Don't Take It Personal

I'm home today, using a personal day. John's daycare is closed for Presidents Day, but Eric's school and mine are both open, so one of us had to stay home with him. I was glad to take one though; this year has been busy and stressful and exhausting, so I don't feel like I've been spending alot of quality time with him lately. Today, we're going to relax, watch a movie together, bake some cookies, and go out to lunch.

I've gotten very bogged down with some report card stuff and my online graduate school course, so I was very happy this weekend that we trekked up to Goodwill Buy the Pound. I'm not usually looking for anything in particular when we go there, but I love finding odd things that inspire me.

I found this 'antique' radio. It's not really old, it's just meant to look like it. On its own, I would have thought it looked cool, but probably wouldn't have picked it up. However, it was missing the back panel, and the space inside is perfect for a little scene:

I wanted to cover up all the innards (and sharp things) so I cut some cardboard to size and covered the walls with 'wood' contact paper from Dollar Tree. I think it's going to become another mouse mouse because I think Millie, the little mouse who lives in the 'books' and has an impressive wine collection, needs a neighbor:

At Goodwill BTP, I also spotted a large Christmas music box decoration. It already looks like a dollhouse:

 

It had really cheap looking, resin figures inside that would move with the music. I ripped them out (you can see in the photo on the right that they left behind some plastic knobby bits) and made some new floors, utilizing the cardboard and 'wood' contact paper method again:

I know that some people would prefer real wood floors, but those are expensive and time-consuming. And honestly, once I fill the house up with furniture and accessories, the floors won't show very much anyways. 

I like to make my dollhouses as child-friendly as possible so that I can display them at school, libraries and other exhibitions. I wouldn't be comfortable doing that if I had to spend alot of money on this hobby, and what's the point of building dollhouses if you're not going to share them with the little people they're meant to inspire?

Checkpoint: Halfway Through the Year

I  heaved a big sigh of relief today; I finished a quarter with a very difficult group of students. All grades and classes come with their own personalities and challenges, but this group was the most difficult one I've ever had to deal with. I was so overwhelmed with trying to manage the constant behavior issues that I didn't even feel like I was teaching.

I tried to find comfort in the knowledge that a few of the students seemed to respond to me, but I wish I could have connected with more of them.

The quarter did produce one good thing, which happened today. One of the students from that class asked recently if he'd be able to help out in the library. Since I was able to develop a good rapport with him, and I trust him, I said it was okay with me, but his teachers have to agree to it first. He did clear it with his teachers, and helped out in the library today during a class. The kids enjoyed it, and he was very helpful in the activity we did, as my aide and I dashed around.

I made sure to tell him how well he did, and how much we appreciated his help, and I also made sure to tell his teacher how well it went.

Other than that, I am heading into my second half of the year- I've survived this far.

EBSCO Success

Just a quick post-

Today I taught my first lesson about database research in school.

I was pretty nervous- I've taught research methods before, as a college instructor. But I'd never taught this stuff to young students before, and I was worried that I would go too fast for them, or make assumptions about their knowledge and skills and we'd all end up in a sinking ship.

I even had anxiety nightmares about it last night.

But it looks like my planning yesterday, and patience today with the students paid off. I was in the classroom for almost an hour, and the students tried really hard to think about the keywords they needed to 'unlock' the answers.

As a final activity, I put 3 staements on the board, 2 were true and one was false. They had to figure out which statement was false. Several students found the exact article that disproved the false statement, and were able to read from it to show the rest of the class the correct information.

Tis afternoon, another teacher emailed me about setting up an EBSCO lesson, so I hope that one goes as well as this one did.

Snow Days and Sick Days

On Tuesday we had a two hour delay, which most of us expected.

 Wednesday's cancellation was kind of a surprise; it wasn't preceded by the usual rumors and speculations. It started out as a delay, but I wasn't too far down the road when my husband called to let me know the school had cancelled, and I was very grateful. The road conditions were terrible.

I tried to use the day well. As soon as I got back home, I baked some snowball cookies to celebrate.

 I planned an 'escape room' type of activity for the 5th graders, based on Skeleton Creek by Patrick Carman.

I hung new curtains in my front room, in keeping with my New Year's Resolution. One pair I bought online, and I was excited that the total cost (including shipping) was less than $25. Then later that day, when the roads were clear, I found a pair of dusty pink velvet curtains at Salvation Army for $1.50. Whatever the price, they are brightening up the room.

I also worked on a few art projects. I have been really into altered tins, and I also made some matchbox scenes:

I was excited to see that Mr. Holland's Opus is streaming on Hulu; it's one of my favorite 'teacher' movies.

