May 31 - a simple woman's daybook

for today...may 31

outside my window...the sun is shining!
i am hearing...the sound of the clothes dryer going round and round
i am reading...The Double Comfort Safari Club
i am creating...a small stitched piece for my new office space
i am grateful...for all of our service men and women on this Memorial Day
i am thankful...that my great uncle got to go to Washington DC this month for a celebration of the men and women who served in WWII
in the kitchen...pork chops and pasta for dinner
some plans for the week...more packing boxes and hauling out garbage
a photo to share...the World War II Memorial in Washington, DC


I hope you'll find time to read some other people's daybooks here.
Thanks for visiting!

may 28 - our once and future library

Blogging, like nearly everything else in my life, including stitching, has taken a back seat these past several months. I thought it might be a good idea to try & explain what has been going on...I'll try to be brief, but am not making any promises!

The photo in my previous post is of a beautiful old Carnegie library. This was our library's home until 1995. At that time, the library was moved to a converted hardware store. The Carnegie was just too small & the new place was twice as big. Of course, it kind of looked like what it was, and although being larger, there were no windows and the lighting was terrible. Not a great space for a library, to say the least.

That was the same year I started working here. It was supposed to be a 5 year lease. I've been here for 15 years.

We had some really good years, funding-wise, and then about 6 years ago, the City had major budget problems & we had our budget cut to nearly zero & barely survived. The City Manager at the time did not think the library was the City's responsibility. Luckily, we had a County Library District pass a year or so ago which guarantees our operating funds. It does not guarantee a building however.

Through all these years, itr was apparent that we were outgrowing our space once again. And after years of ignoring this fact, the City Commission finally started thinking that maybe something needed to be done. But not too quickly, of course...why rush into something?

So fast forward to this year. e have a District, we have operating funds, and now we even have an in-house library director again and are our own department once more. (We have been part of parks & rec for about 8 years and I have been one of the daily managers here with an off-site director). When our director was hired, she knew that finding a new site for the library was a priority, so we sat down and mapped out a plan to do it right...step by step.

And then things started to go terribly wrong. Our landlord told us that he had plans to remodel the building (we are in one of those malls where there is a supermarket with lots of other retail spaces around it, so kind of all one big building in a way) We will have to find another space. So we speed up the search, but there are not many, if any, suitable spots for a library in this town.
We hear about an old school building that is for sale. This was actually a site we had looked at years ago in one of many of our building searches that went nowhere. So we proceed. We are assured that even if it takes some time, the store will not be remodeled that quickly and we should have a roof over our heads.

But then the landlord drops the bomb. He has decided to sell to Safeway ( a large supermarket chain), and we have to be out of the building by May 31. So now we are basically a library without a home. The school sale plods along, and finally 2 weeks ago both parties agreed to the terms. Of course the building still needs all the inspections done, the site needs to be re-zoned, and then re-modeled. This will take anywhere from 1 -2 years at best. What are we supposed to do?

Guess which building the City actually owns? Yup...the Carnegie building. The same one we left 15 years ago because it was too small...and guess what? It's even smaller now, due to some remodeling. So the past few months have been spent deleting books from our collection, having some huge book sales, finding movers, trying to figure out what materials we can take and what will have to go into storage...it's been a nightmare. And we have to be out by June 15 so now that it's getting really close it's also getting more scary.

The Carnegie is a beautiful old building and I am really looking forward to working there. I did a few story times there years ago after the library had moved out and there was a Children's Museum in the building. I just wish it wasn't so small! Our services will suffer because we won't have as many materials, and I'm the one who has to decide what we take and what we store...no pressure there!

But the move will be over in a few weeks and we will all settle in and everything will be back to normal...it will just be a different kind of normal.

So I am really looking forward to these three days off...and if you've read this far...wow! Thanks for sticking with me!

And thanks for visiting!

may 18 - a simple woman's daybook

for today...may 18
outside my window...it looks like rain is coming
i am hearing...the ticking of the clock
i am wearing...a sweater in spring
in the kitchen...the coffee is brewing
i am thankful...that i got to sleep in this morning, on a workday!
i am looking forward to...interviews this morning & meetings this afternoon
i am grateful...that someone has offered to take our discarded books
i am reading...9th Judgement
plans for the week...getting rid of even more accumulated junk from my office
a photo to share...our library's new (old) home...it looks bigger in the photo!


Please read other daybooks here, or add your own!
Mahalo for visiting!

may 11 - a simple woman's daybook

for today...may 11
outside my window...the sun is peeking through the clouds
i am thinking about...how good it feels to be home
i am wearing...purple
in the kitchen...there's nothing cooking
i am grateful ...for my family, near & far
i am hearing...dogs barking
i am wishing...that i could find two lost books
i am looking forward to...an uncluttered office space
i am reading...Miss Julia Renews Her Vows
i am creating...a little something for a friend
plans for the week...weeding our library's collection some more
one of my favorite things...my grandson's laughter
a photo to share...


You can find more daybooks here.
Mahalo for visiting!

may 9 - happy mother's day

I hope all the mother's and grandmothers had a wonderful day today. I was lucky enough to have my grandson and daughter here. He is such a delight...and changes so much each time I see him.

I have been woefully neglectful of my blog and my groups for so many months. Things at work have been crazy, but that's fodder for another post! My stitching has been neglected too...but I did finish an ornament exchange and a round robin this week. After these I have one more ornament exchange and another round robin and then I can concentrate on my many already started pieces and maybe finish some!

This is the ornament I stitched for Julianne for Becky's ornament exchange group. It is the 2005 ornament by Blackbird Designs from the JCS ornie issue...Home for Christmas. It is stitched on a piece of antique white linen with Carrie's silk threads in Masquerade and Sage Grass. I love Carrie's Threads but hadn't used her silks before. They are wonderful to work with.

This round robin is one from Ally's group and it belongs to Karen. Her theme was welcome and "home" so thought this bit of LHN's Home of a Needleworker would be perfect. It fit at the very bottom of a long piece of fabric. I used various DMC variegated threads for the stitching.



So now I'm off to watch "Celebrity Apprentice"...don't ask me why. I am not one who likes reality tv (except for Project Runway), but we watched this one Sunday quite a few weeks ago and just got sucked in! I think it's almost over though...maybe a few more weeks.

Until next time, mahalo for visiting and for all your wonderful comments.

may 4 - a simple woman's daybook

for today...may 4

outside my window....it is still dark
i am hearing....the ticking of the clock
i am wearing....warm clothes in May
in the kitchen...bread is toasting
i am grateful...that my hubby is willing to color my hair for me
i am thinking about...how much packing is left to do at work
i am creating... some stitching for a friend
i am looking forward to...the light at the end of the tunnel
i am reading...The Aloha Quilt
i am wishing...that i could crawl back into bed
one of my favorite things...a happy child
a photo to share...my new grand furbaby


Please visit other daybooks here.
Mahalo for visiting.