An Announcement

Amidst bad news, I received a wonderful opportunity.  I have been offered a position to work part time in a library.  I can't tell you how elated this makes me.  I am thrilled to get actual hands-on experience in this field instead of simply relying on texts and theories.  It reminds me when I was working on my undergrad, and I had a textbook titled, "But Will It Work With Real Students?"  So now I get to find out if this stuff really works.

via Flickr (thejester100)

The bad side is for a time (hopefully, a very short while) I'll be working my full time job and this part time job.  I will be going full throttle for about 12 hours a day.  This whole job business came about at a break neck speed, and it has me worried at the relentless pace of work.  I am not the sort of person who predicted that I'd become a workaholic.  I don't think I'm a workaholic, and yet here I am willingly transferring previous hours of leisure to those of work.  I have some serious doubts about how this will go down.  I am terrified.  And so hyped up off adrenaline (library job!!!) that I suspect there's a possibility I might actually pull this off.  Though all ready, I'm getting my days slightly mixed up.

One thing that I have been so grateful for with my current job is my ability to get loads of sleep and rest.  I have a fantastic schedule where I come in later than the usual work day and stay later.  I get home, eat, goof off, do schoolwork, and sleep (glorious sleep).  My guess is that a second job is really going to cut into some of my leisure activities and sleep.  And writing the blog.

But holy cannoli!  I'm going to be working in a library!  eee!

I am recognizing already the differences between the expectation of library work and the real atmosphere.  There's systems and screens to toggle.  There's urine in the children's section that needs reporting.  There's members with the most bizarre requests (will this book teach me Excel for my Bingo group?  say what?).  I've had to be meteorologist.  I've had to be geographer.  I've had to be a fine collector. 

I am realizing I've been given a precious opportunity as everyone asks me what experience I have in the library.  Uh...none.  I must have rocked hard at that interview.  Just sayin'.  But despite my being very wet behind the ears and my asking probably a thousand or so ridiculous questions a day, I've been welcomed in to the fold.  They gave me a cookie cake for my first day with a little welcome poster.  And no one's scoffed at me yet.

And in case you think, "Wow, that Bigbad.  He has it made.  A kept man while his wife works two jobs," a glimpse at his day includes lots and lots of job searching, endless chores (laundry and dishes), mowing the lawn, and being nagged about the job search.  Just in case you were wondering (which I doubt you were).

And yes, he does have it made.  He married me after all.  ;)  All the same, please be crossing fingers and sending him good vibes for the job hunt and an interview he has coming up.

I blog about books, crafts, educational ideas, food, and my life. You can subscribe to my blog to stay up to date on my posts or follow along at other social media sites.

Chalkboard Beer Flight Paddle Graduation Gift

For Punky Brewster's graduation, I was able to find a collection of beer themed items for her gift.  All of these came from the Dollar Spot at Target.  We bought her a beer bottle shaped ice cube tray, bottle cap coasters that read "Beer goes here", small tasting glasses for beer, and a paddle for a flight of beer.  In case it needs reminding, Punky Brewster enjoys beer (drinking it and making it).

The paddle was around $1-2 I think. It was plain wood. If you can't find one at a Target, I'd suggest checking around the Internet. There are some places that have affordable options, there are restaurant supply options (if you want an entire case), and there's etsy for handmade options. 

I knew I wanted to be a little creative with decorating the paddle. I came across Three Scoops of Love's chalkboard beer flight paddle and knew that would be a great idea for Punky Brewster's gift. The chalkboard finish would allow her to number or label the samples at a party for tasting.  Fun?  Right! 

I found a red glossy spray paint from Wal-Mart that matched her college's colors.  Bigbad came up with the genius idea of using Dixie cups to mark off the red circles for when I sprayed the chalkboard paint.  For the win!  So much easier than the hassle of trying to tape off those circles.

And I raise a virtual toast to all of the graduates!  Congratulations on your hard work!

I blog about books, crafts, educational ideas, food, and my life. You can subscribe to my blog to stay up to date on my posts or follow along at other social media sites.

Double Graduation

Sort of like a double wedding, we experienced a double graduation this weekend.  My sister Punky Brewster (finally!) graduated with her undergrad in microbiology, and Bigbad (finally!) completed his Master's in English lit.

