Books are Fun!

My friend emailed me a while back asking about book recommendations for her Christmas shopping list. Here's what I sent her:

One week down in the library and here are a few things I've noticed:

7-8 year old girl

The first-second graders are obsessed with this type of book: http://www.rainbowmagiconline.com/uk/books/books_ocean.html

There are all kinds of fairy books, and Norah's even reading them!

These are also hugely popular, and easily found almost anywhere: http://juniebjones.com/books/

Need suggestions for girls who don't like fairies?

Can't go wrong with puppies: http://www.ellenmiles.net/books.html

4-5 year old boy

Do they like dinosaurs? Try these cuties:

http://bobshea.com/ 

And you can't go wrong with anything by Mo Willems. (for any age/gender, really)

2-3 year old girl

When Norah was this age she couldn't get enough of these little books (both in board books or small hardcovers, perfect for little hands): http://www.olivierdunrea.com/Gossie---Friends.html

She also really liked Max and Ruby books. http://rosemarywells.com/category/books/new-releases/ 

And just for kicks (and parents)

#1 (maybe more for parents of littles who don't sleep? We sent it to some friends w/ a new baby as a welcome-to-parenting gift.)

and 

#2 (we found this one at the Howard County Library. We read it a lot!!)

I realize these are all fiction books. I can recommend nonfiction books too. There's a neat series of biographies that the older kids seem to like, but I'll wait to see what else is popular next week!

New School Year, New Job

Here we are, one week into September, and I've just finished my first week in my new position at the school.
The quick story: I went back to work at the beginning of the year as the aide to two fantastic teachers. But then a position became available as the library assistant and I couldn't pass up the chance to go for it! In my interview I got to talk about some of my favorite books (including Mo Willems--who doesn't like that guy?!?!), which was cool. And, surprise surprise, I got the job.
So now I'm working 25 hours a week in the school's library, and I get to help kids check out books all day! (Along with loads of other really important stuff, but mostly: BOOKS!)

It should be a fun way to get to know lots of kids at the school, and see what they're reading! The family is fully on board with my new position, and the kids are excited to see me every week during library class. Here's to a great year ahead filled with... more books! :o)

Conversations with Kids

Overheard at our house recently:

T: "Norah, where's that dog leash? I want to use it as a whip and pretend to be Indiana Jones."

...

N: "Mom, is heaven underground?"
Me: "No."
N: "Is heaven up in the sky?"
Me: "Not exactly..."
N: "Then why do we bury people when they die?"
Me: "Well...(My poor attempt at 6 year-old theology) You don't take your body with you to heaven. You get a new one when your soul gets to heaven. So we bury people here on earth and their soul goes to heaven."
N: "OK."

...

N: (whining from the backseat) "Moooommm, Toby won't let me read The New Yorker!"

Playing Catch-up

It would be overwhelming to post pictures of the year I've missed on the blog. So I am just going to ignore the fact that 12 months have gone missing (we'll blame it on user error--my inability to juggle too many things at once).
Here are a few pictures from the last month or so.

Norah at Kindergarten Promotion!

Toby played a month of post-season little league!

#18. He played every position, but pitching. He liked catcher best.

Toby got baptized on June 8th!

Carmel River State Beach--I had just dropped Toby off for a day at summer camp when I snapped this picture. I was a little jealous of his 2 weeks at summer camp!

Norah at open house, where we went on a tour of her classroom. She worked so hard this year!

Happy 4th of July!

From Carmel by the Sea!

My Five Random Interview Questions

Why is no one asking interesting interview questions these days? Well, no one except for NPR's "Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me," of course. I love the segment "Not my job." Last week they asked Gillian Flynn 3 questions about Gilligan's Island. This week they asked Tig Notaro about Tug McGraw. I figure they'd ask me 3 questions about ABBA. I'll be waiting for their call.

I've been invited to a couple of job interviews in the last few weeks and I've been asked all the typical interview questions: What's your educational background? Why are you applying for this job? What would you do in a challenging customer service situation?