Thursday was a regular school day, and the escape room activity I planned went over really well. It was pretty challenging, so none of the students completed it yet, but I'm confident they will come in next week, aching to get started on it again.

Today, I am home using a sick day. I feel fine, but my son has had a fever over the past couple days and is in no shape to go to daycare, so he is at home resting.

I had a little panic yesterday afternoon; I received an email from my online course instructor that our first assignment was due at midnight, and she was concerned because I hadn't even logged in yet. I had misunderstood the academic calendar I guess, so as soon as I got home I had to set up an account, do the readings, and submit my first post. It wasn't really the way I was hoping to begin my 3rd round of graduate school. Maybe I should make another New Year's Resolution to concentrate on time management.

New Year's Resolution #1

I know a lot of people don't make resolutions, or they think it's a bogus idea, but I always do. I like the idea of beginning each year with hope and ideas, and a spirit of self-improvement.

My first resolution is to embrace my love for color and eclecticism. I recently asked social media friends and followers for recommendations on home decor. When we bought our home several years ago, I felt like I needed to decorate it in a very 'grown up' way, so it wouldn't feel like an over-sized college apartment. I got ideas from Pinterest and other sites. We got such a great deal on our house, and we love it and we want to make sure that we do everything possible to increase its value, so I didn't want to do anything that might decrease it, like paint walls funky colors. Our front room had ugly Brady Bunch era wood paneling. We painted it white, and filled the room the neutral colors, like this:

It looks okay, but we never spend any time in that room. It just doesn't feel like 'me.'

I like color. I like funky hand-painted furniture. I like vintage fabrics. I like musty-smelling books and time worn teddy bears filling my shelves. I like the things I've found at flea markets and thrift stores or on the side of the road. My living room should look more like this:

A mix of bohemian/gypsy/whimsical/granny chic, carefully curated from thrift stores and the side of the road.

I was afraid to decorate the inside of my home in such a bold, unique way because I was worried about people judging me as weird or unsophisticated or tacky.

But I don't care anymore. I love my house, and I love spending time in it with my friends and family. And if my home-made wind-chimes and antique Ouija board and dollhouses make people uncomfortable, then they have bigger problems than I do.

So my first New Year's resolution is to stop caring about other people's styles, and just love my own.

I've never particularly cared that all my pillow cases don't match, or that I've never set foot in IKEA.  And in the long run, it doesn't matter anyways. 

Why be bland if you can be bold?

Museum of Cryptozoology

A few days ago we ventured up to Portland, ME to visit the International Museum of Cryptozoology. I'd been wanting to check it out for a year or so, and we finally went.

The museum doesn't contain a whole lot of science- based exhibits; it's more like a fan's altar to mysterious sightings and local lore. There are displays on everything from Bigfoot and Yeti, including examples of known hoaxes such as Fiji mermaids and Jackelopes.

It's a pretty small museum, mostly made up of display cases containing everything from movie props to stuffed animals to casts of Sasquatch footprints.

I found out about this place on Atlas Obscura, so at least now I can check off another location I've been to.

How to Make an Introvert Happy

I feel very grateful to have the friends and family that I do, and that I had a nice Christmas. They clearly understand how hard I've been working in my new library job, and their gifts encourage me to continue doing what I love.

My mom sent me some stuff from the company Out of Print. A tote bag and a cool mug that has titles of banned books. When the mug is room temperature, the titles are blacked out, but when hot liquid is poured inside, the titles are revealed. 

My loving husband surprised me with several literary/library gifts. He gave me a special 150th anniversary edition of Little Women, along with a book by Anne Boyd Rioux that contains the history, analysis and criticisms of the book and its adaptations.  Discussing Little Women stories and films is one of my favorite things to do! He also made me a shelf to keep all my Little Women books on, because I have quite a few.

 

My godmother sent me a kit to  create my own miniature library, which I'm looking forward to building. I have a fairy library, which is actually an old jewelry box turned dollhouse, and I created a bookshop for Belle to run as a sort of fan fiction homage to Beauty and the Beast, but it will be a lot of fun to design my own modern library. I just wish I was small enough to live in it.

The biggest gift I received was my very own Little Free Library. These tiny lending collections are popping up all over the place, and I love how they inspire people to share and trade books and they promote literacy in communities. I can't wait to paint mine and put it out this spring.

Aside from these library-centric gifts, I also got a new teapot and some tea, a book about NH graveyards, cozy socks, bath salts, mermaid "thing a ma bobs" and more. I'm pretty much set now to spend the remainder of my Christmas break reading, taking baths (and pretending I'm a mermaid), drinking tea and working on my dollhouses.