Why I Feel I Shouldn't Blog:

In case you can't read what it says: "Blogging - Never before have so many people with so little so to say said so much to so few."

Um....yay.

P.S. I'm doing so good with adding graphics to my blogs!!!

Also, my favorite quote of the day (from Better Off Ted....if you've never heard of it you should really watch it! Totally hilarious!): "There's really no middle ground with you. Either you don't care at all, or you care a hundred and crazy percent." Maybe you had to be there....but I laughed out loud!

Why I do what I do...

I sometimes wonder how I became a librarian. It's not like it was a dream of mine growing up. I remember the library in Grace, Idaho a little bit and then when we moved to Thatcher there was the summer Bookmobile that stopped on our corner. I always loved books, but didn't really feel passionate about libraries like some people do from birth. It just seemed to happen.

Anyway, the other day I came across this little comic and wondered if, subconsciously, I wanted a career in a job where people were "forced" to talk to me and they would, by default, think I knew what I was talking about....even though usually, I'm full of crap. :) I think I also identified with the lonely chicken's attempt to lure people into interactions with food....is that bad?

Recent Books I've Read

Since I had Monday off, I allowed myself to stay in bed for the morning...part of the time reading a book on motivation...which was probably why I was actually able to get up at noon instead of just staying there all day long. So...what have I been reading? Here are a few recent highlights.

The Help by Kathryn Stockett - I actually listened to this a few months ago...but it is really one of my most favorite books of all time. If you get a chance to read or listen to it.....I'd recommend it to pretty much anyone. Just fantastic.






Jane Bites Back by Michael Thomas Ford - Not squeaky clean, but a lot of fun. I know I shouldn't feed the Austen-mania....but I can't help myself.






Chronic City by Jonathan Lethem - Not clean at all and most the characters were stoned through the whole book. To be totally honest, I'm really not sure what I thought of this book....I'm still thinking. Definitely not recommending it....though it was interesting.


Strength in What Remains by Tracy Kidder - A biography about a survivor of the Burundi genocide. There was no way this book was not going to be at least a little depressing, but it disturbed me more than I had expected. Fascinating story of an resilient individual. This morning in the shower (where I do my best thinking) I was struck by how grateful I am to have never in my life, feared for my life. I am actually grateful to do my taxes this year and be giving 1/3 of my salary to a government I may not always agree with, but that keeps me safe. I totally take that for granted.

I think that is enough deep thinking for today :) If you would like to see longer reviews on these and other books I'm reading....I blog them at work http://provolibrarystaffreviews.blogspot.com/

Lunchtime Blogs...a experiment

I forget to blog. I think about things to blog, but never actually get around to writing and posting them. I think there are multiple reasons....

1. I have a hard time thinking I'm really very interesting and hate to document the proof of my doubts.
2. I am an expert procrastinator and it does seem like an awful lot of work when I'm sitting on my couch watching TV and doing the USAToday Crossword.

I thought I'd come up with more reasons....I didn't.

Anyway, I'm going to start blogging during my lunch break. It's not like I'm doing anything but eating at my desk and sometimes watching The Colbert Report or the Today Show. Sometimes I read, but that just makes me sleepy.

I know I should leave work for lunch....give my brain a little rest....but, when I leave I just spend money. And that isn't good either.

We'll see how it goes. And if anyone is reading this....I'll try not to be boring :)

Oh....I just thought of a number 3....I never take pictures and blogs are so boring without pictures. Am I right?

Kids are so cute....

My nephew, Jonathan, was at my house on Saturday and we had this conversation.

Jonathan: Aunt Carla, where are your kids?
Carla: I don’t have any kids.
Jonathan: Then why do you have toys?
Carla: Those toys are for you when you come to visit me.
Jonathan: Well, where is your husband?
Carla: I’m not married, Jonathan.
Jonathan: But where is he?
Carla: I don’t know…but maybe if we both start looking really hard for him, we can find him?
Jonathan: (looking really confused) But why aren’t you married?
Carla: Sometimes some people just aren’t married. (added under my breath) You aren’t married either….stop being so judgmental!

Isn’t he a charmer? He really is. Most of the older nieces and nephews have had this conversation with me. I guess I should just be glad they wonder why I’m not married….it would be worse if they just came up, pointed at my face or thighs and said “You should get that fixed.”

Why I don't go to dances...

I know, I know….I don’t blog enough…and this time I’m not even going to pretend I intend to do better. But, the reason I haven’t blogged recently is that I have been too busy attempting to be more social (this isn’t really true…I haven’t blogged because I’m lazy). A good friend convinced me a few weeks ago that I need to start dating more and that the key to making that happen is “Exposure, exposure, exposure”.

