odd stuff

As many of you may know, I work at a public library. And I love it, don't get me wrong. But, what many of you may not know is that there are some weird happenings in libraries. I can testify first hand.  And because I have this knowledge, I feel it my civil duty to share it with you. ;) What goes on behind the scenes in public libraries....

One day over the summer I was walking through fiction to pull a book for a young lady, one of my friends actually. Along the back wall we have a bunch of window bays that people use for reading and studying and such. As I walk by one of the window bays I witness a man exercising.  And I'm talking like major exercising. He was doing stretches and push ups. In the library? It was one of those things that you see and have to do a double take to make sure you actually saw it.

Sometimes I feel that people think the library is a living google search. I get odd phone calls and questions sometimes. Such as, what is the answer to this crossword puzzle? Or, do you know how to put minutes on a go-phone? What district is such and such high school in? Who is Scarlett's best friend in the movie Gone With the Wind? Where can I rent a projector? How do you restart your iPhone after locking yourself out?

Not long ago I was working the night shift and my coworker, Kim, and I had stepped away from the information desk for a moment. When we return she says, "Oh look. We have flowers." Sure enough, we each had a single, pink rose bud at our work stations. Weird.

So these are just a few of my strange library excursions. Funny stuff!

while at work...

Last week, Tuesday evening to be exact, one of my coworkers, Sharon, came up to me before she got off and asked me to do her a favor.  Her summer reading program was the next day and the kids were going to be learning how to draw.  But they were also going to be making creations with their fingerprints using stamps.  So, Sharon asked me to test each stamp to make sure it was good and inky for the children.  I must have looked a tad bit dumbfounded because she confirmed that yes she really did want me to stick my fingers in the stamps and test them.  When I finished I left her note telling her which ones worked best.  And just out of impulse, I signed my name and then put my thumbprint beside it.  Mmhm...my job is awesome.

***

When I'm around my family, specifically my sister, I've learned to answer not only to Katie, but to Annie as well.  The same thing has occurred at work.  Only I'm called Rachael instead.  I've never met Rachael.  She left before I got there.  But apparently I'm a lot like her, both in build and mannerism.  And, I confess, after hearing about how much I was like her several times I finally looked her up on facebook.  There's definitely a resemblance.   I'd love to meet her someday and go up to her and say, "Hi, I'm Katie, but I'm often mistaken for you."

***

Many of my coworkers have commented on my hair in the last week after having it colored.  Most people say I look even more like my mom.  *grins*  But this one fellow, Ryan, worked the night shift with me one day last week.  It was probably two and a half, maybe three hours into our shift when he looks over at me and suddenly says, "Do you have a red streak in her hair?"  

I laugh and answer, "Yeah."  

"I guess it was intentional...?"  

I laugh again, "Yep."  

"I've been sitting here with you all night and I just now noticed!"  

Then one of our shelvers walks by and Ryan says to her while gesturing to me, "Is her hair different?"  

Right off the bat she answers, "Yeah she got highlights."  

It was really quite funny.  Good times...good times. 

at work

We've been shifting in fiction lately.  After doing a lot of weeding, we decided to get rid of several paperbacks on the second floor, which opened up two whole bookshelves at the very back.  So, why not give ourselves some more space throughout the rest of the shelves and move everything back.  I'm on the shifting team.  Each of us try to do about three hours a week.  I had the privilege to move Jane Austen.  This may seem very trivial, but I found it neat to be able to give her books a new resting space on the shelves.

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Every four hours an employee works, they get a fifteen minute break.  During one of my breaks not long ago I jogged up the stairs to the break room on the third floor.  The third floor is for employees only.  It makes me feel kinda special, that I can go up there.  Anyway, back to my break.  I gazed into the vending machine looking for something yummy to munch on.  Specifically, anything chocolate.  My eyes caught on some Reese's peanut butter sticks.  {Sidenote: Did you know they make them in sticks now?  Interesting.}  $1.00.  E6.  I slid my dollar in and punched in the buttons, but apparently my brain didn't do a very good job of communicating to my fingers.  I punched E5.  Oh no.  What was in E5?  I look down.  I was the new owner of.....beef sticks?  Ew.  Luckily I had an extra dollar to get my beloved Reese's sticks.  But what to do with the beef sticks?  Once again, ew.  I turned to one of the janitors who was cleaning the break room tables at the time.  "Charles, do you like these?  I accidentally pressed the wrong button."  He smiled, "Can't go wrong with beef sticks."  I handed them to him.  "You can have them."  He smiled again and said, "Thanks."  It was worth it then.  Even though my snack had ultimately cost me two whole dollars, I had made somebody happy with my beef sticks.  That was a great thing.

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Read any good books lately?  Right now I'm reading one that I read as a middle schooler.  It was on my reading list, and I ended up really enjoying it.  So much that I can recall bits and pieces of the story to this very day.  I decided, why not pick it up again?  It's called "Stargirl" by Jerry Spinelli.  Great book.

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Well, I'm coming to the end of this post and not sure how to bring it to a close.  I guess I'll just say, thank you.  Thank you dear readers for reading my idle chatter.

Yours,

Who is Me?

Me is someone who changes often.  Me looked very different at the start of this blog than she does now.  A good different, I hope.

Me is someone who loves pumpkin spice candles. Whose style is a mix between cute and weird.  Someone who loves laying in her bed with a good book and soft music playing in the background.  Me is someone who has best friends she's never met in person...some of whom don't exist but in book form.

Me is someone who is quiet to many people.  But behind the scenes, she'll dance and skip and sing into her curling iron when she thinks no one's looking (with the exception of this dear one).

Me is someone that is in love with her Jesus. She realizes that her life would be a lot different if it wasn't for Him. It's a great thing to know Someone's always looking out for you, isn't it?

Me is someone who has learned so much about books she's never read by being around them everyday.  She's a girl who loves her job.  But who knows what the future has in store?  Me knows Someone who does.

I am Me.  Who are you?


P.S. I got a bit of a spur of the moment hair cut the other day.  I, personally, love it.  Thoughts?  (I know there isn't a real good picture showing the length in this post...will try to post more soon.)

P.P.S. My computer is currently out of commission.  That is why my watermark is absent.

I am a book lover.

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I am a book lover.

And I've been told by people before that if I wasn't set out to be a nurse then I'd be great working in a library.

So, this summer, I decided to send in an application to the public library in my city.

On Thursday I got a call.  When the person on the other end said, "You've got a job" I knew I was blessed.

Why?

Because I have the opportunity to not only pursue one, but two careers that I love.

"Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart." --Psalm 37:4