Okay Wylie and I must confess and we admit our sin...
$10.25 in fines! 8 books at 25cents a day! But as the librarian said we must have loved those books and to be honest we did.
We also pointed out that the library now had enough money to buy a new book.
So this is a good thing right?????
Ah well, back to remembering to return our books.
Thursday, September 8, 2011
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
Silver Linings
Today is a grey and rainy day. The kind that begs for a good book, a good blanket, a comfy chair and a cup of something yummy. It is a good reading day.
As a child days like these were seen as silver lining days by my mom. Here are a few glimpses of her silver linings...
1. Summer at the beach and a full on chilly rainy day. No house work, no beach time, no outside play time. The perfect day to do what you do on vacation...Relax. Pick up a book and find a good chair to read in. It would be quiet for hours before someone would yawn, stretch and ask "what's for lunch?" At which point we'd either all pile into the car for some exploration of the boardwalk which would be empty of tourists due to the rain OR we'd make grilled cheeses and sit at the table and play games.
2. Rainy winter days during the holidays. Perfect day to pull out old cook books and make cookies or holiday treats and read quietly with the heat on. Relax. There were many a day to rush through traffic and worry about many things but the days that involved us all at home were sometimes just days to read. Some of those days my dad would read out loud to us. Silver was to be found on those days to.
So what are my silver linings for today which could only be described as a less than perfect day...
1. I have my rain gear for my motorcycle which keeps me warm and dry for the bike ride to the train which also gave me exercise and vigor this morning.
2. The rain actually stopped for the 15 minutes while I had to walk from Charles St to Pratt street because the buses still aren't running on Pratt.
3. My colleague will give me a ride to the train station on the way home.
Final silver lining for the day...finding new Christmas patterns for my kindle to review on the ride home.
As a child days like these were seen as silver lining days by my mom. Here are a few glimpses of her silver linings...
1. Summer at the beach and a full on chilly rainy day. No house work, no beach time, no outside play time. The perfect day to do what you do on vacation...Relax. Pick up a book and find a good chair to read in. It would be quiet for hours before someone would yawn, stretch and ask "what's for lunch?" At which point we'd either all pile into the car for some exploration of the boardwalk which would be empty of tourists due to the rain OR we'd make grilled cheeses and sit at the table and play games.
2. Rainy winter days during the holidays. Perfect day to pull out old cook books and make cookies or holiday treats and read quietly with the heat on. Relax. There were many a day to rush through traffic and worry about many things but the days that involved us all at home were sometimes just days to read. Some of those days my dad would read out loud to us. Silver was to be found on those days to.
So what are my silver linings for today which could only be described as a less than perfect day...
1. I have my rain gear for my motorcycle which keeps me warm and dry for the bike ride to the train which also gave me exercise and vigor this morning.
2. The rain actually stopped for the 15 minutes while I had to walk from Charles St to Pratt street because the buses still aren't running on Pratt.
3. My colleague will give me a ride to the train station on the way home.
Final silver lining for the day...finding new Christmas patterns for my kindle to review on the ride home.
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Kings Park Library Branch
New Librarian Love!
Wylie walked shyly up and asked for a DK Pirate Book. This is one of those eyewitness series books that we've loved in the past on Mummies, Egypt, Bugs, Food etc. She not only walked us over to the area where the book could be found but pulled out a super awesome Piratology book with a compass on the front for Wylie to read. She then also asked us if we were familiar with a few other pirate books as Wylie was obviously a big fan.
We also found chapter books for the Time Warp Trio Series! We loved the television series but this is a whole new ball game of fun with the books as they offer detail and imagination the television show cannot add.
We found one more fun book that was such a good book we read it cover to cover in one sitting. It was purely for fun and worth every moment.
"Wiley and Grandpa" (and yes Wylie did point out they spelled his name wrong). Not every day you find a book written about you!
That was our library love this week.
Wylie walked shyly up and asked for a DK Pirate Book. This is one of those eyewitness series books that we've loved in the past on Mummies, Egypt, Bugs, Food etc. She not only walked us over to the area where the book could be found but pulled out a super awesome Piratology book with a compass on the front for Wylie to read. She then also asked us if we were familiar with a few other pirate books as Wylie was obviously a big fan.
We also found chapter books for the Time Warp Trio Series! We loved the television series but this is a whole new ball game of fun with the books as they offer detail and imagination the television show cannot add.
We found one more fun book that was such a good book we read it cover to cover in one sitting. It was purely for fun and worth every moment.
"Wiley and Grandpa" (and yes Wylie did point out they spelled his name wrong). Not every day you find a book written about you!
That was our library love this week.
