[caption id="" align=“alignnone” width=“2592”] Embrace your cliches.[/caption]

[caption id="" align=“alignnone” width=“3000”] Our hotel has an amazing view of the river. This does not do it justice.[/caption]

[caption id="" align=“alignnone” width=“2250”] They’re giving out Magic: the Gathering cards at registration. Yes please![/caption]

[caption id="" align=“alignnone” width=“2250”] The one thing I HAD to do besides give my poster presentation was go to Cafe Du Monde and get beignets. Done![/caption]

[caption id="" align=“alignnone” width=“2250”] We rode the St. Charles Streetcar all the way to the end, through the Garden District. We passed one of Anne Rice’s houses.[/caption]

[caption id="" align=“alignnone” width=“3000”] Canal Street at Sunset[/caption]

Just had a very serious conversation with my husband about our future as immortals and what type of vampire I should get to sire me while I’m in New Orleans this weekend, so… I married well, is what I’m saying.

I’m going to New Orleans tomorrow for the American Library Association conference and I already know I’m going to love it there.

Kiiiiind of want to host/play in an improv comedy jam for my birthday on July 14.

In the interest of helping myself recognize what things I do as the parent of a toddler, I’m making a list. I’m just thinking through a typical day and every task that occurs on that day, plus every task that has to happen to make sure that task can happen. I don’t do all of these things - W. does a lot of them. But somebody has to do them.

Here goes.

1. Changing diapers.
2. Purchasing diapering supplies: diapers, wipes, diaper cream, diaper pail, trash bags.
3. Researching diapering supplies.
4. Toilet training.
5. Purchasing toilet training supplies: toddler potty/toilet seat.
6. Researching toilet training processes.
7. Dressing.
8. Purchasing clothing and shoes.
9. Researching clothing and shoes: sizes, fabric types, cuts. (Ask a toddler parent about snaps vs. no snaps, overalls or no, and you'll see what I mean.)
10. Feeding.
11. Preparing food.
12. Purchasing food.
13. Meal planning.
14. Researching nutrition.
15. Playing at home.
16. Purchasing books and toys.
17. Researching books and toys.
18. Playing out in the world.
19. Identifying potential activities.
20. Researching potential activities.
21. Purchasing supplies for activities: sunscreen, bug spray, specialized clothing.
22. Packing supplies for activities.
23. Transportation.
24. Purchasing transportation supplies: primarily a car seat.
25. Researching car seats.
26. Entertaining.
27. Learning new songs.
28. Vetting media.
29. Soothing.
30. Discipline.
31. Researching soothing and discipline methods.
32. Bathing.
33. Purchasing supplies for bathing: soap, shampoo, toys, brushes, combs, cotton pads, cotton swabs.
34. Researching supplies for bathing.
35. Getting ready for bed.
36. Dental care.
37. Purchasing supplies for dental care: toothbrush, toothpaste.
38. Researching supplies for dental care.
39. Taking to the doctor.

All of these have to happen. And in addition to all of these, there’s usually a decision layer associated with each one: which food to eat, which clothes to wear (based on the weather or activity of the day), whether that fever merits a call to the doctor. There are several tasks that could be grouped, obviously: purchasing and researching different types of supplies happens again and again.

And most of these happen every day.

On radically reduced sleep.

Alongside all the normal responsibilities that come with being an adult.

And I wonder why I’m tired all the time.

Kids. They’re a lot of work. But they’re worth it.

It’s not that careers aren’t an important part of our identity, they just aren’t the only part.

When I took my first improv class a little over four years ago, I was careful on the first night of class to ask other people, “How do you spend your time besides coming to improv class?” I phrased it this way because I didn’t just want to know what people got paid to do; I wanted to know how they chose to spend their time.

The most common question I get about my doctoral program after “How long until you’re done?” is “What are you going to do with a PhD in information and library science?” I think a more interesting question is “What do you want to get out of a PhD in information and library science?” Because honestly, who knows what I’ll do? Independent of what I might like to do (and teasing that out is a whole process itself), obviously I’ll be at the mercy of market forces.

But if you ask me what I want to get out of it, I have a great answer:

I want to spend some time in a situation where my number one professional priority is acquainting myself with the evidence about what works in libraries. I want to understand qualitative research methods better. (This was really my #1 desire and I think I’ve done a really good job of working on this.) I want the opportunity to think deeply about what effective library services for youth look like and how they can facilitate exploring passions.

Isn’t that more interesting than “I mean, maybe teach future librarians? Or just be a better librarian myself?” I think so.

If you want to get to know people better than just these surface questions without getting too awkward and personal, here are some questions you might try:

• What's fun for you right now?
• What kind of expert are you?
• What do you want to learn/try next?
• What kind of people are you hoping to meet?

They’re good questions to ask yourself, too.

Here’s a complete list of everything I’ve got going on right now. And by “going on,” I mean a level of intensity ranging from “thinking about maybe doing it” to “seriously working on it.” (Categories come from the Integrative Nutrition Circle of Life exercise.)

Spirituality

• Slowly re-reading WTF Is Tarot?
• Listening to the Self Service podcast

Creativity

• Things of Bronze podcast
• Blogging

Finances

• Reducing grocery spending via using my Soda Stream, freezing leftovers, and eating out of the pantry/fridge/freezer

Career

• Revising culturally sustaining pedagogy online curriculum module and writing other modules for Project READY.
• Reading the archives of YALSA's The Hub ya lit blog and trying the books mentioned there

Education

• Working on the Makerspaces section of my comprehensive literature review

Health, Home Cooking, Physical Activity

• Focusing on water: drinking it, bathing in it, swimming in it

Home Environment

• Putting together a list of tasks for the handyman

Relationships, Social Life, Joy

• Reaching out when I feel isolated

Finished converting my concept map to an outline. Tomorrow: WRITING!

This friend was sitting on my front porch welcome mat when I left for the chiropractor this morning. I was running a bit late but I had to take a picture. The Luna Moth is one of my personal symbolic animals.

This morning I had a dream that my house (which was, of course, the house I lived in as a teenager and not my current house) was falling apart - paint coming off the walls all over, the wall between a closet and a bathroom falling down (a wall that doesn’t exist - a closet that doesn’t exist) - the only room that was in tact was the family room, with its ridiculous/amazing striped scarlet pimpernel wallpaper (actual wallpaper still in the house) - and the bedroom, closet, and bathroom were full of moths. I was very anxious about all the moths until I saw a Luna moth placidly perched on a closet-bathroom wall and thought, “OH, that’s a SYMBOL, this is a DREAM, I don’t actually need to figure out how to describe what’s wrong with this house to a real contractor for repair” and felt an immense sense of relief.

So after all that, to find one right in my path this morning felt extra magical.