Meghan Kowalski
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  • Resume
  • Presentations & Publications
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  • Reading List
  • Blog
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The Weekly Wrap: November 28, 2021

11/28/2021

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This week, I submitted the final draft of our new library website for review and testing to our team. I have been working on this project for six months - hand-coding almost all of the HTML and CSS, writing and editing the content, and testing out various visual images.

This project was the bane of my existence.

I hate coding HTML and CSS. I hate how much detail there is. I hate how one little thing can cascade and destroy other work that took me hours to finish. My loathing comes from the fact that I am not a trained coder and have to learn as I go. I never designed a persistent nav bar before... or a custom footer... or proactive chat. All of this was complicated by the fact that the base program we use complicates things and all this coding happens in two separate windows on top of base  system coding I can't touch. So, there's just a lot a testing... and sometimes the breaking of the existing webpage. (Whoops!)

But I kept at it and I am really happy with the results. Depending on what the team says, it should just be tweaking and written content changes left. Then we can go live and, hopefully, provide a much better user experience.

I'm so proud of myself for pushing through on this project. In fact, I was so proud of myself I threw a solo dance party in my office after I sent out the announcement email. I'm proud that I didn't give up. I'm proud that I followed my gut on design ideas. I'm proud that this will make a huge difference for our library and users. I'm just so friggin proud that I am done and this can be checked off my to do list.

What are you proud of?

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  • This article advocates for a reading audit because we only get to read about 2500 books in life.  I'm sitting around 1,000 books now and I am just going to ignore that stat because it makes me uncomfortable. [Book Riot]
  • A syllabus on hoaxes. [Syllabus Project]
  • Art from a single sheet of paper. [Colossal]
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  • Machiavelli for women. Cause gender disparity is still a thing. [Wisdom from the Top]
  • We need to stop mythologizing home ownership as a sign of success. [Money Confidential]
  • Unmaking meat. [Gastropod]
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  • Making bowling balls is a mix of industrial machinery and basic office supplies. [All Process of World]
  • It starts with a thirsty cat... [@TheDebbieMia]
  • The husband found a movie to stream that we assumed would be a complete disaster. It was called Knights of Badassdom and followed a group of LARPers during a weekend where they accidentally awaken a demon. It was billed as a comedy horror. It was utterly fantastic because it did not take itself seriously. Also, an amazing cast! Joshua Malina! Summer Glau!! Peter Dinklage!!! [Amazon Prime]
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  • Now that we're having colder weather, I broke out the recipe for vegetable pot pie skillet for our meatless Monday. I've made it with the cheddar biscuits in the recipe, but I always seem to underbake them. This time, I made things super easy and just baked some Pillsbury biscuits on a sheet pan to serve on the side. Not as good as the cheddar biscuits, but still tasty. [Budget Bytes]
  • For Thanksgiving, we opted to sous vide our turkey breast. Not only does it mean a reasonable amount of meat (we are two adults and one toddler) but it freed up our oven. Bonus action, the recipe has a great method for getting crispy skin. Unlike last year, I baked it the perfect amount of time. So good! [Serious Eats]
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  • I can now officially proclaimed it All Hallmark Movies All the Time season in our household. I know these are cheesy, low budget films but I love them. And, once a season, I'm guaranteed to watch one that is a legitimately good movie.
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Just Good Things #14

11/26/2021

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Today, I am writing this post sitting on my couch, wearing fuzzy socks, and watching daytime TV. The kiddo is napping and the husband is out for a run. As an introvert, these few hours alone are how I recuperate. I'm grateful for the rest.

Here's what else was good in my week.
  • Cooking and eating Thanksgiving dinner together
  • The kiddo following me around the house with her dusting brush as I used my dusting brush
  • Counting out the pages in my bullet journal and discovering that I will have just enough to finish out the year
  • Finding a nerdy movie that was so bad it was good
  • The mindless cookie clicker web game
  • Getting our family pictures back from the photographer
  • Finishing my massive website redesign project for work

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The Now: November 24, 2021

11/24/2021

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When we went to drop the kiddo off at daycare this morning, the roads were empty. I'm talking, felt like the beginning of a disaster movie empty. It was eerie. It was also nice not to have to battle traffic. Today is the end of the work week and, while it was a short week, I felt incredibly productive. 

Here's what I've been working on.

WORK
  • About an hour ago, I sent off an email to my fellow library faculty. The subject: THE NEW WEBSITE IS DONE! By done, I mean that I finished the HTML and CSS coding. I also added and edited the content. We are ready for testing and I could not be more proud of myself. (I'll link the product when we are finally live.)
  • I put together the draft plan for our spring webinar series. This one is going to target our faculty and will focus on the ACRL Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education.
  • At the end of last week, I submitted four proposals for funding to our University. Turns out there is more money up for grabs than I expected so (fingers crossed) we get at least one funded ask.
  • I polished off the recordings from the Library Marketing and Communications Conference sessions I was not able to attend live.

