Another amazing book...

I stumbled across another incredible children's book when I was processing new books at the library last week. Maybe I should turn this blog into my reading blog? But that's what my Goodreads.com posts are for... check that out if you haven't already.

This book... "The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore" is stunning. The images are breathtaking. The story itself slowly reveals itself through a love of books, and it left me covered in goosebumps and crying... every time I've read it.

That may sound absolutely crazy. It may be. But for anyone who grew up with a love of books and literature, and continues that throughout their life, should be able to relate. It reminds me a lot of the film "Up," except with books, if that gives you a hint.

Mr. Morris Lessmore's life was destroyed until, "a happy bit of happenstance came his way." (~Really? What a great word! We don't use 'happenstance' enough in daily life... just a thought.) He found himself drawn into a room "filled with the fluttering of countless pages, and Morris could hear the faint chatter of a thousand different stories, as if each book was whispering an invitation to adventure." *sigh* The librarian in me not only loves this book, but also wants to pass it along to all of you. :)

Go to http://morrislessmore.com/ to see pages of the book, which also was turned into an Academy Award winning short film.

Pain...

Ever since I was young I suffered from severe headaches. Not until I was in college did I actually admit the severity of the migraines, go to a neurologist and try to manage them with medication and other techniques. I remember once when I was still quite young, a relative laughed at me and told me I was too young to know what pain like that was.

Nowadays it seems like not a day goes by that I don’t have a headache, backache, or some-kinda-ache…  I wish that I could go a week without pain (and without my meds!).  I would be the happiest, most ecstatic girl you have ever seen! I would be hugging everyone in sight… I could probably fly to the moon and back on my own energy. Seriously.

Right now I’m dealing with severe back pain, the doctor said it’s probably muscle spasms. Either from favoring my upper body during surgeries and treatments and not using those muscles for a while, now they are rebelling against me or for some other random reasons (stress? Hormones? Etc?). [Side note - it has been almost a year of this back pain and it hasn't gotten any better, just worse... ]

One would think that as a librarian I wouldn’t have to worry about something like that but especially last week and this week, lifting banana boxes full of 75 or more books is strenuous. OTC pain pills don’t cut it, and I have to fall back on stronger stuff…  I have the option of going for an MRI but so far the doctors have just left that as an option for me. I want someone to say, “YES! I understand! Here, THIS is what is causing it and THIS is how we can fix it!” Needless to say, I have not gotten those types of results.

So, I will be extraordinarily grateful for my good days. I take advantage of doctor recommended massages, though the results do not last as long as I would have hoped. And remember to feel empathy for those who may be struggling with pain or their own battles, instead of patronizing what they are going through.

Father's Day

I went home this weekend to spend some time with the folks for Father's day. On Saturday, I met Mom and Dad in Christiansburg and we went to eat at Outback. I had been majorly craving a steak (and of course it's Dad's favorite). I never cook meat when I'm at my place since it's just me, I can usually grab something for lunch... but a steak is very special. Yum. I had a filet with wild mushroom sauce, garlic mashed potatoes, and steamed green beans... oh my. We walked around and did a bit of shopping and then hit Cold Stone. I'm not sure who got the best deal, me or Dad...?

Happy Father's Day to my wonderful Dad! :)

Dad & Mom - so cute in their matching green!

Poor Dad didn't get off so easy on Sunday (the actual Father's Day), a pipe burst in their basement. I quickly put him to work washing my car (yes, I helped). And then we came back here and mowed this field of a yard before he headed back home to work on the pipes at home. So he didn't get a lot of rest but at least we got a good meal in and some quality time in working together. Happy Father's day! :)

A Wistful Unicorn

I found the most awesome children's book at the library today.




It was of course the unicorn that drew my attention, but a "Wistful Unicorn"? This was a must read. It was more delightful than I can put into words. But I must.


"If I found a wistful unicorn and brought him to you, all forlorn... would you pet him?
If I took an empty midnight train across the country in the rain... would you meet me?
If I picked a little flower up and put it in a paper cup... would you smell it?
If I found a secret place to go, with you the only one to know...would you be there?

