Peekin' Through Your Curtains

One Year Ago...

2009-02-04T20:11:00.006-05:00

My beautiful baby boy was born. Welcome little one.

And what a difference a year makes.

So Happy Birthday Baby G! You have brought much joy into our lives. It has been fun watching all of your firsts.

Baby G really enjoyed his sweet cupcake desert. This was the first real sugary item he has ever eaten. Yummy!

Birthdays are GREAT!

I <3 Etsy!

2009-02-01T23:33:00.004-05:00

I ordered the cutest Valentine's Day cards from Etsy.

...and these perfect little love notes.

Check out The Craft Pantry Etsy shop.

Family Snow Day

2009-01-29T00:23:00.010-05:00

The weatherman was finally right! We had snow, then ice, then snow. The kids had a snow day, Brad was home from work, and the library closed! Family snow day, hooray.

I found these mini icicles under the slide in the backyard.

These pine needles are nestled snugly in a half inch of ice and then lightly powdered with snow.

Baby G had a fabulous time in the snow today and we all loved watching him figure it all out.

Big sis took Baby G on a ride. He loved being pulled around and we all got a good workout trudging through the snow.

Love this picture. It was moments before we headed inside. One little tear from the cold air, beautiful.

At Last!

2009-01-20T23:32:00.005-05:00

The Joy of Giving

2008-12-13T17:00:00.009-05:00

How do we teach our children... "It is better to give than to receive."

We have a rule in our house and we have remained steadfast to this rule even as our children have become non-believers. Our children drafted letters to Santa every year but their lists looked very different than my nieces and nephews lists.

You see we told our children that they could only ask for 3 things from Santa. We told them that Santa needed room in his sleigh to bring more toys to the children in the world who did not have Grandmothers and Grandfathers and Aunts and Uncles who could or would give them presents. They never questioned it, not even when their friends would get ridiculous amounts of stuff.

They appreciated those gifts on Christmas morning and loved them and played with them. I think this allowed them to understand what it feels like to get a gift. Because they know how wonderful it feels they now want to give that wonderful feeling to others. They understand that gifts do not have to be stuff but can be kind words or deeds. They can give the gift of time or comfort or hope. Gifts do not just come in boxes with ribbons and bows.

It will be fun watching them "teach" their baby brother the joy of giving. They are certainly practicing on this little man right now. They keep coming up with fun things for the baby this year and are struggling to give me 3 items for their "Santa" lists. This is causing me to become creative in my giving this year. See, we can all still learn to be better givers.

I think this is the greatest gift we could have given our children. And the gift I receive when watching the joy in their faces and eyes and hearts when they give to others...well that is the greatest gift.

A Few More Images From Snowy Day

2008-12-06T16:27:00.003-05:00

Teen S decided she wanted to shovel the sidewalk...I wasn't going to stop her. I love her spirit and confidence. Best way to shovel...wear your mouse ears!

Snowy Day & Baby Love

2008-12-06T14:43:00.022-05:00

We are enjoying a wonderful snowy day! I decided to head outside and practice with my D80, some nature shots. The silence of the snow immediately enveloped me and I was in peaceful bliss. I found some wonderful subjects peeking out from under the snow.

These holly berries seemed appropriately seasonal. the beauty of the brilliant red juxtaposed with the crisp white of the snow, beautiful.

The softness of this image is very soothing. I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of detail and the clarity.

When I came back inside I found my little man doing something very interesting and surprising. He must have seen me wandering in the backyard and decided he needed to check out what was happening outside.

(No he wasn't alone inside while I was taking pictures, big sis C was on patrol)

Yes, he is standing on his own! Big sis C said he crawled over and then walked his way up the window until he was standing. He was mesmerized by the falling snow, it was way too cute.

We will be heading outside later today, when there is more snow. I cannot wait to see how he reacts to the cold, wetness. I so love these baby firsts. And I so love the first significant snowfall. What a wonderful day!

Stop Reading Right Now Young Lady!

2008-12-05T10:25:00.011-05:00

Teen C loves to read. I cannot get her nose out of the computer. Yes, the computer. She spends hours reading books online. I think a Kindle is in her future. It drives me insane, and I love technology. I cannot figure out why I am so bothered that she is reading books on her computer, maybe I am getting old. I don't cringe when I see her holding a book curled up on the sofa. I don't cringe when I see her reading in the bathroom, well maybe a little but you know you do it too.

So what is my problem? She isn't being anymore antisocial than she is with a book in her hands, or even without, she is after all a teenager. She isn't hiding what she is reading. She will often bring the computer to me and say "Mom you have to read this it is soooo good." I read on the computer too, mostly work related stuff and not so much for pleasure, except my favorite blogs. And those of you who follow me on twitter know I must be sick if I haven't tweeted 100 times during the day. I mean, I do love my computer.