PERSONAL
  • We got our family photos back from the photographer. While there are some cute shots, I love that they also capture our kiddo's "I wanna do anything but sit still and pose" energy of the day. I shared the pictures with our family. The husband put together our holiday card and I gave it a thumbs up. Can't wait for those to arrive so I can send out some happy mail.
  • Still potty training...
  • Made plans for our holiday present purchases for everyone. I also went ahead and grabbed as many of the gifts as I could. 
  • Decided to schedule a bunch of appointments including my COVID booster and the dentist.

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Now On My TBR

11/22/2021

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"Stop putting books on your library holds list," she mumbles to herself as she adds more books to her library holds list.
Y​ou can see my complete TBR list on Pinterest.
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The Weekly Wrap: November 21, 2021

11/21/2021

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I am a creature of habit.

I like my routines. I am a type A planner and I like knowing what is coming. That extends to Thanksgiving.

​On Thursday, we will be making our usual meal. And, by usual, I mean that some recipes have been on my plate for over two decades. One such dish is orange glazed carrots. My mom found this in an issue of Cooking Light and we've eaten it at almost every Thanksgiving since. I even made it when I went to visit my future in-laws before the husband and I got married. My mom made the mistake of trying to cut this from the menu one year and I puppy dog eyed it back on the menu.

As much as I am set in my ways, I am willing to make tweaks to the menu. This year, just like last year, there will only be three of us celebrating in our home. So, we're sous viding a turkey breast (again) instead of making a full bird. But, our sides are the same - those yummy carrots, mashed potatoes, gravy (from a jar),  green beans, cranberry sauce, crescent rolls, and the all important stuffing. We use the Pepperidge Farm blue bag mix and add butter sauteed onion, celery, and bacon. Shake in some Old Bay seasoning and, if I get my way, slip in some dried cranberries. 

My tummy is rumbling already.

What's your favorite Thanksgiving tradition?

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  • All the Thanksgiving recipes you could possible need. [The Kitchn]
  • Maybe a good digital cleanout is what we all need at the end of the year. [Shondaland]
  • I'm a librarian. It's fine to organize your books by color. It means you have books at home, and that's what matters. [Jezebel]
  • What makes a book feel like it's too long? [Tor.com]
  • Wholesome Content Alert: The 18-month long Zoom meeting. [Buzzfeed]
  • Like seafood? Here are the top ten most sustainable catches. [Real Simple]
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  • How a controversial religion brought sushi to the states. [The Daily]
  • The art of the auctioneer chant. [Every Little Thing]
  • Tips for becoming a morning person... or a least a person who tolerates the morning better. [Life Kit]
  • An interview with a ghost writer. [By the Book]
  • A visit to the ports and the supply chain crisis. [Planet Money]
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  • Good pranks only... [kylescheele]
  • ... and an update on said prank. [kylescheele]
  • ... with a happy ending. [kylescheele]
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  • About ten years ago, I went to a home wedding catered by the couples' friends. One of the dishes at the buffet was a slow cooker pulled pork. It was very good and I asked the recipe. It was simply a pork tenderloin long-simmered in a bottle of root beer before shredding. The shredded meat was then tossed with bottled BBQ sauce. We make this recipe at least once a year, but we always end up with a ton of extra root beer we never drink. I wondered if it would work with some Coke we already had. It does. Just as tasty as the root beer version. We served our pork on rolls with bread and butter pickles and sides of coleslaw and roasted sweet potato. [Plain Chicken]
  • Tried my hand at some sheet pan BBQ meatballs. I cooked them too long and they dried out a bit, but they were still tasty. Definitely recommend eating them with roasted pineapple. We skipped serving the dish over rice like the recipe suggests and we were still plenty full. [Budget Bytes]
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Just Good Things #13

11/19/2021

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We're a little over a week in to potty training the kiddo. There have been more good days than bad. At this point, I think that's all I can ask for.

Here's what else was good in my week:
  • Celebrating colleagues taking on exciting new opportunities
  • Having a cozy lap blanket to use while I work from home
  • Dark roast coffee
  • Getting outside for  long walk to enjoy the gorgeous fall weather
  • Managing to get a spot in our building's tiny parking lot
  • Pringles
  • Just tossing everything in the dishwasher making dinner clean up super easy
  • Melty and cheesy quesadillas
  • Living a block from the public library
  • Slipper socks
  • Our kiddo being super chatty most evenings

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The Now: November 17, 2021

11/17/2021

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I'm doing a little dance right now because the coding issues I've been running into seem to have been fixed. Something in my code is breaking the back end editing functionality BUT it's fixed on the admin side so it's probably not my code. (*shrugs*) That means I can now focus on website content. Huzzah!

Here's where my attention is at.