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Nourishing Traditions-Sally Fallon
The full title of the book is "Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats"
Through a local (Loudon County) farmer Chicama Run Farms I found this book. It's part cook book, part nutritional history, part college education text book, and part lifestyle/homemaker book. YES all of those things in one. AND YES it's quite thick so I have to say I'm glad it was a soft back and on sale and available through Amazon Prime. :)
The author has about four pages of references and nutritionists, dieticians and doctors as well as historians at the end of her introduction alone that give her credibility above and beyond most of the diet or "diet lifestyle" books out there. She refers to valid clinical trials as well as historical realities. She does get preachy at times and there are recipes and areas in which I think "Well, I'll substitute good old refined white sugar or turbinado sugar" instead of her recommendation of rapadura or something similar.
She has a section for each of the parts of nourishment that we as humans take in. This isn't a way of justifying poptarts or demonizing butter. It is pointing out proteins in all their different forms and counterparts, vitamins and their uses and in some cases overuse issues, minerals, carbohydrates (here she includes fruit and veg), dairy, fats, beverages-I love that she makes this a category of nourishment, enzymes, spices and salt.
She then breaks "food" into three categories, nourishing traditional foods, compromise foods, and "newfangled" foods. It really makes you realized that the more your basic meat, fruit, veg, grain, water, spice, salt is messed with the less it is good for you NO MATTER WHAT ANY ONE SAYS.
The other fun part of the book is that throughout she puts up the ingredients of products that are relatively common in the local grocery store without putting up the name of the product. This is a fun challenge as I have read a few of these to my 4.5 year old and he thinks I'm making up names and that it can't possibly be part of an actual recipe for a food item. When we find out what it is he is shocked and I am appalled and that item is promptly listed as NEVER COMING INTO OUR HOUSE AGAIN. In some cases we are pleasantly suprised with the small ingredient list and how it is something we really love. With no reason to wonder why!
I haven't made a recipe out of the book. Mainly as I still have all of my kitchen items in storage as we are still living with the in-laws until next week. After that I cannot wait to get the kitchen set up and the cooking to begin.
I hope you take the time to read and enjoy the book as much as I did.
Through a local (Loudon County) farmer Chicama Run Farms I found this book. It's part cook book, part nutritional history, part college education text book, and part lifestyle/homemaker book. YES all of those things in one. AND YES it's quite thick so I have to say I'm glad it was a soft back and on sale and available through Amazon Prime. :)
The author has about four pages of references and nutritionists, dieticians and doctors as well as historians at the end of her introduction alone that give her credibility above and beyond most of the diet or "diet lifestyle" books out there. She refers to valid clinical trials as well as historical realities. She does get preachy at times and there are recipes and areas in which I think "Well, I'll substitute good old refined white sugar or turbinado sugar" instead of her recommendation of rapadura or something similar.
She has a section for each of the parts of nourishment that we as humans take in. This isn't a way of justifying poptarts or demonizing butter. It is pointing out proteins in all their different forms and counterparts, vitamins and their uses and in some cases overuse issues, minerals, carbohydrates (here she includes fruit and veg), dairy, fats, beverages-I love that she makes this a category of nourishment, enzymes, spices and salt.
She then breaks "food" into three categories, nourishing traditional foods, compromise foods, and "newfangled" foods. It really makes you realized that the more your basic meat, fruit, veg, grain, water, spice, salt is messed with the less it is good for you NO MATTER WHAT ANY ONE SAYS.
The other fun part of the book is that throughout she puts up the ingredients of products that are relatively common in the local grocery store without putting up the name of the product. This is a fun challenge as I have read a few of these to my 4.5 year old and he thinks I'm making up names and that it can't possibly be part of an actual recipe for a food item. When we find out what it is he is shocked and I am appalled and that item is promptly listed as NEVER COMING INTO OUR HOUSE AGAIN. In some cases we are pleasantly suprised with the small ingredient list and how it is something we really love. With no reason to wonder why!
I haven't made a recipe out of the book. Mainly as I still have all of my kitchen items in storage as we are still living with the in-laws until next week. After that I cannot wait to get the kitchen set up and the cooking to begin.
I hope you take the time to read and enjoy the book as much as I did.
Monday, August 1, 2011
Back into Old Habits
So Wylie and I have missed the return date for our books on Saturday which means we are facing a .25cent per book charge! We currently have about 7 books out but will be returning them today!
Heads hanging in shame with that but tonight we will be having fun returning and getting new books.
Heads hanging in shame with that but tonight we will be having fun returning and getting new books.
