I honestly don't know where I would be without Trello and my bullet journal. These have been the only things helping me keep my work on the rails the past few weeks. Here's where my attention is at this week. WORK
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One of the best parts of my job is that I never know what people will ask at the reference desk. I learn a lot this way. Plus, there are some typical library skills I've used for personal projects that are worth sharing. In this new bi-weekly series, I will share a short tip or lesson from my work as a librarian which may be useful to you. Check back in two weeks for our first Tuesday Tip! I feel like reading all there of these titles at the same time would make for a good day.
I had a not so great week. After three intense weeks of work and personal stuff, I was looking forward to this week being a bit lighter. While the workload itself was generally manageable, things bubbled up that drained my emotional batteries. I'm an academic librarian. Generally, our students are fantastic and I love nothing more than working directly with them. Sometimes, however, things go awry. This week, a student I assist all the time asked for help but then rejected every attempt on my end to provide that help. The rejection was loud and confrontational. It was so bad, I had to write up an incident report. The next day, another student called my direct line and opened the call with "You people are incompetent." Never a great start. At home, our kiddo is about to go through a growth spurt which means she's being assertively independent, cranky, and does not listen. This amounts to a lot of screams, whining, and thrashing. It's frustrating and tiring. On top of all of this, it was gray and rainy almost every day. The weather seemed to reflect my overall mood instead of helping me out of my funk. Thanks, Mother Nature. If I were to add things up, all of this amounted to about 6 hours of my life. But those 6 hours ruined everything else. The emotional baggage carried over impacting my mood, ability to engage, and my sleep quality. Instead of trying to climb out of it, I just let myself disengage and wallow in the grumps. Then, as the sun finally came out on Friday, I let myself take a deep inhale and start over. How was your week?
What Chefs Feed Their Kids: Recipes and Techniques for Cultivating a Love of Good Food Danae Aaron This book has been sitting in my bin for months. I found it on one of the display shelves at the library and I thought it would be a good read. I'm just over halfway done and, while it's well organized, some of the information is outdated. (It was published over a decade ago.) I also disagree with some of the author's premises. That said, the recipes look really tasty and some of the tips to get kids to vary their palates are great. Recently, I also read Oddball by Sarah Andersen in one sitting. It's a short compilation of some of her webcomics and it is delightful. I just had to close the window blind by my desk. The sun is shining so brilliantly that I couldn't see my computer screen. After a week of rain, this is really nice. Here's what else made my week:
I had to update my work computer to the new version of Windows today. I should have waited to set that to run when I left. The update ate an entire hour of my morning. I then had to redo all my settings and figure out why my dual monitor screens were working backwards. I got it all taken care of, but that was the kind of work I was not expecting to do today. Here's what else has my attention. WORK
PERSONAL
I am not a handy person. I can wield a paintbrush, hang things on walls, and build furniture; anything beyond that is generally out of my skill set. When it comes to electrical and plumbing, count me out. I don't want to be anywhere near this kind of work. In fact, my presence is far more a hindrance than a help. I tried to help my husband install a new light fixture in our bathroom about a month ago. I had a panic attack five minutes in to the process. My father in-law was here last weekend which meant he and my husband could install the water line to our new fridge while I was blissfully unaware at work. When it comes to advanced DIY work and home maintenance, I would rather pay an expert. More honestly, I leave everything in that arena to my husband's judgement. I am well aware that this is a part of "adulting" in which I am weaker. I know that I could take classes, read, and watch videos to get better... but I don't want to. Instead, I happily slot myself into the support role. Does the floor under the dishwasher need to be cleaned before the new one arrives? Done. Help moving heavy items, supplies, or handing up tools to a person on a ladder? Sure. Need a smaller hand to reach something in a tight space? That I can do. Getting things running and organized after they are installed? Count me in. I am comfortable with my choices because I know that we can't be good at everything. Instead of beating myself up, I happily take a backseat. I can still make contributions without turning into a bundle of stress, frustration, and tears. What do you know you're not good at?
Twice this week I got lucky with mother nature. One day, it rained for most of the day except when I needed to go outside. Yesterday, a massive storm was supposed to hit us at the same time we needed to do daycare pickup. It ended up not rolling in until a few hours later. I very much love when I don't get caught in the rain. Here's what else was good in my week:
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