WORK
  • Just today, I managed to finish off the last bits of HTML coding for our new webpage. I still need to edit content and do some CSS tweaking, but I am SOOOOO happy to be done withthat part of the coding. Fingers crossed our plan to go live in January holds true.
  • I'm waiting on the last details I need before we submit some funding proposals for a few projects. Everything is written, I just need to plug in some cost quotes. Then I get to cut and paste everything into the submission forms.
  • Only one more session to go in our webinar series! Now I need to start drafting our faculty-focused webinar series for the spring semester.
  • We've got two open positions at our library. I'm on the hiring committee for one. We reviewed the job description, tweaked the interview questions, and are working on finalizing all the stuff we need to submit to HR before they list the role.
  • I submitted a proposal to speak at the 2022 CALM conference. My proposal is titled "Stop That!: Management Techniques that Need to Die." Title about says it all.

PERSONAL
  • We are potty training our toddler. I think we're over the first hard days, but it's difficult to tell. It's going about as well as expected. Some days are harder than others, but we are seeing progress.
  • Condo board elections and budgeting time. Yeah!

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The Weekly Wrap: November 14, 2021

11/14/2021

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The Wrap looks a bit paltry this week. That's because we are potty training our kiddo.

This is one of those parenting milestones that I've dreaded. I built everything up in my head and, frankly, reading the internet about this does not help. There are more horror stories than wins.

We're only a few days into this but it's not as bad as I feared. (Take that anxiety!) Sure, we still have a ways to go but I'm no longer afraid. Accidents happen and big changes take time. We'll get through it. 

What thing have you dreaded doing that, ultimately, turned out fine?

​Share in the comments! I'm sure we can also use a list of wins to read.

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  • The hidden history and myths behind eating like your grandparents. [Burnt Toast]
  • A look at the year's best inventions. [TIME]
  • After reading this, I am now reexamining last week's intro on coziness. [Mothers Under the Influence]
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  • A look at how the COVID vaccine hit the market so fast. [Planet Money]
  • I am adding this house to my travel bucket list. [Atlas Obscura]
  • The benefits of gamifying training, learning, and work. [Hidden Brain]
  • Crashing into the cost of climate change. [Short Wave]
  • How we got away from eating offal and the attempts to return it to the menu. [Gastropod]
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  • I love videos of ballerinas breaking in their pointe shoes. [Insider]
  • Season three of Narcos: Mexico showed up on Netflix recently. We've already watched four episodes. Some of the plot lines are starting to converge and I can't wait to see if one of the new characters is a good guy, bad guy, or somewhere in between. [Netflix]
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  • One of the food blogs I follow recommended Mealime as a meal planning app. While I'm not sold on the app itself, the deep recipe archives are intriguing. This week, I made the sausage, spinach, and artichoke frittata for a dinner. (I subbed Italian chicken sausage.) It was filling and the leftovers made a decent lunch  a few days later. [Mealime]
  • Never underestimate a quick stir fry. I cooked up some chicken breast, added a bag of frozen Asian vegetables, tossed in a can of baby corn, and finished with teriyaki sauce. Served the meal over rice. Anything with water chestnuts - which I believe are universally known as "crunchies" - is a win in my book.
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Just Good Things #12

11/12/2021

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We started potty training our kiddo yesterday. Yesterday was rough and exhausting. Today is much better. Something must have clicked overnight because we've had almost no accidents. I am so happy that things are going well because I had a lot of anxiety around this.

Here's the rest of the good from this week:

  • Getting to enjoy a hot cup of coffee while reading email in a quite home.
  • New cozy sweaters (with pockets!)
  • Getting to catch up with a friend on the phone.
  • I was able to hit inbox zero... for all over 24 hours, but I'm glad I at least caught up for a day.
  • We got a sneak peek of some pictures from our family session and they are all fantastic.
  • I married a great man who is an equal partner in parenting.
  • Our kiddo's big, infectious smiles and laughs.
  • The Adventure Zone
  • Our kiddo was fine with the time adjustment

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The Now: November 10, 2021

11/10/2021

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Tomorrow, we start potty training our toddler. *deep breathing* This is the only task I will be focusing on the next four days and, let's be honest, the next few weeks.

Here's what else I managed to get through since last week.

WORK
  • I wrote up several proposals for internal funding from our University. We want to make several space/tech improvements and add some new things to our resources. Fingers crossed at least a few of ours get the go ahead.
  • I installed a book display related to an author talk the University is hosting. I had to use materials I already had on hand, but I think it turned out well. Since we're getting ready to move for our remodel, I'm just going to leave this up until we need to start packing everything up.
  • Had to debug some code for the new website, but it turned out to be an easier fix than planned. Now I'm working on adding proactive chat. Nearing the end of what I need/can do for this before we hit internal testing time.
  • Working on developing a outreach and marketing interest group for our library's consortia. Got a few colleagues for other universities on board which is a plus.

PERSONAL
  • We had the professional photo shoot for our family. Kiddo was not in to posing during the session and we were nervous we wouldn't get any good pictures. Happy to say we got a sneak peek today and there are some great ones in there. 
  • The couch we ordered for our kiddo's room arrived. So, we had to rearrange a lot of things to make it all work. Still futzing, but we're mostly good with how things are right now.
  • I drafted up and sent out this month's Green Committee newsletter for my condo. I focused on how to have a more eco-friendly Thanksgiving.

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