Ready for Christmas?

It's December. The middle of December. Less than two weeks from Christmas.

I guess we're ready. The tree is up. The decorations are all in place. Most the gifts are wrapped. All the Christmas shopping is done.

Just a couple little things left.

And one big thing...

On Katie's side of the family, we have a Christmas tradition that I really like. At the beginning of the year, not too long after Christmas is over, we draw names for the upcoming Christmas, and then we spend all year making gifts, instead of buying something. Katie and I have her brother and dad.

We thought about it for a few months, and then came up with a combined present for both of them. We are converting their VHS collection into digital. It was back in May or June that we started. But I didn't like how it was coming along so I re-did everything over again in July. Little by little the project is nearing completion. But there is still a lot to get done. It will still be an AWESOME gift if it's not 100% done when we exchange gifts, but I would like to have it as close as possible.

We knew the collection would be too huge to do it all, so we're focusing mainly on the VHS in the library that are not also on DVD. A lot are recorded off television, and some have quality issues, and it is a lot harder to process them than I thought it would be. But I'm sticking to it. And if there is some left to do after Christmas, I'll keep going until completely done.

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School Day

Today I came home from work before 4pm, which is very unusual. I came home and sat down on the couch to take my shoes off. I noticed a magazine on the end table. I picked it up. Leaned back on the couch while starting to thumb through the pages. Before I knew it I was sound a sleep.

An hour later the phone rang and I was shocked that I had fallen asleep. I couldn't wake up enough to answer the phone. I rubbed my eyes and looked around the room. I was in shock! I couldn't believe that I had actually had a nap in the middle of the afternoon on a school day. I never get that chance! It was amazing. I woke up energized and happy. I was thrilled that I had finally had a day that I could stop and slow down and relax for a minute. I just wish I had decided to take a nap on purpose. I wish that I had enough in me to stop and slow down to take a minute to relax more often.

If any of you know me or my family, we don't know how to relax. It's not that we don't want to. We just simply don't know how! Braden has tried to teach me the art of relaxing. I am really good at doing it when he is around to relax with me, but I have yet to learn how to stop and relax on my own.

Hopefully one day I will learn. Probably not, but maybe. I will keep trying. In the meantime I will keep being grateful of those quiet afternoons when I leave school, come home and fall fast asleep. I will continue to be grateful that I have such a full life that keeps me busy and happy, but cherish the moments that I get to relax.

I am greatful for my nap. Its the one thing that might keep me going strong for the rest of the week.

(P.S. Lets just hope I can still fall asleep tonight!)

Twitter

Twitter is so appealing to me. I love the fact that on twitter you can only write 140 characters. That isn't much. This post would be over by now if I only wrote 140 characters. I like that factor. Short and sweet. I like the fact that I can write a quick message telling how I am or something crazy that I saw and leave it at that. Enough said. Concise. I like the beginning so close to the end. But something is wrong. I feel incomplete.

A blog is different. Sometimes overwhelming, but very rewarding. It can be hard to start, then even harder to stop. I sit and I wonder. I wonder: Will the readers like it? Will the readers read it? The answer is yes. YES! If I will write it the readers will read it. The question is then: Can I write it?

Can I write what my ideas are? My goals, my secrets, my hidden talents? Can I express the feelings inside of hope, of sadness, of gladness? The gratitude, the discoveries, even summaries life that are boring and dull? Yes. I can. It only takes but a minute, maybe more. It clears my mind. It helps me reflect and think of what is happening. It helps me to see the things that I lack. I will write it. I can write. In the end, I feel more accomplished, like I am the one writing my life. Each letter I write the lighter I feel.  Blogging can be daunting but even more rewarding.

This blog is no twitter, I am thankful for that. It gives me a blank canvas with no end predetermined.

 Just like life, I am free to write it.

