN0SruBKUIMJB-FRp39jYhF-c1KIhttv-qoI8Hgtp-P-u4rIVD0R7kWcBzoSh5Jwm0AotfMVngaPSzOb9jAD9hUU17hAzM0iirvG4Wouz9sJs3BNtqB71wb9hyphenhyphenOI2vFOrHxGrGYHPC/s1600/2012christmas+013.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4MLdN0SruBKUIMJB-FRp39jYhF-c1KIhttv-qoI8Hgtp-P-u4rIVD0R7kWcBzoSh5Jwm0AotfMVngaPSzOb9jAD9hUU17hAzM0iirvG4Wouz9sJs3BNtqB71wb9hyphenhyphenOI2vFOrHxGrGYHPC/s320/2012christmas+013.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Discovering a new toy, and eying on of her cousin's.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Its snow! (eewww)</td></tr>
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<br />stephicathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04439740570697812067noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8099563683818924125.post-32512191268955824722012-12-28T15:31:00.000-06:002012-12-28T15:31:35.262-06:00Work ImpressionsMoving, working full time, and having a family make blogging a little more difficult then it used to be. Work has been going well. I've already set up a couple of programs and I'll start teaching computer classes in January. There are things I miss. There is not a lot of interest in science-fiction or fantasy, so the sci-fi/fantasy collection is very small. Unless its young adult, LPL simply doesn't buy the new books in those genres. No Brent Weeks, no Ken Scholes, no Brandon Sanderson. I feel extremely lucky that they do have Naomi Novik and Jim Butcher, even though they only buy the paperbacks and not the hardbacks. I also miss my fiction team. The librarian who is in charge of fiction isn't very excited about anything. She's one of those who thinks that anything new is a pain and a hindrance and she doesn't want to deal with it. So where I get excited about social media and graphic novels, she kind of deflates my enthusiasm with her negativity. I've almost stopped telling her about the things I'm working on. <br />
<br />
There will be more changes coming though. The director is retiring in the summer and the Children's Manager is retiring in March. I hope we get someone excited about changes. There is another librarian I work with who has a lots of plans. Plans to change the layout, online services, and classes. I have plans for social media, reorganizing the DVDs, and Reader's Advisory. It'd be great if they find someone as excited about changing things around as we are. <br />
<br />
A few thing still frustrate me. I don't like Horizon (the catalog system). There are some searches it just can't handle, like limiting by type of item and location. I can't make my own lists. And I can't place holds for patrons on more then one item at a time. Some administrative procedures frustrate me too because I can't get a clear answer on how to do it. I ask, and get told to ask someone else. And it just goes round and round.
<br />
<br />
And I also occasionally answer the phones "Central Library" instead of "LPL Reference Desk."stephicathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04439740570697812067noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8099563683818924125.post-48849974615264220002012-08-19T23:22:00.000-05:002012-08-26T20:03:49.423-05:00Moving OnAfter a summer of interviews, interviews, and more interviews, I have accepted a position at a public library in Virginia. <p>
I'm having mixed feelings about this. I don't feel nearly as good about this move as I did when we moved to Montana. But we all know how that <a href="http://notanothertexaslibrarian.blogspot.com/2012/05/blindsided-in-glasgow.html">worked out</a>, so maybe this is good thing. When I flew down to Virginia a week and a half ago, the staff were all very excited and kept telling me how much they wanted me to come and work for them. And I really want to go work with them, but I'm not sure how well I'm going to fit in. They may be expecting a programing, social media guru, and I'm not that. Yes, I've done my fair share of programing and I know how to use social media, but those aren't my best areas of librarianship, and I'm not sure how much of lit and RA skills I'll be able to use there. <p>So, expectations. <p>Yes, I believe I'm having some expectation anxiety here. I didn't have much of those for the Glasgow job because, 1) I hadn't met the staff beforehand; and 2) I was going to be the head honcho. I could use all of my skills in whatever way I saw fit. <p>
After word reached the Glasgow library staff that I was moving, one of the assistants told me that the Board was considering asking me back. I don't know if that happened at the last public board meeting or in a private meeting, but it's come as a shock. A part of me wants to stay here. A part of me really wants to run this library. I know I could do good here. <p>I also know I couldn't work with the current board. About two weeks ago, one of them appeared at story time with her grand-kids. She hung out afterwards and tried to talk to me. This is the first time any of the board members have attempted this, outside of board meetings and the polite "Hellos" they've given me in the grocery store. I'm afraid I didn't let her say much. You know how scary quiet people can get when they finally loose it and explode? Yep, that was me.
