Birthdays

We took a weekend trip to the country to celebrate Mema’s birthday! It was a beautiful weekend. We hung out in the back yard, had a tasty Italian dinner, cooked s’mores over the firepit, and went mining for diamonds!

Diamonds

On the way home we stopped at the Herkimer Diamond Mines, in Herkimer, NY; home of “one of nature’s most magnificent gemstones. The Herkimer Diamond Mines are the home to an abundance of double-terminated quartz crystals formed almost 500 million years ago. Their diamond-like geometrical shape closely resembles that of a true diamond, thus lending its name to the “Herkimer Diamond”.” (https://herkimerdiamond.com/about/)

It was a fun experience, but probably not one I’d do again. It’s definitely missing the color and scenery of our favorite Ruggles Mine.

We came home with bags of rocks and small pieces of Herkimer Diamonds.

4th of July

The 4th of July was this weekend. I had a three-day weekend, but it was interrupted by the fact that I had to (agreed to) work the parade. For the past few years the library has been walking in the parade, wearing summer reading t-shirts and throwing candy. I got out of it last year, but this year managed to get myself talked into it. LOL. We also had a few library sponsored activates on the green after the parade. The children’s’ department had a shoebox parade, the teen department did tie dying, and we gave a way a ton of free books. I helped at that table. :)

Espen came along and was an AMAZING helper. She helped with all the transport and setup, wore the dinosaur costume in the parade, entertained children on the green afterwards, and helped with all the breakdown and cleanup. She was a rockstar volunteer!

It was all fun and games until the rain came. Everyone huddled under any available tent, but the rain came fast and hard so most of us got drenched. We quickly pulled dino skins and parade banners over the book tables, doing our best to keep them dry. The tent started leaking, the rain blew sideways, we all got wet. Eventually a drenched event planner came around and told us all they were closing down the event. We packed up, the rains let us a bit, fortunately, and we got everything back into the library.

Espen and I got home home and passed out on the couch for awhile. We were exhausted! Lex worked all day, and when he got home we made a group decision to bail on fireworks. It was still a little rainy and yet, somehow, still so friggin’ hot! None of us were motivated. None of us except River, who hadn’t done a thing all day and was eager to hang out a the fireworks with his friends.

Lex, Espen, and I ended up climbing up on the roof at 9:30pm and watching the fireworks from the comfort of home. It was a perfect way to end the day!

This weekend Espen and I had a little adventure to find some furniture and stuff for her new apartment. There was an “estate sale” in town, which sounds much fancier than it really was. We knew the realtor running it though, and got a good deal on some furniture. We then went to check out a new thrift store in town, and then a consignment shop across the river. So much shopping for us! LOL. We had to go back to the estate sale after Alan got here so we could pick up the furniture in his bigger vehicle. Between the two Teslas we got the job done!

In the afternoon we went to have some fun at the science museum. Lex is working at the Montshire again this summer and he gets a free family membership as a benefit. We haven’t been there in many years, but it used to be a standard in our life. It was fun to revisit the museum, see the new exhibits, and meet Lex’s coworkers. :) We probably embarassed him a bit, but that’s what family is for!

I made them pose for the standard “all done” scene. I have fond memories of finding them sitting on the bench, leaning against each other and watching the perpetual ball machine. That was always the sign that they are done. They were done this time too, but unfortunately Lex had to work for another hour. Fortunately, he really likes the job. :)

Espen and I got to see The Late Show with Stephen Colbert today!!! It was sooo awesome, and sooooooo loud!! LOL The guest was Tom Hanks, and a video of Barak Obama taking the Colbert Questionert. His final show is one week from today, so we got in just under the wire!

According to the ticket they have a pretty strict dress code, so I totally overthought the whole thing. We got there early to find the place (like finding your gate at the airport) then had some very expensive lunch at an Italian place next door. Definitely overpaid, but we enjoyed it anyway. Then we were right near the front of the line when it opened.

There was a lot of waiting in line, but we made some friends (thanks to Espen’s flair!) and had a good time. It had a real party vibe. Once inside we waited for longer. They gave everyone a chance to use the bathroom (thankfully!), then we went into the Ed Sullivan Theater!!!

They require you to turn off cell phones in the theater, so I have no pictures of that. It was actually kind of interesting to just experience it without taking pictures. I REALLY wanted to take pictures though!! There were a few women standing in the aisle chatting and it reminded me of local theater. They stood out because they seemed so comfortable among all the wide-eyed tourists like myself. Turns out, it was Evie McGee!!! They chatted for awhile and then she left. I couldn’t take my eyes off her. LOL. Today is Stephen Colbert’s birthday, so Evie was there and they went out to dinner after the show.

