2012 Bookmark Contest Awards Ceremony

I am so proud of the kids who won from grades K-8 for the Bookmark Contest for the library this year. What a great way to celebrate National Library Week! (I know, a few days late). The ceremony had apparently outgrown the library meeting hall and was moved this year to the main Village Hall.

The awards were their bookmark original drawing matted, the image as a bookmark and their book of choice. 1st place got a hardback and 2nd place got a paperback. It was surprising to see the choices in titles. Not what I expected (my thoughts were surpassed).

The Mayor handed out the awards and I took pictures. Afterwards was cake and "punch" (cranberry juice + gingerale).

It was just wonderful to see the kids with their families, encouraged to read and praised for their success.

Congrats to all!

Damn, I should have gotten a picture of myself with the mayor! LOL! :)

The War Over Breathing

Ugh, what a busy weekend! Somehow, I still had time to rest - don't know how but it happened.

Everything began Tuesday. My husband and I went to go and buy an air filter for the livingroom for my father. Well, my awesome car (and I'm not being sarcastic!), still running after 12 years doesn't have AC. You get used to it here in Florida. Normally, I do not venture onto I-95 because my car vibrates like a cello string after 70mph but we figure, it's not for a long distance - no big deal. Lo and behold, traffic stopped completely and we sat, stuck, unmoving for 40 awful minutes. Surrounded by diesel spewing semis and delivery trucks on blinding asphalt in 100degree car...I became sick. Had to call of work to spend the rest of my day vomiting and the next day sicker than a dying animal. Luckily, by Friday, I was back to myself.

What does this have to do with breathing? A lot. Since December, I have been dying of allergies. We found a good home for Tiny (our guinea pig. She is now the best friend to a brain-damaged dog ^_^) and the allergies lightened up. but I was still dying. Last week, while I am trying to rest and unable to breathe, I realize something was wrong. The shedding animal is gone what could it be??

Last night, around 2am, after being so completely clogged that i wanted to claw my face off, I started thinking. "What is new in this room?" Nothing. Think...think...think...then my mind wandered to a week prior where I was dusting and I found it weird that the dust was burgundy.

Then it struck me. The damn burgundy blanket I am using is made with wool. And I am highly allergic to wool. I grabbed it from my mom's closet back in December and I now see I had been suffering ever since. Well, the culprit is gone. Washed and will be donated - hopefully finding a new home with someone who can be around wool.

So my husband and I spent our day shopping for an air purifier for the room. Small and quiet and will do its job. We picked up a Honeywell....something...it was on sale at Target. we have it running now. We'll see if there is a change in 24 hours.

Saturday was spent working on my wedding scrapbook. It's been almost a year and I need the shelf space. Took half a day but I finished! Now I cannot wait to review with my husband as we remember our wonderful day next Sunday.

I took next Monday off and even though we do not have the money to spend overnight somewhere, I was able to snatch some almost free activities for us to partake in. (Hey, you gotta do what you can!). Since we got married on Earth Day, we will be attending Turtlefest at the Loggerhead Marine Life rehabilitation center! I'm still working on the rest!

Until next time.

ps: yes, I did change my blog address. Sorry for the confusion. 

Bargains and Word

Well, first, I have to brag about my savings. :) So last Saturday and today was rather enjoyable. Enjoyed a massive discount on food we eat around the house, things like cereals, beans and rice was the highlight of these past two weeks. Today's highlights (mostly for mom) was Claritin and vitamins.

 The highlight of last Saturday was the tampons, beans and rice. The tampons, I ended up donating half of them to a nearby domestic abuse shelter - thanks to the recommendation of a friend. :) Honestly, I rather they have it because I know it will be appreciated.

Today was fair, the best savings were in the vitamin and OTC allergy pills which come in handy.

I don't have much to report these past two weeks. Mostly caught up in working. I am realizing that even though OpenOffice is a really cool smaller and cheaper version of Word, it does not compare to Word. Now I am in the market to find maybe Word 2003 for a cheap price. There are quite a lot of pros to OpenOffice but and just as many cons. The spellcheck makes me want to kill something. It will suddenly just crash if you spellcheck for a certain number of words. I doesn't help you out much with your grammar goof-ups. After reading 100,000+ words, my mind gets tired. It becomes harder and harder for me to find my goofs. And the one thing I miss from Word are the grammar recommendations. I don't always use them but sometimes, it makes you consider that maybe you did not word something correctly.

Last week my husband and I enjoyed 13 Bedar with a lovely picnic. It made us think about doing more little morning outings - no cell phones, no internet, just the both of us in nature. It was definitely a very awesome day.

I hope everyone is having a great weekend!

April Display Up, Weaves and Savings

April display at the library is done. I know no one really takes a peek but its a time I get to enjoy my creative side and do something fun. Big thanks to one of my co-workers who picked the books! April we feature our sidewalk chalk festival so it is a creative April. April is also National Poetry Month.

Upper part of the display featuring the details of the Chalk festival. The drawing on the shelf is mine, just a doodle with the chalk they gave me. 

