Lady of Shadow's Realm

Christmas went well, minus a few...things. My sinuses are killing me (rain...snow...the sky can't make up it's damn mind and I'm miserable) and the monthly is not making things pleasant.

On Christmas Eve, the Red Dragon decided to surprise me in the middle of work, while I was at the reference desk. The cramps were not pleasant, but I got them to behave until I got home.

However, the day was worth it when I got a patron (who told us he was hopped up on Nyquil) ask for books about Reptilian or Reptoid Aliens.

Me: "...are you looking for fiction?"

Him: "No, I'm looking for real accounts! I'm doing research."

Me: *looks over to other librarian and raises eyebrow, which in librarian-speak translates to Is this the patron you were talking about earlier? The crazy one?

Her: *barely imperceptible nod of head, which translates to Yes....BUWHAHAHAHAHAHA!*

Me: *eyes widen slightly...which translates to Ah hell, well let's see how much I can find out...*

We both managed to locate some books and some resources for the patron to look into. He went upstairs and not a minute later, the phone rings.

Me: *suppressing a smirk* "Reference Desk, this is Kristi."

Upstairs: *pause* "...there's a patron who is looking for books about...um..."

Me: "Reptilian aliens?"

Upstairs: "YES!"

Me: "We just had him down here, does he have the piece of paper we gave him?"

Upstairs: "...No."

Me: "Okay, take him to the TL 780s and then just walk away, call me back if you have any trouble." *breaks down into a fit of giggles hanging up* At this point my shift ends so I head upstairs and sees Librarian K coming down. *with a jovial wave* "Ask M about the patron we just had!"

Me: *an hour later comes back down for shift*

Librarian K: "Um...yeah...I got him too.." *proceeds to point out the other UFO nuts in the library and he warns me about middle aged men with leather jackets & ponytails and how they're usually the crazies...not three minutes later one walks up and asks about aliens* *he turns to me* "See!" *smirk*

I hope that everyone had a wonderful holiday.



I wanted a photo of myself near the tree, so I took one of myself (yeah, I was holding the camera, lol). I was making a Christmas wish that everyone, everywhere would have a lovely holiday. ^__^

Gingerbread Men, ready to be nommed. All that's left is to frost them. ^__~!

A bouquet of flowers on the kitchen table.

I just found out that one of my former classmates from my high school graduating class passed away in a house fire, along with her sister and father. Some of you on my friend's list probably remember Faiiza. My thoughts go out to the Ansari family.

We never really talked in high school, but we had some classes together and I saw her briefly at UB and she friended me on Facebook. I'm going through some of her photos...She was so beautiful. I look at the photos and think that everyone in them has no idea that this will be the last moments they spend with her, but her essence is captured forever and I see the kind words pouring in on her virtual wall. The world is missing out on a great doctor.

I think again how lucky I am that I survived a house fire over a year ago.

I think that everyday should be lived as if it is our last because you just never know.

Rest in peace, Faiiza. May your spirit find peace in Allah's arms.

( Photos )

My grandparent's tree ornaments again. :)

My schedule makes my head spin sometimes, lol.

I managed to give everyone at WSE their Christmas cards and little gifts. I was pleasantly surprised to receive an Angel ornament from a coworker (she calls me her "Library Daughter", she's so sweet).

At the downtown library, I've been sorting through tax forms. I've put out the ones that we've received and I've been noting down the quantity of the shipments. New York State makes me unhappy because they label their box one thing, then there's other things inside and they don't list how many forms or instruction booklets are in the box. -_- Federal is much more efficient, though I haven't received all the forms yet. I've been keeping a spreadsheet of the forms we've received so far, so I'm going to put that in a folder on the S drive for both departments and let the other librarians know since we've been getting questions.

One day I had a "little buddy" help me with the tax forms. I was sorting through them and smiled at a little girl (about 5 years old) who was sitting next to her mom (who was on the computer). She came up and asked if she could help. I said it was okay if it was okay with her mom. I had her help me push the cart (much to the amusement of the other patrons & my coworkers) and help me put the tax forms in the rack (much to the amusement of security). I gave her some stickers from my cart for helping.

My little tax assistant wanted to come downstairs with me for Reference duty (which is on the first floor, tax forms are on display on the second floor), but I told her that I had to go help other people and that she should help her mom. I ended up going back upstairs to find a book and she comes running back to me, "MY BUDDY!!!!"

Security Guy who is bringing her cookies: "Hey, I thought I was your buddy!"

Little Girl: "I have TWO buddies!"

Me: *chuckles* "Want to help me find a book?"

Little Girl: *assists*

Me: "Thank you! I have to go back downstairs now, so why don't you go see your other buddy."

Little Girl: "Okay!!"

In other news, I'm teaming up with another librarian to go through our collection to find out if we have any test booklets that can help with the New York State Unified Court System exams. A board member wants to have the library be a place that test takers can utilize, so we're seeing what we have and researching where we can get purchase study booklets. However, what we don't have the board member can point us in the right direction.