Its possible she wanted to talk to me about coming back, but if it was, she choose the worst way to start a conversation with me. Maybe if she hadn't started off by asking about my job hunt, I wouldn't have become an <a href="http://youtu.be/Hpn1kjzqdGM">angry Fluttershy</a>. <p>
But, the board hasn't tried to contact me since, so if were reconsidering me, they haven't been very vocal about it. Its not like they don't have my phone number and email. There are other ways to reach me besides hanging out at story time. <p>
So the mixed feelings probably aren't going to go away until the uhaul is packed, the car is loaded and we pull out of this little, middle of nowhere town.
stephicathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04439740570697812067noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8099563683818924125.post-83583294822982507332012-07-30T22:23:00.001-05:002012-07-30T22:39:59.732-05:00Being artsyThis past month has been a rather creative one. First, I found a blog called the <a href="http://sketchbookchallenge.blogspot.com/">Sketchbook Challenge</a>, which is all about getting art down in a sketchbook instead of leaving it in your head. To help, they issue monthly art challenges, and have a Flickr group where you can upload your art to show off your stuff and enter contests and get inspired by others. So I joined. I haven't gotten as much on paper as I have in my head, but its a start. July's challenge was circles. <p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjvMvF8aY2qZYwrqnUgrSu4i1i8YmivasK3ulXzLQ8gFOrKIaUXc6sH2bDdTMdysrQHSWVIYl4E1lVjed447XgkZLWDBZLlfySaRgRpjgtjiNV-dI9b7Mn6YEmHeU_zvbanX1dy5oH9zo7/s1600/circles+002.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="240" width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjvMvF8aY2qZYwrqnUgrSu4i1i8YmivasK3ulXzLQ8gFOrKIaUXc6sH2bDdTMdysrQHSWVIYl4E1lVjed447XgkZLWDBZLlfySaRgRpjgtjiNV-dI9b7Mn6YEmHeU_zvbanX1dy5oH9zo7/s320/circles+002.JPG" /></a></div>
<p>
Its also been a big crochet and knit month. I finished a skirt for Emma, which wound up not being the right size (she grew) which I've decided to try and sell. I'm like to get $15 for it, but I can negotiate. It should fit a 9-12 month old, provided she isn't a really tall baby. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPXhyO9HcdQIImqNUznn2sStoewq0dOZ4sCFdLGPSu9M58kp2Fg4SwELm5Lo-KSk0t3eQLBSZHLvuM6J0iuBmKWHdHLRA8r_PF_5aICnPXFiu624_qeZ08q7ygK9J16qbvabHSD-fZkSdy/s1600/knit+and+crochet+009.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="240" width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPXhyO9HcdQIImqNUznn2sStoewq0dOZ4sCFdLGPSu9M58kp2Fg4SwELm5Lo-KSk0t3eQLBSZHLvuM6J0iuBmKWHdHLRA8r_PF_5aICnPXFiu624_qeZ08q7ygK9J16qbvabHSD-fZkSdy/s320/knit+and+crochet+009.JPG" /></a></div>
Once I decided to sell it, I started to think of other things I could make quickly and possibly sell. So, can I interest any of you in a headband? (or a scarf? sorry no pictures yet, they are still in the making) If you don't like any of these, I can custom make one.
