Furiously Happy (Part Two)

Meet the Family, Dan, Nicole, Lady Katherine
and Lord Destructor the Untamable (aka Gizmo)

I realize if you've been following our blog you've already read a review of Furiously Happy and have probably already added it to your reading list because Meg spoke so highly of it.  However, if you somehow missed putting it on hold at your local library or purchasing it I would recommend doing so now. Don't worry.  I'll wait.

Good.  Now that you've got a copy heading toward you in some manner I'll just tell you what makes this book so amazing.  Jenny Lawson has mental illness and blogs about her life. In reading this she has helped me to laugh at a lot of the things I find myself struggling with some days, and to maybe feel a little less crazy.  Perhaps one thing it does do is help me appreciate my husband a little more, who has no problem that Gizmo has not one, but two theme songs (Lady Katherine is harder to get a good rhythm and rhyming for, but I'm working on it, it's a work in progress).

While I don't own a koala costume to cuddle koalas in Australia, I honestly don't see any problem with the desire to look like a koala and cuddle a koala at the same time.  Similarly I don't have any taxidermized animals to talk to or have sneak over Dan's shoulder as he's on a video call with someone, but again, I wouldn't be surprised if I would do such things.

Near the end of the book Lawson is getting ready to go out and her husband tells her she looks okay, not good, but okay.  So she decides she must change her clothes because Victor, her husband, was not paying her a compliment by saying she looked okay.  He responds by saying he likes her skin because it keeps her organs from falling on the carpet.  I cannot tell you how hard I laughed at this line and how quickly I snapped a picture of the page to send to Dan.  He once told me that he liked my green shirt because green is like grass and my hair is brown like dirt so I look like earth, I wouldn't be surprised if this had come from his mouth.

As Meg pointed out in her review months ago, Lawson is wonderful to read and captures the essence of living with anxiety for the "normals" out there.

Eight Hundred Grapes

Synchronize (verb) "to occur at the same time or coincide or agree in time" (Online Etymology Dictionary).

Much of our lives are left to chance, in spite of perfect planning one cannot prepare for the weather, the actions of another, and as I learned while reading this book, the making of wine. We cannot control the rain or the weather, just as we cannot control the actions of others.

In Eight Hundred Grapes Georgia is one week away from her wedding that is set to take place at her parents' vineyard.  She finds her fiancee is keeping the knowledge of a daughter from her as well as meetings with his ex-wife.  She realizes this as she is trying on her wedding dress and flees the city, heading home.

Upon returning home she finds her family is also struggling in their relationships and realizes the importance of home and family.  Weeks have passed since I read this book and I'm still thinking about it, still wanting to try putting chocolate in lasagna and to enjoy (just one more) glass of wine.

In short, read this book, especially if you have a love of wine, it will probably help increase that love.


synchronize. (n.d.). Online Etymology Dictionary. Retrieved December 22, 2015 from Dictionary.com website http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/synchronize

Recycled Tree

I am all about recycling whenever possible.  I have some old shirts I retired in a pile waiting to be cut up and turned into a rug, old pillows are waiting to be turned into stuffed animals, and sheets found at Salvation Army have been turned into dresses or skirts.

In turn, my recycling habits have entered my work life and I began to find annoyance at recycling newspapers when we were using fresh paper for our bulletin board.  And so, an idea was born, when presented with the opportunity of reusing newspapers I decided to make a tree.

Newspapers prior to rolling

Papers are opened, rolled into tube-like pieces and staple it like crazy to the bulletin board in tree form!

I've done this design for the spring, having children write their names on leaves to add to the board, in the fall spraying the leaves with watered down red, brown and orange paint to give the perfect fall look.  This time we had ornaments and snow flakes for kids (and some staff) to color

Fairy Doors at the Library

Close up of my favorite door. Guess the book title.

