Mostly Because I Miss Those Days

                I was volunteering at the library the other night and was given the assignment to find some missing books.  As I was searching the shelves I came across Heather Vogel Fredrick’s book – Pies & Prejudice from The Mother Daughter Book Club series. I grabbed it for the series title.  One of the books that Jaime and I had read at the library mother daughter book club was Pie by Sara Weeks (here). I did not see it as a play on words from the title “Pride and Prejudice” until later nor a book series.  Nor do I understand why something in the Juvenile section would have such a tiny font.  I have seen bigger fonts in the young adult.  So for the most part I have been reading with a magnifying glass.  That is getting tiresome.  Thus I may not finish.

            I was also reminded of the Beehive Award when reading that this particular book is an Oregon award finalist.  Jaime also loved reading and voting on Beehive books. The characters in this book are older than Jaime and targeted youth of the book club as the reading material suggestion was made for ages 8 to 12.  Jaime and I both LOVED the book club.  For me it was an opportunity to read together and explore the pages in a creative way.  Though I’m sure she enjoyed reading with me she also enjoyed getting together with girls near her age and engaging in some kind of craft.  It was fun and meaningful all at the same time.

            The characters in the book have just started high school – I’m guessing their freshman year.  But nowadays it’s hard to know what age starts at which school as the age groups are different across the nation.  I had gone to sixth grade my last year at the elementary school where I had started kindergarten.  My mom had gone to a school that went from 1^st to 6^th grade and completed her 7^th and 8^th at a school that went from first to 8^th. I was in my last year of junior high as a ninth grader and hadn’t been referred to as a freshman.  Jaime started 6^th grade at Middle School – the equivalent of my junior high and completed four years of high school as freshman to senior.

            The book club takes place not in the library but in each of their homes.  Thus far I have only been introduced to three characters – each telling a chapter in first person.  I do like that.  Thus far I haven’t relived any of the nostalgia I had with Jaime.  I don’t really expect to but did think it would be fun to try.  Mother Daughter high schoolers . . . I guess it's possible.  

            If I don’t finish the book it will be because of the font size more than anything.  But I may take up reading books that are targeted to the 8-12 year old to act as a guide for the librarian who would like to start some kind of book club here.  I’d like to see that event unfold.  I don’t know if it will though.  Happy to see that it is still a part some libraries across the nation. 

CBQ#51

 Have you ever thrown unread magazines away?

         I don’t like magazines overall.  Too many advertisements.  I like Reader’s Digest (easy to hold) and have read the Children’s Friend, New Era and Ensign Magazines (which I think have all been renamed within the last two years – at least the latter two which have been changed to the Strength of the Youth and Liahona). 

        I have never been an avid reader as my mom or youngest brother.  I get tired even when the book has been interesting.  Forget the magazine – or newspaper.  I enjoy going from cover to cover without having to search for the rest of the article.

        As I age, I find I like reading off a touch screen in which I can control the size of the font.  I have thrown away unread magazines (though not church magazines but AARP) and feel bad that it hasn’t been read.  But I’m just not focused enough.

2 week sub assignment

2nd grade reading

          chapter books

          Journeys - first story

Jess makes gifts

          story goes that she makes

          homemade gifts for her mom

                                      her brother Mike, and Gram.

Last paragraph mentions a Jane

          a Jane that was never mentioned

                                      before

Type-O?

1st group reading

          or disciplining rather

          simple words

                             first pets     

                             then jobs

Yesterday we worked on packets

          simple words

          saying phonics

                   I think the first graders are

loudest of all the classes

Kindergarten

          Rhyming Words

          Blending words

          Packets

Half hour with each class

Break

2nd grade math

          they are learning

          regrouping subtraction

There are at least two who

          share the same focus that

                   I do for accounting

lunch

          my lunch

          fourth grade recess

          fourth grade lunch

                   last grade in lunch room

                   clean up has started before

they are through

Friday is popcorn day

                   It is a madhouse!

back to kindergarten

          more rhymes

          more blending sounds

Computer lab

          Potty breaks

          hall monitor

                   until their teacher comes

3rd grade reading

          first book on Sears Tower

          needs to be updated from

                             present to past

2nd book

          monkeys - the vervet monkey

                             to be exact

          they nurse from mother's womb

the kids are grossed out

          it is nice to know they are still innocent

                             and not interested in the

facts of life

          but still -

I tell them they don't have to look at the pictures

But   

          the word "nipple" is in the book.

                             They moan and feel embarrrassed.

They read slowly

          their facial comments and expressions

                             make it slower

I take my turn reading

I read with confidence

                   and at a pace

                                      I think the book should be read.

We have it finished

                   in two days.

Teach, Not Read - Especially NOT in Monotone!