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQH3rdxUXZ8meI2VawYYlN4nypZHAfiBpHumz1V9sbWy9nv-2y7jKxW1IcMTdxwLLFg23-cZz6Z1ZyCUixa0nucGZwrxoxLucsmOyBUDh3ldBZuDbRSSS5VM-54m8QchHUt-WxHpTlXnzv/s1600/knit+and+crochet+013.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="240" width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQH3rdxUXZ8meI2VawYYlN4nypZHAfiBpHumz1V9sbWy9nv-2y7jKxW1IcMTdxwLLFg23-cZz6Z1ZyCUixa0nucGZwrxoxLucsmOyBUDh3ldBZuDbRSSS5VM-54m8QchHUt-WxHpTlXnzv/s320/knit+and+crochet+013.JPG" /></a></div>stephicathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04439740570697812067noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8099563683818924125.post-85148242170516213652012-07-04T21:21:00.000-05:002012-07-05T12:46:58.128-05:00Emma HighlightsOur little wiggle-worm is will be 12 months and 3 weeks old on Sunday. Its high time for an update, don't you think?
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<ul>Likes:
<Li>eating with her fingers, even if its not a finger food, like soup and pudding,</Li>
<Li>animals, especially the neighbor's dog,</li>
<Li>music,</li>
<li>"reading", she will open her books, flip through the pages and babble to herself.</li></ul>
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<ul>Dislikes:
<li>the vacuum -- its big, makes a loud noise, and she once tipped it over onto herself,</li>
<li>Daddy leaving the house without her,</li>
<li>going to bed.</li></ul>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjazELqrWoupFEjKXnsOQSA0BzjnFruh__0cNemb3SxNDKChzzHMUpQ1_z35BvVFt0WFAOSO-M46xOrfyxHn7-HwKb186QCWor16QTgPzTuOBKF1-C1_J51bZmB7D1lBzM5a88k_pmd_OwW/s1600/emma1+003.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="240" width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjazELqrWoupFEjKXnsOQSA0BzjnFruh__0cNemb3SxNDKChzzHMUpQ1_z35BvVFt0WFAOSO-M46xOrfyxHn7-HwKb186QCWor16QTgPzTuOBKF1-C1_J51bZmB7D1lBzM5a88k_pmd_OwW/s320/emma1+003.JPG" /></a></div>stephicathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04439740570697812067noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8099563683818924125.post-3421368791327796822012-05-09T20:38:00.000-05:002012-08-19T23:22:34.960-05:00Blindsided in Glasgow<p>And here I thought things were going so well.
<p>We've been very busy in the Johnston household. First, we moved from Japan to Boise, ID. Mark had several interviews lined up and he aced them all. So we were going to stay in Boise. Then he found out he couldn't start right away, like they told him he could. Because of his international background, it was going to take a month to complete his background check. But that was okay, because he had another job offer in Utah. So we moved to Utah and stayed in my parents rental in Roy. He had to wait to pass his CDL before he could start training, but that was okay. Training wouldn't start until the end of April anyway which gave him time to study.
<p>Meanwhile, I had been contact with a little library in the middle of nowhere Montana that was looking for a new director. A gentleman from their local workforce services department had found my information somewhere and invited me to apply. He said the board was interested in giving me an interview and they were figuring out how that interview was going to take place. I didn't want to drive all the way out there without some sort of compensation. Gas is expensive, and if I was going to travel to an interview without a firm offer, then there were better options then this place. But, they decided to try a Skype interview. Unfortunately, none of them knew how to work Skype. The first twenty minutes or so of my interview was my instructing them in how to connect with someone though Skype. They hadn't bothered to try to research that before the interview, and none of them had an account set up. Thank goodness one of the board member's spouses had a Facebook account (You can now Skype through Facebook. Its kind of neat.) or the interview probably wouldn't have taken place at all.
