I took today off since I was going to lose some annual leave if I didn't use it. Turned out to be perfect timing. I was able to squeeze in a trip to the optometrist, buy all of our stocking stuffers, hit the grocery store, and prep for the holiday party we're hosting this weekend. I even had a few hours left over to just chill.

Here's what else made me smile:

• Zoo Lights went all out this year
• Seeing a little kid in our family-friendly study space
• My kiddo singing various typical kindergarten songs the entire walk home from school
• Celebrating a decade of marriage
• Cleaning out the pile of reading in my inbox at work
• Found a route to avoid the Beltway
• Baking and listening to podcasts
• Christmas markets
• Made a really cute motivational video for work
• Kiddo saying, "It's beautiful! I can't believe my eyes!" to each new ornament we put on our tree

I read a lot of books with my kiddo. Kid Reads is a biweekly look at what we've enjoyed recently. 

Today is the last day of classes at our University. It's been feast or famine in the library. I'm either sitting in the quiet or running ragged trying to help students finish off their semester. 

Here's what I've been working on:

1. Student Motivation: During finals, I go wild on our social media accounts trying to motivate students. I drafted all the posts, collected and made graphics, and gleefully incorporated one of our librarian's kitties who is slowly becoming our mascot. I also made a "you got this" video featuring almost all of the library's staff. I can't wait to post that tomorrow.
2. Spring Content Calendar: The best part about working in academia is the long break we get at Christmas. BUT that does mean it's a short reentry period after the holidays. To make my life easier, I put together the entirety of our spring content calendar and threw everything in to Trello. Now I know what I need to focus on in January.
3. Newsletter Promotion: I'm running a sale on my newsletters. To support that, I'm doing my best to market the discount to my free readers. I'm also sharing it in other locations to try to find new readers.

We host our annual holiday party next weekend. That means I'm doing a lot of prep cooking and baking this week.

I'm making cream scones, chocolate chip tea cookies, and banana breads. Those are getting frozen and will be defrosted the night before. The day before the party, I'll be prepping spinach balls and an egg dish. And those are just the things that need to be prepped. We also fill the table with veggies, charcuterie, and a very popular cocktail meatball. This year, oven space permitting, the husband wants to add a baked brie.

My mantra is that no one should go away hungry. That means I usually end up making WAY too much food. Some things do get eaten completely, but there are usually leftovers to put away. I've finally gotten smart about that. The baked goods can be refrozen. Then, instead of lunch meal prepping for the following week, I just make myself a lunchbox of random goodies. It's less work after a long week of extra cooking, tastes great, and reduces food waste. All wins in my mind!

How do you handle party leftovers?

I raided our kiddo's Halloween candy stash (yes, she got a lot but mostly we eat it slowly) and swiped the FULL-SIZED bag of Skittles. I can't remember the last time I ate a full-sized of anything on my own. I have a feeling at least a quarter of this is going to be saved for later.

Here's what else made me smile this week.

• Adding cute library stickers from a conference to my bullet journal
• The start of Hallmark holiday movie season (at least in our household)
• Was more productive at work than anticipated one day
• Nabbed a lot spot
• Tossing two extra vacation days on my calendar before the end of the year
• My office space heater making me toasty
• Work buying stuff I need - with zero push back
• Getting to use cute kitty pictures on a project
• Kiddo's glee in helping to decorate

House of Sky and Breath
Sarah J. Maas
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Maas added an entire new section of her world in this book. It's incredible and I bet it would look great on the screen. There are also many new characters but, since they're not being info dumped, it's been easier to remember them. I do want to note that our leads seem to lack the chemistry of her other books. It might be that her world is so big that they don't get as much attention.

*Books shared here are affiliate links for Bookshop.org

Counting today, I have only nine working days left in the year. *looks at to do list* I'm going to need to take some things off that...

Here's what I'm working on:

1. Spring Webinars: I don't like it when our events calendar is empty. Plus, having our webinars posted early means more time for people to register. This week, the reference team finalized the topics for each webinar. I churned out some summaries and graphics, scheduled the Zooms, and got everything posted. We're focusing on AI since that is a massive topic both our students and faculty are interested in.
2. Finals Week Social Media: I don't post anything but supportive content during finals week. We borrowed a coworker's cat for some videos earlier in the semester. That same coworker sent me a file of kitty pictures I am going to turn into morning motivational posts. I'm also tracking down people for a "Good Luck!" video. Once I get my content calendar filled out, I will start scheduling things to go up during the week.
3. Holiday Prep: I'm just making my way down our checklist. This week it's decorating and writing our holiday cards.

Clearly I'm into coffee table books right now.

Y​ou can see my complete TBR list on Pinterest.
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*Items featured here are Bookshop.org affiliate links.

Short week. Short Wrap.

​We'll be back to normal next week. 

Not gonna lie, I am spending this (pointless) work day reviewing conference recordings and cleaning out my email. 

Here's what I was productive at:

1. Video Editing: Working from home is great for video editing. I can go head down and focus on getting all the cuts right. This week, I put together a video with tips for using AI during Thanksgiving and another where a kitty rates the library's seating options.
2. Newsletters: I have a lot of newsletters going out during the first weeks of December (both for work and my own). I did a lot of prep work, writing, editing, and scheduling. It will be nice to get a little bit of a break at the end of next month before the new year starts.
3. December Plans: We're working on filling out our calendar with a mix of fun events, hosting prep work, and new year things we need to tackle. It's the month of logistics and scheduling.