One of the local Girl Scout troops asked me if they could put fairy doors in the library and I couldn't say no. There are 5 little doors hidden around my branch and I love it. We have a handouts at the desk that show the doors, but don't tell where they are located. So far, we have only had a few kids find them all. One is so well camouflaged that you almost don't see it. They aren't all low to the ground, either, which probably makes it harder to spot. Anyway, here are our fairy doors.

Hidden by the exercise and how-to DVDs.

Hiding in the board books.

Extreme camouflage.

Fairy Library entrance.

I know what you're thinking...Full House books actually still check out like crazy. I credit the reruns.

The kids love hunting them down, and we hope to add more in the coming years. Thanks for stopping by!

Starting a Monthly Lego Club for Kids

Horses love giant candy canes. Credit: Andy 2014.

A few of years ago, I begged my admins to let me try starting a Lego Club for local kids to come and get creative and then we would display their creations until the next session the following month. It was met with some trepidation…and the realization that Legos are expensive as all hell. So, instead of asking the admins for the loot, which would have been met with a resounding “NO!,” I went to my local community. I posted fliers around the branch asking for Lego donations, of which I actually got some. However, it was nowhere near the volume I needed for making a successful monthly program. Next, I asked the Friends of the Library group for a financial donation. I’m fortunate that my Friends group will usually support anything I ask so long as it benefits children. I was able to secure about $800 and went to Amazon to make the purchases.  The suggestions below work best for a group of 20-30 kids.

Royal Carage (sic).Credit: Ethan 2014.

What you need to get started:

•  Large and small plates totaling 25-30 (unless you plan to have more kids)
• About 15-20 basic sets of blocks, which include doors and windows and a couple of people
• 1 set of people, we ordered the Community Members minifigure set that had I believe had about 25 people, and a ton of accessories, including foods, bikes, dogs, etc.
• Large storage bins to hold everything. I have found the more bins, the better. They get heavy, but also easier to spread the kids out when there are multiple bins to dig through. We have 6 bins, and they work like a dream.
• Buckets to carry Legos to the tables/workstations. We got them from the local Walmart for $.88/each.

 

Medieval Beheading. Credit: Owen 2015.

What works best for my branch and possibly yours, too:

• Free build. We attempted to do themes in the beginning and the parents took it entirely too seriously, so I had to put my foot down.
• Solo builds. If they want to work together, then by all means, I let them. But, most kids have their own vision about what they want to build.
• Let them pick their own seats. Sometimes they want to sit alone, sometimes they want a parent to sit with them, and sometimes they just want to sit next to the bin on the floor and build there.
• Let parents help if they kids want them too. Otherwise, encourage the parents to socialize or read a good book while they wait.
• Cap the time at 1 hour for the session. Many kids need a limit or they will never stop.
• I made little slips of paper that they fill out and I post them with their build. They fill in the blanks (What I made at Lego Club_______. My name is________.) themselves. They seriously love this part.
• I have a table set up where they all deposit their creations so everyone can see them before they leave.
• I take pictures of the builds with my phone in case I break them on the way to displaying them. It happens more than I would like to admit, hence the photos. I always take them after the kids leave so they don’t know that I am a bumbling klutz who is likely to drop their special creation before it makes it to the display area. Ours are displayed up high where small hands can’t play with them. And the display serves as an advertisement for the club, too.
• I set up about 7 6-foot tables and put out chairs around them, as well as other chairs around the perimeter of the room. This is usually where the parents sit, and where kids can deposit their coats and belongings while they build. The tables are put into 2 long rows on opposing sides of the room, and then the bins of Legos are spaced all down the middle of the room (between the tables). This is the configuration that works best for us. We have tried so many, and the kids have actually told me that they like it best this way so they don’t have to carry legos far to get back to their tables.
• Display any Lego books you might have on a table and tell them they can use them as inspiration, as well as encouraging them to check them out when they leave. Lego books are like book crack to Lego Club kids. They can’t get enough.  

If you have any questions, please feel free to ask in the comments. I will do my best to help however I can.  

Shark Attack. Credit: Archie 2015.