<p>I thought the interview went well, but not fabulous. To my surprise, the next day they called and offered me the job. I accepted. That was on a Wednesday. The next Tuesday we drove off to the middle of nowhere Montana.
<p>Flying into Boise to arriving in Glasgow, MT took 18 days. Things were falling into place. We didn't have a place to live yet, but we had several leads and another board member was kind enough to put us in her basement while we waited. It didn't take long. Housing is very rare here. There's an oil boom happening in North Dakota, and Glasgow is close enough to get spill over from that. Plus the railroad has been hiring, so there's a large influx of new families and not enough housing to go around. I think if someone were to build an apartment complex, it would do very well. So were extremely blessed to find the rental that we did as quickly as we did. We moved in on April 25th, only a week after we arrived.
<p>I had started work on April 19th. I wasn't suppose to start until we found housing. But with nothing to do but wait on that, I decided I may as well be working; earning some money and learning about the library's systems and the community. I got no formal training. One board member gave me a tour of the library. The previous director volunteered a couple of hours to give me an overview on some of the administrative procedures. My total training time with other people had been less then 8 hours, barely a full day. The previous director had been very sweet in letting me call her whenever I have had questions. The staff have been marvelous in showing me how things have been done. But most of the systems were a matter of trail and error. At the same time I'm making lists of contacts, finding out the current status of several different projects and grants, getting my name put on all the library accounts, sending out press releases on current library programs, brainstorming new programs, deciphering the budget, creating staff schedules, reading book reviews, ordering new materials, researching prices for new library furniture, and creating new incident procedures. I'm learning how the current procedures work so I can figure out what, if anything, needs to be changed to be patron friendly and/or efficient.
<p>As of May 3rd, 5:30 PM MST, we are jobless again. And I don't know why. That night was my first board meeting. I had meet all of the board during my interview of course. Since I started work they had all dropped in to say "hi" and "welcome" but not much else. The first thing they said to me was "You're not really what we were looking for. You're not what we expected so we're offering you a severance package. We think its very generous. You'll be given two weeks pay. Do you have any personal items in the office? No. Then we'll have your keys. Bye." I tried asking what is was I've done to make them come to that conclusion. They won't tell me. Only that I don't match their vision. They're sorry for the miscommunication. More like no communication. How am I suppose to work on their vision when they won't tell me what it is?
<p>The longest conversation I had with any of them was on a car ride back from a library federation meeting in Wolf Point. I had gotten a ride out with another director from Malta. (I was a stop along her way, and when I accepted her offer, I didn't know who, if any, of the board member were going.) Since I arrived I had been warned to beware of a couple of the board members. That they seems like nice people, but they were very hard to work with. This particular board member had struck me as being kind a bully, and I'm wary of bullies. So I was that thrilled to be riding with her, but I did want to get to know her and what she wanted for the library. Our conversation was not very enlightening. She had a few ideas of what she wanted. Booktalks to all the book clubs in town, visits to the schools and unincorporated towns in the county, which I was all for. But she didn't know how many book clubs there actually were in town or how to reach any of them, other then her own. Nor did know how many towns there were in the county. So I put that on my list of things to research. I'm afraid I wasn't very forthcoming with my own ideas because a lot of them were, and still are, half formed. I had only been on the job for a week and was still feeling overwhelmed with everything I had to learn. It didn't help that we had just come from a federation meeting where I had learned even more was required of me. I don't know if that car ride was my undoing, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was.
<p>And the terrible thing is that I keep thinking of things to make the library better.