I'm slated to work Christmas and New Year's Eve. *tilts head* Hmm, not sure quite when I'm going to relax. I think I have a day off somewhere in there, yeah, I think there's a couple. I'm soooo not getting out of my PJs on those days.

Let's see, over the past few weeks I saw a few advanced movie screenings. I took my mom to see Up in the Air (okay movie) and thanks to a kind little old lady patron, I got to see Sherlock Holmes (Hee!! I liked it!! I even managed to snag the good seats next to the critics!). I also went shopping with my mom to get some new work outfits (I even found some sexy pirate boots for super cheap! Okay, not so much sexy as comfy. These shall be my working pirate boots and the other my show boots, wait that sounds wrong...moving along!).

The house is still coming along. Counter tops are being delivered in a couple days, then once they're installed the plumber can come back to work on everything all at once. Electricity is running (yay!) and gas has been hooked up. The tile in the kitchen still needs to be done and we need to get carpeting. I'm crossing my fingers that we'll be back by the end of January.

Some candy cane lights at my grandparents' house.

And, HAPPY WINTER SOLSTICE everyone!!!!

Decorations on my grandparents Christmas tree.

The Christmas Tree at the West Seneca Library. ^__^

A closeup of some ornaments on the tree at the West Seneca Library. The pipe cleaner snowflakes were made by the talented folks of the Garden Club (they decorate the tree every year).

Thank you lady_ezri!! I received your card and gifts! The gifts shall be properly nommed and enjoyed with happy yummy sounds. ^__^!!!

A display at the Eastern Hills Mall...penguins!!! Even the South Pole gets in on the holiday action!

The lights on my grandparents' front porch.

This star is part of a decoration outside of my grandparent's house. I did a little creative editing to take away the tree and add the little lights.



In other news, my poetic quote of the morning, Today I licked the air and tasted...Lucky Charms. ^__^

I've decided to post a holiday themed photo everyday to count down the days to Christmas.



This window decoration is in my grandparents' kitchen.

Thank you twilight_zone for the card!! I love the poinsettia and snowflake decorations. ^__^!!

( Random Photos wearing a special Christmas gift... )

I received training for the Civil Service Collection and I'm really excited about it. I learned how to expedite orders for exam booklets we may not have for upcoming exams. I get to check city, county, and state pending exams on a weekly basis. It'll be quite interesting when I take over the collection in January as it is highly circulating.

I've also been ordering books, weeding through my collection, maintaining displays, processing new materials, working the reference desk, and just the other day I learned how to use the book lift in the closed stacks (the hidden floors of the library, oh yes, the downtown library has hidden floors that you need an access code to enter).

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Dear Patrons,

When asking a reference question and then waiting for the answer, please do NOT smack your gum and proceed to snap it in your mouth over and over and over again while hanging over me. It makes me twitch and it is annoying as hell. I am not the only one who thinks as such.

Also, just because a book doesn't have the exact WORD you're looking for, there are similar words that mean the SAME thing. Really, asking three librarians and getting the same response wasn't enough of a hint?

Sincerely,
Your Neighborhood Friendly Librarian

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Let's see, WSE stuff is going well too. I've been weeding through nonfiction, maintaining the library facebook, and doing my usual there. I may also have a hand in developing a Disaster Management Policy and Evacuation Procedures. We shall see. While the system has those policies, our branch does not quite have the specifics for our location.

In other news, I've started to read The Dresden Files series by Jim Butcher. It's really quite enjoyable. Dresden is one awesome, badass wizard (who I think sometimes just needs a hug and a first aid kit permanently attached to his belt).

In other other news, the house is still being worked on. We've got tile in the bathroom and the kitchen is being worked on. Cupboards are installed and next will be the countertops, then appliances when those are ordered. We've still got a ways to go.

Today I was slated to work an evening shift at the West Seneca Library. I left early because it was essentially whiteout conditions, but not too bad (I couldn't quite see across the street). I made it to work and I don't think there was more than 3 patrons in the library at any one time. I hung out with my coworkers and snapped some random photos.

( Because I was in a random mood )

The conditions gradually worsened and when our librarian that was on the way called in to say she was stuck just outside of the library, a coworker and myself ran out with shovels in hand. We helped to dig her out to get her over to the parking lot and helped push a patron out of a spot as well. It was then that we made the decision to close the building. The winds, combined with the snow were just awful. It cleared up a bit and we dashed out to our cars to dig them out. The Town Guys had snowplowed part of the lot and the nice guys helped to dig me out (and one even helped to push me out).

The drive home my speed limit was a constant 20mph. I saw one car stuck so far into a ditch that I only saw one of its tires. 0__0

My car handled well in the snow and I managed to get home all right.

Here's to hoping my commute into the city on Friday will go smoothly and we don't get socked again.