July

I have come to love the month of July. I have only now realized that July is the only month that I am not thinking about school. Its the month that I can devote all my time to Braden. I wish that I had more time during the school year to stop thinking about school. If I am not at school I am thinking about the seating chart, or how to teach science, or what should I do with my children that don't follow directions the first time. It is daunting to come home with hours of correcting, or projects to work on. Today I spent a few hours at the library looking for books to teach cause/effect and compare/contrast. It never ends and my mind is full, crowed and complete chaos. 


Since I have a job that I never truly ever leave at work, I guess I am going to have to learn to make due with the time I do have to myself. It is time I want to spend with Braden. Laughing together, telling stories, sharing new and exciting things. I just like spending time with him. He is so kind, caring and patient. I know that our time we together each week isn't very much but we can make the most of our time together. When we are apart I think about him and wish that I was with him. I wish that we could be going on a drive together, or walking through the cemetery.  


How I long for July. I wish that July was here tomorrow. I wish that my mind could be clear and calm and I could devote every moment to Braden. I guess we make do and think more about quality rather that quantity. I just hope that Braden knows that we may not have a lot of time together right now in life, but we have eternity to be together.  Eternity that is just like July. Clear and calm and focused on the family that we love the most. My eternity will be spent with Braden. Clear and calm and focused entirely on him because I love him. 

Library card

I've written before that I don't read much. At least not books/newspapers/magazines. I actually do a lot of reading of blogs online. That's where I get most of my news.

Yesterday, I went and got a new library card from the public library. I blogged about it. And now I can check out books, CDs, DVDs, etc. from the vast catalog available. 

I think the last time I actually used a library card was more than a decade ago. But there is so much readily available online, I lived without a library card for so long. This all begs the question of what is really the future of the library? Am I actually alone in thinking that having a library card is obsolete, and anything I need to read is online? Probably not.

The reason I got one yesterday is to help Katie. She needed a reference for her students. And since I had the day off I had time to go and get the books she wanted from the library. And it wasn't that hard either. It was so easy a child could do it.

Actually maybe a child should do it. I think the libraries are a lot more relevant for students than thier adult counterparts. When I am no longer in school, I am no longer soaking up new knowledge. And if I am it's because I have to for my job. And I don't need the library. 

But children, especially those growing up in homes without a large collection of books should regularly go to the library and develop a love of reading. The younger you start, the more successful you become. 

At one point in my life I did have a love of reading, but it became such a chore to read all the required readings for classes that I stopped reading for enjoyment and only read what I had to. Even then, sometimes it was read the first and last chapter and skim the inbetween. 

My point I'm trying to get to is that once in a while your perspective changes. And that's a good thing. I have some books I need to finish reading that I started once upon a time. Maybe you do too.

Acronyms > L337

Acronym n. a word formed from the initial letters of other words
example: RADAR (RAdio Detection And Ranging)

Acronyms gave the english language a way to say something faster than before without losing meaning. (Useful in morse code, etc.) Some acronyms became universal, some did not. (i.e. SOS) But when there are so many acronyms, some become repeats and make it harder to differentiate, making them less useful.

The rising generation has developed a new system of writing similar to acronyms, although less direct. Email started it, and instant messaging and texting has also given the english language some silliness as well.

In a hand-written note or letter, you can doodle or draw extra symbols. But with the limits of the standard keyboard, more had to be done. So here come "smilies" to add a touch of personality, and to go beyond the capabilities of the font families.  ;-)  8-)

And the internet also brought us a different alphabet called leet or leetspeek. Using numbers in combination with letters to spell. It used to be used in chatrooms and online bulletin boards to trick the filters from blocking forbidden topics such as hacking. But now leet is more mainstream, and is more often used to censor words or mock newbies in online multiplayer games.

Dog stroller?

We were driving down 700 E next to Liberty Park recently and Katie told me that she saw a dog in a stroller. I was paying more attention to driving so I hadn't seen it. So we turned and went into the park to try and find it again. And sure enough a lady was walking her dog... in a stroller! I had no idea they actually made strollers for dogs. I thought the point of walking your dog was to let your dog actually walk.