Other views on our situation:
<a href="http://yamanin.livejournal.com/244447.htm">Something Rotten in the Town of Glasgow</a>
<a href="http://www.glasgowcourier.com/cms/news/story-609918.html">Fired Librarian's Tenure a Short Story</a>stephicathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04439740570697812067noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8099563683818924125.post-53549806064463510392012-03-16T01:00:00.001-05:002012-03-16T01:00:46.237-05:00PigeonholedIn my last job I was an Adult Services Librarian in a large library systems. I worked in the central library where cross-training and mixing of departments was not done. The people at the circulation desk never watched the reference desk, the children's librarians never ventured off of their floor, and the only time the adult reference librarians visited another department, it was probably to borrow their color printer. And that's just between the public service departments. Interaction between them and technical services was even more problematic, unless you were a II or a department head. I believe there were over 100 people working at the central when I was there, and although I could recognize a great many of them, I couldn't name them all. Many I only knew through email and never saw face to face too.
<p>
I worked in one of the smaller branches for a few months as well, and it was nothing like central. Everyone knew each other, by face and name, and helping out in each others departments was a lot easier because there was only one or two people in each group. Having the adult reference librarian "in charge" happened more often as well because they were next in line in the hierarchy. So when the manager had to leave, it was usually the adult reference librarian who ran the library until the manager came back.
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So all I did was Adult Reference. I did programs, worked on committees, created staff genre training classes, and had a few other non-public related duties; but, the majority of my time was assisting adults on the reference desk, or over the telephone, or by email. Now that I am looking for another job, it seems like that experience isn't enough. A lot of jobs I'm seeing want supervisory experience. Have I been in charge of other people? Yes. Many times. Was it in an official capacity? No, because that's what the volunteer services department was for, or the reference manager, or whoever had the "I'm in charge" phone that day. The same goes with working with vendors and budgets. Another department handled that. I was just a librarian.stephicathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04439740570697812067noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8099563683818924125.post-87614217633461266652012-02-23T01:54:00.002-06:002012-02-23T16:55:18.700-06:00Five WeeksThat's all the time we have left in Kan'onji, five weeks.
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Has it almost been a year already? It seems so. I'm not ready to think about packing and moving yet. Yes, I am a bit homesick and want to go back to the States, but at the same time, there's still stuff that I would like to do here. We haven't made it to Kyoto yet, or the Naruto whirlpool. I have yet to experience an <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onsen">onsen</a> (pregnant ladies aren't allowed, and neither are kids under six years old) or kabuki or karaoke. We have also wanted to explore Kobe with some friends of ours. We've been trying to get together almost since we arrived. It still hasn't happened yet either.
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And we don't have a job to go back to, which is kind of scary. I've been looking since September too, when half of Mark's co-workers had to leave Japan because of visa problems and we thought the school was going to financially crash and burn. Mark's been looking since December. There is a Assistant Language Teacher (ALT) job that he may be up for near Osaka, and if we were going to stay, it would be for an ALT because they work in the public school system and have normal 8-5 hours and weekends off. So there is that possibility, but we're not sure how much of a possibility it is. Either way, it still means moving.stephicathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04439740570697812067noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8099563683818924125.post-18565997631490417312012-02-02T00:20:00.000-06:002012-02-02T00:20:15.653-06:00Immigration UpdateWe have a date for Emma's hearing. February 14th. Great day for a hearing, eh? <p>Mark's boss will be coming with us, so we will have an interpreter with us this time. Cross your fingers that all goes well.stephicathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04439740570697812067noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8099563683818924125.post-8286481910595920472012-01-24T21:40:00.000-06:002012-01-24T21:40:08.253-06:00Song of Ice and FireThere haven't been many series that I've been able to keep up with since moving to Japan. Luckily, my Texas library has allowed me access to ebooks and downloadable audiobooks. If I didn't have these, I'd probably be reading more classics, since they are public domain and I get them at sites like Project Gutenberg. But because my library card is still good, I've been able to read George R. R. Martin's <i>Song of Ice and Fire</i> series, also known as A Game of Thrones.