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Prompt: Alivest
Alive-est
Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind. If we follow the truth, it will bring us out safe at last. - Ralph Waldo Emerson
When did you feel most alive recently? Where were you? What did you smell? What sights and sounds did you experience? Capture that moment on paper and recall that feeling. Then, when it’s time to create something, read your own words to reclaim a sense of being to motivate you to complete a task at hand.
I feel most alive when in nature. Sounds simple. It isn't just on a farm or in the woods or at the beach etc. It's when I take the time to be outside and breathe. It's when I take the time to think while outside about the miracle of life itself in the blade of grass, the bird eating my blueberries, the smell of ozone after a rainshower and most definitely when I am with my son stopping to experience all of those things.
Knowing I'm going to be home to experience that again is key to me!
Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind. If we follow the truth, it will bring us out safe at last. - Ralph Waldo Emerson
When did you feel most alive recently? Where were you? What did you smell? What sights and sounds did you experience? Capture that moment on paper and recall that feeling. Then, when it’s time to create something, read your own words to reclaim a sense of being to motivate you to complete a task at hand.
I feel most alive when in nature. Sounds simple. It isn't just on a farm or in the woods or at the beach etc. It's when I take the time to be outside and breathe. It's when I take the time to think while outside about the miracle of life itself in the blade of grass, the bird eating my blueberries, the smell of ozone after a rainshower and most definitely when I am with my son stopping to experience all of those things.
Knowing I'm going to be home to experience that again is key to me!
Prompt: Call to Arms
Call to Arms
The secret of fortune is joy in our hands. – Ralph Waldo Emerson
What if today, right now, no jokes at all, you were actually in charge, the boss, the Head Honcho. Write the “call to arms” note you’re sending to everyone (staff, customers, suppliers, Board) charting the path ahead for the next 12 months and the next 5 years. Now take this manifesto, print it out somewhere you can see, preferably in big letters you can read from your chair. You’re just written your own job description. You know what you have to do. Go! (bonus: send it to the CEO with the title “The things we absolutely have to get right – nothing else matters.”)
Hi it's Eli!
So this one is so timely. I was given the "temporary head honcho" role on 6/30/11 to last for two weeks. It didn't give me a big head and it didn't give me a ton of anxiety after 24 hours. Granted I've been having dreams about each of my teammates for the past week which is weird but for the most part I think working on a team and working with this team we are all prepared for the day in which we take the reins for awhile.We are all very lucky to have a great mentor in our boss and the opportunity to grow. This does not mean I can do the intricate parts of my teammates jobs by any means but it does mean that I can not do my job completely without their support.
I am not sure I would write a call to arms memo sending it to everyone on the team rather I would call a lunch meeting and then talk about the changes and send the memo later as a follow up. I would also meet with everyone on a one to one basis to understand what they want to do and how we can meet those needs. I look to lead with a team in place and as a team.
My plans for the team in the next 12 months would fall into three categories:
1. Fiscal-I want to stem the flow of funds out of our budget in the early part of the year to other teams in the organization to cover their seeming lack of planning. We need to be prepared for these cuts in our planning and make sure that we have our budget in travel, research services, and external support teams set up properly and contracted so we do not lose those resources. I want to be very firm on stemming the tide of funds flowing out of our budget. It is demoralizing to our team to continually be told our projects are not important and then be told to scramble and get the work done at the least price and with the least amount of time. It does not show that we are truly appreciated and it tends to show that we are undervalued.
2. Employee Training- Each year as a team we pick our conferences as ones we want to attend without really thinking about what we get out of the programs at the conference on a personal, team and corporate level. We tend to send folks to one or two of the same conferences each year and come back with similar thoughts. I want to rethink our conferences and turn it on it's head to sending each of us to a course or a seminar or training program. In 2009 and 2010 Chris and I participated in a certificate program it taught us more than just the material in the book and online. It taught us project and time management. It taught us collaboration beyond what we were doing already. In 2011 Chiko attended a multivariate analysis course recently bringing back knowledge of how to review and revisit our presentation and analysis of research. He also shared this knowledge with our extended Evaluserve team expanding their capabilities and thus expanding our offerings and capabilities within Laureate. The training doesn't have to be specific to market research in some cases as we expand into new verticals and new countries it might be the following:
A. Learning a new language for example having Elaine take a Spanish immersion course at a local community college or online as she works with NHU
B.Learning about the new verticle Charles to Kendall College or to a culinary/hospitality conference to learn more about the difficulties facing the potential student.
C. Participating in one of our current universities online offerings as a credit earning student.
Training in market research is much more than attending a research conference and making new contacts. It is continuing to learn.
