Good-Bye February

Oh, February. Our shortest month, and despite Mr. Eliot's disagreeing assessment, often our cruelest. Throughout the month these things happened: Pittsburgh got pounded with snow, work was cancelled, people tried to use the snow as a way to get out of old fines (we did waive fines for days we were closed due to inclement weather), it was cold, I lost a glove, had little desire to be productive most days, Shawn White & Apollo Ono won medals, and I only managed to finish reading one book.

The last bothered me and I literally went for a mad reading dash this weekend so that I could record at least one new title read for the month (I did read picture books, but as much as I love picture books, they don't count on my own reading quests. I see that reading as "professional" reading for my beloved story time kids). There is just something about the month of February that makes staying inside and being almost useless pretty appealing.

Not that it was all bad. It wasn't. I made headway on a lot of projects this month & continued with old ones. I start Baby Lap Sit next week & I am planning a social media class that will start in April. The Library is on Facebook now & I made a video that shows our patrons how to use the new catalog. All of those things were productive & good, but I'm looking forward to a fresh start & the arrival of Spring.

I like winter. I like sweaters and jeans and wool skirts and white snow. But I like new beginnings as well.

Declaring My Religion

I am not a traditional girl, but I am a fan of tradition. I was raised Catholic and went to Catholic school for 8 years. I send Christmas cars every year because I love the tradition of personal greetings, but I purposefully pick ones with messages of peace, love & joy versus "Seasons Greetings" or "Merry Christmas." Giving up something for Lent each year (this year Candy) because it feels like a challenge, a way to better myself, and because it feels right.

I suppose there is a valid argument in that I don't really identify myself as a practicing Catholic anymore, so I don't really need to do any of the above. I go to church at Christmas & Easter because it makes my Mom happy and it's tradition. It feels like what you *should* do on those holidays. And those homilies are typically not preachy, but yet have messages of love and peace. The two things that I believe are stronger than any certain religion. I'm not an "see-you-every-Sunday" Catholic because so much of their message is mixed and hypocritical. And often these days, political.

I have faith, yes. I believe that is probably something bigger than all of us that is connecting us all together. But I just don't believe that one god would ever consider himself/herself/itself the right god. What is the purpose of the messages of love and peace, if deep down, we believe that one group is better than another? So my general spiritual purpose just believes that as long as you are putting good things out into the world, you'll be rewarded. Perhaps that means here on EArth or in some heavenly way, who knows. And I believe that if you feel moved to "pray" or talk to some spiritual being, then you should. Whether that's through poem, song, silent thought, or a prayer that remember from childhood, it's perfectly okay to send that out there. Thoughts like those, general are or should be, filled with love and peace. Maybe it's not as simple as the "power of positive thinking," but I do believe that the power of good can change things for the better.

I don't believe that formal prayer has a place in public schools. If we want to have a moment of silence each morning, for students to reflect on their own goals, peace, faith or even just on their hair, then that should be allowed. I don't believe in pushing your beliefs on others and yes, I respect the groups that try to "save" me on street corners, but I don't think it's the best strategy to get people to listen.

Religion is a touchy issue, I get that. But I also think that if we all spent a few moments reflecting upon what it's like to live in someone else's shoes, we wouldn't be so wound up in our own beliefs, habits & ways of life. As more good is being put out into the world, I think we'll be okay.

What are your traditions?

Oh-Oh-Oh-Olympics!

When Vancouver was announced as the official city for the 2010 Winter Olympics a few years ago, I felt certain that I would be out there in the Pacific Northwest enjoying International festivities. Obviously, I was very, very wrong. Instead, I'm watching NBC jump from event to event, feeling sorry for Vancouver as it seems every day there is another problem. From the devestating to the mundane, it seems as if the Canadian host can't seem to catch a break. Tonight, it's the speed skating track having too many grooves or generally not being smooth enough. I just watched some very angry coach and a very concerned "ice master" (how do you get to be THAT for a living? Awesome) try to complain about/fix the problem.

But man, do I love the Olympics. Yes, they are very political but where else can you have all type of nationalities in one place?! And it be happy?! I love what they stand for: peace, dreams, accomplishments, dedication and can think of few other events that bring people together across borders.

So far my favorite story from the Games has been that of Alexandre Bilodeau, the Canadian who won his country's first gold medal in a home Olympic game. Bilodeau won for Mogul skiing and his run was pretty amazing to watch (I wish I had better adjectives, but I know nothing about this sport). I feel that typically the figure skaters get so much of the press time and it was nice to see a different sport be featured at such length over the past day. Plus, if you haven't seen the video NBC on him and his older brother with cerebral palsy, I encourage you to find it. I have never seen anyone cheer so strongly after any type of game than his brother after his gold-winning run. It's a tear-jerker, for sure.