The show has an opener named Paul Mecurio, a comedian tasked with pumping up the audience. We “practiced” being very loud and he reminded the audience that they bring the energy and Colbert feeds off it. We yelled and clapped and cheered until our hands and throats hurt. He also brought people up on stage to make conversation and joke with them. He brought two women up that we had been talking with in the line outside. They were funny and really liked all the pins on Espen’s bag.

After the opening act, the band came out and played some music for awhile. Finally, finally!!, Colbert came out!! It was exciting. But, of course, he stands right in front of the camera and we couldn’t even seen him. LOL. We watched the monologue on the TVs hanging around the studio, but I really enjoyed watching the behind the scenes part. The camera guys, the stage manager (Mark McKenna, who is adorable) handing him props, the band off to the side. It was all just super fun!

When he sat down at his desk the cameras moved with him, continue to block our view a bit. I bet the view is better from the top deck. I bet pro audience members already know that. We were newbies. Our first and only time.

The guest was Tom Hanks, who was funny, of course. He brought Colbert a gift (typewriter, copy paper, and Hanks coffee) and they talked about his new documentary about WWII. There was also, of course, lots of joking around, content creation for the socials, and plain silliness.

The other two bits were the prerecorded Obama questionnaire, and a prerecorded Broadway performance. They mentioned the Broadway performance, but didn’t show it. Instead Colbert sang a song with Lewis Cato and the band. Just before he left the stage the audience started singing Happy Birthday. Colbert stopped, laughed, sat on the desk and swung his legs. LOL. Then he left to have dinner with his wife.

Colbert is funny and the show is fun, but it’s clearly a job for him. It was interesting to see how much goes into making the show. It was also funny to see the transition from the camera men (all middle-aged white guys) to the social team that swooped in, all young, diverse women. They recorded some outtakes and other clips you see on the socials. Watching Tom Hanks joke about “content creation” was funny.

When it was all over they funneled us right back out the door. They handed out bookmarks and stickers along the way. E and I were hoping to get to use the penny machine (we both brought lots of pennies and quarters!) but we were told it was out of order. Sad. I got the feeling it was out of order a lot. I was actually surprised at how uninteresting the lobby area was. It’s just a big white hallway, with a few TVs playing clips from the show. No big posters. Not warm and inviting. Just a big L-shaped hall with Colbert staff moving people along. It was interesting.

We left feeling happy, over-stimulated, and completely exhausted. LOL. We grabbed a slice of pizza in Grand Central, then took the train back to the island.

Then I stayed up late to watch the show on cable! LOL. Just to see how it crops together, and, of course, to see if we’re in it!

This is a long and rambley post, but I’m going to leave it as is because now I need to go to bed and sleep for many hours.

I got to see my momma on Mother’s Day this year! Yay!

My momma is an awesome human being. She raised me right, gave me a good family with strong ties. She taught me how to be a good mother to my own brood. She’s one of the smartest people I know and always makes me smile. :)

Also, there were some other people there too. LOL

Full bellies and happy hearts. <3

Life is good.

I just got back from an amazing national conference in Minneapolis, MN — Public Library Association’s National Conference!

My library sent me, along with two of my co-workers, to this three day conference. We flew out on Tuesday (on a flight full of librarians!) and home Friday night. It was so awesome! We had three days of inspirational speeches, informative and engaging sessions, and a few vendor after-hours parties. :)

We stayed at a fancy hotel called the W Foshay, with fancy rooms that included white noise machines and a robe! The hotel had a speakeasy (very well advertised) on the 27th floor and amazing views from the observation deck on the 30th floor.

The conference started with a few speakers, including Dr. Brandy McNeil, the President of PLA, Jacob Frey, the Mayor of Minneapolis, and Bryan Stevenson, founder and executive director of the Equal Justice Initiative (EJI) in Montgomery, Alabama. The speeches were energetic and inspirational. Over 6000 librarians from around the world attended!

I was super nervous about this whole event. We reserved our tickets around the height of the ICE invasions around the city (because that’s when we got approval to do so) and as the event grew closer and ICE moved to the airports, my anxiety grew. But we got there, saw no ICE activity (in the airport or on the streets), and were surrounded by 6000 other brave librarians there to celebrate libraries and the the freedom to read! It was amazing.

The sessions were inspiring, informative, and (sometimes) a little boring. LOL. The exhibition hall was HUGE and filled with vendors giving aways stickers and free books. We had to check an extra suitcase on the way home to bring back all the free books we got!

Several vendors also offered after-hour parties, so on Thursday night we hit up two of them. The first was fancy and a little subdued, but they gave away even more books. The second was a big old party, full of delicious food, free drinks, and a rocking dance floor.

We flew home Friday afternoon, again with lots of librarians. I’ll bet that plane had way more books than the average Delta flight! LOL.

I feel so fortunate that I got this opportunity. So grateful we had a safe trip there and back. And so happy I had a weekend to recover before going back to work tomorrow!

Also, here’s a great article about the conference from Publishers Weekly.