Where am I going with this? I guess I just need to get over it already. How lucky am I that my kid loves to read? It is time to stop my complaining and embrace the digital books she loves so much. It doesn't matter what medium she uses to do her reading, it only matters that she is reading.

**If Amazon is listening...Feel free to send me a KINDLE and my Teen will be a very willing tester. Possible untapped market for KINDLE, teenagers!**

All That Glitters

2008-12-03T23:15:00.003-05:00

The Escape Artist

2008-12-02T13:54:00.001-05:00

So I am having a blast learning how to use my Nikon D80. I know I have a long way to go but a wise woman (Cheryl) told me to be patient with myself ;o)

Baby G has been showing signs that he might be thinking about climbing out and over things very soon. I caught him plotting his escape:

Hey Mom, I was just lying here minding my own business.

So when I finally let him out, he was into everything!

Thank goodness for big sisters!

Anyone up for some Guitar Hero?

I wish he would stay little forever, no really I do.

Ten Random Things About Me!

2008-12-02T13:08:00.003-05:00

1. I was raised in Upstate NY.

2. I love snow. Not just a little snow, alot of snow!

3. I met my husband at the pool while training at OSU.

4. I was 6 months old when I was taken out campaigning for the very first time.

5. I was a major tomboy and played every sport (except golf and hockey) as a kid.

6. My coaches called me Toughie because I was so aggressive on the basketball court.

7. I love to shop...online!

8. I believe everyone should have joy in their life and if they are not happy it is time to make some tough decisions and changes. Life is to short!

9. I love reality TV, Top Chef, Project Runway, Rock of Love, Charm School. I am always up for a good train wreck ;o)

10. I won a gold medal in the Hans Christian Anderson Cup (synchronized swimming) in Denmark when I was 13 years old. The German National Soccer team tried to take us out for drinks after we won. Coaches said no, bummer.

Thing #23

2008-12-02T01:20:00.001-05:00

So here we are, at the last "thing." Learn & Play has been a wonderful experience. There were many things I was already using and many that were new to me. I think this was a very innovative way to incorporate learning into our busy work lives.

My favorite part of L&P was not actually participating in L&P but watching those around me participate. It was wonderful to see staff who are very uncomfortable with new technology jump in feet first. They were nervous but willing to try these new things. Setting up a culture and environment that reward learning and is not punitive when folks have questions has made all the difference. When you take away the fear, learning can occur with great ease.

I loved "eavesdropping" on staff as they worked together to achieve all 23 things. They were all so comfortable asking each other for help. It was great to hear people talk about their favorite "thing" and then expand upon how we might be able to use it in our daily work lives. It was amazing to see a few staff members who are generally very quiet and reserved, come out of their shells to share and help their peers. For me this was the most rewarding thing that has come from my L&P experience.

I am hopeful that this is the beginning of a new way of learning at CML. That we can take this model and use it on our other training modules. I will do my best to continue this feeling of excitement and energy that L&P has created at my branch. It has been an amazing team building experience.

Thing #22

2008-12-02T01:19:00.002-05:00

I have been using MOLDI for over a year now. The only problem I have is that the titles I want are never available, even the classics. I wish they had a larger selection for me to choose from. I decided to use this when we first added MOLDI so I would be able to help our customers. It was very helpful knowing how it really worked when I tried to explain it to our customers.

Thing #21

2008-12-02T01:18:00.002-05:00

I preferred using PodcastAlley to the other podcast directories.

Podcasts can be useful in a library setting. It is just another marketing medium that we should be utilizing. This is another way we can expand our capacity and reach those we are not already reaching.

I admit I am not the biggest fan of podcast as I am a visual person. I much prefer to watch the video that goes along with the dialogue.

Thing #20

2008-12-02T01:18:00.001-05:00

Youtube

I love finding music videos and clips from my favorite television shows on Youtube. I think we could use youtube to put a face on the library. The fun videos that were created by the L&P team are a great example. We really need to push this sort of advertising to our customers.

Here is one of my favorites. I hope it makes you laugh as much as it made me laugh:

Thing #19

2008-12-02T01:17:00.004-05:00

Playing w/the CML Toolbox

I decided to check out three tools I had not used before.
Boing Boing
Interesting but not sure how it could be useful to me.

StumbleUpon
Like the categories on this tool. Again finding it fun to play with but not sure it is useful for work.

MAKE
Hmmm. Who knew you could make so many different things. Could this be used for Science Fair Projects? Interesting.