What does bug me about the Olympic Coverage here in the US though, is NBC's monopoly of the Games. Like I mentioned above, it's too jumpy and it seems as if we never get to see an event from start to finish. Though it's a little better in the winter because there are less sports, I just wish we could see more of everything from start to finish.

I lived in Greece during the 2004 Summer Games and Greece made sure to have a Grecian person in every event (no small accomplishment for a small country). In order to do this, they opened the doors to anyone who had Greek heritage (I think it had to be Mother/Father, Grandmother/Grandfather) and wanted to try out for their teams. To show their support of the Games in their home country, they had every news channel covering the games and made sure to broadcast every Greek participant on air. While also managing to cover the "big" events/matches that were not Greek (USA's men's basketball, for instance) at least part of the time. I just admire that commitment and pride in athletes.

Now, I'll always love the Summer Olympics more than Winter, but since I've been to both Athens and Atlanta (and am contemplating the London Games in some dreams of mine) it's a life-goal to get to a Winter Olympics at some point in my life. I didn't make it to Vancouver because graduate school, new life paths and little money stood in my way...but dare I say bring on Sochi, Russia.

Oh, and my favorite Winter events? Luge, Hockey, Speed Skating, Ice Skating & Ski Jumping.

Who is coming with me? Which games are your favorite?

What Games do You Play?

We're about to close what looks like the last snow day from Snowmegeddon 2010. Sure, some of you teachers still have tomorrow but we all know that it has stopped snowing and Pittsburgh is moving on. Hopefully everyone has had time to relax and enjoy doing what they love the most: reading, watching movies/trashy TV, writing, crafts or doing what needed to be done: laundry, cleaning, studying, shoveling.

Last night The Boy took a break from his grad school reading and writing and played a game of Banannagrams with me. I'm a fan of board games and am usually trying to find a way to sneak one into my week. However board games do not quite make as many appearances in my daily life as I'd like and tonight I tried *unsuccessfully* tried to rope my Mom into playing a game of Bookopoly with me. Hence my sadness and undying love (it is Valentine's Day after all) have materialized in this Top 5 List. Leave your faves in the comments. And anyone whoever has a board game night, let me know.

In no-particular order (because I can never just pick an ultimate):

1. Scrabble

The classic of classic board games. It's perfect for a romantic night with your significant other, a casual game with your parents or for a party. I have fond memories of the 5th grade Scrabble competition Mrs. Fiori put on and I secretly covet The Official Scrabble Dictionary. I don't consider myself a naturally competitive person, but this is one game that I hate to lose.

2. Apples to Apples

The new modern favorite! Best played with a few glasses of wine/pints of beer and a really funny/smart/goofy group. The only down-side about this game is playing it with people who only take it very seriously...but thankfully they are few and far between.

3. Battleship

My love for this game started in the 4th grade on those days that we were forced by Mother Nature to have indoor recess. Everyone in my Catholic grade school class always wanted to play Connect Four and I never really got to play a game of Battleship. So I asked for it for Christmas and go to play it to my hearts content at home. I was a geek even back then.

4. Pit

I had never even heard of this stock-market trading game until last Christmas when I went to Ohio to meet The Boy's family. It gets loud and crazy as soon as the game begins and I itch to play it with a group of friends. The Boy bought me my own version of the game (after a year of searching) for Christmas this year. But it remains unopened as it's been a very hectic and rough few weeks since the holidays. And playing it with my family could mean trouble anyway.

5. Candyland

The best of nostalgic games. I played this game so much that it's cardboard box became too damaged and I had to cart the pieces around in plastic baggies. I would play it right now, even without preschoolers. And I really, truly, deeply want to put on a life-size version at the library some day.

Board Games!

Weather Man-Mania

The Boy has been poking a bit of fun at me, calling me an old lady. Under normal circumstances this "term of endearment" would come after I started a new knitting project or put pajamas on at 6 o'clock, or after expressing my love of slipper socks, but thanks to the snowstorm, I've heard it because I have been referencing my favorite weather man a lot lately.

I love Jeff Verszyla. KDKA has always been my go-to channel for their news. The hometown advantage won me over at an early age, probably because it's the channel my parents and grandparents always chose. But in my heart of hearts, I watch because they seem less cheesy and sensational than our other two network choices here in Pittsburgh and because they were (after all) the first radio station. How can you not love that history?!

But I will also admit, that my loyalty to @Verz (yes, I follow him on Twitter too) is in part of our common bond. We are both Allegheny Gators and I can't help but think that one day, years before I was living in Meadville, he attending a parties at The Barn and loved Springfest with all of his heart. If I ever met him, these would be the questions I would ask him. And then we'd compare notes about the doppler radar and I'd ask him if knew that the person who invented the wind chill was also an Allegheny grad.

