How to become a better person

Visit the library.  Yep. To become a better person, visit the library.  Do you like to cook? The library has many cookbooks and even books on different styles of cooking to expand your repotoire.  Use some of those books and you will be a better cook.

Do you like to knit or sew? The library has books on different methods and stitches. Articles on better ways to hem or count stitches can be found as well.  Check out some of these book and you will be a better knitter or seamstress.

I think you get my point.  Yes, these books can be found in books stores and on-line, but at the library there are wonderful people who will help you find the right book and even suggest books or related topics to help you advance your knowledge.  History can boring if your reading a text book.  The same event will fly off the page and into your understanding when read from a first person perspective of a biography or even historical fiction.

Business people are always doing research.  Do it at the library! There are big tables and lots of space.  Many libraries now have free WiFi so your searches can extend to the web.  There have been times my small library does not have the specific book I am looking for. The librians are wonderful. They will request my book from another library and suggest another book or two on the same topic to hold me over until my book arrives in just a matter of days.

There are also people at the library.  I don't know how many times I have struck up a conversation with another mom between the shelves of books, each of us reccommending books to the other.  The library is a great networking place.  Visit often enough and you never know who you will run into today who can help you (or you can help them) later.

Crafters, dieters, runners, parents, executives all need to grow an expand their knowledge.  New technology comes out everyday it seems.  Books explaining that technology can be found on the shelves of the library.  People who understand that technology have probably read the book.  You could run into them and find those books at the library.

Visit yours today!

"You are the same person you were five years ago except for the people you meet and the books you read!" ~Charlie Tremendous Jones

Life at Full Speed

Happy New Year!

After the relaxed busyness of the last two weeks, we have jumped into the New Year with a bang.  The Christmas decorations are put back in their boxes and stored in the attic.  The laundry was caught up from the holiday travels. We had a day with nothing planned and enjoyed it immensly!

Now school in back in full swing. Chores lists are checked off each day with no gift buying errands to interupt progress. Piano lessons are back on the schedule with the karate classes.  Christmas gifts are being put to use and communication between family members has relied on texting between the upstairs and downstairs a time or two.

Doctor appointments fill a couple squares of the calendar, regular check-up and a follow up for a broken hand that occured just before Christmas (cast coming off the oldest son this week).  Another day is colored in with karate testing.  Thankfully the pressure is low for this test as we are all taking mid-terms and not going for a rank change.  My wonderful husband must make a business trip and will be gone for two days this week and will miss the hectic-ness that these karate tests may bring.  He will take his own test Friday after he returns.

While Christmas celebrations are behind us, the year ahead is just as busy as last year.  And we enjoy it most of the time.  This busyness brings hard work, new milestones, and many happy memories.  When life gets too crazy, we pause. We go camping, geocaching, on a field trip, have a family game and movie night at home - anything to change the pace to prevent the busyness from overtaking the joy of our family.

Yes, sometimes we will admit our schedule is full to overflowing.  We trim back and stay connected to each other.  Sometimes we laugh when people say we are "SO busy".  These folks have three (or more) kids and each kid is in a different sport  or activity every night of the week.  To each their own.

Our family of four is active, connected to each other, and up for fun.  While we enjoy time together, we also know we each need time for our individual interests.  Youth group, knitting, reading, writing, gaming, whatever it may be we give each other the space to recharge in our own ways.

I am looking forward to this new year.  With all the hustle and bustle it brings, we are also ready for new stuff to do and to happen.