After what feels like 3 straight years of rain, the sun is finally out. I don't mind rainy weather - but it overstayed its welcome this time. My colleagues and I joked that we should cancel everything so we could go out to bask in the sun.  For now, I'll just enjoy the rays dappling through my window.

Here's what else made me smile:

• Eating at my favorite restaurant in DC
• Enjoying a quiet morning to myself after several days of chaos
• Turning a disruption into a quick, quirky video for work
• Kiddo's new found love for "The Wellerman"
• Clearing off some of the piles and things crowding mydesk
• A joyful interview with one of our students
• Kiddo sounding out and spelling the word "purple" mostly on her own
• Trying out the Too Good to Go app for the first time and scoring yummy cookies cheap

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

There are six events and meetings on my agenda for today. That's a lot for me! Usually a heavy day is three. Thankfully, I have a short buffer in between each item, but today is going to be busy.

Here's what I'm working on:

1. Info Tip of the Week: We are pivoting to add more video content to our library repertoire. Making videos takes a lot of work. While there are plenty of polished tutorials I need to develop, I've decided to start small. Each week, I am making ONE video in an "Info Tip of the Week" series. These are designed to be short snippets that explain library or research things, share tools and tips, or simply better connect people to information.
2. Presentations: I'm still developing content and slides for several presentations and webinars I have coming up. This week, I added a new one to the list. Two colleagues and I are working on a proposal for a roundtable discussion at the 2025 ACRL conference. We've got ideas, now we need to form them into something we can submit.
3. Scheduling: There are a ton of excellent things happening in our area over the next few months. The husband and I have been selecting a few to attend. Our weekends are filling up.

If you were in the path of Hurricane Helene, I hope you are okay. I have family in Florida and South Carolina. They were all impacted in different ways - mostly power outages, lots of rain, and debris down on the ground. But they are safe and that's what matters most.

During the storm, we kept in touch on our family text strings. It put my mind at ease to know what was happening on the ground. After the storm cleared, my mom even shared pictures from her morning explorations. By sheer luck, the trees and limbs that came down in their area did not hit anything important.

How did you weather the storm?

It has been raining all week. I'm fairly certain half of my shoes got soaked. It's rather annoying. Thankfully, I remembered to wear rain boots the one day on which I found myself outside in a deluge. At least my feet stayed dried that day.

Here's what else was good in my week:

• Kiddo screaming "Dad! Dad! Dad! Dad! Dad!" as she ran to hug him when he returned from his work trip
• Receiving notice that I did not have to report to jury duty
• My family in Florida avoided the worst of the hurricane
• A hot mug of dark roast black coffee
• Having a little bit of alone time at home after several days of solo parenting
• High quality bar soap
• Meeting a few of the kindergarten parents
• Getting back to working out
• Starting to play with the small rig my boss was able to get me
• Kiddo curled up against me as I read her a book
• Making plans to use a colleagues kitty in some library marketing videos

Girls of Fate and Fury
Natasha Ngan

This feels like the YA series that will not end. It's not bad, I'm just not flying through it as quickly as I usually do with YA. I'm used to devouring 50 pages in a night. With this book, I can barely manage 10. I think that is partly because I take so much time to stop and think about the characters. The "demons" look more like animals. When the author describes them, I always find myself stopping to visualize them in my head.

*Books shared here are affiliate links for Bookshop.org

I was supposed to have jury duty this past Monday. I lucked out and was told I did not have to report. In DC, that means I get a two year reprieve from petit jury service. Fingers crossed I don't get a grand jury summons in the mean time...

Here's what I'm working on:

1. Library Scavenger Hunt: As a librarian, I'm not the biggest fan of scavenger hunts. While they do get students into the library, what knowledge they retain is up for debate. Some students take a lot away from the event while others just play around on their phones. But, they are "a thing" and my colleagues and I were asked to put one together for some classes. My colleagues put together the text, I designed the hunt sheet, and we're all working with classes to get through the event. At least they get fun stickers!
2. Many Slides Decks: Between the webinar I'm hosting on background research and four upcoming presentations, my slide design skills are getting a workout. At least two of those presentations are based on previous sessions I've given. I like when I don't have to make things from scratch.
3. Who Wants Kid Stuff: We've got some kid stuff we need out of our home. I struck out on the local list-servs which means I now need to head to Facebook Marketplace and NextDoor... I really don't want to... but I want this stuff out of my house even more.

One of these days I won't add a calligraphy book to my TBR list as soon as I see it... but today is not that day.

I'm back from vacation and there are lot of great things in this week's Wrap. The Wi-Fi had excellent reach at the resort (all the way to beach!) so I got through a lot of links. 

But before we get to that, I want to talk about one thing that amazed me while we were on vacation.

We stayed at a lovely resort with a wonderful staff. I have never felt so pampered. I think the reason things felt so indulgent was because of the memories of those working there. Every single person at this resort seemed to be trained to remember faces and preferences. If we visited a service area more than once, they knew who we were and what we liked.

This was intended as a relaxed, beach vacation and, by the first afternoon, the exterior bartender already had our drinks memorized. All we had to do was walk up and he knew what to make. The gentleman working the snack bar knew we liked our coffee black and in a to-go cup. The person at the towel stand knew exactly how many towels we liked in the cabana.  It added a personal touch which made our visit feel extra special.

This was not a small resort. There were a lot of things this team of personnel needed to remember.  As someone who has trouble with face-recall, I was highly impressed. 

I forgot to set an alarm and was awakened by the kiddo knocking on our door at 7:50AM. We're usually a block from school by then! Thanks to her cooperation, we were ready and out the door by 8AM. Normally, we walk to school but I drove in so she could eat a bagel in the car. She was checked-in just before our early care drop-off closed. Phew! It was a rush, but it all came together.

Here's what else was good in my week:

• Lounging in a resort cabana
• The gorgeous blues and greens of the Gulf of Mexico
• Petting the resort kitty
• The husband surprised me by upgrading our trip home to first class
• My parents taking care of the kiddo while we were gone
• Collaborating with a colleague on an outreach project
• Remembering my ATM pin (since I haven't gotten case in years)
• Catching up on podcasts while going through my email backlog
• Helping people register to vote
• Chatting with my mom on the phone
• Making myself breakfast for dinner