We tried to snap a picture but there were too many trees in the way and we couldn't stop and block traffic, but here's an example we found on the internet.

Little Shop of Horrors

This weekend Katie and I went to the South Jordan Community Theater's production of Little Shop of Horrors. The actor playing Seymour is another one of the other fifth grade teachers Katie works with so we went to support him. We went as a double date with Jennifer Miranda (the other fifth grade teacher) and her husband Michael.

It was really good. You can still see it for yourself! The show runs from October 15 to November 1. Tickets are $9. All seats are good seats.

The address is 10778 S. Redwood Road. Show starts at 7. It's a good idea to be 30 minutes early to buy tickets and be seated.

New Design

I changed the site design a bit. I like it better now. I think it is lovely.

Tell me what you think. If you have been reading this blog using Google reader or another RSS/ATOM feeder, please visit the site to check out the change in design!

Nevermind that

All good bloggers make some serious cash doing it. But simple amateur bloggers don't. I have just learned a few ways that might make us a little money on this blog. The first is ads.

If you have been a regular follower of this blog you've probably noticed the absence of any ads. Well, that's just because we didn't know how to get them. You see, ads are a good thing. Advertisers pay you if you can get someone to click on their ads. It's not much but enough clicks over time really adds up. But it's against the rules for me to click on my own ads or to force or direct someone to do it. But if there happens to be something there that interests you or otherwise entices you to click, that's what they are for.

The second is affiliate marketing. That's the technical term for the program where I suggest a product and if you use my link and buy it I get a cut of the profit since I sent you there.

You can expect this blog's content to stay pretty much the same because we know that's what brings you back every time. We'll keep posting family pictures and interesting things about our life.

St. George for the weekend

We had the opportunity to go down to St. George and stay in nice condos for the weekend. Curtis works for Spillman Technologies and they have a condo there as an employee perk, so Kami and the girls got to go for free. They had the 3 bedroom condo from Friday to Monday. Katie and I stayed in one of the bedrooms from Friday afternoon to Sunday night, then drove back home to Salt Lake.

Darrell and Jean also had a 3 bedroom condo in the same complex that was Dr. Hale's. Darrell had never been able to go down and use it until now. A friend of his was going to be there at the same time for a scrap booking event so he and his wife stayed in one of the bedrooms in that condo, and sometimes joined us for meals.

The weekend was mostly just relaxing and a little shopping. There was a nice pool, and we brought our Roku box to stream Netflix and Pandora. We prepared all our family meals, and everything was delicious. (We are lucky and happen to be related to some amazing cooks.)

I brought my camera, but we didn't take many pictures besides some inside the condo and when we stopped at Silver Reef and Meadow Massacre site.

Here's some pictures I took:

A New Blog

Check out my new other blog at bradenspictureoftheday.blogspot.com

I'm no professional, but I love taking pictures. Sometimes I even get a good shot. So, since the Internet doesn't have enough of them, I'm starting my own "Picture of the Day" blog.

Every day I'll post a picture I've taken. Some will have descriptions, and some will not. Please head over and FOLLOW me and make COMMENTs on the posts!

Sometimes I'll also link the posts back to this blog too.

Braden's Picture of the Day: Self Shot with Lydia

Braden's Picture of the Day: Self Shot with Lydia: "I took this picture on Labor day with one of my nieces. She loves to have her picture taken, and I happen to be taking a picture of myself, ..."

Job transfer: Update

I got transferred back to the downtown store. It turns out they only needed me over Memorial Day weekend. So now I work at downtown again.

