Library Memories

I recently asked Twitter followers (and Facebook friends too thanks to Twitter->Facebook autoposting):

what's your earliest memory of libraries? mine is discovering Babaar books in the san antonio public downtown -age five

and these are the replies I got back:

david_burns @shatowers first specific memory was finding and reading The Halloween Tree by Ray Bradbury in my school library in 3rd grade.

roxanneglaser @shatowers about age 5 going to library with my grandmother and checking out a HUGE stack of books.

roxanneglaser @shatowers then I discovered that authors wrote more than one book. How cool is that?!?!?!?

carlflynn @david_burns @shatowers First memory: Discovering childrens' section at Oxnard Public Library - age 7 or so.

AEM at 1:15pm February 24

I remember going to a public library in Omaha, NE when I was probably four or five and frequently checking out the books "Ferdinand" and "Mog."

SK at 1:18pm February 24 via Facebook Mobile

I went to the Lackland Elementary School Library.

KW at 1:21pm February 24

It's one of my first memories! I was probably 3 and was so embarrassed that I didn't know how to read the books so I sat down at the tables and ran my finger down each page pretending to read them. They were probably upside down or something! haha

CM at 1:32pm February 24

I read all the books about horses availabile at the public library when I was 4.

KMB at 2:56pm February 24

Checking out Green Eggs and Ham EVERY TIME I went. :-)

1/14/09 happiness is....

well, i fell too far behind to catch up with a long list, but here are few recents:

1. knowing that it’s ok that if i drop the ball on this goal, as long as it keeps reminding me to look for the good and the happiness that swirls around me each day

2. sacred space – sacred time

3. a solitary lunch that i could savor quietly, soaking in all the beauty around me…from the crisp weather, the trees around me, the delicious food, the hands that prepared the food and served, that i could not try to fill the time with things like reading, checking mail, but just being

4. the smile on my baby’s face

See more progress on: find at least one thing each day that makes me happy and record it everyday for a year

Legomania
i remember playing with Legos when i was a kid, but they weren't nearly as cool or complicated back then! Carter and i (and lots of other relatives!) have been building Lego stuff for days now and we're having a blast. technology has helped feed our addiction: a friend of ann's mentioned via facebook, that he'd bought Legos in bulk for his kids on Ebay. the next thing i know, we have several shipments of Legos coming to us from all over the country! Carter doesn't know about these yet. i'm trying to decide if we should stash them away for another occasion since he just got a lot of Legos. But then again, if we do that, we might forget where we've hidden them, or they might get stale or something! ;-)

12/26/08 spending time with my boys

most of my time with my littlest one is spent holding, feeding, changing, etc., but the littlest things are what i remember most…the tiniest smile, the look of wonder, the grabbing things with his iron claw hands! holding him during the Christmas Eve service was especially meaningful to me.

with my “big guy”, we’ve spent a lot of time lately building all kinds of Lego stuff. he’s really into that now and i’m amazed by the attention to detail he has. he studies the directions and notices every little change..even ones that i miss. last night we had fun working on his new Lego police station (with its nearly 1,000 pieces!)

See more progress on: spend time with my sons each day

12/21/08 spending time with my boys

i changed two poopy diapers today (bonding happens in all kind of odd places)

looking back over the last entry, i find it interesting that as i sit down to write this one, it’s filled with all the same things as the last.

enjoy cuddling with my little guy (6 mos.) and watching him be intrigued with the smallest and to most people the least interesting things (he held a christmas card today turning it over in his hands and investigating it for half an hour, never tiring of its newness). love to see him smile and laugh.

my big guy adores the little one and takes great pleasure in entertaining him. today in the car, he was getting the little guy to laugh and getting tickled himself. lots of wonderful laughter.

we spent some time building lego stuff and watching Miracle on 34th Street (oddly, the first time i’ve ever seen it in all my forty plus years)

my five year old helped me change a flat tire today and made me smile thinking of the tire changing scene in A Christmas Story (it wasn’t as exciting as that scene, btw).

we read poems from Where the Sidewalk Ends….a frequent bedtime ritual.