Now, her words could be taken in a couple different ways….I’ve decided to interpret them as instructions to get out into society more and not to wear more revealing clothes. Rest assured…if the first doesn’t work….I may resort to the later.

So, a couple weekends ago there was a singles (31-45) conference in Lehi. I had to work during the day, but I committed myself to going to the dance on Saturday night. I will never forget the experience.

First off, we were carded. Had to prove we were in the right age range.

Then, they played a whole bunch of that new fangled hip-hop music J. I don’t really mind hip-hop (it does remind me of how terrible I was in my community education hip-hop class….but whatever). My complaint was that here we are….older singles and they didn’t play many of the “stake dance” songs I have such fond memories of...just seems like it would have been a good idea.

The really great part of the evening was when they turned all the lights on and made all the men stand in a big circle with all the women inside that circle in a circle of their own. What followed was basically speed dating for a 10-15 minutes. It wasn’t so bad…whatever…but then they made us do the hokey pokey.

Yes, you read right….standing there, facing each other, we (a group of desperate 31-45 year olds who want nothing more than to maintain their self-respect in a difficult situation) were asked to put our “rear ends in, out, and shake them all about”.

So, each of us was faced with a decision….you are either a bad sport and refuse to do it….or you are an idiot for actually doing it.

I have promised myself not to let this experience keep me from continued efforts to get out there and meet people….so no worries…but really!

My pleas goes out:
· Please don’t TRY to humiliate the poor singles in the world!
· And please recognize the RULE that no one should have to do the hokey pokey without a child under the age of 12 or roller skates present….it’s just not cool!

Cruising Alaska!!

Here is the story of my Alaskan cruise. This was my first cruising experience and I’m going to admit I was a little nervous at the outset. I wasn’t really sure what to expect and I was worried about gaining 15 pounds during the week since I do have a serious problem saying no to food that is placed in front of me. Also, since it was just Stacey and I, I was a bit anxious about my ability to entertain her and make sure she had a good time as well.

Luckily most of my worries were unnecessary. I did eat a lot, but exercised almost every day and I’d like to think that kept the weight gain to a minimum. And Stacey was great about not needing to be entertained, plus we met some really great people throughout the cruise, which helped break up the monotony my constant presence can create.

So, here we go:

Day 1 – Disembarkation

I am a horrible packer and I can never seem to motivate myself to pack the night before a trip. (I blame this on my sister Cynthia because I remember her first trip to Girls Camp…..She packed 4 months early and when she got back she had miraculously found her journal, her scriptures and some other things she had been unable to locate for 4 months.) We left at 9:00, which meant I got up at 5:00(ish) to pack everything (and by everything I mean practically everything I own…because you never know what you will need on a trip!)

We loaded everything into the car and lovely Mary Ann took us to the airport. At check-in I found that my suitcase was overweight (shocking…I know) but we shuffled some books and stuff around and only annoyed a handful of people with our delays. Stacey tried to sneak a bottle of water onto the airplane and got detained by airport security. But we eventually boarded our plane and were off to Seattle.

My amazing friend Michelle came to pick us up (thanks Dixon for watching the kids). We went for a quick lunch and then headed for Pier 91 and Holland America’s ship The Zaandam. During our loading process there was a brief moment of passport trauma (Stacey had renewed hers but the security person didn’t like how it was done….and I had forgotten to sign mine). Then we were invited to board the good ship and find our stateroom.

We had picked a room with a window…which I was very grateful for. We went on a quick tour of the place. Found the dining areas, gym, lounges, and casino…all very important (except maybe the casino). We decided to not go to the formal dinner that first night and in stead went to the Lido buffet. The food was good and plentiful.

When we returned to our room, we started watching “Lost in Austen”. Stacey made it about 20 minutes and was out cold. (It was 7:00 at night….so you can understand her exhaustion.) I was reading the new Sookie Stackhouse novel (it was only okay…but it had some great Erik parts).

This is about the time that I discovered that despite my careful packing, there was one thing I did forget….a watch. So pretty much the most common sentence heard the entire week was “what time is it?” and most of the time we had to ask someone else.

Anyway, Stacey never really regained consciousness. She would wake up every once in a while and say something slightly rude. Once I had gotten up to look out the window and she rolled over and told me to stop looking at her. Oh…and then I ordered some room service since we had talked about doing that…ordering some cheese and crackers and chocolate chip cookies. So, I’m ordering that and decide to get a sandwich as well, Stacey makes no movement until I hang up and she says “What if I had wanted something?” and rolled over. Later when she woke up to get ready for bed, she didn’t remember any of it. Evidently she talks in her sleep ☺.