I'm happy about it, but I am still kinda in limbo. About a year ago, Walgreens started making a change in the store management structure, which basically reduced the amount of managers in each store by one person. Not by firing anyone, but by natural attrition through transfers, promotions, etc. That's how I left Ogden, to reduce that store by one. Now, all the stores in the district, except mine, have completed this process. But that's not really to say my store has an extra manager. We are among the high-volume stores, competing with , and sometimes beating, the 24-hour stores. So we are justified in having the additional manager. At least that's what the store manager tells the district manager.

For now, I'm working downtown. But when a manager somewhere is off for vacation or illness, there is a chance I'll get put in their shoes to cover their spot until they return. And I don't get a choice. I do what they want or I quit. That's the Walgreens way.

Transferred to Kearns

I found out a couple weeks ago that I would be transferred to another store.

And Saturday May 29th was my first day at the new store.

Its supposed to be temporary, but I'm not holding my breath because "temporary" is how I got to the downtown store last December. There is a manager somewhere that is having a baby, so she'll be out for about 6 weeks. So they shifted around a few managers to fill her spot, and I got shifted to the Kearns store. It's a 24 hour store, and they could not be left with a hole in management. Apparently the downtown store can, since there was nobody transferred into my previous place.

Its different and the commute is longer, but at least its not as long as the commute to Ogden. And Kearns is where I work now.

New cameras

Last summer, Katie and I got to go on vacation to Canada. We went out and purchased a new camera for the trip. Unfortunately, The second day we were there, it stopping working because of a lens problem. Nothing we could do about it. Couldn't even return it since we were nowhere near a Best Buy.

But we wanted to continue to take pictures on our trip, so I did what any reasonable person would, I went shopping for a new digital camera. There were plenty of disposable types available at the grocery stores, pharmacy, and touristy places, but the only store that sold digital cameras was the hardware store. And it was pink. So I bought a pink camera.

It worked great, and we still used it after we got home. But then, one day when we were out taking pictures of ourselves in different places in Salt Lake, Katie handed me the camera, while still in its case, and I accidentally dropped it.

It still works, but there is a significant dent in the top corner where the controls are, which makes certain modes nonfunctional. Katie was upset. So was I.

So recently, Katie found a great deal on a camera and bought it, and I promised I wouldn't touch it. That way I couldn't drop it. And last week I found an awesome deal on a camera, so I ordered it. It should arrive this week.

So now we'll each have a small simple camera to take pictures with. Hopefully that means we'll both get more practice. I even got a flickr account in preparation to post all my adventures.

I Love my job: UPDATE

Right before Christmas I was transferred to the Downtown Salt Lake Walgreens. Now my commute is about 4 or 5 minutes instead of 45 minutes to an hour to Ogden. I really love that.

Also, I'm at a much busier store, and a completely different clientele. Sometimes I miss my old coworkers and customers, but I'm settling in to love this store even more. And I'm learning so many new things that I never would have had the opportunity to learn in my last store.

The Future of the Library

What can libraries do to stay relevant in the digital age? I read Seth Godin's blog, and he blogged about this issue and it got me thinking. I don't even have a library card anymore. I did more than a decade ago, but it's gone now. In fact, it's been years since I went inside a library on my own. I've been with Katie to return or check out books, usually for her classroom, but never on my own for my reading pleasure. Part of that is because I don't get as much pleasure from reading as she does.

But I do read. I read RSS feeds, blogs, Twitter and Facebook. This is MY reading material. And I don't need a library to find it. I need my computer, or iPod.

Occasionally I do read actual books. Last summer Katie and I were browsing in Costco and looking across their books. I wasn't expecting to pick up a bestseller, take it home, and read it cover-to-cover. Nor was I expecting to find a cookbook, try some new recipes, and become a better cook. This was all the furthest thing from my mind. But a particular book did catch my eye for some reason. Its called POLK: The Man who Transformed the Presidency and America by Walter R. Borneman. It's not like me to WANT to read a book, so we decided it was worth it to buy it. It's a biography of James K. Polk, our eleventh president of these United States. I've only read about a third of the book so far, but I've enjoyed reading it when I get a little spare time. (James K. Polk is my favorite american president.)