Thing #18

2008-12-02T01:17:00.003-05:00

So I bet you can guess which tool I chose to investigate...
TWEETScan of course. Did I mention I am a twitter addict? ;o)

I liked using the Find People search, especially because that feature seems to be disabled on Twitter. I could search geographically or by specific username.

I also love the word cloud feature. I could just click on one of the topics and then get a fabulous list of tweets. Think it is funny #motrinmoms is still #1 on the list. Yes, I spent a weekend tweeting to bring down the stupid ad (even made it on the youtube video).

I like that I can set up tweets on specific topics to be sent to my email. I wouldn't want to miss anything important ;o)

Possible use for library setting; We could get instant information about when people are tweeting about our system. Maybe?

Thing # 17

2008-12-02T01:17:00.001-05:00

WOW! How did I not already know about this? Our customers will love this! It is so simple to use. The fact that no software is required is genius! What does this mean for libraries? Can we stop purchasing software? I think this could be a huge money saver for our system. No need to by Microsoft products for our computers. Talk about creating a seamless customer experience. PC, MAC, Windows, no problem we can help you. This is so wonderful! I was able to add tables and even the spreadsheet tool was easy to use. I'm a believer!

Thing # 16

2008-12-02T01:16:00.001-05:00

I have been trying to finish this "thing" for a few days now because I can't seem to properly access the wiki. Apparently I am not allowed in the sand box LOL

Okay I am finally allowed to play! It was surprisingly easy to add and edit and save. What a great way to communicate and stay up to date with those you don't see everyday. This is a tool that will be very useful to us as a system. Talk about sharing resources!

Thing #15

2008-12-02T00:56:00.000-05:00

What is a Wiki

"A wiki allows a group of people to collaboratively develop a Web site with no knowledge of HTML or other markup languages. Anyone can add to or edit pages in a wiki -- it is completely egalitarian. Anyone can create new wiki pages simply by creating a new link with the name of the page."

Content is driven by those in the wiki group. There are many uses for this tool in the library setting. Our YS team started using a wiki to keep track of Teacher Collections and working groups. The fact that it is a dynamic environment allows for flexibility.

Thing #14

2008-12-02T00:50:00.000-05:00

Away from the “icebergs”

Very interesting article. I think what spoke to me most was the statement "No profession can survive if it throws its core principles and values overboard in response to every shift in the zeitgeist." This is so true. There must be a balance between change and technology and our core principals. I believe technology allows us to truly give "Access to All." We now have the ability to access resources that in the past we could not afford or that were stashed in archives. Technology gives us the ability to retrieve information for our customers in a more efficient manner.

Thing #13

2008-12-02T00:42:00.000-05:00

Delicious is absolutely delicious! I see great things for this bookmarking tool. It is great that I can access the resources that have been bookmarked by my peers from any location. This is a great tool for us to utilize as a system as we attempt to share resources more efficiently.

Top 10 Signs You Might Need a "Twittervention"

2008-12-02T00:31:00.000-05:00

This list was on another blog and I had to share:

1. You type "@" before names in e-mail, blog comments and data fields.
2. Your written communications have become extremely short. 140 characters or less.
3. You change your Twitter avatar at least 3-5 times a week.
4. You don't use your phone to make calls anymore.
5. Your blog hasn't been updated in weeks/months.
6. You check your Twitter account daily/hourly to see if you have new "followers".
7. New followers = euphoria while no new followers sets off mild depression.
8. You tell your friends to just "Twitter it" to you.
9. You experience panic attacks if Twitter is down for more than an hour.
10. You experience "Twitter remorse" due to having a high number of updates, but still can't stop doing it.

Thing #12

2008-12-02T00:18:00.000-05:00

Help I need a Twittervention!

"Hello my name is Jen and I am a Twitter addict."

Many of you already know about my current addiction, some even join me in my addiction (MariaOD) I love using twitter! It is so fast and easy and takes me like 2 seconds to post. It has been great for networking with people who share the same interests as I do (politics, music, library stuff, news). I even met one of my customers on twitter and reserved a book for him.

So besides being a fun social network, can we use twitter for work? I think the answer is yes. Perhaps this is how we reach out to our digital customers. It gives us the ability to create a relationship with our online customer in a way we have not been able to do so far. It can also be used as an environment to push information; events, great reads, awesome references, etc.

So please feel free to follow me but know I talk about life and work. Maybe you will learn some things about me that will surprise you.

FOLLOW ME!
https://twitter.com/jdarlinghess

Thing #11

2008-12-02T00:04:00.000-05:00

LibraryThing
Well, I can keep track of books I have read or want to read. I set up an account and added 5 titles. I prefer Shelfari but do like the blog piece of this tool.