I'd been wanting to read the series before HBO adapted it. It was one of those things on the "to read" list that I could never quite get to. I'm not sure when it first aired on TV, but I started reading<i> A Game of Thrones</i> (book 1) shortly after Emma was born. I just finished <i>A Dance with Dragons</i> (book 5).
This is a series that will surprise you. I've thought many times that I knew where the action was headed and how the plot would resolve itself, only to have all my expectations go awry by some new plot twist, usually in the form of a character death. If you don't like your protagonists to die, don't read this series. Like Joss Whedon, George R. R. Martin is not afraid to kill off popular characters. No one is safe from his pen. Martin has changed my mind about characters too. Those that I started off hating, I'm now liking. Some that I thought would be integral to plot have faded into the background. Maybe they'll come back later, maybe they'll stay scenery, I don't know. That's one of the things I'm loving about this series. I can't predict it. And its why when book 6 comes out next year (cross your fingers) I'm immediately going to get my name on the check out list. (If I bought #6, I'd have to buy all the rest, and right now baby food, clothes, and plane tickets are a higher priority.)stephicathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04439740570697812067noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8099563683818924125.post-26722395142483641862012-01-06T01:54:00.000-06:002012-01-06T01:54:03.709-06:00. . . and then we were deported.No, we haven't been deported, but it seemed like we were going to be for a little while.
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What Happened:
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Right before Christmas, Mark got a phone call from the Immigration office in Takamatsu. He had no idea what they wanted because the person who called didn't speak English and Mark couldn't figure out what he was saying with his limited Japanese. So Mark's boss contacts them and they tell her that there's a new procedure that we need to go through for Emma. They say that we just need to go down to their office with some documents so they can update their files, or something like that. They there's no rush on it, take on your time. So we do. We have a lot of little day trips planned for after Christmas and New Year's, so we figure we'll stop by on our way somewhere else.
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We made it to the Immigration office on the last day of Mark's vacation. But things are not what we expected when we arrive. Instead of waiting in the nice, bright main Immigration office, we're sent to wait in a dark, gloomy corridor by an electronically locked door. There's another family there, so we don't feel that anything is wrong. An immigration officer takes our documents to make photocopies and when he comes back, he leads us to a cold vacant room, with only a table and a couple of chairs in it. We still think things are okay, until he pulls out the "Flowchart for Deportation Procedures."
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Wait, what?
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Yep. The real reason they wanted us to come in was to inform us that <i>Emma</i> has overstayed her visa and they are starting an investigation against her.
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When babies are born to foreigners in Japan, they automatically get a two month visa (which we didn't know)and Emma's expired in August (which we didn't know). We should have gotten her a new one then (which we also didn't know)but we didn't. We weren't able to get all her US documents until September, and you've got to have a passport before you can have a visa. Besides, we spent a lot of time at the city office in Kanonji making sure she had all her documents in order. They told us she was fine, that she didn't need anything else, and we believed them.
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Oh, and the officer who is telling us all this, doesn't speak enough English to explain what is going on. The only fluent English speaking officer is out at the airport manning the customs desk. So we've got this guy trying to get us to sign a bunch of forms (all in Japanese) who can't tell us what they're for, and all we know is that its about deportation and Emma.
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I had visions of being escorted to a bus with her and made to get on a plane that evening. But, after a few phone calls to Mark's boss, we learned that she was not being deported, only that she is being "investigated". My six and a half month old is being investigated by the Japanese government.
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This is only the start of the craziness. We have to go back in about a month for a hearing. They didn't have a date for us, but they will let us know when they schedule it.
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We may be able to drag this process out until our contract ends in March, or if we get a new job in the states, we could leave early and avoid it all together. I can't help thinking that this could have been avoided if they had just sent a note in the mail or something. They know she was born. They know what sort of documents she needs and by when. Couldn't that have come in a welcome packet? A sort of "congratulations on being born, here's what you need to stay legal" thing? I would have found that more useful then all the nursing they gave me.stephicathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04439740570697812067noreply@blogger.com3