Everything leading up to this graduation has felt like a water droplet in suspension.  Will it ever be over?  Will he/she/I get a job?  It's been a long time coming, and the wait of possibility is finished.  Finished for the time being.

The university had Punky Brewster and Bigbad's department graduations at the same time in different buildings. Bigbad wanted things to be easy, and I didn't want to have to choose which to go to, so they both attended the enormous university wide ceremony.  Despite the thousands in attendance, we were still able to spot Bigbad and Punky Brewster.

The ceremony was long (it took over 50 minutes for the graduates to proceed in).  Thank the ever loving Lord, the band did not play Pomp & Circumstance once.  They seemed to favor more adventure movie scores.  The ceremony had some awkward moments during speeches when I'm sure everyone turned to their neighbor and wondered if they were filming commercials for various products and companies, but overall the mood was one of excessive pride and wonderful energy.  

See the two rows in front of Bigbad?  Those are newly commissioned officers from the NCSU's ROTC.  In front of them are the valedictorians of the colleges (students with over 100 credit hours and a perfect GPA).  The vet school graduates seem to have a competition every year on who can out do everyone on decorating their mortarboard.  These caps had balloons, animated toys, helmets, and flamingos, and all sorts of zany creations.  And twice, the forever alums were honored.  They were NCSU graduates from at least 50 years ago.  Some pride lasts a lifetime I suppose.

Both Punky Brewster and Bigbad had some serious school pride going on with their wardrobe selections. Punky Brewster had her fan feet heels on (I wore mine--obviously not NCSU to the large ceremony to balance out all the State pride).  Bigbad wore his wolf tie that came from Bigbad Papa's collection.

We all got together (and when I say all--I mean me, Bigbad, Smallgood Granny & Pop, the Bigbad parents, Smallgood parents, Tempest Mermaid, and one of Punky Brewster's graduating buddies) to mark the celebration with a dinner at Klara's and a gift exchange.

 

We had to get a new family portrait.  And finally you see a new photo of the Rocker. Seven and a half post secondary degrees among us.We're racking them up.

And now, what's next?  What is the after now that we are no longer suspended in the various stages of denial and unbelief and terror that is graduating?  Punky Brewster is job hunting while simultaneously packing to likely make a big cross country move.  Bigbad is job hunting and playing the bajesus out of Defiance.

I blog about books, crafts, educational ideas, food, and my life. You can subscribe to my blog to stay up to date on my posts or follow along at other social media sites.

On our plate: Deviled Eggs

Being the Southerner that I am, one of the things that I hold to be true is the notion that if it's an event, there will be deviled eggs.  Bigbad laughed at this when we first started dating, but he's quickly come to believe the truth in that idea.

A holiday = deviled eggs are essential.

A special occasion like graduation = someone will bring deviled eggs.

Just a Tuesday = nope, no deviled eggs.

I couldn't tell you why this is the case, but it is.  And I'm not complaining.

This was a new experiment of putting breakfast sausage around the boiled eggs.  Scotch egg recipe from All Recipes.  Then obviously devil the yolks.

We tried fried deviled eggs on our recent trip to D.C.  They were delicious, but even Bigbad admitted they weren't as good as Marmie or Smallgood Granny's typical fare.

I couldn't tell you why they are so delicious, but they are.

Our ingredients are similar to Paula Deen's (hey, there's no butter in this recipe!).  Relish is key.  And I'd never heard of the idea of putting hot sauce in deviled eggs before searching for a recipe online:

• 7 large eggs, hard boiled and peeled
• 1/4 cup mayonnaise
• 1 1/2 tablespoons sweet pickle relish
• 1 teaspoon prepared mustard
• Salt and pepper, for taste

We don't typically garnish with paprika-- not that I'm against it.  The contrast is beautiful.  But somewhere along the generations, someone must have run out of the spice and someone else must have assumed that's the way our family's always prepared it.

P.S. I'm adding a new tag to some of my recipe/food posts: there's an app for that.  Clever, huh?  For all my appetizers (which let's be honest are mainly what I can handle).

I blog about books, crafts, educational ideas, food, and my life. You can subscribe to my blog to stay up to date on my posts or follow along at other social media sites.