I wish "Book Wizard" was an actual job title…

It’s January and the spring semester started last week. I was hoping to get more done than I did between semesters but I did get a few things on my list accomplished. I started doing a 2 week program to make my online class this semester better called Quality Matters. I learned about how to make my class more accessible for different types of learners. I’m glad that I participated in the program, but it was scheduled during the time of Convocation, which I was presenting at this semester. My Convocation session was called Are You Open to Open? Student[…]

It is now December and 2019 is almost over. The holidays are quickly approaching and the fall semester is wrapping up. I am looking forward to having a little time between the semesters so I can get a few projects done at work since the library is only open 4 hours a day between semesters. In the spring I’ll be teaching a class on Canvas and it is basically to show students how to properly do research for their papers. It’s only a 1 credit class and many of the students take it during their last semesters when they only[…]

October is usually my favorite month of the year. One reason is because my birthday is in October and my favorite holiday, Halloween. I’m not sure if Halloween is my favorite because as a child I typically got thrown Halloween themed birthday parties, because I like to dress in costumes, because there are usually a bunch of horror movies released, or because you can finally walk outside without dying from heat exhaustion. This year I’m not as into it as I usually am and I’m not sure why. Don’t get me wrong, I celebrated my birthday. On Tuesday, October 15th[…]

September went by in a flash! It was so busy and I had so much fun. One of the great things about September is that it is the beginning of hockey season. I have been a hockey fan for years, but most people that live in Las Vegas only started following hockey when the Vegas Golden Knights started playing here 2 years ago. I actually worked for the NHL for several years while I was in college. I was hired to go and paint the center logos for different teams. I worked for the L.A. Kings, the Ducks, the Sharks,[…]

Let me just say first and foremost that I have never liked camping, even as a child. It was never fun, it was always a struggle. My father was an alcoholic and would use camping as an excuse to drink. I realize that many people do that, but when we had to bring coolers full of beer and almost no food because it wasn’t as important as the beer there was obviously a problem. He also had back issues so setting up a campsite wasn’t something that he could really physically manage without taking loads of pain medication…see where I’m[…]

My husband is the most awesome person on the face of the planet. Seriously, he really is. Tomorrow is our 5th anniversary (yes, on the 4th of July, Independence Day, LOL!) and, unfortunately, he has to work. While I am disappointed, I totally understand. His show is so short-staffed right now that if he took the day off the show wouldn’t be able to run and Cirque du Soleil would be out 100s of thousands of dollars. Tonight, we are going to watch the Las Vegas Aviators play in the new ball park and watch the fireworks after the game,[…]

Today is my first day in my new position as a tenure track faculty Instruction/Reference Librarian at the College of Southern Nevada. To say that I’m overwhelmed would be a major understatement. I had to go to HR and sign up for all my benefits, which I haven’t had to do in years since I’ve gotten all of the through my husband. At 6PM this evening I also have an online Information Session for ESU and the cohort program that I’m trying to get started in Las Vegas. I sent that info to the Nevada Library Association’s Social Media Librarian[…]

So many things have been going on the last few weeks that I didn’t have a chance to write a post. I feel like I say that quite frequently, but the truth is that it is just life. Life is constantly happening and if we don’t make the time to do things like write posts, email our friends/family, read books that we’ve been meaning to we won’t ever get around to it. Here is the BIG update: I got the job as a faculty librarian at the College of Southern Nevada!! I can’t even begin to tell you how excited[…]

This past weekend my wonderful husband took me to a farm animal rescue called Barn Buddies http://barnbuddiesrescue.org/. He figured that after the last couple of weeks that one of the best ways to cheer me up (I’ll talk about the reasons for this in a later post) was to get me to a cow. I love cows so much! They are so sweet and so gentle, and not only did I get to pet a cow named Hazel, but I got to give her a kiss too. Welcome To BARN BUDDIES RESCUE – Barn Buddies RescueBarn Buddies Rescue is a fairly[…]

I have a very hard time interviewing and I have finally figured out why. I am a pretty animated person and I don’t have any issue getting some sort of affirmation from people, but when I’m interviewing that isn’t the case. The panel of interviewers usually can’t react to what you are saying and when people don’t react it makes me very uncomfortable because I feel like I haven’t answer their question well enough so I will reiterate what I said in a different way and this is when I tend to lose them. I have been working to improve[…]