                As an accountant major, I am required to take 25 accounting classes

                Thus far I have had 22 classes, 11 instructors -

                                one of them four times.  Two of them three times.        

                                Three of them two times and six of them only once. 

There are three who have had flair for making accounting better than completely boring. 

                On Monday I started accounting class #23.  

New instructor.  

BORING,  

omigosh

I could not attend his live lecture and have decided 

even if I am present to view the live lecture

it AIN'T going to happen.

He READS the power point.  

READS EVERYTHING word for word.  

What kind of teaching is that?

Throw yourself into the lecture. 

Tell me something about yourself that might relate to the slide.

omigosh!

                I have two classes and had put in 5 1/2 hours for substitute teacher aide

                I watched the recordings when I returned.

                The instructor of my management class has a thick British accent.

Easy to listen to.  But my accounting instructor . . . .

                Roland was in the other room, and he got 

bored just hearing the sounds. 

My instructor might as well have said:

                Boring.  There are many variations to boring.  

Accounting doesn't have to be boring.  

But let's just say that it is.

                And just in case you weren't already bored with it, 

let me make it extra boring by reading each slide as though 

you are not able to read or comprehend it yourself.

                Listen to my voice. Is it soothing (not really) 

Let me tell you word for word what every slide says

Be sure to save this recording in the event that you are ever experiencing insomnia.

omigosh!  Four weeks - one more down and two to go.  

I cannot wait until June 2019! 

It will come quick, I'll bet.

Grand Opening Rocks!

Myrtle Creek Library reopens Monday

• CARISA CEGAVSKE Senior Staff Writer The News-Review

Carisa Cegavske

Senior Reporter

published June 30, 2017

Top of Form

Bottom of Form

The Myrtle Creek Library will reopen Monday with an all-volunteer staff, and kick off its summer reading program right away.

Like many of the smaller branches of the former Douglas County Library System, the Myrtle Creek Library has been closed since April 1. Sutherlin, Oakland, Riddle and Reedsport have since reopened their libraries.

The Myrtle Creek Library is unique in the county in that it is now managed not by the local city council, but by the nonprofit Friends of the Myrtle Creek Library.

"We're very excited," said Friends Treasurer Julienne DeMarsh about Monday's opening.

DeMarsh said the group has about 80 people on a list of potential volunteers or donors, with a group of 21 that has passed background checks and plans to volunteer through the summer.

On Friday, DeMarsh said they were working on getting connected to the internet and hope to have that up and running in time for the opening.

She said it's important to note that library patrons will need to re-register to get new library cards.

The 17,000 books and other items in the library's collection will be available for checkout on day one. However, a computer catalog system isn't yet available, so books will be checked out the old-fashioned way, with the patron's name and the item being written down.

DeMarsh said volunteers' enthusiasm wasn't diminished by the holiday weekend opening.

"People are still willing to help us out, so I'm very encouraged by that," she said.

The library building belongs to the city, but it's the Friends group that signed an intergovernmental agreement with the county to take charge of and check out items from the collection.

One of the biggest challenges the Friends face is paying for liability insurance. The main concern, DeMarsh said, is whether the library can continue to raise enough funds to pay for that insurance and keep the library running into the future.

For now, the emphasis is on the summer reading program, which will be held Mondays from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

Coordinator Serena Theiss said the activities will follow a math, science and engineering theme adapted to fit the local library. Monday's activity will be a Three Little Pigs theme with kids crafting three different types of houses, a teepee, a rainbow cottage made from popsicle sticks and an adobe house made from a pinch pot. Field trips will also be held to different local businesses, including a visit to a water testing lab at Umpqua Research Company.

The programs are conveniently timed to end just as the local swimming pool opens up the street, Theiss said.

The doors will open at 10 a.m. Monday. Regular hours will be from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays; 4 to 8 p.m. Tuesdays and 4 to 7 p.m. Wednesdays. The library will be closed Fridays and Sundays.

That gives us more hours/days than when we had first moved in!  We’ve been without a library for just over three months now.  Thanks to the members of the Friends of Myrtle Creek library, we had our grand opening yesterday.  Our kick off was for the summer reading program “Build a Better World”

Children were told to choose a tee shirt which we would turn into a bag so they had a container to put prizes and books in.  I read the story of “The Three Little Pigs” but my three pigs started out life living in Myrtle Creek and each left the state to live in three particular kinds of houses: adobe, stick or tepee.  We then allowed the children to pick which house they would like to build and now have them in the display case at the library.

The grand opening was a huge success.  It is the busiest I have ever seen the library since we moved here just over two years ago,

Carissa had come to cover the story.  She remembered having had interviewed me before.  She didn’t remember my name, but she remembered that I had been sad.  That’s quite impressive from three months back and all the libraries she has covered ever since. 

I am so grateful for having the opportunity of being a part of this historical moment.