And a link to my LibraryThing catalog:
http://www.librarything.com/catalog/hessdarling&sort=stamp

Thing #10

2008-12-01T23:48:00.001-05:00

My creation
Originally uploaded by Hessdarling

Okay Big Huge Labs is my favorite! I made puzzles and calendars and posters. I spent hours playing and uploading and tweaking. I think I had too much fun playing with this one ;o)

I made this letter to Santa for baby G. He is still too little to know who Santa is but it was fun.

Here is the link to this fun tool https://bighugelabs.com/flickr/

Thing #9

2008-12-01T23:02:00.000-05:00

I really like using Technorati. It was simple. Technorati found some obscure references easily, seems to be a more powerful tool than the other.

I had a really hard time searching Syndic8, not sure if it was because of the way it looked or because it was an inferior search tool. It was so ugly I had a hard time giving it a real chance. I know, don't judge a book by it's cover but man come on a little color or something, please.

Topix was also very easy to use. Liked that I could search with a zip code, pretty cool.

Thing #8

2008-12-01T22:46:00.000-05:00

I thought I would not find this exercise very useful, but I was wrong. I like having the ability to get feeds from my favorite blogs and new sites. It was great to have it all in one place.

I think it is great that I can get all my library and technology news in one place. Kind of a one stop shop for information.

http://www.bloglines.com/public/hessdarling

Thing #7: Blog about Technology

2008-12-01T21:58:00.000-05:00

There is so much to say...
I decided to share a few articles that I have enjoyed that relate to technology, web 2.0 and libraries. I hope you find them as interesting as I did.

Save the Libraries – With Open Source
http://www.linuxjournal.com/content/save-libraries-%E2%80%93-open-source

Yammer-Twitter for Work (https://www.yammer.com/)
This is a great idea. As I am a total Twitter addict but see value in using twitter in our work environment.

Readers overwhelm EU's new digital library
http://tech.yahoo.com/news/nm/20081120/wr_nm/us_eu_digital_library

Thing #6

2008-12-01T21:52:00.001-05:00

My creation
Originally uploaded by Hessdarling

So many toys to play with, so little time...

I decide to make a fun badge for my lovable cavalier Annabelle.

Thing #5

2008-12-01T20:21:00.000-05:00

I was introduced to Flickr about 3 years ago. Joy in DS was so ahead of the curve (still is). I just got a new camera, Nikon D80, and have been learning how to us this fancy machine. I had fun doing a series of images of eyes. Amazing the colors and variants you find when you really look deeply at someones eyes.

I do prefer to use Photobucket and Picassa over Flickr.

So, the eyes have it! Flickr is fun but Photobucket is easier. IMHO.

Just For Fun

2008-12-01T20:05:00.001-05:00

Jennifer's Dewey Decimal Section:

608 Inventions & patents

Jennifer = 05449658 = 054+496+58 = 608

Class:
600 Technology

Contains:
Health, agriculture, management, public relations, buildings.

What it says about you:
You are creative and inspired to make the world a better place. You can work hard on something when it catches your interest. Your friends have unique interests in common with you.

Find your Dewey Decimal Section at Spacefem.com

Midnight Deadline

2008-12-01T18:49:00.000-05:00

I am trying to do all my L&P posts before the midnight deadline tomorrow! I have really enjoyed playing at work and watching others L&P at work too. It has been amazing to watch people working together and figuring it all out. It has been inspirational to see those who are not comfortable with technology, embrace and play and step out of their comfort zone.

Woman Arrested for Not Returning Books

2008-08-22T14:38:00.000-04:00

http://www.wisn.com/video/17259879/

Wow and I thought we were pretty serious with our collection process. We got nothin' on them.

"Book 'em Danno!" (nostalgic Hawaii Five-O quote for you youngsters)

All work and no play...

2008-08-22T00:23:00.000-04:00

If I am not having fun, I am not learning. That is just how my mind works. This is how I learn best, watching and doing. Let me get my hands on it, touch it, feel it and then the "Ah Ha" moment arrives. I have never been an old school, sit in the classroom and take notes kind of gal.

I found this description of my learning type:

Kinesthetic learners are those who learn through experiencing/doing things. Look over these traits to see if they sound familiar to you. You may be a kinesthetic learner if you are someone who:

(Never get picked last for the team)

(I like change man!)

(Spell Check, duh)

(Good thing my Mother made me take keyboarding in HS)

(Who doesn't like mixing toxic stuff)

(That way I can't hear the ringing in my ears)

(Of course)

(It is always fun to pretend you are someone else)

(Lots and lots of breaks)

(This one not so much)

(Move and breath)

(Apologies to those sitting near me)