Does anyone else have this sort of loyalty going on in their house?Even with someone other than Jeff? Or is it just me who is the lame one? Please, please, tell me I'm not crazy.

Snow My Goodness!

As everyone knows by now, Pittsburgh is smothered in snow. Not as much as our souther neighbors in the DC area, who have been hit more times than I can remember in the past two weeks, but enough to have our city halt.

The Boy and I snuck out of town just before the bit Snowmageddon (is that what we are calling it?) started to fall, but faced above-average inches in Findlay (Home of Big Ben), Ohio. Luckily, the only major fallout from the snow was a cancellation of the Boy's nephew's basketball game and some snow drifts that were up to my waist. The roads were bad in Findlay, but since it's flat as a pancake in there and the Boy's car has 4-wheel drive, we were fine to make the 10 minute trip from his mom's house to his sister's. And we had a lovely, relaxing "Extended Christmas" playing with the Wii, getting tickled by nephews and eating. Our trip home was uneventful, the roads cleared...that is until we reached PA. Yes, the highways and local roads were bad once entering our home state, we did see 6 tractor trailers jack-knifed or abandoned (as well as one bus on its way to Wheelings Downs), but we made it home *thankfully* in one piece.

Which brings us to today, and the third day of no work, no school, no class. The library opened its doors for a few hours on Tuesday, but as soon as the snow started falling, we locked up and headed home. The local school district has already called for a Snow Day tomorrow and, thanks to our policy, we close when they close.

And other than a few little twitches of stir crazy, it's been nice. I've cleaned house a bit in my time off, cooked a meal, baked some cookies (from scratch)!, played lots of Doodle Jump, read, played my first game of Bannanagrams, prepped for story time, spent too much time of Facebook, watched bad TV, listened to episodes of This American Life (thanks to their awesome new app) and slept in. Tomorrow I plan on tackling a new knitting project and hopefully visiting my Dad who is still in the hospital (but doing well).

Maybe it's the kid in me, and maybe it's the woman who was a teacher after college, but I love a good snow day. And I'm entirely grateful that I still work in a profession that calls snow days. One more reason to embrace libraries and non-profits! Though it could be viewed as an excuse to be lazy, I like to think it's just a guaranteed way to make time for yourself and start/finish things you've been putting off. Who doesn't like lounging in comfy clothes and eating comfort food? It's a win-win.

How have you been spending your snow days? What is something you've been meaning to do but keep putting off (like really, I should use this time to do my taxes but alas, my W2 is at my parent's house, not the boy's).

Congrats Saints!

I am very happy to see the New Orleans Saints win the Super Bowl. I love stories of cities triumphing and underdogs. Yet no Super Bowl is all that exciting if it lacks the Steelers.

So, here is my favorite Super Bowl Commercial:

What was yours?

Happy Things

My Dad's infection came back yesterday, bringing about a very long and worrisome day for my family and our close friends. I appreciate everyone who has been sending good thoughts/meals/love our way. But thankfully, this time it seems that even though the doctors aren't entirely sure where it started in his face, they were able to scrape out what they saw in the CAT scan during surgery yesterday. Dad is doing very well and is in his own private room with nothing, other than the infection and antibiotics, being monitored 24/7. He should have to stay in the hospital 4 to 5 days before coming home with antibiotics. Things are serious, as to be expected with this type of infection, we are extremely relieved and hope that things continue to progress well. Please, keep sending the positive energy/prayer/love.

So I'm counting small and big things of happiness this week:

My Dad coming out or surgery relatively healthy and strong. He is his old self and I can see him happy to be getting better, even with this setback.

Wonderful co-workers who understand that sometimes we are needed elsewhere and step in to cover when things get tough.

An iPhone app (by the way, I have the iTouch, not iPhone) that lets me listen to all the "This American Life" for $2.99. If I want to buy, instead of stream, I can pay 99 cents. AND IT'S CATEGORIZED: by episode, tv, radio, favorites and commentator! all the way back to 1995. I can already feel this being trouble.

A trip to Findlay, Ohio to visit Jim's family for a belated Christmas. We've had this trip planned since my Dad started to show signs of recovery, put it on hold last night, but were told by my Father to go today. Jim has been absolutely the best boyfriend ever during this hard time and completely missed the holidays with his family. I am excited to finally be able to spend some time with them this weekend...and give his nephews Christmas gifts!

Snow! We'll be on the road early tomorrow morning and *should* miss the bad traveling weather. So that's why I can say this and shake my little nerves away. But it's winter, winter should be cold and have snow. I'm glad we're getting more of the white stuff, as long as everyone is safe at home with their milk, toilet paper and a good library book.

Alright everyone, have a happy, safe, warm and lovely weekend!