Made cardboard risers so that people could read the poems I chose. Featuring; Omar Khayyam, Rumi, Hafiz, Sappho, Edgar Allen Poe, a Basque poem and Krista J. Mikula.

***

It's been almost a week since I gave my readers my work. Last night, I barely slept thinking, "Oh goodness, they must think its horrible, I'm crazy, freaking bonkers..." Then as I got over that minor anxiety attack, I suddenly realized that I need to go back in and fix a couple of things. So I've made a list. I need to replace some words. Part of it was learning about what a weave was. A coworker who gets extensions every other month or so, was ever so kind to quell my curiosity. I'm sure she thought I was being a little too curious, but I had a mess of questions. Now I know how a weave is put in, how long it should stay in, the difference between synthetic hair and real hair and whether or not it can be washed. 


I'm pretty sure she was weirded out when I asked to see a part that was sewn but luckily, an hour or so later, she showed me after her break. And let me touch! What does this have to do with anything? I have one black character and one mixed. It just helps me to write them better since the one woman takes care about her appearance. 


Thank you!

***

Last and not least, after work, I did some shopping. Took advantage of some sales. Whenever I shop, I aim for a minimum of 45% savings. Today I enjoyed getting steals on gum (I chew it at work), tissues and laxatives (for my dad) and of course feminine items. Had to share since this is a typical shopping day.

Overall, a good Friday! Now hopefully crossing my fingers for another great couponing day tomorrow.

Welcome Spring Equinox!

I just want to wish everyone a very Happy Nowruz (the Persian New Year) and a very Blessed Ostara. It's the first day of spring!

So today, I have to share a wonderful book that we just got in at the library. It's based off the poem "Step Gently Out" by: Helen Frost

Step Gently Out

by: Helen Frost

Step gently out,

be still, and watch a single blade of grass.

An ant climbs up to look around.

A honeybee flies past.

A cricket leaps and lands,

then sits back and sings.

A moth flies in and comes to rest with open wings.

A spider spins a silken thread

and steps across the air.

A praying mantis looks at you -

do you know she's there?

Balanced lightly on a leaf,

bathed in golden light,

flashing, Look, I'm over here, as evening turns to night,

the creatures shine with stardust,

they're splashed with morning dew.

In song and dance and stillness, they share the world with you.

The poet's website can be found here:  http://www.helenfrost.net/item.php?postid=32

Bargain Hunting: Today's Adventure = Food

For some, that may sound like the most boring, awfullest waste of time. Well, good for you that you have money to just waste. Maybe you can let me have some of it.

I married the best man on this planet, he was the one who got me into couponing, and now we revel in the fact that we can stock the house for cheap or nothing. It's lost of work, mind you, but 100% worth it in the end. I spend about 10-15 hours a week on bargain hunting. We aren't rich, none of us make enough money to barely survive - whatever deal we can find, we will.

With the luck of the Irish on my side this morning, mom, my husband and I went to one of those warehouse places that we have been visiting for the last few weeks and went bonkers on the food. Its all things we eat at the house. We had to protect our stash because ravenous hausefrauen were eye-balling our stuff. MINE!

After we came home and sorted though everything we of course had to call my mother-in-law to brag - she appreciates these kinds of things :) - then I sat down afterwards to calculate our savings via a spreadsheet. Enjoy! For the retail, I rounded down or up. The difference is by $0.01 cent. And I used the average of three local stores, that I normally coupon at, that carry these products.

It came out to a saving of  +/- 70.36 %. Not bad for a Saturday morning. Happy St. Patty's Day!

ps: I had to adjust, I forgot to double check with receipt. I was too excited to post!

Done & Donations

So the BEST part of this past Saturday (not including working) was that we got a HUGE donation!! A mom stopped by and dropped off 5 garbage bags full of JF & YA NEW BOOKS from her daughter! My coworker and I were as giddy as fan girls. So after we sorted through the bags, they filled a double book cart.

I had to take pictures!! Of course! I made sure we got the contact info down so that my superiors will  send the daughter a nice thank you letter. 

This chart was happily pushed by our Children's Librarian to her office this morning where she is now going through the books to see what will be put on our shelves.

 

Awesome! So wonderful! Thank you!

So the other news is that B1 is done! PHEW! I sent it off to my sister and a friend. I hope that they find the time to snuggle up with it and take notes, ready to give me an email/ear full of criticism. *glares at them* We all went to art school! We know how to critique!! :)

After that, I'm going on the hunt for a literary agent. So scary....so scary..... I rather take it and hide but I got this far, I'm not going to give up now. Another local library carries the literary agent guide in their reference section. I just have to find time to head down there and spend lots of time going through it. I don't quite know where to begin. And I hope all my my research pays off. I've never been good at selling myself - which is the goal of the query letter. So nervous, so nervous. Hrm, looking at my calendar now, in two weeks I'll be nearby for an appt. I will do it then.

Yeah, this one is kinda short and sweet. Just been busy with work and life. Next month I will be celebrating my one year wedding anniversary. I cannot believe I have been married for one year! A lot has happened this year. A lot.