If my cricket coughed and got the flu and needed warmth and comfort too... would you hold him?
If my rainbow were to turn all gray and wouldn't shine at all today... would you paint it?
If my birch tree were afraid at night and couldn't sleep without a light... would you bring one?
If my soul were feeling all alone and wasn't near a telephone... would you write to it?

If my clock, developed nervous strain and needed help to "tock" again... would you fix it?
If I ran backwards up a tree and called for you to follow me... would you do it?
If my turtle got a nervous tic and couldn't swim 'cause he was sick... would you sit with him?
If I said that I could dance for you as hard as that would be to do... would you watch me?

If my pet turnip turned on me and bit me fiercely on the knee... would you bandage it?
If my obelisk came tumbling down and fell in pieces on the ground... would you pick it up?
If my nightingale were a monotone and much too shy to sing alone... would you hum with him?
If my wart decided yesterday to be a dimple anyway... would you notice?

If all that I would want to do would be to sit and talk to you... would you listen?
If any of these things you'll do, I'll never have to say to you... "Do you love me?"

~by Ann Ashford

Library work

They don't tell you in library school to be prepared for EVERYTHING. We are currently in week 3 of renovations at one of the branches where I work. Thus far I have boxed up dozens of boxes of books, scrubbed shelves, and adjusted shelves. They have painted the library, put down new carpet, paved the parking lot, and are currently putting in new windows, a new roof, new bathrooms, etc. The building was 30 years old so these are great changes. It will be a couple more weeks before we open since there is still a lot of work to do, but it will be worth the wait.

We are finally at the point to put the books back on the shelves. I'm super excited since we have moved the children's area and added a "Teen Alley" area.

This is a "before" picture of the kids area of the library... All those boxes are loaded with picture books. Oh the work to do...

My dream is that it would turn out like this:

https://picasaweb.google.com/105028674445402546389/ChildrenSDepartment?feat=flashalbum#5644502520064524546

But for now I'll settle for getting the books back on the shelf.  :) I'll post pics when we get finished.

Blogging again...?

I see it's been over eight months since I've written here on my blog. Wow. I'm at a point where I want to blog again but I wasn't sure whether or not to write here or start on a new blog. But life is what it is... so I guess I will give it a shot here. I'm not sure if anyone here will even realize that I'm writing so we will see! But I don't think FB can contain all my random thoughts anymore or if I want to share it with everyone there...

Also a disclaimer, I want to move away from all the BC posts. Honestly I don't like to even go back and read all that I went through... I think about it a lot but most people won't talk to me about it. So, there may be an occasional mention, but it may just be pure, random, life.

Welcome.

Concert for the Cure

I am a self-proclaimed concert junkie. I've been to well over 100 concerts. I've seen everyone from Reba, Dolly, Shania to Train, Hinder, and Maroon 5. And met several artists along the way as well. It's just my thing. Some of my friends that have been with me to concerts insist that I have the touch when it comes to these things. I don't know what to tell them. Luck? Chance? Fate? Whatever you want to call it, plays a big part in it.

When I heard Jason Aldean was coming to Roanoke to do a "Concert for the Cure" and donating the proceeds to the local affiliate of Komen, I was THERE. However, as much as I tried to get tickets... it didn't happen!! For the first time EVER, my magic touch didn't work! So I resigned myself to the fact that I would miss the concert event of the fall.

However, Komen had the opportunity to go ahead and register for the race and you could win tickets... Sure enough, about 24 hours before the concert I got a call that I had WON!!! I called one of my concert buddies and we were on!

The concert was awesome. Jason Aldean raised over $315,000 for the VA Blue Ridge Affiliate of Komen. Which is HUGE! He told about his friend who was 29 when she died of breast cancer. The entire crowd was dressed in pink... it was incredible.  I was in tears at this point in the show. I was so glad I could be there. It was a great event to kick off October and breast cancer awareness month.