No one is asking me the questions I want to answer, though. Mostly because they have NOTHING to do with the job(s) I'm applying for. So I've taken the liberty of lining up five random interview questions and answers. Just for you. Maybe you'll be interested in hiring me.... for something.

1. If you could have a house concert with any person/band this weekend, who would you choose?
       Ray LaMontagne. Something smaller than this BBC show, or this PBS show, so I can hear this. Or this one. A while ago I would have said I'd like to see the Civil Wars in a house concert. But now that they've abruptly stopped working together that's a bit like asking a couple to show you their wedding video after they've just told you they're separating. Sad and awkward all around.
2. Tell me about a book you've recently recommended to someone.
        I told a couple of librarians about a book I checked out with a cover that glowed in the dark. I was really happy to tell them how cool I thought that was, and in the midst of my excitement about recapping the book and the fact that the book cover glowed in the dark I neglected to tell them the title of the book. They pointed out my omission, and once I told them ("Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore") I realized it would have been more witty for me to say something like "I was figuring you'd just stay in the library after dark and look for the glowing book."
3. What character trait do you wish you had?
        My sense of humor is very dry and leans towards the sarcastic, which is a fine line to walk. Going with my answer above, I always wish I was more witty. I think of the best thing to say about 12 hours after the fact.
4. What's the hardest thing about being a parent?
        I would have to say that there's sometimes a lack of accountability for parents these days. Beyond the extreme (hello, social services) or the voluntary (hello, MOPS or mom's playgroup at my house), parenting can be an isolated job without any oversight, accountability, encouragement, or guidance. Besides the obvious fact/assumption that you and your parenting partner (if you're lucky enough to have one) have consciences and morals and previous experience (from being a kid who was raised by, you know, parents), this parenting thing is really quite perplexing. Those internal guides or your friends or your kids' doctor might suggest parenting books, seminars, techniques, or trends, but when it really comes down to it, the buck stops with you and what you choose to try/do/listen to/follow. It's a wonder so many kids wind up being successful and healthy and accomplished and safe. Parenting is the hardest job I've ever had to do, and I took it on voluntarily. (I wish I could come up with an analogy to illustrate this. Give me 12 hours and I'll come up with the perfect thing.)
5. What new device or invention do you think makes peoples' lives easier?
        Frankly, I know what I want someone to invent to make my life easier: I'd like to see someone invent a tape-dispenser for band-aids because I hate them. I hate that my kids treat them like stickers and then only half of the wrapper pieces end up in the trash (see my answer to #4: parenting is hard. Like making your kids come back to the scene of the crime and pick up eighty billion band-aid wrappers). And then the ONE TIME you actually need a band-aid to stop the flow of BLOOD coming out of your (or your child's) finger or knee or elbow you have to have the finger dexterity to PEEL through three layers of wrappers and manage to get the padding where it needs to go and keep the sticky parts away from the wound. I might just have a case here to either inspire someone to invent a tape dispenser for band-aids, start a parent-led boycott of band-aid purchases, or get arrested by the grammar police for my use of that last run-on sentence.

   

   These two would hire me, I think.
   If only to pick up their band-aid wrappers.
   And they totally got how cool that glow-in-the-dark book was.

My One Year Anniversary

One year ago, on June 29th 2012, our family drove into this little town for the first time. We barely knew a soul within 1000 miles, outside of professional contacts and acquaintances.
We have invested our time and energy reaching out to the community, the schools, and the businesses (well, to be totally honest, the wineries), in order to settle in and make this new and strange place feel like home.
In the midst of work and school and holidays and exploratory day trips we coined a new catch phrase that we now find ourselves saying often, as a means of capturing just how much we've fallen in love with this area: We live here.
Last night we watched the sun settle over the Pacific on the anniversary of our arrival here, surrounded by dozens of locals--both friends and strangers. We are so glad to be in a position to say "we live here" and we look forward to the memories that will be made here for us and our family in the future.