So I'm back. Thought the blog might have died of neglect, but it was hanging on by a thread ;-)
Too much to catch up on, so I'll just give you the bare bones: Eric's parents moved to Florida this month (I know, I know - great timing). We've been busy helping with last minute details and just trying to spend time with them, but honestly? Still doesn't seem real. I don't imagine we will feel the full impact until they have been gone for awhile. I'm guessing it will probably sink in around the holidays. Without going into too much detail, we're not sure they've made the best choice, but are hoping for their sakes that it works out and that they are happy in their new home.
My mom is their real estate agent trying to sell their house here in California. Of course, they just missed the peak of the market by a couple of months and now things are slowing down and the house hasn't sold...I'm just praying that this doesn't result in any awkwardness between my family and Eric's. So far everyone's behaving well, but I know it's stressful for Eric's folks to move without the house here being sold, so it would be great to get this whole deal finished up soon. Anyway, if you think about it throw up a prayer on their behalf. I'd sure appreciate it!
My job is going so well. I'm really happy with my new assignment to Young Adult (teen) services...it's a lot of fun and keeps me busy. My partner in teen services is wonderful - we seem to be a really good match. Our interests are complementary, so the division of labor is very natural and easy, and she's just a great person to work with. I'm so stoked!
I had a little crash and burn after my first few weeks or so, when I realized "Okay, I got what I've been working towards for the past several years - NOW WHAT?" I felt like I needed a new goal, but I didn't have the energy to pursue anything. I think it was all just part of the transition. Now instead of a major goal (e.g. get master's degree and get a job), I'm focusing on what I can do within my job and how I can continue to learn and grow in this environment. Working with teens helped provide some focus. I spent some time praying about how I can best do this job. How can I honor God and show love in the context of my profession? What I kept coming back to was my own experience as a teenager.
I've talked about this before, but it's been awhile so I'll give you a refresher: when my sister and I were in high school, most of our friends hung out at our house. They even called our parents Mom and Dad. This in spite of the fact that we had more rules and regulations than most of our friends did - they still wanted to be at our house. Another instance - I have a cousin who's my age and we went to high school together. He and his family lived right down the block from our school. My aunt and uncle gave house keys to all of their kids' close friends, so that we would have a safe place to go at lunch or after school if we needed to get away. How cool is that? They were similar to my parents: somewhat strict, but loving. And I came out of my high school experience with a lot of trust for them and my parents, and a high value for how they treated us. So what I'm taking from that and trying to bring into my job is that I can make this a safe place where teens feel welcome and valued. Yes, we have rules, and I will enforce them. But I want each person who comes into the teen center to know that I am happy they are there, and that I will do what I can to help them.
Another cool job thing is that I've been assigned to our "web team" and will be helping to re-design our website (which currently sucks). They're sending me to a bunch of classes so I can learn some of the technical stuff necessary to help update and maintain the site. I'm stoked - I love stuff like that but haven't had the time or energy to pursue it to the level I'd like on my own time.
And I'm reading like a fiend! So many of the kids who come into the teen center are avid readers, and it's hard to keep up with them. I do much more readers advisory (which is basically just recommending books based on what people like and dislike) with the teens than anywhere else in the library. We have tricks we can use if we're stumped - there are all kinds of booklists and resources we can go to if we don't have a recommendation of our own. But the kids always ask "But is it GOOD?" and you can't convince them unless you've read the book yourself. Melissa and I are reading as much as we can and are going to try to put together a database of our own evaluations, so we have an extra resource when we need it. As I have time, I'll post some of my ratings here on the blog.
I'm rethinking the blog. I don't want to let it go, but it's very frustrating that I so rarely have time to sit down and write what I want to say. The problem is that I'm a pretty slow writer. Whenever I just blurt my thoughts out quickly and post them to the blog, I regret it - I need to be able to think through my words and make sure I've clearly communicated what I really want to say, or I don't feel comfortable. But I just don't have that kind of time right now. And whenever I do have time, I feel like I have to play catch up and post about everything I've been thinking about for the past two months, which is just impossible. So, anyway, I haven't come to any conclusions yet, but my posts will probably be sporadic until I figure out a better solution.
At any rate, it feels good to finally put SOMETHING up here again. I hope to be back again soon.