Katie and I have actively made the transition to the digital age. Yes we do own DVDs, CDs, and books. (That's a discussion for a whole new blog post another day.) But the media we most enjoy is digital. We receive the newspaper on the weekends, but mostly for the Church News and the ads on Sunday. Not for the articles. We don't watch the nightly news, or any TV news for that matter. If its important enough, someone will tell us. All relevant news to me, I can usually find via Twitter, Facebook, email, or some other digital media.

What about the libraries? The Internet is still a fairly new technology. Before the Internet, students had to spend time inside a library to get access to encyclopedias, and other reference materials. Now information about anything and everything is online, in your own home, in the comfort of your pajamas.

Of course, that's not to say libraries are obsolete (yet). What about the rest of the offerings of the library? In an economy such as now where money is tighter, people cannot purchase books they need or want to read, and not every book is available free online. The lending library provides a rich world of information not available elsewhere. But for how long?

Librarians are saying that the number one thing they deliver to patrons is free DVD rentals. That's not a long-term strategy. Nor is it particularly an uplifting use of our tax dollars. I guess that does include all sorts of educational, documentary, and how-to types of DVDs, but I can't say that I agree with that as a proper PRIMARY use of a library system.

Baby boomers are on the way out, and kids that grew up on the Internet are now old enough to spend money. This poses a problem with the changing attitudes on the proper use of libraries. Robin Cicchetti proposed some solutions to this inevitable problem, as is applies to school libraries:

1. Transform the "library" into a "learning commons." Libraries are crucial in this age of abundant information, but only if they provide relevant support for those actively navigating the digital environment. Hang up your "shhh," stop fussing over the coffee cups, welcome students in with wide open arms along with their mess and Facebook. Give them new tools so that they can find, evaluate, and create. Teach them how be ethical and productive citizens. Teach them how to communicate responsibly and publish to the world. Creativity can be messy and loud. Get over it. Welcome to the learning commons.
   
2. Stop paper training students. Push information out to students digitally and also teach them the critical skills of finding and evaluating it for themselves. Paper is our orientation, but doesn't do any favors for our digital natives. The age of the reading packet is gone because it can't be accessed by students with reading disabilities. It can't be posted to a collaborative platform for analysis and discussion. It can't be linked or embedded, and it isolates the learner. Students need to manage their information and materials using RSS feeds, web portals, and collaborative platforms. They deserve the opportunity to share learning with an authentic audience made up of peers, experts in the field, or a global audience. Use paper only as a last resort.
   
3. Be a leading voice in bringing new ideas to your community as a tool for evaluating current practice. Change is hard. Be enthusiastic of innovation and supportive yet positive with those who may feel overwhelmed. There is no such thing as a "dumb question". Recognize and value the best of "old school" methods with the same vigor you use to promote the new.
   
4. Advocate for the diversification of formats. Planning for the future still involves books, but collections should also include ebooks, MP3 books, graphic novels, and collections that are rich in media. This means leading investigations into new technologies that will allow us to manage, catalog, and curate media productions, media files, student artwork, student performances and more. This means researching vendors, piloting digital textbooks, and supporting hand held digital devices for students.
5. Treasure and promote curiosity and creativity in our students. Bringing new tools to teachers as a way to provide alternate ways for students to find information, create meaning, and share their learning is a unique skill librarians can bring to their schools.

I believe the proper direction for libraries is to become a central starting point for the exploration of information and acquisition of skills and knowledge. Free classes or experts available. Become a place where people can learn how to use the internet. Learn how to research for jobs or homes. Improve job skills and interview skills. Learn new skills via the library's database of tutorials. In general, a way to improve ourselves in this economy.

Without this kind of change, within the next ten years, we'll see the public library system turn into nothing more than a place where kids go to read magazines and play online games, and a warm place for the homeless.