See more progress on: spend time with my sons each day

spending time with my boys 12/6/08

recent highlights (since i’ve done a poor job staying up to date!):

putting up and decorating the christmas tree with carter
laughing and playing with max
watching carter adore and entertain max
listening to max laugh at his big brother
playing made up games with carter
basketball practice with carter
building lego stuff with carter

See more progress on: spend time with my sons each day

Pet Peeve #17 bait and switch -12/21/08

it drives me crazy when someone interrupts you for some reason and then somehow turns it around and makes you feel like you’re taking up THEIR time. the NERVE!

See more progress on: list 43 pet peeves and then try to forget about them

Pet Peeve #16 people who don't listen - 12/21/08

this includes people off in their own world, people who ask for help/directions/advice and then are too busy thinking about what THEIR answer would be to listen, people that have attention deficit disorders, people that are just dumb, and people that don’t get that listening is the most important skill you could have. if you can’t listen, you’re an idiot, but then again, you probably didn’t hear me.

See more progress on: list 43 pet peeves and then try to forget about them

#15 pet peeve: line cutters 12/6/08

ok, i know i’m an adult and this sounds awfully “elementary school”, but people who cut in line really piss me off! it doesn’t matter whether they intended to or whether they’re just too self absorbed to realize it, both of them irritate me. ok, now i’ll try to forget about how much this annoys me because i’m sure all the line cutters in my life combined probably only added 3 extra minutes of waiting in line!

See more progress on: list 43 pet peeves and then try to forget about them

12/22/08-12/26/08 happiness is...

26. a sleeping house
25. christmas with family
24. a beautiful christmas eve service with choir and strings
23. more christmas with family
22. not being at work!

See more progress on: find at least one thing each day that makes me happy and record it everyday for a year

12/19-21/08 happiness is...

watching my five year old make a basket during a scrimmage and watching him get so excited that he’s getting better and better at basketball

eating and visiting with friends

reading to my son

weather that actually feels like winter (at least for this part of the country….low tonight in the mid 20s)

playing games with my son (tonight we learned and played several games that were new to us (card and dice games) and it was fun to see my five year old get excited about learning new games and enjoy playing them.

managing with the two boys tonight while ann went out with some friends for dinner

a house so quiet that i can hear the refridgerator humming

See more progress on: find at least one thing each day that makes me happy and record it everyday for a year

12/12-18/08 happiness is...

12-18
dinner with friends
laughter and silliness
a helpful five year old
a smiling, laughing baby
reading together
a shrinking inbox
good coffee (Peet’s)
cold weather
the chance of snow

See more progress on: find at least one thing each day that makes me happy and record it everyday for a year

12/11/08 happiness is...

unexpected compassion

See more progress on: find at least one thing each day that makes me happy and record it everyday for a year

12/10/08 happiness is...

a biting winter wind (i know that sounds crazy, but if it’s going to be winter, then be WINTER! snow would be nice, but that’s a rare event in this part of the world)

See more progress on: find at least one thing each day that makes me happy and record it everyday for a year

12/9/08 happiness is...

wassail, chili, and laughter

See more progress on: find at least one thing each day that makes me happy and record it everyday for a year

12/8/08 happiness is...

my five year old deciding on his own that he wanted to clear the table after dinner and rinse off the dishes (and he was excited about it!)

See more progress on: find at least one thing each day that makes me happy and record it everyday for a year

12/7/08a happiness is...

the choir that i direct did a really nice job today and it’s a joy to work with them.

See more progress on: find at least one thing each day that makes me happy and record it everyday for a year

12/7/08 happiness is...

my roomba!

See more progress on: find at least one thing each day that makes me happy and record it everyday for a year

12/6/08

knowing that even though i haven’t entered anything on this for more than a couple months, that i HAVE actually been happy through all that time! today i’m happy reconnecting with old friends.

See more progress on: find at least one thing each day that makes me happy and record it everyday for a year

guilty pleasures #8

having a starbucks in walking distance from my office!

See more progress on: List 43 Guilty Pleasures