3.Corporate Focus--We usually tend to be Walden and online focused when it comes to budget and project planning which does not always work for our team. We need to move away from this and start planning our projects as global projects. What would gather information for our universities and help us learn more about our students, about our true 5 to 10 year plans for education (not just financial growth plans), and the changing work/education/life environment.
We need to start making a fundamental shift in our internal clients focus of short term focus to long term focus. We all struggle with this both from a client management/relationship and from a client planning point of view. How do we HELP our clients plan for their future with regard to the needs of their college?
What I would really like to know from my team mates is what they would do if they were the boss? How would they change? Where do we agree? Where do we disagree? How do we NOT find middle ground but find a way to make fundamental and positive movement toward being one of the best? How do we generate or prove financial independence? My goal to be able to have our team operate as a completely separate entity within the company.
So that is my "Call to Arms."
The secret of fortune is joy in our hands. – Ralph Waldo Emerson
What if today, right now, no jokes at all, you were actually in charge, the boss, the Head Honcho. Write the “call to arms” note you’re sending to everyone (staff, customers, suppliers, Board) charting the path ahead for the next 12 months and the next 5 years. Now take this manifesto, print it out somewhere you can see, preferably in big letters you can read from your chair. You’re just written your own job description. You know what you have to do. Go! (bonus: send it to the CEO with the title “The things we absolutely have to get right – nothing else matters.”)
Hi it's Eli!
So this one is so timely. I was given the "temporary head honcho" role on 6/30/11 to last for two weeks. It didn't give me a big head and it didn't give me a ton of anxiety after 24 hours. Granted I've been having dreams about each of my teammates for the past week which is weird but for the most part I think working on a team and working with this team we are all prepared for the day in which we take the reins for awhile.We are all very lucky to have a great mentor in our boss and the opportunity to grow. This does not mean I can do the intricate parts of my teammates jobs by any means but it does mean that I can not do my job completely without their support.
I am not sure I would write a call to arms memo sending it to everyone on the team rather I would call a lunch meeting and then talk about the changes and send the memo later as a follow up. I would also meet with everyone on a one to one basis to understand what they want to do and how we can meet those needs. I look to lead with a team in place and as a team.
My plans for the team in the next 12 months would fall into three categories:
1. Fiscal-I want to stem the flow of funds out of our budget in the early part of the year to other teams in the organization to cover their seeming lack of planning. We need to be prepared for these cuts in our planning and make sure that we have our budget in travel, research services, and external support teams set up properly and contracted so we do not lose those resources. I want to be very firm on stemming the tide of funds flowing out of our budget. It is demoralizing to our team to continually be told our projects are not important and then be told to scramble and get the work done at the least price and with the least amount of time. It does not show that we are truly appreciated and it tends to show that we are undervalued.
2. Employee Training- Each year as a team we pick our conferences as ones we want to attend without really thinking about what we get out of the programs at the conference on a personal, team and corporate level. We tend to send folks to one or two of the same conferences each year and come back with similar thoughts. I want to rethink our conferences and turn it on it's head to sending each of us to a course or a seminar or training program. In 2009 and 2010 Chris and I participated in a certificate program it taught us more than just the material in the book and online. It taught us project and time management. It taught us collaboration beyond what we were doing already. In 2011 Chiko attended a multivariate analysis course recently bringing back knowledge of how to review and revisit our presentation and analysis of research. He also shared this knowledge with our extended Evaluserve team expanding their capabilities and thus expanding our offerings and capabilities within Laureate. The training doesn't have to be specific to market research in some cases as we expand into new verticals and new countries it might be the following:
A. Learning a new language for example having Elaine take a Spanish immersion course at a local community college or online as she works with NHU
B.Learning about the new verticle Charles to Kendall College or to a culinary/hospitality conference to learn more about the difficulties facing the potential student.
C. Participating in one of our current universities online offerings as a credit earning student.
Training in market research is much more than attending a research conference and making new contacts. It is continuing to learn.
3.Corporate Focus--We usually tend to be Walden and online focused when it comes to budget and project planning which does not always work for our team. We need to move away from this and start planning our projects as global projects. What would gather information for our universities and help us learn more about our students, about our true 5 to 10 year plans for education (not just financial growth plans), and the changing work/education/life environment.
We need to start making a fundamental shift in our internal clients focus of short term focus to long term focus. We all struggle with this both from a client management/relationship and from a client planning point of view. How do we HELP our clients plan for their future with regard to the needs of their college?
What I would really like to know from my team mates is what they would do if they were the boss? How would they change? Where do we agree? Where do we disagree? How do we NOT find middle ground but find a way to make fundamental and positive movement toward being one of the best? How do we generate or prove financial independence? My goal to be able to have our team operate as a completely separate entity within the company.
So that is my "Call to Arms."
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)